TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex
By John Seal
November 26, 2012
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 11/27/12
6:00 PM Sundance
Out of Time (2003 USA): Denzel Washington headlines this solid slice of cinema intrigue as a Florida cop mixed up in murder and subterfuge. Denzel is Matt Whitlock, a small town police chief whose marriage to fellow cop Alexandra (Eva Mendes) is on the skids, thanks in part to his ongoing affair with dying cancer victim Ann (Sanaa Lathan). Ann makes Matt the beneficiary of her life insurance policy, and in exchange Matt steals some confiscated drug money to allow her to go to Europe for "alternative therapy" (yeah, like THAT’S gonna work). Needless to say, things don’t go quite as planned. Directed by Carl Franklin (One False Move), Out of Time’s plot stretches well beyond the limits of credulity, but is solid entertainment nonetheless. Also airs at 11:15 PM.
Wednesday 11/28/12
1:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Woman on the Beach (1947 USA): I’m a big Jean Renoir fan – and really, who isn’t? – but this made-in-USA pseudo-noir is not one of his best efforts. The bar, of course, had been set impossibly high by previous Renoir classics such as Grand Illusion, La Bete Humaine, and Rules of the Game, but the bottom line is that he was rarely at his best when shooting in English. In Woman on the Beach, Renoir’s story of a seaside love triangle is blessed by three first-rate leads in the form of Robert Ryan, Joan Bennett, and Charles Bickford, but things just don’t quite gel. One wonders if the result would have been more satisfying if original producer Val Lewton had been involved, but alas – Lewton suffered a heart attack before the film went into production and ended up being replaced by Jack Gross, who also took ‘final cut’ privileges away from Renoir. The result? A watchable picture that could have been much, much better than it is.
3:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
Siege at Red River (1954 USA): This Technicolor Fox oater has pedigree to spare. Directed by five-time Oscar nominee Rudolph Mate and penned by Sydney Boehm (whose previous film had been The Big Heat), Siege at Red River is set in the dying days of the Civil War and stars not terribly manly Van Johnson as Farraday, a Confederate soldier transporting stolen Union Gatling guns across enemy lines. Unfortunately, the guns are stolen from him by middle man Brett Manning (Richard Boone), who turns around and offers them for sale to the nearest Indian tribe. What’s the one thing guaranteed to bring Billy Yank and Johnny Reb back together? Why, sure, the threat of Native Americans armed with high tech weaponry! Racist and politically incorrect it may be, but Siege at Red River is a gorgeously shot western with plenty of excitement and a fine moustache twirling turn from Boone.
Thursday 11/29/12
5:00 AM Flix
Circle of Iron (1978 USA): Long a much sought after VHS rarity — I can't tell you how many times I got outbid for a copy on Ebay — Circle of Iron finally got a DVD release a few years back and makes one of its rare small screen appearances this morning. Based in part on a story by Bruce Lee, the film stars David Carradine as a wise man trying to bring enlightenment to a stroppy young initiate (Jeff Cooper). So far so Kung Fu, but Circle of Iron goes much further over the edge than that relatively unambitious TV series ever did, featuring a bad guy played by Christopher Lee, a eunuch-in-waiting played by Eli Wallach, and a screenplay full of ripe dialogue supplied by Sterling Silliphant, of all people. Not to be missed by fans of the outré or psychotronic, Circle of Iron also features a hammy performance by Roddy McDowell as White Robe, arbiter of all things ethical vis a vis the martial arts.
12:00 PM HBO
Gasland (2010 USA): This excellent, Oscar-nominated HBO original documentary examines "hydraulic fracturing" (also known as fracking), a method by which natural gas is removed from the ground across a wide swath of the Eastern Seaboard. Director Josh Fox, whose family was offered a deal for the gas beneath their property, decided to travel throughout the region to see what effect fracking has had on other communities. Needless to say, it ain’t been good, unless you like to perform party tricks in your kitchen - some people can now set fire to their drinking water! With energy companies still determined to wring as much fracking profit as they can regardless of the resulting environmental damage, GasLand remains a timely and important film. Also airs at 3:00 PM.
Friday 11/30/12
11:20 AM Starz
Oranges and Sunshine (2010 AUS):
(This review originally appeared in slightly different format at: http://www.berkeleyside.com/2011/10/31/big-screen-berkeley-oranges-and-sunshine/)
During the hundred years between 1870 and 1970 the British government deported over 100,000 children to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Rhodesia. Driven by the misguided Victorian notion that the children of the poor and misbegotten were better off getting a fresh start in foreign climes, this cruel and often arbitrary policy was especially welcomed by the Australian government, eager in the post-World War II years to maintain that country’s white majority (until the mid 1970s it was virtually impossible for non-whites to emigrate to the land down under). Charities such as Dr. Barnardo’s were active and compliant co-conspirators, their grassroots contacts with the underclass offering a rich source of raw pioneer stock.
