Sunday

Shakespeare in Love

Here is my review from eight years ago.

These two zipped .wmv's (1, 2) are the condensed version of DeadRed's magnificent hi-res DIVX .avis. If you want the originals in all their splendid glory, get them from the RapidShare link, which is down the page just a bit in the Other Crap section. Before you make that commitment, make sure you have a good connection (the compressed file is 88 meg), and know how to uncompress. rar files.

 

Walking Tall, Part 2 (1995):

I agree completely with what CK Roach wrote about this film, but I thought I'd add a few curiosity items.

First of all, I think this is the only film which has been notarized. It begins with a baritone recitation of a sworn statement. It's pretty funny if you read it (it's linked at the Movie House article), because it doesn't say anything at all. Based on this "sworn statement," just about any conclusion may be drawn about the factual accuracy of the events portrayed here, ranging from "the film is pure fiction," to "every event in the film is God's humble truth, except with the names changed."

Second, I wondered why CK and I seemed to be so much less impressed with the film than was the dean of American cinema letters, Roger Ebert. Then I looked at the dates. Ebert wrote his review on January 1, 1975, and the notarized statement at the film's opening was dated May 1, 1975. There's your answer. Ebert saw an earlier, non-notarized version, which must have been far better.

Third, this film needed WAY more nudity. C'mon, it was 1975! The only flesh was this brief topless scene with Angel Tompkins.


Angel Tompkins





 

Other Crap:

Ask Ann Coulter (WHITEHOUSE.ORG)
  • "Coulter works tirelessly to promote understanding and unity amongst people of widely diverse strains of whiteness and right-wing demagoguery.

A very special Valentine musical video from that romantic rock group, Stephen and the Colberts

Here are some beautiful hi-res videos of Gywn Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love (compressed in .rar format, 88 meg download, RapidShare)

Polish movie posters for familiar movies

  • These range from the truly beautiful to the truly bizarre, and they all look like undercover magazine covers from 1969

Ultimate Surrender - the ultimate female competitive sexual wrestling site!

  • This is a pay site, but the previews are pretty hot

Perversion for Profit

  • Anti-pornography film circa 1964, linking pornography to the Communist conspiracy and the decline of Western civilization.

Have you seen Calista Flockhart lately?

Favorite facts about Chuck Norris:

  • Chuck Norris's tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried.
     
  • Chuck Norris doesn't sleep. He waits.
     
  • The dark is afraid of Chuck Norris
     
  • Chuck Norris is the only man in the world who hates both Sara Lee and Raymond
     
  • If at first you don't succeed, you're not Chuck Norris.
     
  • Chuck Norris doesn't wear a watch. He decides what time it is.
     
  • The pen is mightier than the sword, but only if the pen is held by Chuck Norris.
     
  • Chuck Norris does not lift weights. Weights rise before Chuck Norris
     

Sweden shuts website over cartoon

Conan O'Brien in Finland; will ask president for Cabinet position

  • "In my country, when someone is instrumental in helping someone get elected it's customary for the president to give that person a Cabinet or ministerial position," O'Brien told reporters in the airport's VIP lounge.

Top Topless Beaches 2006

Report from Berlin: Bleak novel "The Elemantary Particles" toned down for film version

Researchers at University College London modelled a mathematical formula for the best way to impress a woman.

  • "By offering expensive but worthless gifts, such as dinner and theatre trips, the male pays no cost if the invitation isn't accepted. And if women are not interested they are unlikely to accept the invitation."

VIDEO: There is a tiny bit of non-explicit Jennifer Aniston nudity in Rumor Has it

Unnecessary Censorship - Superbowl Edition Hang on till the end. The last one is the best.

