#(they learned tap dance and make a whole song making fun of british accents)

[martinimom]

i’m happy to announce that even tho i hyped it up beyond imagine, cocaine bear did NOT disappoint. unfortunately this means that i will be soooo annoying to everyone i talk to for a couple of months at least.

[mindctrlaltdel]

Random Reviews: Mulholland Drive

This movie is BASIC INSTINCT, written and directed by Salvador Dali.

***

Recently, I watched MULHOLLAND DRIVE for the first time for my friend Shawn Eastridge's podcast, MISSING FRAMES (www.thenerdparty.com/missingframes/episode-103-mulholland-drive).

As I watched this odd, funny, disturbing, interesting flick, I took the following notes. Is it, as some critics say, the BEST FILM OF THE 21ST CENTURY? Here's an inside look at my viewing experience as I mulled over MULHOLLAND DRIVE...

[PRESS PLAY]

I love how the first five minutes is basically a bad late 90's Gap commercial, all swing dancing, no point...

The Mulholland Drive sign is calling to us. The street, Mulholland Drive, is Bali Hai for perverts.

Justin Theroux gets top billing over Naomi Watts??

I gotta admit, I saw one of the movie's original posters and thought "Naomi Watts AND the lady from the first MEN IN BLACK is in this? It's the triumphant return of Linda Fiorentino." When I DIDN'T see her name in the opening credits, I was disappointed. She's NO Linda Fiorentino... for this role, she's even better. AND she's a countess (seriously, look it up). Oh, and Robert Forster shows up for 10 minutes.

Not-Linda Fiorentino has some hustle in her for someone who just survived a horrible head on collision.

I like how the street signs kind of tell us where we are and what kind of world we're in. It's like a surreal, dramatic version of that Californians SNL sketch.

You mean to tell me that the red-headed older woman didn't see not-Linda Fiorentino under her kitchen table? UnbeLIEVable.

Holy crap, the wide-eyed guy in Winky's - he plays Jimmy Barrett, the comedian in MAD MEN... and MAD MEN is an interesting connection here, because everyone talks in this measured, paced deliberate way throughout that series, kind of similar to how the characters usually speak in the David Lynch productions I've seen... When I started watching MAD MEN, I thought the actors were purposely directed to speak that way, so everything to seem more "real" as opposed to that fast-talking, old-Hollywood style that you'd expect to see from outspoken, big idea-types. I imagined that Matt Weiner wanted people to seem - at least to modern audiences - the way people actually were - particularly, the inhabitants of the intelligent and cerebral world of ad men, working behind the scenes, on the fringes of show business. But then Jimmy Barrett, an old-timey comedian ALSO spoke that way. And it just didn't seem authentic to me. Anyway, back to THIS movie...

OH and that dingy woman behind the dumpster! She's like if Captain Howdy moved out West and got all LA on us. Is that Cloris Leachman covered in mud? And the music... for some reason, there's nothing scarier than the sound of an HVAC vent on full blast. (According to this article, www.vulture.com/2014/10/mulholland-drives-evil-hobo-breaks-her-silencio.html,the actress who played Evil Hobo #1 said of her audition process: "I don’t mean to brag, but David Lynch said he was looking for the most incredible face he could find. I actually met him at a Twin Peaks party, and he was like, 'Look at that face!'")

I love the X-Files-style synth strings that play over Naomi Watts (Betty) and gram-gram (Irene) as they walk through the hotel, I mean the airport... Aw, these two old people love Betty. What a different life she's living than that countess who's not Linda Fiorentino who's squatting in that redhead's apartment that Betty's about to move into.

Even then, Naomi had a good American accent. (Although I learned she's technically British but split her time between England and Australia), those Australians are great at spitting out neutral American sounds. But once I learned that Betty is supposed to be Canadian, I was very disappointed. It's not THAT authentic. Where are her "Aboots"? And she didn't put maple syrup on anything in this whole movie.

