Chasing Amy (1997)

"A Shared Moment" of Lesbian Kissing

This low-budget independent film comedy-drama from writer/director Kevin Smith was an honest and appealing story of opposites-attract love between two New Jersey comic-book artists: heterosexual comic book writer Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and another comic-book creator Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), a lesbian-identified bi-sexual; critics of the controversial film felt that Alyssa's 'conversion' to heterosexuality was writer/director Kevin Smith's assertion that lesbianism was reversible.

Alyssa invited Holden (with his comic book artist and homophobic friend Banky Edwards (Jason Lee) tailing along) to a bar that she often visited - he didn't know it was a dyke bar; Alyssa was brought onstage: ("Get up here and sing, bitch") to perform the song "Alive" ("I want to feel passion, I want to feel pain") dedicated "for that someone special out there." Shockingly, the "special" person turned out to not be Holden but Kim (Carmen Llywelyn) - a platinum-blonde dyke who was watching in the audience.

After the song finished, Alyssa pointed to the admiring, white-T-shirt-wearing woman, beckoning with one finger for her to come forward; the lesbian couple then kissed while Holden did a double-take as he looked on in disbelief (he mistakenly thought the love song was for him); Banky applauded and then said about the pairing: "Hot! Now that, my friend, is a shared moment." The lesbian couple continued to get "mushy" and kiss, as the two guys shared their booth table in the club, when the wide-eyed Banky confessed:

"When are we ever gonna get a chance to see this kind of s--t live without paying for it?"

In & Out (1997)

Same Sex Kiss

Director Frank Oz's PG-13 rated romantic comedy was one of Hollywood's few attempts to make a mainstream comedic gay film. The comedy-of-manners was partially based upon the incident at the 1994 Academy Awards ceremony when Best Actor-winning Tom Hanks thanked his homosexual high-school drama teacher. In the film, Matt Dillon portrayed studly actor Cameron Drake who won an Oscar, and during his acceptance speech outed his favorite high school teacher as being gay.

It featured a prominent 10-second same-sex kiss between two gay men:

• Peter Malloy (Tom Selleck), a gay celebrity gossip TV reporter/journalist investigating the gossip story
• Howard Brackett (Kevin Kline), an outed bisexual, a high-school English teacher living in the small Indiana town of Greenleaf

Malloy nearly ran over Howard as he was riding his bicycle in the countryside. Although uninjured, when Howard complained: "I want my life back," Malloy confessed: "I'm gay. I came out." He then reassured Howard: "Sometimes the worst thing you think can happen turns out to be the best thing." He then smelled out Howard's sexual proclivity by asking the question: "What was Streisand's eighth album?" Howard immediately knew the answer:

Howard: "Color Me Barbra."
Malloy: "Stud."
Howard: "Everyone knows that."
Malloy: "Everyone where? The little gay bar on the prairie?"

Malloy then said: "You know what you need?" - and he grabbed him for the lengthy kiss. Afterwards, Howard appeared flabbergasted:

Howard: "You kissed me."
Malloy: "You noticed."
Howard: "You, you...This is not Los Angeles."
Malloy: "What? People don't kiss in Greenleaf?"
Howard: "Not at an intersection."

Other suspicions were based on Howard's pronounced theatrical or "prissy" mannerisms, and the fact that he hadn't had a "physical relationship" with his fiancee Emily (Joan Cusack) of three years.

Lolita (1997)

Scandalous Kissing

Director Adrian Lyne's 1997 erotically-charged, sensual remake (with Jeremy Irons and 15 year-old actress Dominique Swain at the time of filming) was controversial for its aberrant, still-taboo and touchy topic of underage sexuality and incestual pedophilia.

The young 14 year-old "nymphet" Dolores "Lolita" Haze jumped into house-boarder/step-father Professor Humbert's arms and gave him a kiss before she departed for camp.

Their second kiss was after he picked her up at camp, following her mother's accidental death. In their station wagon as he was driving along, she asked for a kiss - when he pulled over, she hopped into his lap and delivered two sensuous kisses.

