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10th and Wolf (2006)
10th and Wolf is a mob drama, and a pretty good one. The
direction from first-time helmsman Bobby Moresco is solid, and it
features some good performances from the leads, some strong
performers (Brian Dennehy and Leslie Ann Warren) in minor roles,
and some bigger names (Val Kilmer, Dennis Hopper) in cameos.
Moresco also worked on the script, and he is an Oscar-winning
scenarist.
So why did it basically end up as a straight-to-vid? (It played
in six theaters, grossing a grand total of $54.000.)
Originality problems.
It's basically just a longer episode of the Sopranos, except
with unfamiliar characters. If you watch that show, you've already
seen this story played out with a different cast in a different
city. This film brings not a single fresh idea to the table. Local
mobsters try to avoid being muscled out by the Sicilians; the two
parties have a history of bad blood; one of the local guys is
actually helping the Feds bring down the Sicilians in return for
freedom or leniency for his brother and cousin. The usual exercise
in badabingitude.
The DVD box says that the story is inspired by a true story
from the FBI agent known as Donnie Brasco. If that's true, Donnie
must be like my Uncle Joe Beck. Joe would should up for all the
holiday family gatherings, have a few brewskis, and then tell the
same old stories again and again as if nobody had ever heard them
before. They were always about things that he and my dad had done
as kids, some decades earlier. The details were always a little
different. He would change the location of the story from Buffalo
to Syracuse, or he would add some colorful minor characters, but
everyone knew that he was telling the some story. After all, how
many times do guys walk home sixty miles from a night club? It's
not like that was a regular occurrence. Nobody in the family
ever questioned the fact that the details of the story had changed
since last Thanksgiving's version because Joe was a nice guy and
none too bright. He was one of those guys so dumb that everyone
feels protective toward them. The rest of the family would even
allow him to win at penny-ante cards once in a while. You didn't
question his stories because questions would only get him
flustered. I figure that Donnie Brasco must be the Joe Beck of his
family, because all of his stories also seem to be basically the
same, with a few colorful details changed here and there. If
you've seen the movie named after Donnie, you can safely take a
pass on this one. It's the same kind of story with a little Uncle
Joe tinkering here and there.
On the other hand, if you have not seen many mob movies or TV
shows, or if you just can't get enough of this genre, or if you
are a visitor sent from outer space to study our quaint earthling
ways, this may seem like quite a good movie to you, because all of
its parts are totally satisfactory. Originality, after all, is
only valid currency among those who have already seen the similar
works. The film may be of special interest to you if you life in
Pittsburgh, because not that many films are shot entirety in Steel
Town, and you may enjoy seeing some familiar haunts.
The critics didn't much care for it (36 at Metacritic), but us
regular joes find it watchable (6.4 at IMDb).
Sorry to report that the nudity does not provide excuse to
watch it. As in most episodes of The Sopranos, the nudity all
comes from background strippers, but you older guys may be
interested in this non-nude scene (zipped
.wmv) with Lesley Ann Warren showing
major cleavage. You
youngsters may just want to skip this, since Lesley is sixty years
old. She's sexy for sixty, and us old farts remember how sexy she
used to be, and regret the minimal level of exposure in her
career, so we have some interest. But still, she is sixty, and not
even nekkid.
The House of God (1984)
Bess Armstrong is all but forgotten now, but she was almost a
star, and this nude scene was meaningful to us back in the day.
Here's the scoop:
Laverne & Shirley came out in January of 1976, and it was such
an instant hit that it finished #2 in the Nielsens for the 1975-76
TV season, although its parent show, Happy Days, could do no
better than 10th! Like any highly successful show, Laverne and
Shirley immediately inspired rip-offs, and On Our Own was probably
the most obvious one. It was about two women living together and
trying to make it on their own (surprise!). One of them was
street-wise and cautious while the other (Bess Armstrong in the
"Shirley" role) was naive and optimistic. So what made it
different from Laverne and Shirley? Well, these two girls were
more upscale chicks living and working in Manhattan at an
advertising agency, and the show was produced on location in New
York.
Yawn.
CBS had it ready for the fall season in 1977, and sandwiched it
between Rhoda and All in the Family on Sunday night. Although All
in the Family was a major franchise (#5 in the Nielsens that
year), On Our Own bombed and was soon gone, failing even to get
renewed for a second season.