Set in England and Australia during the late 1980s, Oranges and Sunshine examines this bizarre experiment in social engineering through the eyes of Margaret Humphreys (Emily Watson), a Nottingham social worker specializing in post-adoption support for adults. Initially unconvinced by an Australian woman’s story of transportation to the other side of the globe, Margaret changes her mind when she hears a similar tale from client Nicky (Lorraine Ashbourne), who relates her late-in-life reunion with younger brother Jack decades after his deportation to the Antipodes.
Her interest piqued, Margaret determines to learn more, but without Wikipedia or Google (remember, this is the ‘80s), researching the events of 40 years ago proves a time consuming and labor intensive process. A trip to Australia and a meeting with Jack (Hugo Weaving), however, provides confirmation that thousands of British children had indeed been taken from their biological parents, shipped ten thousand miles, and placed in the care of back of beyond children’s homes, where they frequently served as little more than slave labor until reaching adulthood.
There are points in Oranges and Sunshine - especially in the early going - where one suspects they’re in for a fairly typical (and not particularly special) piece of kitchen sink realism, but Rona Munro’s well-paced screenplay (adapted from the real-life Humphrey’s memoir Empty Cradles) provides the story with a satisfying and surprisingly powerful climax.
The cast is also a strength, with especial kudos to Watson (who - let’s be honest—always looks like she’s about to burst into tears), Weaving, and David Wenham as fellow child migrant Len, who has gained his own measure of revenge against the Christian Brothers, the order in remote Western Australia that took in - and abused - many of the so-called Home Children. If the film has a weakness, it’s Lisa Gerrard’s treacly and anodyne score - there are moments when silence would have served the film better than over-emotive music - but that’s a minor complaint.
If you’ve seen 2002’s The Magdalene Sisters, Peter Mullan’s searing indictment of Ireland’s cruel treatment of wayward girls and loose women, you’ll find Oranges and Sunshine treading similar ground. Not so much a story of survival, however, as one of healing and recovery, it’s a little less acerbic than its predecessor - and ever so slightly lighter in tone. Also airs at 2:20 PM.
11:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Times Square (1980 USA): Marketed by producer Robert Stigwood as a "punk" movie, Times Square is little more than a routine coming-of-age tale about two young women adjusting to ilfe in the Big, bad Apple. The women are Pamela (Trini Alvarado), a rich youngster rebelling against her city commissioner father, and boom-box enthusiast Nicky (Robin Johnson), a working-class Brooklynite, and together they’re the Sleaze Sisters, a "band" who get the attention of radio DJ Johnny LaGuardia (Tim Curry). You’d think that location photography would make the story more believable, but that’s not the case here, with things rarely progressing much beyond an After School Special level of discourse or reality. So why am I recommending it? Well, the film has a certain nostalgic appeal for me, as it was the cause of much mirth in my teenage punk rock circles - and I’m a sucker for New York movies, no matter how bad they are.
Saturday 12/1/12
5:30 AM Encore Action
Earthstorm (2006 USA-CAN): Did you enjoy Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia? If so, you’ll die laughing throughout Earthstorm, in which Stephen Baldwin (the Bible-thumping Tea Party Baldwin) plays a scientist rushing to prevent an asteroid-fueled disaster. Surprisingly, his plan doesn’t involve prayer or divine intervention.
Sunday 12/2/12
11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Promise (1996 BEL-FRA-LUX-TUN): The Dardennes Brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc, deliver the goods again in this outstanding drama about a father and son making a living on the backs of illegal immigrants in the Belgian city of Liege. Dad Roger (Olivier Gourmet) and son Igor (Jeremie Renier) have a great thing going – they rent apartments to migrant workers, then hire their tenants out for various under the counter concerns. An unexpected visit from a building inspector, however, throws a monkey wrench into their scheme, and when an African immigrant named Amidou (Rasmane Ouedraogo) suffers a serious accident Igor suddenly develops a conscience. A huge hit on the festival circuit, this gritty slice of life drama is highly recommended.
Monday 12/3/12
3:30 AM Showtime Extreme
Paradise Alley (1978 USA): Sly Stallone wrote, directed and starred in this under-appreciated 1940s period piece about three Italian-American brothers getting by in Hell’s Kitchen. Sly is Cosmo Carboni, a big lug who manages his wrestling sibling Victor (Leo Canalito) with an assist from third brother and coroner’s assistant Lenny (Armand Assante). The film is not well regarded because Sly sings (over the opening credits no less) and because it’s so clearly an attempt to do for the squared circle what Rocky did for the boxing ring, but I’ve got a soft spot for it nonetheless. After all, any film co-starring Joe Spinell and Tom Waits (and real life wrestling legend Terry Funk!) can’t be all bad, right?
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Baby Peggy, the Elephant in the Room (2012 USA): I haven’t had a chance to preview this brand new TCM documentary, but any film focused on a still living star of silent cinema is going to be a must-see in my book. Of course, Baby Peggy (born Peggy-Jean Montgomery) was extremely young at the time – her first screen appearance came in 1920, at the age of 2 – but who else can we turn to for such memories at this point? TCM’s tribute is followed at 6:00 PM by a rare screening of 1924’s Captain January (one of nine features Peggy appeared in) and at 7:15 PM by three short subjects featuring the winsome youngster.