Celos (1999) translates as jealousy, and that is the single minded theme in this film from noted Spanish director Vicente Aranda. Carmen (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón) and Antonio (Daniel Giménez Cacho) are to be married, when Antonio discovers a picture of her with 5 friends, including one man with his arm around her. Antonio can't leave it alone, and wants to know about the relationship. It becomes increasingly obvious that Carmen is hiding something. Antonio works as a long haul trucker for the same orange packing house that Carmen works for, which gives him ample opportunity to investigate, and try to find this mysterious man, even after they marry. I didn't predict the ending.

Sánchez-Gijón shows breasts and buns several times making love with Cacho. Although the scenes are not overly explicit, they are very hot. We also see extended nudity including full frontal from Itziar Miranda as a hooker that Cacho questions. The lighting was very nice, making the most out of Spanish sunlight, and the performances were also good. IMDB readers have it at 6.7/10, which is about right. The DVD has subtitles that can't be turned off, and is a little dark and grainy in places. It is billed as a thriller, but is more of a drama. I enjoyed it. C+

Popcorn is a strange and underrated horror/comedy film. Like Scream, it treads a fine line between genre and genre parody. When it allows the parody to take over, it can be absolutely brilliant. Just dazzling. And then there's the rest of it. Sigh. I enjoyed the film, but no nudity.

Schlock was John Landis' first film. In his career output, it ranks far below Animal House, but slightly ahead of The Stupids. Of course, my dad's fishing videos are more entertaining than The Stupids. No nudity.

South of Heaven, West of Hell is, to quote the eminent Dr Hunter S Thompson, one king-hell bummer. It's like a really violent, dusty Old West episode of The Twilight Zone on acid. Vanity project for country musician Dwight Yoakam (he wrote, directed, starred, scored), also featuring Billy Bob Thornton.

• Maria Santamaria (1, 2, 3, 4)

While I am on the subject of vanity projects featuring Billy Bob Thornton, SlingBlade is the film that made Billy Bob Thornton famous, and was Thornton's vanity project (wrote, directed, starred). Also stars Dwight Yoakam! In addition to those two guys playing their career roles, it features a surprisingly good acting performance from John (Three's Company) Ritter. No nudity.

How we "spent" our summer vacation. 

Notes: films that lost money at the box may yet recoup in rentals, overseas grosses, and broadcast rights. Remember that studios only get to keep half of the gross, so a film which is expensive and moderately profitable could be highly lucrative for the theaters, but very bad for the studio. I think the theater owners may have liked Pearl Harbor, but Disney took a bath on it. On the other hand Universal was thrilled with American Pie 2 and The Fast and the Furious, both of which had moderate price tags and big grosses. Thus, even though Pearl Harbor outgrossed The Fast and the Furious, the former was a loser overall and a bigloser for Disney, while the latter had the Midas touch for Universal and everyone else it touched.

Massive winners:

• The Fast and The Furious - $38 million budget - $141 million gross - Universal. 

• The Mummy Returns  $98 million budget - $202 million gross - Universal. 

• Shrek - $60 million budget - $261 million gross - Dreamworks. 

• Rush Hour 2 - $90 million budget - $250 million gross - New Line. 

• American Pie 2 - $30 million budget - $175 million gross - Universal. 

Notes: 

1. Universal kicked ass, with three of the five big moneymakers

2. Three of the five are sequels. Expect more sequels!

 

Solid winners:

• Legally Blonde - $18 million budget - $86 million gross - MGM. 

• Jurassic Park III - $93 million budget - $173 million gross - Universal. 

• The Princess Diaries - $30 million budget - $95 million gross - Disney's only winner. 

• The Others - $17 million budget - $85 million gross - Miramax. 

Notes: 

1. Another winner for Universal, and it's also a sequel. Depressing. Expect Joe Dirt 2 next summer.

Satisfactory performers:

• The Score - $68 million budget - $68 million gross - Paramount

• Summer Catch - $17 million budget - $35 million gross - Warner Bros.

