TiVoPlex
By John Seal
December 6, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 12/7/10
Midnight Cinemax
Flashpoint (1984 USA): No, this isn’t a sequel to Flashdance. Flashpoint stars Kris Kristofferson as Texan border guard Bobby Logan, who, whilst making his appointed rounds, finds an abandoned jeep containing $800,000 in cash, a rifle, and some skeletal remains with a 1962 driver’s license. When the feds begin to give this chilliest of cold cases considerable attention, Bobby begins to suspect conspiracy is afoot…and that the jeep and its contents may have something to do with the assassination of President Kennedy. The first film produced by HBO, Flashpoint co-stars Rip Torn, Kurtwood Smith, Roberts Blossom, and Treat Williams, and is a lot better than you might expect. It airs again at 3:00 AM.
3:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Submarine Raider (1942 USA): Celebrate Pearl Harbor Day the Submarine Raider way! Hollywood’s very first attempt to come to terms with Japan’s perfidious airborne assault, Submarine Raider was released in June 1942, and features John Howard (formerly Bulldog Drummond in six Paramount billfillers, and not the former Australian Prime Minister) as Chris Warren, an American naval officer in command of a submarine which intercepts the Japanese fleet — on December 6th! When Warren tries to radio a warning to Hawaii, his message is intercepted by IJN Captain Yamanada (Italian actor Nino Pipitone!), who dispatches aircraft to sink the good sub Sea Serpent. If you can overlook the film’s horrendous miscasting — as well as its many historical inaccuracies — you’ll probably enjoy this patroitic potboiler, which co-stars Marguerite Chapman, Philip Ahn, Forrest Tucker, Larry Parks, Keye Luke, and Bruce Bennett.
3:25 PM Showtime Extreme
Breakthrough (1980 BRD): This forgotten West German war pic — ostensibly a sequel to Sam Peckinpah’s immeasurably superior 1976 actioner Cross of Iron — gets a very rare airing this afternoon. Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, Breakthrough stars Richard Burton as Steiner, a Wehrmacht non-com involved in a plot against Der Fuhrer during the late days of World War Deux. Ordered by General Hoffman (Curd Jurgens) to go behind enemy lines and inform the Americans that plans are afoot to oust Hitler, Steiner makes contact with Colonel Rogers (Robert Mitchum) and General Webster (Rod Steiger), but things go awry, Hoffman’s plan fails, and a bloody battle ensues. Burton really phones this one in and is no substitute for James Coburn, who played Steiner in Cross of Iron, and the film relies far too much on stock footage. Only war film completists, rare movie mavens, and Burton fanatics need apply.
Thursday 12/9/10
10:30 AM Fox Movie Channel
Niagara (1953 USA): It's a shame this Henry Hathaway-helmed feature was shot in 1952, because it would have looked great in Cinemascope two or three years down the road. Nonetheless, it remains a terrific and somewhat underrated thriller, and at least it was shot in Technicolor! Joseph Cotten and Marilyn Monroe star as George and Rose Loomis, an unhappily married couple staring daggers at each other whilst spending an awkward vacation trip at the legendary falls. Their motel neighbors are the Cutlers (Casey Adams and Jean Peters), a pair of happy honeymooners who soon notice things aren't exactly copacetic in the Loomis bungalow. Indeed, Rose is plotting with her secret lover (Richard Allan) to bump off hubby - but her plans go awry and she soon finds herself on the receiving end of George's husbandly ire. The film blends noir sensibility with Hitchcockian plot twists, and provides proof positive that Monroe had dramatic talent underutilized by Hollywood producers who couldn't see beyond her physical charms.
9:20 PM Sundance
Johnny Mad-Dog (2008 FRA-LIB): Another TiVoPlex first: a film from Liberia! And as an extra added bonus, it’s pretty damn good, too. Directed by Frenchman Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, Johnny Mad-Dog takes place in an unnamed, war-torn African country where child soldiers are kidnapped, brainwashed, and sent to the front lines. The film relates the shocking and bloody experiences of one such "soldier" (Christophe Minie), and pulls absolutely no punches: there’s neither redemption nor a happy ending, only relentless, unforgiving horror. It’s extremely powerful stuff and not recommended for Grandma.
