Showgirls Part 3

So this is when things get a little crazy, fucked-up, and dark. It was all campy, sexual fun but now things are going to get serious.

 

So Nomi is invited to this party hosted by Andrew Carver, a Michael Bolton-type singer that Molly gushes over. As an apology, Nomi invites her over and she is easily forgiven. Molly is then given the chance to meet her idol for the very first time....This wasn't such a good idea. Even beforehand, Nomi should've saw the warning signs when this guy turned out to be a creep when he made a comment about her breasts. But this is worse than that....way worse. Molly is brutally beaten and raped by him and his security guards, which is the way for this film to up the ante on the NC-17 rating to throw a little violence along with sex. really? Why did it have to come to this? It's disgusting and repulsive. Why can't this movie be fun, stupid and campy, why did they have to go this far?
So once Nomi comes to the knowledge of this, she tries to call the authorities but Zach stops her for some reason, gloating that he knows about her seedy past and rubs it in her face. Nomi, did you seriously think it was a good idea to sleep with this guy? She responds by spitting him in the face but a punch to the face would've been more acceptable. Okay, so let me get this straight. Her friend was brutally raped and she can't call the authorities because this floppy-haired dickweed said so? What does he own? all of Las Vegas or something? I don't care if this Andrew Carver guy is a celebrity or whatever, he still did a terrible crime and plus everybody at the party witnessed Molly falling unconscious and battered. How much evidence is that?

But anywho, Nomi takes the law into her own hands and decides to beat the living shit out of Andrew Carver. Like that is going to solve anything. You should've frame the fucker that's what you should've done. But this of course is treated as the film's climax.


And Nomi just had about enough of Las Vegas. So she pays Molly a visit as well as Cristal. But Cristal wants something that she never had. To kiss Nomi's lips one last time. I guess this is supposed to be treated as romantic.

So off Nomi goes and here she runs into the guy who ran off with her suitcase. So she flicks her knife, Orders her suitcase back, and off they go to Los Angles.
Wow what a trashy pile of gloriousness....

Let's just be honest people, Elizabeth Berkely is just not a good actress, I was puzzled as to why she was given the leading role in the first place. She is mostly remembered for this movie but for all the wrong reasons. Which is why she is stuck writing self-help books and doing TV work. Best fit to be honest. I also didn't get Nomi Malone as a character. The movie just didn't know what to do with her. They try to paint her as this street-smart kind of gal but occasionally make her into this naïve ingénue at the same time. That's not always a problem but the stuff that she does is questionable. She knows but she doesn't know. And the movie doesn't do a good job at making her this good person who suddenly do bad things to get to the top because quite frankly we don't know anything about her.

Gina Gershon is probably the only shining beacon in this movie and is solely the reason why I watched through all of it. Her character may be a bit of bitch but that's what she's good at playing.
Now let's get to the Nitty Gritty. The blatant misogyny of the film is too much to handle. Almost all of the men in this movie are slimeballs and what makes it worse is that it's written and directed by men. And the rape scene puts more salt into the wound, making me feel even dirtier for watching this film.
So that's Showgirls. I still wouldn't rank it as one of my top guiltiest pleasures but if it's on cable on a boring Saturday night, I'll probably give it watch. After all it's faults, it's still kind of entertaining.

Now a clip show:

 

Showgirls Part 2

Where I left off is sort of the turning point of the movie, believe it or not. And it all starts with is Nomi dry humping stage director Zach while Showgirl starlet Cristal Conners watches. Also the wannabe-philosopher watches as well, who just so happens to work at the strip club. So after that little performance the stage director definitely has Nomi on his mind. So does Cristal.
The next scene I find incredibly hilarious because the next morning or so, the wannabe-philosopher guy shows up at her doorstep, unannounced, just to tell her about her dryhumping the stage director. Here's a clip(sound only). Lol:

Okay, shouldn't she get a restraining order? Who fucking does that? What's even more hilarious is how this scene is attempted as a dramatic confrontation, really? She barely even knows the guy.
So as it all progresses, Nomi just suddenly, out of the blue, gets an offer to audition for a part in the upcoming show. So off Nomi goes on her quest to be the next best showgirl, even though, she sort of lied her way to get to that spot when putting out her information.

So as the audition starts the girls are subjected to some very snide insults by the producer and that's when the misogyny becomes a little blatant. Sure, show business isn't the most nicest environment but does being a showgirl involves a contest of who has the biggest breasts? Things go a little too far when the producer gets Nomi to rub her nipples with ice and she's not haven't it! Turns out Cristal Conners was the one behind the whole ice/nipple thing just to fuck with her, which is probably her way of flirting. So somehow, someway, Nomi gets the job anyway.

Oh I forgot to mention where she goes with the wannabe philosopher.

They dance a little bit, he gets turned on, once things get hot and heavy, she says she's on her period....and she's not kidding. GROSS! so it's Nomi that thinks she's in a relationship with this guy, even though, they barely know each other.

Once she tells him about the exciting news about her part on the show, turns out he's sleeping with one of the dancers at her former job. I guess he was the one who led her on. Wow. So after that, Nomi prepares for her first show and already witnesses a cat fight between two dancers, over-the-top acting and all. It's sort of a taste of what she's going to get into later.
So her first of couple of shows, she does well and Zach prepares to woo her. The wannabe Philosopher comes crawling back, saying he can't get enough of women. Heh, sure. We later find out that the girl he was fooling around with is pregnant and he gets some mundane job at a grocery store.  But then again why would she care? They weren't in a relationship in the first place.

