Body and Soul (1998) is a boxing film. The formula for one of these is well established, and both good and bad ones have been made. They go pretty much like this. A fighter with a lot of heart is after the championship belt. He has a faithful manager who gets screwed, does some nice woman wrong, success goes to his head, then he is screwed by some syndicate. There are several variations on the ending. This film fits within the above outline, but manages a fresh approach.

Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini is a small town boxer with dreams of the big time. His friend and manager, Michael Chiklis, travel to Reno to go for the belt. Along the way, they pick up hitchhiker Jennifer Beals. She is clearly not pure as the driven snow and is escaping something, but Mancini likes her. Chiklis narrates much of the story, but in a charming manner such that it did not distract. They manage to impress a former great trainer, Rod Steiger. Mancini is good, and the local promoter (Joe Mantegna) decides to make a fortune on him. To help control Mancini, he brings in Tahnee Welch. Beals is still trying to get her head straight, and Welch moves in. Mancini is carefully brought along by the promoter to extract ever dime he can, and eventually set up for an easy title shot. He becomes a lounge lizard while making several lackluster title defenses, while Chiklis, who has become a loud-mouthed embarrassment, is not with him at ringside.

When a good prospect looms on the horizon, it is time for Mancini to either get it together or lose the title. Either way, Mantegna has positioned himself to make a killing, but expects Mancini to loose. What is a little different in this film is that we know everyone's intentions all along, and nobody is perfect. I found myself very involved in the film start to finish, and really cared about the characters. The film had an aura of believability that wasn't hurt by the fact that Mancini was a world champion fighter. Even though the boxing scenes were absolutely authentic, they didn't spend the entire running time in the ring.

Along the way, they managed to display a lovely array of body parts. The ring girls, credited as Karlinda Aguilar, Cloissa A. Ream and Tamarah Kanogy, are wearing very abbreviated bikinis with t-backs. Tiffany J. Wooster, Olivia Jardine and Bernice Dee show breasts in a hot tub at a part. We have breasts from two uncredited show girls in a dressing room. Kristen Shafer shows great rear nudity doubling for Tahnee Welch.

IMDb readers have this at 3.6 of 10. It does not seem to have had a theatrical release anywhere. I found it a very quick watch, and a worthy addition to a popular genre.C.

Boys on the Side (1995):

Drew Barrymore - what a life. First she was the adorable little template for a lisping movie child, then we started to hear how wild she got, even in her early teens. Then she turned 18 and it seemed that she just couldn't wait to take out her puppies on camera. Her first few movies after her 18th birthday - topless nudity. Just like that. Bada bing, bada crosby. Doppelganger, then Bad Girls, then Boys on the Side. After that, it seemed that she had gotten it out of her system, and she kept 'em sheathed for a long time. In fact, she still hasn't really showed 'em clearly since this film, because when she finally took 'em out again, almost a decade later, it was for the foggy, darkness-shrouded, dubious, invisible nipple, pseudo-nudity of Charlie's Angels 2.

So let's remember the good times, shall we? A few days ago I looked at Bad Girls. This time is the girl-bonding classic Boys on the Side.

It would be easy to hate this film. Boys on the Side is rated 5.9 by guys at IMDb, and 6.7 by women. Normally we need a difference of 1.0 before we start calling a flick a chick-flick, but this is an exception. This is a fully certified chick-flick because it was directed by one of the high princes of Chickflickland, Herbert Ross. I mean this is the guy who directed Steel Magnolias and Funny Lady, so right away we know that at one time he must have had his male genitalia removed and placed in a blind trust.

Check out this plot.

Two women pair up in New York for a cross-country drive to L.A. They are a sloppy black lesbian who has failed as a musician (Whoopi) and a straight white woman (Mary-Louise Parker) who is dyin' of AIDS because the only guy she ever went home with gave it to her. Are you starting to pick up those soap-opera, "men suck" female empowerment vibes? When I say this woman is straight, I don't just mean "heterosexual". I also mean straight-arrow, the kind of woman who writes thank-you notes to the butcher for a nice cut of meat, washes her hands after phone calls, wears a neatly pressed blazer to sell real estate, and places all her albums in alphabetical order. If only she could have lived her life without men. But she's completely heterosexual, which doesn't work out very well for Whoopi, who ends up falling for her.

The two of them set off to L.A. for somewhat indeterminate reasons, and on their way they decide to make a stop in Pittsburgh to visit Whoopi's old friend, a zonked-out space cadet of a nympho druggie (Drew Barrymore, who else), who is in an abusive relationship with a scumbag drug dealer, a guy whose mental condition is so far gone that he makes Drew seem in comparison to be as focused and logical as Judge Souter. During this visit, the three women subdue the guy, hit him with a baseball bat, duct tape him to a chair, and flee. Empowerment rules, dudesses! Unfortunately for our newly-empowered babes, the scumbag dies, and they become fugitives from the law.

