The Lover (1991) AKA L'Amant was reviewed by Scoopy last night. He spent a good deal of time talking about the director and the photography, and was completely right. I can think of many films that have equally brilliant camera work, but most of them are among the greatest films of all time. The Lover is unique in one respect. Nearly every frame is spectacular.

Scoop characterized it as a film about a relationship based on lust. I have to disagree somewhat. They both knew at the beginning that there was no future for them, but the Chinese man fell for her. The barriers between them were more than age, money and social standing. As a Chinese man, he was not allowed to be with an American woman, and she was equally barred from a relationship with a Chinese man. The forbidden aspect was probably part of the original appeal. He was to marry a rich wife he had never met, but went so far as to ask his father's permission. The father answered that he would rather see him dead. She was able to convince herself that she didn't care, but when she left for France, she was pleased to see him watching her depart from his car. A few days into the voyage, she realized that she cared more than she thought.

This is one of the more sensual and sensuous films I have seen, and is pretty hot in places as well. I was so in love with the imagery that all 52 Jane March images have two totally different images in the top strip. I suspect most cappers will take a run at this now that it is on DVD. I agree with Scoops B. Whether you see it as pure lust, or a study of star-crossed lovers doomed by their cultural heritage, it is an excellent film with broad appeal.

What in the world could keep Uncle Scoopy from watching a bunch of grade B movies? The answer to that - a new book of photography. I'm not an expert scanner, and I don't do many, but I made an exception for these. I would rather be looking at Blackshine's versions, but I guess weak scans are better than no scans, and this is some great stuff.

The noted glamour photographer Nancy Ellison just released a book of her photographs from the late 80's and early 90's. The name of the book is Starlet: Photographs from Hollywood. Great Christmas gift for the pervert on your list. Book info from Amazon.

I write essays about movies all of the time, but I've never reviewed a book. Here's my summary:

It has a red cover. Open it up and it is full of pictures of naked famous chicks. I have never seen any of those pictures before. Especially impressive are the new pictures of  Rosanna Arquette. The End.

More than enough words. Look at the pics now

• Rosanna Arquette (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

• Arielle Dombasle

• Ann Archer (sexy, but probably nothing showing)

• Brigitte Nielsen (no nudity in the last one) (1, 2, 3)

• Maud Adams

• Jamie Lee Curtis

• Sharon Stone

• Sheri Belafonte

Moscow on the Hudson. Well, I did get to one movie. I was surprised by how much I liked this movie. I don't consider myself a big fan of Paul Mazursky or Robin Williams (Hollywood's go-to guy for the lovable but downtrodden), and this film came out about as sentimental as you might expect. But it works. The scriptwriter managed to balance off the sentiment and patriotism with realism and humor, and the package makes for a very enjoyable watch.  The nudity is nice as well.

I've told this story before, but for the benefit of you new guys - my daughter didn't believe me when I told her Robin Williams used to be funny. That's how long it has been .....

• Maria Conchita Alonso (1, 2, 3)

• Olga Talyn (1, 2)

The silly IMDb list for the day. Who are the ten tallest writers in the database? (They are not exclusively listed as writers, but are all listed as writers)

Today's addition to the "Babes in Bondage" series....Virginia Gordon in "Hot Spur". A real old-timer with somewhat of a cult following. I did this back when I first started and it was not a great copy, so forgive the image quality.

-Hankster