TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex
By John Seal
June 25, 2007
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 06/26/07
1:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Victim (1961 GB): Dirk Bogarde stars as the victim of a blackmailing scheme in this excellent drama directed by social problem specialist Basil Dearden. Bogarde plays Melville Farr, a successful lawyer whose late night dalliances with handsome young men have attracted the attention of an underhanded photographer. Melville has been married for many years to Laura (Sylvia Sims), her unwitting service as a beard allowing him to build his practice and become one of Britain's most highly regarded barristers. Enter stage right slimy Sandy Youth (Derren Nesbitt), whose snapshots of Farr in compromising positions with rent boy Barrett (Peter McEnery) threaten to derail his career. The first British film in which the word ‘homosexuality' was uttered, Victim was initially banned in the United States, but has long since earned its due as a groundbreaking feature - and the fact that Bogarde himself was a closeted gay man only adds to its impact.
6:30 PM Sundance
Plagues and Pleasures On the Salton Sea (2004 USA): When you think eco-documentary, you probably don't associate the genre with bad taste auteur John Waters. The two make an unlikely intersection here, with the fish out of water Waters providing narration for this unusual feature about California's Salton Sea, the state's largest saline lake and a one-time vacation destination that is now a poster child for ecological disaster. Once a fisherman's paradise during the 1950s, the Salton Sea is now best known for mass fish die-offs and botulism. Filled with delightfully outre footage from old promotional films and depressing contemporary footage of piles of dead fish, Plagues and Pleasures On the Salton Sea is essential viewing for anyone interested in the history and development of California. Also airs 6/28 at 9:30 PM.
Wednesday 06/27/07
1:30 AM Sundance
Derailroaded: Inside the Mind of ‘Wild Man' Fischer (2005 USA): For those of us who grew up listening to Dr. Demento every Sunday night, the name Wild Man Fischer meant one thing, and one thing only: the weekly repetition of a tuneless little ditty entitled My Name Is Larry. Little did we know that Larry ‘Wild Man' Fischer was not merely the construct of someone's imagination, but a real person suffering from a serious mental disorder who managed to get a record deal on Frank Zappa's Bizarre label years before fellow idiot savant Daniel Johnston ever saw the inside of a recording studio. It's unfortunate that anyone ever gave Larry Fischer the idea that he could have been a contender - the man is utterly though guilelessly lacking in talent. On a slightly happier note, Wild Man, who parted ways with Zappa after an incident involving a thrown bottle, has seen his condition improve of late thanks to finally being treated correctly for depression and schizophrenia.
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Staircase (1969 GB): An evening of gay-themed films from the late 1960s kicks off with Stanley Donen's Staircase, a paean to a pair of mincing, bitchy London hairdressers. The two are played by a limp-wristed Richard Burton, who is good but over-the-top, and a more restrained Rex Harrison, who was possibly more comfortable in his role than was the hyper-masculine Welshman. It's by no means perfect, but was the first film from a major studio to attempt a realistic portrayal of a gay couple, beating William Friedkin's The Boys in the Band by a year. If you can overcome some of the not-so-flattering gay stereotypes, you'll find a warm-hearted and moving film that was well ahead of its time and still remains quite entertaining. It's followed at 7:00 PM by the aforementioned Boys In the Band (1970), the first American film to plunge headlong into the gay subculture; at 9:15 PM by The Fox (1968), a D.H. Lawrence adaption about a lesbian couple living in rural Canada; and at 11:00 PM by The Killing of Sister George (1968), a surprisingly frank exploration of same-sex love in modern-day Britain. All four films are making their TCM debuts, and are of course airing in their correct aspect ratios.
Thursday 06/28/07
10;00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Girls In Chains (1943 USA): Any film entitled Girls In Chains is bound to get a recommendation in the TiVoPlex - but alas, this luridly titled feature isn't quite the camp classic you might hope for, instead being an ultra-cheap Edgar Ulmer melodrama from the legendary Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). Addison Randall (who?) stars as Johnny Moon, a particularly unpleasant mobster who has his hand in the public till and runs the local reform school on behalf of the thoroughly bent city fathers. Life's grand for Johnny - until his do-gooder of a sister in law, Helen (Arline Judge), starts offering assistance to the wayward women housed at the reformatory and uncovers corruption behind bars. Made for a mere $20,000 and shot in only 5 days, Girls In Chains was a box office hit, anticipating by several decades the commercial success of the women-in-prison genre. Without this film, there would have been no Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS!
