TiVoPlex
By John Seal
January 14, 2013
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 1/15/13
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The League of Gentlemen (1960 GB): Caper films rarely come better than this Basil Dearden-helmed thriller about a group of military men determined to pull off a bank heist. The great Jack Hawkins headlines as Hyde, a British Army officer who’s lost his billet due to budget cuts and is in need of funds to maintain his comfortable lifestyle. Joining forces with six other disgruntled ex-servicemen, Hyde plans a military-like operation to empty the vaults of a City bank - but the plan, of course, does not go quite as expected. Included in the plot are Mycroft (cashiered for "public indecency," portrayed by Roger Livesey), Lexy (supplier of secret information to the Soviets, portrayed by Richard Attenborough), and Stevens (he’s gay!, portrayed by Kieron Moore). Featuring a BAFTA-nominated screenplay by Bryan Forbes (who also appears as Porthill, a co-conspirator blackballed for murdering Cypriot "terrorists"), The League of Gentlemen co-stars Patrick Wymark, Oliver Reed, Nanette Newman, Norman Bird, and Nigel Green.
Wednesday 1/16/13
11:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Detective (1954 GB): It’s Alec Guinness day on TCM, and to celebrate we get a couple of the droll, dolorous actor’s more obscure efforts. First up is an adaptation of G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown stories (indeed, the film was released in the UK as Father Brown) featuring Guinness as a dog-collared gumshoe on the trail of an art thief. It’s lightweight stuff but perfectly suited to Guinness, who’s ably supported by Bernard Lee, Cecil Parker, Joan Greenwood, Sid James, and a young Peter Finch. The Detective is followed at 12:45 PM by The Prisoner (1955), a less amusing but still worthwhile drama in which Sir Alec portrays an Eastern European clergyman whose disagreements with the authorities land him in a heap of trouble. Clearly based on the true life travails of Hungary’s Cardinal Mindszenty, who was in jail at the time, The Prisoner proved too controversial to screen at Cannes but was awarded the Best Foreign Film gong by America’s National Board of Review.
5:00 PM Encore Suspense
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 USA): How often does a remake truly match up to the original film? Only, apparently, when it involves Jack Finney’s tale of extraterrestrial pod people, a novel that has now been filmed four times (I’ve yet to see 2007’s The Invasion, however, so maybe that version sucks). It probably helped to have W. D. Richter (Big Trouble In Little China, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai) on hand to adapt Finney’s novel and update it for the navel-gazing ‘70s, but astute casting (notably Jeff Goldblum and Leonard Nimoy), respectful nods to the original (including cameos by Kevin McCarthy and Don Siegel), and superb location work in San Francisco also factor into the film’s success. Perhaps it’s just the idea that intelligent and malicious plants may be out there waiting to prey upon mankind, but all three versions of this story I’ve seen - including Abel Ferrara’s less successful 1993 take starring Forrest Whitaker - give me the willies.
Thursday 1/17/13
12:20 AM Encore Action
Species: The Awakening (2007 USA): Remember that Species marathon we all enjoyed a few weeks ago? Little did I know there was a fourth chapter to the saga. Here it is – I’ve never seen it, but how much worse than Species III could it possibly be? Let’s all tune in and find out!
11:30 AM Sundance
The Kid With a Bike (2011 BEL-FRA): Let me get this off my chest: fk you, Sundance Channel, and the corporate horse you rode in on who convinced you that showing commercials during prime time would be a great idea. And no, it doesn’t make it "better" that you only break into the movie at the top of each hour: in some ways, it’s even more aggravating than the frequent interruptions you get on some other so-called "premium" channels. I’ve invested an hour of my life in the plot and characters of the film you’re airing, and suddenly I’m thrust into a loud and obnoxious promo for one of your ridiculous fashion reality shows. Memo to Sundance: no one who likes art films gives two s**ts about fashionistas.
Harrumph. That said, at least Sundance isn’t interrupting "off peak" programming with commercials (yet), so by all means check out this screening of The Kid With a Bike, the latest sterling effort from the kings of contemporary neo-realism, Belgium’s Dardennes Brothers.
