TiVoPlex
By John Seal
October 24, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 10/25/11
5:00 PM Encore Suspense
The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009 GB): Here’s another film with a title that sounds like it should be attached to a TV movie-of-the-week. It’s actually a low-budget British thriller with a cast of three, but it’s quite the trio: former Bond girl Gemma Arterton is the titular Alice, a rich girl held for ransom by a pair of kidnappers played by Martin Compston (Red Road, The Damned United) and Eddie Marsan (who’s going to win an Academy Award one day, trust me). The debut feature effort of director J Blakeson, The Disappearance of Alice Creed could have easily ended up being some awful English variation on the torture porn meme (poor Alice does get tied to a bed) but happily relies on some good old-fashioned cinema virtues - including an intelligent and very suspenseful script - to tell its tale.
8:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
We Can’t Go Home Again (1976 USA): Once upon a time, Nicholas Ray was one of Hollywood’s top directors, the filmmaker responsible for helming such classics as In a Lonely Place, Rebel Without a Cause, and Johnny Guitar. By the 1970s, however, poor Nick’s reputation as a hell-raiser and his taste for substances licit and illicit had taken a toll, and he was making films with titles like Wet Dreams (which - for better or worse - I’ve never seen). TCM celebrates the 100th anniversary of Ray’s birth today by airing this rarely seen feature (and - for better or worse - by leaving Wet Dreams in the vault). Created while Ray was teaching at SUNY, We Can’t Go Home Again is no Stan Brakhage riot of imagery, but is definitely an unusual project in which Ray and his students experimented with all sorts of footage (staged, found, and otherwise) and effects (most prominently, split-screen). First released in 1973 and tinkered with by Ray until his death in 1979, there’s probably no definitive version of this film, but TCM is screening what is being called the most "complete" cut, newly restored by Oscilloscope with an eye to an eventual DVD release. For now, though, this is the only way for most of us to see this remarkable feature (unless you were able to attend last week’s Big Apple screening at Film Forum).
8:00 PM The Movie Channel
Isolation (2005 GB-IRE): If you’re in the mood for a moist horror flick, this deadly serious tale of genetic experimentation gone horribly wrong fits the bill. John Lynch stars as Dan, a dirt poor Irish farmer who allows scientists to conduct experiments on his livestock - experiments which soon get out of hand, leading to a population explosion of deadly cows threatening to lay waste to everything and everyone in their path. It sounds ridiculous, but the film is written and played with an udderly straight face (sorry) and will have you on the edge of your seat (more sensitive viewers may also be on the edge of their barf bag). Also airs at 11:00 PM.
Wednesday 10/26/11
11:45 AM Showtime
Even the Rain (2009): Directed by Iciar Bollain, whose 2003 feature Te doy mis ojos (Take My Eyes) examined the literally tortuous relationship between a woman and her abusive husband, Even the Rain is similarly provocative stuff. The film reunites Bollain with Take My Eyes star Luis Tovar, here cast as Costa, a film mogul whose current production is an historical drama about the conquest and enslavement of indigenous South Americans by Christopher Columbus and the Spanish Empire. Costa is a cold-blooded realist: all he cares about is completing the film on time and for as little money as possible. Sebastian (Gael Garcia Bernal), the film within a film’s director, is an idealist: he hopes to create something that will be important both politically and artistically. The two have brought their crew to Cochabamba, an Andean city run by a racist mayor who tells them, “If we give one inch, the Indians will drag us back to the stone age.” It seems that the centuries old struggle between Anglos and Indians hasn’t quite ended yet! There is much here to savor, including scenes reminiscent of the best of Werner Herzog and Costa-Gavras, Dennis Hopper’s The Last Movie, and Jorge Sanjines’ Yawar Maliku (Blood of the Condor). There’s also a superb performance by Karra Elejalde as Anton, the hard-drinking actor playing Christopher Columbus in the film within a film, and screenwriter Paul Laverty (who, I suspect, "appears" in an off-screen cameo as one of Costas’ investors) bravely negotiates some tricky narrative shoals. Also airs at 2:45 PM.
9:15 PM Encore Suspense
A Crime (2006 FRA-USA): Harvey Keitel headlines this solid if somewhat plodding suspenser that makes up with its cast what it lacks in full-throated action. Harvey plays Roger, a Big Apple cab driver assisting French ingénue Alice (Emmanuelle Beart) in her efforts to solve a crime. Alice’s motives, however, are not the purest: by discovering the party responsible for the murder of her neighbor, she hopes to win the affection of still grieving widower Vincent (Norman Reedus). Shot on location in Brooklyn during the winter months, A Crime looks great and features a spare but effective score by the legendary and still very busy Ennio Morricone.
