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"Hollow Man" (2000)
Hollow Man (2000) has been panned by everyone including Scoopy, with the critics agreeing on two stars. I had forgotten all of that when I put it on today, and saw 30 minutes of great film making. Kevin Bacon is principle investigator on a DOD project dealing with making people invisible and
bringing them back. Phase one, making mammals invisible has been successfully accomplished. Phase two, which is bringing them back, has been much more of a problem. Elizabeth Shue plays a fellow scientist and former lover who has split with him because of his incredible ego, but still has
some feelings for him, and loves riding his coat tails from a science standpoint. She has become intimate with the department head, Josh Brolin, who is anything except exciting and brilliant, but is stable and pays attention to Shue.
Bacon solves the reversal problem, and we are treated to possibly the best special effects yet put on celluloid as an ape appears slowly from the inside out. The special effects were done by Tippett Studio, who also did Starship Troopers using a new Laser digitizing devise from Cyra Corporation
(www.cyra.com) to model the caves. The Cyra system uses lasers to create an accurate 3-D model of large objects in a fraction of the time required by traditional methods. I suspect they used the same Cyra system to model Kevin Bacon and the gorilla.
With phase two completed, Kevin decides to move on to phase three -- human testing -- without letting the Pentagon know they have finished phase two or getting approval, and, of course, becomes the subject. Conversion to invisibility goes well, but the reversal goes awry, and they are unable to bring him back. Up to this point, we have a great film. We have a very strong performance by Bacon, a subtle performance by Shue, and a boring Brolin for contrast. We have superb special effects, and a good start on the stated goal of examining how invisibility would psychologically effect a person. Then, the film turns to pure fecal material as they try a remake of Alien. Not only is that a trite story, but Shue doesn't have a ghost of a chance playing Sigourny. Sigoury plays Sigoury better than anyone else.
From there we have an invisible monster, Bacon, inside a small world, the lab, and in a life and death struggle with the normal humans. Still, there are things to watch for in the last 2/3 of the film. The science is good. They are able to see Bacon, for instance, with infra red goggles. This is
sound science, as even an invisible body would have heat. Further, in one scene where Bacon gets out of bed, we see his IR signature on the bed after he gets up. So the real problem with this film is the screenplay. This is not the first time a Herculean effort by Paul Verhoeven has been ruined by
a weak screenplay. Showgirls comes to mind. In both films, the premise is good, the settings, set direction and camera work are wonderful, and Verhoeven shows real talent at including well lit nudity. They worked on the screenplay for years, writing 8 radically different versions, and never
getting it right, then stopped trying and got Verhoeven to direct.
I am not sorry I watched this film, as the special effects were that good that it was not a total waste. My vote for this years Oscar for special effects goes to Hollow Man. I only have one request. For Gods sake, would someone give Verhoeven a script. I think he has a great film in him.
Thumbnails
Elizabeth Shue
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Kim Dickens
Rhona Mitra
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| Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy)
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I updated my comments on Almost Famous. I'm pretty sure that if I did the Oscar nominations myself, and I had to pick five films, that this would have been one of them. I'm not
sure, but if I had to pick the #1 of the year, I might pick this, although I'd have to give it more thought before committing, because I just don't know what criteria to use to choose among diverse projects. I just wasn't knocked out by any of the nominees.
This is just a Barbara Hershey pic that I found on my hard disk - a large capture from Boxcar Bertha. Pretty sure it isn't my capture, because I don't remember ever capping this movie, but I don't know where it came from.
Barbara Hershey
| Graphic Response
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Barbara Sukowa Topless and rear nudity in scenes from "The Sicilian".
Sandra Reinhardt Breast Exposure from "Illegal in Blue".
Stacey Dash Also showing revealing her breasts in scenes from 1995's "Illegal in Blue".
| Bootlegs by Crow
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Still in theaters!
