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Candy
"Heroin - when you can quit you don't want to. When you want to, you
can't."
Geoffrey Rush as Professor Obvious in Candy
I really struggled to come up with a short summary for this Australian
"drugs suck" film, and it finally dawned on me. This is a film for people
who like thoughtful films but have not seen very many.
By that I mean that there is absolutely no problem with the quality of
the film. The script is heartfelt and intelligent, the actors are very
talented, and the message is one which is accurate and important. If you
have not seen many films, you'll probably be quite impressed by it.
Of course, most people who would be interested in a serious drama about
heroin addiction have already seen a much better one like The Man With The
Golden Arm, Requiem for a Dream, or Trainspotting, and have probably
also seen some of the lesser achievements like A Hatful of Rain, Sherrybaby
and Down to the Bone. If you have already seen many of those, you can take a
pass on this one because it won't show you anything you haven't seen before.
Consistent with what I have written above, the film has a high IMDb
score, because it's a pretty good movie, but critics didn't much care for it
because ... well, because critics see a lot of films.
How much can you do with this premise? Let's face it, heroin addicts
don't learn to cope with their addiction. There are no "functioning"
junkies, at least not for long. They either quit through a painful process
or keep using until they die. If they keep using, they face a gradual
escalation in their need for the drug concurrent with a gradual decline in
their ability to obtain the money necessary to get it. As a result,
their situation inevitably declines until they turn to crime or prostitution
or both. End of story.
That's about all you can show, except to have the junkies go through
rehab, then relapse, as so many seem to do. The directors inevitably throw
in some unsanitary living conditions, some general squalor, some
ever-alienated friends and relatives, some neglected kids, et Voila! Instant
junkie film.
Only two films have really done something with the premise:
Requiem for a Dream showed that heroin use was just a logical
extension of a society that encourages artificial stimulation through
chemical and non-chemical means. A great deal of the story is shown from the
speeded-up and slowed-down perspective of the various types of drug users,
and some wildly satirical elements are used to make the tragedy even more
tragic.
Trainspotting used humor and a totally twisted world-view to
propose that heroin addiction, as bad as it may seem, and as certain as it
is to be fatal, is actually better than life in Scotland.
Apart from those two films, all the others are indistinguishable. A year
after seeing both Sherrybaby and Down to the Bone, I have a hard time
remembering which scenes go with which movie. Add Candy to that group as
well. All three of those films are sincere and competent, but I can't
imagine why anyone would want to see them.
The story this time is about two basically likeable arty types, a poet
and a painter, who fall deeply in love with one another and heroin. Needless
to say, things turn out badly. If you have a nice middle-class daughter who
is thinking of getting involved with a guy who has drug problems, have her
watch this film to see that she won't be able to reform him.
Otherwise, why bother?
DVD info:
Candy DVD Abbie Cornish Heath Ledger Widescreen (2006)
- Full-length director's commentary
- Widescreen anamorphic transfer
- Featurette: "The writing on the wall Candy's poem in motion"
- Featurette: "The path to wild abandon"
Click on the image below for more purchase info:
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* Yellow asterisk: funny (maybe).
* White asterisk:
expanded format.
*
Blue asterisk: not mine.
No asterisk: it probably
sucks.
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OTHER CRAP:
Catch the deluxe
version of Other Crap in real time, with all the bells and whistles,
here.
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Killer
The Other Side of Midnight (1977) is an epic-length love triangle told against a backdrop of WW II, and spanning Paris, Washington and Greece.
Adapted from a novel by Sidney Sheldon, his second, this is movie-making on
the classic Hollywood scale, and has the feel of much older films. It is
especially appealing to women, easily passing our chick-flick hurdle with a male/female differential of 1.4 at IMDb
(Men 5.2, women 6.6)
As the film opens, Noelle Page (Marie-France Pisier) is in prison, and
being visited by Constantin Demeris (Raf Vallone). She tells him most of the
film in flashbacks.
As the chronology begins, a young Noelle is sold by her father to a dress shop owner,
who expects her to take care of all of his needs. She quickly heads for Paris,
where she is taken by a cab driver for every cent she has, and then meets
American Larry Douglas (John Beck), who is a pilot for the RAF by way of
Canada. He sweeps her off her feet, they have a torrid affair, then he leaves,
promising to be back in ten days and marry her. The ten days comes and goes
with no sign of him. She
gets a job as a fashion model, then discovers that Larry has been sent back to
America, and just before that was nearly trapped into marrying an English girl
he knocked up. That doesn't thrill her, especially given that she is also
pregnant. She gives herself an abortion with a coat hanger.
Meanwhile, Larry is in Washington and is assigned to work with
Catherine Alexander Douglas (Susan Sarandon), the up-and-comer in a public
relations firm. The two end up married.
As they court and wed in America, Noelle has become an actress, and is using some of her wealth to
keep track of Larry. When the war ends, she sees to it that he can't hold a
job. This, however, gets increasingly expensive, and she ends up marrying a
Greek tycoon to get enough cash for her pet project. Once she sees to it that
Larry can't get a job in the air in the US, she makes him her personal pilot.
She and Larry reconcile, and plot to get rid of Catherine, who disappears in a storm,
causing Noelle
and Larry to be tried for her murder.
Up to this point, it is not the plot twists, but the details of the
relationships that are interesting. I did like the characters, and the
production value was wonderful, but I found it a little over-long, and thought
it quite slow in patches. From here to the end, however, there are some very
nifty plot twists, and the ending made me a fan of the film, and justified my
spending
165 minutes to watch it.
This is a C. If seeing a chick flick is going to insure you an eventful
night, this one is not a bad choice. Adequate film, plenty of female nudity.
IMDb readers say 5.4.
It received an Oscar nomination for costumes.
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The Longest Yard
Sorry, no nudity today.
However I think this is about the sexiest former "Friends" star Courtney
Cox ever looked as she displays mega-cleavage in The Longest Yard. One hot
lady in one hot dress.
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Los Borgia
After showing the arrest of Cesar Borgia for the murder of his
brother, Juan, the film flashes back to 12 years earlier, when the
Spanish-born Borgia brothers, the ambitious Cesar, wild boy Juan and
insecure Jofre, are in Rome for the election of a new Pope: their
father, Rodrigo.
Rodrigo, now Alejandro VI, immediately marries off his children to
expand the Vatican's and the Borgias' interests. Cesar, hungry for
military glory, is disappointed to be named a cardinal, while Juan is
made a captain in the army.
Sticking responsibly and somewhat studiously to the known
historical facts, the movie does a good job of cutting the Borgia legend
down to size while showing how the fates of nations are the results of
despots' whims.
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Salaam Namaste
Starting off with a Bollywood film, although Salaam Namaste (2005) was filmed
in Melbourne, Australia. It is like every other Bollywood film that I have seen,
so there is no nudity, pointless singing and dancing, and a bit of romance. Some
nice cleavage and bikini shots of
Preity Zinta
and Tania Zaetta.
 
