Tuesday

Tuna
"Verführung: Die grausame Frau"

Verführung: Die grausame Frau (1985), or Seduction: The Cruel Woman, is another from German Lesbian director Monika Treut. This time, she is taking on the subject of S & M. I was not able to discover a real plot, but rather a series of characters and events that went nowhere. In the end, a jilted mail slave shoots the main character through the hand, and everyone, including her, thinks it is funny. Trust me, that doesn't give away any plot secrets. Mechthild Grossmann is opening a salon for S & M aficionados. Her roommate, Carola Regnier, runs a fake shoe store in the salon. Sheila McLaughlin is a submissive that Grossmann has brought from America to turn into a dom. Peter Weibel is a journalist who interviews Grossmann for an article on her salon, then decides he wants to become her human toilet. Udo Kier plays the jilter slave that does the shooting at the end.

The film is riddled with strange camera work, The camera is nearly always tilted, it is impossible to distinguish real occupancies from fantasies or from salon shows put on for the public. It is riddled with pretentious dialogue and speeches, which are somewhat translated in horrible hit and miss sub-titles. This is in color, but with a green tint, and very grainy. I could find nothing to like about this film. Grossmann, McLaughlin, Regnier and an unknown show breasts.

IMDB readers say 5.9 of 10, but based on very few votes. I suppose this film has an audience, but I am certainly not among that group. C-

  • Thumbnails
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  • Carola Rengier
  • Mechthilde Grossman (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
  • Sheila McLaughlin (1, 2)
  • Unknown (1, 2, 3, 4)

    "The Omega Man"

    The Omega Man (1971) is a film I had never seen. It is hopelessly outdated, but I doubt that I would have been impressed in 1971. Scoop pretty much covered the problems with the film in his review. I will have to give them some credit. That shot nights and weekends in LA to get the deserted look. Some areas of LA were still empty in 1971 off hours, but I defy anyone to day to find a single city block with nobody moving any time of the day or night now. They squeezed in a lot of nudity and violence for a PG film. I have seen far too many post-apocalyptic films, and this one isn't even in my top ten for that genre. Too much is unexplained for the film to have any impact.

    Why did Rosalind Cash and her group only contact Heston to save him, when they knew he was the only hope of saving her brother?

    Why was Heston intent on doing in the zombies?

    Why did Heston decide not to kill them after he was told where they were hiding?

    After finding other humans in his city, why didn't it occur to him that there might be others in other cities?

    If the germ killed nearly all life, what were they going to eat in the Sierras?

    If the Zombies were all that photo-sensitive, why was their weapon of choice fire?

    And what is with the fresh fruit and cheese, two full years after everyone died?

    Why did most of the people die immediately, while a few became zombies instantly, and yet others resisted the germ for months?

    I think the problem here was in trying to change the premise of the story while trying to follow the original plot line. Heston, in a short interview, stated that the most interesting thing about his character to him was that he played chess against himself. Kind of sums up what he thought of the film, doesn't it? And just to prove that he was not very bright, he lost to his imaginary opponent. Rosalind Cash shows breasts and buns. For me, Heston gave the worst performance in the film. I didn't believe him as a research scientist, an officer in the military, or as a doctor. With an IMDB rating of 6.3, this is clearly a decent genre effort, but not one that I will never sit through again. C.

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  • Rosalind Cash (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

  • Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy)

    Frida (2002):

    I've talked about the movie a zillion times, and done about that many caps, but this is the first time that I've unwrapped the Region 1 DVD.

    A few thoughts that crept into my mind while I watched:

    1. It is amazing that Alfred Molina didn't get an Oscar nomination for his performance as Diego Rivera. I know that there are many great performances to choose from each year, and the rules limit the number of nominations to five, but if they couldn't find it in their hearts to boot one of the other guys out, they should have changed the rules instead of ignoring such a memorable characterization.

    2. What a superlative DVD it is - a colorful transfer that makes the film look even better than it did on screen, and a vast array of extra features.

    I am reminded that Frida may be the best non-documentary film ever directed by a woman.

    I didn't try to do a comprehensive treatment this time, but rather to get the frames that I missed or underserved before..

