TiVoPlex
By John Seal
August 3, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 08/04/09
Midnight Sundance
Confessions of an Innocent Man (2007 CAN): The War on Terror ™ has also been a war on civil liberties. This Canadian documentary examines one of the war's more unusual victims: William Sampson, an engineer working in Saudi Arabia who was arrested and tortured until he confessed to a car bombing he had nothing to do with. Placed in solitary confinement, Sampson was repeatedly tortured and raped and denied all access to due process for three full years. But remember, folks: Saudi Arabia is one of the good guys, so it's really no big deal. This gut-wrenching doc won a Gemini Award, the Canuck equivalent of an Emmy.
5:30 AM The Movie Channel
Black Irish (2006 USA): Brendan Gleeson stars in this indie feature about life in hardscrabble South Boston. He plays Desmond McKay, an Irish immigrant raising three children with wife Margaret (Melissa Leo). Amongst the offspring is 16-year-old Cole (Michael Angarano), an altar boy with aspirations to be a professional baseball player — but Cole loves and admires his troubled older brother Terry (Tom Guiry), whose malign influence threatens to send the youngster off the straight and narrow. And there's also sister Kathleen's unplanned pregnancy to contend with! This episodic family drama rarely breaks new ground, but with the excellent Gleeson and Leo leading the way, it really doesn't matter. Also airs at 8:30 AM.
7:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Hard Times (1975 USA): A Depression-era drama from director Walter Hill, Hard Times stars Charles Bronson as Chaney, a Chicago street fighter who moves to New Orleans in an attempt to eke out a living on the bare-knuckled boxing circuit. Chaney works in cahoots with promoter Speed (James Coburn), but Speed is less than careful with money and Chaney's winnings never seem to amount to much. In fact, he's gambling the dough away, and getting so deep into debt that Chaney is compelled to fight a fixed bout in order to help him balance the books. Bronson was an actor of little range, but he's well suited for this role and Coburn is always a pleasure to watch. Also on hand: Mrs. Bronson, Jill Ireland, as a hooker with a heart of gold, and Strother Martin as a seedy doctor. Hard Times makes its widescreen television debut this evening.
Wednesday 08/05/09
4:55 AM MGM HD
Challenge of the Gladiator (1965 ITA): Coming at the end of the pepla cycle, Challenge of the Gladiator features Mission Impossible co-star Peter Lupus as rebellious slave and Greek patriot Spartacus. In this historically inaccurate outing, Spartacus takes on Roman senator Lucius (Massimmo Serato) and henchman Terenzo (Walter Barnes), who have travelled to Thrace to get their mitts on a legendary and extremely valuable treasure. Our hero plans to keep that treasure where it belongs, however, leading to the usual clash of swords and well-oiled musculature. If you like this sort of thing (and who doesn't), you won't want to miss this film's HD debut.
5:00 PM HBO 2
Boy Interrupted (2008 USA): I haven't seen this documentary yet, but it sounds interesting, if grueling. Focussing on the issues of childhood depression and teen suicide, Boy Interrupted was produced by Dana and Hart Perry (Hart was one of the cameramen on Barbara Kopple's Harlan County, U.S.A.), whose 15-year-old son Evan killed himself by leaping from the window of the family apartment. Boy Interrupted, which drew good notices on the festival circuit, also airs at 8:00 PM.
8:00 PM Sundance
Fraulein (2006 SUI-GER): Surprise, surprise....Fraulein is definitely a women's picture! Directed by Andrea Staka, a Swiss femme of Balkan descent, Fraulein tells the story of three Bosnian ladies who have fled their war-torn homeland for the sanctuary of Zurich. There's young Ana (Marija Skaricic), newly arrived in town without a penny to her name; middle-aged Ruza (Mirjana Karanovic), who runs a cafeteria; and elderly Mila (Ljubica Jovic), an employee of Ruza, and the film examines their relationships with each other as well as their struggles to adapt to a new society. If you enjoy character studies and George Cukor films, you'll probably also enjoy Fraulein. Airs again 8/6 at 2:00 AM.
Thursday 08/06/09
5:00 PM Fox Movie Channel
Wizards (1977 USA): Ralph Bakshi just ain't my bag. Fritz the Cat is, frankly, one of the most disgusting films I've ever seen, and American Pop, while it has its moments, is only worth watching for Bakshi's rotoscoping innovations. And then there's Wizards. Released in 1977 to great fanfare amongst the sword and sorcery crowd, it's an animated fantasy about a battle amongst mages to control Earth, post apocalypse. Like most of Bakshi's work, it's as ugly as sin, with characters even more distended and distorted than those in a Frank Frazetta poster, but it does feature some good voice talent (Susan Tyrrell, Richard Romanus) as consolation. Wizards makes its widescreen television debut tonight, so if you're into all things D&D, you might want to give it a look.
5:20 PM IFC
Caddyshack (1980 USA): All my jock buddies (yes, I have some) can't believe I've never seen Caddyshack. Amongst certain circles, it's regarded with gob-smacked awe, much as we effete intellectuals consider Last Year at Marienbad the bee's knees. All I know is there's a gopher in it, and it's another film making its first small screen appearance in its correct aspect ratio this week. Are my buddies and the AFI — who rank this as the seventh greatest sports film of all time — correct? I'll be tuning in to find out. Also airs at 11:05 PM.
