Dressed to Kill (1980) was recently covered by Scoopy, and I mostly agree with him on this one, except that I don't think De Palma was doing a homage to Hitchcock. De Palma admits in the special features that he used some suspense techniques that Hitchcock pioneered, but then Hitchcock is know as the master of suspense. I feel De Palma made his own film, and made it well. He was attacked on three fronts. First, some critics said he did not go far enough beyond Hitchcock. Second, the MPAA gave him fits, so the full version was only released in Europe. And lastly, he was attacked politically as misogynistic and overly violent.

Angie Dickenson definitely shows her buns and a side view of one breast in a dark scene getting out of bed. I am not sure I can tell which shots from the shower scene are Angie and which are the double. Nancy Allen is in a shower scene at the end, but my favorite shot of her is image one, where she is in black lace undies and garters, and her areola is peeking out of the bra. She was nominated for both a Razzie and a Golden Globe for her performance. I give it a high C+. Great suspense in the Hitchcock tradition, and very fine film making.

Jr. Here...I agree with Iced T, "Dirt" wasn't that bad. Excecutive produced by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison production company, it carries the same look, feel, and storytelling of other productions such as "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo", "The Animal". It seems Happy Madison is shaping up to be a movie factory for sweet, not-too-offensive comedies about loveable losers who get the girl in the end staring former SNL players.

Written by Daivid Spade and long time SNL writer Fred Wolf. "Joe Dirt" is about guy who tells the story of his life on a popular shock jock's radio show and becomes a national hero. The plot is barely there, but it's not really important. The movie is actually a series of sketches poking fun of white trash and rednecks. The hook is that they poke fun of every concievable white trash or redneck stereotype since 1974 by sticking them all into one guy...mullet, Hemi, AC/DC shirts, Skoal, Auto Trader, starting and wimping out of fights with lame excuses, acid washed jeans, etc, and then sending him out into the world.

There are a few good laughs here and there, but unless you've lived with or near white trash, 90% of jokes just wont be funny. I think that's why it was panned so by critics. However, in my time I've lived in Florida, Kentucky, and Texas...so needless to say, some of the stereotyes reminded me of people I went to school with and made fun of often and I had fun watching it.

The soundtrack rocks solid and keeps on keeping on. It's like the greatest hits of any Classic Rock radio station during the month of "Rocktober". By the way, Eddie Money must have a great sense of humor.

As always with Sandler projects, the big celeb stars with pint sized roles steal the show. Dennis Miller as the radio jock is the glue that holds the story together with series of reality breaks that keeps us from 90 minutes of non-stop Skynyrd jokes. And of course...Christopher Walken is a comic genius!

Mira Sorvino: Stars Have Sex On Screen

Mira Sorvino has shocked Hollywood by insisting that movie stars really do have sex on film. The Summer Of Sam star - who won an Oscar for her role as a prostitute in Woody Allen movie Mighty Aphrodite - has revealed that some actors don't fake movie sex scenes. But Sorvino refused to disclose which stars go all the way for the cameras. She says, "It rarely happens that actors have proper sex in films. But it does, though - now and again. And other actors tell me that it does."

Well, I've yet to see any photos of Anne Archrer, and already, there's a replacement mooning into view. Is everyone just getting blase about naked actresses of a certain age?

The newest Mrs. Robinson is Linda Gray of "Dallas." The show will be retitled "Who Beaver-Shot J.R.?"

-Pat Reeder, The Comedy Wire

"Dallas" star cast in London's "Graduate" at 60

LONDON (Reuters) - Thirty-four years after her stockinged leg featured on the original film poster, former "Dallas" actress Linda Gray is set to star in "The Graduate" on the London stage, it was announced Wednesday.

Gray, who is 60, will become the oldest star to take on the role of Mrs. Robinson, following in the footsteps of actresses Kathleen Turner, Jerry Hall, Amanda Donohoe and Anne Archer at the Gielgud Theater in London's West End.

"We're thrilled to have Linda join us," producer Sacha Brooks told Reuters. "It is a great part to play.

"She gets to be funny, sexy and bitchy all in one evening, and look fabulous. The image she has from the parts for which she's best known connects brilliantly with the character of Mrs. Robinson."

Gray found fame playing Sue Ellen, the wife of oil baron J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman), in the long-running drama sries "Dallas" and appeared on stage in "The Vagina Monologues" in the United States. Her TV credits also include "Melrose Place," "Models Inc." and the British hit "Lovejoy."

Early in her career, before she became known as an actress, it was Gray's leg that was photographed for a film poster to promote the original 1967 movie of "The Graduate," starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft.

The West End version reaches its 600th performance on Sept. 3. It has taken more than $11.7 million since the first performance on April 5 last year, when Turner played the role of the middle-aged woman who seduces a naive college grad.

Gray takes over on Oct. 1 and is due to play the part for 18 weeks. Much media attention on the play has focused on the fact that Mrs. Robinson is briefly naked.

"The nudity is far less of a big deal than the media have made out," Brooks said. "People stay for the second act. When they come out the nudity isn't the first thing they talk about."

Reuters/Variety

You Asked For Preservation? - The Bush Interior Department approved a request to consider national landmark status for a 60-foot pile of steaming garbage. The toxic waste dump in Fresno, California, opened in 1935 and was closed in 1987, but it still sits there oozing methane and contaminating water supplies. It's the oldest sanitary landfill in the U.S. and is believed to be the smelliest place ever nominated to be an historic landmark.