mjstock Reviews

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

Embarrassing Expose' of US

[9/10 · 11 July 2004]

Mr. Moore has a bit of a negative bias toward the Bushes.

(Understatement of the month) As such, he probably exaggerated

and presented one side of many issues. There may be some

unsubstantiated assertions. Let's face it; he may not have passed

the "fair and balanced" standard of our beloved FoxNews. But

here's what's scary to me: if only 25 to 30 per cent of what the

movie portrays is true, we have a major problem! What's worst is

that it is our fault (the US electorate). Moore rubs our noses in it for

122 uncomfortable minutes.

If a movie is judged on how well it makes its point, I should have

given Moore's masterpiece a "10." I didn't; maybe I should re-vote.

"Fahrenheit 9/11" may not make Democrats out of thinking

Conservatives, but one has to be blindly on the far right not to

realize that we have elected an unworthy occupant of the White

House, to put it mildly.

ESP: Extra Sexual Perception (1998 Video)

Sexy Amateur Video Posing as a B-movie...

[4/10 · 29 November 2003]

In the opening scene one gets the unmistakable feel of a home movie. Does anybody here remember "Super 8mm film?" So much for the cinematography. Most of the characters are overdone stereotypes, beginning with Damon Bradshaw (Steven Curtis Boe who is portrayed in the sleaziest possible manner as the out-of-luck artist. The gangster characters, as portrayed, would bring a grin to the face to any real self-respecting crook. The dialog used to portray the street characters makes the grunts of the WWF sound Shakespearean. How many ways can we say "overdone?"

If you can buy into the "ESP" gimmick (see the plot summary), the plot has possibilities. Requirements of a plot in this genre are, of course, minimal. It just has to create some semi-plausible occasions for a beautiful woman to take off her clothes and perhaps simulate copulation with some other scantily-clothed person of either gender. ESP makes good on this expectation. Lorissa McComas (as Monica) and Sage Kirkpatrick (as the unnamed exotic dancer) are the more experienced providers of the nude scenes, although their roles are small. With half a dozen other actresses, whose names you probably do not know nor will long remember, chipping in to do their parts, there is no shortage of exposed female skin.

Personals II: CasualSex.com (2001 Video)

A Winner for Cauthen

[8/10 · 24 September 2003]

**SPOILER ALERT** Jessie (played by Beverly Lynne, earlier of `zombie-movie' fame) is a writer for `La-La' magazine who needs to come up with a powerful story on modern online dating in order to keep her job. Her live-in boyfriend Jonathan (Eddie Jay) eventually gets caught using Jessie's bed for sex games with his bimbo Cinnamon (Holly Hollywood). With righteous indignation Jessie sends Jonathan back to his beach bunny bimbos, suddenly and accidentally becoming single and available again. David (Daniel S D'Ottavio) Jessie's seemingly wimpy assistant haltingly admits to some experience with online dating, revealing his screen name as `Swashbuckler.' His personal example is a torrid affair with Zia (Diana Espen) who goes by `Little Devil' online. Her other assistant Lisa (Candace Washington) claims expert status in cybersex, supplying supporting evidence in the form of a steamy story about a `zipless' rendezvous with Hardy (Christeon Gordon) at a local gym. David and Lisa, while bickering with each other all along, join forces to convince Jessie to investigate the cyberdating phenomenon from the inside. They suggest, `Do it yourself so you'll know what you are writing about,' a position also being advocated by her editor Diane (Ava Lake). Meanwhile Nick (Christopher John Kapanke), a ponytailed photographer with a funny little voice, divides his time between sniping at Jessie about the foolishness of her project and having sex with `Supermodel' (Dee Summer) in his studio. Jessie's success in presenting herself as an unusually attractive cyberdater results in more `hits' than anyone could handle, so she carefully prepares a list of a five lucky guys. She meets them one by one in very controlled settings, reporting on the activities to David, Lisa, and Nick the following day. At first the guys she has chosen turn out to be larger-than-life obnoxious losers. Eventually, one of the dates, Paul (Tom Montreal), invites her back to his place. She accepts. They proceed to have sex. And suddenly another woman appears in the room watching. Paul casually introduces Anna (Shayna Lee) as his wife and `Isn't it going to be nice with all three of us now?' Jessie passes on the opportunity to the surprise of Anna, who claims to have been the one who made the date in the first place. Finally, the womanizing, conceited Nick, posing online as `the Mystery Man,' reveals his secret love for Jessie and she realizes that true love was closer than she had thought possible. Of course I have to say something here like, `Well, it's no work of Shakespeare, but . . .' And it is true that if you are looking for King Lear on VHS, it isn't in this box. However, like other Kelley Cauthen and Jennifer Byrne films, `Personals II...' doesn't take itself so seriously; it just shows itself to be a pleasant evening's entertainment. I continue to be pleased to see Cauthen's films provide entertainment without blowing up human bodies, setting up juvenile car chases, and obsessing on other cheap attention-getting techniques.

