Inside Out 2012: ‘Cherry’ gratuitously indulges on the license of its premise
Directed by Stephen Elliott
Written by Stephen Elliott and Lorelei Lee
USA, 2012
For adult entertainers working in the San Fernando Valley, a transition into the business of tinsel town has proven to be fruitless. For an industry that doesn’t require much acting, and even less writing, porn stars, like Sasha Grey in The Girlfriend Experience, flounder when they’re required to perform outside of their hitherto untouched skill sets. So it’s no surprise that when X-rated actress Lorelei Lee decided to co-write the film Cherry with writer-director Stephen Elliott, the result is nearly pornographic.
The film follows Angelina (Ashley Hinshaw), a young, cash-strapped woman who leaves her abusive mother (Lili Taylor) and runs off to the confines of San Francisco with her best friend Andrew (Dev Patel).
While working as a waitress at a lap-dancing bar, she hooks up with a lawyer named Frances (James Franco), as well as signing on with an adult film company run by a lesbian director, Margaret (Heather Graham).
For a film about such adult material, the inception is exceptionally juvenile. With characters and relationships predicated on impossibilities and fanciful notions, the central conceit of the film feels unfathomable, with the bulk of the duration functioning as an exercise in reductio ad absurdum.
For example, Angelina’s best friend, Andrew, is straight. However, and knowing this, she treats him like a gay friend (like allowing him to sleep in the same bed as her), while never expecting his feelings towards her to transcend platonic. The feasibility of Andrew not developing any carnal sentiments towards Angelina is nil (she’s gorgeous, he’s straight), but the film fails to acknowledge conventional wisdom – a transgression that repeatedly recurs.
Worst of all, the film gratuitously indulges on the license of its premise, with licentious, albeit beautifully shot, imagery. But with such poor and libidinously wishful writing, Cherry feels more like high budget porn than low budget cinema.
* Nudity confirmation : The (North) American reviews seems to turn Cherry into some sort of a hard porn fiesta. Far from it. Ashley Hinshaw is only topless in it. No full frontal from Hoosiers state sweet-heart. The most sexual explicit scene involves Heather Graham and that chick from Californication and frankly you don't see any real nudity during the brutal lezzing.
Ashley Hinshaw: Chronicle of a Beautiful Rising Star
Many people's first exposure to Ashley Hinshaw may have been her big screen debut in the sci-fi superhero-gone-bad film Chronicle, but it is very likely they have seen this breathtaking beauty before. Ashley's first public exposure was actually modelling, most notably in popular ad campaigns for Abercrombie and Fitch. Through the exposure received from modelling, the lovely lass moved on to television, first as a pageant judge on Made, and MTV reality show, and then as herself in a guest starring role on the mega-hit series Gossip Girl.
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I really like Lena Dunham’s “Girls.”
But her boys . . .
Well, her boys kind of scare me.
Dunham’s TV series “Girls” landed on HBO last month with the sort of buzz usually reserved for Martin Scorsese films or superhero franchises. The sort of buzz and attention — and even controversy — typically reserved for men, not girls.
Especially not girls like Lena Dunham.
Our Hollywood “it” girls tend to come more pin-up ready. They’re usually absurdly shiny women with perfectly symmetrical faces and upcoming roles in “Transformers” movies.
But Lena Dunham’s “it” is her brain. Lovely though she is, she’s smart and funny above everything else. At 26, she’s already written and directed her own critically acclaimed film, 2010’s “Tiny Furniture.” And she does everything on “Girls.” Writes, directs, stars. It’s all hers, and it’s really good. It’s funny and insightful and true-feeling.
Mostly true-feeling . . . Every week I find myself wincing over the show’s male characters.
The boys on “Girls” are terrible.
If you throw in the boys from “Tiny Furniture,” which feels like a feature-length pilot for “Girls,” the situation gets even worse.
Dunham’s male characters aren’t the last guys you’d want your daughter to bring home; they’re not that dramatic. They’re more like the guys that you worry your daughter (or your sister or your best friend) will get stuck with along the way.
They’re swamp-like creatures who don’t seem to care about anything but themselves — and sex, of course, but only as it relates to themselves.
In “Tiny Furniture,” the guys that Dunham’s character, a college-educated writer, is interested in using her for a place to stay, for prescription drugs and for bleak, barely interested sex.
In “Girls,” her character’s boyfriend would never admit to being her boyfriend. He doesn’t initiate any contact, he won’t return her text messages, and when they end up in bed, he makes sort-of-playful/but-mostly-bored comments about her weight.
