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"Frances", from Tuna
A true story about a
rebellious actress, Frances Farmer, whose
individuality was seen in Hollywood as emotional
instability, and possibly even mental illness.
Viewed through the prism of today, she seems
quite normal, and the people who kow-towed to the
system seem to be marbleless. Perhaps she had
some anger to work through, and she had a
difficult time with her mother, enough so that I
suppose she could have been deeply troubled. But
frankly, it's hard to imagine anyone not being
angry at being treated like a brainless and
interchangeable prop by the filmmakers of the
day. But in those days her mental condition was
viewed as serious enough that she was eventually
lobotomized. A disturbing story, quite meticulous
in its accuracy (as measured by the other
accounts I have read). A tough/sensistive
portrayal by Jessica Lange, who also showed some
flesh.
thumbnails Lange (1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
"The
Tie That Binds", from Tuna
1995 film new to DVD.
I've never seen it. Here is Berardinelli's review for
reference. He thought it stunk the place up. The
nudity is very brief and all-too-subtle. I don't
think I even saw a nipple in there. So if he gave
it one-and-a-half for quality, I guess we'd have
to give it the same score for nudity.
thumbnails Moira Kelly (1,
2,
3,
4,
5)
"Scandalous
Behavior", from Johnny Web
I can't believe I sat
throught another one of these. This was billed as
an erotic thriller, but it was about as thrilling
as doing your ironing with Al Gore. It started
out with the potential to be a comedy classic
like Habitat, but no such luck. For example, in
the first sex scene, they edited the camera cuts
in the wrong order, so when one woman climbs atop
the guy in a threesome, they change the camera
angles and she isn't there yet! Oh-ho-ho it's
magic, you know. Then the evildoers place some
innocents into a car and let them drive off. Why
let them get away? Are they evil doers with a
heart of gold? Nah! They have a remote controlled
explosive device to detonate the car. Only one
problem - the victims drive off in a new Cadillac
down a claustrophobic tree-lined alley, but the
car that blows up is an older car, non-Cadillac,
and in an empty treeless street.
All this in the first
few minutes, so I had my hopes up so high! Sigh.
It just turned out to be another one of these
things with the minimum plot necessary to justify
the sex scenes, and the actors delivering their
lines like local furniture store owners doing
their own commercials by reading cue cards. The
only good thing about the movie is that it is the
DVD version of "Singapore Sling". Hey,
Scoop, what's so friggin good about that? Well,
I'll tell ya - it's the 1998 movie in which the
six foot tall former Playindividual Shannon Tweed
appears to be sitting on the shillelegh for real.
Remember those caps we saw some weeks ago? Well,
here are some really big and clear ones from DVD.
I have to say that when you are watching the
movie, it does absolutely give the illusion that
she's riding the Love Train. Is there any way to
say for sure? Not a chance. They could be, or he
could have an erection a couple inches behind her
butt, or we could be looking at a shadow. I don't
know. But it's some pretty hot monkey love for Ms
Tweed, real or not.
Did you realize that it
was almost 20 years ago that Shannon was the
staple girl? She's hot, but she has kids your
age. Since the centerfold, she's had some rugrats
with Gene Simmons, the tongue dude from KISS, and
she has appeared in about a zillion low-budget
productions. Tweed isn't bad in this. Maybe she
could pass muster in some real movies. But the
rest of the cast should be drowned in Bardahl and
used to prevent engine knock in Oprah's vibrator.
By the way, this movie
was directed by James Hong, whom you would
immediately recognize as the stock Hollywood
Chinese guy, from such great pictures as Blade
Runner and Chinatown. He also stars in the
picture (he's seen behind Lisa Comshaw in collage
#1). He's in his seventies now, and the first
movie he appeared in was 1955's "Love is a
Many Splendored Thing". That was some time
ago. The old boy is in great shape, and doesn't
look much older than he did three decades ago.
Point of passing info - he's as American as you
can get: born in Minneapolis, with an engineering
degree from USC. His Chinese heritage turned out
to be a great entree into acting, and he has done
more than 100 movies!
Shannon Tweed, including
frontals and faux or real sex. The history of
literature has been dominated by the "sins
of the father" legacy. How much guilt do we
owe those our fathers wronged, and what should we
do about it. Should we pluck out our eyes like
Oedipus, even though we are just unwilling and
unknowning pawns? In this classical spirit, I am
glad to see Shannon sharing her body with all of
us, to atone for the many wrongs committed by her
infamous grandfather, Boss Tweed. Landon Hall is
doing the same because of her own grandpa,
Tammany. The controversial frame is in the bottom
right of collage #2 (1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6)
Lisa Comshaw. She's not as trim as she used to
be, but I think she looks great with the extra
weight. (1,
2,
3,
4)
Rena Riffel (1,
2,
3)
Tiffany Bolton Strippers (1,
2,
3,
4,
5)
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