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NOTE TO ALL: Scoopy Jr writes the bulk of the commentary these days, while Uncle Scoopy continues to add his daily column, Contact junior by writing junior@scoopy.com. Contact Scoopy by writing unclescoopy@msn.com. Contact Tuna by writing tuna@scoopy.com Send submissions to scoopy@scoopy.net

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Tuna
"Taming of the Shrew"(1967)

Taming of the Shrew was an Italian production staring Elizabeth Taylor as Kate, and Richard Burton as Petruchio. Kate is the shrewish eldest daughter of wealthy Baptista, who has declared that nobody can see his popular daughter Bianca 'til Katherine is safely wedded and bedded. Enter Petruchio, who "Comes to wed it wealthily in Padua, and if wealthily then happily in Padua." Whether it is strength of character, or the desperation of poverty, he proves a match for Kate. After the wedding, he sets about giving her an attitude adjustment. Meanwhile, there is much intrigue over access to Bianca.

Many said that Taylor was perfectly typecast as a shrew, and Burton simply was Petruchio. On the whole, director Franco Zeffirelli did an excellent job of turning Shakespeare's funniest and most accessible play into a film, rather than simply filming the stage play. The sets, costumes, lighting and photography were all excellent, as was the score. My only problem was with some spots where they tried to improve on Shakespeare's words. In the "wooing scene," where Petruchio rattles Kate and attacks her mercilessly, then informs her father that they will be married, they chose to change the order of the words, break up what is one continuous scene into several parts separated by action, and censor some of the best lines:

Kate: "What is your crest? A coxcomb?
Petruchio: "A comb-less cock, so Kate shall be my hen."

Kate: "Mine if you talk of tails, and so farewell."
Petruchio: "What, with my tongue in your tail?"

1964 marked the 400th birthday celebration of Shakespeare, and every High School and college drama department did something by Shakespeare, as did nearly every repertory company and little theater. My High School was no different, and Taming of the Shrew was my first play. We must have watched 10 other productions before our own, so I have seen the play many times, as well as played a small part in it, and this film does do it justice despite the unwelcome dialogue changes. It struck me at the time that yet another thing English teachers got wrong was the way they introduced Shakespeare to students. They start with Merchant of Venice, which is far from his most accessible, and have the students read it on their own. Shakespeare is hard to read, but easy to understand when heard. I propose that they start with Taming of the Shrew, and read it aloud in class. A lot more people would like Shakespeare today. We all felt that this film was intended for the 400th birthday celebration, but was released 3 years late. By the way, don't look for it at IMDB as Taming of the Shrew. They call it "La Bisbetica domata." Maltin gives it 3 1/2 stars, and I agree. Only 161 voters at IMDB give it 6.4/10.

Most of Kate's costumes show so much cleavage that I think they were crazy-glued to her nipples to avoid a slip. Pay special attention to the face shot in image 9, where Kate is illuminated by light through a stained glass window. This is the sort of special attention to art that makes the difference between a good and a beautiful film.

  • Thumbnails

  • Elizabeth Taylor (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
  • Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy)
    Here's today's reviews:

  • A Boy and His Dog. The stuff dreams are made on. An indy cult favorite made in 1975, and a pretty entertaining flick despite a minimal budget. Don Johnson and Tiger, the brady Bunch Dog, wander a satitical post-apocalyptic future impersonating Mr. Peabody and Sherman! Cheapozoid, and uneven, but fun, and a great subversive ending.

  • Boys and Girls. Pretty good young cast (Prinze, Forlani, and Jason Biggs), but the movie bites the big one, and no nudity.

  • White Men Can't Jump. This is simply yesterday's Tuna review of the Ron Shelton basketball film, but also including my thoughts and research about the fastest and wildest pitcher ever, Steve Dalkowski, who became the model for Nuke LaLoosh in Ron Shelton's best film, Bull Durham.

    If you skip directly to the smut, here's today's movie caps from "A Boy and His Dog", as well as about a bazillion collages from TomCat, who has now done every adult woman in Poland..

  • Susanne Benton, "A Boy and his Dog" (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
  • Unnamed extra, "A Boy and his Dog"

  • Krystyna Janda, various projects. Some of these are women in prison action, she's quite naked, being interrogated, and the photography is quite striking. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

  • Agnieszka Krukowna (aka Agnes Kruk) (1, 2, 3, 4)
  • Eva Lemanska
  • Anna Chodakowska (1, 2, 3, 4)
  • Eva Skibinska (1, 2, 3)
  • Iwona Pawlak
  • Anna Seniuk
  • Anna Seniuk
  • Graphic Response
  • Pam Grier, Topless 'caps from 1976's "Drum"
  • Fiona Lewis, also topless in "Drum"
  • Brainscan
    Angela Lindvall
    (1, 2, 3)

    Frankie Rayder
    (1, 2)

    Alek Wek

    Ana Claudia Michels

    Farrah Summerford

    Georgina Grenville

    Gina Marie

    Jamie Rishar

    Julie Healy

    Laetitia Casta

    Comments by Brainscan:
    Someone shoot me before I scan another fashion model. Got a ton of 'em (which means, given the definition of a ton as 2000 pounds, that I must have twenty models @ 100 pounds each). Scrawny little things, these, 'cept Laetitia and Frankie Rayder. Luv that Frankie, yessirreee.