Sex is a major theme in “Girls” — the sex scenes are plentiful and explicit — but they’re practically a PSA for celibacy. Sex, according to “Girls,” is joyless and uncomfortable, leads to genital warts and unwanted pregnancies, and is something that girls do for boys.
For no-good, selfish, cold, cruel, terrible boys.
The only nice guy on “Girls” is ridiculed for his sensitivity; his disgusted girlfriend tells him to be a man, and her best friend refers to his female anatomy.
The show has Judd Apatow (“Knocked Up”) as an executive producer, and it seems to take place in the same cynical universe as some of his movies — a place where there’s no such thing as a good guy, just varying degrees of jerk.
I hate that this has become the default way to portray young men in smart comedies. (Unless Michael Cera shows up.) It’s the song our culture sings about young men: All want, no feel. No good intentions, no focus. Useless. Users. Porn-glazed lumps.
It’s not true, you know.
Obviously I’m not the voice of the 20-something male. Or the 20-something female, for that matter. But I can’t believe that young guys have devolved that much in 15 years.
I’m sure there are plenty of jerks out there, more than enough to go around. But most guys aren’t that much different from most girls. They want to connect, they want to be good — and our culture increasingly tells them not to bother.
I usually suspect that these creepy fictional guy characters are created by real creepy guys who want to justify their own behavior. “It’s okay that I’m a creep, all guys are creeps, you should be glad I’m not the worst creep. I’m the best guy who could have gotten you pregnant after that one-night stand, so congratulations.”
And I worry that the profusion of these characters in movies and TV normalizes that behavior. I don’t think guys totally buy into it — I hope good guys know they’re good and shrug this stuff off . . .
Young girls, however, don’t know anything about boys. My friends and I based our understanding of men on Ricky Schroder characters and Cosmo articles that we read in supermarket check-out lines.
I hate to think that young girls today will watch “Girls” (and 800 other popular comedies) and believe that’s all that’s out there for them.
Because it’s not like this depressing conclusion will make girls lose interest in boys. If you tell girls “all guys are lowlifes,” they’re not going to swear off guys; they’re just going to figure they have to settle for a lowlife.
If girls go out into the world expecting guys to be jerks, that’s all they’ll find there.
Now, I’m not saying with this little rant that Lena Dunham needs to write nicer guys — or happier sex scenes on “Girls.” She has her own story, her own truth, and that undistilled, singular perspective is what makes her show special.
But Dunham’s truth isn’t the truth.
And I hope that girls in the audience can sort that out.
Ashley next guest starred on Fringe and The Glades television series and then had a small part in the direct-to-DVD thriller Rites of Passage (also featuring fellow blond hottie Carly Schroeder) before making the jump to the big screen with her role in Chronicle. While her part was mostly a supporting role in the film, she did portray the primary female character in a storyline focused mainly on a young man with a dying mother who has been bullied by schoolmates as well as an abusive stepfather and who then is mysteriously granted superpowers. A film that utilizes the "found footage" style, the movie was a minor box office hit grossing just under $65 million. That is not too bad for a movie that only cost $12 million to make.
The success of Chronicle seems to have helped propel Ashley's career as she will next appear as Miley Cyrus' best friend in the coming-of-age flick LOL. She will then have her first starring role in the film Cherry which also includes James Franco, Heather Graham and Dev Patel in the cast. Cherry is the story of a young woman who moves to San Francisco and gets involved with an adult film producer played by Heather Graham, an actress who seems to quite often end up portraying members of the naughty movie industry (Boogie Nights, The Guru, an uncredited role as a sex shop worker in The Oh in Ohio...).
If you are wondering how this amazing young woman went from modeling to guest starring on TV to supporting film roles and then so quickly on to star in a major film in such a short period of time... well, the best advice I can give is to check out her performance in Chronicle. With limited screen time and a minor partt, Ashley manages to give the most realistic, engaging performance in the film. That says a lot since Dane DeHann, who you may recognize from his True Blood role of Timbo, does an incredible job playing Andrew, the film's lead protagonist.
The success of Chronicle seems to have helped propel Ashley's career as she will next appear as Miley Cyrus' best friend in the coming-of-age flick LOL. She will then have her first starring role in the film Cherry which also includes James Franco, Heather Graham and Dev Patel in the cast. Cherry is the story of a young woman who moves to San Francisco and gets involved with an adult film producer played by Heather Graham, an actress who seems to quite often end up portraying members of the naughty movie industry (Boogie Nights, The Guru, an uncredited role as a sex shop worker in The Oh in Ohio...).
