Do films by director Paul Verhoeven present evidence for sexual exploitation of women in America? Support may be found in a comparison of his movies.

You be the judge:

The Black Book is a 2006 thriller about a young Jewish woman, Rachel. It takes you to the Dutch underground in 1944.

Rachel is seeking revenge against the Nazi’s for her family’s murders. She changes her name and goes undercover for the resistance.

The trailer depicts thrilling action. And Rachel in negligee. She’s asked how far she’ll go and says, “You mean sleep with him?”

Nudity and sex are quite substantial in quantity but it is not overpowering. It skillfully accompanies the movie’s intense story line.

And it is not one-gendered. Yes, the men expose their frontals, too. More than once. It is a foreign film. Not American, it’s Dutch.

The Black Book is often compared to Basic Instinct. Another of director Paul Verhoeven’s films. For the United States. The trailer for Basic Instinct says it too was a blockbuster thriller.

Yet the trailer is basically a sexual dialogue between Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone. “No thrills.”

No action. No violence. Just sex.

Basic Instinct is known as a sexually perverse film. Controversial for its depiction of gays and women.

Yes, a thrilling plot. But… saturated with sex and nudity. Naked women. Lots. And lots. And lots…

…Oh….and no male frontal exposure. None.
Two movies. Two “thrillers.” Same director.

But….made for two different countries.

So you can’t help but wonder what happened during shooting of Basic Instinct?

“Yes!”……… “Good!”……“Great!” …….

“Wait!”…… “Stop!”----“Cut!”

“Oh, No! No. No. No. Not the men!”


Why? Is it because naked men aren’t on the big screen?

Not in America?...... Not normally?...... But it’s okay for women?

And the more the better? Maybe we need to review sexual exploitaion.

And You be the judge.

Law Abiding Citizen: "It's not what you know; it's what you can prove in court"

This line is the very essence of the movie Law Abiding Citizen.

Lawyers tend to get a very cynical view from the public. They have the reputation of being more interested in winning a case than serving justice for their clients.

This is how the film Law Abiding Citizen begins. Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) is outraged by the ruling on two men who entered his house, one of which killed his wife and daughter.

After the Assistant DA Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) makes a deal with the criminals, Shelton cannot believe it. The murderer testifies against his partner to give him the death penalty, while he admits to 3rd degree murder himself.

He serves ONLY ten years in jail. So…

Ten Years go by.

Shelton is now ready to seek his revenge. He uses his brilliant planning and inventing skills to plot the deaths of not only the man who murdered his wife and daughter, but also any member of the legal system who had something to do with the case.

Yes. This is a movie. And yes. It is fiction.

However… the very injustice that was served in the film can be real. It is all too common that people who commit terrible crimes do not receive the proper punishment.

This movie is not only entertaining, but it’s easy to relate to. Anyone who has ever witnessed injustice first-hand would surely enough this film.

Or if you just like big explosions…


- Missy :)

And The Award Goes To...

...who cares. In about a week, the Oscars will take place and ego driven actors will get yet another chance to showcase their favorite acts...themselves.

Don't get me wrong, I really like movies and if they are good enough then they should get an award. But everything that goes on around the awards is all wrong. Movies are a group effort, with writers, cameramen, etc. But who gets all the attention? and all the glory?...the actors.

Actors don't just get one award show, they get shows like the Golden Globes, SAG Awards and whatever MTV films for 3 hours. They get red carpet coverage and when they get to the award show, they get free gift bags as well. And why do they get this treatment? Because they pretend to be somebody for 2 hours.

If I sound bitter it's because I am. We praise actors who portray cops and firefighters more than the actual workers themselves. Actors who play cops also get paid more than 20 times what an actual cop makes in a whole year, which is no more than $75,000. And that would just be for a low paid actor.

That's backwards. People who put their life on the line everyday should not only be paid more, but given their own televised award shows as well. I really enjoy movies, but we need to put our priorities in the right place.

-Matt

Remember Blaxploitation

This is where we talk about all the early Blaxploitation movies like Shaft, Super Fly and who can forget Pam Grier in Foxy Brown! In Blaxploitation there were many different types of movies from horror to coming of age movies like one of my favorites Cooley High.



These movies addressed issues in the Black community. They’re also just fun movies to watch since some of the can be so ridiculous. Some movies were just remade using a black cast and a slight change of the plot like Blacula. Most of the movies did have a lot of action and martial arts in them like Black Belt Jones or Coffy.



Blaxploitation gave rise to a lot of more serious movies like Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing, or John Singleton’s Boyz N’ the Hood. Comedies also used the Blaxploitation to make parody movies like Undercover Brother and Pootie tang.


