Hoje vamos pedir licença para as mulheres que lêem o BNBlog para falar de um tema mais polêmico, que já sofreu muita censura e enfrentou muitos tabus até se estabelecer como uma forma de expressão artística: os quadrinhos eróticos. Muita gente pensa que quadrinhos eróticos são apenas sacanagem, entretanto, esse estilo de quadrinhos é uma forma saudável de expressão como qualquer outra.

Neste tipo de obra geralmente quem se destaca são as heroínas. Corajosas, poderosas e muito desinibidas, elas foram conquistando espaço num mundo de heróis de malha colante e tiveram que ter muito peito, e alguns outros atributos, para conquistar seu espaço no mundo dos quadrinhos.

É importante ressaltar que os quadrinhos eróticos refletiram uma mudança na sociedade. Muitas vezes, quando de seu lançamento, causaram furor ou foram totalmente censurados, mas justamente por seu caráter ‘underground’ acabaram conquistando muitos fãs no último século. Por isso hoje vamos destacar algumas das heroínas que fizeram história e transformaram os quadrinhos eróticos em obras de arte. Então meninas nos perdoem, mas falaremos dessa mulheres que fazem a alegria dos marmanjos nas histórias em quadrinhos.

Betty Boop
Todo mundo já ouviu falar da Betty Boop, mesmo porque essa heroína há muito tempo ultrapassou a esfera dos quadrinhos e se tornou um ícone da cultura pop. Inicialmente a personagem foi inspirada em uma cantora de cabaré chamada Helen Kane, aparecia nos quadrinhos insinuante com uma saia curtíssima, pernas a mostra e cinta liga. Isso tudo em plena década de 30.

A personagem chegou a ser censurada nos Estados Unidos, pelo Comitê Moralizador, que achava a personagem ‘sensual demais’ atentando contra a moral e bons costumes. Mesmo assim Boop seguiu participando de várias animações e – mesmo após 78 anos – continua arrebanhando fãs pelo mundo. Betty Boop pode ser considerada a precursora das pin ups com seu jeito sexy e curvas sinuosas. E mesmo sem se tratar de quadrinhos explicitamente eróticos, pode ser considerada uma das pioneiras desse estilo.

Barbarella
Muita gente não sabe que a personagem, interpretada por Jane Fonda no cinema, originalmente saiu de uma revista em quadrinhos de mesmo nome. Criada em 1965 por Jean Claude Forest, Barbarella era uma aventureira espacial cujas aventuras se passavam no planeta Lythion, onde ela enfrentava seus inimigos com uma estratégia, digamos, ninfomaníaca. Barbarella exauria seus inimigos tanto fisicamente quanto sexualmente. Obviamente ao ser lançada Barbarella foi censurada na França, em 1965, mas logo caiu no gosto popular e se tornou um fenômeno dos quadrinhos.

Valentina
Personagem dos quadrinhos italianos criado por Guido Crepax, Valentina começou como coadjuvante nas histórias do investigador Neutron. A personagem era a namorada do protagonista, intelectual e atrevida, e logo se tornou o centro das atenções na série do italiano. As histórias de Valentina inspiravam-se nas histórias fantásticas de Flash Gordon, apresentavam teorias oníricas freudianas e possuía um visual elegante e fetichista. De acordo com o autor, o visual da personagem foi inspirado na estrela de cinema Louise Brooks, que possuía esse ar de femme fatale.

Druuna
Ahhhh... Druuna! Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri é um dos mais emblemáticos neste meio, possuindo um estilo particular e realista ao retratar suas mulheres. Druuna, seu ícone máximo, foi criada em 1985 e era retratada em formas generosas e sempre minimamente vestida. Druuna envolvia-se em aventuras amorosas em um mundo pós-apocalíptico cheio de monstros deformados, cientistas loucos, muitos soldados, sempre prontos para se envolver com a protagonista.