Smooth Operator (I) (1995)

Can she have it all?

[6/10 · 27 February 2003]

Grace Nichols (Megan Hughes) is an up-and-coming investment banker who is in competition with her male counterparts, Charles Walters (Jay Richardson ), Russel Meyers (Tom Jourden), and Derrick Miller (Joseph Maickel), for `that big promotion.' She seems to have the inside lane as the protege of the chairman of the board, Roger Sherman (Don Robb[II]) and friend of his wife Glenda Sherman (Trish Elliot). But her position is severely threatened when her secretary, Angie Li (Candace Kita), hooks her up with her personal trainer and sexual playmate Brian Lerner (Doug Jeffery). Complications arise when Grace in turn sets Brian up with Paula Diamond (Deborah Greene) an agent and promoter for a fitness club franchise who is seeking a poster boy for her product.

Warning to SPOILERPHOBIACS ***spoilers may lurk herein*** Director Kelley Cauthen sets up a nice contrast between the `beer-commercial-type' values of the gym/fitness club scene and focused, data-driven world of an investment banking office where $400K/year executives roam the halls. For instance, the minor role of Michelle (Tamera Sessions) who speaks a total of maybe six words in three short appearances is always seen in sweats, fitting in perfectly at the gym. In a nice, tailored dress, however, she would also look at home in the business world, but of course we never saw her there in this film. As a body builder Brian always appears in `grungeware,' except for the one time that we see him in a suit (no tie, but at least a suit) when he was at a party with Grace but it was her money that paid it. A third example: The snobbish remarks by Grace's colleagues toward Brian painfully revealed that he could not distinguish between the `paintings' of Monet and George Bernard Shaw and, therefore, belonged in some other world. (please email me if you need to have this explained) See, I did it, too!!

I thought that the role of Angie Li (Kita) was miscast--a little to sleazy and emaciated. She also may have tied Ms. Hughes for `the most bare skin shown during heterosexual activity' title. A sweet and playful little sex kitten like Kristen Knittle [(Siren's Kiss (1995), Sinful Intrigue (1995), Dreammaster: The Erotic Invader (2000)] may have been a better fit. BTW, did she retire after the Emmanuelle and Justine films? If so, it's too bad because she is a delight to watch.

Miss Kita's sleazy role here is a major contrast to her real life in which she is a college graduate and a classically trained musician. She seems to be constantly cast as the Asian stereotype.

Tammy Parks played a good hooker, but I couldn't figure out whether her john was the role played by Samuel Combs, Jr. or the `salesman' played by Joey Gaynor.

Trivia: This is the only `R' rated film that Ms. Hughes has ever acted in; IMDb lists no other works of hers after this 1995 movie. If she has retired, I hope she'll make a come-back. I thought she was pretty good in SO.

This was another romance/drama that Cauthen was able to make without excessive violence, adolescent-oriented car chases, or obliteration of human body parts in `living color,' as seems to be the norm for too many films of that decade. Whether Kelley is a `Ms. -' or a `Mr. Cauthen,' (I can't seem to find out), my hat's off for a movie for mature audiences where `mature' means what the dictionary says more than what MPAA means by the same word.

Wager of Love (1993)

Storytelling contest

[5/10 · 27 February 2003]

Four women meet on a yacht to exchange stories about their sexual exploits of the past year. The on board waiter is designated to be the judge of the best story; however, it turns out that his qualifications are tainted by a possible bias. But whose story will be declared the winner?

OK for the low budget skin flick but no landmark of excellence in cinematography here.

