Tuesday

Tuna
"C'est la vie"

C'est la vie (1990) is an autobiographical film by Diane Kurys (Entre Nous), and takes place during the summer of her 13th year. It is a slice of life film, and shows how she, and those around her, cope with the divorce of her parents. The family is to spend the summer at the beach, with her mother's half sister and her family. This has been an annual event. She has been picking up overtones that her parents marriage is not a happy one, and, at the train station, her mother hustles her and her sister on the train with their nanny, and announces that she won't be there for a few weeks. It shapes up to be the best summer of her life. She delights in tormenting her nanny, romancing her older cousin, and enjoying her joker of an uncle. Then her mother arrives -- with a lover, and the children learn that they will be moving to Paris with their mother. Then, their father arrives. He doesn't want the divorce, and tries to play the kids against their mother to stop it.

One reviewer called it half coming of age, half tragedy of divorce, and said that the two stories fought each other. Not every story with a girl on the cusp of womanhood is a coming of age story, and Frédérique (Julie Bataille) is the same child at the end of the film that she was at the beginning. She is ready to start High School, and her family will never be together again, but there is no loss of innocence here, or coming of age. All of the children from both families, which range in age from 5 to 15, play together, and gladly. One of the things that makes this film for me is the absolute believability of the characters. Frédérique, writing in her diary, says of her older cousin, "He says he slept with a girl. I didn't belive him, but he gave me details, and now I am not so sure." When they sneak into a sand castle contest for members of a beach club, and one of her cousins is declared the winner, then disqualified because he is not a member, all the kids sneak back late at night and burn the club playground down.

As for the adults, they are an equally entertaining mix. Valéria Bruni-Tedeschi as the governess is the perfect butt of the kids jokes, and provides the only exposure. She is lying on her stomach with her top undone to avoid tan lines, when the uncle hollers, "scorpion." She jumps up, exposing her breasts. The uncle is a joker, but has a temper. The aunt is pregnant yet again. The mother has thrown caution to the wind and is having an affair with a starving artist. The artist is going to New York, and expects her to drop everything and go with him. The father is self absorbed, and sees nothing wrong with using his kids to apply pressure on the mother.

IMDB readers have this at 6.3 of 10. Ebert, in a thoughtful review, awarded 2 1/2 stars. His main complaint was that he wanted more resolution, commenting that he was not convinced even the film maker knew what effect the divorce had on the kids. I would guess that Kurys is still sorting out her feelings about her parents' breakup. The trailer was a montage of scenes from the film with an English voice-over by Kurys, who said that it was the best summer of her life, that ended with the most shattering experience of her life. She translated C'est la vie, which we usually think of as Such is Life as That's Life. I didn't detect the usual cynical view that life sucks, so what, in her tone, but rather that life is what it is. I enjoyed this film very much, but your mileage will vary. C.

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  • Valéria Bruni-Tedeschi (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

    "Pauline à la plage"

    Pauline à la plage (1983) is an Eric Rohmer film, and quite possibly my favorite. Pauline is almost 16, and heads to the beach with her older cousin Marion (Arielle Dombasle) for a late summer holiday. Marion immediately runs into an old boyfriend at the beach , Pierre (Pascal Greggory), whom she hadn't seen since her marriage, which she is now ending. He never lost the torch he was carrying for her, but she meets Henri (Féodor Atkine), an ethnologist, who is not looking for more than a little sex, and falls for him. Meanwhile, Pauline (Amanda Langlet) meets a boy her age, Sylvain (Simon de La Brosse) and is quite happy to have a boyfriend for the summer, even though she knows it will be a short lived romance. Things are going well, with Pierre being the odd man out, when life is complicated by the candy lady, Louisette (Rosette), who sells candy and peanuts on the beach. Pauline and Marion are off playing tourist for the day, and Henri brings Louisette home for some variety. Sylvain is also there waiting on Pauline.

    Pierre sees a very naked Louisette through Henri's bedroom window, then Marion arrives, Sylvain warns Henri, and Henri shoves Louisette and Sylvain into the bathroom. When Marion sees Louisette, Henri tells her that it was Sylvain that was with her. From then on, things get complicated.

    Dombasle, who looks absolutely edible in this film, shows breasts in several scenes, pokes our of most of her outfits, and shows most of her buns in a bathing suit. Rosette shows all three Bs through the bedroom window. IMDB readers have this at 7.2 of 10. Although it can be, at times, talky, and the teenagers are the most honest and least complicated characters in the story, I found it an absorbing look at the differences between men and women, and one of the best explanations I have ever seen as to why nice guys never get the girl. True, it is very French, half coming of age and half romantic comedy, but I found it a complete delight. C+.