Just as Zach is trying to woo Nomi, So does Cristal. They have a little girl talk while wining and dining. And here comes one of the strangest dialogue I heard in a movie. Seriously what? And so is the start  of Cristal trying to mind fuck Nomi and literally try to fuck her as well.

During one of the rehearsals, Nomi witnesses one of the showgirls dropping diamonds on the stage so one of the girls can trip over it. Once that happens the girls leg is broken. This was of course payback for her for yelling at the woman's kids. Then again who would bring their kids around that environment? I mean come on. This is sort of a foreshadowing of what is about to come.
So after that, Nomi gets to see her former employers at the strip club. Yet another hilarious scene as the movie tries to make  this into a heartwarming scene. Really moive? Really?

This is the same night  where she get to go on a date with Zach. Or have sex, let's be honest, people. This leads into one of the most over-the-top sex scene in years. I mean you gotta see it to believe it. I laughed my ass off.
This eventually gets her the chance to be Cristal's Understudy. This pisses off Cristal because she knows Nomi had sex with Zach to get her way to the top. Can I mention here that the movie take jabs at Cristal's age besides the fact that Gina Gershon is at least in her thirties. I guess being in your thirties is ancient in the showgirl universe.

So, of course, Cristal manipulates Nomi and strips her chances of becoming the understudy.

This is the last straw and so Nomi pushes Cristal down the stairs, becomes the new star of show, and enjoying the perks of it all. But her friend Molly is not so pleased......
Okay people, this is a long ass movie to cover. So there will be a third and FINAL part to this trainwreck of a movie....











 

Showgirls Part 1

In  a couple of months or so, it will be the 20th anniversary of the bad movie "classic" Showgirls. I first watched this movie when I was around 11 or 12. Can you believe that? But thankfully, I watched the censored version on VH1. After that, I just couldn't stop watching it whenever it comes on TV. It's kind of well.....interesting, even though it's known to be one of the worst movies of the 90's. Maybe it's the outlandish campiness the reason why I find this movie the slightest bit entertaining, along with it's incredibly awful dialogue. Everybody else seems to enjoy this as well citing it as a cult favorite. But I just can't bring myself  to hail this as one of my favorite guilty pleasures. The movie has a really sleazy vibe that keeps me from enjoying this. The nudity I can handle but the context not so much. The context meaning the shit load amount of misogyny this movie keeps rubbing in our faces. Sure, some of the moments in this movie is too hard to take seriously, but it's the way it portrays women, who would use their sexuality as a weapon or are victims of sexual predatory by the men. They should be proud of their sexuality not be prisoners of it. Speaking of the men, most of them are just scummy and sex-obsessed(if you count out a few gay guys), it almost buffoonish.
The problems with the movie, I'll get to that later but for now let's get story, shall we? oh and guys, this review is totally safe for work, so any of you straight male viewers, sorry.

So it starts off with this drifter named Nomi Malone. Very cleaver on Joe Eszterhas part. LO freaking L! To think this is the same guy who wrote Flashdance and Jagged Edge. So the thing about her name is that you want to get to know her but she's alone. Get it? Yeah I know you wouldn't. So the things we KNOW about Nomi so far is that she's beautiful, blonde, and looking to make it big in Hollywood. So she decides to hijack this guy's car at knifepoint and heads to Las Vegas. Like a kid in wonder, she explores the casinos. Just as she first arrives though, she is approached by this sleazy pimp. She, of course, declines. Joe Eszerthas is digging a pretty big  hole in the beginning but it gets worse, trust me. Trying to score big on the jackpots, she soon realizes her suitcase was stolen by the driver. And this is how she meets Molly, as they get into a scuffle and hug it out after a misunderstanding. It's pretty freakin' hilarious. Once she hears about Nomi and her missing suitcase, Molly agrees to let her stay with her for a while until she gets on her own two feet. Yeah, let some complete stranger, stay at your house. Not smart I should say.

Some weeks later, Nomi is working at some low down strip club to help pay the bills. Couldn't she be a waitress or work at a retail store? why a stripper? I guess because if it's any way to get the main actress naked I guess she has to be a stripper.  Ugh. Okay before I take things further let's talk about the tacky nature of the strip club. The club owner always bribes the girls with oral sex, there's an overweight lady who makes fat jokes about herself and flashes her breasts in a clownish fashion, and the plain overall feel is over-the-top sexual.

So once she learns Molly is a costume designer at one of the best shows in Las Vegas, Nomi takes this opportunity to see the live shows and the most popular showgirl Cristal Conners, even though there is no mention of her knowing of Cristal.

So once she meets Cristal in her dressing room, she gives off a diva haughty attitude towards Nomi and Nomi leaves out, pissed. So as a stress reliever, Molly and Nomi goes out dancing at this club. While Nomi is gyrating like she's been stung by bees, she runs into this guy trying to hit on her. And she's like 'no way hose' and pushes him off, which ultimately causes them both to be a scuffle and soon gets them in jail. After that the guy just can't seem to get a clue and won't leave her alone. So now he's a recurring character. So I'll just call him The Wanna-be Philosopher.

So during one of her gigs at the strip club, Cristal Connors pays a visit.....
Okay guys, I'm afraid I have to stop it right here for now as cliffhanger. For a bad movie, it sure has a lot of story. So check me out on the second half.