La chica que cayó del cielo (1986)

A Castle for Lovers

[2/10 · 27 February 2003]

Betty (Sonja Martin), living in Munich, is notified that she has inherited a "castle" in Spain. She begs her boyfriend to go to Spain with her to check it out. He, being both skeptical and busy with his studies, refuses. She goes anyway and finds that it really is a castle, "Casa del Flores." She discovers that it is being used as a kind of "Spanish no-tell motel" by the lawyer assigned to be the executor and his female accomplice. The executor pressures her to sell it and return to Munich but she wants to keep it as a "Castle for Lovers." Who will prevail?

Love Lust and Ecstasy (1981)

Love, lust, and ecstasy

[2/10 · 27 February 2003]

Setting: Greek Islands Ari can't satisfy his wife Sara (Ajita Wilson). He crashes his speedboat into a cliff and winds up in Switzerland for rehabilitation in what may or may not have been a suicide attempt. Alex, commissioned to paint Sara's portrait by Ari, becomes Sara's house guest and sex partner in Ari's absence. Teresa, Ari's secretary and ex-lover, is jealous of Sara's relationship with Alex and schemes to break them up. **Spoilerphobiacs beware** Ari, suspecting that Sara has a lover, hires an investigator/photographer to secure the evidence. The investigator gets his incriminating photos and then offers them to Sara for a price. She pays with her money and her body.

IMDb shows this as `Adult' rated. The one I saw was rated `R;' it may have been edited to tone it down for US cable viewers. Still, a very dark and depressing story.

Live Nude Girls (1995)

Inebriated partially-clothed middle-aged women

[4/10 · 2 February 2003]

As pointed out in other reviews, the veracity of the title leaves

something to be desired. I humbly suggest my one line summary

above as a more truthful substitute.

Having panned the title, what about the film? ..nothing worth paying

theatre admission prices to see, but it will still cost you 95 minutes

of your life, even if you see it "free."

And why would you want to do that? Maybe if you are curious about

techniques of character diminution that women can employ on

each other, you could find examples here. (BTW, note that I didn't

say ALL women do this.)

Then there is Dana Delany, who plays Jill, the strong one for the

better part of the movie. You may wind up hating her as her true

character in this role is revealed, but she is good at what she

does. In her other film works she brought life to "Exit to Eden" in a

really silly role as the "queen" of an island where people go to play

out their sexual fantasies. She plays a beautiful, but "dirty

double-crossing woman" in "The Right Temptation" in which she

cons Rebecca DeMornay into seducing her husband.

Most of the problems with this movie center around the annoying

overacting, exaggerated gestures, and excessive foul language.

You may get the feeling that you're watching an episode of an

"R-rated" soap focusing on an all-girls club meeting. But, what the

heck, if you like that sort of thing, why not?

The Right Temptation (2000)

Better without the soundtrack

[5/10 · 16 January 2003]

For what must have been perceived as weaknesses in other

aspects of the film that would have given it the tension and grit that

it needed, the director substituted abrupt "high schoolish" booms

and crashes as well as foul language that just seemed to be out

of place. Otherwise, it was a mostly unremarkable hour-and-a-half's entertainment.

As one other reviewer noted, it is interesting (she called it "heroic"

or something like that) the two female stars managed to bare

absolutely no skin in an "R" rated movie for reasons of "sexual

content." Maybe Ms. Delany and Ms. DeMornay had "no nudity" in

their contracts because of their maturity and the ramifications

associated with the same.

Shadow Dancer (1995)

Not to be confused with "Shadow Dancer (1997)"

[13 January 2003]

At first, the plot seems to center around a female private party stripper, April (Cara Van Landingham), and a male party stripper, Nick (Jack Van Landingham). But the real action is a classic love triangle: Christy (Kim Dawson) Rob's old flame is jealous of Yvonne (April Breneman), his new girlfriend. Rob is played by John McCafferty (II). The party stripping is just a device that allows the film to fulfill its nudity quota for this genre.

The plot was complex enough, although a little transparent; and the players were pretty enough to make the nude scenes work. The dialogue was laughable at times. For instance, an expression that seemed intended to make the point that "we've been through the hard part; the rest will be easy," was turned backwards when the actor said, "It's all UPhill from here!" It was also interesting to see the simulated piano playing where the player reaches to his LEFT for the high notes. The gore at the end didn't contribute anything of value.

This is not the Roger Corman film of the same name released in 1997, although Ms. Van Landingham played in both.