Oh my God, are Irene and her husband, riding in this towncar, ALSO going to get held up, like not-Linda Fiorentino at the beginning of the movie? Oh okay, they're not. We just followed them for no reason other than to see that they look happier than an old couple in a Cialis commercial. I guess meeting Betty really improved their sex life or something.

Coco - of course she's a fading hollywood starlet... AHHH, Coco is played by Ann Miller - good for her. She's basically that kooky old landlady from SEINFELD, the one who worked with the Three Stooges that Kramer met when he went to LA. Look at all these connections!

"Prize-fighting kangaroo who shits all over the courtyard" - do you think Naomi Watts is going to come out and say, "as an Australian, I was actually offended by this line, but I was scared into silence by that power-hungry monster, David Lynch."

The countess - who now goes by "Rita" - does kind of look like Rita Hayworth. I like the connections to old Hollywood and to noirs and how it's all wrapped together. Rita Hayworth is also a redhead, like Betty's aunt. She's of Spanish descent as well... and the actress playing Rita in this movie is of Mexican descent... Connections, connections.

I love that this casting session is basically run by a deep state shadow organization with a weird waiter in a red blazer... This is how Disney cast WandaVision.

HAHAHAH "That is one of the finest espressos in the world sir!" - this is DEFINITELY how Disney casts their movies. And Justin Theroux is the only man with integrity in this room! Does anyone have any class in this town!? They don't even validate his parking.

This is my favorite movie about making movies since BOWFINGER. And I may not be lying. And somehow less weird than THE ARTIST.

Is everyone gonna start killing each other over Ed's famous black book? This is oddly funny.

"Something bit me bad!" This incredibly long fight scene between the blond guy and secretary... it reminds me of the Uma Thurman/Daryl Hannah trailer fight in KILL BILL VOL. 2 but with less snakes.

These closeups of lingering looks on Rita's cash-filled purse are great... She's pulling wads of cash out of that purse one at a time, like Leslie Nielsen pulling eggs out of that blond lady in AIRPLANE!

I want to know what direction David Lynch gave that braless woman who's following the blond assassin around. It's like she's doing an acting exercise... like you know, when you're told to fill the space... "walk around the room, and clear your head. And now you're walking really fast. And now you're slow. NOW, imagine what it would be like to walk with your nose as the furthest point in front of you. Lead with your nose..." And David Lynch did that and told the braless woman to lead with her chest.

Justin Theroux is basically Robert Downey Jr.'s character from BOWFINGER, except NOW, he's the protagonist.

Betty is loving Rita's amnesia a bit too much. If this were my life, Rita would be the most interesting thing to happen to me too. Hell, if I was from Ontario, getting off at LAX would rock my world.

When Justin Theroux enters his glass-walled home to find his wife with another man, well... Justin Theroux may never star in something like HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN, but I can definitely picture him in YUPPIE WITH A GOLF CLUB.

That slinky theme song playing in Justin Theroux's/Laraine's house is a song that I actually listen to in my tiki, lounge playlist - to give you a hint of my music tastes. What I listen to for fun, Billy Ray Cyrus puts on to drown out his love-making.

By the way, BILLY RAY CYRUS!!! WHAT? Is this how Miley was conceived??? I think yes.

Pink paint in a jewelry box! This is much better than the usual throwing-all-his-belongings-out-a-second-story-apartment-window-scene that happens in every other movie.

I wouldn't be THAT excited if I learned MY name was Diane Selwin. BUT the sexxxual tension with the waitress Diane at the diner is palpable!

So, not-Linda Fiorentino has amnesia. How does she know that answering machine is NOT her voice!?

Justin Theroux/Adam Kesher's wife is very aggressive with the large man who's so dedicated to finding Adam Kesher that he keeps calling Adam's name in vain like the secretary in my doctor's office.

I watched this movie in pieces, the first half late at night. The second half the next morning. In between, while sleeping, I had a dream where Betty and Rita were looking over a map and any time one of their hands brushed over another, their hands would turn gold. As if this was a stylistic choice made by the filmmaker directing my dream to show that there's some kind of deeper relationship between these two women. So I've started dreaming in Lynch.

