Striking Resemblance (1997) -- the title tells you nearly everything you need to know about this film. It is an adjective noun, and is hence more than likely a soft core. With the word "striking" in the title, we can surmise murder mystery, and Striking Resemblance has the distinct odor of surprise evil twin solution (SETS). This would normally be enough cause to avoid it, and the 4.4 score at IMDB seals its fate, except for one thing. It is time to play guess the ending. Watch the film, and record the running time at the instant you figure out the solution. For me, it was at 51:43.

Lots of naked bimbos, including Nicole Gian as a police detective who cheats on her partner/boyfriend with a suspect and shows breasts and buns, CeCe Tsou, Kim Yates and Shauna O'Brien who give three B performances, and several uncredited strippers. I will say the simulated sex was rather convincing, but the acting was anything but. This is a D+, almost genre minimum.

Ray (2004):

At the time I checked the IMDb page for Ray, the lead comment said, "Great performances and music squandered in mediocre story."

That is all sort of true, but it seems to me that it really lends the wrong perspective on the matter. If you have great performances and a couple hours of Ray Charles music, is the story really that important? Can that really be called "squandering"? C'mon, now, really?

And when you're talking about performances, the lead performance by Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles is not merely great. It is one of those achievements so triumphant that it immediately renders all the annual competitions meaningless, and wins by acclamation. This is the second straight year we have been privileged to see one of those performances which are only supposed to occur about once per generation. Last year Charlize Theron turned in her uncanny performance in Monster. This year, Jamie. Just as it was with Theron last year, if Jamie does not win the Oscar, the Academy should immediately be disbanded, and a new, more sensible organization should be built upon its ruins.

Take away the story completely, and you could watch a two hour Ray Charles concert with a little back-story, right? Well that is exactly what you get. I'm telling you that Jamie Foxx is not even in this movie. It is Ray Charles who appears as himself. From the moment Jamie totters into view, there is never any doubt in your mind that you are watching Ray Charles as a young man: the piano fingering, the way he moves, the walk, the voice, every mannerism. Even the face seems to be Ray's face. Of course, the great man did sing 90% of the music himself, and there is only one Ray Charles, but on those occasions when Jamie filled in some singing, the transition was completely flawless, and Jamie's fingering was so perfect that the film's director had far more options than are normally available in a musical biopic - he was able to use any camera angle he chose at any time, because if Jamie's fingering comes into view, you can be sure it is correct. (Jamie studied the piano in his school days, and he also worked directly with Ray Charles to get the details right.)

Hats off to Double-X. He has an immeasurable depth of musical talent to go with his acting talent. Of course, it would be easy to assume he pulled this all off on talent alone, but that is not so. He worked his share of 16 hour days (and, according to the DVD special features, even some 23 hour days) to get everything exactly right, and he actually played all the scenes blind. Let me be sure you understand what I am saying. He was not just pretending to be blind behind some glasses. He was blind. The crew created the make-up so that Jamie could not see.

While faithful to the facts of Ray's life, the story is not especially intriguing. It is a by-the-numbers biopic which hits upon too many details to develop anything with much depth, but it has some very strong positives:

1. The fifties and sixties are evoked perfectly.

2. I was impressed by the way the director chose to portray Ray's childhood memories with highly saturated representations of too-vivid colors, remembered as a once-sighted blind man might have remembered colors from the dimly-remembered days when he could see. (Ray was not fully blind until about age nine.) If I tell you that Ray was always haunted by the drowning death of his brother when they were both small children, and that the death continually came back to him throughout the film in dreams and hallucinations about death and water, you may think that the device sounds artificial, and yet I did not find it unnatural or self-indulgent in the course of the movie. It may be a heavy-handed device, but the director made it work

3. The story is the truth. Ray is portrayed as a womanizer and a junkie. He can be emotionally shallow, disloyal, and cold to his friends, and he often lets ruthless ambition and musical perfectionism come between him and his friends and family.

4. It makes the point that Ray was a cripple in some ways (his heroin addiction, e.g.), but his blindness was not one of them. In fact, as the credits were rolling, I was wondering if Ray's blindness was a gift rather than a handicap. Would he have been so driven if he had not been blind? Would he have been so completely at one with sound if he had also had his sight? In a way, you can argue that Ray's "handicap" was similar to John Nash's in "A Beautiful Mind" in that in both cases the men were geniuses because of their unique challenges, not in spite of them. If John Nash had not been able to see patterns that others could not, would he have been a great mathematician? If Ray had not trained himself to hear what others could not, would he have been a musical genius?