Friday 06/29/07
5:00 PM Fox Movie Channel
The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989 USA): This drama was a surprising hit when it came out, but has since sunk back into relative - and undeserved - obscurity. The film stars real life brothers Jeff and Beau Bridges as professional musicians Jack and Frank Baker, who've eked out a small but satisfactory living on the chicken in a basket circuit for many years. With their act wearing thin, the boys decide to inject some new blood into the proceedings, and hire aspiring torch singer Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer) to give them a lift. The ploy works, and once again the duo-turned-trio are a hit - but when Jack and Susie start making eyes at each other, their fling provokes a family schism that threatens to put an end to the enterprise. Written and directed by Steve Kloves - now best known for penning the big screen Harry Potter adaptations - The Fabulous Baker Boys was nominated for four Academy Awards but won none. It's making its widescreen television debut this evening, and airs again at 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM.
9:00 PM IFC
Sleepaway Camp (1983 USA): Way back in 2005, the comedy sequels to this teen slasher flick got a few airings in widescreen on the Flix Channel. Now the original finally returns to the small screen after a prolonged absence. Produced at the height of the genre's success, Sleepaway Camp tells the decidedly unfunny tale of Angela, a disgruntled first time camper who is subjected to teasing and ridicule at the hands of her fellow outdoor enthusiasts. When her tormenters begin to drop dead one by one via a series of ghastly set piece murders, suspicions center on the seemingly harmless Angela - or could her protective cousin Ricky be responsible? Surprisingly bereft of nudity and not exactly generous with the gore, Sleepaway Camp is a comparatively sedate example of the style buoyed by Felissa Rose's surprisingly effective, first time performance as 13-year-old Angela. All in all, it's not the worst way to spend a Friday night, especially if you dislike teenagers.
Saturday 06/30/07
9:00 AM Sundance
Charley Varrick (1973 USA): Walter Matthau plays the title character in this very satisfying Don Siegel-helmed crime drama. Charley's a disheveled bank robber who, with the aid of wife Sybil (Felicia Farr) and pal Harman (Andrew Robinson), pull a heist at a small Nevada bank - only to discover some of the loot actually ‘belongs' to the Mob. (Matthau's role was originally written for Clint Eastwood, but Clint, apparently more comfortable with his Dirty Harry Callahan persona, declined the part because he thought it lionized criminal behavior.) With a ruthless Mafia hit-man (Joe Don Baker) on their trail, our anti-heroes are determined to outfox him and make a clean getaway - but naturally, things don't go as planned. Gritty location work, a consistently engaging Dean Riesner-Howard Rodman screenplay, and fine support from William Schallert and Norman Fell make this one of Siegel's best action flicks.
Sunday 07/01/07
11:00 AM Showtime
Meatballs (1979 USA): It feels like déjà vu all over again here at the TiVoPlex. As with the previously mentioned Sleepaway Camp films, the Meatballs franchise has been well represented on premium cable of late - excluding the series' progenitor, which finally makes its return this morning. If you want a less bloody take on the pains and pleasures of summer camp life, this Ivan Reitman helmed comedy should fill the bill. Documenting the childish goings on at Camp North Star, where head counsellor Tripper (Bill Murray, terrific as always) has his hands full maintaining order, Meatballs is 90 minutes of inconsequential but good natured fun, and airs again at 2:00 PM.
9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
A Lady of Chance (1928 USA): Gorgeous Norma Shearer plays woman of the world Angel Face Morgan in this excellent and typically sumptuous MGM silent directed by Robert Z. Leonard. Angel Face uses her gig as a hotel elevator operator to gold dig gullible rich men, and soon targets concrete magnate Steve Crandall (Johnny Mack Brown) as a possible source of supplemental income. Having sunk her claws into Crandall, the couple head down south to check out his lucrative plantation - but when two of Angel Face's criminal chums decide to get in the act, she discovers she's really fallen for the guy. According to legend, co-star Brown actually fell for Shearer, plying her with flowers and chocolates during production. No word on how hubby Irving Thalberg responded to Brown's schoolboy crush, but Shearer went on to be one of the early stars of the talkies, whilst Brown was banished to the relative obscurity of ‘B' westerns.
Monday 07/02/07
7:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
These Are the Damned (1962 GB): Here's this week's most exciting entry, a little known and little seen British science fiction feature making its premium channel debut. Not to be confused with Village of the Damned or Children of the Damned, These Are the Damned does, however, also focus on children - in this case, special children being bred to survive a nuclear war by a scientist named Bernard (Alexander Knox). The film is so intriguing and unusual that I'm not going to spoil it for you by revealing too much plot, but the cast alone - which also features Oliver Reed, Macdonald Carey, Shirley Ann Field (Peeping Tom), Walter Gotell, Viveca Lindfors, and James Villiers - is reason enough to watch.