Gullivera
Não poderia deixar de fora um dos maiores artistas do quadrinho erótico, Milo Manara. Em Gullivera, Manara faz uma adaptação da história de Jonathan Swift, A Viagem de Gulliver, mas do ponto de vista feminino, onde uma jovem chega a Lilliput e passa a viver aventuras "não convencionais" com os pequenos liliputianos. O traço de Milo Manara é delicado e preciso, e cada quadro de suas obras é de uma beleza simplicidade impressionante, seja erótico ou não. E Gullivera é um ótimo livro pra quem quer adentrar nesse universo dos quadrinhos eróticos.

Existem ainda muitas outras personagens que possuem esse caráter de erotismo em suas histórias, mas deixaremos pra falar dessas ousadas heroínas em outro momento. Por enquanto já dá para ter uma idéia do tipo de texto e arte de bom gosto que você pode encontrar nesse tipo de histórias em quadrinhos.

-------------------------------------

Nota da Larissa (a revisora): Ok, Marco, eu dou licença.

Escutem a faixa Your Tricks e aguardem!!

Peculiaridades do set do filme Pelicano? Uma lista deles!

- A casa toda decorada com móveis dos anos 70, e totalmente deteriorada,mofada etc. 

- A cachorrinha cega

- O dono da casa que parecia meu prof de biologia do terceirão e andava pra la e pra cá com uma caneca de pinga.

- Cena de banho da atriz,mas não tinhamos agua quente, assim sendo eu fiquei em cima de uma escada comum regador de agua quente em cima da menina.

- Eu chegando 7 h de manhã em casa e indo assistir o episódio de House que tinha ficado pela metade.

etc etc.

A overdose de Amy Winehouse:

Acabamos de ler a notícia de que Amy Winehouse teve uma overdose e poderá ter danos cerebrais irreversiveis. Segundo os jornais, a cantora passou 36 horas consumindo drogas (haxixe) e foi internada depois de vômitos e convulsões. BABADO!

Será que ela volta? Ela teria que fazer mil tratamentos e dúvido muito a que dona Amy siga algum deles... Não sou suuuper fã dela como pessoa, mas adoro as músicas dela, mas gaaaata! Hora de toma juizo nessa cacholinha né!

Por hoje é só,agora correria para os próximos filmes. Vamos na starbucks agora e na livraria cultura.

Obs especial: Hoje acordei e tinha uma caixa de presente em cima da minha pia....ounnn. Ele continua o mesmo sim, ganhei a terceira temporada de House do meu tchu tchu tchu Du. hahaha. Love it!

This potential band name was born from me and a co-worker talking about using Jane Fonda to distract Ted Turner while you engage in high-level negotiations with him.

'Cause you know he's still totally pining for her.

Barbarella se descabelando com um fã.

Léo Ostrovski no meio de seu set Anos 90 bombator.

Trash Sound Company na jaula... do som.

http://www.squarelakefestival.com/

Saturday, August 16 from 1pm-Midnight

$20 (discounted if you bike there)

Anyone interested?  I am at least going to see Happy Apple and The Owls.

This is the paragraph from the actual review that uses those words:

"''TROLL' takes its inspiration, if it can be called that, from those late, great, bargain-basement science-fiction films that managed to be funny without trying. Innocence like that is not easily imitated, as ''Troll'' unwittingly demonstrates time and again. Directed by John Buechler, whose background is in creature-related special effects, and written by Ed Naha, ''Troll'' has a knowing tone that's more smart-alecky than clever. And it hovers uncomfortably between comedy and horror, without ever landing decisively in either camp. The film is as funny as it gets in a sequence that has Sonny Bono pretending to be a great ladies' man."

Oh, and needless to say, "Troll" rules: get it on LaserDisc if you can.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092115/

Кстати, пару слов о Джейн Фонде. Это та самая, которая снималась в Барбарелле :) А еще она придумала (популизировала скорее) аэробику. В общем, интересная женщина.

А еще я вам ссылку дам на тречег: вот она

Ну вроде все :)

But seriously? Red Sonja? Blech.

Robert Rodriguez announced at Comic Con yesterday that Red Sonja is happening and that Rose McGowan would be starring as the title character, however Rodriguez himself is not going to be directing the film due to an obligation to the Weinsteins. Instead, Red Sonja will be directed by Douglas Aarnioko, Rodriguez's assistant director from many of his films. If you're a hardcore Rodriguez fan, don't worry. Rodriguez has said that he will be a 'hands on producer.'

