TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex
By John Seal
July 24, 2007
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 07/24/07
9:30 AM Encore Action
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974 USA): A modest box office hit in its day, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot must now be considered one of the least well known of all Clint Eastwood films. That's a shame, as it's a hugely enjoyable caper flick, well written and directed by Hollywood wunderkind (and, thanks to the fiasco that was Heaven's Gate, future whipping boy) Michael Cimino, and featuring Eastwood at his most likable. He plays bank robber and gunnery specialist John 'Thunderbolt' Doherty, who, with the aid of brash sidekick Lightfoot (Jeff Bridges), plots the recovery of some hidden loot from a previous heist. Naturally, things don't go as smoothly as the pair envision, and they discover the 'sure thing' hiding place has undergone an unexpected transformation that requires a bold new approach involving an artillery piece. Add in the presence of fellow nogoodniks Eddie and Red (Geoffrey Lewis and George Kennedy), also anxious to get their hands on the dough, and you have a top-notch buddy movie with lots of action, comedic overtones, and most surprisingly, an Academy Award nominated performance from the cross-dressing Bridges. Sadly, it's airing in pan and scan, but this is its first television airing in quite some time — so give it a look. Maybe it'll show up in widescreen during TCM's next 'Thirty Days of Oscar'.
11:10 PM Starz
Memory of A Killer (2003 HOL): A police procedural set in the rustic Belgian city of Antwerp, Memory of A Killer stars Jan Decleir as Angelo Ledda, a hit man with a difference: he's in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, and he knows it. Sent on a final job, Angelo balks at the assignment and finds himself pursued by both sides of the law — even as his mind begins to betray him on the back streets of the ancient port town. The winner of the Audience Award at the 2003 Flanders International Film Festival, Memory of A Killer is a first-rate policier keynoted by a superb performance by Decleir, who brings a world weary puissance to his role worthy of a Jean Gabin or Lino Ventura. If you missed this one when it made its American television premiere back in May, make time for it tonight. Also airs 7/25 at 2:10 AM.
Wednesday 07/25/07
3:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Murder (1930 GB): Alfred Hitchcock's early British films generally (and 1936's Sabotage aside, correctly) aren't considered career highlights, but they're well worth watching as fascinating progress reports on the development of Hitch's style. Such is definitely the case with the creaky Murder, which features a young and dashing Herbert Marshall as a jurist who has second thoughts about his role in condemning a young actress (Norah Baring) to death for the murder of a stage colleague. Though slowly paced at times, Murder is an essential film for Hitchcock admirers, features Una O'Connor (Bride of Frankenstein) in one of her prototypical screeching landlady roles, and reputedly features the first interior monologue ever put to film.
Thursday 07/26/07
12:15 AM More Max
Sexo Con Amor (2003 CHI): A spicy Chilean sex comedy that seems pretty tame by American standards, Sexo Con Amor (Sex With Love) was a huge hit in its homeland, a conservative country that has only recently developed a taste for democracy and socially progressive ideas. The film stars Sigrid Alegria (Parantesis) as a schoolteacher who broaches the uncomfortable topic of sex education with her students' parents whilst maintaining two separate affairs of her own, including one with a married man. If you're looking for something raunchy, Sexo Con Amor doesn't exactly fill the bill, but it is a refreshingly blunt look at 21st century sexual mores in heavily Catholic South America.
3:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Washington Merry-Go-Round (1932 USA): The wonderful Lee Tracy plays Button Gwinnett Brown, a freshman congressman determined to clean up the corrupt cesspool that is Washington, DC, in this still fresh Columbia comedy. The idealistic Brown immediately crosses swords with the entrenched powers that be, including a pious Senator up to his ears in rum-running, and finds himself in love with a second Senator's daughter. After hours, Mr. Smith — er, sorry, Mr. Brown — reconnects with an old chum and makes common cause with the Bonus Army, World War I vets promised — and denied — a stipend to help them get through the darkest days of the Depression. (As a side-note, that 'Great American' George Patton led the army unit that busted the heads of the Bonus Army marchers and their families on July 28th 1932.) This marvelous piece of progressive cinema is followed at 5:00 AM by Merry Wives of Reno (1934), an amusing Warners' bill-filler with a truly impressive cast, including Glenda Farrell, Ruth Donnelly, Guy Kibbee, Donald Woods, Frank McHugh, Roscoe Ates, Louise Beavers, Hattie McDaniel, and Hobart Cavanaugh. With a cast of such quality, you won't be surprised to learn that this is definitely an above average second feature, even if the subject matter — quickie Nevada divorces — is less than scintillating.