Random Encounter (1998)

Shades of Hitchcock?

[9/10 · 8 January 2003]

I've read the other reviews of this film with some interest in their

diversity of opinions. Those who questioned Berkley's range as an

actress must not have seen "Showgirls (1995)." In that movie she

played Nomi Malone,a slutty, low-class-to-the-bone, dancing star

wannabe. I see a lot of contrast here, especially in her formal,

dress-up scenes. In "Any Given Sunday (1999)," she played a little

different role, Mandy Murphy, a sexy cocktail party seductress,

trying to hit on Al Pacino. "That's ok, I like older men,"...or

something like that. I must admit that I haven't seen her as a WWF

girl or a mud wrestling scene, for that matter. But I hope that kind of

stuff is not required to establish "range."

What kept my attention during "Random Encounter" was the

almost Hitchcockian plot, complete with surprise ending (surprise

to me, anyway). Although the clues were scattered throughout the

movie, it was late in the film when I figured out "who dunnit."

This film also reminded me of the Jag Mundhra film "Sexual Malice

(1994)," in which Diana Barton plays a role similar to Berlkey's in

"Random Encouner."

I think it is one of the best of its genre. (But since I'm the only

person on my block who refuses to watch "reality tv" and recent

Coors commercials, don't trust my taste.)

Teach Me (1998)

Amateurism or Assembly-line sloppiness?

[3/10 · 5 December 2002]

Called "A Gary Delfiner Film" in the credits, this one is tough to describe in 1,000 words or less. A quick and easy approach could be one of those nominations frequently seen in IMDb reviews for "the worst movie ever made," but it doesn't really deserve that trite hyperbole.

On the other hand, it may be significant to note that there are no "Gary Delfiner films" listed after this 1998 entry in the IMBd. Perhaps Mr. Delfiner has taken up another line of work or otherwise disappeared from the industry. We hope he is doing well at whatever he is doing now.

The lead female character, Janine, is played by Raasa Leela Shields who has but one other film to her credit in the IMDb. Oddly, that two-film total makes Ms. Shields almost the veteran of the cast, since for most of them, this is their first effort. The real veteran is Siri Baruc who has appeared in nine films and two episodes of TV a series. She plays a waitress with a total on-camera exposure of less than five seconds. Robert E. Baruc is listed as the executive producer; go figure! The male lead, Keith, played by Greg Provance is totally unknown to the IMDb, as are five other members of the cast who play important roles in the story.

So goes the case for amateurism.

The story--yes, there is one--centers on Janine's sexual dysfunction; it seems that she doesn't enjoy sexual intercourse with her husband Keith and she's never been with anyone else of either gender. Conventional wisdom would suggest that she needs some "educating." (Of course, it couldn't be Keith's fault!)

The rest of the 90-minute movie reveals a grand strategy to help her overcome her dysfunction. Get it? The title is "Teach Me."

Actually, Janine and Keith's is the "story within the story." The larger story concerns a woman's magazine writer named Sara Kane (Aim'ee Nicole Lewis) who goes to a New York neighborhood bar and grill seeking inspiration for her weekly love story column. We are lead to believe that she has conceived the "Teach Me" story while perched on her barstool over cocktails, having abandoned one that she had mulled over earlier about a female assassin named Tanya (Ahnna Rasch) and her victim Victor (Paul Stevenson). "Teach Me" supplies all of the elements that one would expect from a low budget B movie: lots of female frontal above-the-waist nudity, girl-on-girl lovemaking, a couple of hunks to keep the ladies interested, simulated heterosexual intercourse, and beautiful faces.

The plot is fairly believable once you get past the "over twenty-one and never been done" assertion that Janine insists is true. But then there's this "Wizard of Oz" character who speaks to Janine from the darkness in some kind of hokey monster voice. But also believably, she does what any typical woman would do; she talks everything out with her friend Marta who doesn't seem surprised about anything that Janine tells her during her progress through the "course."

There seem to be numerous errors and omissions in the credits. One of the main characters, "Marta," is not listed; neither is "Celeste," Janine's first girl sex partner. A few very minor players do get listed in the credits. Some actors seem to be playing multiple roles, which could be confusing to the viewers

Several technical flaws diminished the film, IMHO. Besides the hokey monster voice mentioned above, the sound track had big problems. The saxophone, usually used in films of this genre to connote sexy situations, was overdone and the dialog often sounded like the characters were yelling into a jug. Add to that a phony French accent by one character, forced laughter at the party scenes, abrupt transitions, and piano fingerings that don't match the sounds and you may be tempted to watch it with the sound off.