Since I just write this blog for my own enjoyment and I'm not actually getting paid to do this, there wasn't anyone to send me to San Diego to do any real reporting, so here are some of Cinematical's bullet points from the Q&A:

-- Red Sonja will hit theaters in the fourth quarter of 2009 (one imagines for Christmas)
-- Robert Rodriguez is acting as a "hands on" producer, and will co-direct a good chunk of the flick. Not only is he doing this for Red Sonja, but he's also negotiating to produce a new Conan film. It seems as if they would eventually (if both are popular enough) cross promote between films.
-- The tone will be darker, like the book, and when asked if it would be R rated, Rodriguez said, "My name is double 'R'!"
--Also on tone and scope, McGowan (who's quite lively and quick-witted in person) said it's "hard, cold, dirty and bloody." And that she's looking forward to "taking a big giant sword and killing a lot of people."
-- Training is already underway, and McGowan is working with the same swords experts who helped out on Matrix and Ninja Assassin. 
-- Rodriguez also admitted that Barbarella is officially off, and that Red Sonja has taken its place. He said financing of $70 million did come through from Germany for a shoot next year, but he's obligated to shoot something else for Miramax. He's negotiating right now to direct a "huge summer movie" -- but he wouldn't say which.
-- On the character, Rose McGowan said: "I will not have a mullet!" The crowd cheered.
-- Red Sonja will be shot on location (scouting now) and will use some green screen.
-- Asked who should star in the new Conan, RR shouted: "Danny Trejo!"
-- On Machete becoming a film, RR said they have plans to turn it into a Mexploitation triple feature disc (and somewhere on that disc will be a trailer for a sequel to Planet Terror.)
-- On Sin City 2, Frank Miller has finished writing the script, but no one knows whether or not that's going to happen with each working on different projects.

Despite everything, I think Red Sonja could actually be a good movie. While I don't think Rose McGowan is a particularly amazing actress, this seems like the right kind of project for her. Let's just hope she doesn't become Rodriguez's Yoko Ono.

In an earlier post, I admitted a fondness for quirky foreign films, particularly foreign versions of popular genres such a science fiction, westerns, or horror movies. (Maybe one day when I am feeling brave, I will explain my love for live-action talking-animal movies.) I am actually more curious and open to foreign genre films than I am to the serious foreign fare that receives all of the awards and acclaim. While I appreciate the Bela Tarrs, Krzysztof Kieslowskis, and Alexander Sokurovs of world cinema, I am entertained by the Julius Machulskis and Vaclav Vorliceks. And, a good genre film can be as artistic and meaningful as a drama -- sometimes more so. Like their American counterparts, foreign genre films are too often overlooked because they are formulaic, entertaining, or just plain fun.

In the wake of the media blitz surrounding the opening for The Dark Knight this past weekend, plus the recent news of a remake of Barbarella in which Robert Rodriguez will attempt to rework Roger Vadim's 1968 cult classic, I am reminded of one of my favorite quirky foreign flicks -- Who Wants to Kill Jessie?

Talk about your genre film: This modest little movie actually crosses over into several genres - something modern Hollywood rarely does well. Who Wants to Kill Jessie? is a comic-book fantasy featuring a highly sexualized heroine in an action-filled adventure; it's a sci-fi film that spoofs the cliche about scientists and their always-disastrous secret formulas; and, it's a political allegory peaking out from behind all those outrageous antics and screwball characters.

Produced in 1966, Who Wants to Kill Jessie? (Kdo chce zabit Jessii) tells the story of a scientist couple who don't exactly have the ideal marriage. The wife, state scientist Dr. Ruzenka Berankova, develops a formula for ridding dreams of their unpleasant images and emotions. In her lab, she tests the formula on cows, who are unhappy because they have nightmares about pesky flies. The doctor and her assistants know their formula is successful when the cows no longer dream of flies but begin to dream about dozing off in custom-made cow hammocks as chamber orchestras play beautiful music for them. (This scene alone is more entertaining than all of Iron Man.)