I like how this film is so utterly connected to not only Lynch's subconscious, but the audience's as well. Lynch is TAPPED IN. I don't always love when a film goes all in with a surreal style, because sometimes that's just a cover for something lacking in the storytelling department. But I do feel there's more to it here, in MULHOLLAND DRIVE.

The hooded woman, Louise... I feel like I've run into her on the streets of New York. A Louise will ALWAYS find a way to give you a portent of doom that ruins your day. Friggin’ Louise.

This movie is so moody, you really have to be in the mood to watch it.

There's something magical and prophetic about the cowboy, like he's the seer that the old general sees on the eve of battle... Also, I love how the lead female role in Justin Theroux's movie is his sword of destiny. There's a glitz and gleam and nostalgia to Old Hollywood that naturally gives this movie, set in "modern" Hollywood," a total fantasy vibe.

Hahaha that "You're still here?" scene rehearsal between Betty and Rita is an excellent transition.

James Karen - the real estate guy from POLTERGEIST - is handling casting! "He moved the headshots but he didn't cast the bodies!!"

The casting direction: "Don't play it for real until it gets real." It's interesting how the characters, who work in the "business," seem to control their reality. Betty seems unsure of where the scene is going, then she gets into it. And it really speaks to her conversion from a bright-eyed new arrival to someone who surrenders to the darker impulses of the city.

HEAVY BREATHING.

Ugh friggin' Bob...

I love how Lynnie, the casting director, pulls the rug out from under that scene. There's always a jaded casting person who totally wrecks any good feelings about every audition. It's a thing.

David Lynch uses nostalgia and a latent love for Hollywood to draw the characters (and us) into his world and then subverts our expectations. A lot.

Why is the screen test just a lip-synching contest? ...I think it feeds into the nostalgia element for the movie at large but it seems like a waste of studio resources here. Early-aughties Hollywood spending, amirite?

Rita's reaction to finding the body is played very much like the reaction a character would have in an older film... The horror! The fear! The silent gaping terror while possessed with the inability to scream. I was watching the original KING KONG before this (which is may be a sign from the universe that I had to watch this Naomi Watts vehicle, as she starred in the remake), and specifically remember the scene where the director Carl Denham is coaching Ann Darrow/Fay Wray on how to act in a horror film - "now look up, and you see it, you see it in all its horror. And your jaw drops and you try to scream but you're so frozen in terror that you can't!" - I imagine that's what Lynch is doing to not-Linda Fiorentino off-camera as they filmed this scene.

Uh-oh, Rita is single-white femal'ing Betty now... She doesn't have a personality of her own, so she's going to take Betty's.... And now we're just getting NUDE with each other. This erotic thriller immediately turned from skintillating to Skinemax.

"I'm in love with you" - is Betty just saying that to convince herself? It feels more lusty than real. Betty's so bright-eyed and bushy tailed. Rita is gonna chew her up and spit her out!

I like the shot when they're sleeping together and, as they rest, their faces overlap thanks to the perspective of the framing. How much of the same person are they becoming? Where does one personality start and the other end?

The weird 2am theater. How'd Rita and Betty find this place? I love how this pop-up slam-poetry reading in this opera house is as terrifying to Rita and Betty as finding the dead body.

So Betty starts convulsing in her seat and then the poet disappears in a kind of old-style, cinematic I'm disappearing effect. I dig it.

Wait... is this a mysterious, magical show that just appears in LA, like Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead, that town in THE MUMMY that only shows up at sunrise on the third day or something like that? Or is this just a poorly attended Spanish-language talent show that could only afford to book this theater at 2am on a Thursday?

I love that Betty and Rita are tearing up over Rebekah Del Rio's performance (Rebekah Del Rio is a real person, by the way). Then, Rebekah faints as her voice keeps singing - is NOTHING real? Has Betty totally given into this weird world to the point that she doesn't really know what's authentic and what's fake anymore OR was Betty fake before she got to LA so it was easy for her to get acclimated.

