Partners (10 Sep 99) is the second episode of Pleasure Zone, which might explain why it deviated from the format I found in the first two I watched. There are still four sex scenes, and the first and last are the lead woman, with two different men this time, and the middle two sex scenes are with two different actresses.

Gabrielle Hall opens the episode having sex with a man she met through the pleasure Zone Website. The next day, she gives a membership to Pleasure Zone to her partner/best friend. He has a fantasy with Shayna Ryan while signing up[, and then has sex with Lisa Throw on his arranged date. Then he and Hall realize they are truly meant for each other, and have the final sex scene.

The plot was a little more of the running time this time, and Hall is at home delivering lines, so this was a much faster watch than the other two episodes I have seen. Hall shows everything, but a crotch patch is visible for a moment during a sex scene. Throw and Ryan show breasts and buns. My biggest criticism of this series so far is the crotch patches. Not that I mind the woman wearing them, but they should make an effort to keep them off the camera. This, again, is a C as couples erotica.

The Graduate (1967)

I suppose you all know what this film is and whether you like it or not. It is, deservedly or not, my generation's official relic, our Ark of the Covenant, the first very strong indicator in our youth that our generational theme would be about rejecting the material successes our parents had worked so hard to achieve. People my age probably remember discussing this film with friends more clearly than we remember the film itself.

I just watched it again with Elya because we went to see Jerry Hall in the stage play this past week. The DVD is not a very good one. It is not an anamorphic transfer, but letterboxed, and a couple of the scenes are very green. Here is a classic that needs to be cleaned up and remastered in a new special edition.

Here are some things you might not know about it:

• Charles Grodin "won" the auditions for the part of Benjamin, beating out such stalwarts as Robert Redford! Grodin could not come to terms on a contract, and Dustin Hoffman then got the part that would make him a nationally recognized figure, and change his life forever.
• According to Hoffman, Gene Hackman was originally cast as Mr Robinson, but was fired.
• Ann Bancroft is only five years and eleven months older than Dustin Hoffman. She was 35 when the Graduate was filmed, Hoffman was 29. (36 and 30 by the time it became a hit.)
• Richard Dreyfuss, age 19 and unknown at the time, has a one-line cameo in The Graduate. Same for future TV star Ben Murphy. IMDb says MASH star Mike Farrell was an uncredited bellhop in the Taft Hotel somewhere, but I couldn't seem to spot him.
• In the famous Graduate poster with Benjamin and Mrs Robinson's leg, the leg actually belonged to future Dallas star Linda Gray, who would play Mrs Robinson on stage 35 years later.
• Anne Bancroft's other body double, the one from the movie, has never stepped forward to be identified, or been identified by anyone else, to my knowledge. (Many people, including Bancroft herself, have confirmed that Bancroft refused to do the nudity, but you'd think someone would say, "hey, that was me in the most famous film of the era!")
• The Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack became a #1 album.
• The soundtrack is unusual by today's standards. There are only four songs, played again and again and again, including several times in their entirety. In fact, there are only 3 /12 songs, because the version of Mrs Robinson heard in the film, although everything Simon had written up to that point, was not the final version. The songs "Sounds of Silence" and "Scarborough Fair" are each heard three times in the repetitive soundtrack. Sounds of Silence is actually played all the way through twice, which may be unique in the history of major budget cinema! ("April Come She Will" is also heard in its entirety.) Especially odd is one point the film where two Simon and Garfunkel songs are played back-to-back, in their entirety, under a visual montage with no dialogue, although that point is softened by the fact that "April Come She Will" is a very short song.

Nudity:

• Lainie Miller (1, 2)
• Anne Bancroft's double (1, 2, 3, 4)
• Anne Bancroft (not nude)
• A very young Richard Dreyfuss (and Norman Fell, as a bonus)

UPDATES:

Updated volumes: Cerina Vincent, Jane Fonda, Catalina Larranaga

 

MAILBOX:

Dear Scoop:

As I'm sure you're already aware, that's not the former Mrs. David Soul, Karen Carlson, stripping off for Nuck Chorris in today's Fun House...but rather CAROL BAGDASARIAN, the daughter of the late Ross Bagdasarian aka David Seville, creator of the Chipmunks. I'm betting even "Simon" would chime in on this..."Ohhhh-KAAYYYYYY!"

