The word "tantalize" comes from the Greek myth of Tantalus, who
tried to trick the gods into committing cannibalism. The gods
apparently regarded this a fairly serious sin on his part, for
they devised a horrid punishment for Tantalus in the underworld.
He was placed in a pool of water which instantly drained away if
he tried to drink any. Just above Tantalus hung fresh fruit, but
if he reached for it, a breeze would pick up and blow it out of
his grasp.  The private exotic dance, known, in various forms,
as the "table dance" or "lap dance," seems to me like a modern,
self-imposed version of the punishment of Tantalus. Or, rather,
like half of it--you still can't touch the fruit, but you can
drink all you want. At five bucks a pop.  Director Atom Egoyan
had enough artistic rigor to make Exotica, his recent film about
an exotic dancer and her patron, as cold and ultimately
depressing as--I would guess--a private dance would be. But this
didn't make it a good movie. Showgirls, on the other hand, is
patent Holly