Thursday 10/27/11
12:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Undercurrent (1949 USA): Here’s something you don’t see every day: a thriller where the beleaguered heroine is played by Katharine Hepburn! Now, don’t get me wrong - I enjoy those Hepburn-Tracy comedies as much as the next man - but Katie just doesn’t project the same vulnerability as, say, Gloria Grahame or Ingrid Bergman. That said, Undercurrent is surprisingly good, with Hepburn essaying the role of Ann Hamilton, a newlywed who suspects scientist hubby Alan (Robert Taylor) is planning to knock her off. Can Alan’s brother Michael (Robert Mitchum) dissuade her from her paranoid delusions - or is this one hysterical dame who’s actually on the right track? Co-starring Edmund Gwenn, Marjorie Main, and (in her first big-screen appearance) Jayne Meadows, Undercurrent also marks one of the all too rare occasions when director Vincente Minnelli eschewed colorful widescreen musicals in favor of something a little darker.
Friday 10/28/11
1:00 PM Fox Movie Channel
Le Metamorphose de Cloporte (1965 FRA-ITA): I was breathless with excitement when this film popped up on Fox a few weeks ago, but if you missed it then here’s another opportunity to scope it out. Lino Ventura is outstanding as Alphonse, a French crook who takes the fall for a robbery, allowing his colleagues in crime to escape with the ill-gotten gains. Upon completion of his prison term, Lino determines to track down his old chums and get his fair share of the loot—but it proves to be a tricky task indeed. Airing in widescreen and with subtitles, this outstanding black and white crime drama (roughly translated, The Change of the Sow Bugs) is essential viewing - and pay particular attention to its opening and closing shots!
8:30 PM Sundance
Dream Home (2010 HK): Middle class aspirations of home ownership are the target of this wicked and gruesome satire from Hong Kong. Josie Ho plays yuppie Lai-Sheung, who’s finally ready to invest in some real estate - specifically, a lovely apartment with a stunning sea view. There’s only one problem: she can’t afford the monthly payments. Is she downhearted? No, not at all: instead she hatches a plan that will allow her to make those payments, albeit at the expense of her new neighbors. If you thought the slasher genre had completely lost its juice, check out Dream Home. Also airs 10/29 at 1:20 AM.
Saturday 10/29/11
8:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Zorro’s Fighting Legion (1939 USA): Zorro struggles to keep weapons out of the hands of untrustworthy redskins in the eighth and ninth chapters of this very politically incorrect serial.
9:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966 USA-SUI): Looks like this late period Tarzan flick is screening in pan and scan this morning, but it’s still a guilty pleasure worth a look. Pro football player Mike Henry takes over from the emaciated Jock Mahoney as the Lord of the Apes, this time searching for a young Mexican lad who happens to be in possession of a valuable treasure map. The T-Man gets an image upgrade this time out and even gets to wear a suit, but don’t worry - he’s as buff and bold as ever. Shot on location south of the border, the film has some nice footage of a sports arena equipped with a giant (and deadly) Coke bottle. David Opatoshu co-stars as the main baddy.
3:20 PM Sundance
Mutants (2009 FRA): Let’s be honest: the French haven’t done horror very well for quite a few years now. Case in point: Mutants, an okay but unexceptional 28 Days Later knockoff. It’s a perfectly fine zombie flick that tries to do things a wee bit differently, but lacks the sensual elegance of a Rollin or the tension-filled suspense of a Clouzot. Perhaps I’m holding it to too high a standard, or perhaps its underwhelming contemporaries (In Their Sleep, High Tension, et al) have simply spoiled Gallic horror for me.
Monday 10/31/11
9:00 AM Sundance
Join Us (2009 USA): If you’ve ever felt like joining a cult or have tried to persuade a family member to join one, here’s a film that may give you pause. Directed by Ondi Timoner, whose 2004 doc Dig! dug deep into the tortured relationship between indie rockers The Brian Jonestown Massacre and major label musos The Dandy Warhols, Join Us takes a look at folks trying to escape the clutches of Mountain Rock Church, an innocuously named South Carolina cult run by a pastor who enjoys giving kids a good ass-whuppin’. The film also more broadly examines the meaning of the word "cult": it’s estimated that up to 15,000,000 Americans belong to one, and that doesn’t include folks who subscribe to mainstream religion or either of the major political parties! Could your next door neighbor be amongst them? Watch Join Us and start casting furtive sideways glances their way!