Updates:

• Charlie is back from his summer holiday, and has updated the French Nude Celebrity Site

Video clips: Nicole Kidman, Part 2 of ?

I have nothing more to say about Stanley Kubrick's swan-song Eyes Wide Shut. Tuna and I said our pieces at the Movie House page. The movie may be great or it may suck, but the nudity is copious and is phenomenally well photographed. So there's that. How much can you complain about a movie that has Kidman stark naked in the opening credits? The final Kidman nude scene, with her and the anonymous sailor, is one of the hottest moments in her career. (Zipped .wmv).

Birth is an artsy-fartsy thriller which should probably never have been made. James Berardinelli called in pretentious crap, and he liked it more than Tuna. (Movie House Link). I liked it more than they did because I got involved in the mystery and the moral dilemma and I liked the consistent atmosphere, but I have to admit it's too arty, too slow, takes itself too seriously, and has an unsatisfying ending, so you should certainly not seek it out. In addition to all those problems, the freakin' nude scene is WAY too dark. I lightened it significantly in this zipped .wmv, which means you can see the body parts, but the flip side of that is that it looks like complete shit.

The Human Stain is an intellectual's movie, and a good one, but a depressing one, and another that is way too self-important and non-commercial. The studio exec who approved a $30 million budget for this is probably in a soup line as you read this. In the Movie House review, I say, "Excellent movie, but no entertainment value and clearly limited appeal." Tuna says, "I was very impressed. If you are interested in intelligent character-driven dramas that really dig deeply and honestly into people's lives, this is a very good one." The nudity is not explicit, but Kidman's sensuous dance and her purring come-ons are quite hot! (Zipped .wmv).

Billy Bathgate, an old-fashioned gangster story starring Dustin Hoffman and Bruce Willis, is the only one of these four movies which has some genuine entertainment value. As I wrote in the Movie House review,  "I enjoyed the film. There's nothing you haven't seen before, but it's all done well." Directed by Robert Benton (Kramer vs Kramer) and written by E.L. Doctorow (Ragtime) and Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love), it is underrated at IMDb with a 5.7. You certainly can't grouse about the nudity. Kidman shows her pubes three times, once in clear light, once outdoors in broad daylight, and once underwater. (Zipped .wmv).

If you look at Billy Bathgate and then Eyes Wide Shut, you'll see that Kidman did a remarkable job of getting fitter as she got older. She was ten years older in EWS, but every part of her was better toned, and the perfect butt we remember from EWS was actually sorta dumpy-lookin' in Bathgate. Each of the two movies has a "Kidman before the mirror" scene.

 

Mailbox:

"A request for the regulars: About 25 years ago or so Lesley-Anne Down did a thriller called "Sphinx" in which she played an Egyptologist looking for a mummy or something. The film isn't important, though - what is important is that Down, while on location, posed for a series of non-nude but very sexy photographs that were apparently done to promote the movie, even though they have virtually nothing to do with it other than the location. I've seen some of these pop up over the years but they're usually pretty tiny or of not-so-good quality. If anyone can post photos from this shoot that are of high quality or close to it, please do so so we can all enjoy Down at her physical peak."

OTHER CRAP:

Movie Reviews:

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

It's time for Flauti's special monthly Spanish movie report, Part 1 today, featuring Don't Move (Penelope Cruz) and La Fiesta Del Chivo.

Don't Move

Claudia Gerini

Elena Perino

Penelope Cruz

La Fiesta Del Chivo

Stephanie Leonidas

RokWatch wrote: "Ms. Rose McGowan may have Kirk Douglas' chin yet it doesn't matter in contrast to her personal sparkle: and she looks spectacular in this dress"