Here's Tuna's review from Naked World (2003)  (pictures in yesterday's edition)

Perhaps some of you remember the documentary "Naked States" where photographer Spencer Tunick photographed throngs of naked people in cities in each of the 50 states. This sequel follows him on a world tour. This time, he is working on two projects, He continues to work on what he calls installations, the huge throngs of naked people, but is also doing individual environmental portraits, again contrasting the naked human body with cityscapes.

Although he shot in over 30 countries, the documentary was edited down to New York, Montreal, London, Galloway, Paris, St. Petersburg, Tokyo, Melbourne, Capetown, Antarctica and Sao Paulo. This documentary did a better job of revealing his creative process. We see him searching for locations and camera angles, and talking about what did and didn't work. He comments that being the subject of a documentary is disastrous for an artist for two reasons. First, you see all of his mistakes, and second, it takes away from the mystique artists have. He pointed out that not every one of his photos has to be a work of art or a masterpiece, as long as they contribute toward a body of work that, together, creates the visual narrative he is after.

The cultural attitudes he encountered were also very interesting to me. The French accept nudity in art with no problem, but very few were willing to pose for him and the only place the crew had legal problems was in Paris. In Melbourne, it was not at all difficult to get volunteers. In most places, those who refused cited moral reasons, or cultural taboos as a reason for declining, but in South Africa, they wanted money to pose. In Japan, people feared for their jobs if they posed naked in public. In Brazil, men were very willing to pose naked, but women were tougher to convince. One man explained that it would be a disgrace for them to be naked in public.

IMDb readers say 6.5. If you enjoy photography, or naked bodies, this one is worth a rental. If you are serious about photography, you will want to see it.

 

Divorce Law - The Cop, The Congressman, His Wife and Her Publisher (1993)

This episode only has one case. A congressman is suing for divorce on grounds of adultery. His wife (Raven Burgen) had sex with a policeman who responded to The Bearded Clam Motel, and found her masturbating with a defective dildo. She was in the process of writing her memoirs for a publishing company, which was a little strange, in that she didn't have many. A woman first poses as a relative of the junior congressman, and offers one attorney pictures of the congressman having sex with an underage boy. She turns down the photos. The same woman (Malanie Rose), approached another partner as the publisher, and offered him the same photos. When he accepted, she had sex with him. Turned out to be a publishing company plot to make sure both biographies sold well.

Burgen showed breasts, and Rose showed breasts and buns.

This was the weakest of all of the episodes.

Raven Burgen

Scoop's notes: this woman is called Raven Burgen in this episode and Raven Burger in the episode Maid to Order. Neither of those is anyone's real name. "Raven Burgen" doesn't even get one hit at Google!! Do any of you know who she really is? Also, yesterday's episode featured someone named Christie Peralta, also a pseudonym.  Anyone know who she really is?

Malanie Rose

 

The Love Merchant (1996)

The Love Merchant is an early Joe Sarno effort. The plot would be considered a blatant rip-off of Indecent Proposal, except that Indecent Proposal came out 27 years later.

Joanna Mills is a Greenwich Village painter and free spirit. She and her sometimes boyfriend (Jim Chisholm) entertain guests from Vermont: her conservative best friend from high school (Loraine Claire), and her equally square new husband, advertising agency owner George Wolf.  They go to an upscale go-go club where millionaire Judson Todd  decides he has to have Claire. He offers Claire a proposal. He will get her husband out of town for 48 hours with a $200K contract in California if she will spend the time in bed with Todd.

This film does show some of Sarno's fabled understanding of, and respect for women, and does feature Sarno's trademark jazz trio score, but the pace is languid, and even the eroticism is limited. Sarno clearly felt constrained by the American censorship laws in 1966. It was shot entirely with New York actresses who exposed only their breasts, and even that exposure is brief. Sarno would later go to Europe and make more erotic films without the ever-present fear of being prosecuted on pandering charges. 

This is a C-, and then only for those interested in the history of erotic film.

It is too obscure for IMDb readers to have an opinion.

We have breast exposure from Joanna Mills, Loraine Claire, Annette Godette, Cleo Nova and Penni Payton.

Joanna Mills

Loraine Claire

Annette Godette

Cleo Nova

Penni Payton