Friday 12/10/10
9:45 AM IFC
Invincible (2001 GB-GER-IRE-USA): It’s no Aguirre The Wrath of God, but Invincible still has enough Werner Herzog flourishes to be worthy of your attention. Tim Roth is the (relatively) big name no doubt attached to assuage the film’s international financiers, but the real star is gentle giant Jouko Ahola, a Finnish strongman cast as Jewish blacksmith Zische Breinbart. Breinbart’s feats of strength are spotted one day in 1932 by a traveling German theatrical agent who convinces the simple-minded craftsman to relocate from rural Poland to Berlin, where his skills will be put to use by the popular clairvoyant Hanussen. Hanussen’s theater is a wildly popular nightspot where the Nazi elite rub shoulders with the bourgeoisie and where everyone solemnly soaks up the astrological hokum supplied by the eponymous snake-oil salesman, played here with grim-visaged determination by the aforementioned Roth. In real life, Hanussen was truly a favorite of Hitler, who always had a fair amount of time for (non-Christian, pagan) mysticism, and was either unaware of - or chose to overlook - Hanussen’s Jewish roots. Whilst Roth is a true pro, Ahola - by no means a good actor - brings pride, strength, and a sense of ethics to his role and is certainly a better thespian than fellow man-mountain Andre the Giant. There are deeply affecting moments throughout the film, as Zische discovers his might is being used to further Nazi ideology, and whilst the film ends on an overwrought note, the first 90 minutes-plus are quietly and consistently effective. Herzog may no longer be amongst the greatest of active directors, but films like Invincible and Bad Lieutenant Port of Call: New Orleans prove there’s still a fair amount of gas left in the tank.
6:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Scrooge (1970 GB): Shortly after moving from Britain to the United States, my family and I were introduced to the subtle pleasures of the drive-in movie experience. Scrooge was the first film I saw at the drive-in, and it scared the living egg-nog out of yours truly, then a deeply impressionable eight-year-old. I spent most of the film’s final reel cowering in the back seat, and yes, I do believe tears were shed. I haven’t checked out Scrooge since — the fear of irreversible psychological damage has been overwhelming — but I think I’m ready. Just don’t be surprised if you hear screams echoing across Northern California this evening.
11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Wonder World of K. Gordon Murray (2010 USA): Yowza! If you grew up watching a lot of television in the 1970s, chances are the name "K. Gordon Murray" will conjure up happy memories of many wasted hours spent in front of the boob tube. If your local Million Dollar Movie or Movies ‘til Dawn was airing a Mexican horror movie, or a Mexican ANY kind of movie, chances are the print was courtesy Mr. Murray, who imported, dubbed, and re-cut dozens of such films for Yankee consumption throughout the 1960s. I haven’t seen this brand new documentary yet, but with interview footage of Herschel Gordon Lewis, William Grefe, David Friedman, and Nostradamus himself, German Robles, this is undoubtedly must-see material. It’s followed at 12:45 AM by one of Murray’s most beloved imports, 1959’s Santa Claus, a jawdropping South of the Border production in which Jolly Old Saint Nick does battle with the Devil, and at 2:15 AM by the more benign but no less bizarre A Visit to Santa (1963), in which the fat man’s workshop is revealed to be a particularly threadbare operation employing what appear to be child laborers.
