Saturday

I wrote a way-too-serious review of the French film La Vie en Rose, which has no nudity at all, and therefore belongs in The Movie House, not here.

 

* Yellow asterisk: funny (maybe).

* White asterisk: expanded format.

* Blue asterisk: not mine.

No asterisk: it probably sucks.

OTHER CRAP:

Catch the deluxe version of Other Crap in real time, with all the bells and whistles, here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All About Anna

 

In the early to mid 1970's, it seemed that mainstream and porn might join hands, but video tape essentially fragmented the markets and ended that dream. It is making something of a comeback in arthouse circles. We now have "hardcore meets mainstream" art films in France, Denmark, The United States (Shortbus), the UK (9 Songs) and Asia. All About Anna is such a movie, targeted directly at the untapped potential of female audiences.

Sex research indicates that women are physically aroused when watching porn films but, when questioned later, claim that they hated them. A Danish woman kept claiming that it would be possible to make a porno that women would like. Zentropa Films told her to "put up or shut up," so she formed a company called "Pussy Power," came up with a manifesto as to what a woman-friendly porno film would be like, and Zentropa (the home of Dogma 95) was in the porn business, under the new banner of Innocent Pictures. All About Anna was Zentropa's first contribution to a growing number of art films which contain hardcore elements and feature recognizable mainstream performers having actual sex on camera. Although the film was made in Denmark, it is in English

Anna (Gry Bay, actress and singing sensation) opens the film talking about love. She is on a boat with a good-looking man, and says, "Every woman needs three men, one for adventure and fun, one for stimulating conversation, and one for good sex. Johan was all three."

It seems that Johan decided he needed adventure in his life, and took off for a five month cruise. After four months, he stopped writing, and she decided to get over him. She adopted an indulgent life style, but was beginning to settle on one man, Thomas Raft, until Johan returned and she decided Raft was not for her. Rather than moving Raft, she took a female roommate (Eileen Daly) who shared her morals and lifestyle, and lost Johan's phone number. She then plunged herself into her work, costume design, and got an offer to work in Paris in a prestigious theater. As she was leaving, Johan showed up, having rented half of her apartment from Eileen Daly, who had no idea who he was, but intended to seduce him. Once in France, Gry realized what she really wanted.

The story here is simple, but as a "coming of age" for Anna and a romantic comedy, the film and the personalities of the characters held my interest. The sex scenes are real, but even better, feel real without being boring. I don't recall an angle where you could prove penetration, but the oral sex was clearly not faked, and Eileen Daly even got a facial. Eileen Daly and Gry Bay both showed everything and had sex on camera. I welcome this. Sex is a major element in probably 35% of all films. That being the case, it is a shame that it isn't actually shown.

The three-disk all-region DVD set not only includes the film, but some amazing special features, which include four full-length commentaries, an alternate version of the film, the script and storyboards, a slide show, and nearly an hour of extra footage of the principal nude scenes. The third disk contains trailers for other hard core films. 

Given our grading system, the film is clearly a C+, since those who hate explicit sex in film will not be won over here. As someone who welcomes explicit sex used appropriately in film, the C+ is the same as an A to me, and will be to some of you as well, and thus represents an enthusiastic recommendation. If this is your sort of film, buy it. The price is quite reasonable for such a comprehensive and richly detailed 3-disc package, and it is only available in the US from RLDVDs.com.

IMDb readers say 4.9.

Get purchase info by clicking on the image below.

All About Anna (2005) Gry Bay Eileen Daily 3 DVD Set

 

Eileen Daly

 

Gry Bay

 

 

 

 

 

 


Dressed to Kill

 

As the Time Machine lands in 1980, it's hard to believe that it has been 27 years since the sexy Dressed To Kill.  This De Palma movie in one you will never forget if you have seen it. If you haven't, you should.

Angie Dickinson, who met a nasty end in the flick, shows some breasts in the shower. She was one hot babe in her day.

Nancy Allen looks marvelous in her underwear, especially since her nipple keeps falling out. Then she shows off the tits in the shower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes and collages

The Spy Who Loved Me

Barbara Bach 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Children

 

Kate Winslet

 

   

 

Jennifer Connelly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goal II: Living the Dream

This is the second installment of the Goal trilogy (part 3 in production right now).

This time Santiago Munez (Kuno Becker), leaves Newcastle to sign for the best team in the world, Real Madrid. His friend Gavin (Alessandro Nivola) is already playing there. This time Santiago starts having problems with his girlfriend Roz (Anna Friel) and finds his long lost Mother in Madrid. Real Madrid wins the Champion's League at the end with a goal by Beckham

Sadly for Real Madrid fans, it was not really like that last year, but still Real Madrid is the team with the most Champion's League Trophies.

Too bad they went for a PG rating, so they obscured Anna's nudity, still she looks great in the movie. See a little peek of flesh in collage #4.

 

 

Anna Friel

 

 

 

 

Black Snake Moan

I was late to discover a technical problem with the previous batch of captures from this film. Please discard all my old ones and replace them with these:

Christina Ricci

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some new vidcap collages from BC

Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut
Elizabeth Berridge in Amadeus
Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct
Geri Halliwell interview
Halle Berry in Swordfish
Elena Dementieva in tennis action
Jessica Alba showing her major league bum in Idle Hands. (A fun movie even when Alba is dressed.) (Film clip)
A nice look at Isabelle Adjani in Possession, which was made before she started to go the body double route. (Film clip)
A Bail Ling nipple-slip? Who could have dreamed?

 

 

 

 

 

Reno 911

Based on the Comedy Central series, this 2007 comedy features slapstick comedy and a lot of improvisation. As is often the case with this type of comedy, it's not necessarily funny start to finish, but there are plenty of funny bits, and fans of the series will probably find it especially worthwhile.

The goofball team from the Reno Sheriff’s Department goes to a national police convention in Miami Beach. Since they were too stupid to remember to register, they are ejected from the convention, but then are enlisted to patrol the city of Miami Beach when everyone at the convention, including the local force, is quarantined because of a terrorist attack.

There are plenty of laughs as they stumble from one mishandled call to the next, and there's also plenty of fine looking women to ease the pain during the down moments of the movie.

I have never seen the TV show, but the movie was not bad, although I expected it to be a little funnier. I suspect that fans of the series will love it.

Alexandra Gutierrez Cathy Shim Irina Voronina Kathryn Smith
Marisa Petroro Mary Castro Wendy McLendon others