Loulou (1980): Gérard Depardieu is Loulou, an unemployed ex-con whose life centers around getting drunk and laid, and who survives by sponging off friends and committing the odd burglary. Isabelle Huppert is a successful ad executive in her rich husband's agency. She meets Loulou one night at a club, and can't wait to leave her husband and jump into Loulou's bed and then into his life. He has no objection to their relationship since sleeping in a hotel room every night beats the hell out of sponging from his friends, especially since and she pays the tab. Naturally, Loulou doesn't let this new relationship get in the way of his screwing other women. Then an hour goes by before something worthwhile happens. The point of the film seems to be that a modern woman can emulate male behavior and live with her head and/or heart in her genitals. Or perhaps this was the French equivalent of a "good girl can't resist bad boy" film.  Finally, Huppert's character gets pregnant. Will the shiftless Loulou get a job, marry her, and raise a family with her? I don't fucking think so. Given that the film goes nowhere and that the photography and lighting are filled with mistakes, I am left wondering why anyone would enjoy it but, like snails, it was hugely popular in France. Snails, however, move faster. Even after they are cooked. E+ Isabelle Huppert Agnes Rosier      Mortal Challenge (1996 TV): Mortal Challenge is an attempt at a futuristic noir martial arts thriller. The beautiful people now live insulated on an island, "New LA", created by an earthquake, while everyone else is stuck in a post apocalyptic Old LA. When one of the debutantes from New LA goes missing, Timothy Bottoms is hired to find her. Seems she has been abducted by a modern Caesar, and is stuck in his arena called The Deathdrome, along with many other victims. Yuppie spawn pay to watch them struggle to the death against "Centurions," and to have the odd sexual encounter with each other. Naturally, Bottoms and a gang of local thugs get sucked into the "arena." From that point on it is essentially violence and gore, brightened by the occasional breast, until the ending.   IMDb readers have this at 3.3. Were I to judge it on this first 20 minutes, I would feel much different because the atmosphere is genuinely creepy, especially given the budget. (This is produced by Roger Corman, who is not known for wasting a lot of money.)  Once inside the deathdrome, however, the story became very repetitive. It also, like Titanic, suffers from excess corridor disease. This is a D+. It is technically fine, given the budget, but is just not a watchable story. Kristina Copeland   Lorrine St. Onge Peri Reynolds unknown

 

From "Rising Stars and Sexy Starlets" Lisa Boyle Jacqueline Lovell Kate Rodger and Jacqueline Lovell Shauna O'Brian Kehli O'Byrne Monique Parent Ashlie Rhea Lisa Marie Scott

 

I've got three clips of three actresses, all with their own entry in the Encyclopedia, from two movies today. As I haven't seen either film, I'll keep it short.   First there is 1994's La Fille de d'Artagnan in which Sophie Marceau's blouse gets ripped open exposing her two boobies. Maria Pitarresi is fully naked but you can only see her breasts and buns while in and out of bed with the French king. She ends the clip by saying that whether king or not, men are all rascals. Right Maria, and that's exactly the reason why you were in this scene.   Finally Italian actress Stefania Rocca gives us a peek at her breasts and with some good will maybe a hint more in this clip from Resurrezione (2001). Scoop's note: The following comments are the ICMS contribution from yesterday, which I had bumblingly deleted. The film clips are found in yesterday's edition, in my section.   I think it's been a while since we had something of Fun House regulars Kristin Scott Thomas and Juliette Binoche, so it's time to change that. In 1996's The English Patient both actresses show some skin. While Juliette doesn't expose much in mostly dark scenes in two clips, Kristin goes for a memorable triple B performance in six clips. The clips come from German TV, so you know what language they'll be speaking.   Since I agree with Tuna in his short comments on this film in the Movie House, you're actually lucky if you don't understand German. This is just to say that this film is really not my cup of tea either. I am surprised to see that 24% of the voters in the IMDb give it a perfect score of 10/10.   Well, now you can see all the good bits of this movie without having to sit through the entire feature. In my book that's quite an improvement, as I belong to the minority of IMDb voters who awarded 5/10 or less.   I'll finish with congratulating Brainscan. I didn't think it was possible to make decent caps from those two dark Isabelle Pasco clips from Sabato Italiano. I was proven wrong. Well done, Brainscan.

Hugo just finished his latest batch of meticulous collages. Kicking it off, here's Greta Scacchi in A Man in Love ...
... then Isabella Rossellini in Blue Velvet
... and Romy Windsor in Thief of Hearts
... and Stacy Haiduk in The Beneficiary
... and finally Tahnee Welch in Night Train to Venice
Flautista, our Pied Piper, also completed a new set of images, starting with Courtney Peldon in Reality Kills ...
... then, same movie, Kym Hoy
... then, same movie, Julie-Ann Emery
... then, same movie, Natalie Cigliuti
... then, same movie, Vanessa Christelle
... then, House of Voices, Virginie Ledoyen
... then, High Tension, Maiwen LeBesco
... then, La Affinita Elective, Marie Gillain
... finally, Regeneration, Tanya Allen

	Pat's comments in yellow... Thank You, Viagra! - For a British TV special, Fremont, California, martial arts grandmaster Tu Jin-Sheng, 50, tied a piece of fabric around his genitals and used them to pull a truck several yards.  Jin-Sheng is the grandmaster of Iron Crotch, a strain of martial arts with about 60,000 followers worldwide who believe that lifting hundreds of pounds of weights with their penises boosts energy and sexual performance. *  If you think pulling the truck was impressive, you should see what he does instead of using jumper cables.   Buying It Is A Sign You're Nuts - The original "HOLLYWOOD" sign is for sale on eBay.  It's made of iron sheeting and was put up in 1923 to promote house sales.  It originally read "HOLLYWOOD LAND" and has been in storage since it was  replaced in 1978.  The seller compares it to owning the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty.  The opening bid is $300,000, but you'll need plenty of space, since the letters are 45 feet high and 450 feet long. *  So if you're a Florida optometrist with really old patients, you could use for an eye chart. Get A Grip On Yourself! - The 7Plus newspaper reports that a woman from Galati, Romania, caught her husband of 23 years looking at porn on the Internet and  filed for divorce on grounds of "virtual adultery."  She admitted he was a good husband and provider, but said she doesn't want to be near a man who takes "virtual lovers," and she's setting him free to "find himself the woman he likes."  The husband said he doesn't want a divorce.  A court ordered the wife to take a little more time to think about it.   *  Think about the likelihood of a 50-year-old Romanian dude actually meeting and having sex with Jenna Jameson.  Phony Apology - When he was facing jail time and an end to his career, Russell Crowe went on US television to apologize for throwing a phone at a New York hotel clerk and to call it his most shameful moment.  But once he was let off with a $160 fine, it's a different story.  First, he griped to reporters that the attack was "blown out of all proportion" and got more newsprint than really horrific things.  Then he turned it into a joke at the Australian Film Industry Awards by carrying a phone onstage and telling winners that if they talked too long, "then say 'hello' to my little friend." *  He later won the Best Actor award for pretending to be sorry he attacked someone with a phone.  *  Because of all the old, narrow, winding alleys in Patras, Greece, four police cars chased two teenaged thieves in a cart pulled by a donkey for over an hour, unable to catch up with it until the donkey finally turned into a dead end ...  And then, the cops finally busted their ass