2 more reviews

1. ›Showgirls (film) : one of those "so bad it is good" iconic movies@gooddream2789d

   I might have been excited for this movie for very different reasons than other people were. You see, i was alive and growing up in the late 80's early 90's and I knew the star of this film for quite innocent reasons that perhaps a few of you out there can relate to.

   

   Let's get one thing straight. The access to boobies on tap the way it is today with the internet didn't really exist in 1996. Sure we had the internet and it was exceptionally slow. Very few people had computers and therefore well, people still rented movies because of their "exotic" appeal. Hope this makes sense because I am not going to go into greater detail.

   

   The crazy thing about this movie wasn't that it had a bunch of nudity in it (and it does, a lot.) The crazy thing is that the star of the film, Elizabeth Berkley, had become a bit of a household name in the extremely family friendly TV show "Saved by the Bell" as Jesse Spano, the nerdy yet attractive major character in the series.

   scoff all you want, this hairstyle was fire in 1990

   So when it was revealed that she was going to be in a movie that is basically about her life as a stripper where she wants to do some stuff that is more artistic and is willing to do pretty much whatever in order to make that happen (think about how some people get ahead in Hollywood) and well, you can kind of guess that there is going to be a lot of naughty going on in this movie.

   it was actually extremely difficult to find rated PG pics for this article

   I'm not telling anyone to get out there and look at the boobies! because I know that all of you can do that anytime you want to without watching a film to make it happen. However, this movie actually is a bit of a piece of history as it might actually be one of the last films that could be made using nudity as a method of enticing people to watch it because, well, the internet kinda went and changed all of that didn't it?

   Normally I would include a trailer but I couldn't find one without nudity in it. I don't want to get flagged so go find it yourself if you are interested. This film is good aside from the nudity, but not because it is GOOD. It is an absurd script with some pretty laughable acting and the sex scenes are implausibly acrobatic.

   

   Several of the big name actors involved had no idea how bad it was until the premiere. It won what was at the time a record-setting number of Golden Raspberry awards (these are awards you do not want.) The movie also lost a bunch of money initially but generated 100 million dollars in home-rentals and went on to be one of the top 20 home sales movies by MGM of ALL TIME.

   It is enjoyed by millions (well ok, probably hundreds, or maybe thousands at best) all over the world at midnight screenings / parties as the campy awfulness of the movie is celebrated. A heavily censored version of the movie was made and re-shot but Elizabeth refused to re-dub her lines - and I don't know what is more hilarious about that - the fact that anyone thought a censored version would have an audience or that Elizabeth took the hump.

   rating intentionally withheld

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2. ›Insomniac Film Festival #27: Showgirls@rvgenaille3058d

   

   Showgirls came out in 1995, directed by Paul Verhoeven, written by Joe Eszterhas, it destroyed the career of Elizabeth Berkley. Showgirls is a very bad film.

   It is the type of bad that has made it very popular years later in the “so bad it’s good“ vein. Considering it is about Las Vegas Showgirls, features a lot of dancing and nudity, the film is very unsexy. It is the story of Nomi, played by Berkley, who hitchhikes into Vegas to be a dancer, has a lot of bad luck, becomes a stripper, impresses Kyle McLaughlin and Gina Gershon, becomes a showgirl and then a featured dancer after lots of hijinks and abuse. Then more stuff happens.

   This is not a good film but Berkley gets blamed for it with her overactive performance at odds with the other performances in the show (not her fault it turns out, Verhoeven directed her that way). The dialogue is atrocious. The overall film is graphically violent, angry and unsexy but still feels kind of campy which is weird.

   I understand why it is popular as a cult film but I really had a difficult time with it. Berkley deserved better.

   Watch it or don’t. It’s bad but strange.

   

   -all photos via IMDb.com.

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