     

    Updates:

    Updated volumes: Monica Bellucci, Sandahl Bergman, Victoria Abril

     

    OTHER CRAP:

     

    Other crap archives. May also include newer material than the ones above, since it's sorta in real time.

     

    PIRATE COUNTDOWN:

    days left until International Talk Like a Pirate Day (Sept 19)

     

    MOVIE REVIEWS:

    Here are the latest movie reviews available at scoopy.com.

    • The yellow asterisks indicate that I wrote the review, and am deluded into thinking it includes humor.
    • If there is a white asterisk, it means that there isn't any significant humor, but I inexplicably determined there might be something else of interest.
    • A blue asterisk indicates the review is written by Tuna (or Lawdog or Junior or C2000 or Realist or ICMS or Mick Locke, or somebody else besides me)
    • If there is no asterisk, I wrote it, but am too ashamed to admit it.

    Graphic Response

    Be sure to pay Graphic Response a visit at his website. www.graphic-barry.com.

    Brainscan
    'Caps and comments by Brainscan:

    Cry Uncle (1971) is an amalgam of "8mm" and "Malibu Express". Like the underrated 8mm, the story follows an undistinguished private eye as he tracks a murder, the only evidence of which is caught on a home movie. Unlike 8mm, the private dick is thoroughly unattractive and entirely unfazed by the sleaziness he uncovers. That understatement in his reaction is the movie in microcosm, as director John Avidsen (who went on to do the original Rocky and the three Karate Kids) shows the underbelly of society for what it is, without the dramatic need to rub our sensible noses in it. As a result, the movie works extremely well... the best thing Troma's has ever put out, which is about the same as saying Desperately Seeking Susan is the best movie Madonna's been in.

    The Malibu Express part of Cry Uncle is the presence of five women, all of whom do triple-B performances. Their nudity is sometimes essential, since three of them play prostitutes whose services were filmed in the evidentiary film. Avidsen shows them at work in other places, where you would expect them to be thoroughly naked, not just topless. And so, yah you betcha, they are shown in the altogether for long periods of time but, with the exception of the movie's first scene, none of it looks or feels gratuitous. The best of all possible worlds: seriously naked women, essential to the plot.

    The five nekkid women include one-timer Pamela Gruen, veteran actress Debbi Morgan, and three women who did some other work in movies and tv, Madeline Le Roux, Maureen Byrnes and Nancy Salmon (apparently unrelated to either Chico or Tim).

    Pam Gruen starts out the booty call in a sport-humpin scene with the film's fat-ass protagonist. You can see the actor's magno-rump if you watch the movie, but because I have such respect for the Funhouse readership, it is gone from these caps. Pam shows off a pair of all-natural mighty-fines in the first three collages and then, as her private dick leaves to crack a case, she pulls out an even privater dick to take care of her wants and needs. That's in collage 4, where Pam reveals a killer bum and some bush.

    • Pam Gruen (1, 2, 3, 4)


    Madeline Le Roux plays an interested party to the murder and the private eye's eventual bed partner. You get to see skinny Madeline's boobs in all three collages, her bum in collage 1 and a hint o' bush in number 3.

    • Madeline Le Roux (1, 2, 3)


    Then you get the three hookers. Debbi Morgan plays the hooker with a heart of gold, but does it up well. This was Debbi's second movie and, so far as I can tell, one of only two nude scenes. But does she ever give up the goodies in this film. You see boobs in all three collages, bum in 1, a bit o' bush in 2 and a lot o' bush in 3.

    Now, a word about the third collage. It comes from the home movie that eventually shows the male figure with a big ol' hole in his head. Thing is this: the movie is run as a negative on screen and so the mating habits of our victim and his three friends are obscured. This, fellas, is why the digital revolution is so damned wonderful. Grab the frame, hit "Invert" and as soon as you can blink, a black-and-white positive shows up. From Debbi we get to see a much more extensive view of her furry bits, but hang on a bit longer and the real benefit of this manuever comes out.

    • Debbi Morgan (1, 2, 3)


    Nancy Salmon plays a thin hooker with a killer rumpus, who engages in sexual activities of the professional kind because she's a heroin junky. As with the other women, Nancy gives up all the goodies.