Friday 1/18/13
1:15 AM Sundance
Foul Gesture (2006 ISR): No more rants this week – I promise! This shot-in-Tel Aviv drama, however, provides some fictional rage of another variety, featuring a woman (Keren Moras) who flips the bird to a passing motorist. She immediately regrets her decision when said motorist sideswipes her vehicle, which is being driven by her husband (Gal Zaid), and things get even worse when she learns her fit of temper has offended one of the city’s most feared criminals (Asher Tsarfati). And that’s not all: hubby decides to report the incident to the police, causing all sorts of additional unexpected and unwelcome fallout. This unusual, gripping feature won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Miami International Film Festival.
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Laurel and Hardy mini-marathon: Many years ago, AMC (another channel about which I’ve previously vented my spleen) showed several hours worth of foreign language Laurel & Hardy short subjects. It was a remarkable opportunity to see some of the comedy team’s rarest efforts, and hasn’t been repeated since – until (at least in part) tonight. Thanks to TCM, we’re getting back to back English and Spanish language versions of Chickens Come Home (1931) and Blotto (1930), and back to back English and French versions of Be Big and Laughing Gravy (both 1931). There are a ton of other non-Anglophone L&H’s out there (including some German ones), so let’s hope TCM decides this is an exercise worth repeating and/or extending.
Saturday 1/19/13
4:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Phantom of Crestwood (1932 USA): Ready for an old dark house mystery? Here’s a decent one, even if the plot (and the house) are pretty creaky. Ricardo Cortez is the dashing star and there’s a reliable supporting cast, led by H. B. Warner as the elderly Crestwood patriarch and Karen Morley as his scheming daughter. Apparently the film was also the final chapter of a radio serial, suggesting RKO had some creative types working in the executive suite back in ’32 (a pretty inarguable conclusion when you consider the studio would release King Kong the following year).
5:50 AM Encore Dramatic Stories
The Band’s Visit (2007 ISR-FRA): Two Israeli films in one week - take that, haters! I’m a bit surprised I’ve never recommended this film previously, as it’s aired on TCM at least once within living memory and on Sundance before that. The story of a beknighted band of Egyptian policemen struggling to get to their gig at an Arab arts center located in Israeli territory, The Band’s Visit is a mordant Kafkaesque affair with a touch of absurdist humor thrown in for good measure. It’s a terrific little feel-good picture that will convince you that peace in the Middle East just might be possible after all.
Sunday 1/19/13
8:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
A High Wind in Jamaica (1965 GB): Perhaps I’ve been hibernating for the last decade or simply not been paying attention, but I could swear this is the first time this film has screened on Fox in its original aspect ratio. I’m probably wrong, but this is definitely the first time I noticed, which must count for something, right? Directed by Alexander Mackendrick and adapted by screenwriter Ronald Harwood from Richard Hughes’ 1929 novel, A High Wind in Jamaica stars Anthony Quinn and James Coburn as pirates with hearts of gold who essentially become the adoptive parents of two children en route from the Caribbean to England. I recall the film being a letdown in pan and scan, so I’m looking forward to seeing it in Cinemascope - which the rest of you have probably been enjoying on Fox since the turn of the century.
1:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Me and the Colonel (1958 USA): I’m only mildly amused by Danny Kaye – hence his extended absence from the TiVoPlex since, oh, forever – but this feature is worth a look for those who favor bizarre plots and good supporting casts. Kaye is cast as S. L. Jacobowksy, a Jewish refugee whose fate rests in the hands of an anti-Semitic Polish Army officer (Curt Jurgens), which sounds like pretty unlikely comedy material unless you’re Roberto Benigni. Never released on DVD, Me and the Colonel benefits from the presence of Martita Hunt, Akim Tamiroff, Alexander Scourby, and a host of other continental actors.
Monday 1/20/13
6:00 PM Starz in Black
February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four (2005 USA): It must almost be Black History Month, because Starz in Black has two very fine documentaries on offer this evening. First up is this look at the story of the Greensboro Four, a quartet of African-American men who sat at a whites-only Woolworths’ lunch counter in 1960 North Carolina and quietly waited to be served. A testament to the power of non-violent civil disobedience, their sit-in eventually led to the desegregation of all Woolworths’ counters a few months later. It’s followed at 7:00 PM by Revolution ’67, which documents the violent rebellions that began to break out in northern cities a few years later.