Kiss Cam: The Most-Hyped Recent Lip-Locks on Film

THE IDEA OF GHANDI locking lips with little Michelle Tanner is an improbable one at best. But that's exactly what happened last year in "The Wackness," a film that starred Ben Kingsley as pot-loving therapist Dr. Squires and Mary-Kate Olsen as Union, one of his hook-up buddies.

The make-out session between the two generated more talk than the film itself — which comes out on DVD Jan. 7 — but proved one of Hollywood's most important rules: Sometimes, it's the kiss that makes the film. Yes, the acting is important, and a film's plot is integral, of course. But every so often, it's that lip-connection that shatters pop culture conventions and is more impactful than anyone could have guessed.

Do they necessarily make a movie better? No — but they can make it more talked about. Read on to see if you agree with our list of the five most hyped, most talked-about kisses in film from the past 10 years.

Cruel Intentions Kiss Scene

"CRUEL INTENTIONS"
The idea of two girls kissing on the big screen — outside of porn — was still a pretty risque one when "Cruel Intentions" came along in 1999 — but boy, did that change with that one peck between the devilishly coke-addled Sarah Michelle Gellar and the vapidly virginal Selma Blair. The pacing, the close-up, that one trail of saliva — it sounds gross now (and yes, it was certainly exploitative), but boy, did it cause a tidal wave of parental outrage and teenage-boy-joy. The scene would go on to win the Best Kiss award at the 2000 MTV Movie Awards, and would beat out another girl-on-girl kiss (Hilary Swank and Chloe Sevigny in "Boys Don't Cry") to do so. Comparable, though, the two kisses are not.

"BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN"
While girl-on-girl kisses have become somewhat more accepted (and in throwaway teen films, almost expected, such as the unnecessary one in "John Tucker Must Die"), double-male kisses are still a somewhat shocking business — which is why "Brokeback Mountain" was so continuously muttered about. Based on Annie Proulx's short story and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger, the film lost to "Crash" for Best Picture at the 2006 Academy Awards but got four stars out of four from various reviewers, such as Roger Ebert and Rolling Stone. Though the first kiss between Ennis (Ledger) and Jack (Gyllenhaal) is sweet in its surprising innocence, it's their kiss after being apart for four years that takes the cake. Intense, unbridled and raw, the scene crackles with passion and desperation — and ends up being the beginning of Ennis's and Jack's downfall. The kiss isn't meant to be happy, and it's not — instead, it's an example of forbidden love at its best.

"SPIDER-MAN"
The movie, no matter how much money it made and what critics may say, was kinda horrible: Kirsten Dunst was wooden and unbelievable; Tobey Maguire too wide-eyed in his overacting; the whole thing stank of shtick. The only thing "Spider-Man" had going for it was that kiss, the one in the rain with the upside-down Spider-Man and the quiveringly grateful Mary Jane. Nothing else in "Spider-Man" — or the next two installments in Sam Raimi's series, for that matter — would come close to being quite as good.

"MR. AND MRS. SMITH"
When "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" came out in 2005, the chemistry between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie just seemed like really good acting. But in the years that have passed since, Pitt's marriage to Jennifer Aniston fell apart, Pitt and Jolie hooked up in real life and Jolie has admitted it was during the filming of the movie (while Pitt was still married) that the two of them fell in love. Talk about drama — or, as Aniston would put it, being "uncool."

"THE NOTEBOOK"
Up until "The Notebook" came out in 2004, "The Princess Bride" pretty much had the whole devoted-boy-meets-girl-loses-girl- they-end-up-together-somehow-"is-this-a-kissing-book?" thing down. But with Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling as Noah and Allie, star-crossed lovers during World War II, "Bride's" Buttercup and Wesley got mightily dethroned. With that kiss in the rain (which would win Best Kiss at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards and be reenacted by McAdams and Gosling onstage), "The Notebook" would cement its place in romantic-movie history — and give girls everywhere wholly unrealistic expectations about love for years to come.

Written by Express contributor Roxana Hadadi