TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex for Tuesday August 24 2010 through Monday August 30 2010
By John Seal
August 23, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 8/24/10
1:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
X, Y, and Zee (1972 GB): I always get this film confused with Unman, Wittering, and Zigo, another British drama from 1972, but other than the similar titles they’re fairly distinct creatures. In contrast to UWZ’s somewhat down at heel pedigree, X, Y, and Zee (known as Zee and Co. in the UK) stars Liz Taylor as the wife of successful architect Robert Blakeley (Michael Caine), whose currently engaged in an adulterous affair with younger woman Stella (Susannah York). It’s a brash, soapy affair that allows Taylor to vent in best Virginia Wolff style, whilst Caine and York are, predictably, a little more subtle and quite excellent. Making it’s American widescreen television debut, X Y and Zee co-stars Margaret Leighton, and was penned by Irish scribe Edna O’Brien (though Laurence Sterne remains distinctly out of sight).
9:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Desert Nights (1929 USA): The moment when John Gilbert’s life and career took a turn for the worse—unfairly, IMHO—arrived in the form of this William Nigh-helmed adventure from 1929. Set in the Kalahari Desert, the film features Gilbert as diamond mine manager Hugh Rand, who gets gulled by a pair of confidence artists (Ernest Torrence and Mary Nolan) posing as visiting aristocrats. Whilst the film itself is pretty average stuff, the problem, of course, was that it was also Gilbert’s first talking picture—and for whatever unfathomable reason, movie patrons were not impressed by his speaking voice. It was all downhill for the dashing Gilbert after Desert Nights, and he would succumb in 1936 to heart failure stemming from alcoholism at the ridiculously young age of 38. It’s followed at 10:45 AM by his fourth talkie, 1930’s Way of a Sailor, in which the faded matinee idol portrays a mariner doing battle with Wallace Beery for Leila Hyams’ heart (as if), and at 1:00 AM on 8/25 by 1934’s The Captain Hates the Sea, Gilbert’s unimpressive cinema swan-song.
Wednesday 8/25/10
2:10 AM Cinemax
I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2006 USA): Regular readers know I have a soft spot for films with unusual titles—even if I haven’t seen them yet. Whilst I wait patiently for an elusive TCM screening of Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?, here’s another movie with a memorable moniker. IMDb says it’s an indie rom-com featuring former SNL regular Tim Kazurinsky, actor-director Paul Mazursky, and Homer Simpson himself, Dan Castellaneta, as well as Amy Sedaris and Sarah Silverman. In other words, there’s enough here to warrant a mention, sight unseen and title notwithstanding. Also airs at 5:10 AM.
8:00 PM Sundance
Tokyo! (2008 JAP-ROK-GER-FRA): Not to be confused with 2003’s Tokyo or 2009’s Tokyo, this Tokyo! is a somewhat over-baked but still very watchable anthology film compiling three tales set in Japan’s teeming capital city. Harking back to the movie anthologies of the 1960s, Tokyo! is a fully fledged international co-production, and features slightly surreal stories helmed by Joon Bo-Hong (The Host, Mother), Leos Carax (Pola X), and Michel Gondry (Science of Sleep, Be Kind Rewind). Your mileage will no doubt vary, but my favorite of the three is Gondry’s Interior Design, in which apartment hunting is revealed as a somewhat disturbing sport. Carax’s tale of a vengeful and rather unhinged sewer-dweller, Merde, runs a close second. Also airs 8/26 at 1:00 AM.
Thursday 8/26/10
1:30 AM HBO Signature
Pajaros Muertos (2008 ESP): The purported perfectibility and sanitized security of modern life is the subject of this wicked black comedy written and directed by the Sempere brothers. Set behind the walls of a gated community in suburban Spain (though filmed, oddly enough, in Buenos Aires, Argentina), the film examines the fallout resulting from the discovery of a dead bird in the middle of the street, and the effect it has on two neighboring, but not exactly neighborly, families. It’s been compared (unfavorably, in most cases) to American Beauty and Magnolia, but any film nominated for a Golden Biznaga surely deserves to be seen at least once.
7:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Loot (1970 GB): An adaptation of Joe Orton’s play of the same name, Loot makes an extremely rare American television appearance this morning. Directed by Silvio Narrizano, it’s a suitably cheeky comedy of errors about bank robbers Dennis and Hal (Hywel Bennett and Roy Holder) who stash their ill-gotten gains (a not terribly impressive four thousand pounds sterling) in a coffin: specifically, the coffin containing the corpse of Hal’s recently deceased mum. But the duo haven’t counted on the tenacious Inspector Truscott (Richard Attenborough), who will go to any lengths—including posing as the man from the Water Board—in his efforts to solve the crime. Co-starring Milo O’Shea as a landlord and Lee Remick as a nurse, Loot isn’t for all tastes, but is essential viewing for Orton admirers.
Friday 8/27/10
4:30 PM Sundance
Ricky (2009 FRA): I’m not a big fan of Francoise Ozon—his tendency to over-egg the cinema omelette is well-documented—but there’s frequently something of value to be gleaned from even his worst films. In the case of Ricky, it’s the larger than life presence of actor Sergi Lopez, a thespian I’ve admired since seeing him simmer and the boil his way through 2000’s Harry, He’s Here to Help. In Ricky, he plays new dad Paco, who’s been blessed with the titular son thanks to his knocking up factory worker Katie (Alexandra Lamy). And what’s so special about little Ricky (Arthur Peyret), other than the fact that he is thoroughly adorable? He grows wings and flies. Oh yes, he does. The film does surprisingly little with this startling revelation, but Lopez is very good, and you will went to repeatedly chuck Peyret under the chin.
Saturday 8/28/10
2:00 PM Sundance
Police, Adjective (2009 ROM): The Romanian new wave rolls on with this excellent crime drama, which was its homeland’s entrant for the 2010 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award. Written and directed by Corneliu Porumboiu, the film features The Death of Mr. Lazarescu’s Dragos Bucur as Cristi, a drug squad plod assigned to investigate the case of a pot-smoking teenager. Man, they must have an unlimited police budget in Romania. If the kid is found to be a dealer—in other words, if he shares any wacky tobacky with his chums—he can get sent up for 8-15, and Cristi wonders about the logic of his assignment. After all, he’s seen the dutchie passed without consequence during his honeymoon trip to Prague, and no one seemed any the worse for wear. Will our hero snap the cuffs on—or will his conscience get the better of him? The shadow of Nicolae Ceausescu hangs long over this very fine film, which airs again at 10:45 PM.
6:00 PM Starz
The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009 USA): The best military-themed comedy since 2001’s Buffalo Soldiers, The Men Who Stare at Goats had the misfortune of being released shortly after the Fort Hood shootings but thankfully didn’t share its predecessor’s unfortunate post-9/11 fate. The film can be appreciated on a number of levels: for its superb ensemble cast (Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey, and Robert Patrick), as absurdist comedy, or as a sharply critical indictment of the immorality and stupidity of American foreign policy. If you think the invasion of Iraq was a good idea, you probably won't like this film. If you’ve got doubts, however, prepare yourself for one of the funniest and most intelligently written American films of recent vintage. Also airs at 9:00 PM.
Monday 8/30/10
11:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
The Nickel Ride (1975 USA): Late actor Jason Miller is best remembered (on the rare occasions he IS remembered) for his exemplary performance as Father Karras in William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, but he deserves better. Gritty drama The Nickel Ride features him in perhaps the finest performance of his career as Cooper, a low-level LA hoodlum whose hold on his assigned section of town is being threatened by the arrival of new punk Turner (Bo Hopkins). It’s a surprisingly complex tale of one man’s slow realization that he may no longer be at the top of his game, and features very impressive widescreen cinematography by Jordan Cronenweth. Look for Magnum P.I. regular John Hillerman (you know, the dapper guy with the neat little moustache) as Cooper’s boss.
5:00 PM Sundance
Kassim the Dream (2009 US): Documentaries don’t get much more inspirational than this one. Kassim the Dream focuses on Kassim Ouma, a young Ugandan inducted into frontline child soldier service at the tender age of six. Years later, and after becoming a renowned Ugandan Army boxer, Kassim relocated to the United States where he began working towards becoming World Light Middleweight Champion. Though a bit on the shallow side—the film tends to elide over the nastier stuff in his background—Kassim the Dream is engaging nevertheless, with the youngster’s tense return to his native land particularly riveting stuff.