Celeste Cid in “Eva y Lola” [2010 Argentina]

Posted on March 17, 2011 by TR
Celeste Cid in Eva y Lola

Cute Celeste Cid demonstrates her hoola-hoop skills and gives us a brief view of her hidden charms in "Eva y Lola".

Sabrina Farji’s drama, “Eva y Lola” [Eng. Title: Eva and Lola] is about two young women, friends, who suddenly find themselves bound by a common past, after Lola’s father is placed in custody following a failed suicide attempt. She is informed that, like Eva, she too was born in a detention camp during the dictatorship, and that the ‘father’ who brought her up, was actually one of the staff involved in torturing and abusing inmates there. Lola refuses to accept and lives in denial, but Eva helps her come to terms with her stolen past and start afresh.

The film is well made with good cinematography and a catchy soundtrack. There just brief nudity in a scene when Eva makes love to her boyfriend. Eva is played by chiquita guapa Celeste Cid, a TV actress who is only just ‘opening up’ in cinema. I’ve also appended an earlier non-nude but sexy scene of Eva showing off to her future boyfriend on the street. For some reason I was having trouble decoding the sound from the DVD, it is only of average quality.

.
Continue reading →

Posted in Argentina | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Assumpta Serna & Eva Cobo in “Matador” [1986 Spain]

Posted on March 16, 2011 by TR

By 1986, when he made “Matador”, Pedro Almodovar may have gone mainstream, but he still retained his twisted sense of humour and total irreverence for audience reactions that made his films so much fun to watch. It’s from “Todo Sobre mi Madre” onwards that we see a different and more sombre Almodovar, even if the films he made from then on are just as accomplished, but in a different way.

“Matador” is a twisted film in many ways. None of the characters have traits that can be considered likeable, and yet you are coaxed into accepting their flaws. You forgive their follies, whether it is the retired matador who gets his kicks by watching someone getting killed – he even asks his girlfriend to wear pale make up and play dead while making love, or a lawyer who’s got into the habit of killing her lover at the time of orgasm. Or the mother of a rape victim who’s more concerned about her daughter missing her audition rather than reporting to the police. It is all out of synch with reality and totally absurd, but enthralling nevertheless.

It’s a shame the Scandinavian DVD from which these compilations were made was about the best quality ever released. I hope it gets digitally remastered and released again for the next generation of film lovers.

Compilation 1: Assumpta Serna
Among the most respected professionals in the Spanish film industry, Assumpta plays Maria, a lawyer defending a self-confessed serial killer, despite being one herself. In the first part of the scene, she’s with a lover she’d just picked up, but the second half is the more interesting when she finally gets to make love to her idol – the Matador – one can see Ms. Serna is going with the flow and thoroughly enjoying the moment as her co-star serenades her nipples with his tongue. And it is great to see a gay director appreciating feminine sensuality..!

Assumpta Serba in Matador

Assumpa Serna thoroughly titilates her male audience despite her dangerous character in Almodovar's "Matador".


Compilation 2: Eva Cobo
Eva Cobo was barely 19 when she did this film. She plays the girlfriend who’s madly in love with the Matador – even forgiving his psychopathic nature. In the first part of the compilation she’s being spied on by her neighbour (played by a young Antonio Banderas), who later attempts to rape her in an alley way. Later she’s with the Matador who asks her to play dead while he makes love to her.

Eva Cobo in Matador

Young, pretty, and sensuous - Eva Cobo shows her charms in Almodovar's "Matador".

.
Continue reading →

Posted in Pedro Almodóvar, Spain | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ingrid Thulin in “Viskningar och Rop” [1972 Sweden]

Posted on March 15, 2011 by TR

Ingmar Bergman’s visually stunning but disturbing 1972 drama “Viskningar och Rop” [Eng. Title: Cries and Whispers] won an Oscar for cinematography, but should have bagged a few more, direction included, for this is one of Bergman’s finest films.

Agnes is terminally ill, and her younger sisters Karin and Maria have arrived to be by her side. As her pain and illness advances, so does simmering hatred and jealousy among the younger siblings resurface, until it boils over upon Agnes’ death, but this very outburst also leads to some degree of reconciliation between the two, even if their inherent nature prevents the complete healing. Among these ladies in the mansion is also the maid Anna, who offers her unconditional affection to the dying Agnes. We get to know each of the characters through the course of the film, but some events are purposefully left shrouded in mystery. What we see however, is a family in turmoil, and despite themselves, unable to communicate and reach out to one another. What’s mildly amusing is, for a man so gifted in his observation and interpretation of human behaviour, Bergman in an interview (among the DVD extras), candidly admits to his own failings as father and lover – suggesting no amount of wisdom will protect people from their own shortcomings.

