TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex for February 9 2010 through February 15 2010
By John Seal
February 8, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 2/09/10
6:50 AM IFC
Primer (2004 USA): Do you pronounce it with a long or a short ‘i'? Regardless of your preference, Primer is worth a look, especially if you're in the market for some thought-provoking science fiction. Written, directed, edited, and scored by star Shane Carruth, Primer relates the story of four inquisitive young men who spend their off hours trying to develop a complex and potentially world-changing fact-checking machine. United by friendship, the quartet happily wile away their weekends—until two of them make a breakthrough, which threatens to upend their relationships and the space-time continuum itself. Primer is a suitably convoluted tale that benefits from repeat viewings, so you might want to record this one for posterity—or at least an encore performance. Reportedly produced for a mere $7,000, it's prime food for thought.
7:00 AM Starz Edge
The Least of These (2009 USA): An utterly compelling and rather upsetting documentary, The Least of These takes a look at one of the ugly and embarrassing legacies of the Junior Bush administration: family detention for ‘illegal immigrants'. Focussing on a Texas facility operated by a for-profit company, The Least of These pulls back the curtain on the shocking practice of jailing children and their parents whilst they await deportation hearings. Needless to say, this often results in families spending weeks, months, and sometimes even years behind bars before their cases are adjudicated. No matter your opinion on immigration issues, The Least of These is a disturbing eye-opener.
Wednesday 2/10/10
1:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Trading Places (1983 USA): Hey, I'm allowed to like popular movies, too! Trading Places was the film that turned Eddie Murphy from Saturday Night Live sensation into full-fledged movie star, and though in retrospect we may have some regrets about that, it remains a very entertaining picture. Eddie takes the lead as Billy Ray Valentine, a homeless New Yorker who becomes the unwitting pawn in a game being played by two Wall Street lions (Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche). The bet is that they can take a bum off the street and make a successful businessman out of him—but in order for the plan to work, said bum will replace clueless broker Louis Winthorpe (Dan Aykroyd), who's set up to take a fall and ends up sleeping rough. It's the old nature versus nurture debate Hollywood-style, and makes its widescreen television debut this morning.
8:30 PM Cinemax
Lady Chatterley's Lover (1981 FRA): In which Skinemax meets Sundance Channel. Well, perhaps that's a little unfair to Sundance—this version of the oft-filmed tale comes from the sweaty palms of director Just Jaeckin, best known for developing the Emanuelle/Emmanuelle franchise. Featuring Sylvia Kristel as the Lady and Hammer star Shane Briant as paralyzed hubby Sir Clifford, Jaeckin's film features all the gauzy ‘80s softcore action you would expect. It's far from special, but hasn't been seen on American television for many years. Also airs at 11:30 PM.
Thursday 2/11/10
11:00 AM Sundance
Carts of Darkness (2009 USA): Though its title reminds me of Dark Days, a superb 2007 documentary about homeless folks living in the subway tunnels of New York City, Carts of Darkness is a decidedly less grim affair. For one thing, it's all filmed above ground, and for another, it was shot in Vancouver, Canada—a somewhat less foreboding setting than the Big Apple. Documenting the subculture of street people who race shopping carts, Carts of Darkness has quirky written all over it, but never reduces its subjects to caricature: it's a humanizing reminder that people are social and competitive creatures, regardless of circumstance.
5:00 PM Flix
River's Edge (1987 USA): Keanu Reeves in good movie shocker! It's true—once upon a time, his dudeness actually appeared in a film he didn't ruin, and here it is. Directed inna Gus Van Sant stylee by Tim Hunter, whose career has since been almost exclusively confined to television, River's Edge grimly dissects the bad decision making of a group of teenagers. Keanu plays conscience-stricken Matt, a high schooler struggling with the fact that his friend John (Daniel Roebuck) has murdered his best girl and is proudly displaying his handiwork to his best buds, including speed freak Layne (a suitably twitchy Crispin Glover) and Clarissa (Ione Skye). Loosely based on a real murder case and set somewhere in rural California, River's Edge also features a bravura performance from Dennis Hopper as an adult with his own authority issues.
Friday 2/12/10
9:00 AM HBO Signature
La Maldicion del Padre Cardona (2005 DOM): We do love our firsts in the TiVoPlex, and even after seven-plus years they keep popping up from time to time. Here's our inaugural film from the Dominican Republic, the tiny nation that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. As you might expect, it's not groundbreaking stuff—though its story of a meddlesome priest (Anthony Alvarez) who falls in love is given a unique twist by relating the tryst to an exorcism—but we'll forgive the film's sins under the circumstances. Add in the presence of Zoe Saldana (recently seen in a little indie pic entitled Avatar), and there's enough here to pique the interest of both rom-com fans and admirers of the female form.
9:00 PM IFC
Unrest (2006 USA): I haven't seen this horror film yet, but who can resist the tag line ‘The First Film To Use Real Bodies'—even though I don't think that's true. (I'm not sure which non-documentary feature would earn that dubious distinction, but this surely isn't it). Set in a med school, the film involves the spirit of a young woman who returns to haunt those using her body for scientific purposes. It sounds exactly like an uncredited remake of the decent South Korean shocker Cadaver, and features Joshua Alba, fresh-faced younger sibling of Jessica.