If you are wondering how this amazing young woman went from modeling to guest starring on TV to supporting film roles and then so quickly on to star in a major film in such a short period of time... well, the best advice I can give is to check out her performance in Chronicle. With limited screen time and a minor partt, Ashley manages to give the most realistic, engaging performance in the film. That says a lot since Dane DeHann, who you may recognize from his True Blood role of Timbo, does an incredible job playing Andrew, the film's lead protagonist.
With things moving so fast for young Ashley, there is no way of knowing where she will be in a few years. As her career develops, you can bet there will be plenty of fans watching and hoping she makes it to the big time. Beauty and talent go a long way in making a star, but luck and catching the right breaks can play a part as well. So far, things seem to be falling perfectly into place for Ashley Hinshaw. Let's hope that everything works out so that we can continue to see more and more of this gorgeous new star!
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Boys get short shrift on ‘Girls’
I really like Lena Dunham’s “Girls.”
But her boys . . .
Well, her boys kind of scare me.
Dunham’s TV series “Girls” landed on HBO last month with the sort of buzz usually reserved for Martin Scorsese films or superhero franchises. The sort of buzz and attention — and even controversy — typically reserved for men, not girls.
Especially not girls like Lena Dunham.
Our Hollywood “it” girls tend to come more pin-up ready. They’re usually absurdly shiny women with perfectly symmetrical faces and upcoming roles in “Transformers” movies.
But Lena Dunham’s “it” is her brain. Lovely though she is, she’s smart and funny above everything else. At 26, she’s already written and directed her own critically acclaimed film, 2010’s “Tiny Furniture.” And she does everything on “Girls.” Writes, directs, stars. It’s all hers, and it’s really good. It’s funny and insightful and true-feeling.
Mostly true-feeling . . . Every week I find myself wincing over the show’s male characters.
The boys on “Girls” are terrible.
If you throw in the boys from “Tiny Furniture,” which feels like a feature-length pilot for “Girls,” the situation gets even worse.
Dunham’s male characters aren’t the last guys you’d want your daughter to bring home; they’re not that dramatic. They’re more like the guys that you worry your daughter (or your sister or your best friend) will get stuck with along the way.
They’re swamp-like creatures who don’t seem to care about anything but themselves — and sex, of course, but only as it relates to themselves.
In “Tiny Furniture,” the guys that Dunham’s character, a college-educated writer, is interested in using her for a place to stay, for prescription drugs and for bleak, barely interested sex.
In “Girls,” her character’s boyfriend would never admit to being her boyfriend. He doesn’t initiate any contact, he won’t return her text messages, and when they end up in bed, he makes sort-of-playful/but-mostly-bored comments about her weight.
Sex is a major theme in “Girls” — the sex scenes are plentiful and explicit — but they’re practically a PSA for celibacy. Sex, according to “Girls,” is joyless and uncomfortable, leads to genital warts and unwanted pregnancies, and is something that girls do for boys.
For no-good, selfish, cold, cruel, terrible boys.
The only nice guy on “Girls” is ridiculed for his sensitivity; his disgusted girlfriend tells him to be a man, and her best friend refers to his female anatomy.
The show has Judd Apatow (“Knocked Up”) as an executive producer, and it seems to take place in the same cynical universe as some of his movies — a place where there’s no such thing as a good guy, just varying degrees of jerk.
I hate that this has become the default way to portray young men in smart comedies. (Unless Michael Cera shows up.) It’s the song our culture sings about young men: All want, no feel. No good intentions, no focus. Useless. Users. Porn-glazed lumps.
It’s not true, you know.
Obviously I’m not the voice of the 20-something male. Or the 20-something female, for that matter. But I can’t believe that young guys have devolved that much in 15 years.
I’m sure there are plenty of jerks out there, more than enough to go around. But most guys aren’t that much different from most girls. They want to connect, they want to be good — and our culture increasingly tells them not to bother.
I usually suspect that these creepy fictional guy characters are created by real creepy guys who want to justify their own behavior. “It’s okay that I’m a creep, all guys are creeps, you should be glad I’m not the worst creep. I’m the best guy who could have gotten you pregnant after that one-night stand, so congratulations.”
And I worry that the profusion of these characters in movies and TV normalizes that behavior. I don’t think guys totally buy into it — I hope good guys know they’re good and shrug this stuff off . . .
