Snowygooner

****SPOILERS****

...My continuing quest to see every film that Sweden's stunningly beautiful Christina Lindberg ever made has brought me here to this extremely rare film. Sadly again, the version of the film I have has no English subtitles.

The plot: Christina, on arriving in Japan, acquaints a Japanese man at the airport who looks like a sap. He takes her to his apartment where he brutally rapes her and keeps her hostage and bound in chains. Christina's alluring beauty eventually enchants the rapist and he is soon consulting his 'How to Stimulate a Woman' sex book in an effort to please her... Of course, our girl exploits this weakness and manages to escape. She then finds her way to a nightclub and to cut a long story short is ganged-banged by some odd-looking characters. Christina is not having a lot of luck is she, poor girl! The Japanese man (who seems to have fallen in love with her), finds her walking the streets barefooted and in a terrible state. So he takes her back to his place and tries his best to bring her out of her depressive state of mind but with no avail. He eventually orders her to go but it seems Christina has developed a 'Stockholm Syndrome' and refuses to leave. They then live together quite happily until some gangsters arrive to shatter their domestic bliss...

Listen, who cares about the ridiculous plot as most will only be watching this film to see Christina in action. Now on to the important stuff. There is some soft-core sex on show and a couple of rape scenes which are not particularly explicit. We get plenty of fantastic close-ups of Christina's adorable face. I don't think she has ever looked more enchanting as she does in this film -- amazing! 'Journey to Japan' its English title is also quite artistically shot which is a plus point. The bottom line: For die-hard Christina Lindberg fans this is a must-see film. For anyone else? Why are you even reading this!

David Rocastle 1967 - 2001 R.I.P.

...Around twenty years ago, when Snowy was still a young teen, we played Spurs in the Semi-Final of the League Cup. At the time, winning the League Championship seemed an impossible dream. All that mattered to Snowy was being the best team in North London, and for much of the nineteen eighties, Spurs had the best players and played the better football. For virtually all of that Semi-Final Spurs were in front, until the final minutes of the replay at White Hart Lane, when David Rocastle scored the dramatic winner. That goal changed everything. Snowy knows, he was one of those twenty thousand plus Gooners crammed into the South Terrace. It was his "Woodstock", an occasion that will never be forgotten by any Arsenal fan that was fortunate enough to be there. In the Final at the Old Wembley, Snowy's brother and he watched as another North Bank idol, Charlie Nicholas, scored twice to clinch the Cup against the then mighty Liverpool. A year or two later, Arsenal (without Snowy, he was still at school and his parents would not let him travel to Liverpool), achieved an even greater feat, by clinching the League Championship with the last kick of the season at Anfield. Our first league title since 1971 was won in Liverpool, but make no mistake, the victory was forged on that momentous night in North London at White Hart Lane.

Since that time, with Mr Wenger, we have gone on to another level. However: Always remember the importance of Rocky's Goal. Sing his name proudly at Ashburton Grove and never forget the part he played in restoring our pride and self-belief.

...On stage, TV or in a book, 'The Woman in Black' is an outstanding ghost story. Other reviewers have already said just about all there is to say about this film, but I thought I would add my belated little review too. The made-for-TV movie has a deliberately slow first act, which chronicles the main character Arthur as he goes about his business as a solicitor in 1920s London. I can understand why this might not appeal to all palates. Nevertheless, for me, I love this British-style of storytelling similar to any of the BBC's "Ghost Story for Christmas" adaptations of the great M.R. James' work. In the second act, the ghost story kicks in as Arthur is sent to the provinces by his boss, to tidy up the affairs of a deceased client. The third act relentlessly builds up to a spine-tingling conclusion... As a Londoner, I have seen the play. I own the book, DVD-R and have the unabridged audio book on my iPod, too. What is sure for me, 'The Women in Black' on any medium is a ghost story with few equals. It is about time that we had a legitimate region 2 DVD release.