The Blaxploitation movies often had soundtracks full of soul and funk. Who can forget the theme so to Shaft?


My favorite I have to say is Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon. I love Leroy Green or Bruce Leroy and of course his nemesis Sho’nuff "The Shogun of Harlem” The ending could have had a better fight scene since “The Glow” appeared and it was the biggest fight between the two major characters, but as a whole ever since I first saw the movie as a 3 year old I just loved it and always wanted to obtain “The Glow”

“To reach that upper level,
your mind, body and soul must be one” – The Glow by Willie Hutch.

Leave post about your favorite Blaxploitation Movie.

Valentines Day : We hate it. We love it. We love to hate it.

February 14th brings about 3 types of people:
* Those who buy into the holiday,
* Those who do not and
* Those who take their hatred for the day to the extreme.
We see all three of these character types in the movie Valentine's Day.

A cliche marriage proposel, annoying teen love, long-term relationships, a mother's devotion, the single woman's heartache, love affairs and rejection are all subjects in this movie.

Because the movie is filled with A-list celebrities such as Julia Roberts, Jessica Biel, Patrick Dempsey and Ashton Kutcher, the acting is far from terrible. One of the actresses that deserves mentioning however,... is TAYLOR SWIFT.

BY FAR THE WORST MUSICIAN TURNED ACTRESS I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!

Taylor Swift's character is a young, obnoxious teen in love with her high school track star boyfriend, played by Taylour Lautner. She takes annoying to an absurd, inane level that is too cliche to put in this movie.

Yes, the girl who pops her gum and says "like" a million times is how people often portray high school girls. However, Taylor Swift took it too far! SHE NEEDS TO STICK TO WHAT SHE CAN CONVINCE PEOPLE SHE IS GOOD AT... aka "beating" Beyoncé for Song of the year.

Despite the terrible acting on Swift's behalf, this movie is a decent date movie and is worth taking your significant other or just a friend to see. I would give it a solid "B".

Other Actors in this film include: Kathy Bates, Jessica Alba, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Queen Latifah, George Lopez, Shirley MacLaine and Emma Roberts.

Porky's paved the way for sex comedies. Maybe a remake could spark equal sexual exploitation in the movies.

Porky’s was a, if not the first, sex comedy. Characters with names like “Meat,” “Pee Wee” and “Ms. Ballbricker.” Teenage boys of the 1950’s aspiring to loose their virginity. The movie trailer entices you. It implies nudity and sex. With loads of laughter.

I was a teenager when Porky’s was released. The beginning of the 1980’s. Most parents equated Porky’s with taboo. Porky’s broke many barriers. But nudity and sex? Hardly. More like language and imagination.

We’ve come a long way since Porky’s. Or have we?

Today’s sex comedy is usually saturated with nudity and sex. But “nudity” is mostly one-sided. Naked women. A prime example is Good Luck Chuck .

Let’s imagine Porky’s was being remade. Achieving today’s standards:

-All topless dancers at Porky’s
-Girls in the shower would be naked
-Intensified sex scene with “Ms. Honeywell”

In other words, sexually exploit the women. But what about the men?

Sure 3 seconds of naked male buttocks would probably remain. But what about “Polly the penis”? Would you actually see the infamous “tally whacker with the mole?” Would the boys in the shower be naked too? Who knows?

I do know this. A Porky’s remake without a shot of the “tally whackers” would be just another sex comedy.

But……imagine a Porky’s remake with shots of all those “tally whackers.”

Parents might forbid their teenagers to see it. It may be labeled taboo. Offensive. A rewind to the ‘80’s. Another Porky’s breaking barriers.

Break barriers how? Because men would be equally sexually exploited as women are.

Christine

Transmorphers: Ripoff Movies in Disguise!

Thanks to the Syfy channel, I have now been exposed to some of the worst movies ever made. They seemingly enjoy showing awful movies that include titles such as Mansquito and Ice Spiders. But these movies do not compare to the films churned out by production company, The Asylum, which supplies many Syfy channel movies.



For some reason or another, they are able to take Hollywood blockbusters and put their own spin on them. Take Transformers for example. The Asylum takes their plot and then forms a similar title to capture some revenue from the originals popularity. Transmorphers, The Terminators, and AVH: Alien versus Hunter are only a few of their movies that have tried to cash in on.



The Asylum needs to stop before they do the unthinkable... rip off a movie like the Godfather.

Matt Swigonski

Now Playing!

We will list the Greatest and Worst movies of all time, as well as reviews, opinions, and anything else movie related.