TiVoPlex
By John Seal
September 28, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 09/29/09
2:30am Sundance
Incident at Oglala (1992 USA): June 26 1975: a day that will live in infamy. During a period of heightened tension on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian reservation, two FBI officers were killed in a shootout with Native American activists whilst trying to arrest a man for the theft of a pair of boots. The fall guy: American Indian Movement member Leonard Peltier, on the lam from attempted murder charges for which he was later acquitted, and fingered by a mentally ill woman who'd never met him. The damage: two consecutive life terms and no possibility of parole until 2024, when Peltier turns 80. This excellent documentary by Michael Apted (7 Up, et al) makes a strong case in Peltier's favor and gently suggests he's a political prisoner serving time for his dangerous and provocative opinions. Produced and narrated by Sundance Channel founder Robert Redford, Incident at Oglala was nominated for the Critics Award at the 1992 Deauville Film Festival.
6pm Sundance
Know Your Mushrooms (2008 USA): Documentarian Ron Mann's latest effort is a light-hearted salute to the humble fungal beloved of gourmands and hippies the world over. Shot at Telluride's annual Mushroom Festival, Mann's film thankfully concentrates on the culinary uses for "shrooms, with only brief side trips concerning the third eye-opening qualities of certain varieties. If you've seen other Mann films (Tales of the Rat Fink, Comic Book Confidential) you'll know exactly what to expect. Also airs 9/30 at 12:15am.
7pm Turner Classic Movies
The Road Builder (1971 GB): This thriller gave me a pretty good case of the willies the last time I saw it...of course, I was 11 or 12 at the time, but still. Originally released as The Night Digger, the film stars Patricia Neal as Maura, a middle-aged spinster ensconced with her mother (Pamela Brown) in a gloomy mansion in the English countryside. Enter dashing young motorcyclist Billy (Nicholas Clay), who brings energy, excitement, and sexual tension to the old homestead, as well as a penchant for serial killing. Written by Neal's husband Roald Dahl, and featuring a fine score by Bernard Herrmann, The Road Builder stretches credulity at times but remains a fine showcase for the divine Ms. Neal. Check out its willie-giving abilities yourself.
Wednesday 09/30/09
8pm Sundance
Jellyfish (2007 ISR): The lives of three Tel Aviv women are explored in this decent, if far from groundbreaking, drama. Thankfully avoiding the worn-out device of interwoven plots (well, at least until the final reel), Jellyfish examines the unrelated experiences of beach-goer Batya, who meets-cute with a lost little girl; Keren, who breaks her ankle trying to get out of a restroom cubicle; and Joy, a Filipino worker caring for a rather unpleasant senior citizen. This whimsical, entirely non-political Israeli film clocks in at a brisk 78 minutes, and airs again 10/1 at 2:45am.
Thursday 10/01/09
3:15am Showtime Extreme
Rescue Dawn (2006 USA): German bad boy Werner Herzog briefly dipped his toe into the mainstream with this exciting film about American prisoners of war during the Vietnam conflict. Christian Bale stars as Dieter Dengler, a German immigrant who joins the US Air Force, only to get shot down whilst flying a combat mission over Laos. Imprisoned and tortured by the Viet Cong, Dieter meets fellow POWs Duane (Steve Zahn) and Gene (Jeremy Davies), and though the three are desperate to escape, they disagree vehemently about how to do so. Filmed in lush jungle reminiscent of Herzog's Aguirre the Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo, Rescue Dawn is a fictional representation of the events depicted in the director's earlier documentary, Little Dieter Learns to Fly. DirecTV's program guide indicates Rescue Dawn is airing in wide-screen this morning; great news if it's correct, but previous airings on Showtime 3 were also supposed to be letterboxed and...weren't. Also airs at 4:55pm.
7am Turner Classic Movies
Mrs. Soffel (1984 USA): Here's one of those "we report, you decide" moments in the TiVoPlex. This extremely anemic prison drama stars Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson, neither of whom excite me much, and will remind you of better films like The Shawshank Redemption, Dead Man Walking, and Bonnie and Clyde. However, Mrs. Soffel is making its wide-screen television debut this evening, so if you're an original aspect ratio fanatic, favorably inclined towards Mad Mel, or just want to check out the film debut of 14-year-old Heather Graham, you might want to save a little space on your hard drive for it.
Friday 10/02/09
10am Showtime
Mario's Story (2006 USA): If your appetite for injustice wasn't sated by Incident at Oglala, you might want to scope this documentary about Mario Rocha, a California inmate serving - you guessed it - two consecutive life terms for murder and attempted murder. Rocha, who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, was accused of gang-banging a teenager at an East LA kegger and was assigned a crummy public defender who got his clock cleaned by zealous prosecutors. The film explores the efforts of prison chaplain Janet Harris to get Mario a new trial, and while it's neither the subtlest nor least-manipulative doc you've ever seen, it makes a strong case that will tug at both your conscience and your heartstrings. Also airs at 1pm.
9pm Sundance
Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback (2006 GER-USA): Legendary rockers The Monks get their due in this absolutely terrific feature from filmmaker Dietmar Post. For those not yet in the know, The Monks were a group of five American GIs stationed in West Germany and bored out of their ever-lovin' skulls. Originally a bar band known as the Torquays, the group were taken under the wing of managers Walther Niemann and Karl-Heinz Remy, who re-invented them as an avant-garde proto-punk band of tonsured weirdos and got them a deal with Polydor Records. The Monks went on to surprising success in Germany, as can be seen from the copious performance footage excerpted within, but would soon break up and disappear from popular consciousness until the 1990s, when their LP Black Monk Time was rediscovered by, amongst others, The Fall's Mark E. Smith. Their story is fascinating and their music remains as exciting today as it was when first recorded over 40 years ago. Also airs 10/3 at 2:05am and 9:30am.
Saturday 10/03/09
12:30am Turner Classic Movies
The Wild Party (1956 USA): Not to be confused with 1974's The Wild Party, this shindig features Anthony Quinn as Tom Kupfen, an aging football star whose best days are well behind him. He can't quite get used to no longer being BMOC and spends his copious spare time listening to jazz, hanging out with a bunch of losers, and drinking far too much. Tom and his pals decide to rob a young couple in hopes of maybe gleaning enough money to pay their bar tabs, but things don't go precisely as planned and the strong-arming turns into a kidnapping. Considered rather outrageous in its day, this excellent thriller - never available on home video - co-stars Arthur Franz, Nestor Paiva, and Paul Stewart.
2am Turner Classic Movies
Perversion for Profit (1965 USA): Poor George Putnam must have been completely discouraged by the time he passed on in late 2008: his warning had gone unheeded, and the culture wars lost. Perversion for Profit is an amazing and angry screed about the dangers of sodomy, bestiality, sado-masochism, nudism and nudity, and homosexuality! homosexuality! homosexuality! Why, with the triple threat of the printing press, rapid transit, and mass distribution, the threat is all around us. And who is it that is poisoning the minds of our youth? Godless Communism, of course, with a helping hand from their foot soldiers, the hook-nosed, cigar chomping money-grubbers who drive this two billion dollar-a-year industry. George assures us that the Supreme Court and the law are on our side, and it's up to us (presumably the man of the house) to check and double-check all the reading material that enters our homes to make sure it is wholesome and good. The tone of Putnam's narration suggests he already knew the game was up when he made this film, which was produced by one of the great men of the 20th century, John McCain's pal Charles Keating Jr., who spent time in jail for fraud, racketeering, and conspiracy. But not, thank jeebus, smut-peddling!
3:30am Showtime 3
Nursery University (2008 USA): You won't believe what some parents will do to get their kids into a good college...or high school...or middle school...or elementary school...or...pre-school? The competition for spaces in Manhattan's pre-K private schools is cutthroat, and it's recorded in all its gory, embarrassing detail in this extremely watchable documentary from directors Matthew Makar and Marc Simon. You'll be especially impressed with the mother who proclaims, "we're used to getting what we set out to get". Suffer the little children, indeed.
6am Turner Classic Movies
Dick Tracy (1937 USA): This week's whiz-bang chapter-play action arrives in the form of Chapters 9 and 10, Stratosphere Adventure and The Gold Ship.
Sunday 10/04/09
1:15am Turner Classic Movies
The Horsemen (1971 USA): I'd love to know how this one got green-lighted by Columbia producer Edward Lewis. "Yeah, Ed, it's John Frankenheimer. I've got a script here I'd like to pitch to you. Story's set in Afghanistan. AFGHANISTAN. I dunno, its some podunk country in Africa, I think. Yeah, anyway, it's about a bunch of sweaty macho types who play buzkashi. No, no, not booze-catching, buzkashi. Y'know, it's that game where they ride around on horses and sorta play polo, only they don't use a ball, they use a headless goat. Yeah. The script? That pinko bastard Dalton Trumbo wrote it. You like? GREAT. I got Omar Sharif and Jack Palance lined up already!"
5pm IFC
Good Guys Wear Black (1978 USA): Did you ever think you'd see Chuck Norris on the Independent Film Channel? No, I didn't either, but here he is, and in wide-screen no less. This was the film that made him a star, and he plays John Booker, an ex-Special Forces guy whose Vietnam War veteran pals are being mysteriously knocked off one...by one...by one. Is it the CIA? Is it the Viet Cong? Or is it Obamacare? The roots of Norris' apocalyptic worldview are on full display in this ridiculous-but-enjoyable thriller, which co-stars Jim Backus, Dana Andrews, and James Franciscus. Also airs at 10:05pm.
9pm Sundance
Bloody Reunion (2006 ROK): This South Korean feature blends elements of both slasher and torture porn genres to middling effect. Also known as To Sir With Love (!), Bloody Reunion takes place at a bucolic countryside cottage where seven primary-school classmates are re-uniting with their former teacher, Mrs. Park, now ill and immobilized in a wheelchair. Mrs. Park's memories are all happy ones, but her students don't feel the same way. Frankly, they remember her as being a bit of a b-i-t-c-h. No time for navel-gazing, though; before you can say "must try harder", the X-Acto blades are flashing and the blood is flowing. At the very least, it's a refreshing change from long-haired ghosts and killer cell phones.
Monday 10/05/09
8am HBO Signature
Máncora (2008 ESP): Young people behave badly in this decent, if rather unfocused, Spanish road movie. Jason Day plays Santiago, a twenty-something Lima ne'er-do-well trying to recover from his father's suicide. Salvation lies, apparently, on the beaches of Máncora, a Peruvian seaside resort favored by the hard-drinkin', hard-druggin', multiple sexual-partnerin' young adult set, and Santi is soon partying with the best of them. It's been compared - not always favorably - to Y Tu Mamá También, so use that as your yardstick when measuring Máncora's potential to pleasure you.
6pm HBO
Outrage (2009 USA): I haven't seen this film yet but I imagine it won't be teaching me much I didn't already know. Directed by Kirby Dick, Outrage examines the deep current of repressed homosexuality in the Republican Party, where closet-case pols rail against the Gay Agenda whilst engaging in wide stances and sham marriages during their off-hours. Dick's previous two films - Twist of Faith and This Film Is Not Yet Rated - were both excellent, so I'm anticipating Outrage will provide an entertaining, if not particularly revealing, 90 minutes. Of course, when you're talking about Larry Craig and co., the less revealing the better. Also airs at 9pm.