Anyway, the point of this anecdote is that
Bess Armstrong would have been a star
if the series had clicked, and the general consensus was that she
was quite charming even though the show sucked, so many of us were
interested to see her nekkid body in The House of God. This
zipped .wmv
is a VHS clip. To my knowledge, the film has never migrated to
DVD. Beth's career never did take off, although she's still doing
a lot of TV.
Third party videos:
Brenda Strong is another TV
regular. You may remember as Sue Ellen Mischke, a recurring
character in Seinfeld. She is most notorious for failing to
wear bras. (She was Elaine's friend from high school, heiress to
the O'Henry candy bar fortune. Kramer sues her at one point.)
Anyway, here is some rare nudity from her in Undercurrent, a so-so
thriller filmed entirely on location in Puerto Rico.
(Zipped
.avi)
You have to love this Italian talk show, in which former Miss
Venezuela Ainette Stephens is
pictured stark naked while the audience stomps and wolf-whistles.
Nice image quality as well. (Zipped
.avi) God bless Italy!
Dressed to Kill is one of Brian de Palma's Hitckcockian
classics. (Movie
House Review - major spoilers)
OTHER CRAP:
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The trailer and two clips
from Bobby,
the Emilio Estevez film about the shooting of
Robert Kennedy
Colbert gives a big
thumb-up to Survivor's racial divisions
Colbert Reports on the
61st Annual United Nations Open Mike Night
Colbert has some Big
Apple tourism tips for Ahmadinejad while he's
here for his U.N. speech
The Daily Show discusses
the Pope's remarks about Islam
The Daily Show weighs in
on spinach
TV Funhouse presents
Pothead Theater
"SNL" Drops Sanz,
Parnell, Mitchell
- What I want to know
is how Horatio Sanz ever managed to last
eight years on that show in the first place.
Thief stole computers
from the courthouse while he was on trial for
computer theft.
NOT guilty, your honor. My client is incapable
of such a crime.
Three clips of some
serious scenery-chewing from All The King's
Men
- Spicoli makes
Richard Burton and Shatner seem subtle
Some clips from Children
of Men
- Big new Sci-Fi film
directed by Alfonso Cuaron, starring Clive
Owen and Julianne Moore
- "'Children of Men'
envisages a world one generation from now
that has fallen into anarchy on the heels of
an infertility defect in the population. The
world's youngest citizen has just died at
18, and humankind is facing the likelihood
of its own extinction."
A clip from the prequel
to Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The international trailer
from Blood Diamond
- Set against the
backdrop of civil war and chaos in 1990s
Sierra Leone, "Blood Diamond" is the story
of Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), a South
African mercenary, and Solomon Vandy (Djimon
Hounsou), a Mende fisherman. Both men are
African, but their histories as different as
any can be, until their fates become joined
in a common quest to recover a rare pink
diamond that can transform their lives.
While in prison for smuggling, Archer learns
that Solomon - who was taken from his family
and forced to work in the diamond fields -
has found and hidden the extraordinary rough
stone. With the help of Maddy Bowen
(Jennifer Connelly), an American journalist
whose idealism is tempered by a deepening
connection with Archer, the two men embark
on a trek through rebel territory, a journey
that could save Solomon's family and give
Archer the second chance he thought he would
never have.
"Willie Nelson is denying
that he did anything illegal when his tour bus
was pulled over
in Lafayette, Louisiana on Monday and all its
occupants were cited for drug possession. On
the contrary, he was working undercover for
the government. 'By order of the chief
executive of this great country of ours, I'm
probing Homeland Security and making sure the
Taliban ain't selling no weed here, man,'"
Grandma's Boy nominated
as best movie
- ... best STONER
movie, that is, in the annual High Times
entertainment awards - "The Stonies." It was
also nominated for "best pot scene" and
"best, like, acting dude."
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Movie Reviews:
Yellow asterisk: funny (maybe). White asterisk: expanded format.
Blue asterisk: not mine. No asterisk: it probably sucks.
