TiVoPlex
By John Seal
December 20, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 12/21/10
1:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Alex in Wonderland (1970 USA): Donald Sutherland plays a young filmmaker wracked by guilt and indecision in this amusing if not completely successful Paul Mazursky drama. Sutherland plays the title character, a director whose first film has taken Tinsel Town by storm and become an unexpected success. Handed the keys to the kingdom by his studio, Alex finds that producing an artistically satisfying follow-up is no easy task: in fact, he has absolutely no idea what to do next. The film descends into a series of dream sequences that will strike some as hopelessly over-the-top; others will be reminded of the picaresque visions of Federico Fellini—who, by odd coincidence, makes a brief cameo appearance herein. Co-starring Ellen Burstyn, old-timers Moss Mabry and Angelo Rossitto, and Mazursky himself as Alex’s producer, Alex in Wonderland was the director’s second feature film, coming fast on the heels of his wildly successful freshman effort, Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice.
2:50 AM Starz
Un Prophete (2009 FRA): Un Prophete actually made its television debut on Monday at 11:50 PM, but I overlooked the little sliver of space dedicated to it in last week’s program guide. Now it’s a tasty morsel on this week’s rather slender TiVoPlex menu. Tipped as the favorite for the Best Foreign Language Feature gong prior to last year’s Academy Awards festivities, but ultimately upstaged by Argentina’s Secrets in Their Eyes, France’s Un Prophete puts the lie to the rumor that all that Gaul can produce is dreary drama and bedroom farce. An epic length tale of prison life set in a Corsican jail, the film features Tahar Rahim as Malik, a young Arab doing time for an unspecified crime. Newbie Malik is assigned the unwholesome task of killing another inmate on the orders of cellblock bigwig Cesar (Niels Arestrup), and though he makes a mess of the job, the murder marks the beginning of his transformation from wet behind the ears rookie to feared behind-bars powerbroker. Enigmatic, relentlessly bleak, and undeniably powerful, Un Prophete won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes 2009 and also cleaned up at France’s Cesar Awards.
Wednesday 12/22/10
7:45 AM HBO Signature
Making Love (1981 USA): An extremely controversial film on initial release, Making Love now plays like a bit like a Lifetime or Logo movie-of-the-week. (A good one, mind.) Directed by Arthur Hiller, the film stars Kate Jackson and Michael Ontkean as Claire and Zach Elliott, an attractive middle-class couple living the good life in bucolic Southern California. The inevitable fly in the ointment? When patient Bart (Harry Hamlin) walks into Zach’s office one day, the good doctor finds himself hopelessly attracted to him…and increasingly uncomfortable with his life in the closet. The film seems awfully, awfully tame now, but trust me: this was a big (and spicy) deal in the early '80s.
Thursday 12/23/10
8:45 AM Flix
Duet for One (1986 USA): I can’t say I really like this film, but it’s got a great cast and some interesting crew attached to it, so I’ll give it a quick mention. Directed by Soviet cineaste and frequent Andrey Tarkovskiy collaborator Andrey Konchalovskiy and shot by legendary DoP Alex Thomson, Duet for One stars Julie Andrews as Stephanie Anderson, a world-class violinist stricken with multiple sclerosis. A rare "quality" feature produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, Cannon kings of '80s schlock, the film is pretty sappy and completely predictable, yet benefits still from a stellar supporting cast, including Alan Bates as Stephanie’s husband, Max von Sydow as her doctor, Rupert Everett as her protégé, and Liam Neeson as her lover. Make sure you have a dry hanky handy for the proceedings.
8:35 PM Sundance
Accomplices (2009 FRA): If Un Prophete got you in the mood for grim French crime dramas, here’s another one. Set in Paris, the film features Gilbert Melki and Emmanuelle Devos as Herve and Karine, detectives investigating the circumstances surrounding the dumping of a body in the Seine. The clues lead them to male hustler Vincent (Cyril Descours) and his seedy clients and colleagues, including wild child Rebecca (Nina Meurisse), a free spirit who thinks male prostitutes are the bee’s knees. Zut alors! The result is a more than serviceable police procedural; thought it pales in comparision to Un Prophete, it’s still well worth your while.