Since these problems are so obvious, I have to believe that this makes the case for "Assembly-line sloppiness."

So was there anything good about "Teach Me?" .anything to justify taking the time to review it? Yes. Among that inexperienced cast there are a few very attractive young ladies who seem to "enjoy being girls," notably, Joan Geraldi, Shelby Hastings, and whoever played "Marta." There were also some who are challenged in that respect, but who turned in excellent acting jobs.

The lead female would fall into that group.

I say about 3 on a scale of 10.

Jane Street (1996)

Beware of the boss's gifts

[7/10 · 17 September 2002]

Kim Wolf (Linda Hoffman) takes an apartment on Jane Street that was arranged by her married, manipulative boss, Marshall Catlin (D.K. Kelly) and soon also becomes his lover. She tells Sarah (Carrie Stevens) her office friend about recurring dreams that she is having in which a girl named Danielle (Gabriella Hall) is threatened by drowning. Jay Lewis (Robert Grant) is a handyman around the apartment who tries to help Kim solve her dream mystery. The story constantly implies that Marshall or his wife Penelope (Terry Markwell) may have something to hide that is somehow related to Kim's dreams.

The movie had a good role for Playboy POM (Miss June, 1997) Carrie Stevens who usually gets only a couple of lines and then dies [e.g., Sins of Desire (1993)]. She played the role well and should be rewarded with more significant roles in the future.

Body & Soul (2003 Video)

Amateur therapists

[16 September 2002]

Carrie (Catalina Larranaga) owner of a women's `health club/retreat/spa/psychological clinic' goes on a business trip and hires Drake (Jack Lincoln) as a house-sitter. His only responsibility while he is there is to fax Carrie's weekly column on women's issues to the newspaper office on Monday morning for publication. Problems start when he accidentally shreds the only copy of Carrie's article and faxes one of his own writing to the newspaper to cover his mistake. Drake's article becomes a hit with Carrie's readers and phone calls start pouring into the office for appointments. After being mistaken by Carrie's clients for `Erin/Aaron' her temporary replacement, Drake starts taking the appointments, himself. Will he ruin Carrie's practice or improve on it?

Passion's Peak (2002 Video)

There IS a plot

[8/10 · 18 August 2002]

I agree with the Aussie's comments for the most part. However, there id seem to be a fairly decent plot, if unoriginal. Christina (Kelli McCarty) inherits a rural property that she intends to open a mountain lodge. She gets reacquainted with Chip (Bobby Johnston) whom she had known when she was growing up in there. The plot thickens when James (Paul Logan) arrives with his new stripper friend, Shene (Devinn Lane) because Christina had been James' stripper friend in years gone by, and the implication is that James had done her wrong somehow. To add interest to the movie Sophia Linn (Monique Parent) a romance novelist shows up as a guest at the lodge, as do Eric (Sebastien Guy) and Linda (Flower), pair of lawyers from the city. James sicks the local building codes inspector on Christina's business as one of his dirty tricks to shut her down. So the question is, "How far will James go to sabotage the lodge and will he succeed?"

Watch for Devinn Lane here and in "Beauty Betrayed." She seems to be making a transition from the hard core business to the "R" world. Another notable is Samantha McConnell, playing the role of "Bait," clearly the most outrageous character name in the movies!

Personals: College Girl Seeking... (2001 TV Movie)

Sex Education in the Classifieds

[8/10 · 7 August 2002]

Juliette (Samantha McConnell) is a 22 year-old student doing a research paper about sexual behavior. Her professor says, "Put more of yourself into it," which she says she doesn't understand. Sara (Tera Patrick) her roommate, on the other hand, knows exactly what Juliette needs--an active sex life. Sara must be a kind of sexual expert; after all, she does have an "open relationship" with her live-in boyfriend David (Sebastien Guy). She suggests the "personals" in the classified ads as the best source for Juliette's research. Juliette starts answering the ads and finds Alex (Brad Bartram), some kind of "sexual invalid" who can't let her see him, but wants to talk to her and watch her in his house. She discovers "girl-girl sex" with Alicia (Brandy Davis) who wants to give herself and Juliette to her husband Eddie (Dillon Morgan Silver) for a birthday present.

