TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex for December 13 2011 through December 19 2011
By John Seal
December 12, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 12/13/11
1:10 AM HBO Signature
Carancho (2010 ARG): In the mood for a movie about traffic accidents? Then you’ll be pumped about Carancho, an Argentinean drama concerning insurance scams in the Pampas. Grizzled Ricardo Darin stars as Sosa, a lawyer on the skids now chasing ambulances for a living. Though it puts food on the table, Sosa doesn’t really enjoy the work, and his pangs of conscience grow more insistent after he meets Lujan (Martina Gusman), a beautiful doctor who keeps frowning at him in the emergency room. Will romance compel Sosa to take up a more honest, if less lucrative, trade? Or will his shady clients force him to stay in the grimy world of insurance fraud? Written and directed by Pablo Trapero, Carancho offers further proof that Darin (Nine Queens, The Secret in Their Eyes) is in the front rank of non-English speaking screen actors.
9:00 AM HBO Signature
Libertador Morales, el Justiciero (2009 VEN): Crime is a big problem in Venezuela (and by the way, this is TiVoPlex’s first Venezuelan film! Yay!), and sometimes it’s up to the average citizen to step up and enforce the law themselves. Such is the case in this slight but amusing comedy about Libertador Morales (Rafael Gil), a cop turned motorbike-taxi driver who dons a mask during his off hours and becomes el Justiciero, a super-hero of sorts who takes on a gang of Caracas robbers with an assist from homeless buddy Palo (Alberto Gonzalez). It’s an uphill battle made all the more difficult when Libertador discovers his son is also joining a gang, but don’t worry - this is a comedy, and all’s well that ends well.
8:45 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Great Rupert (1950 USA): Here’s a Christmas movie about a squirrel who helps brings the spirit of the season to a small-town family. I haven’t seen The Great Rupert since I was a child and have memories of the squirrel conversing with the film’s human characters, but I’m either hallucinating or getting my anthropomorphic critters confused: according to IMDb, Rupert is animated but definitely not capable of speech. Naturally I’m disappointed, as I was quite looking forward to seeing the film again and now must settle for watching star Jimmy Durante talk instead of the rodent. Ha-cha-cha-chaaa! Next they’ll be telling me Santa isn’t real.
Wednesday 12/14/11
3:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Blue Bird (1919 USA): I’m thoroughly familiar with both the Shirley Temple and Liz Taylor versions of this classic (but in 1919 quite recent) Maurice Maeterlinck play, but have never seen this silent one. Directed by the great Maurice (father of Jacques) Tourneur, this Blue Bird has an excellent reputation and promises to be a real treat for fans of the fantastic. It’s followed at 4:45 AM by The Valiant (1929), a similarly obscure feature which was nominated for a pair of Academy Awards and then forgotten for the next 80 years. Lead Paul Muni was nominated for Best Actor for his performance as James Dyke, a murderer with a clear conscience who gives himself up to the police.
9:00 AM Flix
Little Darlings (1980 USA): Who will lose their virginity first - Tatum O’Neal or Kristy McNichol? I don’t mean in real life, of course - presumably neither actress is virgo intacta at this point - but in this glossy exploitation feature that was a big hit in 1980. Tatum and Kristy play Ferris and Angel, two teenage girls looking to go all the way at summer camp in order to win a bet. Will Ferris be the first to score (so to speak), bagging French teacher (ooh la la!) Gary (Armand Assante), or will Angel land a big fish in the shape of camp counselor Randy (Matt Dillon, in only his second feature)? You’ll have to tune in to find out - this is one spoiler I’m keeping to myself!
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Fear and Desire (1953 USA): Somehow I’d completely forgotten this was Stanley Kubrick’s first feature film - I’ve thought for years he’d made his directorial debut with Killer’s Kiss in 1955. Not so, as Fear and Desire quite forcefully reminds us! The film focuses on a small group of American soldiers trapped behind enemy lines, and their efforts to cross back into friendly territory. There’s Corby (Kenneth Harp), the intellectual officer in command; Mac (Frank Silvera), the tough as nails non-com; Sidney (future director Paul Mazursky), the wet-behind-the-ears private; and Fletcher (Steve Coit), the family man with a heart of gold. Yes, we’re solidly in G.I. archetype territory here, but even at the tender age of 24 the director had some tricks up his sleeve, including some unusual casting decisions (wait till you see the German soldiers) and some early examples of what would become the Kubrickian camera style.