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  • Arielle Dombasle (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
  • Rosette (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

  • Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy)
    version

    Movies:

    The Life of David Gale (2003)

    I've watched this movie so much lately that I can call David Gale "Dave". I came upon a better copy of the film, so here are the more revealing images of Laura Linney. These show her breasts clearly, and just a hint of the ol' Delta of Venus. As of early 2000, this gal was 35 years old, had never shown a damn thing, and it looked like she never would, because she was getting Oscar nominations without stripping.

    Boy was that wrong.

    Once she removed her clothing in The Maze, it seemed to be a liberating experience for her. Now she won't put 'em back on. She got naked in The Life of David Gale and it wasn't even necessary. She had a bag over her head, and could have used a body double, but didn't.

    • Laura Linney (1, 2, 3, 4)

     

    Updates:

    • Updated volumes: J-LO, Laura Linney, Courtney Love, Virginie Ledoyen, Kelly Lynch, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Lucy Liu
    • New volumes: Lauren Hays, Griffin Drew, Suzanna Hamilton

     

    Mailbox:

    Scoop: Jenny Agutter always appeared to be so unselfconscious, exposing herself on film while delivering respectable performances.  That set her apart, in a way, and I was wondering what ever became of her. Hopefully, she's alive, happy and still naked somewhere out there.  Any info on her?

    • Not much. She lives in Cornwall, has been married for a long time to the same guy and, as far as I know, she hasn't been naked in public since 1981, despite a propitious start in her film nudity career. I guess you have to be British to know what she's doing now because IMDB says she has been in a bunch of TV mini-series in the U.K in the past five years or so. 
       
      It seems that one never sees her in movies, and she doesn't do any TV shows that reach the USA, as far as I can see.  I never watched the "telly" when I lived in London in the 90's, so I didn't see her then. In fact, I can't remember seeing her in 15 years except for her small role in Blue Juice, and I don't even remember that. I watched Blue Juice, IMDb says she is in that movie, and I specifically mentioned her in my review, so I must have seen her, but I'll be darned if I can remember what she did in that film. My review says she played Queen Guinevere in some dream or fantasy sequences, so I did obviously take note of her at the time, and I mentioned that she looked "lovely" (She was in her mid 40's at the time, and has now turned 50)
       
      She's done a few more minor movie roles recently, even appeared in a John Duigan (Sirens, Lawn Dogs) movie, so I guess she's getting her feet back in the water. In fact, IMDB says she is currently STARRING - first billing, no less - in a new thriller - supposed release date 2002. (I don't know a damned thing about it. Never heard of it). Here's the link  http://us.imdb.com/Details?0292155

     

    Other crap:


    What're the odds?

     

    March Madness!!!

    Odds to win the 2003 NCAA Mens Basketball Championship

    (Closing Date: Mar 15, 2003 14:00)

    Win odds listed as payoff on $1 bet. 4.0 is the same as "three to one".

    Ohio State is lookin' a mite sluggish

    Bet Selections Win Odds
    Arizona 4.0
    Kentucky 4.0
    Kansas 6.5
    Oklahoma 7.5
    Duke 10.0
    Texas 11.0
    Florida 11.0
    Wake Forest 11.0
    Pittsburgh 13.0
    Maryland 13.0
    Louisville 13.0
    Mississippi State 19.0
    Georgia 19.0
    Marquette 21.0
    Illinois 21.0
    Notre Dame 21.0
    Michigan State 26.0
    Connecticut 26.0
    Xavier 26.0
    Syracuse 26.0
    Oklahoma State 31.0
    Wisconsin 34.0
    Utah 36.0
    Alabama 41.0
    Cincinnati 41.0
    Stanford 41.0
    Memphis 41.0
    Villanova 51.0
    Gonzaga 51.0
    Indiana 61.0
    Missouri 61.0
    Boston College 61.0
    Oregon 67.0
    Georgia Tech 67.0
    LSU 76.0
    Texas Tech 81.0
    California 81.0
    NC State 81.0
    Tulsa 81.0
    Western Kentucky 101.0
    Georgetown 101.0
    Minnesota 101.0
    Temple 101.0
    North Carolina 101.0
    UCLA 151.0
    Southern Cal 151.0
    Pennsylvania 151.0
    Mississippi 151.0
    Miami-Florida 151.0
    Wyoming 151.0
    Ohio State 251.0

     

     


    Here are the latest movie reviews available at scoopy.com.

