SHOWGIRLS

Showgirls is the all-time nudie classic which stars former teenybopper star Elizabeth Berkley (of Saved By the Bell fame). In the film, Elizabeth plays an aspiring dancer who goes to Las Vegas in pursuit of her dream and engages in all types of carnality in the process usually while unclothed (of course!). Elizabeth leaves little--and I do mean little!--to the imagination in her role as aspiring dancer/stripper Nomi (as in know me, get it?). As you can probably already tell, subtlety is definitely NOT in this film's criteria! I could, of course, describe in detail just all the kinky-ass things Miss Berkley does in the film, but where is the fun in THAT? Though I will say Elizabeth's incredibly insane romp with Kyle MacLachlan (of Blue Velvet and Sex & The City fame) in the pool--whom she gives a buck-ass-naked lap dance to earlier in the film that borders on male rape!--is worth the price of admission alone! Oh yeah, Gina Gershon (of Bound fame) also shows some nice gratuitous boobage, though certainly NOT as much as her co-star Elizabeth whom Gina slips the tongue to towards the end of this crazy-ass flick. Hmmm, first Elizabeth and then Jennifer; are you trying to tell us something, Gina? A sidenote: When this film came out (pardon the pun!) during the mid-nineties, this film not only received a deliberate NC-17 rating (which is just slightly above X), it was also widely panned by both critics and audiences alike. But, regardless of the massive negative reaction to the film, Elizabeth stuck to her guns and refused to "apologize" for having starred--while mostly unclothed!--in the film, which, let's face it, was little more than soft-core porn! Contrast that to the virtual free pass actress Sharon Stone apparently got when she came out (again, pardon the pun!) with her virtual soft-porn flick Basic Instinct just a few years earlier where she, like Elizabeth, also showed us her, shall we say, talent in the movie (does That Scene ring any bells?) as Sharon, unlike Elizabeth, bent over backwards (there again, pardon the pun!) apologizing for having starred in the flick, actually claiming in one interview how she felt, and I quote, "violated as a human being" for somehow being tricked and/or manipulated into showing us her--again, shall we say!--talent in That Scene (otherwise known as "the beaver shot heard 'round the world!"), although that DIDN'T stop her from appearing in the lackluster sequel--sans Beaver Shot!--years later when Sharon's career was down in the proverbial toilet (and apparently still is!). Of course, I'm sure it didn't hurt that Miss Stone was doing the cinematic nasty with respected movie actor Michael Douglas in the film (but not in the sequel, which I doubt even THAT would have helped!) whereas Miss Berkley was merely getting it on with Kyle MacLachlin (no offense, Kyle!). Oh yeah, one more thing: In spite of the incredibly lackluster box office performance of the sequel, Sharon Stone, at the time of this writing, is reportedly considering doing a THIRD sequel to Basic Instinct (in spite, of course, being "violated as a human being" while filming the first one). I wonder, is Miss Stone going to show us her--there again, shall we say!--talent in the third sequel? And, more importantly, would anyone care to see it (no offense, Sharon!)?