Thursday

Contact junior by writing junior@scoopy.com. Contact Scoopy by writing unclescoopy@msn.com. Contact Tuna by writing tuna@scoopy.com Send submissions to scoopy@scoopy.net

Books
Videos
DVD
Electronics
Search by keywords:
In Association with Amazon.com
Use this search device to seek additional information from amazon.com about any of the books or movies you read about here.

To see and use all the Funhouse features, you need Netscape 6.+ or MSIE 5.+.

Tuna
"The Mack"

The Mack (1973) is a blacksploitation film about a young man Goldie (Max Julien) who is released after 5 years in jail, and decides to become a pimp. His brother, while he has been away, has become a black power activist. Goldie is wildly successful, but with the success comes problems. His brother is actively opposing his activities in his attempt to clean up the neighborhood. Two crooked cops, the ones who busted him, are being hurt by is brother, and see hi as getting too much of the street action. The local mob boss sees him as getting too big, and has to hire him or kill him, and get him to stop his brother. That is pretty much it.

The film was filmed in Oakland, California, in some rather unsavory areas, and was made using extensive research on local people in the life. One of the points made by the film, is that the black power movement began selling drugs to raise money to turn back into the community.

For a film about a pimp, there was very little nudity, but Carol Speed, who even kept her clothes on in Roger Corman's The Big Bird Cage, showed her breasts in bed with Goldie. I believe this is her only known exposure. IMDB readers say 5.4 0f 10. The DVD includes a commentary with everyone associated with the production, and a few that just wished they had been. They all talked as if it was some great achievement. I am a fan of the genre, and didn't much care for this one. It had little of the usual Motown sounds, and not enough action. There was lots of posturing and looking cool. What violence there was, was done very matter of factly. I did enjoy a scene where Goldie makes a bomb with a stick of dynamite, sticks the dynamite in the bad guys mouth while tied in a chair, and lets him watch the timer tick down. It is an accurate portrayal of life in that sub-culture in the early 70s, but had very little entertainment value. C-.

  • Thumbnails

  • Carol Speed (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

    "The Sheltering Sky"

    The Sheltering Sky (1990), according to director Bernardo Bertolucci, is a love story set in an exotic location. He goes on to say that it is about two people who love each other deeply, but somehow never seem to connect with each other. I have a suggestion for the two. They no sooner arrive in Africa than he goes out and finds a hooker. Not long after, she beds their best friend. After hubby dies of stupidity (more about that later), she hitches a ride with a camel train, and shacks up with the local shake, until his wives drive her out. I don't see musical beds as a great strategy when your goal is to become close to your true love.

    John Malkovich, as Porter Moresby, felt that he was enough like the character that he would just play himself. Debra Winger, as his wife Kit, worked on her character day and night. Old Port heads for the tent brothels his first night in town (I could just see his insurance company actuaries cringe). He ends up in the tent of the beautiful Amina Annabi. While they are conducting business, she hides his wallet under a pillow. He spots her, and sneaks it back without missing a stroke. Just when I was about to gain some respect for Port, he waves the wallet at her as he is leaving, and ends up running for his life. After this colossal bit of stupidity, it was little surprise that he drank the local water and died of typhus.

    Winger shows breasts briefly, getting out of bed, several long looks at her buns, and several bush shots. Annabi shows a magnificent pair of breasts in a beautifully composed scene. We've already seen the critics take on this film in these pages. I suppose, if this is your kind of film, it is technically well shot in some seldom filmed locals. For me, it was the greatest cure for insomnia since Out of Africa. It was way too long, and did a poor job of portraying what was going on in the characters minds, which was the entire point of the film. I would have tolerated it better 48 minutes shorter at 90 minutes, but I don't have a good argument against those who say it should have been 138 minutes shorter. With the genre being boring, tedious, arty epic love stories, this is a great example of that genre, and so is a C+.

  • Thumbnails
  • Thumbnails
  • Thumbnails
  • Thumbnails

  • Amina Annabi (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
  • Debra Winger (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)

    • Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy)

    Movies new to DVD

    De ida y vuelta is a bleak, depressing film, a melodrama with touches of black humor, about Mexican migrant workers trapped between a rock and a hard place, unable to find a good life in their own country or the USA.

    • stripper (1, 2, 3)

    The big studio release of the week is the PG-13 mystery/thriller, High Crimes. No nudity, but some sexy material.

    • Ashley Judd (1, 2, 3)
    • Amanda Peet (1, 2)

    There may be worse movies than Project: Human Weapon, but none spring to mind.  Bad movie, but maybe a good review. I spent a bit of time on it.

     

    Other crap

     

     

    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
    • Canadian actress Mia Kirshner bares a breast in scenes from "Exotica" (1994).

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

    Blackshine
    A nice batch of non-nudes by one of the masters of scanning.

    Snowblind
    Eliza Dushku
    (1, 2)

    		Looking amazing in a variety of swimsuits in scenes from "The New Guy". A nice little teen comedy. Doesn't really break any new ground, but it does manage to avoid many of the usual teen movie clichés

    Jennifer Aniston Some cleavage, semi-see-thru rear views, and some lesbo kissing from "Rockstar".

    Milla Jovovich
    (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)

    		Brief breast and bush exposure in scenes from "Resident Evil".

    Nicole Kidman
    (1, 2)

    		Some cleavage and leg in "The Others".

    Stacy Valentine Ultra-robo-hooters and some bum views from documentary of the life of a porn star, "The Girl Next Door".

    Tara Reid Bikini top in "Van Wilder".

    Helvete
    Ariadna Gil
    (1, 2, 3)

    		Breast exposure from the Spanish actress in scenes from "Obra maestra" aka "Masterpiece" (2000).

    Carla Hidalgo The blonde actress shows us a side breast view in "Tuno negro" (2001).

    Maribel Verdú Topless in a love scene from "Goya in Bordeaux".

    Silke
    (1, 2, 3, 4)

    		aka Silke Hornillos Klein, bares breasts and bum in scens from "Tuno Negro" (2001) and "Tierra" (1996).

    Variety
    Jaime Pressly The white trash movie queen almost baring her breasts. A very inviting pose.

    Aaliyah
    (1, 2)

    		The late singer/actress showing off her abs in scenes from "Queen of the Damned" (2002), by Penman.