Clooney Doesn't Expect to Win Any Oscars

  • I think he's right, but if the Oscars were based solely on my opinion, he would be on the short list for Good Night and Good Luck
  • He had to make some key directorial decisions in the course of creating that movie, and if he screwed up any one, the film would not have worked.
    1. He had to use Joe McCarthy instead of an actor playing McCarthy. McCarthy was such an exaggerated and unpleasant character that if an actor did a perfect impersonation, the right wing nutburgers would have jumped on Clooney for creating a hatchet job. He decided correctly (as Murrow once did) to let McCarthy hang himself.
    2. He had to film in black-and-white, not just because of some arty whim, or to create a fifties feel, but because it was completely necessary to make the McCarthy footage fit in seamlessly, and because the "real McCarthy" decision was immutable.
  • I don't know if he did a better job than Robert Rodriguez (unnominated), Peter Jackson, or Steven Spielberg, but if I had to choose between Clooney and Ang Lee in that category, I'd probably vote for Clooney.

'Throttling' Angers Netflix Heavy Renters

Daily Box Office - Friday, February 10, 2006

  • New releases took the top four spots, headed up by Final Destination 3. The champs from the previous two weeks took the next two spots, followed by Brokeback at #7.

Daily Show celebrity interview: Will Arnett

 

The trailer for Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, a summer comedy with Will Ferrell

  • "The film tells the story of NASCAR stock car racing sensation Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) whose 'win at all costs' approach has made him a national hero. He and his loyal racing partner, childhood friend Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly), are a fearless duo -- dubbed 'Thunder' and 'Lightning' by their fans for their ability to finish so many races in the #1 and #2 positions, with Cal always in second place. When a flamboyant French Formula One driver, Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), challenges the 'Thunder' and 'Lightning' for the supremacy of NASCAR, Ricky Bobby must face his own demons and fight Girard for the right to be known as racing's top driver."

Here's the trailer for The Sentinel, a thriller starring Michael Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland.

  • "When a colleague is murdered, Secret Service agent Pete Garrison is put in charge of the investigation. But Garrison himself becomes a suspect after he is blackmailed by someone who knows of his affair with the first lady. Stripped of his duties and now a fugitive, Garrison races to prove his innocence and save the president's life."

Obscene fortune cookies liven up Chinese New Year in Brooklyn

  • "It's nothing that Brooklynites can't handle. If it happened at an uptown Chinese restaurant on the upper East Eide, it would have been a travesty," he added. "But this is Brooklyn. We shake it off."

Spielberg's Lincoln movie "won't roll anytime soon"

 

 


Movie Reviews:

Yellow asterisk: funny (maybe). White asterisk: expanded format. Blue asterisk: not mine. No asterisk: it probably sucks.

 

 

 

"Lo Strano Vizio della Signora Wardh"

Lo Strano Vizio della Signora Wardh (1970) is a Giallo produced with joint Spanish and Italian money, registered in Italy as country of origin. It was initially released in Italy, and did quite well there, and all over the world. A version was released in the US under the title Blade of the Ripper in 1971 that was cut by a full 10 minutes. It must have been quite a butcher job, because the person who wrote the plot summary for what IMDb calls Blade of the ripper was wrong on a key point.

Edwige Fenech and her husband, a stock broker, are not especially happy together. She also wants to see nothing of her ex boyfriend, which whom she had a BDSM relationship. He doesn't seem to know it is over. Her solution? Find another boyfriend. Meanwhile, someone is ripping women with a straight razor. When Edwige is attacked, she tries to figure out which of the three is the serial killer. Naturally, that is the wrong question, and by the time the intricate plot twists are over, it is the wrong questions for lots of reasons.

Writer Vittorio Caronia is rather proud of his plot twists, but said he thinks there are maybe 20 Different plot devices that can be used in thrillers, and he used intricate ones here. He also talks, in the special features, about some reviewers claim that there is a hint of male sexuality in the story. He smiles, and said that he left that little bit of ambiguity in on purpose. The actors involved say that it is a silly claim, and there was no such intent, but when asked the question, Edwige Fenech thought about it, and then said, yes, probably. At any rate, it is not really important to the narrative.

