Recently I was watching Body Heat, Lawrence Kasdan’s 1981 directorial debut. It’s a great movie, working both as tribute to the film noir of the 1940s and on its own as a part of that genre. It was Kathleen Turner’s first movie, too, and it’s probably the most thrilling debut of an actress since Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not. The movie is probably most famous for all the steamy sex scenes between Turner and William Hurt.

Now, I love this movie. But when I was a child, one of the movies I watched over and over and over again, as children do, was Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which is also an excellent picture. But because it was such an important part of my early life as a viewer, any time Kathleen Turner opens her mouth to speak, I can’t help but think: Jessica Rabbit!

With that in mind, the sex scenes in Body Heat take on a disturbing tone, don’t they? I mean, you kinda can’t help but think of Roger Rabbit taking the place of William Hurt during all those passionate encounters, and that’s just plain wrong. Roger Rabbit should not be doing that!

I was also watching the retrospective documentaries on the Body Heat DVD, where writer/director Kasdan talks about how he loved the film noir of the 40s.  He lists several titles, and the posters from those movies he lists and others appear on the screen. Noticeably absent from both the string of posters and Kasdan’s lists is Billy Wilder’s 1944 Double Indemnity. Because, you know, the plot of Body Heat definitely has no similarities to the plot of Double Indemnity, no sir. As different as night and day, those two!

Another picture I watched recently was The Ten Commandments, because who doesn’t love some Chuck Heston. A lot of discussion of this movie in today’s hip, detached atmosphere focuses on the film’s kitschy aspects, looking at it is as something of a guilty pleasure. (Edward G. Robinson doesn’t actually say “Where’s your Messiah now,” but he could.) And that’s sort of true, but it also has many genuine pleasures. If you can’t take genuine pleasure from Heston, Yul Brynner, Edward G. Robinson, Vincent Price, Lily Munster and that lady who brings Spock back to life, then the hell with you.

The movie also, as you might expect from a Moses biopic, has a scene where the infant deliverer is placed in a basket and set to float among the reeds. The basket the baby is put into has a hinged top and is shaped oddly like a space pod. Watching the sequence I couldn’t help wishing for a shot of what Moses sees inside the basket as an image of his father Amram tells him all about the responsibilities he’ll have, as the last son of Krypton, when he finally arrives on Earth.

This would work especially well in light of the famous scene later in the movie when Moses flies through the air carrying Nefretiri and a helicopter.

If You Hated This, You Will Also Totally Hate:

• Date Movie
• Batman Returns
• The Alien Standard
• My Beef with Roger Ebert
• A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge