TiVoPlex
By John Seal
November 30, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 12/01/09
3:30 AM Showtime Extreme
The Last Warrior (1989 GB): Future Star Trek semi-regular Gary Graham stars as a WW II American coast-watcher keeping an eye out for the Imperial Japanese Navy in this forgotten adventure flick. Graham plays Gibb, a military man assigned to a remote Pacific island keep his eyes peeled for the enemy. The big day arrives when, after sustaining heavy damage at the hands of American warplanes, the battleship Yamato hoves into view, and Gibb fires up the wireless to report the news. Unfortunately, the Japanese intercept his message and dispatch a squad of marines under the command of Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa to track him down and prevent him from sending further despatches. It's up to Gibb to outfox the Japanese, whilst also protecting the island's defenceless nuns and natives. Attractively lensed somewhere in the South Pacific, The Last Warrior blends elements of Enemy Mine and Hell in the Pacific, and though it isn't as good as either of those films, still provides decent (if historically inaccurate) entertainment value.
11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Scott of the Antarctic (1948 GB): Polar pioneer Robert Falcon Scott got his hagiographic moment in the sun in this first rate patriotic biopic from Britain's Ealing Studios. Scott, a Royal Naval officer of middle-class extraction, led several early 20th century expeditions to the South Pole on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society. The final one ended tragically in 1912, when, due to a combination of bad luck and poor planning, Scott and his fellow explorers perished on the Ross Ice Shelf. Directed by Charles Frend, Scott of the Antarctic features John Mills as the great man, and co-stars James Robertson Justice, Kenneth More, and (in his very first screen appearance) Christopher Lee as fellow jolly Jack Tars. Besides the quality cast and superb Technicolor cinematography of Jack Cardiff and Geoffrey Unsworth, the film also features a brooding and evocative score from composer Ralph Vaughn Williams that will have you edging a little closer to the space heater. It's followed at 1:00 AM on the following day by Quick Before It Melts (1964), a widescreen MGM comedy featuring Robert Morse and George Maharis as magazine reporters covering big news in Antarctica.
Wednesday 12/02/09
10:35 AM Starz
Persepolis (2007 FRA): It's easy to understand why this film didn't win the Best Animated Feature Academy Award in 2008 - any time you go up against Pixar, you're at a huge disadvantage - but as good as Ratatouille was, Persepolis was better. The story of a young Iranian woman growing up in the early days of the Islamic Revolution, the film is far from typical animated fare, but is also every bit as entertaining as the best offerings from our friends in Emeryville. If your idea of a cartoon for adults is Fritz the Cat, it's time for you to recalibrate your settings and check out this film. Also airs at 1:35 PM.
12:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
Isle of Fury (1936 USA): TCM has a day's worth of early, pre-stardom Humphrey Bogart pictures on offer today. I could take the easy route and suggest that you watch ‘em all, but if (as I suspect) you don't have that much free time on your hands, move this one to the top of your TiVo list. Bearing in mind that it's not the best film on the schedule (that would probably be The Petrified Forest), Isle of Fury is definitely worth watching for its outré plot and general obscurity. Bogart and Margaret Lindsay play Val and Lucille Stevens, newlyweds on a remote South Seas island whose marriage ceremony is interrupted by the offshore sinking of a merchant vessel. Val bravely rescues ship's captain Deever (Paul Graetz) and passenger Eric (Donald Woods) - but local sawbones Hardy (E.E. Clive) suspects something is up, and is proven correct when Eric is revealed to be a detective on Val's trail. Our hero's inglorious past is catching up with him, and things look grim for the Stevens' household - especially when Eric starts making eyes at Lucille. Should that synopsis not convince you to check out Isle of Fury, consider this: this is the only film Bogart made in which he gets to wrestle an octopus.
5:00 PM Encore Westerns
Captain Apache (1971 GB): Lee Van Cleef plays the title character in this British western, which isn't terribly special, other than the fact that it's a British western. The Captain, a U.S. Army officer who also happens to be Native American, is on the trail of the man who killed Commissioner Collier (Luis Induni), but has few clues to work with. In the process of his investigation, however, Apache stumbles across another assassination plot involving professional killer Griffin (bushy-browed Stuart Whitman) and woman from the past Maude (Carroll Baker). If seeing Van Cleef sans facial hair and in redface isn't sufficient enticement for you, factor in the fact that he also sings the theme song! Sadly appearing on Encore Westerns in pan and scan (even the film's UK DVD release isn't in its correct aspect ratio), Captain Apache also airs 12/3 at 1:00 AM.