Friday 08/07/09
3:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
Convicted (1950 USA): Glenn Ford is Joe Hufford, innocent victim of a flawed justice system, in this decent if unspectacular Columbia drama. Joe has ended up in stir thanks to a wrongful conviction on murder charges. Prosecutor Knowland (Broderick Crawford) is now (by amazing coincidence) warden of Joe's prison, and soon becomes convinced that his charge is not guilty — but when an inmate in Joe's cell ends up dead, Knowland's efforts to help him win his freedom get sidetracked. Though a pretty decent film, Convicted is burdened with a happy ending ridiculous even by the standards of early ‘50s Hollywood — but if you like Ford or Crawford, you're advised to give it a look anyway.
9:00 PM MGM HD
Breeders (1986 USA): Amongst the worst science fiction films of all time, Breeders makes a rare boob tube appearance tonight, and in hi-def, no less. Written and directed by porn veteran Tim Kincaid (L.A. Tool & Die, Tough Guys: Gettin' Off), Breeders examines a new plague stalking the streets of New York City: the serial rape of young virgin women, apparently savaged and impregnated by extraterrestrial beings. If you believe the video box-art for this film, these ET's look just like Alien chest-bursters, but the truth is not quite as exciting. If you like close encounters of the bare-breasted kind, however, you'll be well pleased.
9:15 PM Encore Dramatic Stories
The Counterfeiters (2007 OST): A Holocaust film unlike any other, The Counterfeiters tells the true story of labor camp inmates with a very special assignment: helping produce enough counterfeit Allied currency to bring down the West's financial system and bring glorious victory to the dear old Fatherland! Directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky, whose earlier film The Inheritors cast a cheeky eye upon Austrian land disputes, the film features Karl Markovics as Salomon Sorowitsch, a highly skilled Jewish counterfeiter sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp and assigned to the super secret operation. Salomon develops a strange relationship with camp commandant Herzog (Devid Striesow), who considers himself a cultured anti-Semite who admires good quality work. 2008's surprise winner of the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award, The Counterfeiters is a superb drama that will also keep you on the edge of your seat.
Saturday 08/08/09
8:10 PM IFC
Secretary (2002 USA): Probably not for all tastes, Secretary stars Maggie Gyllenhaal as Lee, a slightly disturbed young woman hired to be the personal assistant of lawyer Grey (James Spader). The two of them engage in a sado-masochistic sexual relationship, perhaps not a million miles away from the one detailed in Michael Hanecke's The Piano Teacher (2001). A solid if unspectacular indie cast, including Stephen McHattie, Jeremy Davies, and Lesley Ann Warren, support them. And I'm going to resist the temptation to make bad puns about taking dictation. Also airs 8/9 at 12:30 AM.
Sunday 08/09/09
7:00 AM IFC
Jab We Met (2007 IND): Not to be confused in any way, shape, or form with Star Wars' beloved Jabba the Hut, Jab We Met is a fairly rote Bollywood romantic comedy about a lonely rich guy (Shahid Kapur) trying to find true love. He ends up meeting a chatty Sikh girl (Kareena Kapoor) and travels with her to her home in Punjab, where complications ensue when her family decide they're a couple, which seems like a perfectly reasonable mistake to make under the circumstances. Jab We Met is minor Bollywood, but there's plenty of music and it's not as long as it could have been.
9:00 PM Encore Action
Black Gunn (1972 USA): This otherwise mediocre black action pic is worth watching for the cast alone. Jim Brown is posh nightclub owner Gunn, who gets himself mixed up in mob madness when his brother Scotty (Herb Jefferson Jr.) rips off money from Mafia big wig (and used car salesman) Capelli (Martin Landau). Also on hand: Bernie Casey as a Black Panther, fellow sports stars Deacon Jones and Vida Blue, Brenda Sykes, Luciana Paluzzi, and Keefe Braselle! Wow!!
Monday 08/10/09
3:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Esther Waters (1948 GB): It's Dirk Bogarde day on TCM, and whilst I might suggest you watch the whole enchilada, I'll instead focus on the more obscure films that are on the schedule. First up is Esther Waters, featuring Kathleen Ryan as a Victorian servant who finds herself in an, ahem, relationship with household footman William (Bogarde). William knocks up Esther, who ends up penniless and alone in a workhouse. Eventually clawing her way back into gainful employment, she then reencounters the caddish William, who has apparently turned over a new leaf and wishes to make an honest woman of her. This was the first starring role for Bogarde, and though the film tends to the melodramatic it's still quite interesting and not entirely predictable. It's followed at 5:00 AM by 1955's Simba, in which Dirk, Virginia McKenna, and Basil Sydney face off against the Mau Mau rebellion. Stiff upper lips, chaps and chapettes!
6:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Servant (1963 GB): This Harold Pinter adaptation was once regarded as one of Dirk's greatest films; though its reputation has cooled of late, it's still an important film laden with homoerotic tension. Bogarde (a gay man who remained in the closet until his death in 1999) plays Barrett, the very ‘umble manservant of posho Tony (James Fox). Tony has recently moved to London, and has hired Barrett to maintain his flat — but the master/servant relationship is slowly subverted, and the manipulative butler soon begins to assert authority over his employer. Directed by blacklisted expat Joseph Losey, The Servant co-stars Wendy Craig and Patrick Magee, whilst Pinter himself puts in a cameo appearance as a man of wealth and taste.
6:00 PM Sundance
Bigger Splash (1974 GB): I've never seen this film about pop-artist David Hockney, but it's reputed to be a most unusual documentary that eschews realism in favor of a semi-fictional take on its subject's life. Director Jack Hazan would later go on to work on Rude Boy, a film that also took autobiographical liberties with its subject, punk rock demi-gods The Clash.