Best, Celebrity Sleuth

Scoop's reply. I didn't know until you told me. Glad you caught it. Here is the correctly labeled file of Ms Bagdasarian

Best way of finding out the most popular nude scenes is to track downloads, and by that criterion Scoopy tells us Jennifer Connelly in The Hot Spot is the winner. Sure can believe that.

Second best way is an actual poll, just as Uncle Scoopy runs every year. Shannon Elizabeth won a couple of years ago for her scene in American Pie; Heather Graham won last year for Killing Me Softly.

A third way is to track the number of folk who have capped a scene, since that is not a trivial effort. Takes time and money (rental or purchase) and by those standards is much like voting with one's pocketbook.

So I've been helping The Gimp with his film cap database to figure out which scenes and which actresses are most frequently capped. Here is the status as of today.

The following are scenes capped by 20 or more of us capping-type folk:

Celeb	Movie	Number of folks who 'capped it
Nicole Kidman	Eyes Wide Shut	42
Shannon Elizabeth	American Pie	28
Reese Witherspoon	Twilight	27
Heather Graham	Killing Me Softly	26
Jennifer Jason Leigh	Fast Times	26
Phoebe Cates	Fast Times	24
Jennifer Connelly	The Hot Spot	24
Halle Berry	Swordfish	24
Sherilynn Fenn	Two Moon Junction	23
Amy Smart	Road Trip	22
Elizabeth Berkley	Showgirls	22
Katie Holmes	The Gift	21
Denise Richards	Wild Things	21
Thora Birch	American Beauty	21
Mena Suvari	American Beauty	21
Demi Moore	Striptease	20
Amanda Peet	Whole Nine Yards	20
Kate Winslet	Titanic	20
Heather Graham	Boogie Nights	20

The real shock is just how far out in front is Nicole Kidman in EWS. Shoot, the difference between her and second place is a number (14) that qualifies a scene for the top fifty all-time. Can't imagine how anyone will ever catch her, unless Shania Twain reprises Elizabeth Berkley's role in Showgirls. Nicole is the Joe Dimaggio of onscreen nudity.

Anywho, the time spent helping The Gimp educated me in the value of capping stuff done very well by many others. One benefit... for me... is that I spend a lot of time "working" with images of great looking, famous babes, all nekkid and stuff. If I spent the same time just staring at the images I'd be a perv. This way I'm an artiste.

To start with, I've chosen the top two scenes to cap (Nicole Kidman in EWS and Shannon Elizabeth in American Pie), the most popular topless scene in movie history (Jennifer Connelly in The Hot Spot) and what is probably one of the most extensive bits of exposure by a then A-list babe, Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls.

Two final notes, both on Showgirls:

1) The movie is so unremittingly reprehensible, I just stopped capping it after the swimming pool boff. Just how bad does a movie have to be that a guy gets tired of seeing Elizabeth Berkley naked?

2) My roommate in college was a randy fellow, with a tit fetish that ruled his very being. The future Mrs. Brainscan once asked him why he was pursuing a coed so actively when she had the personality of a disturbed badger. His reply: "She has beautiful juggs."

We asked him if there was any beautiful woman with a personality so grating as to repel him. His reply: "Elizabeth Berkley." He meant Ms. Berkley's character in Showgirls...I'm sure the actress, herself, is a darling, sweet girl.... but he was spot-on. Her character is played as if on perpetual PMS. A nastier, more thoroughly and unintentionally disgusting portrayal has never been filmed and may never be.

• Elizabeth Berkley (1, 2, 3, 4)

• Jennifer Connelly (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

• Nicole Kidman (1, 2, 3)

• Shannon Elizabeth (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

"Stiletto Dance"
Undercover cops try to thwart a multi-million dollar nuclear arms deal among several mob groups in this 2001 made-for-HBO action thriller.

Cool movie, extremely exciting, with plenty of nudity to keep it interesting. You've no doubt seen caps of this before, but you really can't get too much of Lucie Laurier.

• Lucie Laurier, topless and partial rear nudity in sex scenes with B-movie king Eric Roberts.
• Anne Nahabedian, topless in a spirited sex scene.
• Sylvie Vallee & Diane Deschenes, topless.

J-LO AND BEN SHARE UNCOMFORTABLE WEEKEND
So Sad: Shopping Was The One Thing They Had In Common - Tabloids claim that unnamed friends of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck say their weekend in Georgia to discuss their relationship's future was a disaster. Saturday, they were photographed looking miserable and awkward together as they went shopping. One witness said an unhappy-looking J-Lo opted to wait in the car while Ben "spent ages" shopping in a gun store.