When Dr. Ruzenka B. discovers that her husband, henpecked Dr. Jindrich Beranek, is fantasizing about a voluptuous comic strip vixen named Jessie, she administers the formula to rid him of his dreams. Unfortunately, Dr. Berankova does not realize that her serum has a serious side effect: What it eliminates from dreams turns up in the real world. Just as those pesky cow flies start buzzing around the lab, so does Jessie and her motley crew of sidekicks come stumbling out of the newspaper comic strip into Jindrich's real world.

The film, with an array of inventive gags, sci-fi contraptions, and clever conceits, was nicely directed by Vaclav Vorlicek, who is still working in film and television in his native Czech Republic. Born in Prague in 1930, he studied directing at FAMU, the famous Czech film school, from 1951 to 1956. He submitted the short Directiva as his graduation film and then began working at the Barrandov Film Studios as an assistant director. In 1960, he directed his first feature, The Lupinek Case, a children's film about stolen dolls. From the beginning, Vorlicek exhibited an affinity for fairy tales, fantasies, and children's adventure tales, which were distinguished by a poetic beauty and warm humanity. A good example is his 1973 interpretation of Cinderella titled Three Wishes for Cinderella, which is my favorite filmic version of the old fairy tale. Set during the winter, it creates a fairy-tale atmosphere through the use of natural-looking snow-covered landscapes. Its balance of naturalism and fantasy, real locales and fairy tale sensibilities is a measure of its craftsmanship.

The title character of Who Wants to Kill Jessie? was played by Olga Schoberova, who also had experience in working with whimsical, imaginative material -- though definitely of the adult kind. Four years earlier, Schoberova had costarred in Lemonade Joe, a spoof of and an homage to the American western that is as offbeat and bizarre as Jessie. One of those near-celebrities who lived a colorful life, Schoberova ended up in a few other Euro-westerns, including West Germany's Gold-diggers of Arkansas and Black Eagles of Santa Fe -- both of which were filmed in Czechoslovakia. Destined for genre films, she appeared in the Adela Hasn't Had Supper Yet, aka Nick Carter in Prague (1977), as well as the banned Slovak film See You in Hell Fellows! (1969, completed 1990). Under the name Olinka Berova, she attracted attention as a Playboy covergirl in 1964, then costarred in Hammer Films' The Vengeance of She (1968).

Who Wants to Kill Jessie? is surprisingly hip, particularly within the context of the 1960s. It was part of an international trend for comic-book films featuring busty heroines who fight crime, experience extraordinary adventures, or save the galaxy. With their fast-paced escapades, tongue-in-cheek sexcapades, and outrageous gadgets and weaponry, these films were an offshoot of the internationally popular action fantasies featuring dashing spies, wayward scientists, and arch-criminals.

Within this context, Who Wants to Kill Jessie? would make a good triple feature with Barbarella (1968) and Modesty Blaise (1966). The character Barbarella was originally created by Jean-Claude Forest for serialization in France's V-Magazine in 1962. The concept was turned into a stand-alone comic book by Eric Losfeld in which Barbarella is depicted as a voluptuous young woman who has numerous adventures, often involving sex, while journeying around the galaxy. The character was immortalized by Jane Fonda in Roger Vadim's notoriously campy film, which was played completely tongue-in-cheek, especially in the frequent sex scenes.

Modesty Blaise was a comic-strip character created by writer Peter O'Donnell and originally drawn by cartoonist Jim Holdaway. The strip follows the adventures of an exceptionally talented young woman who fights crime while hiding her shady past. Modesty Blaise debuted in the London Evening Standard on May 13, 1963, and was then syndicated among a large number of newspapers ranging from the Johannesburg Star to the Detroit Free Press. In the same year that Who Wants to Kill Jessie? was released, Modesty Blaise was loosely adapted into a comedy thriller by director Joseph Losey. Italian beauty Monica Vitti starred in the title role, with Terence Stamp appearing as her sidekick Willie Garvin. (Oddly enough, I just saw Stamp -- my favorite British actor -- in the spy spoof Get Smart, which I found funny but sadly lackluster in comparison to the cheeky satire of any of these 1960s films.)

