Sunday, May 8, 2011

Venessa Ferlito and the art of lap dancing

The name Vanessa Ferlito normally will not ring a bell even to a hardcore English movie buff. This thirty year old Hollywood hottie is not your regular poster girl who competes with the likes of Angelina Jolie and Megan Fox. IMDB says she is best known for her roles in The Sopranos, Man of the House and couple of other movies and TV shows. She has appeared in spider man 2 and Wall Street 2, but even that doesn’t make a house hold name. You must be wondering why am I giving a profile about some random American actor.

Well that’s because of I saw one of her acts in Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 thriller Death Proof. The highlight of the whole movie according to me is the lap dance Arlene (that’s her character) gives to Stuntman Mike (played by Kurt Russel) on The Coasters beautiful R&B number “Down in Mexico”. Before moving from my blog in disgust or hooting and expecting this piece to get hotter (sorry guys) after coming across the term ‘lap dance’ I suggest you see the act which is widely available in you tube (just type Grind house DeathHouse lap dance). Everything about the scene, starting with the dance, the song and the place where it happens (a local watering hole where Arlene hangs out) stands out.

Dressed in a cut off and a tank top her performance is simply superb. The act starts with Arlene selecting the song from the juke box in the bar and walking slowly to where stuntman Mike sits. That act of walking slowly in tune with the song seals it. Now whenever I see a raunchy dance act, the performance by Venessa will be my benchmark and I doubt if anyone can better it. If only bollywood directors and choreographers could take a leaf out of such a performance, item numbers would move from just another excuse for skin show to a more enjoyable experience. But then expecting that from a Hindi movie perhaps is asking for too much.

One notable effect the song had on me was my renewed interest in R&B genre of music. So all of you who appreciate some good music and dance, don’t miss this one.