TiVoPlex
By John Seal
June 8, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 06/09/09
8:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Night Ambush (1958 GB): TCM's theme this month is "Great Directors" — which is perfectly acceptable, but tends to exacerbate the channel's primary flaw, "been there done that" syndrome. Still, even the greatest directors have the occasional hidden gem in their filmography — and here's one such item, an obscure war tale from the Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger tag team. Dirk Bogarde stars as Major Paddy Leigh-Fermer, commander of a super secret unit sent to kidnap a high-ranking German officer stationed on Crete. The plan is to take General Kreipe (Marius Goring) to Cairo for interrogation, and Paddy's men nab him with little difficulty, but bad weather and rough terrain contribute to slow progress transport wise, allowing the nasty Nazi to leave a trail of clues for his troops to follow. Can Paddy and his ridiculous comic-Greek moustache overcome the cunning of the mighty Wehrmacht? Though not considered a highlight of Powell and Pressburger's career, Night Ambush (originally released in Britain as Ill Met by Moonlight) is a taut and entertaining thriller, and co-stars Cyril Cusack, Michael Gough, and Christopher Lee as a dental patient!
10:50 PM Encore Mystery
Jindabyne (2006 AUS): This above average Australian drama from director Ray Lawrence (Lantana) died an undeserved death at the American box office. It returns to the small screen this evening, and features everywoman Laura Linney as Claire, the wife of secretive Irish auto mechanic Stewart (Gabriel Byrne). Stewart has just returned from his annual fishing trip with his drinking buddies - a trip low-lighted by their discovery of the dead body of a young aboriginal woman. Undisturbed, the men don't report the death until they return from holiday, forcing Claire to ask herself how well she really knows the man she married. Beautifully shot in New South Wales and featuring standout performances by the two leads, Jindabyne deserves a far wider audience than the one it has heretofore enjoyed.
Wednesday 06/10/09
7:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Sullivan's Travels (1941 USA): My personal favorite Preston Sturges feature, Sullivan's Travels is a piquant mix of laugh-out-loud humor and stinging social commentary from America's foremost cinema satirist. Joel McCrea stars as John Sullivan, a director of lightweight film fare who takes to the road in order to learn something about the harsh realities of life and perhaps provide his features with an edgier touch that will appeal to the common man. Disguised as a hobo and with only one thin dime in his pocket, Sullivan soon befriends a beautiful would-be actress (Veronica Lake, who gives the best performance of her career), and the two partake of all that a life riding the rails can offer, including a stint in the poorhouse and some quality time on the chain gang. A flop on its initial release, Sullivan's Travels is now rightly considered an American film classic, and though ostensibly a comedy, features scenes as powerful as any in John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath. It's an essential viewing experience for anyone seriously interested in the cinema arts.
Thursday 06/11/09
3:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
The Bowery (1933 USA): Wallace Beery stars in The Bowery, an almost forgotten Raoul Walsh drama set during the gay '90s. A Beery Bowery...something about that just sounds right, don't you think? Anyhoo, Beery plays Chuck Connors, a barkeep vying with slimy gambler Steve Brodie (George Raft) for the hand of virtuous Lucy Calhoun (Fay Wray). Though one of the most blatantly racist films of its time, it's also the sort of gritty man's picture Walsh excelled in and is really quite good if you can get past the Asian-baiting and the unrepeatable name of Connors' saloon. Interesting footnotes: real life actor Steve Brodie (born John Stevens) purportedly took his screen name from a bookie who jumped off the Brooklyn bridge in 1886 — an event recreated in this very picture — whilst fellow western actor Chuck Connors was known as Chuck Connors from childhood.
10:40 PM HBO Signature
Ganja Queen (2007 AUS): "You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life...See that girl, watch that scene, diggin' the Ganja Queen!" I LOVE that song, which was written by Benny, Bjorn, and Stig specifically for this fascinating documentary about an Australian tourist named Schapelle Corby. Corby's 2004 holiday trip to Indonesia was spoiled when customs agents uncovered a ten-pound sack of oregano in her luggage, a transgression worthy of the death penalty in that island nation. Was she the unwitting tool of a nefarious gang of herb smugglers - or was she a canny, pot-pushing monster convinced she could play dumb and fool (or perhaps pay off) the incorruptible Indonesian civil servants? Directed by Janine Hosking, whose excellent Mademoiselle and the Doctor took a look at assisted suicide in Australia, Ganja Queen will have you checking and double-checking the status of your luggage. Has it REALLY been in your possession since you first packed it?
11:45 PM Turner Classic Movies
Red Beard (1965 JAP): Toshiro Mifune stars as Dr. Niide, the titular "Red Beard", in this lesser known effort from Akira Kurosawa. Niide is the head doctor at a rural charity hospital in early 19th century Japan, where the arrival of a new and well-trained intern (Yuzo Kayama) from the big city of Nagasaki sparks a rivalry with old set in his ways "Red Beard". The film offers plentiful examples of Kurosawa's skills: he has an outstanding cast, superb cinematography, and a fascinating story about pre-modern Japanese medicine that is episodic but never boring — even at a full three hours in length.