    And the Angela Lindvall catwalk scans show the perfect supermodel scowl, which says to all buyers and critics that the wearer of that outfit combines misery with contempt. What a strong selling point that must be.

    UC99
    Ramona Drews One, perhaps two truckloads of cleavage packed into her top. Vidcaps from a German TV show. I'd try to translate the title for you, but what little German I do speak I learned from watching "Hogan's Heroes" re-runs. Naturally, I also know the one word that transcends all cultural barriers between America and Germany....that word is "Hasselhoff".

    Kati Tastet
    (1, 2)
    Topless, and some very nice posterior views as well. Vidcaps from "Bill Diamond - Geschichte eines Augenblicks".
    and ...
    Mena Suvari

    Thora Birch

    Excellent topless 'caps from "American Beauty", by Hugo.

    Elenoire Casalegno
    (1, 2, 3, 4)
    Topless images from the Italian Max. I'm pretty sure these have all appeared in the Fun House before, but when I checked the Encyclopedia, there was only one image of Elenoire, and it wasn't one of these. So, let's call these demo images....meaning that they've probably seen a little mileage, but they're not considered "previously viewed".

    Penélope Cruz
    (1, 2)
    The Spanish babe looking great as always in these topless 'caps from "Abre los ojos".

    Theresa Russell
    (1, 2, 3)
    New from Scanman...Theresa gettin' it on in vidcaps from "Eureka". Looks like #3 has the most visible exposure.

    Directed by Nicolas Roeg, this unknown movie has a very interesting cast of young, later to become mega-stars...along with Theresa you get Rutger Hauer (before he started looking like Santa Claus), Mickey Rourke, Gene Hackman, and Joe Pesci. According to comments by viewers and Maltin at the IMDb, this puppy was tossed aside by the studio, and saw only a limited release a few years later once Hauer and The Mickster became bigger stars. Currently it's not available on video or DVD, so kudos to Scanman for such a great, rare find.

    Chingmy Yau
    (1, 2)

    Madoka Sugawara

    Here's something we just don't show that often...DVD 'caps from Hong Kong action movies!

    First , enjoy the 'caps of two very lovely Asian babes with little or no clothing. Then if you're feeling up to it, I think I feel a mini-rant coming on.....

    Long before Van Damme, Segal, and even Jackie Chan, there was this guy named Bruce Lee...maybe you've heard of him? In fact, the Hong Kong style of action movie even pre-dates Lee, but Lee basically was the guy that brought it to America.

    I'm not really an expert on the history, so don't quote me, but the actual Hong Kong style of fast paced action flick is somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-50 years old.

    Moving on...my point is that lately all I ever hear in the media is how new and innovative this style of filmmaking is. Honestly I when I hear the official voice over guy tell me (speaking as John Q. Public, Movie Go-er) that I've 'never seen action like this', I'm a little insulted. Mainly because I've been seeing 'action like this' since 1971's "Fists of Fury"!

    Here's an great example:
    John Woo is hailed as a master of the Hollywood action movie (referring to "Face/Off" and "MI-2" in particular). In addition the insult to my memory, this fact also demonstrates Hollywood's notorious lack of originality. Why? Because Woo isn't doing anything in Hollywood that he didn't do in Hong Kong for nearly 20 years before his first American movie! Granted, Woo is a great director, but aside from some new camera work, and other editing techniques that have come with the evolution of film making, there really isn't anything innovative going on. It's still just a couple of guys punching, kicking and shooting at each other a lot.

    So what am I getting at? Not much really, just felt like venting. Maybe I'm just hoping that one day, Hollywood will stop movies for profit's sake, and spend more time and money finding new and creative ways to tell a good story. (Insert laughter here)

    Xena Nude?
    (1, 2)
    That's the rumor anyway. Xena and her lesbo sidekick Gabrielle seen here by the light of a full moon. My money rides on body doubles, but here are the comments that came with the 'caps:

    Comments by Crazyace:
    "Greetings. The people at Xena have finally gone and shown actual nudity on screen. It is verified that these are not body doubles. There are supposed to be two versions out there, however. This is the tamer version, the other has full frontal nudity (albeit brief). The different versions were aired in different parts of the USA and the UK. I would love to get some vidcaps of the unrated version."

    Rebecca Romijn More "X-men" goodies. Thanks to NMD.

    Floriane Daniel
    Marie-Lou Sellem

    Two excellent collages featuring topless scenes from "Winter Sleepers"

    Estelle Perron Topless in 'caps from "L'enchanteur", by Celeblover.

    Muriel Baumeister Topless love scene and a shower scene from "Meine Tochter darf es nie erfahren"

    Alicia Klass Paparazzi pic with so much but cleavage showing that you just have to ask "why bother even wearing the dress at all"!
    The Funnies
  • Great Luck. This was sent to me by my brother as an example of a new kind of chain letter. I must say I prefer this to the ways!
  • Voting For Dummies. The latest in the "For Dummies" self help series!

  • Click Here!