Juliette continues to learn more about her sexual behavior, and about sex in general, frequently requiring tuition from Sara. The crisis develops when Juliette and David sort of "accidentally" have sex. Is Sara's "open relationship" open enough to include her best friend's "doing" her boyfriend?

Samantha McConnell, "seasoned actress" of two other films, according to IMDb, ("Lily/Lisa" in Beauty Betrayed, and "Bait" (Can you believe that name?) in Passion's Peak) plays the role of naive Juliette well. (Mostly, she just has to stand there and look sexy--and she does.) Tera Patrick, taking a short rest from her usual hardcore roles, plays the equally sexy, but less attractive, Sara and makes a good contribution to the film as the older and wiser friend of Juliette. Brad Bartram has his work cut out for him in the less-than-believable role of Alex and creates a more likable character than the ones that he usually plays.

I Like to Play Games (1995)

...and when she was bad, she was HORRID

[20 July 2002]

Suzanne Braunhill (Lisa Boyle) is a successful executive at an ad

firm who has just been transferred from New York to Los Angeles.

Even though her reputation as a witch (possible spelling error)

precedes her, Michael Morgan (Ken Steadman) who works at the

same firm in LA thinks he can play her games with her. He has

just split with his girlfriend Melody (Pamela Dickerson) who just

wasn't exciting enough for him. The game is on!

Suzanne's games put Michael in awkward situations that threaten

his career, but he persists in playing the games against the best

advice of his friend Nick Kelso (James DiZazzo), who seems to

have played before. How the last game is won may surprise the

viewers.

The movie, though negative and somewhat depressing at times,

is generally well done for one of its genre. Monique Noel

(Playboy's POM, May, 1989) plays a small part as a member of the

office team. She has some cute body language responses to

Michael's frenetic orders as he tries to meet deadlines.

Hollywood Sex Fantasy (2001)

Trading Places- Indigo version

[8/10 · 19 July 2002]

Cameron and Tim are identical in appearance...easy when they are the same guy (Jack Lincoln). But in real life they are quite different: Cameron, the movie star, and Tim, the out-of-work actor. Cameron, playing silly movie roles and being surrounded by air head females, is bored with his stardom; so he proposes to Tim that they switch roles so that he can have some time by himself.

Things go well until Tim, as Cameron, signs a "deal memo" to do another silly movie that Cameron definitely doesn't want to do.

Then Jennings (Kelli McCarty) discovers the identity switch but agrees to play along. In the meantime Lisa (Flower), a Hollywood gossip reporter threatens to reveal "the secret." However, it's not the identity secret, but his signing to do the role in "Space Buddies 2." When Karen (Catalina Larranaga), Cameron's serious lover, catches Tim/Cameron "rewarding" Lisa for not printing the story, the plot thickens.

Tracy Smith's role as Jennifer, an important Hollywood star, was far too small IMHO, she is the most beautiful of the Indigo "repertory theatre," and, arguably, among all current actresses. This movie is a good example of how it is possible to have an hour and a half's entertainment without blowing body parts all over the screen, wrecking dozens of cars in "action" sequences, or even exploiting the power and evils of the Mafia. Well done, Ms Cauthen!

Electra (1996)

Exterminate for roaches!

[1/10 · 6 July 2002]

Since there are well over 1,000 movies already tied for 1st place in the "Worst movie ever made" category according to IMDB reviewers, I'll not add another. Having said that, it's hard to comprehend how an established star like Shannon Tweed and a "better-than-newcomer" like Katie Griffin could get involved with such sleaze. Let's say that we also caught Ashok Amritraj (executive director) in his "5th grade values period." Remember, there was a time when many of us thought that mutilation of the human body, complete with strange substances oozing from every visible orifice, was cool. Then there was a teenage period when it was fun to look back and laugh at those values. But after that, most of us grew up.

BTW I watched it twice, just to see if I were missing something since I am a fan of Ashok Amritraj and Shannon Tweed; but both times were painful.

