I seemed to spend my weekend eating and seeing films at the Angelika. Saturday night I saw Bride and Prejudice -- a Bollywood meets Hollywood hybrid that reminded me a lot of a curry-laced Grease from the makers of Bend it Like Beckham. The girls and sets were beautiful, but I can't say it was 100% successful. There's something just WRONG about staging a Bollywood number in L.A. complete with gospel choir on a beach. Then Sunday night I went to see Inside Deepthroat which is a great documentary about how this mild porn changed America, and sparked a debate that continues to this day about what constitutes obscenity. I think obscenity is a relative term, and extremely hard to define.

Send me an e-mail or PM if you can figure out how to define it. I thought of some obvious obscene things - anything unwilling, or involving crime or cruelty to either humans or animals would qualify in my book. But two willing adults having sex onscreen? Sorry, I don't see what's entirely wrong about that. Now remember I did take feminist classes in college, so I am well aware of the implications of porn and the objectification of women. But I think instead of correcting that wrong now society has decided to objectify EVERYONE.

I got the ROCKED series with Gina Gershon from NetFlix. It documents her touring with the band Boys Against Girls in support of her indie flick Prey For Rock N Roll. I don't know why I am obsessed with Gershon, but have been since I saw her popping out of a volcano naked in Showgirls. She's fabulous, and considered a "dykon" (female sex symbol lesbians worship) thanks primarily to her role in Bound. I'm definitely not a lesbian, but I find her totally fascinating. Now as for her singing... she comes off as a third rate Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders. She's in no danger of being a rock star! But the documentary is still a lot of fun and gives you a glimpse at Gina up close and personal.

People are lamenting what the government is doing in regards to proposed censorship and how we're all going to lose culture because of the fundamentalist attitudes of America. I say have heart, because truly culture is where democracy kicks in. The #1 show in America is Desparate Housewives - basically sex and sin in suburbia. Like it or not, we have a taste for the sordid and always will. Government can't stop commerce, and the sexier or more violent a show is the better it sells these days. Look at all the CSI shows where graphic gore hits your screen three or four times a week. I was shocked when I reviewed CSI MIAMI because it was so gory. Culture can't be changed no matter how monolithic the government seems. We may be heading to a backlash like we saw in the '80s where art gets wild and out of control as the President gets more conservative. It should be a good time for music, film, and all art to push the boundaries so have heart. Censorship is an un-American activity.

Been watching the special edition of Spriggan from ADV films, and wondering why all the anime critics are so harsh on the movie. It's big and loud, resembles a big budget action movie, and maybe is not as "deep" (confusing) as most anime features. But I kind of like that idea. It's an anime action movie. Whoo hoo! I'm all for it.

Also been slogging through my box set of Angel Season Five. It always amazes me how much MORE I like the show on DVD than I did when it was running, especially last year. Even the episode with Spike and Angel on a WWII submarine seemed a lot better than I remembered. Also might help that I am reading a collection of essays on the show right now as well.

Anyone watch Fat Actress with Kirstie Alley last night (pm or e-mail me your thoughts)? I did, and whoa was it ever irreverant and completely anti-pc. She was brave to go that far with the project, and I'm stunned at the people who agreed to play themselves (like Zucker from NBC!??!). But noticed there were tons of mentions of girls John Travolta has gotten with, and no mention of how fat he looked. Spin control? Seems nobody is allowed to look bad on the show but Kirstie. But it is a real slap in the face to Hollywood and its obsession with weight on women.

I watched THE L WORD last night, and was amazed at what they are doing with this season. Jennifer Beals plays heartbroken so well - last shot was her face down in a swimming pool crying with the camera on the bottom of the pool looking up at her. Amazing stuff for a Showtime series, and I'm totally sucked in. Never thought I would rally around a lesbian series, but honestly it's great stuff.

Watched a really horrible Cameron Diaz movie Saturday night called Head Above Water. It also "starred" Billy Zane and Harvey Keitel - though Billy's part was mainly as a corpse cameo. Yeesh! Bad movie, bad DVD, bad bad bad. Yuck!

Had to watch Jess Franco's Venus In Furs for a review. I loved it - shlocky Eurotrash horror is one of my faves. Unfortunately my friend watching with me left halfway through saying he "didn't get the whole vampire lesbian thing!" and huffed out in a cloud of disgust. So maybe my taste is dubious, but I sorta loved it. Maria Rohm was incredible and never looked better. Why is a woman in nothing but a fur coat such a powerful image? Must be an animalistic thing. Right up there with Jennifer Beals in a pool -- primal. Or something.

Lately I have been trying to pick up a lot of the older Criterion movies I haven't seen yet. Watched Derek Jarman's Jubilee and found it odd yet somehow kinda quaint too. Even with all the nudity and punk rock attitude it still seemed less outrageous than a John Waters flick (from his heyday). Also been trying to get through The Night Porter with Diva Rampling in it. Sad movie, but very well shot and more disturbing than Jubilee to be sure.

My judging titles include Men Behaving Badly, a BBC series that seems to be a little too common to really reccommend (but I am only halfway through Season 1 of 2, so maybe it will pick up). Also struggling with the review of a new TLA film Cowboys and Angels - it's a charming movie but totally cliche. Also trying to work up some MEGA REVIEWS of Dark Shadows. MPI agreed to let me go back and review sets 2 & 3 (doing the first from my own library). If anybody has any thoughts on what they would like to see in a Dark Shadows review let me know. It seems like a really important series that I would love to give a lot of attention to. And now that SCI FI has dropped it for over a year now I miss it on television. So nice to see the sets doing so well!