Did I mention that Drew is pregnant, and that the father may be Mr. Scumbag? Or not, since Drew has slept with the entire male student body of Carnegie-Mellon University, and one entire sell-our crowd of a Steelers game eight weeks earlier. So we have a dyin' woman, a pregnant murderer, and a rather conspicuous black lesbian takin' a road trip through the heartland, searchin' for America and their own souls and that kind of meaningful crap. And then the murderess falls in love with a handsome and idealistic young cop (Matthew McConaughey) who loves her but is having some trouble with the whole wacky murder thing.

Yeah, yeah. I know it sounds like it sucks. It has every possible strike against it. But actually it doesn't suck. There is some humor, and all of the melodrama is underplayed to the extent reasonably possible. All of the women's actions lead to reasonable consequences (which means death for one and a jail sentence for another), and the emotions are played with restraint. The situations may start out larger than life, but people end up dealing with those situations in measured and realistic ways. Most important with a soap opera, the character development is deep, the characters are both real and sympathetic, and the actresses knew how to bring them to life. To be honest, all of those positives make up for the preposterously contrived story. I think you'll miss them when they're gone, and you'll wonder what will happen to the two who survive. I got into the story and never thought of reaching for the fast-forward because I liked the characters and enjoyed having them in my living room.

There was a surprise for me. If I was ever aware that Whoopi could mimic singers, I didn't remember it. She sings one song in the manner of Janis Joplin, and one or two in the manner of Karen Carpenter (!!), and she does a passably good job of mimicry in each case. The few bars she sings of Superstar, accompanied only by her own halting piano work, will bring tears to your eyes, given the context of the film.

So, it's a dyin' woman female empowerment chick-flick all right, but it's not one of those so drenched with estrogen that you guys have to stay away for fear of having your testicles shrivel up. If your significant other forces you to sit through it, you can probably pretend to be interested and work that into some post-cinema hanky panky, and you'll be charged up by the sight of Drew's full and ripe young melons.

• Drew Barrymore (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Other Crap:

• Google Maps - a beta test of their alternative to Mapquest
• Take a look at the former Mrs. Jacko
• Pitt is news even when he kids about being news.
• Letterman's Top Ten Philadelphia Eagles excuses
• The Straight Dope: Does average human penis length vary among ethnic groups?
• Almodovar said over the weekend in Rome that his next film is Volver, starring Penelope Cruz. The movie will take place between Madrid and his native La Mancha in a tale that involves both ghosts and tango.
• Quentin Tarantino has penned parts for both Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis in his upcoming war epic "Inglorious Bastards". Attached already are Adam Sandler, Michael Madsen and Bo Svenson.
• retroCRUSH: The 100 Greatest TV Theme Songs. He has posted 100-28 so far, more to come.
• Irate lawmaker would share bears. This is actually a cool story. The people of rural Maryland find the burgeoning brown bear population to be a nuisance, and they want to hunt and kill them. But the suburban rich folk want to save those bears. So the rural folks have proposed a compromise - inside of hunting the freakin' bvears, they will export them to the suburbs!
• The Weekend Warrior predicts this weekend's Box Office. He thinks Will Smith's new romantic comedy, Hitch, will be a big winner on 3450 screens. The only other major release this week is a Winnie the Pooh thing for the kids, which will hit 2550 screens.
• This week's movie: Hitch - 86% positive. That's based on only seven reviewers, but this looks like a hit in the making, especially since its release was timed brilliantly. It has no competition this week.
• TRENDY NEW DESSERT: CHOCOLATE COVERED PORK FAT 
• A clip and the trailer from National Lampoon's Blackball. (This is actually a two year old film from the U.K. I'm not sure how National Lampoon got involved.)  
• Whitney book will be 'shocking'. "A tell-all book is set to reveal intimate details about Whitney Houston and her husband Bobby Brown."
• Has Drew Barrymore dumped her rock star boyfriend? Some time back, Tom Green reportedly broke up with Drew because she was "too immature." My question was this: if you're too immature for Tom Green, who's left?
• Supermodel Naomi Campbell highlighted the parade of samba schools as Rio's Carnival climaxed on its final night.
  • I guess I should have been a better dancer, but I couldn't afford to go to Rio, so I attended a correspondence samba school headquartered in Midland, Texas.
  • We really sucked at the samba parade performance, since we couldn't actually be there in Rio. If you were so inclined, you might say we mailed in our performance.
  • One thing we were good at, though. Lone Star Samba By Mail really kicked the asses of the "brick and mortar" samba schools at football
  • But we always took their cheerleaders to the prom.
• Lots and lots of naked celebs (and other stuff), straight from the bunny's mouth. In honor of Playboy's 50th anniversary, Playboy.com presents the 50 most memorable images from the magazine's glorious photographic history. Numbers 1, 2, and 3 are Monroe, Mansfield, Andress. Kim Basinger and Bo Derek also made the top ten. Governor Ah-nuld made it at #50. Don't miss Joan Severance at #18.
• This Apollo 11 Image Library contains all of the pictures taken on the lunar surface by the astronauts, together with pictures from pre-flight training and pictures of equipment and the flight hardware.
• Sam's Mailbox Pictures. Just what it says. Pictures of mailboxes. But it's surprisingly entertaining.
• This is True . "Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense."
• Out Shoveling? Here are the things to say to a neighbor you've never met before.
• Feds track down three million missing nickels. Man, it's always the last place you look. Wouldn't you know it, they were hidden in a very large gumball machine.
• JLH tries very hard to have a wardrobe malfunction in Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber. Or not.
• The story behind the GoDaddy Super Bowl ad.
• WTF?? ---=== Baby Queen ===  
• i used to believe - is a collection of things that adults used to believe when they were kids. "It will remind you of what it was like to be a child, fascinated and horrified by the world in equal parts."
• A whopper of a fish tale. Nearly 3 years ago, 3 guys go fishing. They catch a sailfish, and one of the guys (who's going through a divorce) puts his wedding band on the fish's bill, and sends it back into the briny deep ceremonially. Fast-forward to 1/22/05, same three guys, same fish caught again, wedding band still on the bill!!!
  • And what's more, this time they were on a fresh water pond, fishin' for sunfish with bamboo poles and homemade bobbers, when they reeled in the magical sailfish and it spoke to them, and granted them three wishes.
• Miyagi and Daniel-san reunite to do DVD commentary for Karate Kid. Over the years, Macchio has gotten a little weak at "wax on", but he has no problem when he "wax off".
• Disney detractors to withhold votes for new board.: "Roy Disney, the nephew of company founder Walt Disney, and Stanley Gold, a former director, said they're concerned that company directors are not conducting a thorough search for a successor to outgoing CEO Michael Eisner"
• NASA budget would kill Hubble
• Radio station still in trouble from tsunami parody.
• Here's front page news for The Sun: Teri Hatcher gets laid. I ain't kiddin'. That's really the story.
• PORN actresses are blowing the whistle about their sleazy romps with Hollywood stars.
• Fantastic Four moved back a week. They don't want to go butt-up against Spielberg and Cruise's War of the Worlds, so they've decided to open against a softer opponent - Bewitched.
• We all love dumb criminal stories. Without these to make into movies, what would Michael Rapaport do for a living? Suspect Eludes Police, Calls Sheriff's Office After Getting Lost In The Woods.
• Start your own business. Raise drug-sniffing dogs! It's So Cute! He's Going After Junior's Backpack!
• "NOTHIN' LIKE GETTIN' HAMMERED IN A 23 FOOT GENERAL LEE"
• ESPN rates the Super Bowl parties: Maxim outstrips Playboy in the party derby
• Rock matriarch SHARON OSBOURNE refused to watch the SUPER BOWL - because she knew there would be "no titties on display."
• Here are playboy.com's official pictures of their super bowl party - the girls of jacksonville
• "Hey, Scoop. The Eric Prydez video has been sifting around the net for a little while and is pure gold! Here are a few links featuring my favorite new aerobic instructor, Deanne Barry."
  • Deanne Berry - Australia's hottest export product since Fosters
  • Image Gallery - Deanne Berry ...
• Packers Fan Wears Favre Jersey for 408 Days
• Here's the girl from the Go-Daddy commercials: Candice Michelle, The Official Website.
• WRESTLING-NEWS.com - gallery of divas, some of them for mature audiences only. The Go-Daddy girl has her own gallery here.
• MovieJuice!: reviews Boogeyman
• GALLUP: Bush Approval Increases to 57%, Highest Rating in a Year
• The second coming of MTV2. "'What MTV2 is, while a departure from MTV, is really harkening back to the early days of MTV ... "
• Borowitz: IRAQIS PAINT FINGERS PURPLE TO PICK UP CHICKS. Phony Voters Pack Baghdad's Clubs.
• Many say Malcolm Hardee was the most influential figure in British comedy in the post- Peter Cook era. Whether that is true or not, he was undoubtedly the king of alternative anarchic comedy, and one crazy generally naked mofo! His body was found in the Thames last week. He was 55.
  • The obit in The Telegraph.
  • The obit in The Times.

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

Click here to submit a URL for Other Crap

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 Junior or Brainscan, or somebody else besides me)
• If there is no asterisk, I wrote it, but am too ashamed to admit it.