This movie is like THE MATRIX, from the perspective of characters who only took the blue pill and didn't look back.

OOOH, Betty has the box and Rita has the key! But the box is empty except maybe its the Gom Jabbar pain-box from DUNE. Is David Lynch using MULHOLLAND DRIVE as an excuse to make good on his promise to produce a good version of DUNE.

WAIT A SECOND, the cowboy knows the dead girl? Does this even matter?

Now, wait ANOTHER second. Is Betty performing or DREAMING when she's Diane or is something else going one??

What's the BLUE KEY doing there?

"Two Detectives"??? Is she talking about Betty and Rita OR Robert Forster and the pudgy guy? OR someone else entirely - the two guy's from Winky's???

The movie became more interesting the moment the perspective shifted to "Diane" and "Camilla." When that happened, Naomi Watts really amped up her performance... reaching a level of intensity we hadn't seen since Betty's audition... it does take 2 hours to reach that point.... But then, when Betty and Rita are topless on the couch, I couldn't tell who they were supposed to be until Rita/Camilla called her "Diane."

Wait, now Rita's acting?? OH, so Rita was an actress? And Diane wasn't? Or Betty looks exactly like Diane?

The weird shifts in focus. The sad masturbating. This is the most depressing soft-core ever made!

Did Betty get killed and have amnesia too?

They take a shortcut to Eddie's house which looks EXACTLY like where Rita/Camilla was taken at the beginning of the movie by the hitmen in the towncar before that wild accident with those teenagers made her life weirder... OR less weird. You be the judge.

IS this a flashback or the future. Eddie and Camilla are having an affair?

MY MOTHER? COCO - what's real and what isn't????

The jitterbug competition.... Diane/Naomi wanted the lead so bad, Camilla got the part but in Mulholland Drive, Naomi is the star.

Then, Camilla is kissing that other blond actress who Betty watched screen test...

MULHOLLAND DRIVE is just David Lynch telling us that LA is a place for lust and jealousy and no matter what, purity gets ruined.

WHAT, the blond waitress is BETTY? And Diane hires the blond guy, who's officially labeled as a hitman.

Diane is also from Canada...

Are Diane and Betty just different versions of the same people in nearby parallel universes? I certainly HOPE so. This is too much insanity for ONE universe to handle.

The blue key will be found where the blond guy told Diane. Okay, that makes sense. But if this were to mirror real life, the key was in her hand the WHOLE time!

OH, and hobo-Cloris Leachman comes back... AND she's holding the blue box/Gom Jabbar... WHY the hell did those two old people wander out of that paper bag??? Do they represent longstanding guilt? Seems like it. Because they've just crept into Diane's apartment.

MULHOLLAND DRIVE is almost silly to the point of pretentiousness at points - at least with the last word to be uttered on screen - "silencio." That said, it does evoke the HAMLET line: "And the rest is silence," so THAT's poetic.

Sadly, Robert Forster was barely in this movie...

Oh, and Lee Grant played Louise - the old-Hollywood connections keep coming!

I can't believe this movie was intended to be a pilot?

***

Now, some final notes:

On the swapping of characters and relationships in the last 30 minutes -- my first thought was that Betty/Diane and Rita/Camilla look similar and/or they're connected by a parallel universe, and the diner is like the central hub between worlds, and hobo-Cloris Leachman is the gatekeeper between the two worlds... I buy the "dream world" explanation that some critics espouse, that's something I considered myself as I watched. But I'm not sure I believed Betty is Diane's dream version of herself. Also, I think David Lynch has a feeling about how everything fits together, yet I don't know if he's even settled on an explanation for everything. He just trusted his subconscious and he's so confident in his latent abilities, that we trust him to show us everything we need to see and take us everywhere we need to go.

I enjoy how it's a surrealist answer to SUNSET BOULEVARD. I hope in 2050, someone makes "The 405" really tying all these movies and Los Angeles roads together.