Saturday 12/11/10
3:15 AM The Movie Channel
Moonlighting (1982 GB): Not to be confused with the TV series that made Bruce Willis a star, Moonlighting is a typically mordant drama from expat Polish director Jerzy Skolimowksi. Taking place in and around West London during a chilly Christmas season, the film stars Jeremy Irons as Nowak, a foreman in charge of a team of Polish workers sent to Britain to supply illegal labor for a government official, who wants his flat refurbished on the cheap. When the political situation at home deteriorates and martial law declared, the English-speaking Nowak finds keeping the news from his comrades an increasingly tricky proposition, but goes to get lengths to do so, including intercepting their mail and keeping them away from television news. If you enjoy the occasional Ken Loach film you’ll definitely enjoy Moonlighting, which airs again at 6:15 AM.
7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Bowery to Bagdad (1954 USA): In which the Bowery Boys get hired by Blackwater and get killed in an incident near Fallujah. No, actually, they find Aladdin’s lamp and hilarity ensues! As the film’s tagline ballyhoos, ‘The BOWERY BOYS Run RIOT As HAREM HOT-SHOTS With BABYLONIAN BABES In The Land Of ENCHANTMENT And DANCING GIRLS!’ Not to mention Chemical Ali and Doctor Germ.
1:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Silent Call (1961 USA): An independently produced kiddie feature, The Silent Call will appeal to fans of Benji and other lovable movie mutts. When Pete the German Shepherd is left behind after his master’s family move from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, he takes matters into his own paws and takes off in pursuit. This heartwarming family drama clocks in at 63 minutes, is airing in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and features erstwhile Stooge Joe Besser, stuttering Freaks star Roscoe Ates, and gaunt character actor Milton Parsons as a man named Mohammed. In other words, it’s essential viewing.
10:30 PM Showtime Extreme
Man Friday (1975 GB): Based on Daniel Defoe’s classic tale of castaway life on a desert island, Robinson Crusoe, Man Friday stars Peter O’Toole as Crusoe and Richard Roundtree as native companion Friday. Life on their uncharted desert isle is less than idyllic, and after Crusoe kills off Friday’s friends and family the two spend the rest of the film exchanging witty barbs and catty remarks. Though O’Toole and Roundtree are good, Adrian Mitchell’s screenplay (based on his own stage play) tends to preach and delivers its message in screamingly unsubtle terms. It’s a classic example of too much heat and too little light, but still recommended for admirers of either actor.
Sunday 12/12/10
7:00 PM Sundance
Red Riding 1983 (2009 GB): The final part of the Red Riding Trilogy arrives on Sundance this evening. In this chapter, the Ripper has—supposedly—been captured, but the murders continue. Detective Jobson (David Morrissey) is now on the case, whilst lawyer Piggott (perennial movie sidekick Mark Addy) lends a hand in the ongoing battle against police corruption.
9:45 PM Turner Classic Movies
Intolerance (1916 USA): D. W. Griffith’s Intolerance, the great man’s magisterial apology for Birth of a Nation, airs tonight only weeks after TCM screened that controversial paean to the wonders of the KKK. Subtitled Love’s Struggles Through the Ages, Intolerance consists of four interwoven stories taking place thousands of years apart: in ancient Babylon, in Palestine during the time of Christ, in France during the late 16th century, and in modern America. Starring Mae Marsh, Douglas Fairbanks, Constance Talmadge, King Vidor, Lillian Gish, Wallace Reid, Erich von Stroheim, and (literally) a cast of thousands, Griffith’s plea for peace, love and understanding was an expensive failure at the box-office and bankrupted the director’s production company, but did go some way to restoring his reputation. It looks like TCM will be airing the digitally restored print of Intolerance, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2007 and is (I believe) unavailable on home video (many other versions, however, are widely available).
Monday 12/13/10
11:30 AM Starz in Black
Hunters of the Reef (1978 USA): Sharks endanger a salvage vessel captained by Michael Parks in this ridiculous but entertaining NBC Movie-of-the-Week. Peter Benchley supposedly "created" the film’s characters, but my guess is NBC simply paid the Jaws-man a chunk o’ change so they could attach his Selachimorphas scent to their movie. Heck, they probably also pay him royalties for SNL’s candygram-delivering Land Shark.