Celluloid #15

Busy couple weeks in real life makes for very little movie-watching..

In Home

Clean Slate (Coup de tourchon) (1982) Tavernier - Based on Jim Thompson's Pop. 1280 novel but transplanted to French-colonized West Africa. Lucien seems like a bumbling idiot struggling to receive respect from anyone in the small town where he serves as sheriff. His wife openly cheats on him, his superiors literally kick him in the ass, and petty criminals do not fear him...and one day he snaps. Isabelle Huppert also portrays another scandalous lady. 4/5

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (2000) Jarmusch - This was the first Jarmusch film I ever saw many years ago and I decided to revisit it while John and I were stranded at my old apartment. Forest Whitaker plays "Ghost Dog" a gangster/a-like assassin that lives by a complicated moral code. Very black humor and while I definitely still enjoyed this film a lot the second time around, I think it falls somewhere in the middle of Jarmusch's catalog. 4/5

Scenes From a Marriage (1973) Bergman - I watched the television miniseries version (as opposed to the theatrical version) and really enjoyed this examination of a relationship, even though it is incredibly hard to watch at times. I thought the dialogue and portrayal was honest and fairly realistic. While not a lot happens plotwise (Johann cheats on Marianne, they separate, get divorced, come to some sort of understanding), it's something that pretty much everyone can relate to. Not recommended for Chris Walters, as there is pretty much nothing besides emotionally intimate moments. 5/5

Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973) Dixon - A fictional film about the first black man to enter the CIA, and then after obtaining necessary information and training, takes his skills back to southside Chicago and trains a group of young black man in preparation for a revolution. The revolution centers around freedom from white oppressors. An interesting concept in theory, but not the most entertaining film. 3.5/5

Switchblade Sisters (1975) Hill - As far as trashy, campy, culty movies go...this one is pretty great. The Dagger Debs are an all-girl gang that wields knives and generally kicks the shit out of other girls and guys if necessary. Lots of gratuitous boob shots and those shirts seem to rip open all of the time. The main rival gang is a bunch of politically charged artsy kids, and the Debs (and later christened "Jezebels") have to team up with some commie black ladies in order to gain victory. 4.5/5

In News

* The Flaming Lips long awaited film spectacle (originally slated to come out Christmas 2003) Christmas on Mars is finally opening in New York this week

* Guillermo del Toro is expected to film remakes of "Frankenstein", "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde", and "Slaughterhouse 5"

* NY Magazine is throwing around a claim that two co-producers from "The Office" are writing a script for Ghostbusters 3...oh boy..