Friday, October 24, 2008

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang


The movie Kiss Kiss Bang Bang made its way onto my DVD player recently, and I was really impressed! It's a quirky, film noir homage with snarky performances by Robert Downey, Jr. and Val Kilmer. Everyone's constantly cracking wise and the whole ride is just a hoot. The title sequence is worth seeing on its own (think Saul Bass).

As I watched, the movie's convoluted plot reminded me of The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. Turns out that Chandler's book titles were used as the chapter headings in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Even if you're not familiar with Raymond Chandler's name, you probably know his stuff. His work continues to influence crime fiction, movies, and television and has been parodied often. In fact, Kafka's Soup: A Complete History of World Literature in 14 Recipes, begins with a recipe for "Lamb with Dill Sauce à la Raymond Chandler":

"I sipped my whiskey sour, ground out my cigarette on the chopping board, and watched a bug trying to crawl out of the basin. I needed a table at Maxim's, a hundred bucks, and a gorgeous blonde; what I had was a leg of lamb and no clues."

Whether you want a silly action movie, a classic detective film, or even a literary cookbook, we've got them all here at the library.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

thanks, this really helped my school project!