TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex for Tuesday September 18 2012 through Monday September 24 2012
By John Seal
September 17, 2012
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 9/18/12
7:00 PM Sundance
Ghost World (2001 USA): Though I know I’ve mentioned Ghost World when writing about other films, I don’t think I’ve previously given it a stand-alone recommendation. With it screening tonight on Sundance, it’s time for that to change! Written and directed by Terry Zwigoff (Crumb, Bad Santa), the film focuses on the adventures of a pair of recent high school grads (Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson) who develop an odd relationship with a geeky older guy (Steve Buscemi) as they try to figure out whether or not they belong in the “adult world”. The three leads are perfectly cast, with Buscemi’s obsessive record collector scoring particularly high points with this vinyl junkie. A vastly above average example of the ‘”American indie” genre, Ghost World also features a terrific soundtrack, including the unforgettable Jaan Pehechaan Ho as sung by Mohammad Rafi.
Wednesday 9/19/12
1:20 AM Starz in Black
Ill Gotten Gains (1998 USA): I’m not sure why this searing, surreal drama of Middle Passage horror doesn’t get more love than it does, but I recommend it highly. Djimon Hounsou made his big screen debut here as Fyah, a West African man sold into slavery and preparing for a new life in the New World within the belly of a slave ship. The action takes place almost entirely aboard the slaver Argon Miss (a character itself, inhabited by the unseen presence of Eartha Kitt), where Fyah and his compatriots await the arrival of a final shipment of cargo: 60 additional men and women intended for bondage across the ocean. Though filmed on a very low budget, Ill Gotten Gains was shot on the same replica cutter used in Steven Spielberg’s Amistad, lending it a verisimilitude it otherwise couldn’t have afforded.
12:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
Dangerously They Live (1941 USA): John Garfield headlines this solid Warners second feature as Michael Lewis, the best–selling author of Moneyball - no, sorry, a doctor - helping a woman recover from an automobile accident that’s left her in a state of amnesia. The wrinkle, of course, is that the woman in question (Nancy Coleman) just happens to be a British spy in the possession of crucial information regarding a flotilla of German U-boats stalking the Eastern Seaboard - and the Nazis know all about her. Produced before America’s entry into World War II (but released less than a month after Pearl Harbor), Dangerously They Live features a sterling supporting cast, including Frank Reicher, Raymond Massey, and Moroni Olsen.
3:05 PM HBO 2
Hanna (2011 GB-USA-GER): No matter what your crazy Teabagger uncle thinks, home schooling is not all that and a bag of, er, tea. How do I know? I watched Hanna, in which the titular teen (Saoirse Ronan) has been taught self-defense and other survivalist skills by dad Erik (Eric Bana) whilst her cheerleading, home ec, and social skills have been ignored. A secret agent of legendary skill, Erik has attracted the attention of the CIA, who send agent Wiegler (Cate Blanchett) to capture him and his progeny because they apparently pose a great threat to the US of A. The result is an unusual blend of fantasy, action, and arthouse tropes, with director Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride and Prejudice) getting a great performance from the spooky looking Ronan. Techno fans will also thoroughly enjoy the film’s bangin’ Chemical Brothers score.
Thursday 9/20/12
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Hearts and Flowers (1919 USA): Another heaping helping of silent Mack Sennett-produced humor is on tap this evening, commencing with Hearts and Flowers, in which musician Ford Sterling gets himself into hot water with pretty little flower girl Louise Fazenda. To be honest, this film (available on Kino’s essential DVD boxed set The Slapstick Encyclopedia) isn’t amongst Sennett’s finest, but it still has enough raucous and risque moments to make it worth your while. There are a total of 18 short subjects on offer tonight, pick of the litter probably being 1920’s Don’t Weaken!, in which Sterling and co-star Charles Murray square off in the boxing ring for a hilariously inept display of pugilistic non-prowess.
7:10 PM Sundance
Death Wish (1974 USA): Well, this isn’t what you expect to see on Sundance in a prime-time (or really any other) slot, but I’m not complaining. The grandaddy of Right Wing Vigilante Bringing Frontier Justice to the Big City films, Death Wish stars Charles Bronson as New York City architect Paul Kersey, who vows revenge against the scumbuckets who murdered his wife (Hope Lange), raped his daughter (Kathleen Tolan), and evaded the clutches of the inept losers in the NYPD. Soon, former bleeding heart Paul is walking around bad neighborhoods after dark and shooting anyone who looks like they might try to nab his bag of groceries. Directed by Michael Winner, Death Wish is morally repulsive, but a powerful film nonetheless that’s had an incalculable influence on American attitudes towards crime and gun ownership in the almost 40 years since it was made. Also airs at 10:30 PM.