Friday 07/27/07
7:00 AM Starz In Black
Children of Times Square (1986 USA): One of many cautionary tales produced for television throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Children of Times Square is no classic, but does have some things to recommend it. Written and directed by Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential, The Wonder Boys), the film features future Falcon Crest regular Brandon Douglas as Eric Roberts (!), an out of his depth 14-year-old runaway who decamps to the Big Apple, where he falls into the clutches of drug dealer Otis (Howard Rollins, Jr.). Otis takes young Eric under his wing, promising him comfort and safety in exchange for his assistance in moving cocaine on the street. Hanson desperately tries to keep the proceedings on a serious level, and thought the film looks laughably outdated at this point, he by and large succeeds. Look for Revenge of the Nerd's Lamar, Larry B. Scott, as a fellow street tough, and the late, great Joe Spinell as a sidewalk salesman.
Saturday 07/28/07
1:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Pharoah's Curse (1957 USA): After last week's Underground barrel scrapings (is there a worse 'horror' film than The Man Who Turned to Stone?) , things improve ever so slightly this week. Pharoah's Curse is little more than a 1950s update on the mummy meme, with an archaeological dig disrupted by the unwelcome arrival of a shambling, pajama clad baddie hell bent on revenge for some reason or another. It's a bit slow, which I guess is appropriate for mummy and zombie movies of the pre-28 Days Later era, but scores late in the game with a memorable arm wrenching scene that predates that of The Brain That Wouldn't Die by a good half decade.
Sunday 07/29/07
4:30 AM IFC
Incident At Loch Ness (2005 GER): Very few filmmakers can maintain a consistent level of excellence over the course of a long career, but German director Werner Herzog is one of the exceptions to the rule. Though it could well be argued that he reached his creative peak early - there are few films that can match the power and grandeur of 1972's Aguirre, the Wrath of God, for example - he continues to challenge and entertain discriminating audiences with his unique and puckish fare, and with this year's Rescue Dawn, he's still clearly close to the top of his game. Of late, however, he's generally worked in the documentary genre, crafting features such as My Best Fiend, Grizzly Man, and Little Dieter Learns to Fly as tributes to some of the obsessed types who clearly both fascinate and befuddle Herzog. This cod-mockumentary about the making of a documentary film about the legendary Nessie falls somewhere between tall tale and wicked self satire, as the director himself stars as himself, a filmmaker making a film about the Loch Ness monster whilst ANOTHER filmmaker (Zak Penn) makes a film about Herzog making a film about the Loch Ness monster. It's not as complicated as it sounds, and also airs at 9:30 AM and 2:30 PM.
11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
My Life As A Dog (1985): A Swedish coming of age drama, My Life As A Dog features Anton Glanzelius as an 11-year-old rapscallion sent to live with rural relatives by his ailing mother. You might anticipate that he gets up to all sorts of trouble whilst away from Mum's loving gaze, and you'd be at least partly right, as the lad discovers sex, death, and the pleasures of running around on all fours whilst barking madly. As far as this worn-out genre goes, My Life As A Dog is a pretty good example of the style, and features an impressive and completely guileless performance from young master Glanzelius.
Monday 07/30/07
2:20 AM Starz
The Heart of the Game (2005 USA): This documentary about a successful girls' high school basketball program had a terrific trailer — it must have been good, because even though I hate basketball, it sold me on the film — but it went nowhere at the box office. The Heart of the Game finally makes its television debut this morning, and for those of you who enjoyed Hoop Dreams, it makes a satisfying (if much shorter) companion piece to that epic. The film tells the parallel tales of high school senior and single mom Darnellia Russell and part time coach and full-time law professor Bill Resler, who led Seattle's Roosevelt High School to a state championship game whilst beating the odds and surmounting all the obstacles tossed in their way. This inspirational and completely riveting feature also airs at 5:20 AM.
3:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Secret Place (1958 GB: A lively piece of New Wave British cinema, The Secret Place stars Belinda Lee as an amoral young woman who betrays her gentleman friend in favor of a get rich quick scheme involving some stolen diamonds. The debut feature from director Clive Donner (The Nude Bomb), this is a little known crime drama with some great footage of a London making the transition from post-war rubble to swinging '60s glitter. It's followed at 4:30 AM by The Square Peg (1958), a routine Norman Wisdom comedy about a hapless council worker (Norman) who, after conscription, helps the war effort by imitating a Nazi general.
6:00 PM IFC
Darshan, the Embrace (2005 FRA): If you enjoyed Jan Kounen's mystical revisionist western Renegade (recommended here a few weeks back), you might want to take a look at this documentary about a 50-year-old Indian woman who hugs people — lots and lots of people. Kounen's film examines the life of Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, who estimates that she has hugged a mind-boggling 25 million human beings in her half century on Earth. She makes Maharishi Mahesh Yogi look like the piker he is. Also airs at 10:00 PM.