Cleavage, pokies, bras and upskirts from the two Amandas in scenes from "Saving Silverman". (The next "two Coreys"?)
Amanda Detmer
Amanda Peet
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| Brainscan
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The Sleuth nailed it cold with his last issue. Estella Warren, Laetitia, Padma Lakshmi and Alexus Winston all in one handy carrying case. The last of these was not a surprise to these eyes or to PETScan's since he had just finished scanning a mess of her pictures. A Pet who looks like she belongs on the runway or the silver screen.
Alexus Winston
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A bit tamer is a recent pic of rebellious teenager, Jessica Biel. And I am sure all of your readers tune into Seventh Heaven every darn week, so there's no need to explain. Nice shorts, Jess.
The last of the scans represent an oddity. Lalla Dean was a page 3 girl in the long ago time and played an uncredited pool girl in Bond flic For Your Eyes Only. Like many girls of the third page she posed more explicitly in a magazine or two. Where Lalla went I do not know but she was one real cutie.
Lalla Dean
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| Oz
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"The Land Girls"
The land girls replaced the men working on farms in Britain during World War 2. Catherine McCormack, Anna Friel and Rachel Weisz played three such girls. Unfortunately, no nudity. Anna comes close when she is enjoying her bath and Rachel gets down to her underwear. Catherine is there because she looks nice. The movie is watchable if you like the romantic genre. There's not a lot of action.
Catherine McCormack
Anna Friel
Rachel Weisz
"The Hidden"
Claudia Christian stars in "The Hidden", which is the story of an alien that comes to earth and takes over the body of humans. Claudia, who plays a stripper, was one of his victims. No nudity but some very nice pokies come through from the silicone underneath (and you can see Claudia likes them as well). Nice butt shot too.
Claudia Christian
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"Freeway II : Confessions of a Trick Baby"
This is an enjoyable movie. You've got a woman's jail that allows for the nude shower scene. Cheralynn Bailey provides the full nudity. And when they escape you've got a slasher movie as Maria Celedonio slaughters just about everyone she meets. She also provides some nice views. The other collage just shows a couple of unnamed women who are recovering from a ménage à trois.
Maria Celedonio
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Cheralynn Bailey
Unknown
"He Said, She Said"
Elizabeth Perkins gives a brief flash in He Said, She Said, a movie about two TV show hosts who take opposite opinions on their TV show. A good DVD transfer should improve the quality of the caps - the original scene was a bit steamy.
Elizabeth Perkins
"The Wicker Man"
The Wicker Man is another one of those weird British movies. It stars Edward Woodward as a policeman who goes to an island off Scotland to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, or did she? The
inhabitants on the island also have weird religious beliefs, which includes nude dancing and lots of sex. The caps of Britt Ekland have appeared before and, unfortunately, her nude dancing takes place at night. The other cap shows a celtic-type ritual but they put a very foggy filter over the camera in the close-ups.
Britt Ekland
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Other nude babes
"Empire Records"
Empire Records is the day in the life of a record store. Renee Zellweger and Liv Tyler are two workers in the store. No nudity but Renee shows how an apron should be worn and Liv decides to strip down a bit.
Renee Zellweger
Liv Tyler
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"Among Giants"
Rachel Griffiths is not adverse to taking her clothes off and she does so very nicely in Among Giants. The movie wasn't much but that wasn't why I was watching it. The scenes were just a little dark.
Rachel Griffiths
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Kathie Lee Gifford showing some cleavage on a recent Tonight Show appearance.
"Splendor"
Disappointing describes the movie, and Kathleen Robertson's scenes. Kathleen has a threesome going with two blokes but unfortunately there's no nudity. This would be better done with a lot of the B grade actresses going around.
Kathleen Robertson
"Stir Crazy"
Stir Crazy stars Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor who are framed and given a long jail sentence. JoBeth Williams is trying to help them out and she ends up in a strip club where we see some nice strippers, and there's plenty of light! JoBeth also gives a very brief flash down her blouse. A challenge for those with a good DVD copy.