Corporate Fantasy (1999)

Driving Miss Daisy (Dawson)

[8/10 · 4 July 2002]

Daisy Dawson (Tracy Smith) is an all-business "girl-Friday" for Mr. Blake Tyler (John Gallucci) the boss at an advertising firm where her roommates, Gloria (Catalina Larranaga) and Tammy (Susan Featherly) are also employed. Junior executive types at the same firm are Orlando and Kevin (played by Jarod Carey and Karl Preston, respectively) . Gloria and Tammy are trying to get Daisy to get back into the dating game. Mr. Tyler and the junior exec's would each be more than happy to oblige, especially since they have formed an office pool as a reward for the first of them to get Daisy into bed.

Other reviewers who may have been looking for a classic, of either the "Gone With the Wind" or the "Debbie Does Dallas" variety, registered some disappointment. However, I thought it was well worth the rental.

A scene in which Daisy gets caught in the work room while Gloria and Kevin are having very casual sex on the copy machine, unaware of Daisy's presence was interesting. Ms. Smith does an outstanding job of showing mixed emotions of embarrassment, curiosity, and maybe even a little envy, as she views the complete proceedings without getting noticed by either of the participants.

Totally Exposed (1991)

He went to Hollywood but didn't get rich and famous...

[6/10 · 14 May 2002]

Bill (Mark Jackson) and Sue (Kelli Konop) run a little tanning and massage shop in Hollywood, enjoying a completely "business-platonic" relationship. Sue is a live-in girlfriend of Jake a prosperous but very obsessed businessman and Bill gives "extra services" to some of his his outcall clients. Ken (Chris Landis) is a gay assistant at the shop. Tina Bockrath, (Playboy's POM of May, 1990) makes a slightly more than cameo appearance as Lillian Tucker, first in the order of Bill's outcall clients that we see.

All is fine until Sue realizes that she is in a dead end relationship with Jake, at the same time that Bill starts having second thoughts about the "extras" that he performs for his clients. Linda (Honey Smax) as Sue's best provides the catalyst by telling Sue and Bill, alternately, that the other is in love but won't make the first move. When Bill helps Sue move out of Jake's house they begin to see each other differently.

I would rate it higher than those who called it worthless. It has numerous beautiful women and at least one "hunk." There are worse ways to spend an hour and a half.

The Four of Us (1972)

Experiments in eroticism

[25 April 2002]

Bruno (Pierre Rousseau) an advertising designer and his wife Madeleine (Daniele Vlaminck) are a reasonably content Parisian couple until Bruno's boss gets the idea that their ad campaigns need spicing up with eroticism. Then their relationship takes a turn toward the steamy because he gives Bruno a stipend to investigate eroticism and Bruno chooses Madeleine as his assistant. They experiment with sexy games (e.g., Madeleine's telling Bruno that she isn't wearing underwear when they are out in public, having sex in their car beside the road, pretending to pick each other up in a shoe store, etc.)

Then they are invited to go on holiday in the country with a couple more experienced in eroticism. Solange (Sophie Cnudde) and Maurice (Michel David) are plotting a couple-swapping escapade.

But before the sex games begin, there is a funny scene in which Marie the maid (Marielle Jonas Oliver) sprays herself with a dye that she had mistaken for a perfume spray while innocently going through Madeleine's things as the two couples were outdoors. Bruno discovers her when he goes back to the room for his cigarettes. Being the perfect gentleman, he keeps their little secret to himself for which Marie is grateful.

The sexy games amount to a couple of erotic "dare you" temptations and a visit to a local 24/7 orgy house. The games finally get too scary for Madeleine and she runs out followed by Bruno.

Blue Angel Cafe (1989)

Angie's affections misplaced

[22 April 2002]

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Cafe singer (Buckman) seduces up-and-coming candidate for governor (Richard Brown). When they are exposed, his political career and marriage are ruined. Angie and Richard try to make a life together. But their financial fortunes and, eventually, their affection for each other spiral downward throughout the latter two-thirds of the movie. After they split up Richard finally sobers up and takes a mundane job typing uninteresting data into a computer. Kate, former wife (Jayne Gray) comes for a visit to Richard's more than humble dwellings. At first he thinks she's come to gloat; but she really seems to care for him, still! They get back together and reestablish their home, considerably down scale from "pre-Angie" times. The movie ends with a chance (not likely) meeting between Richard and Angie in front of his new home. Kate watches the encounter from a distance on their front porch which ends in a sad, but permanent, good-bye.