Uncle Scoopy's Fun House

A change. Tuna is now our colleague on the page, and will be a regular daily contributor to the member's edition. Every day (or almost every day), the members' edition will feature additional material from Tuna, with nudity.

Tuna's contribution to the Members' Page today is "The Sailor Who fell From Grace with the Sea", the movie that sunk a marriage, or at least so legend would have it, and "Looking for Mr Goodbar" with Diane Keaton. Click here to sign up or get info

Tuna's contribution to this page today is Poltergeist. His comments follow

"First, the non-nude disclaimer. This is a PG film. Rather than talk about the plot (which everyone knows about) or the late Heather O'Rourke or Jobeth Williams, I would like to talk about the writer. Steven Spielberg started his career with a made-for-TV film called The Duel with Dennis Weaver. Even this first effort was outstanding. He has since earned a place as one of the best directors of all time. Poltergeist has always been one of the few Horror films I would call great. Tobe Hooper actually directed Poltergeist, but Spielberg wrote and produced it.

Watching this outstanding DVD transfer of the film, I started thinking about exactly why I like it so much, and the answer is the directing. Casting was good, except for Heather's sibs, and the acting was also good. The story is not special. Three things set this film apart: one, it is beautifully photographed, two, it includes extra details that make every moment worth watching, and three, the audience never knows more than the characters do.

As you will see from the 25 images I have created, he shoots each frame as if it were a work of art. Examples of extra detail include the radio control cars near the beginning, the mosquitos attacking at the neighbors front door and the cereal fight at the breakfast table. None of these advance the plot, or develop the main characters, but all flesh out the film for the viewer. Finally, his technique of letting the audience experience the story along with the characters involves the the viewer emotionally along with the characters, and builds suspense"

Jobeth Williams (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23, #24)

Elizabeth Moses is on Blinky's runway today for the second day. I don't know her, but her Grandma was a helluva painter, and her distant grandparent was played by Charlton Heston?

(#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6)

Members Bonuses

"The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea", from Tuna

A truly bizarre movie. It is one of those stories deeply rooted in Japanese culture and thought, but Hollywood decided to transplant it to modern day England, and make the sailor an American. I guess that was ment to commercialize it, but it only makes the characters' actions seem incomprehensible. If you want my full review, here is my lengthy commentary.

In my entire life, I think this is the only movie where I have ever fast-forwarded through the sex scenes. However, Tuna has already done all the work for you. Tuna said "This VHS is Letterboxed and dark. If it is ever released on DVD, I will give it another shot, as the scenery is beautiful, and Sarah spends a fair amount of time without clothes. Sarah Miles (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9)

"Looking for Mr Goodbar", from Tuna

Historically important. Pretty much the only substantial nudity required from a Diana Keaton role

(#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8)

"Stir of Echoes", from Johnny Web

Here's the answer to your cultural IQ test for today. Steven King is to Richard Matheson as The Shining is to .... ???????

I guess if not for Big Steve, Matheson would be the most famous writer of ... whatever the hell that stuff is. Supernatural fiction, I guess. Actually it's a shame that this movie came out in competition with "Sixth Sense" because - well, it's a good movie, but how many consecutive movies will you watch about children talking to the dead? Kevin Bacon also talks to the dead, which must have reminded him of his work on "Search for Tomorrow". The dead, however, do not talk back to Kevin, but only to the kid. I have never been able to talk to the dead. The one time I tried a Ouija board, it was possessed by the spirit of Bob Eubanks, who was still alive. Instead of giving answers about life's mysteries, it would ask embarrassing personal questions and give prizes to the winning answers.

Anyway, it's a good movie, and it has some nudity as well, which made my "new releases" day much more pleasant than usual. The sex scenes are very dark blue, and were difficult to see, but I played with them a bunch and they look OK, if unspectacular. The bathroom scene, on the other hand, is in excellent light.

I only have two complaints about the flick. There is a set-up scene early in the movie in which Kevin sees his neighbor in the living room in an episode of precognition, and this is followed immediately by Bacon seeing his neighbor's son shoot himself, first implied in his trance, then for real. As soon as I saw this scene, which had no relationship to the plot development before that point, and therefore must have been there for some reason, I immediately figured out the rest of the plot, and that sort of spoiled it for me. There is really no need for the Scatman Crothers rip-off. As in The Shining, the boy's gift to communicate with the dead is far more developed than the father's, and as in The Shining there is a compassionate black man who can also talk to the dead, and who knows that the boy has the gift. Scatman was integral to The Shining, but in this movie that character seems to be supererogatory.

Kathryn Erbe (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7)

"Love Stinks", from Johnny Web

Yes, it does, doesn't it? An irritating comedy about the pressuring girlfriend from hell, starring that silly guy from Third Rock, French Stewart. It has some funny scenes as he and the girlfriend get revenges and counter-revenges upon each other. Personally, I liked the one where he teaches her cat to bungee-jump.

What can you say? It stars sitcom dudes like French and Mr Peterman. It's about making sitcoms. It plays like a sitcom with a few "fucks" thrown in. If you like sitcoms, catch it, because it's probably a pretty funny one. Otherwise, find a better way to spend two hours. The Vegas wedding was pretty cool, and Wilson does a great job as a female Elvis impersonator. No nudity, but here's the best available from Tyra Banks and Bridgette Wilson. Tyra does OK for a supermodel-turned-actress, which is about like saying that Hitler wasn't a bad guy for a genocidal megalomanic.

Tyra Banks (#1, #2) Bridgette Wilson (#1)

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Wednesday