MULHOLLAND DRIVE is weird but good. Still, I don't know if, to me, it's more weird than good. It's also funny. But is it funny because it's weird or because it's actually, genuinely funny? Are these questions David Lynch actually wants me to ask or does he make it weird on impulse to cover for the fact that the film is simply just weird and based entirely on impulse? MULHOLLAND DRIVE is almost like a parody of a film noir, made by an inter-dimensional alien life-form who studied a bunch of movies from the 40's through the 90's but doesn't have a full grasp on human behavior, and DESPITE THAT, it's more of an emotional experience than a logical one. It's somewhere in between. It's self-indulgent in a way but also very giving. It's a paradox wrapped in an oxymoron wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a coffee-stained napkin covered in cigarette ash locked in a small, blue box.

***

Summing it up: I don't think there's a world where this movie would get a perfect score from me. Because ultimately, for all it's interesting and exciting moments, it's more of a passion project for David Lynch than a piece of entertainment for the audience, no matter how entertaining it may be. To me, it's a vision board more than it is a complete film. And yet, it IS a complete EXPERIENCE. And there's nothing wrong with that.

All of that said, I know David Lynch doesn't really like to give viewers a clear cut, traditional narrative. So, I had a feeling the mystery was just that, a mystery. Or even moreso, the FEELING of a mystery. It's not about where we're going, it's about the journey to the destination. And while the general atmosphere is moody and evocative and often powerful, MULHOLLAND DRIVE plays more like a 2.5 hour piece of music than a cohesive narrative. Maybe that's the best thing about it.

In the distant future, when our way of speaking has become as archaic as the words of Shakespeare are to us, it's the feeling and emotions and images of movies like MULHOLLAND DRIVE that will still have a timeless impact on the future audiences who view them.

[wavemaker9]

I coulda come up with a better title for Day 2: Music but i also very much like this dumb title. also it’s exactly midnight so i’m like 1 minute late on this one too but i’m catching up

Title: Aggressive Stomping Characters: Australia (Kyle), Spain (Antonio/Toni)

It’s not exactly a glare, but the look Kyle is shooting up at the Spaniard is nothing close to his normally pleasant grin. Antonio just smiles back, though; that big, dumb grin he’s known for. When it makes no change in the Aussie’s expression, it falters, though, before falling to a disappointed frown himself. Antonio lifts Kyle up from the dip, trying to lead the other into a turn, but feeling the island nation resist wholeheartedly. Finally, Antonio sighs, letting go of Kyle’s hand. “Y’know, I’m kinda getting the feeling maybe you don’t wanna be here?”

Kyle rolls his eyes, taking a step away from the other and toward a couple chairs that have been pushed towards the wall. “Oh, whatever gave y’that idea?” Kyle shoots back, perfectly nailing a sarcastically curious tone as he finally slumps into one of the seats, spinning slightly to kick his feet up over the armrest. “Could it’ve been the seventy times I grumbled, ‘This’s stupid,’ at ya?” He closes his eyes, leaning his head back onto the other armrest and crossing his arms over his chest. “Naaaaah. Couldn’t be that.”

Toni laughs, though, as he follows the other over. He reaches forward, grabbing for Kyle’s legs and lifting them up so he can sit underneath them on the armrest. Kyle makes a show of reluctancy when he opens his eyes back up, looking at the other. He points out there are other chairs the elder nation could sit in, but Antonio assures him he likes this one just fine.

The Spaniard waits patiently for a few moments before reaching over to grab a hand, lightly tugging on it. “Are you giving up so easily? Or you just want a break. Neither exactly sound like you, but I only gotta talk you outta one.” He tugs again, grinning when Kyle thins his eyes at him before pulling his hand away.

“You don’t gotta talk me outta either,” Kyle shoots back, rolling towards his side slightly so that his back faces away from the chair and his shoulder is aimed more towards Antonio. “Y’could just lemme sit here until it’s too late to learn the dance.”

The Spaniard fights a chuckle, pulling on the hand again to try and get the other to turn back around and face him. “That ain’t gonna help you much this weekend. Didn’t you say you were afraid you’d look bad not knowing the steps, that you’d be embarrassed ‘making me look bad’?” Antonio lifts the legs again, just high enough so he can easily turn himself around to set his feet in the chair and face more towards Kyle. “I thought you’d be excited to learn how the dance works and wow everyone with your moves.”