Words, pictures, and vids from ICMS

"Once Upon a Time in America"  (1984)

Elizabeth McGovern, who apparently doesn't like the ride in the vintage car, shows us breasts and a possible gyno peak at her posterior.  (.wmv zipped, .avi zipped)
Elizabeth McGovern 2.  (.wmv zipped, .avi zipped)
Elizabeth McGovern 3.  (.wmv zipped, .avi zipped)

Scoop's notes:

1. Here is the Movie House page for Once Upon a Time in America. Since I have argued on several occasions that this is probably the single greatest film I have ever seen, I can't really add any more praise, can I? I wish I had never seen it, so I could watch it again without knowing any of the secrets. The DVD is much brighter and lighter than this broadcast version.

2. I made the .wmv versions of each of the ICMS videos. (He makes the .avis, of course.) The latest codecs for these: Windows Video V9, Windows Audio 9. The advantages of these are (1) you know the codecs; (2) they'll play in the Windows Media Player with any up-to-date windows OS; and (3) the file sizes are economical. The major downside is that the quality is inferior to the originals.

3. If you have trouble with the .avi videos on this site, there is a tool designed to determine which codec is needed for any video. http://www.headbands.com/gspot/

4. Because of a unique combination of circumstances with the Windows media player and some substantial bandwidth theft, we have to do all of our movie files in zip format. Left click on the files as you normally would to view a picture. When you get a choice, click on "save", and put it on your hard drive in the directory of your choice. UnZIP and play from there. I know this is not especially convenient, but it allows us to carry film clips. I can protect .zip files from hot-linking in the same way I can protect still images. For some reason, if I protect .avis and .wmvs from hot-linking, they will not play in the Windows media player, and I can't get a satisfactory work-around. Perhaps I will find a better solution, but for now this new policy allows you to continue getting the movie clips you want to see, which is much preferable to my abandoning the clips altogether.

I wanted to revisit a poll we did a few years back to see how or if things have changed. So on that note...

This week's poll:

Who has the best bum in Hollywood?

Here is a short list of nominees.

Phoebe Cates in "Paradise"
Claire Danes in "To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday" (thong)
Jessica Alba in "Idle Hands" (partial)
Natalie Portman in "Closer" (thong)
Halle Berry in "Monster's Ball"
Elisha Cuthbert in "Girl Next Door" (thong)
Ludivine Sagnier in "Water Frops in Burning Rocks" and "La Petite Lili"
Audrey Tautou in "Le Libertin" and "A Very Long Engagement"
Irčne Jacob in "The Big Brass Ring" and "Spy Games"
Nicole Kidman in "Dead Calm", "Billy Bathgate", "Billy Bathgate" "Malice", "Eyes Wide Shut", "The Birthday Girl" and "Cold Mountain"
Denise Richards in "Wild Things"
Neve Campbell in "When Will I Be Loved"
Kari Wuhrer in "Boulevard", "The Crossing Guard" (thong), "Beyond Desire", "Vivid", "Ivory Tower", "Poison", "Spider's Web" and "King of the Ants".
Jamie Pressly in "Poison Ivy: The New Seduction"
Mimi Rogers in "The Door in the Floor"
Mädchen Amick in "Dream Lover"
Laetitia Casta in "The Blue Bycicle"
Bridget Fonda in "Single White Female" and "Jackie Brown"
Elle MacPherson in "Sirens"
Holly Hunter in "The Piano" and "Living Out Loud"
Angelina Jolie in "Gia"
Milla Jovovich in "Chaplin" and "No Good Deed".

Please Email Scoopy Jr. with more nominees, comments or suggestions.

Here are the results of our most recent other polls...
The Top 20 Nude Scenes of 2004

The Best Nude Film Debuts of the 80s

The Best Nude Film Debuts of the 90s

"Yerma" (1999)

This film is based on the novel "Yerma" of Federico García Lorca who is a good and important Spanish writter. And directed by Pilar Távora. The movie shows us the culture in a Spanish Region called "Andalucia" in the 70's

Nudity Review: Aitana Sánchez-Gijón appears topless.

• Aitana Sánchez-Gijón (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)

"Dead of Night"

Nudity Review: Tara Taylor shows the breasts and a thong view while being undressed in a car.

• Tara Taylor (1, 2, 3)

Today from the Ghost...a couple of vids of former fashion model turned actress Ely Pouget in scenes from "Red Shoe Diaries 5: Weekend Pass" (1995).

She topless in all 3 and getting in on in clips #1 and #3.

• Ely Pouget (zipped .wmvs) (1, 2, 3)

MAN CONVICTED OF ASSAULT WITH McMUFFIN
Egg McMullet - In Holland, Michigan, Scott Rodgers was fined $600, given probation and three days in a work program and banned from McDonald's for misdemeanor assault and battery after he threw an Egg McMuffin at a McDonald's manager. He had ordered four of them with ham, but one had sausage. His attorney claimed he didn't throw it but rather returned it quickly. But the prosecutor said, "The manager was picking egg out of her hair."