TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex for January 12 2010 through January 18 2010
By John Seal
January 11, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 1/12/10
4:00 AM Cinemax
The Terrorists (1975 GB): ...hate us because of our freedoms? Nope - the terrorists in The Terrorists are of the Irish Republican variety, and hate us (and by us, I mean the scurvy Brits) for our steak and kidney pie, Chocolate Hobnobs, and John Bull waistcoats. They're led by Ian Bannen, who seizes an airliner and threatens to blow it up whilst it sits on the ground at a Scandinavian airport. It's up to Norwegian police inspector Sean Connery (!) to throw a spanner in the works. Though no classic, The Terrorists benefits from its two charismatic leads and excellent cold weather photography from Sven Nykvist, who presumably knew from cold weather. Also airs at 7:00 AM.
4:45 AM Sundance
The Pool (2007 USA): Documentarian Chris Smith took a temporary trip into fictional territory with this unusual shot in India comedy-drama. Set in the former Portuguese enclave of Goa, The Pool stars Venkatesh Chavan and Jhangir Badshah as Venkatesh and Jhangir, two Indian adolescents who work in a hotel whilst selling second-hand plastic bags on the side. The two become obsessed with a nearby mansion with its own (apparently unused) pool, and Venkatesh manages to insinuate his way into the lives of the occupants. After being hired by householder Nana (Nana Patekar) to do odd jobs, he falls for his new employer's attractive daughter (Ayesha Mohan) and learns how to halve a coconut, amongst other valuable lessons. Shot in a semi-documentary neo-realist style, The Pool is based on a short story set in Iowa, but transitions well to its South Asian setting. It's a surprisingly assured fiction effort from the director of American Movie and The Yes Men, and airs again at 11:00 AM and on 1/17 at 5:15 AM.
7:45 AM Sundance
Fermat's Room (2007 ESP): There's considerable fun - if an only partly satisfying payoff - in this fine Spanish suspenser from writer-directors Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sopena. It's an old-fashioned locked room thriller about a group of mathematicians invited to a dinner party - only to find out that their host is serving naught but revenge. The first half of the film is particularly engaging, as the characters try to figure out why they've been targeted whilst also racing against time to solve complex math problems that may (or may not) save their lives. It's been described as Saw without the gore, which seems an apt description to me. Also airs at 1:00 PM.
Wednesday 1/13/10
5:20 AM IFC
Kill the Poor (2007 USA): Not a documentary based on the Dead Kennedy's song of the same name (or any GOP legislation of the last 40 years), Kill the Poor is an above-average indie about life on Manhattan's Lower East Side during the hardscrabble early 1980s. Adapted for the screen by Lemony Snicket author Daniel Handler from Joel Rose's novel, the film follows the efforts of everyman Joe (David Krumholtz) to find safe and affordable housing for his wife (Clara Beller) and their forthcoming progeny. Alas, his old neighborhood is now awash in drug addicts and ladies of the night, and it's up to Joe to pull out his Magnum 357 and clean things up. Er, no, wrong film - but someone DOES commit an act of arson, all in the name of improving the local quality of life. This is a solid, well written film that manages to avoid most of the indie ghetto clichés, and also looks great thanks to Harlan Bosmajian's widescreen photography. Also airs at 9:40 AM and 2:00 PM.
Thursday 1/14/10
12:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Strawberry Statement (1970 USA): Strangely enough, this is not an industrial short produced on behalf of the US Department of Agriculture, but a forgotten MGM counterculture drama set in (where else) the hippie capital of San Francisco. X-Men's Senator Kelly, Bruce Davison, stars as college student Simon, a straight arrow observing campus unrest from a safe distance. Simon's more than happy to go to class and compete on the school rowing team - until he meets student revolutionary Linda (Kim Darby) and decides hanging out with the heads is a great way to meet girls. Unfortunately, things go horribly wrong when the National Guard show up. Long out of circulation and unavailable in any format on home video, The Strawberry Statement is a fascinating time capsule co-starring Bud Cort, Bob Balaban, and Murray McLeod, and features a generous selection of early ‘70s alterna-hits from the likes of Buffy St. Marie and Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, and Tich.
3:45 AM Flix
Inside Moves (1980 USA): Here's one of those films that should show up during TCM's 31 Days of Oscar, but rarely do. Inside Moves is an underappreciated drama featuring an outstanding Academy Award nominated performance from Diana Scarwid as Louise, a social worker helping newly-wheelchair bound Roary (John Savage, also excellent) adapt to life without legs. Roary has brought his difficulties on himself—he jumped off a bridge—but isn't getting much in the way of support from bitter best pal Jerry (David Morse), a Golden State Warriors basketball player who doesn't have the funds to get his knee repaired. The NBA didn't offer health insurance in 1980?? Fans of actor Bert Remsen should note his presence here, as well as his blink and you'll miss him turn as a policeman in The Strawberry Statement. Inside Moves makes its widescreen television debut this morning and airs again at 5:00 PM.
8:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Hobson's Choice (1954 GB): Surprisingly NOT a film about a new brand of mass-marketed coffee, Hobson's Choice is a gently comedic tale of Victorian-era English working-class life. Charles Laughton stars as Henry Hobson, a boot-maker of some repute and a trio of rapidly maturing female offspring. Unwilling to pay three dowries, Hobson decrees that none shall marry - but eldest daughter Maggie (Brenda de Banzie) bucks her father's authority and weds shy shoemaker Will (John Mills) and proceeds to encourage her younger sisters to do likewise. Based on a popular Great War-era play, David Lean's film examines both the social and economic upheavals of the late 19th century, but focuses firmly on the personal side of the equation, with Hobson pere ultimately making his peace with Hobson fille.
10:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
No Love for Johnnie (1961 GB): Peter Finch plays Johnnie Byrne, a Member of Parliament living through his mid-life crisis, in this surprisingly caustic drama from comedy specialist Ralph Thomas. Byrne is a Labour backbencher who has his eye on younger woman Pauline (Mary Peach), but their relationship could endanger his promising political career. Co-starring Stanley Holloway as Johnnie's parliamentary mentor, this little seen film is based on a provocative 1959 novel that supposedly "tore the roof off Westminster", and is as depressingly relevant today as it was then. The film's top-notch supporting cast includes Donald Pleasance, Dennis Price, Oliver Reed, Norman Rossington, and Billie Whitelaw.
11:30 PM Starz
12 (2007 RUS): Here's an unlikely but welcome programming choice from Starz: an epic length Russian drama, in Russian and Chechen, about a jury deliberating over the fate of a Chechen teen charged with murder. I haven't seen it yet, but any variant on the 12 Angry Men theme is of interest to me. Writer-director-actor Nikita Mikhailov previously directed the award-winning Burnt by the Sun. Also airs 1/15 at 2:30 AM.
Friday 1/15/10
6:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Race Street (1948 USA): George Raft plays a bookie trying to get out of the business in this copacetic film noir helmed by Edwin L. Marin. Raft is Dan Gannin, whose plans to open a nightclub featuring his sister (Gale Robbins) as the headline attraction get sidetracked by the demands of his old business. In short, our hero finds himself pulled back into the underground's orbit when buddy Hal (Colonel Potter himself, Harry Morgan) takes a nasty beating from some racketeers, and comes to Dan for help. Despite the best advice of honest cop Barney (William Bendix), Dan soon finds himself once again packing heat and throwing punches. Unlike many films tagged with the label, Race Street is a genuine noir (Dan's snared in a trap of his own making), and also features outstanding San Francisco location footage.
11:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Deep End (1970 GB): Here it is, folks: the TiVoPlex Movie of the Month. Unless you saw Deep End on its original release or spent the intervening decades tracking down a horrible fuzzy bootleg, you probably haven't seen this rather strange film from Polish expatriate director Jerzy Skolimowski. John Moulder-Brown stars as Mike, a teenage public baths (that's what we call a swimming pool in Britain) attendant in London. Mike is sexually...confused...and spends his time either mooning over the baths' female users or strolling the sleazy streets of Soho. Hello, Raymond Revue Bar! Mike rather fancies fellow employee Susan (charming Jane Asher), but things get a little weird when mature "lady client" Diana Dors starts giving him the eye...and things just get stranger from there. Featuring music by Cat Stevens and Can, Deep End is one of those cinematic head trips so common at the time, but now virtually extinct. Look for Burt Kwouk selling hot dogs! It's followed at 1:00 AM on Saturday morning by Skolimowski's equally strange (if somewhat less successful) 1978 head-scratcher The Shout, in which Alan Bates has a very loud voice that kills. And in other Skolimowski news, this most enigmatic of filmmakers is currently working on The Essence of Killing, in which Vincent Gallo plays a member of the Taliban. Yah.
Saturday 1/16/10
1:05 AM The Movie Channel
Backfire (1987 AUS): Two coppers transport a prisoner across the desert in this decent if unexceptional Australian crime drama. The PCs are portrayed by David Argue and Gia Carides, their charge by Lydia Miller, and the film makes its widescreen television debut this morning. It's nothing special, mind, but worth a look if you're up late. Also airs at 4:05 AM.
10:00 AM Sundance
Hollywood Babylon (1972 USA): Kenneth Anger's infamous book - the first tabloid-style kiss and tell tome of its kind - came to the big screen in 1972, and returns to the small screen today. Well, I think it returns - this may be its small screen debut for all I know. Apparently a mash-up of public domain footage and dramatic recreations of Hollywood's biggest scandals, Hollywood Babylon has a bad reputation - which, of course, makes it all the more enticing. Look for porn star Uschi Digard as Marlene Dietrich!
Sunday 1/17/10
5:07 PM Fox Movie Channel
Speed (1994 USA): With Sandra Bullock poised to garner an Oscar nom for her bravura performance in The Blind Side, what better time to revisit her star-making turn in this ridiculous but enjoyable action flick (emphasis on ‘ridiculous')? This is the one where she and Keanu Reeves drive a bus with a Dennis Hopper-planted bomb primed to detonate if the vehicle stops or slows down, and airs in widescreen on Fox tonight. Side note: no matter what you may think of Bullock, it's refreshing that she never felt compelled to change her less than sexy last name in order to fit more snugly into the Hollywood sausage machine.
Monday 1/18/10
10:15 AM Flix
Lovin' Molly (1973 USA): I don't much care for this Sidney Lumet soap about star-crossed Texas lovers, but it doesn't show up on TV very often and I always have a soft spot for star Anthony Perkins, so I'll give it a brief mention. Mission accomplished.
7:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Baby Doll (1956 USA): Karl Malden drools all over Carroll Baker in this once highly controversial, now high camp, Tennessee Williams adaptation from director Elia Kazan. Malden plays Archie, a middle-aged cotton manufacturer with a child bride (Baker). Unwilling to consummate his marriage with the teenager but anxious for Baby Doll to reach her majority (she looks most fetching in a nightie), Archie must first contend with business rival Silva (Eli Wallach): when not leering lasciviously at Baby Doll, he's busy burning down Silva's cotton gin. This outrageously overheated film (and Malden's southern accent) will either repulse you or send you into gales of laughter. Incidentally, isn't it great that Eli Wallach is still working at 95? And isn't it a shame the three leads couldn't have reunited for a sequel prior to Malden's death last July?