JoBeth Williams
Strippers
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"A Time to Kill"
Ashley Judd gives some nice pokies in A Time to Kill, an enjoyable movie that portrays the true story of a black man who kills two white men who had raped his 10 year old daughter.
Ashley Judd
| Scorpion
| Nikki Fritz
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The late night regular doing full frontal nudity, sex scenes and lesbo lovin' in these 'caps from "Sinful Obsession".
| Samantha Phillips
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The former centerfold and star of the Skinemax classic "Hot Springs Hotel" seen here showing off just about everything in simulated sex scenes from an episode of "Passion Cove".
| | Jillian McWhirter |
Topless and rear nudity in scenes from "The Progeny"
| | Shauna O'Brien |
Shauna and her robo-hooters from "Passion Cove".
| | and ...
| Andrea Thompson
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These are slightly better caps from Aussie's very worn out copy of the video "Manhattan Gigolo".
| Carolyn Lowery
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Excellent 'caps from the 1997 B-movie "Vicious Circles". If you like your actresses blonde with nearly perfect natural bodies, then I highly recommend having a look at these!
| Saffron Burrows
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All wet and in her undies from the recent Jaws ripoff, "Deep Blue Sea", by Snowblind.
I will give the special effects crew full points. I actually own this DVD and the making of feature is at least 10 times better than the movie itself. The sharks you see on screen in "Deep Blue Sea" are a combination of Computer Generated Images and life size remote control sharks (some even swim!). If you rent this one, be sure to look for the behinds the scenes section.
| | Katie Holmes |
Snowblind continues with the "wet undies" theme with these 'caps of Katie in "Teaching Mrs. Tingle".
| Rhona Mitra
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Nice collages featuring Rhona's breast exposure scenes from "Hollow Man". Thanks to Venom.
| | From the Mailbag
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A few tidbits from Fun House readers:
Celeb News and Capping Opportunity...
Apparently Heidi Klum is bottomless with a clear shot of her pubes in the new movie "Blow Dry."
In Defense of Battlefield Earth...
I'd like to say a few words in defense of "Battlefield Earth" which has been taking a beating on your website and just about everywhere else. I saw the film when it opened, I expected nothing, and I had a really good time.
Sure, it's not the best movie ever made, but to keep calling it "The Worst Movie ever Made" is also a huge exaggeration. Obviously this movie is better made than "It Conquered the World" or "The Brain from the Planet Areous" or even "The Lonely Lady." I think a lot of the criticism comes
from the fact that the movie is based on L. Ron Hubbard's work. I'm certainly no fan of Scientology, but artistically, we should put his work as a sci-fi writer apart from his role as a cult leader.
And I'll admit, Hubbard wasn't all that great a writer either. However, the movie does display some amusing sci-fi concepts. It's amusing to me that the earth was conquered in fifteen minutes and that a couple hundred years later Earth is considered to be such a backwater shithole by the
ruling corporation that it's left in the hands of two junior executive idiots. I found the film to be loaded with this sort of malicious wit and if you don't take the film too seriously, you can actually enjoy it's unique perspective. The story is unbelievably rushed but that comes from
trying to compress twelve books into one three hour movie. Would you really want it to be any longer?
Travolta's performance is indeed way over the top, but no more unrestrained than his "bravura roles" in Broken Arrow or Face Off. I don't know about you but I get a certain pleasure from watching an actor whose having a good time, like Vincent Price in his horror movies. And Travolta's character
was supposed to be a moron, so what's the problem?
And the special effects are quite good. Great matte shots, costumes and CGI. Lots of action. As sci-fi flicks go it was a welcome change from the "Monster loose on the spaceship" formula that's so popular nowadays.
So, call it the worst movie ever made. I know it's fashionable to dump on the flick. But, if you'll pardon the expression, I think it's going to be a cult classic.
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