“Only said that ‘cause I thought it’d die there and I wouldn’t have to go to this dumb dance thingo. Also, I can wow people with my moves without these dumb dance lessons.” A smirk cracks out along Kyle’s lips, though, and olive green eyes shift to look to Antonio. “Y’seemed pretty wowed by my moves last night, if I do say so myself.”

Toni can’t resist another laugh there, though he keeps it warm and playful, pulling the hand up to his mouth and brushing the fingers against his lips briefly. “Not that last night wasn’t as wonderful as ever, but ‘wowed’ is being a little confident, don’t you think?”

Here, Kyle turns to look back at the other, making direct eye contact and grinning in the other’s face. “Very confident, if you’re asking.” He could go without the additional laugh from the northern nation, his lips pulling to the side in an unamused pout as he pulls his hand free. “Rude.”

Toni glosses right over both the false show of confidence and the following expression of offense, pulling the legs back off of his so that he can stand up. He’s quieted by this point, but his shoulders and chest still shake slightly with amusement as he moves closer to the Aussie’s head, leaning down to kiss him on the forehead. “Sometimes you are so adorable.”

Kyle rubs at his forehead the moment the other leans back, shooting an unappreciative glare at him. “Handsome and witty,” he corrects firmly, finally twisting back around so he can look at Antonio directly. “You’re treating me like a fucking kid.”

“If you don’t want me to, stop pouting like one and come join me on the dance floor,” Toni shoots back immediately. He stands back in the center of the empty space, gesturing to it, before settling a hand on his hip and tapping his foot expectantly. “I’m waiting,” he adds, a half-drawn out tease to his voice as he shows his own hint of a smirk.

Kyle stands, but does so without fighting the case that he’s behaving immaturely. He rolls his eyes and scoffs, hands hitting the armrests to turn himself around with the force of wanting to express irritation and reluctance at this whole thing. “Ain’t pouting,” he mutters sourly under his breath, before standing with just as much frustration. “But this is dumb. It’s always- these fancy fucking steps,” he says, voice suddenly picking up a bit of speed as a touch more energy hints his words. “It was the same with Art when I was younger. Always the same.” He takes on this exaggeratedly posh British accent, throwing his hands around in wide sweeps and making deep bows at imaginary persons to his side. “Y’gotta do exactly this way and just like so and no having fun! That ain’t how a proper gentleman behaves!” He drops the act with another big roll of his eyes, and Toni bites his tongue to keep from saying that they’re going to roll right out of his head at this point. “It’s bullshit! It’s dumb and stupid bullshit and I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now!” With a renewed passion to his resistance, he turns sharply and starts to head towards the door. “I ain’t doing it now.”

Toni’s smile had already faltered early into the Australian’s rant, but it dies completely when the other starts to leave. He rushes over, reaching out to wrap arms around the other’s waist, pulling him back into a hug and setting his chin on Kyle’s shoulder. He’s quiet for the moment, just swaying their bodies to the soft strumming of guitar strings still serving as a background music for their conversation. He presses soft kisses at Kyle’s jaw, not responding until some of the younger’s anger is given time to dissipate a bit.

When Kyle finally settles into the hold, letting himself be rocked to the music, Toni makes a humming noise. “Mmmm. So… you really think my kinda dancing is dumb because… there’re too many rules?” There’s definitely a tone to the phrase that sounds disbelieving in what he says.

Kyle’s shoulders fall a bit, rocking his head to the side a bit as if mentally conceding that that sounds harsher than he meant it to be. “I didn’t- don’t want it to be an insult to you. You know I like you and I deffo like watching you dance. But I got enough lessons as a kid where every little mistake I made was pointed out to me and criticized. Especially dancing. It was something a gentleman did and… let’s be honest, that was something I was never s’posed to be.” He doesn’t sound bitter or regretful over the statement. It’s more of a dismissive fact, said with an accepting sigh. “I don’t…. I dunno, it ain’t fun to me anymore. The point of dancing ain’t to be lectured on how to do it right. It’s to-.”

