TiVoPlex
By John Seal
December 10, 2012
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 12/11/12
2:00 AM Showtime
Heart of Stone (2009 USA): The school to prison pipeline is in good working order throughout the United States, but public education employees continue to put up resistance. In Newark, New Jersey, the principal of Weequahic High School (alma mater of, amongst others, Philip Roth and Michael Lerner) dons a bullet-proof vest in his efforts to keep his students away from the so-called criminal justice system. His work is the subject of this excellent documentary, which depicts his unique approach: community outreach to the local gang bangers, unlikely allies in Weequahic’s efforts to get kids to stay in school. Also airs at 5:00 AM.
Wednesday 12/12/12
4:00 AM Sundance
No One Knows About Persian Cats (2009 IRN): The fledgling and deeply underground Iranian indie music scene gets a look-in in this brave feature from filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi (A Time for Drunken Horses). Shot in what weren’t the easiest of conditions in Tehran (arrests were made), No One Knows About Persian Cats stars Nagar Shaghaghi and Ashkan Koshanejad as Nagar and Ashkan, a nu-folk duo hoping to spread their wings and fly to London for a series of concerts. Getting visas, however, is a daunting affair - as is staying one step ahead of the police, who are determined to break up any unapproved concerts taking place in the Islamic Republic’s capital city. This Kafkaesque drama, enlivened by an amazing array of Iranian musical talent, was the final straw for Ghobadi, Koshanejad, and Shaghaghi, who have since gone into self-imposed exile. Sometimes life does imitate art. Also airs at 10:00 AM.
3:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
Dirty Dingus Magee (1970 USA): I used to love seeing this title in print when I was an adolescent. Hee, hee...it says "dirty dingus" in TV Guide! Hee, hee! Of course, I watched the movie, but was disappointed (or something) that the only Dirty Dingus on screen was the one portrayed by Frank Sinatra, one of the least likely stars you’d imagine in the role. What, Lee Marvin and James Coburn weren’t available? Directed by western specialist Burt Kennedy, DDM stars Ol’ Blue Eyes as a rapscallion engaged in all sorts of Old West chicanery, much of it at the expense of fellow bad boy Hoke Birdsill (George Kennedy). Overall, it’s pretty lame, tame stuff, but a decent supporting cast (Anne Jackson, Jack Elam, John Dehner, and Henry Jones) elevate this Dingus above all others.
Thursday 12/13/12
11:30 PM HBO Signature
Tropico de Sangre (2010 DOM): A historical drama set in the Caribbean, Tropico de Sangre tells the true story of Minerva Mirabal, a political dissident who fought against the Dominican Republic’s Trujillo dictatorship during the 1940s and ‘50s. Mirabal is played with gusto by Texas-born Michelle Rodriguez, whilst the not-so-great dictator is portrayed to perfection by Abel Ferrara veteran Juan Fernandez. I don’t know enough about the period in question to comment on the historical accuracy of the film, but as entertainment, it’s first rate.
Friday 12/14/12
11:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural (1973 USA): One of the best independently produced horror flicks of a very good decade for independently produced horror flicks, Lemora relates the dangers awaiting young Lila Lee (Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith) after she flees a deeply unhappy home situation and ends up in the town of Asteroth, where she meets the creepy title character (Lesley Gilb). Set during the 1930s and based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, the film was the freshman effort of director Richard Blackburn, who would later go on to produce and write the classic black comedy Eating Raoul. He’s hardly worked since, but between Lemora and Raoul has already earned TiVoPlex immortality.
Saturday 12/15/12
3:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
Legions of the Nile (1960 FRA-ITA): Good news: this sword and sandal epic hasn’t been seen on TV in many years (well, it hadn’t been until it showed up on Fox last May). Bad news: this is the dubbed, pan and scan print we all grew up watching on the late, late show - which for nostalgics like me, of course, isn’t entirely bad news. Even more interestingly, the only reason Fox ended up distributing this picture was because they bought the US rights in order to prevent it from competing with their own epic of ancient Egypt, 1963’s Cleopatra. How’s the film? In two words, historically inaccurate - but Linda Cristal is easy on the eyes as the legendary lady pharaoh.
5:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Impact (1949 USA): Brian Donlevy plays a man targeted for murder by his cheating wife in this excellent, if ever so slightly overlong, suspenser. Donlevy is Walter Williams, a San Francisco businessman whose spouse Irene (star-crossed Helen Walker) dispatches lover Jim Torrance ( Tony Barrett) to do him in. Jim, however, does a sloppy and incomplete job and ends up dead himself, whilst Walter bides his time in an Idaho gas station plotting revenge. Things get more complicated, however, when he in turn falls for gas station owner Marsha Peters (Ella Raines). Co-starring Charles Coburn, Anna May Wong (this her penultimate picture), and Mae Marsh, Impact provided Donlevy one of the better roles of his career.
Sunday 12/16/12
5:00 AM Sundance
A Year Ago In Winter (2008 GER): Written and directed by Caroline Link, whose Nowhere in Africa won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2002, A Year Ago In Winter is the contemplative tale of an artist trying desperately to capture the essence of his subject. The artist is Max Hollander (Josef Bierbichler); the subject a young man (Cyril Sjostrom) who just so happens to be dead. A challenge indeed for any painter, and there’s plenty more family drama as Max must contend with the mother and sister of his (very) still life. This one’s for fans of late period Ingmar Bergman - others may find the film a little too insular.
9:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Iron Petticoat (1956 GB): This is a weird one – a really weird one. Shot in Britain and directed by future Carry On king Ralph Thomas, The Iron Petticoat stars Katharine Hepburn as Vinka Kovelenko, a Soviet officer who defects to the West because of those sexist pigs in the Politburo. Safely ensconced in London, Vinka is assigned to case officer Chuck Lockwood (Bob Hope?!?), who tries to convince her that capitalism is just peachy. An awkward melding of elements from better films (Comrade X, Ninotchka), The Iron Petticoat was penned by Ben Hecht, who wanted his name removed from the credits. He didn’t get his wish. Long unseen, this film popped up on TCM last month and gets an encore screening this morning. It’s not a good film (and Hepburn’s Russian accent is absolutely atrocious), but remains a fascinating misfire nonetheless.
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Carol for Another Christmas (1964 USA): Now this is more like it. Made for television in 1964, Carol for Another Christmas was produced by Xerox for the United Nations (eager as ever to spread universal goodwill) and written by Rod Serling. An updated version of A Christmas Carol with Sterling Hayden cast in the Scrooge role (here named "Daniel Grudge"), the film features an amazing supporting cast, including Peter Sellers, Britt Ekland, Pat Hingle, James Shigeta, Eva Marie Saint, Ben Gazzara, Robert Shaw, and, erm, Steve Lawrence as The Ghost of Christmas Past. Rarely seen since its initial broadcast, this is not to be missed.
9:40 PM The Movie Channel
Farewell My Concubine (1993 CHI): You can’t go far wrong with Chinese frock flick specialist Chen Kaige, and Farewell My Concubine is no exception. Of course, it always helps to have the luminous Gong Li headlining your film, and here she’s cast as point woman in a half-century long love triangle involving members of the Peking Opera (the other two corners of the triangle being Leslie Cheung and Fengyi Zhang). It’s a beautifully made, superbly acted, leisurely paced but never boring drama. Also airs on 12/17 at 12:40 AM.