TiVoPlex
By John Seal
March 28, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 3/29/11
9:30 AM HBO2
Triangle: Remembering the Fire (2011 USA): March 25th was the 100th anniversary of New York City’s infamous Triangle Waist Factory fire, and HBO acknowledges this inauspicious but important occasion with this excellent new documentary. The Triangle fire marked the point where government intervention in the workplace was finally recognized as a necessity: due to the factory’s outrageously poor conditions, including exits locked during working hours, 146 female employees were killed in only eighteen minutes. It also contributed to explosive growth in union membership, with The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union the primary beneficiary. One hundred years later, of course, the forces of capital are still eager to dispense with the "burdensome" regulations and union workforces that have benefited (if not saved) the lives of countless workers since 1911. Show this sobering film to your Tea Party relatives — assuming they’re not too busy screeching about keeping the gummint’s hands off their Medicare and Social Security. Also airs at 12:30 PM.
11:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia (1968 GB): For some reason I always associate this swingin’ '60s comedy with Work Is a Four Letter Word, which also came out in 1968 and is also worthy of a TCM airing at some point (please, Mr. Osborne, please?). Instead of David Warner, however, we get Dudley Moore in the lead role of Rupert Street, a composer determined to leave his mark on the world by the time the bell tolls "big 3-0." Unfortunately, he’s down to his last six weeks as a 20-something! Directed by Joseph McGrath (The Magic Christian), 30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia, certainly has autobiographical tones, as Moore was an accomplished jazz musician (though at this point, a 33-year old one). Co-starring John Bird, Suzy Kendall, and Frank "Captain Peacock" Thornton, the film also features (unsurprisingly) an original score composed by Moore.
Wednesday 3/30/11
3:00 AM Showtime
Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of "Smile" (2004 USA)): In my opinion, The Beach Boys are possibly the most overrated "pop" band in history. Striped shirts, falsetto vocals, Mike Love, and not an ounce of grit or sweat between them. Well, maybe Dennis had an ounce or two. That said, whilst I remain a committed nonbeliever in the genius of the film's subject, Beautiful Dreamer is undeniably a moving experience. Brian Wilson's continuing battle to overcome mental illness is a truly heroic one, and even though the man can't sing anymore, he still puts his heart and soul into everything he does. The music may be overproduced slush, but Wilson believes in it heart and soul, and for that he must be commended. Fans of the band will be extremely happy with this overly respectful but solid documentary tribute to a man and his art. Also airs at 6:00 AM.
12:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Air Raid Wardens (1943 USA): If January’s 24-hour Laurel and Hardy marathon didn’t sate your appetite for all things Stan and Ollie, here’s one of the duo’s later post-Hal Roach features. At this point the boys were almost done and the returns — both financial and artistic — in rapid decline. That said, however, even L & H at their worst have moments of sublime brilliance, and all their films have something to recommend them. In Air Raid Wardens, the bumbling pair try to enlist but are rejected, end up working for civil defense, and inadvertently break up a Nazi spy ring. Even at a brisk 67 minutes there isn’t enough material here to support the story, but MGM’s production values gloss over most of the film’s shortcomings. If only it were funnier...
Thursday 3/31/11
3:00 AM Sundance
The Man Who Became King (2007 CAN): Adongo Adaga was just another Sudanese exile living in Canada at the turn of the 21st century, until he received word that he was needed back home. This compelling documentary takes a look at the challenges facing Adaga, who desperately wanted to relocate his family from his homeland to the Great White North but was instead called to serve as the king of a tribe in his native Southern Sudan. A large tribe of several hundred thousand subsistence farmers, the Anyuak needed him to settle outstanding issues, such as their strained relationship with neighboring tribes and the difficulties faced by their fellow Anyuak across the border in Ethiopia. The film focuses on Adaga's efforts to balance the needs of his people with the needs and safety of his immediate family, and his grace under pressure is impressive indeed.
5:00 PM Showtime
Behind the Burly Q(2010 USA): The long-gone wild, wild world of burlesque is exposed for all to see in this enjoyable if inconsequential documentary directed by Leslie Zemeckis (yes, she’s Robert Zemeckis’ better half). Featuring a dizzying assortment of archival and interview footage with such performers as Lili St. Cyr, Tempest Storm, Blaze Starr, and Kitty West, this is a film designed to set the heart of any red-blooded American male pumping a little faster. Well, any red-blooded American male who came of age during the 1940s and ‘50s, as the burlesque houses transformed into porn theaters in the ‘60s — a cultural sea change which is definitely another story for another film! Also airs at 8:00 PM.
7:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Last of Sheila (1973 USA): Movie star deaths are a regular event, but it’s not often they really shock me. James Coburn’s passing in 2002, however, came as a surprise: the man always exuded an air of indestructibility, and had triumphantly returned to the movie game in the late ‘90s with a meaty role in Paul Schrader’s Affliction and a delightful cameo in Mel Gibson’s Payback. The Last of Sheila is prime mid-period Coburn, a satisfying mystery involving a wealthy playboy (guess who) who invites friends for a week on his yacht and engages them in a game of crime that turns deadly. Surprisingly well written by a very odd couple — actor Anthony Perkins and composer Stephen Sondheim – The Last of Sheila was directed by Herbert Ross (Play It Again, Sam; Pennies From Heaven) and features appearances by James Mason, Ian McShane and TiVoPlex favorite Dyan Cannon, with costume design by — wait for it — Joel Schumacher. I’m not making this up!