11:45 PM Showtime 2
Roadracers (1994 USA): One of the best of those "Rebel Highway" remakes of AIP "classics" Showtime churned out in the nineties, Roadracers benefits from having an at the top of his game Robert Rodriguez behind the camera. This was Rodriguez’s first film after his breakthrough indie hit El Mariachi, and stars David Arquette as Dude, a no-good ‘50s punk who spends his days smoking cigarettes, listening to that horrible jungle music, and wooing the wrong kind of women (such as the Mexican-American lass portrayed herein by Salma Hayek). Oh, and much to the chagrin of local lawman Sarge (William Sadler), he also drives hot rods far too fast. Witty, well-acted, and featuring some great rockabilly tunes, Roadracers is a guaranteed good time for all you hep cats and bobbysoxers.
Thursday 12/15/11
1:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Goldstein (1964 USA): Here’s another "first" film on TCM - this time from Philip Kaufman, who’d later bring us such classics as Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) and The Wanderers (1979). A shapeless collection of skits and stories detailing the misadventures of an old man (Juliet of the Spirit’s Lou Gilbert) who seems to have risen fully formed from the depths of Lake Michigan, Goldstein is as notable for its wintry Chicago location footage as it is for its (non-existent) narrative arc. There’s stuff about a moving van (the livery of which supplies the film’s title), an abortion doctor (TiVoPlex fave Severn Darden), a sculptor who specializes in metal work, and even an appearance by long-time Toddlin’ Town journo Nelson Algren. The film was a big hit at Cannes but sank without trace immediately thereafter - which is not terribly surprising considering its lack of storyline and reliance on abortion as narrative device. Goldstein is, however, never less than fascinating, and way better than Kaufman’s second feature, Fearless Frank.
5:20 PM Sundance
The New Protocol (2009 FRA): Big pharma bad! That’s the lesson to be drawn from The New Protocol, a fab thriller from French filmmaker Thomas Vincent. The story revolves around Raoul Kraft (Clovic Cornillac), a logging foreman whose young son dies in a car accident. Well, accidents will happen - but Raoul is subsequently contacted by Diane (Marie-Josee Croze), a whistleblower who suggests that a drug company may actually be responsible for the death of his son. Raoul, not exactly a ray of sunshine to start with, takes the news badly and takes the fight to corporate headquarters in Paris, where a surprising amount of mayhem ensues. The story also features a goodly assortment of intriguing and welcome plot twists that keep The New Protocol from straying too far into Walking Tall territory.
Friday 12/16/11
10:10 PM The Movie Channel
Ghost Machine (2010 GB): An evil spirit inhabits some military hardware in this silly but watchable British-made horror flick. Sean Faris plays Tom, a software engineer who’s developed a nifty new line in battlefield simulators. Being young and foolish, Tom decides to have some fun and games with his new-fangled machine, and with an assist from pal Vic (Luke Ford) sets it up for some war games in a haunted prison (Northern Ireland’s Crumlin Road Gaol, masquerading as a Massachusetts poky). Good choice, fellas. There are much worse time killers than Ghost Machine, which blends elements of Session 9 and (surprise! surprise!) Ghost in the Machine. Also airs 12/17 at 1:10 AM.
11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Heavenly Bodies (1985 CAN): Feathered hair: check. Members Only-style jackets: check. Bad synth music: check. Yep, this is an '80s movie...and if you had any remaining doubts, they should be put to rest as soon as you scope out the acres and acres of spandex and legwarmers on display. This is, after all, a romantic drama about a dance-ercize studio threatened by a larger and less scrupulous rival. It’s terrible, but makes its widescreen television debut tonight - and you’ll want to tune in for the soundtrack, which includes songs by The Tubes, The Dazz Band, and Dwight Twilley. Dwight Twilley...boy, there’s a guy I haven’t thought about since, oh, 1985 or thereabouts.
Saturday 12/17/11
9:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Lion Hunters (1951 USA): Guess who’s visiting the jungle in Bomba pic number five? Some lion hunters? Good guess! It’s up to Bomba, of course, to put the kibosh on their poaching ways and save the big cats from a fate worse than death: being stuffed and mounted in someone’s living room. Look for Woody Strode in one of the first of many "African native" roles he would essay over the next decade.
Monday 12/19/11
7:50 PM More Max
Cabin Fever (1989 USA): Not to be confused with the Eli Roth horror flick of the same name, this Cabin Fever stars Louis Zorich as Louie, a motel owner who’s hooked up his rooms with video equipment in order to record his patrons doing the nasty. He gets more than he bargained for, however, when his prying mechanical eye records a murder - and when the killers discover he has proof of their crime, no amount of free color TV and magic fingers will convince them not to kill him, too. Maybe a complimentary continental breakfast will do the trick?