Here are some questions from readers and my responses to them.
4.7.97 - ACADEMY AWARD AND NUDITY
Q: Has any actress won an Oscar for a film in which she appeared topless or bottomless or whatever-less? Kate Winslet came close this year, but not quite. - Bob
A: The following actors and actresses have had a nude scene in a film and won an Academy Award for their performance in that film:
Best Actress:
Glenda Jackson in A Woman in Love (1970)
Jane Fonda in Klute (1971)
Faye Dunaway in Network (1976)
Jane Fonda in Coming Home (1978)
Shirley MacLaine in Terms of Endearment (1983)
Marlee Matlin in Children of a Lesser God (1986)
Jodi Foster in The Accused (1988)
Holly Hunter in The Piano (1993)
Jessica Lange in Blue Sky (1994)
Helen Hunt in As Good as It Gets (1997)Best Actor:
Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger (1973)
Geoffrey Rush in Shine (1996)Best Supporting Actress:
Lee Grant in Shampoo (1975)
Maggie Smith in California Suite (1978)
Mary Steenburgen in Melvin and Howard (1980)
Juliette Binoche in The English Patient (1996)Best Supporing Actor:
Cuba Gooding Jr. in Jerry Maguire (1996)
1.26.97 - BODY DOUBLE vs. STAND-IN
Q: Do you know for certain whether or not the nude scenes Alyssa Milano did in Embrace of the Vampire and the ones Nicole Eggert did in Blown Away are genuinely them or did they use body doubles? Because in the credits of both movies it lists stand-ins for both characters, doesn't that mean that it wasn't them?
A: When you watch a movie and you see their face together with their bodies, it's them.
A Stand-in is NOT the same as a body double. Stand-ins are the people who are moved around on the set while the director of photography figures out where to place the actors and actresses in the scene and how to light them. Once these "marks" are determined, the real actors and actresses do their work in front of the camera.
We still have a few years before special-effects companies like ILM will use computer graphics to place an actresses' head on top of a nude body double in a movie, then my work will become very difficult! ILM has already done a little bit of this with one shot of Meryl Streep lying on her stomach in Death Becomes Her. As mentioned elsewhere on this website, Leonard DiCaprio and Kate Winslet had their faces digitally composed on top of stunt people for a dangerous water-rushing-down-the-corridor scene in Titanic.
1.20.97 - JENNIFER TILLY BODY DOUBLE FOR MEG?
Q: I just read on the Internet Movie Database that Jennifer Tilly was the nude body double used for Meg Tilly in Body Snatchers. Is this true?
A: No, the body double in Body Snatchers was NOT Jennifer Tilly. I doubted that it was her when I first read the credits and I had the opportunity to ask her about it. She said something like: "No it's not me. I have better things to do with my time than to do nude body doubling for my sister."
The real credits for Body Snatchers lists the body double for Meg Tilly as simply, "Jennifer," so it's easy to see why someone could get the credit incorrectly added to the Internet Movie Database.
6.22.96 - I'M TRYING TO FIND A VIDEO TAPE...
Q: I am have been looking without success for a video tape of the film [insert title here] that is listed in your book, can you tell me where I might locate one?
A: Unfortunately, I don't have enough time to help individual readers locate hard to find videos. The best thing to do is check out the older mom and pop video stores in your area. The ones that have been in business for more than 10 years are the best bet. Whenever I go in one of these older stores I always find video tapes that I've never seen anywhere else. Try to stay away from the larger chains like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video, whenever these stores order videos that are available in R-rated and unrated versions, they only get the less-explicit R-rated version.
Check out the Movies Unlimited website. They are probably the largest video mail order company in the country (if not the world). It's easy and quick to order videotapes and DVDs online through their website.
You can also try Norman Scherer of Video Oyster who specializes in hard-to-find and discontinued video titles (although his prices will be higher since they are rare tapes).
If you would like, send me email and I will post your video/magazine want list along with your email address on the Video Want Ads page here at The Bare Facts Home Page. I cannot guarantee that the person you will transact with will not rip you off, but if they do, please report them and I'll put their name, address and email address on The Bare Facts Page of Shame. So go ahead an email me your want list and email address. Thanks!
