2003-03-09 | 10:13 p.m.

corduroy licorice was in over his head. his clothing was out of style otherwise, but he always wore the coolest hats.

***

the highlight of this weekend was that my homie came into town for a visit. i hardly ever get to see her now that she's big pimpin' in the big pippin. her sis and i soaked in a nice warm bath of her giggles over creme brulee. ahhhhhsome!

***

movie review time again.

this weekend i saw a great film that i wouldn't recommend. well, only to a few people who don't mind between swept into a bruising, backwards-spinning emotional whirlwind. the movie is called irreversible and stars the amazingly beautiful monica belluci and the unusually handsome vincent cassel as a couple whose lives unravel in the course of a few hours. (excellent acting by both. their love scene felt real and told a short story of why they were in love perfectly.)

like memento, this tale is told backwards. it starts with the credits and rolls into the "last" scene. from there it's like hitting "rewind" then "play" every 20 minutes until you get to the "opening" scene. each time the rewinding happens, the camera starts to spin like a merry-go-round as a signal to the audience (kinda like when wayne and garth do the "doodoodooaloo" sound with the wavy hand motions to imitate time travel--except a little more sophisticated.)

my favorite movie reviewer mike d'angelo gave this film an "A-" (no easy "A's" with this fella), so i knew it would be terrific. i didn't read his (or any other) review before seeing it. i wanted to walk in with no preconceptions. the only thing i knew was from a sign taped to the inside of the cinema ticket window that said it was not a film for the faint of heart and included an extended scene of a rape. i was a bit glad to know that part, so that i could prepare myself. otherwise it was cool not knowing what i was about to see.

the director/writer, gaspar noe, created a mesmerizing, visceral experiment in film-making. maybe the dogme 95 crew should take a note. even though the reverse order storytelling technique has been done, noe kept it fresh with frenetic camera work and rapid-fire dialogue that kept my adrenal glands cranked for most of the film.

since the "ending" scenes of the film are so traumatic, it's kind of a relief to move backwards to a happy beginning. the trick there is that since you know what fate has in store for these people, it makes their joyful times very bittersweet.

when people began to exit the theater after the film ended, i overheard a 20-something guy behind me glumly say, "i feel like i need to take a shower after that." so, yeah. it's not for everyone, but for anyone who loves the art of film--even when it takes you places you'd rather not go--prepare to be blown away. make that away blown.

<----������� ---->