    • Nancy Salmon (1, 2)


    Okay, now a brief interlude. Imagine a trivia game tailored to Funhouse readers. So I give you the following names and you provide the common link:

    Sylvia Kristel
    Mia Nygren
    Laura Gemser
    Monique Gabrielle
    Krista Allen
    Holly Sampson

    Quick as can be, every avid reader of the Funhouse answers, "Women who played Emmanuelle."

    Alright try these

    Mruschka Detmers
    Amanda Ooms
    Eiko Matsuda
    Carole Laure
    Chloe Sevigny

    Just a little more difficult, but with a few seconds' thought a lot of folk would recognize these women as legitimate actresses who slurped on the love straw in a mainsteam movie. Pretty much does it with these five right? No other mainstream actress to add... at least I thought so until the ol' invert function brought out lucky number six.

    Maureen Byrnes, who would go on to play a few roles until 1978 and would then reppear on-screen in 1995 with Future Wars, clearly grasps our soon-to-be-victim's skin flute and proceeds to play a tune (collage 1). Maureen also spends copious amounts of time on screen fully frontally nekkid (collages 2 and 4) and otherwise shows up her extraordinarily well-toned frame in all collages.

    • Maureen Byrnes (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)


    So what we have here, then, is a near-perfect movie. The writing and directing are first-rate, the acting more than competent, the babes pretty enough and nekkid frequently, an extensive nude scene by a woman who would become fairly famous and, rarest of all animals, an X-rated performance by a legitimate actress. I ask you, what's not to like?

    Variety
    Marne Patterson
    (1, 2, 3, 4)

    No nudity from the hot, young blonde, but it sure was fun to watch her suck on that lollipop! Vidcaps by Catscan from her guest appearance on the new FX show "Nip/Tuck". If you haven't seen it, it really is worth a look. Good drama, well done humor to keep from being too drama-heavy, occasionally fun and sleazy, and plenty of skin including some breasts and bums! Not to shabby for basic cable.

    Monica Bellucci
    (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)

    The Italian über-babe shows breasts, bum and a whole lot of bush in scenes from "L'Ultimo capodanno" (1998). 'Caps by the Skin-meister.

    Pat Reeder www.comedy-wire.com
    Pat's comments in yellow...

    FREDDY AND JASON TOP BOX OFFICE
    Not As Bloody Awful As "Gigli" - The movie box office reversed its slump over the weekend with "Freddy Vs. Jason," the long-awaited clash of the bloody slashers, raking in $36.4 million. That's more than the combined total take of each of the last "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Friday the 13th" movies. The studio was surprised that even the power blackouts across the Northeast didn't reduce the take that much.

  • That movie is better when there's no power for the projector.
  • And that's the sort of movie you want to see with the lights ON.
  • If they really want to make money, produce a movie where Freddy and Jason dismember Ben and J-Lo.


    CALIFORNIA RACE: ARNOLD'S SHEEN NOW A TAINT
    I'm Not A Political Aide, But I Play One On TV! - Polls show some of the initial Republican enthusiasm for Arnold Schwarzenegger waning, with some fearing he's a liberal in Terminator's clothing. First, he chose as his financial advisor Warren Buffett, who declared that property taxes were too low. Arnold quickly disavowed that, but insiders said he wouldn't promise "read my lips, no new taxes." Then he recruited Rob Lowe to line up celebrity endorsements. Lowe played the aide to Martin Sheen on the GOP's most-hated TV show, "The West Wing."

  • He should've gotten a TV star who's a Republican, like Patricia Heaton! Or...well...Patricia Heaton!
  • Arnold is thinking about proposing a "flab tax."
  • Who would be foolhardy enough to try to read Arnold's lips?


    Like "Jaywalking," Only Depressing! - Other candidates are also making their moves. Gary Coleman and porn star Mary Carey are the first to agree to appear on the Game Show Network's mock debate special, "Who Wants To Be Governor of California?"

  • Gary doesn't want to be governor, he just wants to win a year's supply of Rice-A-Roni so he'll have something to eat.
  • Mary has never worked with someone so small before.