It was the first giallo directed by Sergio Martino, who had been doing westerns. Everyone in the cast and crew were thrilled at how well the film did. The only real controversy was over the name of the title character. It was originally "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Ward" and the only Mrs. Ward in Italy asked that the h be added to the name, because she was being teased in the streets.

Edwige Fenech had made several films by then, and was in top form. The supporting cast was also strong. Nudity includes breasts and buns from Fenech and Marella Corbi as a slasher victim. Conchita Airolde, in her first film, showed breasts. She later moved on to produce, and is still doing so.

IMDb readers say 6.5. but who knows which version of this one they are voting on. The No Shame release I watched was up to their usual standards, presenting an UNCUT version in a good transfer with interesting special features. Here is a picture of 57 year old Fenech taken last year. This is a C. If you like gialli, you should see this one. I would caution you to pay close attention to the plot.


Edwige Fenech



Edwige Fenech (today)



Conchita Airoldi



Marella Corbi




 



Today we take the old Time Machine back to the seventies for "The Corpse Grinders", a terror flick from maverick director Ted V. Mikels that developed a cult following. I actually saw this one at a Drive-In!

It starred Monika Kelly who did not get naked, but did show off some awesome cleavage and wound up as a "Babe in Bondage" in a poorly lit scene.


Monika Kelly


For today's nudity we call up Meadow Williams in "The Box" topless working the pole.


Meadow Williams




'Caps and comments by Spaz:

"Hatley High" (2003)
Light comedy and Rocky IV spoof about a high school chess tournament against the Russian Soviets. Rachelle Lefevre does some high kicks and strips down to her brassiere along with Ilona Elkin.

Rachelle Lefevre Ilona Elkin


"National Lampoon's Barely Legal" (2003)
Finally released to DVD but was previously released in Germany last year as Almost Legal aka Verboten snauffenfräulein. This latest US release has added exposure in the the "extended" scenes section. Sarah-Jane Potts flashes her boobs this time although she's wearing pasties, Jacqueline Stewart shows more boob, Andrea Stefancikova appears uncredited as a topless stripper, and some unknown uncredited strippers flash some flesh.

Sarah-Jane Potts Jacqueline Stewart Andrea Stefancikova strippers


"The Fog" (2005)
Skinless remake of the horror movie. The little nudity that was shown was by a body double in a very steamy shower. Maggie Grace and Selma Blair are shown in their skivvies while Sonja Bennett and Meghan Heffern dance in their bikini tops.

Maggie Grace Selma Blair Sonja Bennett Meghan Heffern


"11:11: The Gate" (2004)
Another skinless movie but Laura Mennell, Jane Sowerby, and Amy Adamson are all sexy.

Laura Mennell Jane Sowerby Amy Adamson


"At the End of the Day: The Sue Rodriguez Story" (1998)
Wendy Crewson shows some bare back in this movie.

Wendy Crewson


"N.Y.P.D. Blue"
From episode: "Yo, Adrian". One of the May sweeps episodes from 2003. Chandra West shows as much boob and butt possible on network prime time television.

Chandra West


"Quest for Fire" (1981)
Much nudity by Rae Dawn Chong but the the documentary provides more exposure although it appears she has the genitalia of a Barbie Doll(tm). Also Joy Boushel is the fair-haired Neanderthal chick who exposes boob, butt and bush.

Rae Dawn Chong Joy Boushel


"The Clan of the Cave Bear" (1986)
Anothe caveman movie. Darryl Hannah shows some buns getting ravaged by a Neanderthal caveman while some unknown cavewomen are topless.

Darryl Hannah unknown


"Under the Tuscan Sun" (2003)
Giulia Steigerwalt has a fully clothed sex scene.

Giulia Steigerwalt




From DeadRed...here some excellent, high quality 'caps of Gwyneth Paltrow topless in scenes from "Shakespeare in Love".

The Skin-man serves up some very nice bustiness (of the nekkid variety) from Claudia Davila. Here she is in scenes from a direct-to-vid horror flick you've probably never heard of called "The Dawn" (2006).