“Enjoy yourself,” Antonio cuts in, squeezing a little tighter. He chuckles into the other’s shoulder, tilting his head to lean it against Kyle’s. “Of course! You realize I agree with you, right? Dancing is about having fun, about passion and expressing yourself. Whatever Arthur taught you back then, lemme unteach you.”

Kyle’s mouth pulls to the side again, eyes thinning as he looks in the other direction away from the other, clearly not fully buying the response. “That why every step I take, you’re pointing out that it ain’t how the traditional way-.”

“There’s a proper way to do any dance, of course,” Antonio agrees, “but it ain’t all rules. My want wasn’t to make you feel bad or nothing like that. You said you were worried about not knowing the steps, about looking bad for being inexperienced. I was thinking you’d want to learn the practiced way to do it, to make sure you were doing it right in front of others.”

Antonio finally pulls his arms free, stepping around to stand in front of Kyle instead. He moves his hands, one wrapping around Kyle’s torso from the front to pull him close, leading him into a slow turn together along with the song. He keeps up the rhythm of the sway and step to the music, albeit slowed down for their conversation. “It’s important to learn the basics to the steps so you know how to make them yours, but there’s just as much feeling as thought to dancing. It’s about moving with your partner, letting the music guide you- your body as well as your soul. The steps can be practiced, but it ain’t truly dancing if there ain’t something to enjoy about it.”

His other hand grabs for Kyle’s, leading him into a slow spin so they end up side by side. The hand around his waist trails along the torso, dragging around and across his stomach to rest wrapped around his back and settling on his hip. The hand holding Kyle’s moves it to rest by his other hand, leaning his face in so they are inches apart. “It can be the music or the steps or… the partner, but you gotta find something to make you smile.”

Kyle keeps eye contact as a reluctant smile slips onto his face, soft but sweet. “Yeah, I… guess,” he breathes out, holding the pose with the other for a moment longer before suddenly turning and stepping away. “Still not crazy ‘bout you leading, though,” he teases, walking past the other, but sparing a wink back over his shoulder.

Toni lets his head roll down and over to follow the other’s movement. He shakes his head once it’s righted, but he’s still laughing in amusement at the other. He reaches forward, grabbing for the other’s hand as he’s passed and tugging him back into a spin to pull him close for quick kiss.

At least, it’s intended to be quick, but Kyle quickly allows his hands to wrap around the other, tangling tanned fingers into dark brown hair. When they pull away, he flashes a grin at the other and gives another playful wink. “See, like those moves better. Why can’t you show me those?” When Antonio insists he’s trying, if Kyle would just allow him, the Aussie shrugs casually. “If y’make it more fun like that, I might be open to learning,” he counters.

Toni looks into the other’s eyes, considers those words, and then smiles wide. That big, dumb grin of his. “Okay. We can do that.” He pulls away, turning and starting towards the speakers thumping softly with the music’s beat. He fumbles with the controls before pausing the song, then turning back to Kyle. “How about this? What dance would you consider fun?”

Kyle raises an eyebrow at him, before shaking his head. “I just said, I ain’t a big fan’a these fancy dances. I mean, I know some, but this shit you’re looking for? It ain’t my thin-.”

Toni lifts a finger, shaking it to dismiss such an idea. “Ah ah ah, I didn’t say fancy dancing. Anything. Unless you wanna try to say all dancing’s not your thing, which you don’t get to lie to me on that. We both know that ain’t true. I see you out the corner of my eye sometimes, when I play my guitar. You sway and slide as you walk around the house and you sing sometimes when you think I can’t hear. Also, we can’t forget that time I walked in on you dancing around to that ‘Uptown Funk’ son-.”

Kyle’s face falls into a flustered frown, before switching to a defiant glare as he crosses his arms. “I will not apologize for that. ‘Uptown Funk’s a good song.”

