A trendsetting comedy blockbuster, a trilogy starter from a South Korean master, an embarrassing mid-90s erotic thriller, a horror sequel, and two legitimate comedy classics were all released on August 19 in Movie Nudity History!
2005: The 40-Year Old Virgin
Hot on the heels ofWedding Crashersand its tremendous success that beganseveral weeks earlier, Judd Apatow's directorial breakthrough saw Steve Carell as the titular schlub, whose co-workers set out on a mission to get him laid. It was an inversion of the typical "losing your virginity" movie, brilliantly subverted by Apatow and crew, and updated for a new generation. To his credit, Apatow is more culturally sensitive to the role of women in the story than his boob comedy forebears, but some of the gags don't play well fifteen years later—namely, the extended riffing between Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen about, let's just say their sexual identities.
The film's theatrical cut was full of nudity from disappointed college loverLaura Bottrell, speed date nip slipperKimberly Page, and of courseElizabeth Banks' nip slip, which was confirmed when the film hit home video...
The Unrated cut that followed on home video added even more nudity from virtual girl Jamie Elle Mann, and a cameo from Stormy Daniels shot right around the time she was—allegedly—sleeping with a certain person who may or may not be in charge of the country right now...
2005: Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Made and released in Korea in 2002, director Park Chan-wook's earlier film got released fifteen years ago today in North America thanks to the crossover success of 2003's Oldboy. This is interesting to note because this film is the first in the director's so-called "Vengeance Trilogy," but most American audiences saw the first two parts out of order. No big deal, they're more spiritual sequels than directly connected to one another.
**Portions of the following text are excerpted from ourSKIN-depth Look at Park Chan-wook's Films...
Given carte blanche to do whatever he liked following the massive success ofJoint Security Area, Park's next film was the first in what would come to be known as his Vengeance Trilogy. Centered around a deaf ne'er do well named Ryu (Shin Ha-kyun) who is desperate to get his ailing sister (Lim Ji-eun) the kidney transplant she needs,Sympathy for Mr. Vengeancepresents us with desperate characters, all of whom have their backs to the wall, and all of whom make increasingly terrible decisions.
One of most the surprisingly tender aspects of the film is the relationship between Ryu and his anarchist girlfriend Yeong-mi (Doona Bae). Although their plans are awful and fail spectacular fashion, their love story is sort of the emotional core of the film, particularly once tragedy befalls Ryu's sister. An hour and eleven minutes in, the two have sexfeaturing the first use of sign language during a sex scene.A full decade before she'd become a Wachowski regular,Doona Baebares her breasts during this frantic sex scene, done with dueling POV between her and Ryu, a technique Park will return to time and again throughout his filmography...
As for the film itself, Park stated in an interview that he intentionally made the film emotionally exhausting, to better place the audience in the shoes of the characters...
I wanted to make something that felt too real. I said from the start, "I want the film to be felt physically, not just emotionally." I wanted the audience to be tired when they finished the film. I wanted their bodies to be tired. I thought people would love that. I like that kind of experience.
Putting the audience through the wringer isn't a concept that's exclusive to Park, as other directors like Michael Haneke have made it their stock in trade. However, Park's characters might be the first to garner both empathy and repulsion in equal measure from the audience. He condemns all of his characters, but not before he gets you on their side.
1994: Color of Night
Two months out from the release of Pulp Fiction and an actual career revival, Bruce Willis was slumming it in this controversial erotic thriller. It is one of the most preposterous films ever made, the premise being that Willis' psychiatrist character suffers from a bout of sudden onset colorblindness triggered by the suicide of one of his patients. That's right, one of Willis' patients kills themselves and he suddenly can't see the color red. I'm not joking. Seeking to lay low for a while, he goes to stay with his doctor buddyScott Bakula, but finds himself thrust into a new mystery when Bakula ends up murdered.