I want to point out some very fine features on the DVD

First, while the movie itself only shows appropriate excerpts from various Ray Charles songs, the director actually filmed complete versions of nine songs. If you are irritated by the fact that the movie cuts away just when you're really getting into the songs, you'll be able to get your fix and sing or dance along to the special features.

Second, the discs include many interesting features on how the film was made. I watched all of them, and enjoyed just about everything, but the one I want to bring to your attention is some footage of a very old Ray Charles, obviously not in great health but still exuberant about music and generous with his praise, teaching Jamie to play like Ray. Imagine yourself in Jamie's shoes - trying to get it, failing, failing again, getting frustrated, failing again right in front of the great Ray Charles himself, getting more frustrated, failing yet again, and then having it all fall into place and hearing Ray himself say "I think the boy's got it!", obviously with great delight. I don't envy Jamie's incredible talent, but I do really envy his possession of that moment. It has to be a greater moment than the rest of us will ever know.

Even if you don't find the biography to be all that engaging, well, so what? It's good enough to carry the Jamie/Ray concert. My dad and I once drove through a blizzard for hours to see Ray Charles perform in concert. Today I got to see Ray play from the comfort of my living room, and he even got a few decades younger.

If only my dad had lived to see this movie!

• Aunjanue Ellis. (1, 2) In addition to the other positives of the film, the director even managed to sneak a breast (collage 1) and maybe even some pubic hair (collage 2) past the MPAA and still get a PG-13 rating.

Other Crap:
 

• Associated Press suckered in by an obvious hoax. (A picture of an American G.I. who was supposedly captured in Iraq was actually a picture of a G.I Joe doll!!)
• King Gyanendra announced on state-run television on Tuesday that he had sacked the country's multiparty government. I know this story sounds boring, but you have to click on it to see the picture. This guy is my kind of king.
• The trailer from Wolf Creek. A chilling, factually-based, story of three road-trippers in remote Australia who are plunged into danger when they accept help from a friendly local.
  • I know I'm an old curmudgeon, but the term "factually-based" makes me cringe for several reasons. Excluding grammatical considerations, the most substantive reason is that it has the same relationship to facts that "processed cheese food" has to cheese.
• Leonardo DiCaprio given a "lifetime achievement" award, although the meaning of it probably won't sink in until he hits puberty. Next year's recipient: Dakota Fanning.
• Forget El Greco and Cezanne. Here's my kind of art. The distinguished gallery of bird poop.
• Blog Archive of the famous skeptic, The Amazing Randi
• Johnny Carson's tributes from tha nation's editorial cartoonists.
• Reuters Television: good source of up-to-date news clips.
• Teri Hatcher: "My breasts are real"
• Teri Hatcher's boobs, part 2. One of our readers asks why, if they are real, they continue to stand up when she lies down.
• Tell you what, I have no opinion about whether her breasts are natural today, but Teri Hatcher's breasts were definitely natural in Heaven's Prisoners. I do know this. (1) They didn't look that impressive when she removed her shirt. (2) If they are still natural, they would probably look quite a bit less impressive today, given that the movie was made in 1996, and that even the gorgeous Ms Hatcher is not exempt from the laws of aging and gravity.
• Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria explains the ramifications of post-election Iraq on The Daily Show
• The Daily Show: "With the close of the Iraqi elections, joyful people took to the streets, shooting discriminately."
• "I will be your Pro Prom Date! If you live in the Chicago area and need a girl, then bid away! The picture posted is of my last bidding winner and his prom. I'm super fun and love to dance and you're promised a GREAT time!" So far, the top bid is 26 bucks.
• Nicole DuFresne Homepage. Nicole is the actress/playwright who was killed by muggers last Wednesday in NYC.
• Chinese scientist claims: Dinosaurs actually farted themselves to death.
• EA scores another exclusive deal - this time with Arena Football
• All time rushing leader Emmitt Smith ready to call it quits
• Cher's Farewell Tour Will Finally End at the Hollywood Bowl. She will finish having visited every state in the union except Vermont (no suitable venue) and Delaware (no homosexuals). Back in the first leg of the tour, she performed for Hannibal atop a makeshift stage built by elephants.
• Own a piece of history: The Iraqi Ballot
• CNN.com - Letterman offers Carson's last monologue. (See link below)
• The highlights from last night's Late Show with David Letterman. (1) There is a tribute to Johnny Carson. (Click on "big show highlight.") I had a hard time watching it. I guess there was something in my eyes. Must be allergy season. (2) Letterman's monologue (click on "Dave's monologue" to hear it in its entirety) consisted entirely of Johnny's jokes.
• Saturn being orbited by a shiny peach pit.
• Jackie Stallone says her dogs possess psychic powers because they predicted George Bush would win the US election.
• An important message from Basil Fawlty. (It purports to have been composed by John Cleese, but I don't know who really wrote it.)
• Hilary Swank has revealed she came within hours of death after catching a bug while filming Million Dollar baby.
• Restaurateur dishes dirt on stars: "Which celeb is the most annoying customer?"
• It had to happen. Merriam-Webster adds "NU-kyu-ler" to the list of pronunciations. (Pronunciation three.) Next up: "Kol-ee-FORN-ya"
• Weekly World News: "Sexy superpsychic Jennifer Boulware says you can attract more love, money and luck than you can shake a stick at if you rub her 'magic bazookas' and wish for it! "
• Out of monopoly money? Print your own.
• 'Forty Shades of Blue' wins top prize at Sundance Festival
• The trailer for Ten 'til Noon
  • "In ten minutes, everything can change. For these ten people, it will. A jet-lagged Larry Taylor awakens to find two strangers in his bedroom, and over the next ten minutes, will experience the most terrifying - and possibly final - moments of his life. But who these strangers are, and whay they want, can only be determined by events occuring elsewhere, and at the same time. We relive those same ten minutes through the eyes of those connected to what is not a simple home invasion, and with each person, find ourselves propelled closer to the truth."
• Sex is selling at Sundance.
• TIM RUSSERT REGAINING CONSCIOUSNESS AFTER ONE-HOUR INTERVIEW WITH KERRY. Newsman "Doing Well," Doctors Say
• Ted "Theodore" Logan gets a most excellent place on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Other Crap archives. May also include newer material than the links above, since it's sorta in real time.