Thursday 12/03/09
4:30 AM The Movie Channel
Brief Encounter (1974 GB): A prime example of the unnecessary remake, this glutinous made for TV take on Noel Coward's Brief Encounter replaces Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson with Richard Burton and Sophia Loren, but that's the least of the film's problems. Directed unimaginatively by Alan Bridges, this feature's tale of unrequited adultery must have seemed out of date the moment it aired on NBC in the middle of the sexy, swingin' 70s. If you've never seen David Lean's original film version, or are a huge Burton and/or Loren fan, you'll get some mileage from this Brief Encounter - but not much.
Friday 12/04/09
Midnight Turner Classic Movies
Hell's Heroes (1929 USA): A rather unlikely tale of Yuletide redemption, Hell's Heroes stars Charles Bickford, Raymond Hatton, and Fred Kohler as three bank robbers who try to make amends for their evil ways by rescuing a newborn babe in the middle of the desert. If the story sounds familiar, that's because Hell's Heroes is basically a sound remake of John Ford's 1926 oater 3 Bad Men, which would be remade again as Three Godfathers in both 1936 and 1948. They're all good films, especially if you're keen on Christian symbolism, but this is the only one of the four to feature Bickford, a great favorite in these parts and one of the most underappreciated of Golden Age Hollywood actors. He's superb as gang leader Bob Sangster, whose cold heart begins to melt when he learns his actions have left a child fatherless. Watch for John Huston in a bit part, and let me know if you're successful - ‘cause last time I watched Hell's Heroes, I couldn't find him.
5:00 PM Encore Dramatic Stories
A Clockwork Orange (1971 GB): According to my program guide, this is a widescreen airing of A Clockwork Orange, Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Anthony Burgess's dystopian novel of the same name. Considering Kubrick shot this (and most of his films) full-frame, I'm not quite sure what Encore Dramatic Stories has up its sleeve this afternoon, but it'll be worth a look to find out. Though not as good as the novel, Kubrick's film remains a powerful punch to the gut thanks to Malcolm McDowell's chilling portrayal of street punk Alex, whose days as a villain come to an end after he's imprisoned for the murder of a woman whose home he has invaded with his gang. Behind bars, Alex is subjected to terrible tortures in the name of rehabilitation, raising disturbing questions about free will, coercion, and the social contract. Pop art trappings aside, A Clockwork Orange remains as relevant today as in 1971—perhaps more so.
Saturday 12/05/09
5:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Street Scene (1931 USA): Director King Vidor previously examined the dehumanizing effects of modern urban life in his magisterial silent drama The Crowd, and he revisited the theme - now with sound - in 1931's Street Scene. Based on a hit play by Elmer Rice, the film takes place in and around a New York tenement, where resident Anna (Estelle Taylor) is engaged in an illicit affair with milkman Steve (Russell Hopton). Husband Frank (David Landau) suspects something's going on, but has no proof - until he returns early from a business trip and discovers the two churning butter together one afternoon. Though the film is resolutely stagy (it was shot on two sets), it displays Vidor's penchant for precise character study, and its pre-Code provenance admits a certain amount of grit that would have been sanded away if the film had been made three years hence. A fine supporting cast, including Beulah Bondi, John Qualen, and a very young Sylvia Sidney, is the icing on the cake.
6:00 PM Showtime
Transsiberian (2008 USA): Woody Harrelson stars in this above average suspenser set aboard the titular choo-choo. Directed by Brad Anderson, whose earlier features Session 9 and The Machinist established him as an intriguing new talent, Transsiberian features everyone's favorite legal pot advocate as Roy, a church volunteer travelling to Moscow with wife Jessie (Emily Mortimer) from a gig feeding starving children in China. The long and winding eight day trip through the vast expanse of Siberia has some surprises in store for them, however, including a randy Spaniard (Eduardo Noriega), a Russkie narco agent (Ben Kingsley), and some missing railroad cars. If you appreciated the tense and spooky atmosphere Anderson conjured up in Session 9, you'll love Transsiberian, which also airs at 9:00 PM and throughout the month.
Sunday 12/06/09
9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Miss Mend (1926 USSR): How quickly things change these days. A month ago I'd never heard of Miss Mend; three weeks ago I learned that Flicker Alley was about to release it on DVD, and now I find out it's making its American television premiere tonight on Silent Sunday Night. And what, you might ask, IS Miss Mend? Well, from what I've read about it in the past few weeks, it's a three-part, silent Soviet serial about the efforts of four loyal comrades working to disrupt a nefarious western plot to overthrow the Revolution. Apparently a huge hit in 1926 Russia, Miss Mend sounds like the perfect blend of American-style cinema hucksterism and Soviet-style agitprop - and sounds irresistible to me.