Thanks to everyone who reminded me
that Dirty Dancing features Jennifer Grey, not Jennifer Beals.
Beals, of course, became famous in that other Jennifer-related
dancing movie, Flashdance.
FILM CLIPS:
Here's a zipped
.avi of Annabeth Gish in episode
three of Brotherhood. That's three episodes, three nude scenes!
Sample capture below.
Additional stills from the bathtub scene:
Here
is a zip file with five avis of Maggie
Gyllenhaal in Secretary. A pretty good movie with some very
good nudity in the last act. (Movie
House Review)
The more obscure items on our docket
include Patty Duke's one and only topless
scene in 1982's By Design. (Zipped
.avi from a VHS tape.) Sample collages below:
Also fished from the Well of
Obscurity, Sondra Locke in 1974's The
Second Coming of Suzanne, (Zipped
.avi from a VHS tape.) Sample collages below:
ASK THE DUST (2006):
John Fante's 1939 novel "Ask the Dust" is revered by those who love
gritty stories about the less glamorous aspects of California's place
in 20th century history.
Set in Depression-era Los Angeles, it chronicles the relationship
between a scholarly young Italian-American from Colorado who moves to
L.A. to write the Great American Novel and win himself a golden-haired
starlet, and a beautiful and complicated Mexican immigrant who hopes
to land herself a rich American husband. Since she's not the
all-American girl of his dreams, and he's not the Daddy Warbucks of
her own dreams, it takes a long time for them to come together,
despite a certain obvious attraction. The consummation of their
relationship is further delayed by the fact that he's totally
inexperienced with women, and terrified to admit it.
Fante's gritty,
sometimes poetic novella has long been considered too literary to make a good
movie, but if anyone was capable of transforming his vision into
cinema it should have been Robert Towne, who wrote Chinatown. Towne
wrote and directed Ask the Dust, and he started off with some perfect
hiring decisions. He enlisted Caleb Deschanel, one of the greatest
cinematographers on the planet, to man his cameras, and he brought in
Dennis Grassner to do the kind of production design he has always done
for the Coen brothers. Those moves paid off in spades. The working
class portions of L.A. look sleazy, brown, and hazy. The attention to
period detail creates memorable scenes for Deschanel to film, and he
does his usual brilliant job filming them.
Great screenwriter, great cinematographer, great production design ...
so, it's a great movie, right?
Not if you ask the critics, the majority of
whom panned it. Not if you ask IMDb voters, who score it a tepid 5.7.
Not if you ask ticket buyers, who bought fewer than a million dollars
worth. The film didn't connect with people.
So what went wrong?
Well, first of all, the part of Arturo Banzini,
the author's surrogate and narrator of the story, the nerdy,
book-smart dreamer was played by Colin Farrell.
... because when you think of virginal, bookish, inhibited
Italian-Americans, you automatically think of Colin Farrell.
Then there is the pacing. Farrell and his
co-star, the gorgeous Salma Hayek, dance around one another for the
first 2/3 of the movie, seeming to be mean to one another just for the
joy of meanness, even though we can see that they will eventually have
to come together. It just rambles and rambles, and spends a lot of
time with eccentric secondary characters. Then, when the film finally
goes somewhere, it goes straight into dyin' woman melodrama. That's
right, Salma character bickers with Farrell for two thirds of the
film, then spend the last third dying of Ali McGraw Disease. Looked at
from Farrell's point of view, he spends the first two thirds convinced
he's not in love and pushing her away (although we can see that he's
actually just in sexual terror of an aggressive and experienced
woman), then he admits his love, and she immediately starts coughing. There's not
a lot there for an audience to hang on to. Zero catharsis.
Furthermore, I wasn't convinced of the film's realism in
the aggressive anti-courtship stage. Farrell and Hayek seemed to be
movie characters mouthing movie dialogue rather than human beings
acting with genuine motivations. The two of them kept asking each
other why they were being so ornery to one another, but I never did
hear a convincing explanation, and I found their fake contempt for one
another to be both irritating and lacking in credibility. Salma's
character was particularly incongrous. I kept wondering how she could
afford a car during the Depression when she could not even afford a
decent pair of shoes, and I kept wondering how she could work a hard
job on her feet all day in the heat of summer, while also dying of
consumption, and still look perfectly manicured in every way at the
end of her double shift. Salma is one of the most beautiful women in
the world, and she looks better now than she ever has, but maybe she
was just too glamorous and well-spoken for this role. In the final
scenes, when the lead characters finally seem to be acting believably,
and Salma was starting to look genuinely sick, the film finally seems
to draw the audience in, but by that time my apathy had already caused
me to pause the film twice. I don't think that's the sign of a really
involving movie.
And yet ...
When the film was over, many scenes haunted me
and I wanted to see them again. And I'm not just talking about Salma's
nude scenes (which are very nice indeed). I watched nearly the entire film a
second time and, relieved of the responsibility to follow the story,
paused to admire many details of the film's execution, as well as the
ambitious way in which it addressed racism and the nature of being a
true
American. For a film with such a lukewarm reputation, and one that
felt overlong and rambling when I watched its full 116 minutes, it left some
lasting impressions, and in the final analysis I'm glad to have seen it.
Besides, how much can one complain about a movie
which offers Salma Hayek naked?
"Legal experts say there is no law against using feces as a flag stand and the federal constitution is vague on the issue."
... which is kind of surprising. You'd think the German constitution would have several highly specific provisions stipulating which types of animal shit can be used to support flags.
"After a terrifying bus accident maroons a diverse group of young adventure travelers in a remote Brazilian beach town, they slowly discover that the white sand beaches and lush jungles are concealing a darker, unsettling secret."