Saturday 12/25/10
2:15 AM Cinemax
Psycho III (1986 USA): Does any movie say "Season’s Greetings" quite like Psycho III? Okay, I was hoping that TCM would air Silent Night, Deadly Night III: Better Watch Out!, or Sundance would spring Salo: The 120 Days of Sodom on us, but this is the seediest thing on offer this Christmas Day. Directed by star Anthony Perkins, Psycho III re-imagines Norman Bates as a somewhat sympathetic character — the deranged murderer you could bring home to mother. Alas, Norman is still getting mash notes from Mom compelling him to do wicked things, and the arrival of a lapsed nun (Diana Scarwid) and a grungy drifter (Jeff Fahey) can mean naught but trouble. Won’t Santa be surprised when he comes down the chimney and finds you hanging out at the Bates Motel?
11:00 AM Showtime 3
The Messenger (2009 USA): For once Showtime 3 doesn’t lie! I’ve become so accustomed to the channel incorrectly listing titles as airing in widescreen that I now automatically assume everything is really airing in pan and scan. Imagine my surprise, then, when during a recent fit of channel surfing I discovered that The Messenger is actually appearing in its correct aspect ratio! Well done, Showtime 3! As for the film, it’s further proof that Woody Harrelson has finally figured out this acting thing, and is worth a look for hemp enthusiasts and drama aficionados alike.
3:20 PM Encore
Valley Girl (1983 USA): Nicolas Cage plays a punk rocker who falls in love with a Val (Deborah Foreman) in this reasonably amusing '80s teen comedy. So desperate were we for cinematic representations of punk in 1983 that those of us of the spiky-haired persuasion actually looked warmly upon Cage’s performance at the time. The film hasn’t aged very well, however, and looks pretty dopey now. On the plus side, it does feature power poppers The Plimsouls — but we would have preferred Black Randy and the Metrosquad. Also airs at 6:20 PM.
Sunday 12/26/10
5:20 PM Sundance
Bunny and the Bull (2009 GB): Not to be confused with the film Roger Ebert hated before he loved it (or at least liked it) — Vincent Gallo’s The Brown Bunny — Bunny and the Bull is a comedic fantasia from Mighty Boosh creator Paul Ryan. Described by the director as a “comedy road movie set entirely in a flat," the film stars Edward Hogg as reclusive Stephen, a stay at home type who hasn’t left his apartment in months. When an infestation of mice upends his routine, Stephen’s sense of complacency is disrupted and he imagines himself back on last year’s European road trip with chum Bunny (Simon Farnaby). If you’re familiar with the surreal and non-sequitur-ish (is that a word?) nature of The Mighty Boosh, you know what to expect: if not, you’ll probably be puzzled beyond belief.
9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Wizard of Oz (1925 USA): Though not the first film based on L. Frank Baum’s wildly popular series of novels for children of all ages, 1925’s The Wizard of Oz remains the best silent imagining of that magical kingdom. Directed by silent comic Larry Semon (stop giggling in the back row!), this version stars Dorothy Dwan (as Dorothy) as well as Oliver Hardy as the Tin Woodsman, African-American actor Spencer Bell as (sigh) The Cowardly Lion, and Semon himself as a toymaker who turns into the Scarecrow. Their adventures in Oz aren’t drawn directly from any of the Baum stories, but the film remains a charming period piece regardless.
Monday 12/27/10
1:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Beware of Pity (1946 GB): This obscure British drama stars Lilli Palmer as Baroness Edith de Kekesfalva, a crippled woman searching for the love she doesn’t feel she deserves. Left paralyzed after an unfortunate riding accident, the Baroness meets Anton (Albert Lieven), a handsome army officer who takes pity on her and starts spending an inordinate amount of time in her company. She begins to fall in love with him, but he doesn’t share her feelings, and compounds matters by trying to disguise the fact that he only wants to be friends. Tragedy threatens to ensue. Co-starring Cedric Hardwicke and Ernest Thesiger, Beware of Pity is quite the maudlin affair, but benefits from solid production values and a good performance by Palmer.
4:00 AM Encore Mystery
The Hound of the Baskervilles (2002 GB): I haven’t seen this BBC version of the classic Sherlock Holmes tale yet, but its well-regarded by the cognoscenti and stars Ian Hart as Dr. Watson and Richard E. Grant as villainous Jack Stapleton. Richard Roxburgh, the Australian thespian essaying the role of Holmes, played Count Dracula in Stephen Sommer’s dreadful Van Helsing (2004), but I’ll try not to hold that against him.