Young girls, however, don’t know anything about boys. My friends and I based our understanding of men on Ricky Schroder characters and Cosmo articles that we read in supermarket check-out lines.
I hate to think that young girls today will watch “Girls” (and 800 other popular comedies) and believe that’s all that’s out there for them.
Because it’s not like this depressing conclusion will make girls lose interest in boys. If you tell girls “all guys are lowlifes,” they’re not going to swear off guys; they’re just going to figure they have to settle for a lowlife.
If girls go out into the world expecting guys to be jerks, that’s all they’ll find there.
Now, I’m not saying with this little rant that Lena Dunham needs to write nicer guys — or happier sex scenes on “Girls.” She has her own story, her own truth, and that undistilled, singular perspective is what makes her show special.
But Dunham’s truth isn’t the truth.
And I hope that girls in the audience can sort that out.
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Sushma Karki to do hot scenes in Bindaas for 3 lakh
15 May
Nepali film industry has a new success mantra – creating movies with adult theme. These days, most of the producers and directors are using this success mantra by adding sex-scenes to win an adult certificate from the censor board. Almost every movie in the pipline is made on adult theme. Following this trend, a Raju Giri movie is announced recnetly named, ‘Bindaas’.
Director Raju Giri’s another movie ‘Chandrawati’ has also received an adult certificate and is in the pipeline of release. ‘Bindaas’s main attraction is the ‘udhreko choli’ fame actress Sushma Karki. Sushma made news when she charged three lakhs to do this movie. In the movie, Sushma is told to be doing bed scene, kiss scene and some hard to digest intimate scenes in the movie.
According to the director Raju, the movie is based on the story of the life of youths of modern age. So, all the adult contents to be presented in the movie will be related to the movie’s story and sex would be the pillar of the story. Speaking to the media, Sushma Karki told that she loved the script so had signed in and agreed to offer intimate scene. According to Sushma, such scenes are the core of the movie. The shooting of ‘Bindaas’ is starting next week.
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Total Recall: New Footage Impressions
New scenes show the sci-fi epic is doing something new with a nod to the past.
IGN got a sneak peek at preview footage (some unfinished) of Total Recall at London's Kapow! Comic Con, and it held a few titillating surprises.
Total Recall is another reboot set to hit our screens this summer, and Sony proudly showed off some unseen footage of it today (some unfinished), consisting of full-on action scenes and effects sequences. Although the clips showed some impressive set pieces, in a Blade-Runner-esque world, the sheer amount of stunts, CGI and sci-fi tech that bombarded our eyes made it difficult to tell if it leading man Colin Farrell had the screen presence or dialogue to back it up.
There were a lot of people falling through rooftops and some i-Robot style law enforcement droids for Farrell to contend with. IGN also witnessed laser guns, hover car chase sequences, and a cat fight between the two hot female leads - Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel - who got to grips with each other in a lift.
This Total Recall benefits from modern CGI and a modern budget, but you can't help feeling that the 2012 version lacks the cheesy charm of the much-loved original of 22 years ago. Sony has chosen to be über serious with the remake it seems, and audiences and fans may consider it another Minority Report rip off; been there, done that. Saying that, the audience was pleased to see that the three-breasted woman definitely wasn't cut, so maybe there is hope. Will we get to see Farrell's contorted, atmosphere-starved face towards the end of this Total Recall after all?
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Total Recall is another reboot set to hit our screens this summer, and Sony proudly showed off some unseen footage of it today (some unfinished), consisting of full-on action scenes and effects sequences. Although the clips showed some impressive set pieces, in a Blade-Runner-esque world, the sheer amount of stunts, CGI and sci-fi tech that bombarded our eyes made it difficult to tell if it leading man Colin Farrell had the screen presence or dialogue to back it up.
There were a lot of people falling through rooftops and some i-Robot style law enforcement droids for Farrell to contend with. IGN also witnessed laser guns, hover car chase sequences, and a cat fight between the two hot female leads - Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel - who got to grips with each other in a lift.
This Total Recall benefits from modern CGI and a modern budget, but you can't help feeling that the 2012 version lacks the cheesy charm of the much-loved original of 22 years ago. Sony has chosen to be über serious with the remake it seems, and audiences and fans may consider it another Minority Report rip off; been there, done that. Saying that, the audience was pleased to see that the three-breasted woman definitely wasn't cut, so maybe there is hope. Will we get to see Farrell's contorted, atmosphere-starved face towards the end of this Total Recall after all?
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