When they spent an overnight in a hotel, they were forced to share a room with only a double bed. Early the next morning after sleeping in the same bed, in one of the film's most controversial scenes, she turned over and wet-kissed him on the mouth with a French kiss. She then confessed to having played sexual games with a boy named Charlie at camp, and then said she would have to demonstrate what she had learned: "I guess I'm gonna have to show you everything." As a prelude to oral sex and intercourse, she started to remove his pajama bottoms (and her own retainer) before a fade-out. Humbert explained in voice-over: "Gentlewomen of the jury, I was not even her first lover."

"French Kiss"
	Smudged Lipstick Kisses

Much later during their second road trip when tensions and jealousy arose between the two, he suspected that she had another rival "nymphet" lover like himself (pedophile playwright Clare Quilty (Frank Langella), revealed in the film's conclusion) following them - when he saw her obviously smudged lipstick, he threw her onto the bed, ripped open her white blouse, forced a kiss from her (as lipstick became smeared on their faces) and made love to her, as he aggressively asked and pleaded who had violated her: "You tell me who it is - who is it?" but Lolita wouldn't answer him.

Open Your Eyes (1997, Sp./It./Fr.) (aka Abre los Ojos)

Virtual Reality Kisses

In director Alejandro Amenabar's confusing, baffling, plot-twisting and somewhat captivating film that blurred reality and dreams, the main character was wealthy and narcissistic playboy 25 year-old Cesar (Eduardo Noriega). He had a black-haired lover Nuria (Najwa Nimri), who was becoming jealous and obsessive, and feeling abandoned and only used for sex.

On the occasion of his 25th birthday, he had met and flirted with beautiful brunette Sofia Cueto (Penelope Cruz), the girlfriend of his good friend Pelayo (Fele Martínez). Cesar's sexual flirtation with Sofia was obviously unethical - his friend Pelayo would soon accuse him of stealing her away. He flirted with Sofia that evening and they shared portrait sketches of each other.

After a deliberately-caused major car accident with Nuria driving her sports-car, she was killed and Cesar was seriously injured, with disfiguring facial injuries. After the accident, Cesar had a prosthetic mask. He became suicidal and was suffering from mental trauma and delusions, and was looking for a way to resolve his life predicament. He began to have unsettling disjunctions, dreamy wish fulfillments (mostly to get together with Sofia, or to have a new face), and bewildering reality flips. (Note: From here on, the film was an "artificial perception" or dream, provided by a cryogenics company to which he was contracted.)

One of the film's main themes was 'awakening' from a dream or sleep. Cesar 'awoke' in a Madrid street by his new girlfriend Sofia's whispered words: "Open your eyes" and a kiss. Soon afterwards, the two lovers made passionate love in a very sensual topless love scene, with his face intact.

In the film's conclusion, he discovered that he was, in fact, trapped in a virtual reality simulation generated by the cryogenics company (Life Extension or L.E.) '150 years' into the future. His life was in fact a virtual reality dream (spliced into his real memories) of what he imagined he had experienced after the night of his birthday party and the devastating crash. He resolved to "wake up" from his nightmarish existence to rejoin the real world - by jumping off the roof of the L.E. high-rise skyscraper. The final scene was set on the top of the 50-story high-rise rooftop of the L.E. company.

Conjured-Up Long-Dead Lover Sofia On the Rooftop

Immediately before committing suicide, the main representative of Life Extension, Serge Duvernois (Gérard Barray), asked him: "Do you have any wish before you die?" Cesar closed his eyes, and conjured up his long-dead lover Sofia, breathtakingly beautiful in an almost transparent white dress, and restored his own face to normal. Wordlessly, he embraced her. He also imagined his long-dead best friend Pelayo looking on. One last time before 'killing' his current 'virtual' life, he resolved to "open his eyes" to non-cryogenic healed life in the future - he elected to wake up and be resurrected, now that plastic surgery had advanced and might help him.

After Duvernois warned: "Don't keep suffering. It's all in your head. It's all psychological," a teary-eyed Cesar gave Sofia a long, farewell kiss, dramatically shot from a low angle with the light streaming brightly from behind them. He then boldly stood on a ledge, took one look back at his imaginary friends, and jumped from the roof - to hopefully trigger his rebirth.