Whatever the similarities with the other comic-book fantasies of the era, Who Wants to Kill Jessie? has a peculiar tone that is uniquely Czech. While Modesty Blaise looks glamorous in her trendy 1960s wardrobe, and Barbarella stumbles around the galaxy tripping over her sexuality, Jessie's glamour and sexy exterior are undercut by the real word balloons that substitute for dialogue, revealing that she is never too far from her comic-strip roots. The conceit is both funny and clever.

The Czech New Wave ended abruptly in 1968 when the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia and established firm control over the region, resulting in even tighter censorship in the arts. Some New Wave directors left the country, most notably Milos Forman who settled in Hollywood, while those who remained behind struggled to get their films made -- not because of financial difficulties but because of official disapproval of their work. Still, directors continued making films with thought-provoking ideas and themes, though they were often buried beneath genre conventions or safely hidden behind the historical trappings of stories set in the past.

Because Vaclav Vorlicek carved out a successful career as a director of fairy tales, fantasies, and children's films, it is likely that he suffered less scrutiny and indignities than the higher profile Czech New Wave filmmakers. But, that may also be a reason why Vorlicek never received his due.

"It was all going so well! And then I had to say that thing about the bridge. Stupid! Stupid!"

From CURSE OF THE GOLEM, A.K.A. IT!

You really don't need to see this film, unless like us at Shadowplay  you grew up with a copy of Dennis Gifford's A Pictorial History of Horror Movies in the house, or regularly borrowed from the library. Other monster movie books might also do the trick, or Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine (I only ever discovered one outlet that carried this publication as a kid. While on holiday. I could only afford two issues, which was a wrenching choice to make as they all looked so tasty. There was no possibility of buying more... There was a big article about BARBARELLA, which my mum wouldn't let me watch when it came on TV, and an ad in the back for something called EQUINOX.)

If, like me, you were exposed to the right kind of literature in childhood, you probably saw a still of the big stone guy in this movie. You probably marvelled at his massive stone body, mighty stone limbs, big stone skirt and pointy stone head. He doesn't look like any other monster. And what you demand most of all from your monsters is NOVELTY, so that has to be good. Having seen quite a bit of Dr. Who, you might have suspected that the Golem would be less impressive in motion that he is in a still image. And you'd have been right. But children of the pre-C.G.I. age, we expected our monsters to lumber, didn't we? If they jerked across the screen in a Harryhausen strobe of animation, so much the better. But we certainly never wanted them to slink around, weightless, in a series of algorithms.

Anyhow, CURSE OF THE GOLEM is written and directed by Herbert J. Leder, auteur of such cinematic goitres as THE FROZEN DEAD and THE CHILD MOLESTOR.  Good luck with that career, Herbert.

One hates to judge a film-maker's personality by their work (gloomy Bergman was known to his friends for a great deal of jollity, sentimental Frank Capra once punched his wife unconscious), but going by this film I would probably characterise Mr. Leder as a BIG IDIOT. Roddy McDowall, as Arthur Gordon Pym (!) finds he can command an ancient Jewish statue to do his bidding. Since he lives with his mother's decayed corpse (though this has no real bearing on the story, and no explanation), he's probably not the best person to be granted this awesome power. He uses it to kill his boss, and in a failed attempt to impress Otto Preminger babe Jill Haworth. It seems golems are good at bludgeoning irksome employers, but utterly useless as an aid to modern dating.

Paul Wegener doing his cute, Susannah Hoffs-style look-to-the-side.

The golem seem to me an underused monster. Paul Wegener portrayed the animate clay statue thrice, in DER GOLEM of 1915, sequel THE GOLEM AND THE DANCING GIRL two years later (for which an IMDb wag once provided the slogan, "Her muddy buddy is no fuddy-duddy!") and prequel/secret origin THE GOLEM: HOW HE CAME INTO THE WORLD, which is the version that survives.