Jane March, hot off the explicit NC-17actually erotic thriller The Lover, was plucked from relative obscurity by director Jean-Jacques Annaud to become one of the most talked-about actresses of the early 90s. Here, in only her second feature film, she plays a woman named Rose who randomly shows up at Bakula's house and takes a great interest in Willis' character, starting a torrid affair with the good doctor. She's also disguising herself as a teenager named "Richie" at group therapy sessions run by Willis, in yet another twist that goes absolutely nowhere.
An hour in, March comes to the house to see Willis and the sexual tension between the two finally boils over with them falling into a pool and engaging in a little underwater sex...
As the two grow closer, we get fantastic frontal from March as she plays in the tub with Willis...
The film was a notorious flop and was wrested away from director Richard Rush, who suffered a number of health problems as a result. His 140 minute thriller was gutted for mainstream release 26 years ago today, but it was restored on home video several months later. Since there is more male nudity from ol' Bruno than there is from March, please visit our sister site MrMan.com, where it was covered in the Anatomy of a Scene's Manatomy column.
1988: Married to the Mob
**Portions of the following text are excerpted from our SKIN-depth Look at Jonathan Demme's Films...
The yuks continue with this even broader comedy from 1988—with Spalding Gray's monologue filmSwimming to Cambodiasandwiched between them—featuring a central performance fromMichelle Pfeifferthat helped skyrocket her to leading lady stardom. Pfeiffer plays Angela, the mob wife of notorious lothario mobster Frank "The Cucumber" DeMarco (Alec Baldwin, appropriately scuzzy here). After Frank gets killed, Angela sees this as her way out of a life she hates, surrounded by mafia wives she despises. However, two simultaneous events keep her from leaving the life entirely.
First, Frank's boss Tony "The Tiger" Russo (an Oscar nominated Dean Stockwell) sees Frank's death as an opportunity to move in on Angela and make her his new mistress. Second, the FBI begins surveilling her, with undercover agent Mike Downey (Matthew Modine) attempting to get her to flip on Tony by posing as her next door neighbor. It's a complicated web that's woven by co-writers Barry Strugatz and Mark Burns, whose only other credit is the following year's even broader comedyShe-DevilstarringRoseanneandMeryl Streepin a battle for the affections of Ed Begley, Jr.
Nancy Travispops up early in the flick as Tony's current mistress Karen, with whom The Cucumber had been caught earlier in the film, leading to his demise. After getting a goodbye kiss from a nude Travis...
Tony dispatches of her in a jacuzzi not long after, because he's not one to let things go lightly...
1988: A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
**Portions of the following text are excerpted from our SKIN-depth Look at the Nightmare on Elm Street Franchise...
The highest grossing entry among the original six movies, this Renny Harlin-directed entry continues the story from the last film, while also continuing the trend of the final girl from the last film—Kristen in this case—being killed off in the sequel to make way for an all new final girl—Lisa Wilcox's Alice, who breaks the trend by making it all the way through the next film. Plot became less essential from here on out to make way for the more creative deaths and the more groan-inducing Freddy puns.
This flick also, surprisingly, has the most nudity among the original six, with the beautiful Hope Marie Carlton swimming up from inside Joey's waterbed before dragging him in, transforming into Freddy, and murdering him...
The other nudity comes courtesy of horror legendLinnea Quigley, who lends her topless talents to a scene near the end of the film when Freddy reveals all of the tortured souls he houses inside himself. Fun fact, this shot is recycled in Freddy's Dead three years later...
1983: Easy Money
Finally, on this day 37 years ago, we got one Rodney Dangerfield's better on-screen vehicles. Rodney was a god of stand-up comedy but his films were hit and miss, and he was usually best when part of a larger ensemble, like in Caddyshack. Here he's paired well with Joe Pesci in this tale of a lifelong loser and part-time birthday clown (Dangerfield) whose mother kicks the bucket. The catch in inheriting her fortune is that he must go an entire year without drinking, smoking, or gambling, which seems at first much like the titular promise. Of course, as time goes on, he learns that it's easier said than done.
As mentioned, the film does have a great pair in Dangerfield and Pesci, but sensationally stacked co-star Kimberly McArthur has an even better pair ashis exhibitionist next door neighbor...
