Movies

[oilcanboyd23]

It wasn't helped by the thing in the Personality Page of last week's PARADE Magazine.  They seemed to be a little ticked off at her:

Q. Why do so many good actresses—including Helen Mirren, Jane Seymour and Ashley Judd—do nude scenes?
—G.A., Richardson, Tex.

A. For the paycheck or because they enjoy showing off their bodies. Seymour, 56, says she had fun doing her hilarious topless scene in Wedding Crashers. On the other hand, we predict that Judd, 39, will regret her explicit scenes as a bisexual, coke-addicted abuse victim in Bug, a distasteful new film.

Harsh!!

[liquidsilver]

Not enough good actresses do nude scenes....

[Dzimas]

Parade magazine still exists.  What a joke!

[kitinkaboodle]

Not enough good actresses do nude scenes....

And yet it can be most surprising who will.  Kathy Bates recently did...need some assistance here... the movie will come to mind...

Was a surprise to see her, middleaged, overweight, the whole nine...!

[oilcanboyd23]

I think that was "About Schmidt".  Not that I'm keeping track or anything.

[kitinkaboodle]

Yes, oil, I just googled...and it wasn't her first either apparently.

[jbottle]

I respect actresses who do tasteful nude scenes like when Halle Berry's character was reading a book, and up to that point we didn't know she could read, and then she drops the book and got paid like $500K per can, which seems like a lot, but when you are in the middle of making a movie like "Swordfish," it's kind of like "hey man, nice shot," like when you have Kevin Pollack, you might as well offer him an extra 10K to do his Captain Kirk/Shatner, I mean, get it in there, dammit.

I thought that the nude scenes that Betsy Russell did in "Private School" were very tasteful, one was even a near-art scene where she is riding a horse nude, which separates it from gratuitious nude scenes such as can be found in "Hollywood Hot Tubs" or "Ski School," the objectification of the female form is always better when you throw in some art, because then, at least you know you are watching art instead of porn.

I think it's a character choice, the way Nick Nolte would go up to the director during all of his films of the '80's and say:  "I think my character drinks..." to let the director understand that he was a method actor and when he showed up smelling like Scotch that it was an artistic choice.  I view the exposure of female body parts the same way.  When Sharon Stone uncrossed her legs in "Basic Instinct," it made sense that her character, intellegent and seductive temptress that she was, would do that in a police station, because she figured if they weren't going to arrest her for smoking she may as well flash her cooch to see if she could get away with it.  Again, a good example of an artistic choice where character trumps any allegation of gratuitous exploitation of the female form. 

It's a fine like, like Denise Richards showing her rack in "Wild Things," but up until that point we didn't know how much of a wild thing she was, so I consider that an art scene as well.  Kevin Bacon proved he was a good sport later on by showing his penis, because it was a shower scene where naturally he would be washing his penis along with his arm pits, hair, feet, etc., i.e., it flowed naturally out of the character and plot that we should see his cock there.

But, yeah, it's a matter that will be on the forefront of intellectual debates on the nature of art, etc., and I always arrive at the conclusion that most nudity is artistic, but think that the Michael Douglas clause which permits him but does not require him to show his but when dropping the towel and then moving off screen to put on his underwear was a little extreme.  I understand that he wanted that freedom, I guess if you are playing a character that drops his towel and then walks into a closet right afterward, it's art, so no prob.

[kitinkaboodle]

It's (nearly) always unexpected when a male is shot nude front and center...
I recall  Bruce Willis appearing in more than one movie bobbing/bopping about.  More than just a bit of a manly man...
Somehow I doubt Jude Law would do the same

[kitinkaboodle]

Which reminds me...the "Eyes Wide Shut" attempt.  Wasn't there quite a bit more of Nicole than TopGun Tom?
Although if I recall at all it was fairly modest even for her.
Now Charlotte Rampling is an actress (with chops) who even as an older actor seems to fearlessly embrace just about any role, clothed or not, as long as it has artistic merit.

[jbottle]

Though the "Swimming Pool" crotch shot was a little more than I had bargained for.

[harrie]

And sort of on the same note, I like Harvey Keitel's work a lot; yet, I often find myself thinking "Okay, Harvey, put some pants on...."

We don't get PARADE, we get the USA Weekend copycat publication in our Sunday papers.

[Dzimas]

I think jbottle sums it up pretty well, getting naked is usually a pretentious exercise in showing how cool you are.  For awhile there it didn't take much to get an actor or actress to shuck his or her clothes.  I'm reminded of the comment Paul Newman made about The Player, you saw the girl you didn't necessarily want to see (Cynthia Stevenson) but not the one you really wanted to see (Greta Scacchi), but then you can always watch The Coca-Cola Kid, which I believe was Scacchi's first outing.

[Dzimas]

I think that was "About Schmidt".  Not that I'm keeping track or anything.

I saw more of Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel than I wanted to see in The Piano, although you can't consider them overweight.

[whiskeypriest]

I think jbottle sums it up pretty well, getting naked is usually a pretentious exercise in showing how cool you are.  For awhile there it didn't take much to get an actor or actress to shuck his or her clothes.  I'm reminded of the comment Paul Newman made about The Player, you saw the girl you didn't necessarily want to see (Cynthia Stevenson) but not the one you really wanted to see (Greta Scacchi), but then you can always watch The Coca-Cola Kid, which I believe was Scacchi's first outing.

She'd had a couple movies before, including Defence of the Realm.  Although, you may have intended a different meaning of the word "outing."  I wore out the video tape I had of that movie.  Among other things.

[Dzimas]

Whiskey, I take it you are a Greta Scacchi fan.  The Coca-Cola Kid was the first movie I saw her in, and I was pleasantly surprised.