The Pillow Book (1996) was one of my first projects, and, because of the way writer/director Peter Greenaway made this film, it is decidedly not a beginners project, despite extensive full frontal nudity, both male and female, which earned it an NC-17. Greenaway makes films to please himself, and if anyone else likes them, fine. In this case, it is a simple story. Young Nagiko is the daughter of a writer/calligrapher. Her father paints a poem on her each birthday, which is one of her fondest memories, along with her mother reading to her from a nearly 1,000 year old pillow book. The publisher her father works for not only cheats him financially, but demands sexual favors from her father.

As she gets older, she can't separate calligraphy and sex, and seeks lovers that are calligraphers. It is not easy to find the perfect one, as the great calligraphers are too old to be great lovers. Eventually, she discovers a way to get revenge on her fathers evil publisher. She seduces his male lover, a translator, played by Ewan McGregor, and then writes a story on is body, which he takes to the publisher a chapter at a time.

What makes this film a unique experience is the way Greenaway presents it. The screen might show as full screen, then up will come an insert with details of an action in the background. The insert will change to widescreen, the dialogue will switch languages, and what was full screen will become an insert with subtitles. The first time you watch it, it isn't possible to take it all in. The best you can hope for is to follow the main plot line. Once you understand that, you can begin to see what Greenaway has created here, and you see more with every watching.

Vivian Wu plays the adult Nagiko, and is our of her clothes through much of the picture, often with calligraphy all over her body. With the different size frames, the inserts, the scrolling calligraphy, etc, it is very tough to capture all of the nudity, but I did my best this time.

IMDB readers have it at 6.7 of 10. It won several International awards. Berardinelli awards 3 stars, and it received 77% positive at Rotten Tomatoes, with 100% from the top critics. I love the film, and am glad I took the time to rewatch it, but not everyone will find it to their taste. The proper score is probably B-. Those who usually don't like arty films might enjoy it, but it will be too unusual for many.

Spider's Web

I think it is pretty cool that Kari Wuhrer manages to travel back and forth between mainstream PG stuff like 8-Legged Freaks and sleazy stuff like this. (Although both are spider-related material.) Not long ago, a woman could ruin her chances with the studios by doing naughty material. This is an erotic thriller in which Kari does the whole R thing. She may or may not show her pubic area in a dark sex scene, but I couldn't tell. Whether she does the crotch shot or not, there were plenty of nice clear shots of her buns and breasts. It's a pretty good erotic thriller that would have been kinda watchable even without the nudity. It certainly didn't overstay its welcome, since the movie proper runs only 83 minutes. Kari was topless in the opening credits - working on a computer, then later did a few sex scenes with the Blond Baldwin. I'm glad she hasn't abandoned her "B" movie fans. She is a much better actress than the typical performers in these straight-to-vid films, and she looks fine.

• Kari (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
• some straight-to-vid extra chick

Hey, Scoop:

• Thanks so much for your help in the 2002 Jim Beam Rock Band Search's "Band of the Week" competition! Because of that win we're now one of ten bands in the nation competing for "Band of the Year"!  Voting began November 1st and runs through the 20th! We're behind right now, losing to a band with MULLETS!  MULLETS!  If you feel like running another blurb to update your site visitors and asking themto vote for us at http://www.jimbeammusic.com we'd be (again) very grateful. Thanks for any help you can give!  $10,000 and a trip to perform at an event in NYC for Rolling Stone Magazine and Jim Beam is at stake!
  • how much of the ten grand do we get? Hey, Fun Housers - they are way behind, so jump right in there and vote for Code Sunshine!

• Scoop - This woman doesn't let her height intimidate her...look at those heels she is wearing! Biggest woman in the world: she is from Holland, measures a little over 7'4" and weighs 320 pounds... (1, 2, 3, 4)

   

OTHER CRAP:

• Remember Madonna's Swept Away  - The Sun says it will not be shown at all in the UK.
• I thought our reviews were politically incorrect, but Rocky D's review of Ghost Ship smoked us!
• Richard Gere's middle name is Tiffany
• How did Rebecca prepare for her nudity in Femme Fatale. Here is the complete summary of the sex and nudity from screenit.com
• The world's worst nostalgia lunchboxes
• Snopes weighs in on the March 8, 2003 crap. They concluded it was a fiction. Whoa, there's a surprise, eh? Next they'll be telling us OJ really did it.

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.

• Kathleen Quinlan, topless and rear nudity in the Oliver Stone movie "The Doors" (1991).

• Meg Ryan, topless in a love scene from "The Doors".

• Leslie Bega, great toplessness from an episode of "The Sopranos".

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

Ten collages of web model turned actress Kitana Baker in "Model Solution", as well as two more of Kim Yates. In this scene Kitana's boss sends her over to Kim's house as a piece offering. Piece offering. Get it? I got a million of 'em.

What we see is...

• Full frontal action from Kitana (1, 2)

• Some kissy-kissy action from Kim in which Kitana's boobs and other privates are shown

• Boobs from Kitana (#2 is a composite that worked out okay) (1, 2)

• Finger sucking and hooters from Kitana as Kim plays around down under (1, 2)

• Serious gyno-cam from behind as Kitana hovers over Kim. Gyno-cam is at high (#1), higher (#2) and highest (#3) magnification as the camera moved in and in and in. (1, 2, 3)

• And two collages from Kim showing boobs (first) and bum (second). (1, 2)

Preppies (1984) is one of a slew of 80's horny teenager movies. This genre includes classics (Porky's), class-acts (Risky Business), near-misses (My Tutor) and a whole bunch of stinkoes. Preppies is closer to the last of these than any other. All the inspired moments (all two) feature B movie actress turned screenwriter and director Katt Shea.