Saturday 2/13/10
3:00 PM Encore Westerns
Red Sun (1972 FRA-SPA): Charles Bronson stars as a stony-faced gunslinger in this wacky Eurowestern helmed by Terence Young. Bronson is Link Stuart, a train-robbing son of a gun who hooks up with Japanese security officer Kuroda (Toshiro Mifune) whilst pulling off a job. Kuroda is more than just a man with a badge, however—he's also a deadly samurai warrior, assigned to protect his country's ambassador to the United States. Link is double-crossed by partner in crime Gotch (Alain Delon), who absconds with a valuable samurai sword, and our two unlikely heroes buddy up in an effort to recover the priceless treasure. Co-starring Ursula Andress as a prostitute with a heart of gold, as well as familiar faces Capucine, Luc Merenda, and Anthony Dawson, Red Sun is a member—along with The Stranger in Japan, The White the Yellow and the Black, and Sukiyaki Western Django—of the exclusive ‘sushi western' sub-genre.
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Gladiator (2000 USA): Was it really the Best Picture of 2000? The Academy answered in the affirmative, but I had my doubts (and, yes, prejudices) and declined to see Gladiator. Now that it's appearing in widescreen on TCM, however, I'm willing to swallow my pride and perhaps eat a little (Russell) Crow(e) on the side. Speaking of our Russ, star Crowe also took home Best Actor honors for his performance as Maximus, a Roman general who falls out of favor with the Emperor and into slavery and the gladiatorial arena. There's also a pre-retirement Joaquin Phoenix, a pre-drinking himself to death Oliver Reed, a pre-Dumbledore Richard Harris, and Derek Jacobi, too.
Sunday 2/14/10
2:00 AM HBO2
Letters to the President (2009 CAN-FRA): Judging from its title, you might think this was a warm and fuzzy kids say the darnedest things type of movie. Dear President Bush, why did God choose you to lead the New Crusade? Dear President Obama, how do you quantify your changiness? Ah, but these aren't letters to an American president—they're correspondence sent to this year's Hitler, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. And what do folks write him about? Pretty mundane stuff, as it happens: no, the good folks of Iran aren't hankering for the atomic bomb, they're hankering for good jobs and social services. If we didn't know better, we might think they're not all that different from us.
11:00 PM Cinemax
Silver Bullet (1986 USA): If you shot Stephen King with a silver bullet, would he stop writing books? Somehow I think it would take more than that. As for Silver Bullet, it's King's take on the werewolf genre, and is pretty average fare film-wise, at least as far as King adaptations go. The title actually refers to the wheelchair belonging to paralyzed youngster Marty Coslaw (Corey Haim), a souped up contraption given to him by crotchety but lovable Uncle Red (Gary Busey). When a series of full moon murders take place in their tiny little town, Marty becomes convinced that they're being committed by a lycanthrope, and with the aid of his trusty vehicle determines to solve the crimes and bring the killer to justice. It's not the best werewolf movie you'll ever see, and sadly airs in pan and scan this evening, but with Busey and The Stepfather's Terry O'Quinn on hand as a sheriff, is still worth a look. Also airs 2/15 at 2:00 AM.
Monday 2/15/10
6:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Smart Money (1931 USA): Hard-boiled eggs Jimmy Cagney and Edward G. Robinson only appeared together once on the big screen, and this is the result. Robinson plays Nick Venizelos, a small town rube who gets suckered out of his money by big city gambler Sleepy Sam (Ralf Harolde). Determined to get his revenge, Nick cooks up a scheme with more worldy-wise pal Jack (Cagney), turns the tables on the grifters, and then sets up his own gambling dens, which draw the attention of D.A. Black (Morgan Wallace) who proceeds to try and shut ‘em down. As predictable as a worn but comfy shoe, this enjoyable Warners pic earned a Best Writing Oscar nom for co-scribes Lucien Hubbard and Joseph Jackson, and features an uncredited Boris Karloff as fellow gambler Sport Williams.
3:30 PM Sundance
Hotel Gramercy Park (2008 USA): Not to be confused with fellow Manhattan hotel documentary Sunshine Hotel, Hotel Gramercy Park tells the story of the titular inn, once a grand rest stop for the well to do, then a popular hangout for rock ‘n' rollers, and now the subject of a renovation by hotelier Ian Schrager. This nostalgic film gives plenty of screen time to the Weissberg family, who originally owned the joint, and to some of the musos who flopped there, including Debbie Harry and Leee Black Childers. If you're a New Yorker past or present or have an abiding love for The Big Apple, you'll enjoy this film—if not, give it a wide berth.
7:00 PM Showtime Extreme
Sukiyaki Western Django (2007 JAP): Sushi western alert! I wrote about this film when Showtime Extreme aired it a few months back, noting my hope that it wouldn't appear in pan and scan. Well, it did—but now the Extreme schedule is indicating a widescreen airing is in the offing this evening. I've got my doubts, but I'll be checking it out again just in case.