Although he was certainly some kind of influence on Hollywood's FRANKENSTEIN, the golem never surfaced in a bona fide Hollywood remake, instead emigrating to France, where he raises his ugly head in Julien Duvivier's characteristically stylish LE GOLEM of 1936, which incorporates imagery from FRANKENSTEIN while essentially reprising the original Golem legend dramatised by Wegener. Many of the pre-Nouvelle Vague filmmakers deserve to be rediscovered, and I carry a special torch for Duvivier, whose PANIQUE and LA FIN DU JOUR strike me as truly major works, on the verge of being completely forgotten.

1951 gives us an authentic Czech golem at last, in THE EMPEROR'S BAKER AND THE GOLEM, a comic fantasy directed by Martin Fric, which guest-stars a wonderfully monumental golem who can't actually articulate his limbs, and therefore walks like a chair.

Since then, there doesn't seem to have been a really truly golem-centred movie, although ceramic heavies have occasionally disported themselves upon the screen in a supporting capacity. I'd welcome a good remake, or else an adaptation of Gustav Meyrink's fantastic novel The Golem, in which the colossus does not actually appear, but assumes a kind of allegorical omnipresence in the story. My colleague, B. Kite, the Brooklyn Behemoth, himself a stony homunculus enlivened by rabbinical sorcery, once co-authored an atmospheric and highly imaginative screenplay based on this work.

Anyhoo. Some Youtubing genius has helpfully provided this abridged version that allows you to consume the whole thing at a single, ten-minute sitting. Had I realised this I could have saved myself eighty minutes or so.

Here, by way of a palette-cleanser, is the great Jiri Barta's animated THE GOLEM, a pilot/trailer for a feature Barta hopes to complete. The collapse of communism in Europe (a good thing in itself, don't get me wrong) has left many brilliant artists like Barta and the incomparable Yuri Norstein stranded in a marketplace they have no experience dealing with. Somebody help!

The more numerate Shadowplayers among you may have noticed that this post contains only one bad date with Roddy MacDowall. I maintain that one bad date with Roddy is worth ten with anyone else, but I'm happy for you to nominate nine more if you feel up to it.

STOP PRESS! What the heck is THIS?

And THIS?

A GENTE TORCE!
No IMDb não diz nada, o que pode querer dizer que é tudo balela. Também dizem que Robert Rodriguez ia refilmar Barbarella e até agora... fuén.

Say it with me in a bogan accent... THOIME.

Superheroes. I was excited at first.

Cool. I like superheroes.

Until I did a bit of research.

At first I was thinking Poison Ivy, but she is a supervillainess apparently. And I just don't know if the horns are me.

Maybe they are Flame horns?

So then I thought... "hmmm... self, who do we like? We like Drew! Hmm. Yes! We shall be Sugar from Batman Forever! YES!"

So I googled the images, you know, to see what I could wear as a costume.

Ah. No. It is a work event after all. And I really don't think I could pull that off (so to speak)

Ok... Wonder Woman! even though I am devastated not to have my long, dark Wonder Woman hairs right now, but I could still do it! I LOVE Wonder Woman... but... let's face it...

I do not have the body to be Wonder Woman.
Also, I need a wax.

Barbarella?

*sigh*... no.

So I googled Superheroines, after a while of perusing that list I realised that there are some common themes amongst female Superheroes.

They all have massive norks, REALLY tight or just no clothes, and lots of big massive hairs.

I can't BE a superhero!

I really don't want to go now :(

** and Shoo's not going so I don't want to go.

Just a day after Brown's blah cooed about the blah singer at a pre-awards gift blah event, the sexy blah -born star was still blah she's single. Speaking on the red blah at the BET Awards, Rihanna blah, "We aren't dating; we're blah good blah." But when Brown was blah if he and Rihanna were an item blah, he playfully blah, "Possibly, blah, blah!"

And blah mom hopes the two really are blah, she was overheard blah a friend, "She's the sexiest and blah girl Chris has ever blah." The couple has become blah in recent weeks and blah of a romance were blah when the pair was blah blah kissing and blah in a fast food blah last blah.

NTBBN -- Nigel Tomm Breaking Blah News -- Think blah ><