No reason to burden anyone with the plot. All we need to say is that there are 11 nekkid babes in the movie, eight of whom are recognizable, seven of whom I'm passing along to all y'all today... the eighth is a treat for the near future.

The seven babes are:

Kate Shea who shows boobs in three scenes and comes real, real close to showing bush in collage 2. This is from the one funny scene of the movie where she is on one side of a glass door getting nekkid while her boyfriend is on the other side licking the glass. Well, it was funny when I first saw it.

• Katt Shea (1, 2, 3, 4)

Cindy Manion. This blonde honey has shown up in the Funhouse before in caps from The Toxic Avenger. She shows boobs in two scenes: one when she changes into waitress clothes (collage 1) and one when she attempts to bed a preppie (collage 2). The third collage is the best frame from each scene, blown up a bit.

• Cindy Manion (1, 2, 3)

Nitchie Barrett. To quote Junior, "two words, both hubba." This woman starred in only two movies. With mighty-fines like hers, she was in only two movies??? I don't get it. She shows off her hest assets in two scenes, but only one was worth capping from VHS. Three collages that include 2, 3 and 4 frames as she gets all huggy-poo with a preppy.

• Nitchie Barrett (1, 2, 3)

Katie Stelletello. This was her one movie and she shows off her small but attractive pair. And if you look at the far left portion of the collage, that's Nitchie Barrett again in the background (her head appears about half-way into the collage). Told you she was nekkid in two scenes. Told you the second wasn't worth capping.

• Katie Stelletello

Beverly Brown as a dominatrix.

• Beverly Brown

Last up, showing breasts as exotic dancers, are 80's pornstars Sharon Kane and Tish Ambrose.

• Sharon Kane
• Tish Ambrose

"Saturday Night Fever"
This 1977 disco classic is now on DVD. Donna Pescow gained 40 pounds for this movie and by the looks of it all of it went to her boobs. Various cleavage and sweater-filler scenes plus a bit of bare breast when she gets gangbanged near the end. Warning, some caps feature John Travolta in a leisure suit.

• Donna Pescow

"Eclipse"
Kirsten Johnson shows some boob, butt, bush, and even some gyno-cam in the unerotic Canadian stinker "Eclipse" (1993).

• Kirsten Johnson

"Joshua Then and Now"
Linda Sorenson shaking her booty vaudeville style "Joshua Then and Now" (1984). Bare back and partial breast.

• Linda Sorenson

"Power Play"
Alberta Watson topless getting totured in Peter O'Toole's "Power Play" (1978). Warning, this is not your standard babes-in-distress fare. Shocking.

• Alberta Watson

"Paper Bullets"
Noelle Balfour still wearing brassiere after sex in "Paper Bullets" (1999). She started off in Argentina as a Hefmag bunny and had a role in the skin classic "Amazons" (1986).

• Noelle Balfour

"Waiting for Michelangelo"
Renee Coleman in another one of those fully clothed sex scenes in "Waiting for Michelangelo" (1996).

• Renee Coleman

"Billy Jack"

This movie takes us back to the angry, "hate the establishment" days just following the sixties. Made on a shoestring budget by Tom Laughlin and Delores Taylor, The movie has some serious hits and misses. It scores in some minor martial arts action, and a very strong statement about racism and corruption. It scores its biggest losses with the constant deluge of hateful, leftist clichés from the sixties. These clichés rise to a level of adolescence in sophistication.

It tells the story of a half-Indian, Vietnam War hero, Billy Jack. He is sort of an unofficial caretaker of an unnamed Indian reservation in Arizona. Located on this reservation is a sixties style hippie school run by Delores Taylor. The reservation is in constant danger from a powerful local bigot (Posner) and his sociopathic son (Bernard) and a crooked deputy sheriff. Added to the danger to the hippie school is the fact that they are secretly harboring a runaway, who just happens to be the daughter of the crooked deputy.

The story takes lots of twists and turns. The school tries to defend its existence with angry, moronic, skits. These demonstrate the importance of love (by hating the establishment) in this world, How Nixon was just Hitler reincarnate. Other weird messages include how guns are evil, yet Billy shoots often at bad guys, as well as mows down a couple of local law enforcement officers. Go figure.

Most well known from the movie is its Title song, "One Tin Soldier. " Originally done by a Canadian Christian group called "Original Caste." For the movie it, was sung by a satanic rock group called "Coven" I understand that since the budget was so low, they overlooked paying for the rights to the music ("those dirty establishment capitalists are standing in the way of our great movie by wanting to get paid for their music") to the original composer and artists.

Billy's best quote: "When police break the law, there is no law. Just a fight for survival."

Billy's dumbest message: This is how whites don't understand the world and how Indians understand it better because they have a ritual where the person lets a rattlesnake bite him. I guess the snake venom induced shock allows one to get in touch with reality better by hallucinating.

This movie is available on DVD and VHS. It can be found for under $10 at Wal-Mart. It is also available directly from Tom and Delores at www.billyjack.com.

IMDB Rating: 5.2/10

Nudity: Minor. Delores Taylor tied up being raped by Bernard and his pal. An unknown girl has her bra cut off by Bernard. Another unknown girl gets out of bed right before Billy kills Bernard.

• Delores Taylor

• Unknown

• An ad for sporting goods
• An ad for a bank
• An ad for sunglasses
• An ad for booze
• An ad for the Mormons
• An ad for snack food
• An ad for throat medicine
• An ad for instruments

SHOW BIZ NOTES!