6.2.96 - ONE TIMERS EXPLAINED
Q: I can understand that you miss films (though you do an amazing job), but I don't get why your listings sometimes omit major entries from films that are included. Two random examples: American Taboo lists the guy's scenes and even references the girl in them, but does not include her scenes which are significant in this case. Bram Stoker's Dracula misses references to the three female vampires, seducing Keanu Reeves, etc.
A: All of these actresses are who I call "One Timers". Actresses who are naked in only one movie and you never see them (clothed or unclothed) anywhere else (TV shows, other movies, etc.) again. The main purpose of The Bare Facts Video Guide is to help you locate the nude scenes on videotape of an actor or actress you've seen clothed somewhere else and want to see naked. Since, including the "One Timer" actresses would increase the page count of the book (and therefore the cost by $3-$5), I have chosen to leave them out.
I don't want to use up paper telling you that the most absolutely beautiful woman in the universe, "Jane Doe", is naked in a movie called XYZ. If you don't know who Jane Doe is, what business do I have telling you to go rent XYZ and check her out? Each of us has our own opinion of who is the most absolutely beautiful woman in the universe who we want to see naked. If you have by chance seen XYZ and fallen in lust with Jane Doe, there isn't much point in listing her since you'll never see here anywhere else again. Note that all the One Timer actresses are included in the CD-ROM version of The Bare Facts Video Guide because there is plenty of room to include everyone (it also includes the magazine references).
6.1.96 - BLOWN AWAY
Q: You have made a big mistake in your book! I rented Blown Away and the nude scenes you have listed for Nicole Eggert are not in there. I don't think she's even in the entire movie!
A: There are two films titled Blown Away that were released at almost the same time. The Blown Away you have watched is the one done in 1994 with Jeff Bridges as a bomb squad cop and Tommy Lee Jones as a mad bomber. Nicole Eggert is definitely not in that one. The one you want to watch is the 1992 Blown Away with Nicole Eggert, Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. To add further confusion, Eggert's Blown Away comes in R-rated and unrated versions. Try to find the unrated one, there is a longer love scene between Eggert and Haim at the 46 minute mark.
5.15.96 - CRAIG'S FAVORITE VIDEO
Q: What is your favorite erotic film?
A: Two Moon Junction
As you know, I watch a lot of videotapes, and this is the one I always recommend to couples as a movie to get both the man and the woman turned on. It has sexy Sherilyn Fenn as a visual feast for the male viewer and it has a sexy story line about forbidden lust for the female viewer.
True Story:
I'm a guest on The Maury Povich Show and the topic is "Movies that Make You Hot." I'm on stage with Jeffrey Lyons and a local New York movie critic lady. In the green room before the show, the producer asks us for our favorite hot movie. Jeffrey Lyons says Bull Durham (he is a baseball fanatic, so for him Baseball+Susan Sarandon=Hot), the lady says something like Gone With the Wind, I say Two Moon Junction.
The show is going fine. People mention movies like 9 1/2 Weeks and Body of Evidence. Right before Maury asks what is my favorite hot movie, he asks a lady in the audience and she says, YOU GUESSED IT, Two Moon Junction. That really took the wind out of my sails!
I didn't have a backup film to name, so all I could stammer was "Two Moon Junction, just like that woman said" as I pointed to her, which probably made me look like an unoriginal simpleton. Grrrr! I was so pissed!
Click here to buy Two Moon Junction on DVD
4.12.96 - HELP FIND DESIRE
Q: I need more information on the movie Desire starring Josie Bissett. Do you know where I can purchase this tape?
A: Desire is shown occasionally on the Cinemax cable TV channel. It was available (illegally) on videotape for a short time by a video distributor (They misspelled Josie Bissett's name as Jesse Bissett on the video box cover). The person who owns the rights to Desire sued the video distributor and it was withdrawn from the market. The legal owner should be releasing Desire on his own sometime, I'll definitely let you know about it when I hear more.