Toni effortlessly ignores his excuse, “You don’t gotta apologize for nothing. But I know there are other songs you wouldn’t defend that you still enjoy, especially when you think no one’s around to judge you. When I do see you dance, just around the house, I can see you enjoy it. You’re having fun. You like music, like dancing. So what pulls you in. What dances do you like?” When Kyle seems to consider the question, but still appears a little reluctant, he steps closer again, gesturing to the music player behind him. “We can do this, hmm? You play any song, you show me any dance steps, and I will learn them. You can criticize me all you want. You can lead. But then you let me show you how to dance flamenco? Deal?”

Kyle stares, looks away as if considering, before turning back with a new determination. “Yeah, fuck it, you got a deal.” He steps forward, walking past Toni to the speakers. It takes some fussing around to connect his phone and find a proper song, but soon enough he starts up a proper beat. It’s not the pop or punk rock Toni’s caught Kyle dancing to before or anything similar. Instead, it’s a sort of electronic party beat that immediately sets Kyle into a rhythm of little bounces on his feet. “‘Kay, this is called the Melbourne Shuffle. You’re actually lucky; the basic steps for shuffling’re super easy to learn.”

He cranks the music up a bit before turning and starting forward toward the Spaniard. His feet lift and drop in a rough, bouncy step, and Toni immediately has to cover up a laugh. It gets Kyle to come to an immediate halt, shooting a confused frown at the other. “Wha- what?”

Toni shrugs carelessly, admitting, “I just wasn’t expecting… quite so much… aggressive stomping, y’know?”

Kyle’s frown becomes more firm, once more pouting at the other in offense. “I mean, your dance’s got a lotta stomping too, if y’think about it.” Toni opens his mouth, but Kyle raises a finger. “If you-!” Toni tries again and Kyle re-lifts the finger at him. “No, if you really- if you really think about it, it’s a lotta fancy stomping and clapping. Pretty much every dance is, really. Just differs on how hard y’step.”

Toni shakes his head, looking almost a little offended himself. “There’s a lot more flare and style to flamenco than just-.”

“And that’s why it’s laaaaame,” Kyle cuts back in, closing the remaining gap between them. He reaches out to playfully punch the Spaniard’s arm before passing by his side. “Y’know I ain’t one for that really old flare and style.” Antonio points out that the dance really only came around in the late 1700s, which gets Kyle to laugh and point out that that’s around the same time the first boats even came to his land. “I ain’t about all that flash; just having some fucking fun, mate. Now, deal’s a deal. Stomping or not, here’s whatcha gotta do.”

True to his word, Antonio listens as the other walks him through the simple steps of lifting and moving and crossing or spreading out his feet. He explains how twists and kicks and slides and jumps are thrown in, and how you can sway or jerk your arms around, but a lot of it comes naturally with the movement and the music. It takes a little bit to pick up, but eventually they’re just dancing, occasionally spinning and dancing around each other. Antonio learns to like the dance, but he learns to love how showing off the steps draws a little smile to Kyle’s face. He, admittedly, might be paying more attention to that than to the movement of his own feet for the moment. When Kyle comments on those movements, though, he keeps them all relatively positive.

When the song comes to an end, that smile leaves Kyle’s face. He slowly comes to a stop, sighing as the next song starts, a similar sort of beat but with a smoother, lighter sort of tune to it and with words. “Alright,” Kyle says after a moment, nodding over to the music. “Start whatever guitar shit ya got and show me the flamenco steps. Deal’s a deal.”

Toni glances in the direction of the music, but it takes only a moment to look back and nod back to Kyle. “We can do two and two?” he suggests, “Another dance means another song?” It really is like sunshine, that excited grin that grows on the Aussie’s face.

Kyle spares a half second to ask for a confirmation, but is already dismissing any need for it with a joyous agreement, already starting to mention a couple other variations of shuffle dances he can show the other. Toni smiles, mostly glad to see the other excited again, though a part of it he must admit is amusement, as one simple thought crosses his mind: Don’t like dancing, my ass.