Dangerous Beauty (1998) stars Catherine McCormack as a bright and attractive young woman in 16th century Venice. She is in love with a man so far above her in station (Marco), that she has no chance of marrying him, even though he also loves her. Her mother comes up with the perfect solutions. She trains her to be a courtesan. Seems her mother was once a famous courtesan, and learned the trade from her own mother. This was a position with definite advantages, not solely financial. Wives were sort of property, were uneducated, and were expected to stay home, do needle point, and have lots of children. Courtesans were educated, and welcome in almost any circle of powerful men.

McCormack was very good at her trade, and was the darling of Venice, but still loved Marco, which was nearly her undoing. He made the expected political marriage, but turned to McCormack for love and lust. Small things like a war with the Turks, and a plague which brought the inquisition to Venice, to root out the sin that had made God angry enough to send a plague, nearly cost her her life. McCormack shows breasts and buns in several scenes, and several unknown courtesans also showed breasts.

IMDB readers have this at 7.1 of 10. Ebert says 3 1/2 stars, Berardinelli says 3, and Rotten Tomatoes shows 68% positive, with 75% from the top critics. This is the sort of film I would normally not like. It is a long costumer, and is basically a woman's story, showing the status of women in the 16th century, and how one woman rose above it. IN fact, it is based on a true story. To my surprise, I enjoyed it very much. The beautiful cinematography and the nudity didn't hurt, and the fine acting was a plus, but what held my interest was a lively story and clever dialogue. This is a B.

Movies and TV:

Two brand-new, unreleased movies today, both with female nudity. That's the good news.

The bad news is that both movies stink, and the nudity comes from unknowns or unidentifieds.

Final Destination 2 - a sequel to the semi-popular youth-oriented slasher/horror film, which really has none of the qualities that made the first one popular.

• Biker chick

The Foreigner - a confusing international intrigue film. Screen Gems signed a contract to make two films for Steven Seagal after the respectable success of Exit Wounds. This is the second of the two. I think you'll know everything you need to know when I tell you that they sent it straight-to-vid after lavishing $20 million dollars on it.

• Veronica Smirnova
• Here is the page where you can study Veronica's credentials and contact her agent. She's a very beautiful girl with an enormous chest. She is wearing the same locket in her official photo that she wore for the film! Hire her so she can buy a second locket.

Jennifer Garner in last night's Alias (1, 2, 3)

Updates

• Updated encyclopedia volumes: Uschi Digard, Cameron Diaz, Arielle Dombasle, Bo Derek, Linda Fiorentino, Madonna

Other crap

• They have sold 4.5 million of those Girls Gone Wild videos
• this is funny. You thought it was cool that we got an advance copy of the Hulk trailer? How about an advance copy of President Bush's State of the Union message
• Important longevity tips from former base-stealing king Davey Lopes
• The Sun speculates on Kylie Minogue,and rubber duckies that double as vibrators, and a possible connection
• Bob Dylan and Jessica Lange at Sundance. Bob is lookin' mighty good.
• ifilm has all the superbowl commercials

Here are the latest movie reviews available at scoopy.com.

• The yellow asterisks indicate that I wrote the review, and am deluded into thinking it includes humor.
• If there is a white asterisk, it means that there isn't any significant humor, but I inexplicably determined there might be something else of interest.
• A blue asterisk indicates the review is written by Tuna (or Lawdog or Junior or C2000 or Realist or ICMS or Mick Locke, or somebody else besides me)
• If there is no asterisk, I wrote it, but am too ashamed to admit it.

Today we return to "Animal Attraction" and a look at one of my favorite B-Babes, Ahmo Hight as she gets her boobs felt up. Also from the same movie another look at Stephanee Lafleur and her ample charms.

• Ahmo Hight (1, 2, 3)
• Stephanee LaFleur (1, 2, 3)

Then we move on to "Backlot Murders" for an unknown babe showing off her tits. Anybody have a clue who she is?

• Topless Unknown (1, 2, 3)

Vidcaps from the Finnish TV-series "Sydänten akatemia" (1998, rerun 2003). Matleena Kuusniemi (known from Levottomat) and Miina Turunen (not to be mixed up with Minna Turunen).

"Sydänten akatemia" (1998) (Academy of the Hearts) started off as a very well done soap series, then declined a bit. It's currently being rerun on TV, so that makes these caps topical again. Besides these scenes there was some worthwhile non nude stuff by Miina and other actresses.

• Matleena Kuusniemi, breasts, bum, and lingerie. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)

• Miina Turunen, dark scene, but there is breast and bum to be seen.