Starship Troopers (1997)

A T-Shirt Masked Kiss

Director Paul Verhoeven's science-fiction adventure thriller took time out from the man vs. alien insects plot for a romantic interlude and brief nude scene between:

• Pvt. Dizzy Flores (Dina Meyer), a beautiful, athletic redhead
• Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien), a Mobile Infantry squad member

She zipped open the uniform front of her unrequited love interest, tongued his chest, and then leaned back and peeled off her own black T-shirt (with her dog-tag dangling between her breasts).

Part way off, it got stuck over her nose and head - serving as a mask over her eyes as she was being tantalized and then kissed by Johnny:

Rico: "What's so funny?"
Flores: "You know. Just the way things work out."
Rico: "We finally get together, Dizz."
Flores: "I love you, Johnny."

Their heated kissing was interrupted by a call to move out because of a distress call from Planet "P." Although Rico was initially told to be ready in 10 minutes, the officer changed his orders to 20 minutes after he saw Dizzy in the bed. Rico assured Dizzy: "We can do it."

Titanic (1997)

"I'm Flying!" Kiss

In James Cameron's blockbuster disaster film, steerage passenger Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) kissed aristocratic Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) a number of times, but most memorably - at the prow of the HMS Titanic during a golden glowing sunset.

As she stepped up onto the railing of the prow, Jack instructed her to be quiet and close her eyes:

"Give me your hand. Now close your eyes. Go on. Step up. Now hold on to the railing. Keep your eyes closed, don't peek...Step up onto the rail. Hold on. Hold on. Keep your eyes closed. (She giggled) Do you trust me?...(He had her extend her arms to the side) All right, open your eyes."

She exclaimed: "I'm flying! Jack!"

He softly sang to her: "Come, Josephine, my flying machine. Going up, she goes, Up, she goes..." and took her hands in his before they kissed.

Soon, as the camera circled around them, the view of the ship was transformed into its eerie underwater grave.

Titanic (1997)

Loving Kisses

Jack also joined Rose for a steamy, love-making scene inside a car being transported onboard the Titanic.

While she was in the passenger seat and he was posing as the driver, he asked: "Where to, Miss?" She whispered in his ear to take her "To the stars" before she dragged him through the open window into the backseat. Close to each other before love-making, he was slightly apprehensive, but she was more assertive:

Jack (wondering): "You nervous?"
Rose: "No. (She kissed his fingers) Put your hands on me, Jack."

He intimately touched her breast as he kissed her and they reclined. (During a short interlude, the ship came closer and closer to meeting its fateful destiny.)

"Where to, Miss?"

Rose's handprint was seen on the fogged-up window of the car - it reached out and then slid down and left a steamy imprint. The camera panned down to reveal their sweaty embrace, as she noticed: "You're trembling."

He replied: "Don't worry, I'll be all right" and then he continued kissing her.

Titanic (1997)

Last Dying Frozen Kisses

Rose also received kisses as she floated on a large piece of debris in the icy cold North Atlantic waters after the ship's sinking, when they held hands and she told him: "I love you, Jack." She complained of the intense cold and her frozen body, but he firmly encouraged her to not give up:

"Don't you do that, don't say your good-byes. Not yet, do you understand me?....Listen, Rose. You're gonna get out of here. You're gonna go on and you're gonna make lots of babies, and you're gonna watch 'em grow. You're gonna die an old... an old lady warm in her bed. Not here. Not this night. Not like this. Do you understand me?...Winning that ticket, Rose, was the best thing that ever happened to me. It brought me to you and I'm thankful for that, Rose. I'm thankful. You must, you must, you must do me this honor. You must promise me that you'll survive, that you won't give up, no matter what happens, no matter how hopeless. Promise me now, Rose, and never let go of that promise....Never let go."

She promised, and he replied: "Never let go." She shivered and responded: "I will never let go, Jack. I'll never let go."

He kissed her hand before his corpse froze of hypothermia in the cold Atlantic Ocean, although they maintained their hand-grip.

When she was about to be rescued by a boat by summoning it with a whistle, she let go of Jack's hand, although repeated the phrase - as he sank underwater into the frigid waters:

"I'll never let go. I promise."

In the final dream sequence, elderly Rose (Gloria Stuart) fantasized that she met and kissed Jack at the top of the elegant Grand Staircase surrounded by an applauding audience of all those who died on the ship - now they were together forever.