• Planet of the Apes - $100 million budget - $167 million gross - Fox.  (Big box, but barely a winner, net of marketing costs.)

• America's Sweethearts - $48 million budget - $90 million gross - Sony

• Tomb Raider - $80 million budget - $130 million gross - Paramount. (High marketing costs)

• Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back - $22 million budget - $45 million gross - Miramax

• A Knight's Tale - $41 million budget - $56 million gross - Fox and Sony

• Cats and Dogs - $60 million budget - $91 million gross - Warner Bros.

• Kiss of the Dragon - $25 million budget - $35 million gross -  Fox

• Scary Movie 2 - $45 million budget - $71 million gross - Miramax

• The Animal -  $22 million budget - $56 million gross - Sony

• Moulin Rouge -  $52 million budget - $55 million gross - Fox

• Dr. Dolittle 2 - $72 million budget - $110 million gross - Fox

Films that have lost money, but may yet cross the line:

• Rat Race - $48 million budget - $40 million gross - Paramount. 

• The Curse of the Jade Scorpion - $26 million budget - $20 million gross - Dreamworks. 

• American Outlaws - $35 million budget - $22 million gross - Warner Bros.

• Captain Corelli's Mandolin - $57 million budget - $40 million gross - Universal and Miramax.

• John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars - $28 million budget - $15 million gross - Sony. 

Box office losers:

• Osmosis Jones - $75 million budget - $35 million gross - Warner Bros. (Still playing, but will not cross the line)

• What's The Worst That Could Happen? $45 million budget - $32 million gross -  MGM. 

• Swordfish - $80 million budget - $69 million gross - Warner Bros. 

• Pearl Harbor - $152 million budget - $195 million gross -  Disney  (it lost money net of marketing costs)

• Atlantis: The Lost Empire - $90 million budget - $81 million gross -  Disney. 

• Angel Eyes - $38 million budget - $24 million gross -Warner.

• A.I. -  $90 million budget - $78 million gross - Universal and Dreamworks. 

Mammoth losers:

• Evolution - $80 million budget - $38 million gross - Sony and Dreamworks. 

• Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within - $137 million budget - $32 million gross - Sony. 
  

  Note: 

  1. Sony obviously had some problems. Final Fantasy was an unqualified financial disaster.

   

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  Time to update the poll, Who is the world's ultimate babe? See who's still hot, who's not, who is newly warmed up. Vote here if you haven't yet.

Tuna did Joyce Gibson (aka Joyce Mandel and Alexis Love) in Wham Bam Thank You Spaceman. Biggest surprise? Joyce kept her clothes on. These scans, from an ancient copy of Girl Illustrated, show what a young Joyce looked like when she was nekkid.

#1 features 'caps from "Die Letzte Rolle", #2 has 'caps from "Die Reise".

Jr's response....Beer, lederhosen, and sex? That's it, I'm buying a few Hasselhoff cds and packing my bags!

By the way...on a Hasselhoff note, according to the IMDb, "Super Knight Rider 3000" is in Pre-Production! Here is the plot summary courtesy of the IMDb:

Michael Knight comes out of retirement after being frozen, because he was injected with a fatal poison. Devon, who is now the great-great-grandniece of Devon Miles, Michael's boss and mentor, is now running the Foundation for Law and Government, which is called FLAG. She, with her new partner (a very young Michael Knight type), will team up with the original Michael Knight and the new K.I.T.T. to carry on what will be the Knight Rider 3000 in the future.

Asian party babes

Ahna let's a breast fall out of her shirt, and our mystery extras show bum, and breast views.

Here she is still looking pretty darn good topless...except for the arm over boobs thing. Jenny, it's not like we haven't seen them before. No need to be shy. Thanks to Czechmate for the scan.

By the way, Jenny fans can catch her this week on a new episode of the Showtime series "Going to California".