Friday 9/21/12
12:10 AM Sundance
UV (2007 FRA): Former pop star Jacques Dutronic stars in this French erotic thriller, but don’t worry - he’s not the one wearing a skimpy bathing suit. Dutronc plays a reclusive resident of a remote beachside villa, where he lives with his two daughters (Laura Smet and Anne Caillon). The girls spend much of their spare time lazing topless in the sun, but when a handsome stranger (Nicolas Cazale) shows up claiming to be a friend of Dutronc’s absent son, things take a turn for the tense and mysterious. A film that will appeal as much to fans of Gallic thrillers as to admirers of naked ladies, UV co-stars Marthe Keller as our aging hero’s suspicious wife.
5:00 PM Showtime
Melancholia (2011 DEN): Everyone’s favorite Scandinavian bad boy, Lars von Trier, returned to form last year with this memorable slice of science fiction. Kirsten Dunst stars as Justine (ah, shades of the Marquis de Sade!), a woman whose wedding day is about to be spoiled by a planet that’s on a collision course with Earth. Happily, Justine’s dad (Bruce Willis) is able to jump into his spaceship and blow the planet off course and...oh, sorry, wrong movie. No, in Melancholia, John Hurt plays Kirsten’s father, and you can be pretty sure he doesn’t have any planet-averting super technology up his sleeve. What follows is a typically von Trierian rumination on the end times; a beautiful, goofy, sad, and at times totally over-the-top film that shouldn’t be missed. Here’s hoping Showtime airs it in its correct aspect ratio. Also airs at 8:00 PM.
Saturday 9/22/12
9:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Mark of the Gorilla (1951 USA): The fifth of the ever threadbare Jungle Jim series, Mark of the Gorilla has two things that separate it from the pack: Nazis and beyond risible ape suits. In fact, the ape suits are being worn by actors playing characters masquerading as apes, perhaps making Mark of the Gorilla the very first post-modern second feature. As for the Nazis, they’re trying to scare off the locals, who are living near a secret stash of gold stolen during the war. Did I mention the Nazis are played by actors in ape suits? It’s up to who else but Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) to protect the natives and prevent Onslow Stevens and company from getting their damn, dirty fake paws on the treasure.
10:45 PM Turner Classic Movies
Where It’s At (1969 USA): The title alone should be enough to tip you off to this film’s flailing efforts to be in with the In-crowd. It might have passed muster ten years earlier (maybe even five), but Garson Kanin’s screenplay is strictly for the squares, man. Give Kanin his due: his work with Frank Tashlin on 1956’s The Girl Can’t Help It resulted in one of the funniest and sharpest social satires of the ‘50s, a film that didn’t quite “get” rock and roll, but nonetheless brilliantly highlighted its influence on American culture. At any rate, Where It’s At is worthwhile primarily for its solid cast, including David Janssen, Rosemary Forsyth, Brenda Vaccaro, and the absurdly proportioned Edy Williams. Set in Las Vegas, it’s fairly standard-issue Generation Gap stuff, with casino operator Janssen squaring off against his upstart college-age son (Robert Drivas, a few years away from his best performance in Larry Cohen’s God Told Me To). The film does manage to score some extra hipness points via an appearance by counter-culture comedy troupe The Committee, but the film is really aimed at an adult audience, and will be a disappointment for those in search of psychedelic thrills.
Sunday 9/23/12
11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Story of Women (1989 FRA): Isabelle Huppert stars as Marie Latour, a French woman compelled to earn the family crust when her husband returns from the war in no fit state to work. She discovers that abortions are in high demand by local women who’ve been raped by Nazi occupiers (cue Todd Akin’s comments on how Nazi sperm doesn’t work when inserted into unwilling non-German lady parts) and takes up the trade. Eventually, she turns her underground abortions into a successful (if thoroughly illegal) business, and is able to move the family into much pleasanter surroundings. But how does all this make her feel? Ah, there’s the mystery, as Marie never reveals her innermost thoughts, not even when faced with the death penalty. Directed by Claude Chabrol and based on the life of the real Marie Latour, this is a moving (if somewhat opaque) drama well worth your attention.