"Little Miss Sunshine tells the story of the Hoovers, one of the most endearingly fractured families ever seen on motion picture screens. Together, the motley six-member family treks from Albuquerque to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in Redondo Beach, California, to fulfill the deepest wish of 7-year-old Olive, an ordinary little girl with big dreams. Along the way the family must deal with crushed dreams, heartbreak, and a broken-down VW bus, leading up to the surreal Little Miss Sunshine competition itself. On their travels through this bizarrely funny landscape, the Hoovers learn to trust and support each other along the path of life, no matter what the challenge."
"Everyone deserves a chance to follow their dreams, but some people only get one shot. Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum) is a rebel from the wrong side of Baltimore's tracks – and the only thing that stands between him and an unfulfilled life are his dreams of one day making it out of there. Nora (Jenna Dewan) is a privileged ballet dancer attending Baltimore's ultra-elite Maryland School of the Arts -- and the only thing standing in the way of her obviously brilliant future is finding a great dance partner for her senior showcase. When trouble with the law lands Tyler with a community service gig at Maryland School of the Arts, he arrives as an angry outsider, until his skills as a gifted street dancer draw Nora's attention. Now, as sparks fly between them, both on and off stage, Tyler realizes he has just one performance to prove that he can step up to a life far larger than he ever imagined. Featuring the directorial debut of leading choreographer Anne Fletcher, the film also stars R&B superstar Mario, Drew Sidora as well as rap legend Heavy D, Damaine Radcliff, De'Shawn Washington and Academy Award® nominee and Golden Globe® winner Rachel Griffiths."
"Smith had not seen the fully-edited version of Clerks II until last week's screening in New York City. "I feel bad now about what I said about Siegel," said Smith. "Apparently, he was right on the money when he said this movie was foul and mean and repulsive."
Assuming North to be 0 degrees, East 90, and South 180, Minute Maid Ballpark in Houston is the only ballpark where the batter faces anywhere between 181 and 359 degrees, and that barely within the range at about 345 - close to due North. The Houston park has a retractable roof, so the slight Western exposure does not affect batters in the early evening. The management doesn't draw the roof back until after dark.
Several parks are very close to due north, but no others vary on the westerly side. Chase Field (DBacks) seems to face due North. Comerica (Tigers) is the closest to due South - maybe 150
degrees. San Francisco's AT&T park seems to face almost due East.
Cannibal the Musical - Hang the Bastard
The opening number from Cannibal: The Musical (from Parker/Stone)
Yellow asterisk: funny (maybe). White asterisk: expanded format.
Blue asterisk: not mine. No asterisk: it probably sucks.
Sunday (1997)
Sunday is a character piece about a fading actress named Marilyn (Lisa
Harrow) and a homeless man named Oliver (David Sachet) who lost his job with
IBM, then his family, and is now living in a shelter. Both live in Queens, and
meet on the street. Marilyn decides that he is a famous movie director, and
picks him up. She ends up taking him home, and screwing him on the stairs
after a game where he tells his real story pretending that it is only a
fiction, then she tells a comparable story about picking up a homeless man and
pretending he is a director. Honestly, by the time the film is over, you can't
tell who really thinks what.
After the initial sex, her estranged husband shows up with their adopted
daughter, and Oliver leaves. However, he forgot his coat, so returns. She
takes him out on the town, and returns to her flat. After a shower together,
they end up in a real bed.
Nudity from a 54 year old woman might not entice you, but it is an
interesting slice of life, and the film is much better than its $450K budget
would predict. It won numerous awards, including the Grand Jury at Sundance.
Portions were shot in a real homeless shelter, and one of the cast, who sings
opera in subways for a living, played himself. The director volunteered in a
shelter for a year before making the film. In a feature length commentary, he
shares that it is intended as a comedy ... but don't expect belly laughs. It
is, however, an entertaining character piece.
This is a C, as an interesting art house effort.
IMDb readers say 7.0. ,
Lisa Harrow does a lengthy
full frontal.
These are most decidedly not mine, but they show an exuberantly
endowed gal named Laine Carlin in a 1962 (!!!) movie entitled House On
Bare Mountain. The collage is fine but you just gotta see the
zipped .avi clip
to catch all the bouncy action. Ay, caramba!
Laine Carlin
Daniella Remmers
in something called Punk Lawyer
Kelly
Dawn Malloy in The Curse of El Charro
Tabitha Stevens in The Curse of El Charro
Victoria Vanegas in The Curse of El Charro
Pat's comments in yellow...
Utah's tourism industry has launched an $11 million ad campaign
to try to convince people that Utah isn't dull and unhip. A survey showed
that while tourists love Utah's skiing and scenery, they associate it with
a lack of adult fun, restrictive liquor laws and the Mormon Church. For
instance, Salt Lake City has no walkable entertainment district because
bars have to be at least 300 feet apart. There's also a tax on
full-strength beer, and you have to fill out a lot of paperwork to become a
"club member" before you can order a drink. The ads will tell tourists
there is nightlife in Utah and educate them about where it is and how to
access it.
* Just remember, if you want a drink, be sure to bring a notary public
with you ... And note that you have to fill out all the paperwork again for
each beer.
Last Thursday night, during a taping of "The Tonight Show," a woman came out of
the audience and confronted guest Colin Farrell. She unsuccessfully tried to
sue him last year for allegedly stalking her, and she self-published a book
about her alleged sexual dalliances with him called "Colin Farrell: A Dark,
Twisted Puppy." She left a copy on Jay Leno's desk. Farrell escorted her to
the door where security led her away. She shouted, "I'll see you in court," and
Farrell replied, "You're insane." He got a restraining order requiring her to
stay 150 feet away from him.
* She is so nuts, Colin is seriously considering not having sex with her again.