Friday 4/1/11
1:50 AM Starz
The Cry of the Owl (2009 CAN-GB-GER): This low-key Patricia Highsmith adaptation succeeds primarily thanks to another dedicated performance by the great Paddy Considine. Paddy plays Robert, a recently divorced chap trying to fill the aching hole in his heart previously filled by his (ex) wife. He begins spying on neighbor Jenny (Julia Stiles), who invites him over for cookies after she takes note of him watching her while she does the dishes each night. Jenny is also on the rebound, you see — but she has a psycho (old) boyfriend (James Gilbert) who’s not quite ready to let her go. Uh-oh. Though rather predictable, The Cry of the Owl will likely please fans of the suspense genre, and offers good supporting turns by Caroline Dhavernas and Arnold Pinnock. Also airs at 4:50 AM.
3:45 PM Showtime
Triage (2009 IRE): I haven’t seen this Irish drama yet, but it includes something hugely attractive: a really meaty role for legendary octogenarian Christopher Lee, here playing a therapist caring for a shell-shocked war correspondent (Colin Farrell). Triage was directed by Danis Tanovic, whose 2001 drama No Man’s Land was quite excellent, so even folk who aren’t fans of Lee (if such folk exist, which I doubt) may want to give it a look. Also airs at 6:45 PM.
Saturday 4/2/11
2:00 AM Encore Love Stories
Bright Lights, Big City (1988 USA): I’d be loathe to identify this film as any kind of lost classic, but Bright Lights, Big City hasn’t aired on the small screen in a while, and it does have a great cast. Michael J. Fox stars as Jamie, a New York magazine fact-checker who earns a lot of money but snorts most of it up his nose. The film could also have been called Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die, as it examines a week in Jamie’s life when he skirts ever closer to the edge of the abyss via cocaine and booze. Fox delivers a decent performance and is ably supported by Kiefer Sutherland, John Houseman, Dianne Wiest, TiVoPlex fave William Hickey, and an uncredited Jason Robards.
7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Looking for Danger (1957 USA): The Bowery Boys crawl toward the finish line with Looking for Danger, the 46th of the series’ 48 films. In truth, the Bowery had all but disappeared at this point, as Sach (Huntz Hall) spends the film flashing back to his World War II days as a spy in North Africa. Yeah, right. Strangely, TCM lists Percy Helton amongst the cast, but his name doesn’t appear on IMDb. Not having seen this one in decades, I certainly don’t remember if he’s in Looking for Danger, but if he is, that’s a definite plus for an otherwise forgettable film.
11:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
Otley (1969 GB): Here’s another film I haven’t seen this the 1970s, but I remember Otley a little better than I do Looking for Danger. Why? Because it was on TV all the time (or at least so it seemed), and for some reason I watched it on multiple occasions. Written and directed by Dick Clement with help from his frequent partner in penmanship Ian La Frenais, Otley stars Tom Courtenay as the title character, a Portobello Road antiques dealer and petty thief being pursued by the police (for a murder he can’t remember committing) and by foreign agents (who have him confused with a British secret agent). I remember Otley being a fast-paced and fun spy spoof, and glancing at the supporting cast also provides cause for celebration: James Villiers, Romy Schneider, Leonard Rossiter, Alan Badel, and even a young Robin Askwith—soon to be the star of a series of saucy '70s sex comedies—are on hand. This also marks the film’s American widescreen television debut.
Monday 4/4/11
Midnight Turner Classic Movies
Le Schpountz (1938 FRA): Do you remember where you were when you first heard The Beatles or The Sex Pistols? How about when JFK was shot? The moon landing? The day you realized Sarah Palin really could become President? Well, I recently had one of those moments when everything changes. I discovered Fernandel.
Fernandel was a hugely popular French screen comic of the 1930s and '40s, but — perhaps due to the fact that he looked like the result of a midnight tryst between Rondo Hatton and a horse — he remains virtually unknown to Anglophone film fans. In fact, other than a thankless cameo in Michael Todd's bloated Around the World in 80 Days and Paris Holiday, a lame Bob Hope film no one's ever seen, Fernandel never made an English-language film.
Le Schpountz is one of five films the actor made with director Marcel Pagnol, and it's a revelation. Fernandel plays Irenee Fabre, a backwoods son of a shopkeeper whose dreams of cinema stardom apparently come to fruition when a film crew needs to borrow a saucepan from the family store. Bored and in need of distraction, the crew sign Irenee to a blatantly phony contract (he gets a bonus for performing in temperatures above 45 Celsius, or if he develops leprosy whilst working on their film) — but their clueless mark takes it absolutely seriously, and is soon wreaking havoc on the back-lots of a Parisian studio.
It's a delightful film, but it wouldn't be anything special without Fernandel, who seems almost as adept at straight drama as at broad comedy. More, please, TCM!
1:35 AM Starz C
O’Horten (2007 NOR): The occasion of a railway worker's retirement is the focus of this episodic Norwegian comedy-drama from delightfully named director Bent Hamer. Bard Owe stars as O(dd) Horten, now 67 and regretfully confronting retirement: he has no friends, never partakes in any extracurricular activities, and must end his conjugal relationship with the nice lady at the end of the Oslo-Bergen run. If you're favorably inclined towards Scandinavian quirkiness, give O'Horten a look: if you find it twee and annoying (or find the idea of senior citizen sexual intercourse disturbing), change the channel.