Bergman gives us a masterclass in technical and poetic filmmaking through his draftsman-like precision. I particularly liked the way he neatly separated his characters’ ‘whispers’, by fading in and out from a blank red screen. The music, the art direction, the cinematography, and the exemplary performances by all combine to make this film a haunting and vivid experience. Highly Recommended Viewing.

In the only nude scene in the film, the unapproachable and self-hating Karin asks Anna to help her change, after which she takes the extraordinary measure of mutilating herself, so that her husband would not dare touch her – and she looks at the aghast husband triumphantly even through pain. Karin is played by Ingrid Thulin.

Ingrid Thulin in Viskningar och Rop

Ingrid Thulin nude and obnoxious as Karin in Ingmar Bergman's "Viskningar och Rop".

.
Continue reading →

Posted in Ingmar Bergman, Ingrid Thulin, Sweden | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Maria Grazia Cucinotta in “L’imbroglio nel Lenzuolo” [2010 Italy]

Posted on March 14, 2011 by TR

Veteran Mexican-born actor/director Alfonso Arau made his first Italian feature, “L’imbroglio nel Lenzuolo” [Eng. Title: The Trick in the Sheet], thanks pretty much to the vision of its producer and protagonist, bellezza Siciliana Maria Grazia Cucinotta. In a manner, this very well made film is Sig.ra Cucinotta’s own little ode to cinema.

It is turn-of-twentieth-century Sicily, and motion pictures have just arrived. Young Federico isn’t too interested in pursuing Medicine, and is entranced by this new medium that’s enthralling everyone. This is despite his mother’s objection – she knows about cinema too, after all she plays the piano during the screenings. He finally nets a producer who’s willing to fund him provided there’s naked women in his film. He chooses to make one based on the biblical story of Susanna, but couldn’t quite decide on the star, until one day when he notices Marianna, a washerwoman and local witch taking a dip by the marshes. After watching her daily routine, he lay in wait and films her without her knowledge, adds the remaining bits and also releases the film. Apart from it becoming a huge success, the film wrecks Marianna’s reputation, she’s now considered ‘easy’, and once also gets molested by a frenzied mob in town. The rest of this charming film is of Marianna winning back her honour by showing the village folk that Susanna is nothing but a ‘trick in the sheet’ (sheet meaning the screen).

There is brief but tantalising nudity of Maria Grazia Cucinotta who plays Marianna in the film, and if you’re watchful, you might just about catch a glimpse of a frontal view in the extended version, but this post itself is just an excuse for me to write something about this beautiful film. It is out on DVD (from which this compilation was also cut), and definitely Recommended Viewing.

Maria Grazia Cucinotta in L'imbroglio nel Lenzuolo

Some tantalising glimpses of the bewitching Maria Grazia Cucinotta in "L'imbroglio nel Lenzuolo".

.
Continue reading →

Posted in Italian Cinema | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Marina Gatell in “Little Ashes” BR720 [2008 UK, Spain]

Posted on March 13, 2011 by TR

Paul Morrison’s 2008 biographical drama of three of the most famous artists of early 20th century Spain “Little Ashes” – Luis Buñuel (film maker), Salvador Dali (painter), and Federico García Lorca (poet/playright) follows their close friendship from university years, particularly that of Dali and Lorca. It was a revelation to learn that they apparently loved each other, and it was Dali who was dilly-dallying between his feelings for Lorca, and his ambition to succeed in mainstream society. Set amidst the backdrop of rising fascism in Europe and later the Civil War in Spain, it offers a glimpse into their relationship and respective fortunes.

The film itself is average, but it does get a bit tedious half way through. I don’t know who the intended audience was, because some of the facts and facets appear to have been ‘sanitised’ for some reason.

The purpose of this post however, is for sexy Marina Gatell, who plays the journalist Magdalena – a close friend, fan, and confidante of Lorca. Lorca and Dali are in the middle of an intimate conversation when Magdalena knocks on the door – she’s drunk, and wants Lorca to satisfy her there and then. She doesn’t notice Dali crouching in the corner of the room at first, but when she does, she gets the hint, but continues to pursue Lorca. There is an awesome rear view of Gatell in this scene which certainly caught my attention, one which I’m sure may interest others too. I’ve also appended some other assorted nudity in the film – the last part of the clip is taken from one of Buñuel and Dali’s early collaborative films.

Marina Gatell nude in Little Ashes

Brief but eye-popping nudity from Marina Gatell in the 2008 film, “Little Ashes”.

.
Continue reading →

Posted in United Kingdom | Tagged , , | Leave a comment