Click here to submit a URL for Other Crap

MOVIE REVIEWS:

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 Junior or Brainscan, or somebody else besides me)
• If there is no asterisk, I wrote it, but am too ashamed to admit it.

Words, pictures, and vids from ICMS

"The Sweet Hereafter" (1997)

This week's poll...
Which actress has been the most convincing playing a stripper?

Here are the results of our most recent other polls...

The Top 20 Nude Scenes of 2004

The Best Nude Film Debuts of the 80s

Email Scoopy Jr. with your nominees, comments or suggestions.

First up from the Ghost...a few video clips (zipped .wmvs) of assorted Former Heffers.

• Jeane Manson (August '74), topless in scenes from the Charles Bronson movie "10 to Midnight" (1983).

• Ola Ray (June '80), also topless in scenes from "10 to Midnight".

• Sharon Clark (August '70) baring breasts and bum in scenes from the 1976 movie "Lifeguard". (1, 2)

• Tina Bockrath (May '90) full frontal in scenes from her one and only movie..."Totally Exposed" (1991). (1, 2)

Next up, a whole bunch of 'caps of Skinemax babe Greta Dolan aka Mary Shannon in scenes from 3 different late night cable shows.

• Greta Dolan topless in several scenes from an episode of "The Best Sex Ever". (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)

• Greta Dolan in scenes from an episode of "Hotel Erotica". Topless in all, plus frontal nudity in links 3,5,6,9,10 and 17. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)

• More of Greta Dolan topless. This time in scenes from an episode of "Thrills". (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

"Lana's Rain"
The main message of this compelling 2002 drama seems to be that no matter how bad you think people are, they're really a lot worse.

Darko and Lana, a brother and sister, escape to America from the war-torn Balkans and wind up in Chicago. Lana doesn't know that Darko is a low-level mobster and war criminal on the run from the international authorities. Despite the promise of a new land, things seem to once again go badly for the pair when their money and possessions appear to be stolen from the park while Lana dozes. Penniless, Darko convinces Lana that the only choice is for her to turn tricks.

Although Darko thrives, there never seems to be enough money for Lana to quit hooking, and Darko eventually adds two more women to his stable.

When rogue international agents snatch Lana and another hooker and torture them mercilessly to reveal Darko's whereabouts, she begins to realize her brother is nothing like he seems.

A dark and unpleasant but extremely well-done movie with excellent story and acting, that will keep your interest until the end. Highly recommended.

• Oxana Orlenko

Katherine Moennig
(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)