Friday 06/12/09
3:15 PM Showtime
Steel City (2006 USA): American indie films have earned a pretty bad, if honestly earned, reputation over the last decade or so, but here's an indie that's definitely worth a look. Written and directed by Illinoisan Brian Jun, Steel City features '70s indie vet John Heard as Carl Lee, a working class Joe who ends up behind bars after getting himself mixed up in a little vehicular manslaughter. Carl's eldest son, mill worker Ben (Clayne Crawford), has always had his differences with the old man and definitely belongs to the good riddance to bad rubbish school, whilst unlucky younger sibling PJ (Mystic River's Tom Guiry) empathizes with Dad and goes to visit him in jail at every opportunity. Will the Lee family pull together — or will Carl's problems permanently tear them asunder? Shot on location in Jun's hometown of Alton, Steel City does its damnedest to avoid the clichés of the working class drama, and though it doesn't succeed consistently, it's still well worth your while. Look for lovely America Ferrara in a small role. Also airs at 6:15 PM and 6/13 on Showtime 2 at 5:15 PM.
5:00 PM The Movie Channel
Stuck (2007 USA): From Re-Animator to Robot Jox to the more recent Edmond, director Stuart Gordon rarely gets his due. Stuck looked, momentarily, to be his big break, but alas, it sank at the box office, grossing a paltry $67,000. Considering the film cost around $5,000,000 to make, it's probably going to be a while before Gordon gets the keys to the camera handed to him again. That's a shame, because Stuck is a wonderfully wicked little film about transient Tom (Stephen Rea), who meets very uncute with nursing assistant Brandi (Mena Suvari). Hopped up on pills and beer after a celebratory night on the tiles, Brandi hits Tom whilst driving home, and then motors home with the poor man lodged in her broken windshield — which is where he stays for the balance of the film. Based on a true story, Stuck is an unabashedly cynical take on the perversely selfish aspects of contemporary American society, which probably explains its $67,000 take. Help Stuart Gordon out: watch Stuck tonight, and then give generously to his next production, whatever it may be. Also airs at 8:00 PM.
Saturday 06/13/09
6:00 PM Showtime
Into the Wild (2007 USA): Has it really taken this brilliant Sean Penn-helmed biopic almost two years to come to television? That's quite surprising, but now that Into the Wild is here, I can't recommend it strongly enough. Emile Hirsch stars as footloose and fancy free Emory grad Chris McCandless, who threw his degree and life savings away in favor of a life spent in the wilderness of Alaska. Along the way he meets folks and has adventures, but always remains an enigma, his motivation and intentions about as clear as mud. Into the Wild is episodic and its finale tinged with an air of inevitability, but Penn proves he's as capable behind the camera as in front, and the result is a gut-wrenching emotional rollercoaster ride. Also of great note: Hal Holbrook's lovely, low-key performance as the one man who almost makes a connection with McCandless, and Eddie Vedder's superb "songtrack" of specially commissioned tunes. Also airs at 9:00 PM.
Sunday 06/14/09
3:00 AM IFC
Vagabond (1985 FRA): Frozen homeless people seem to be the TiVoPlex theme of the week. Vagabond stars Sandrine Bonnaire as Mona, a beautiful tramp who lives through a series of misadventures before coming to a most unfortunate end in a frosty ditch. I haven't seen this one since it came out, so my memories are minimal, but I do recall the film looking very, very cold indeed. Directed by Agnes Varda, Vagabond earned numerous Cesar nominations — one of which turned into a Best Actress award for Bonnaire.
9:15 PM Sundance
Acacia (2002 ROK): More Korean cinematic mayhem ensues in Acacia, a baby-gone-bad melodrama with a central conceit that reminds me of Jan Svankmajer's Little Otik. The film tells the story of a childless couple (Kim Jin-Geun and Shim Hye-Jin) who adopt Jin-Seong, a lovable six-year-old who enjoys burning down the garden shed and chowing on insects when he isn't spending quality time bonding with the giant Acacia tree in the backyard. Ah, the wonder years, I remember them well. When the previously infertile couple suddenly cross-pollinate and produce offspring, Jin-Seong does a runner - but things turn decidedly weird when that big ol' tree starts asserting itself beyond the smothering confines of the family garden. Ostensibly, Acacia is director Park Ki-Hyung's commentary on his country's "adoption industry", but if you prefer to watch it as a horror film about a maniacal toddler and a tree possessed by evil spirits, be my guest.
Monday 06/15/09
7:00 HBO Signature
El Cuerno de la Abundancia (2008 ESP-CUB): I haven't seen this comedy-drama yet, but it has a good reputation and sounds intriguing: it's about a young Cuban (Jorge Perrugoria) who hears rumors of an inheritance awaiting him in a Bank of England account. Apparently his loyal Communist dad is less than keen on his son acquiring so much as a sniff of the filthy western lucre. The film was written and directed by Juan Carlos Tabio, whose 1994 effort Strawberry and Chocolate was a hit on the bootleg tape trading circuit.