"Late Night"
Some more cleavage by Katherine Heigl in a recent appearance on
Letterman (2007).
"Monk"
Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Blackout"
From a 2004 episode of Monk we have Bitty Schram. In the show an infrared
camera was used and it sure looks like a bit of see-through nipple is visible.
It's either that or wishful thinking on my part.
"Ugly Betty"
Pilot
Continuing with the television shows, we have the pilot episode for Ugly
Betty (2006). No nudity of course but Becki Newton
 
and an unidentified woman
are down to their underwear.
"Ugly Betty"
Episode: "Queens for a Day"
A couple of episodes later , called Queens for a Day (2006) we see Ninel
Conde filling out a bikini very well. The Internet leads me to believe that she
is well known in Mexico.
The Guardian
Plenty of nudity in The Guardian (1990), especially by Jenny Seagrove. (film
clip)
Carey Lowell's breast is exposed briefly but the lighting was dark.
 
Rumour Has It
Jennifer Aniston shows some side boobage in Rumour Has It (2005). It could be
a body double but I don't think so. (film
clip)
   
Big Momma's House 2
Quite a few women are in their underwear in Big Momma's House 2 (2006). The
only one I can positive identify is Jessica White
although a few others can probably be identified using the credits and the
Internet if need be.
 
Ironweed
Margaret Whitton only made a brief appearance in Ironweed (1987) but
she was completely naked. (film
clip)
Finding Graceland
No nudity in Finding Graceland (1998). Some cleavage by Bridget Fonda
 
as she does a Marilyn Monroe impersonation
Tammy Isbell
and Susan Traylor have their shirts off.
Good Girl
Emmanuelle Devos is stark naked in the French film Good Girl (2005) aka
Gentille. (film clip)
Read My Lips
Emmanuelle Devos was also completely naked in Read My Lips (2001) aka Sur mes
lèvres, although the lighting was too dark for a clear view.
Oldboy
Finally, a Korean film called Oldboy (2003).
Hye-jeong Kang (film
clip)
 
and Jin-seo Yun are naked.
 
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Scratch
2001's German horror flick Scratch, also known as Ratten - sie werden
dich kriegen!, Revenge of the Rats, and a few other titles, is a pretty
decent creature feature which minimizes the gore, but maximizes the rats.
In fact, in several scenes, there are thousands of them.
For various reasons, a city in Germany becomes abnormally infested with
rats. Not just a lot of rats, but REALLY a lot of rats. Things get even
worse when this vast horde of rats become infected with a virus which
makes them hard to kill, and is deadly to humans.
While not exceptional, this is a pretty decent creature/horror film.
Edita Uzaite's bathtub scene is extremely creepy, without being bloody.
People that like their horror without excessive gore will like it a lot.
People that hate rats won't like it at all.
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Edita Uzaite |
Laura Venckeviciute |
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Notes and collages
"Farscape" - Part 7
Season 2, Episodes 1 and 2
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Isild LeBesco in A Tout De Suite (multiple
film clips)
Kari Wuhrer and the Blonde Baldwin in Spider's Web. A non-member made me
aware of this by asking whether we had the "unrated European version" of this
film. I didn't know there was such a thing. Still don't, really. I don't know if
these are "European," but these
two clips are longer versions of two sex scenes on my Region 1 DVD. In the
standing sex scene, my DVD is missing the part where Baldwin pulls her panties
aside and we see her bum in close-up. In the horizontal sex scene, my DVD is
missing a bit of Kari on top and just about all of Baldwin on top. The regular
versions were hot enough, but I have to say that the uncut versions are VERY hot
sex scenes for name actors. |
Spanish Speakers
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Maria Adanez in La Lapiz del Carpintero |
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