    • The yellow asterisks indicate that I wrote the review, and am deluded into thinking it includes humor.
    • If there is a white asterisk, it means that there isn't any significant humor, but I inexplicably determined there might be something else of interest.
    • A blue asterisk indicates the review is written by Tuna (or Lawdog or Junior or C2000 or Realist or ICMS or Mick Locke, or somebody else besides me)
    • If there is no asterisk, I wrote it, but am too ashamed to admit it.

    Graphic Response
    • Sheryl Lee topless in a 3-way love scene from "Kiss the Sky" (1999).

    Be sure to pay Graphic Response a visit at his website. www.graphic-barry.com.

    Hankster
    'Caps and comments by Hankster:

    A return to "Bacchanales Sexuelles" from 1973. Joelle Coeur shows all as she has a romp with her girlfriends boyfriend. I guess that's what friends do share.

    And just a quick look at a legend Racquel Welch showing a little cleavage from an episode of "Lois & Clark".

    UC99
    Dagmar Dorsch Full frontal nudity from her one and only IMDb film credit, "Der Narr von Wien" aka, "The Fool from Vienna" (1982).

    Evelyn Gressmann Plenty of cleavage in scenes from "Love Jogging" (1986).

    Jule Böwe Frontal nudity from "Ganz unten, ganz oben" (1999).

    Sabine Kaack Toplessness in 'caps from "Die Katze" (1988).

    Sophie Schütt
    (1, 2, 3, 4)

    Showing breasts, bum and bush in several scenes from "Zerschmetterte Träume - Eine Liebe in Fesseln" (1998).

    Vejiita
    Rachael Leigh Cook Very nice cleavage from the teen flick "She's All That".

    Sam Jenkins The model, actress and Mrs. Hercules topless baring her bum, and showing off some very nice legs in scenes from "Ed and His Dead Mother" (1993).

    Kirsten Dunst
    (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

    Very sexy scans with cleavage and partial exposure.

    Variety
    Denise Faye and Lisa Arturo
    (1, 2, 3)

    Toplessness and thong views in the lesbian scene from "American Pie 2". Great 'caps by DeadLamb.

    Janina Frostell Scan and comments by RoSSol:

    Here's a real quick scan of Janina Frostell, a very popular Finnish (bikini) model and a singer. She never has posed naked so this is better than nothing.

    I believe there have been images of her previously in the Funhouse, so we know that she has a very ample bosom and that's the side of her we still really would like to see...

    Debbi Morgan
    (1, 2, 3)

    Desiree Marie Velez
    (1, 2, 3, 4)


    Both ladies topless in scenes from the 1998 movie "Asunder". Vidcaps by Mr. Nude Celeb.

    Diane Lane
    (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)

    Señor Skin 'caps of the Fun House favorite topless and doing a sexy fan dance with great thong views and pasties in scenes from the 1987 movie "The Big Town".

    Pat Reeder www.comedy-wire.com
    Pat's comments in yellow...

    McDONALD'S TRIES OFFERING McFRUIT
    Now Try Getting A Fat Kid To Order It - McDonald's restaurants in England are responding to recent lawsuits over their food being fattening by putting fresh fruit on the menu, such as sliced apples, grapes and a fruit drink. Nutritionists still weren't satisfied and complained that the drink has added sweeteners, preservatives, coloring and only 9 percent fruit juice.

  • So? Just drink 120 ounces of it.
  • These whiners also complained because the grapes were battered and deep-fried.
  • If I want sliced apples at McDonald's, I'll order a fried pie.


    WOMAN SUES MOVIE THEATER OVER COMMERCIALS
    I Could've Watched Four More Minutes Of TV At Home! - Miriam Fisch of Evanston, Illinois, is suing her local Loews theater for deceptive advertising and wasting her time by claiming that movies start at a certain time, then showing commercials. Loews calls the suit "frivolous," and Fisch admitted that "realistically, four minutes is nothing, but where do we draw the line?"

  • With all the product placement, I can't even draw the line between where the commercials end and the movie starts.
  • But if you went to see "Daredevil," the commercials were the best part.
  • I'd rather sue them for showing trailers that give away the whole plot.


    BIRTHDAYS
    Yesterday, James "Scotty" Doohan of "Star Trek" turned 83.

  • Now when William Shatner tells him he needs "more power," he's asking to borrow some Viagra.