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Neil's Party (2005)
Neil's Party is an indie teen sex comedy from the UK. It was shot on
Hi-Definition Video by first time director/writer/producer Stephen Pidgeon,
and most of the cast and crew worked with no salary. Some say it was a decent
effort given what it was. I will go much further. It is an outstanding effort
given what it was, and in a rather crowded genre every since the American Pie
franchise started, it manages a somewhat fresh approach and some new idea. It
is set in comfortable suburbia, and centers around four male friends who are
all 18, just out of High School, and want to get laid. In the central story,
Neil (Andrew Casey) is in love with Lauren Bigby, who is his best friend and
coworker, but she loves someone else. Another of the lads is pressuring his
girl for sex, and she isn't quite ready.
When Neil's parents leave town, leaving him and his somewhat older sister
to mind the house, he and his friends finally decide that the answer to their
non-existent sex life will be a huge party. I don't want to give many of the
gags away, as this is well worth the watch, but here is one small one. Neil
becomes disenchanted with his party when he fails to achieve his goal for the
night, and rings up the local police to complain about the noise. The
attractive female dispatcher discovers that it is his party, and talks him
into going back in and enjoying it rather than making a complaint.
While it is not as original as American Pie was when it first came out,
neither would American Pie be today. There are certain genre requirements, and
this film has them, including a couple of gross-out jokes, embarrassing
moments, and the like. The script focused on a group of normal wholesome kids
doing what normal wholesome kids would in fact do, which, by itself, is
refreshing. It also took some time with the characters, and made them three
dimensional. All in all, this is an excellent first effort, especially for a
low budget indie, and is actually a competent teen sex comedy.
C.
60 IMDb readers have this at 5.4.
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Anne Parillaud in Innocent Blood
   
Shannyn Sossamon in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
Michelle Monaghan in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
  
Erika Eleniak in Under Siege
 
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Anna Curtis in Shadow: Dead
Riot |
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Carla Greene in Shadow: Dead
Riot |
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Danielle Riley in Shadow: Dead
Riot |
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Misty Mundae in Shadow: Dead
Riot |
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Ruby LaRocca in Shadow: Dead
Riot |
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Aleksandra Kaniak in an
episode of Hot Line |
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Bo Derek in Woman of Desire |
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Sylvia Kristel in Lady
Chatterley's Lover |
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The paparazzi catch curvy Katherine
Heigl in a bikini |
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Erin Walsh in Defenceless |
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Clara Morgane acts out the
Kama Sutra |
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Rokwatch takes it home today with a triad starting with
Jennifer Aniston taking off her bra on Friends |
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Then Faye Dunaway in Chinatown |
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And some mega-cleavage from Erika
Christensen |
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Pat's comments in yellow...
Wednesday, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed a lawsuit against
the Big Six automakers, claiming that greenhouse gas emissions from the vehicles
they sell contribute to global warming and have caused billions of dollars in
damages. He told reporters he will seek "tens or hundreds of millions of
dollars" in damages. Automakers dismissed it as a "nuisance suit" and a
political publicity stunt, pointing out that California sets its own emissions
standards which all cars sold there meet.
* So the State of California immediately sued the state
of California.
Gadfly Texas gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman keeps sparking accusations
of racism. First, he said Texas has more crime because some Katrina evacuees
were "crackheads and thugs." Now he's being blasted for a year-old interview in
which he said he'd "throw (sexual predators) in prison and throw away the key
and make them listen to a Negro talking to himself." (It was a reference to one
of his 1980s novels they'd discussed earlier). Friedman, former leader of the
Texas Jewboys band, rejected demands for apologies, saying that everyone knows
he's not a racist, he won't lie to avoid offending people, and if you don't like
it, vote for someone else.
* With that attitude, he shouldn't be a governor...He
should be the Pope.
Dateline NBC obtained a police tape of Paris Hilton being questioned as a
witness in the robbery of an acquaintance, and she says she can't remember much
because "I, like, forget stuff all the time. I'm not, like, that smart"
* Well, we know she was telling the truth, the whole
truth and nothing but the truth.
Us Magazine claims that Whitney Houston's mentor Clive Davis is not only
producing a comeback CD, he's paying for her drug rehab and was so
concerned, he asked Courtney Love to intervene and help Whitney clean
up
* That's like asking Aretha Franklin for diet tips
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