DVD A NATURALLY NAKED LOOK AT PINUP BETTIE PAGE.Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor Bettie Page Bettie Mae Page (though listed "Betty" on her birth certificate) born April 22, 1923 in Nashville, Tennessee, is a former American model who became famous in the 1950s for her fetish modeling and pin-up photos. liked to dress up -- or down, as the case may be. In the 1950s, Page was the pinup pin·up n. 1. a. A picture, especially of a sexually attractive person, that is displayed on a wall. b. A person considered a suitable model for such a picture. 2. queen of America, a woman who seemed so natural whether in a fetish fetish (fĕt`ĭsh), inanimate object believed to possess some magical power. The fetish may be a natural thing, such as a stone, a feather, a shell, or the claw of an animal, or it may be artificial, such as carvings in wood. outfit or au naturel. ``The Notorious Bettie Page,'' from director Mary Harmon, manages to be illuminating -- bringing to light the story of the sexual fantasy sexual fantasy Psychology Private mental imagery associated with explicitly erotic feelings, accompanied by physiologic response to sexual arousal. See Sexual desire. of millions of men of the era -- without being particularly enlightening. Harmon says she wanted to make a film about sex in the '50s, and, to some degree, she succeeds, although we already have ``Kinsey.'' And the sex researcher is even referenced in the film when Page's boyfriend discovers that she was posing in bondage outfits and declares it sick. How Page arrived at that point is chronicled seamlessly, if not deeply in the film's first half. There are scenes showing the Southern girl's Christian upbringing, sexual abuse by her father and a sexual attack by a group of men. This, it seems, set the smart young woman -- who had been second in her high-school class and won a scholarship and became a teacher -- escaping to New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . It's there -- while taking acting classes -- that she could play dress-up and display her god-given ``talent.'' It was also where -- though she did not say this -- she freed herself from male oppression, even while playing into it. ``Adam and Eve Adam and Eve In the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions, the parents of the human race. Genesis gives two versions of their creation. In the first, God creates “male and female in his own image” on the sixth day. were naked in the Garden of Eden Garden of Eden n. See Eden. Noun 1. Garden of Eden - a beautiful garden where Adam and Eve were placed at the Creation; when they disobeyed and ate the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil they were ,'' she would reply when asked how she could pose nude. The new DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. of the film has a color clip of the real Page taking off her clothes. It's quaint by today's standards, but it's then that you really see how Gretchen Mol Gretchen Mol (born November 8, 1972) is an American actress. Biography Early life Mol was born in Deep River, Connecticut where her mother, Janet, is an artist and teacher and her father is a school principal. , who plays her, captures the woman's innocence so vividly. You see the same twinkle in her eye as she looked into the camera. If Page found playing dress-up liberating, it set off the firestorm. At the time, U.S. Sen. Estes Kefauver Carey Estes Kefauver (July 26, 1903 – August 10, 1963) was an American politician from Tennessee who opposed the concentration of U.S. economic and political power under the control of a wealthy, exclusive elite. was spearheading Congressional pressure on those taking photos of Page. But the the seeds of the sexual revolution of the '60s were already being sown, and Page was an early poser for Playboy. Ironically, the fetish outfits Page wore -- and designed -- are fashionable today, but the innocence and liberation she felt are long gone. There is something more sinister in the intentions of pop tarts strutting their stuff in trashy lingerie  This article or section is written like an .Please help [ rewrite this article] from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising for , using . , even if they aren't taking off their clothes. By 1957, Page turned to Jesus, but she wasn't ashamed of what she had done. After Adam and Eve sinned, she noted, they put clothes on. Like its subject, ``The Notorious Bettie Page'' is most alive when Bettie is posing or stripping. During the rest of the time, the film seems like it's trying to get free of its bonds. NEW FILMS If you're in the mood for a romantic film, you could do worse than ``The Lake House,'' which is short on logic but possesses the likable talents of Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. Though neither of the ``Speed'' stars are great actors, they have a certain screen savvy that serves them well, particularly in this overly sweet but diverting movie. Admittedly, there's a lot to overlook in this time-twisted story of two people who meet through letters they send to each other two years apart. But if you're in the mood, you can forget the lapses in common sense and wallow wallow mud bath frequented by pigs, elephants, red deer, hippopotami as a cooling aid. in the sentiment of this prettily photographed fluff, which makes Chicago look much cooler than I ever thought it was. As he did in ``Primal Fear'' and to a degree in ``The Illusionist,'' Edward Norton plays a man who on the surface isn't what he appears to be in ``Down in the Valley.'' Dressed in cowboy gear, Norton plays Harlan, who claims to be a rancher from South Dakota South Dakota (dəkō`tə), state in the N central United States. It is bordered by North Dakota (N), Minnesota and Iowa (E), Nebraska (S), and Wyoming and Montana (W). but lives in a seedy motel in the Valley. Under his spell falls Tobe (Evan Rachel Wood), a teenager whose own life is fenced in by her overbearing law- enforcement father (David Morse David Morse is a name that can refer to:
TELEVISION I was perfectly happy with the recent theatrical version of ``Pride and Prejudice,'' but I admit that for Jane Austen enthusiasts -- and for those who believe Colin Firth was the ultimate Mr. Darcy -- there is ``Pride & Prejudice: 10th Anniversary Limited Collector's Edition.'' It features the original, handsomely produced 1996 BBC BBC in full British Broadcasting Corp. Publicly financed broadcasting system in Britain. A private company at its founding in 1922, it was replaced by a public corporation under royal charter in 1927. miniseries plus a bonus disc with new extras and a keepsake companion book. The extras don't seem overly special, but for many this was a special production of the romantic Austen novel. Showtime's ``Brotherhood'' is a gritty crime drama set in Providence, R.I. One brother, Tommy (Jason Clarke), is an upright politician trying to do the best for his local constituency. The other, Michael (Jason Isaacs), aims at building a criminal empire. Right and wrong are often two sides of the same coin, and the recently renewed ``Brotherhood,'' with its strong cast, is good at showing that. HORROR It's the season for frights, and we're not even talking about the front page. It seems studios are unearthing horror film after horror film. Most of them are junk, but the scary thing about ``A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is that it's really a good movie. Wes Craven's film, which introduced the world to Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), intelligently explores the terrors that bubble up in our dreams. The new two-disc Infinifilm special edition of ``Nightmare'' has been remastered and includes a number of new extras and commentaries. Forgive the film its sequels and look for Johnny Depp in an early role. ``It's alive! Alive!'' We're referring, of course, to the ``Frankenstein'' and ``Dracula'' franchises. To that end, Universal is releasing 75th-anniversary digitally remastered two-disc sets of the classic horror flicks, complete with a number of extras, including commentaries from film historians. Rob Lowman (818) 713-3687 robert.lowman@dailynews.com the price tags FILM ``The Notorious Bettie Page'' (HBO Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) A form of oxygen therapy in which the patient breathes oxygen in a pressurized chamber. Mentioned in: Ozone Therapy ; $27.98) ``Curious George'' (Universal; $29.98) ``The Lake House'' (Warner; $29.98) ``Beowulf and Grendel'' (Anchor Bay; $29.98) ``The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' (Universal; $29.98) ``Russian Dolls'' (IFC (Internet Foundation Classes) A class library from Netscape that provides an application framework and graphical user interface (GUI) routines for Java programmers. IFC was later made part of the Java Foundation Classes (JFC). See JFC, AFC and AWT. See also ICF. ; $24.95) ``Down in the Valley'' (Velocity/Think Films; $27.98) ``Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers'' (Brave New Films; $14.95) ``The Ground Truth'' (Universal; $14.98) TELEVISION ``Pride and Prejudice -- 10th Anniversary Limited Edition Collector's Set'' (A&E; $59.95) ``Brotherhood -- The Complete First Season'' (Showtime; $29.98) ``One Tree Hill -- The Complete Third Season'' (Warner; $59.98) ``Daniel Boone -- Season One'' (Goldhil; $49.98) ``Daniel Boone -- Season Two'' (Goldhil; $49.98) Mama's Family -- The Complete First Season (Warner; $26.98) ``The Book of Daniel Noun 1. Book of Daniel - an Old Testament book that tells of the apocalyptic visions and the experiences of Daniel in the court of Nebuchadnezzar Book of the Prophet Daniel, Daniel -- The Complete Series'' (Universal; $29.98) ``Ellen -- The Complete Season Four'' (A&E; $49.95) HORROR ``Nightmare on Elm Street'' -- Two-Disc Infinifilm Special Edition'' (New Line; $26.98) (1984) ``The Texas Chainsaw Massacre -- Two-Disc Ultimate Edition'' (Dark Shy Films; $29.98) ``Masters of Horror Masters of Horror is an American television series created by director Mick Garris for the Showtime cable network. New episodes premiere every Friday at 10pm EST throughout the season. : Imprint'' (Anchor Bay; $16.98) ``Frankenstein -- 75th Anniversary Edition'' (Universal; $26.98) ``Dracula -- 75th Anniversary Edition'' (Universal; $26.98) ``The Dead Zone -- Special Collector's Edition'' (Paramount; $14.99) CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Gretchen Mol goes dark -- in hair color, if not disposition -- as the title pinup in ``The Notorious Bettie Page.'' |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion