Third Party Videos:

I love these brief scenes with Jasmin Tabatabai in Late Show

Aitana Sanchez-Gijon and Virginie Ledoyen in The Backwoods, aka Bosque de Sombras. I have written that I very rarely find a Spanish movie that I don't like. Even the mediocre ones have some elements that make them enjoyable. I have not seen this 2006 film, however, and it just might be an exception, since it is an attempt to copy formulaic North American genre fare. It does have a fascinatingly cosmopolitan cast, including Gary Oldman speaking Spanish. Here's what Variety had to say: "Decent cast and OK production values get completely lost in The Backwoods, an atmosphere-rich psychological thriller in which psychology and thrills are missing. Transplanting U.S. genre elements to a Euro context can work, but not when the borrowing is as slavish as this, when the dialogue is as ponderous, and when the thesping is (mostly) as flat."  I'm not sure why we would care about any of that, since we have Ledoyen and Sanchez-Giton to look at.

Julie Christie is today's collection-builder. I think of her as the A-list version of Jennifer Rubin, in that she's a good actress and sexy, but I rarely enjoy her movies. Having said that, though, I wish they would get The Railway Station Man to DVD, just so I don't have to look at those itsy-bitsy film clips.

• Darling

• The Railway Station Man

• Don't Look Now

• Demon Seed

Blackmale

Bokeem Woodbine and his partner Justin Pierce play petty hoods. Pierce is also trying to make a name in boxing. When he loses a fight they had bet heavily on, the two find themselves in debt to a nasty crime boss with 24 hours to pay off 24 large. Woodbine visits the strip club where his girlfriend, Sascha Knopf dances, and meets the obviously rich Roger Rees. He hatches a plan to have Knopf seduce Rees, video tape it, and blackmail him for the money. The plan is in motion, but they have some difficulty controlling Rees, and Woodbine heads to the bank in Rees' Mercedes to cash a check. He finds the account has been closed. He leaves, and has a flat. He no sooner opens the trunk than a police car pulls up ... just as he discovers three bodies in the trunk.

And this was the first clue that I was actually watching a comedy. Blackmale (2000) starts off as a really bad thriller. In fact, IMDb lists it as a thriller.

Up until the trunk scene, it had been slow going, but acts two and three were hilarious. Several IMDb commenters stuck around through the early exposition and found it as hilarious as I did. While it has rather extreme violence, blood and gore, and is played way over the top, I found it laugh-out-loud funny through a labyrinth of twists and turns.

I give it a full C. It is either a so-bad-its-good movie or a dark crime comedy. Either way, it's a good one, but for a small audience.

IMDb readers say 4.5, but marked down from 5.5 using the IMDb double secret formula. 5.5 is closer to a reasonable score.

NUDITY:

Sascha Knopf shows breasts and buns.

Kahshanna Evans, as her dance partner at the club shows breasts. An unknown also shows breasts.

An unknown also shows breasts.

The Hunger

Episode "FOOTSTEPS"

 

Claire (Sofia Shinas) is a woman with a voracious appetite for fine food and is prepared to travel the world to sate it. But her favorite meal consists of men. She seduces and then eats a man every night. But in Paris, she meets a vegetarian with a secret, who tries to teach her to love and not to devour. The episode was not very good. The twist in this story doesn't change anything so it was pointless, but I like Sofia ever since "The Crow", so is always good to see her in something.