TiVoPlex
By John Seal
February 25, 2013
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 2/26/13
12:20 PM Starz
Neil Young Journeys (2011 USA): Neil Young. What is there left to say about the man? He’s written some of the greatest rock songs ever (Mr. Soul, Hey Hey My My [Into the Black]), but also shares responsibility for the unforgivable squishy soft rock of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, and Annoying Harmony Vocals. He made a great album with Pearl Jam (Mirror Ball), and a terrible movie all by himself (Greendale). The man liked Ronald Reagan and endorsed the PATRIOT Act, then changed his mind. And he was born in Canada and played in a band with Rick James! He’s a mystery wrapped in an enigma encased within a hockey puck! As for Neil Young Journeys, director Jonathan Demme’s rockumentary blends nostalgic road trip footage with some excellent concert material filmed in Toronto’s Massey Hall. Fans of all stripes will be delighted – at least until they get to the point in the film where he gives enthusiastic shout outs to the Presidential kill list and Japanese whaling.
Wednesday 2/27/13
3:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Stella Dallas (1937 USA): 31 Days of Oscar is almost over, and as always, I won’t miss it much. It’s a great time for youngsters to catch a heaping helping of some of the most highly touted (and even sometimes important!) films of all time, but for grizzled movie vets such as yours truly it can be a bit of a movie desert. Oh, sure, I love some of these films, too...but I’ve seen most of ‘em a million times, and I’m always hungering for another obscure foreign feature, forgotten independent programmer, or previously thought lost but rediscovered in Grandma’s attic silent flick. However, as I mentioned earlier this month when recommending 1951’s Bright Victory, it does provide us the opportunity to reassess some of the more ‘common’ titles that we (I!) haven’t seen in quite some time. Case in point: King Vidor’s Stella Dallas, a showcase for Barbara Stanwyck in which the actress plays a woman of lowly origins who marries into money and lives to regret it. Darn good film, say the memory cells, but what’s this...my (admittedly incomplete) records suggest I haven’t actually watched it since the late 1970s! La Stanwyck earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance as the mother who sacrifices everything, whilst co-star Anne Shirley, playing spoiled daughter Laurel, got a Supporting Actress nod.
5:15 AM Showtime
Roadracers (1994 USA): One of the best of those "Rebel Highway" remakes of AIP "classics" Showtime churned out in the '90s, 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 much too fast. Witty, well-acted, and featuring some great rockabilly tunes, Roadracers is a guaranteed good time for all you hep cats and bobbysoxers. Also airs at 8:15 AM.
Thursday 2/28/13
3:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948 GB): Now this is more like it. Directed by Basil Dearden, this frock flick features Stewart Granger as Konigsmark, a dashing young soldier of fortune who steals the heart of the young wife (Joan Greenwood, owner of one of the sexiest film voices evahhh) of grumpy and not terribly good-looking Hanoverian Prince George Louis (Peter Bull), later crowned King George I of England. The first Technicolor film produced by Britain’s renowned Ealing Films, Saraband for Dead Lovers’ art direction earned the film an Oscar nomination and features an outstanding excellent supporting cast, including Flora Robson, Michael Gough, Anthony Quayle, and Miles "where’d my chin go?" Malleson. Interesting footnote: Christopher Lee was originally cast in the film, but was deemed too similar in appearance to Granger, and his scenes were cut. Now there’s a DVD extra to die for.
Friday 3/1/13
4:30 AM Fox Movie Channel
The Abominable Snowman 41 (2007 USA): No, this isn’t a documentary about America’s 41st president, George Herbert Walker Bush (though there is a documentary about him with the same title!). This 41 refers to the numerological obsessions of one Nick O’Neil, an 18-year-old actor and rock fan who died in the tragic Woonsocket Heavy Metal Fire of 2003. Despite being gone at such a tender age, O’Neil left behind a completed one-act play that ended up being staged by friends and family a year after the conflagration. And then there’s the medium who tries to make contact with Nick in the spirit world, and all the eerie ‘41’ coincidences...this is one very strange (and strangely moving) documentary about a young man who left behind a most unusual legacy.
11:00 AM Showtime Extreme
Fightville (2011 USA): Fans of mixed martial arts (otherwise known as human cockfighting) won’t want to miss Fightville. Focusing on a group of aspiring MMA athletes (performers?) in Louisiana, the documentary (produced by the same folks who brought us Gunner Palace) introduces viewers to such colorful characters as Bad Chad Broussard, Crazy Tim Credeur, and, erm, Albert Stainback. They’re as hungry as anyone to pummel their way to sporting glory, but it’s a long way to the top if you wanna sock and brawl.
Sunday 3/3/13
7:00 PM Flix
Dead Man (1995 USA):It’s been a while since Jim Jarmusch’s deadpan revisionist western last visited a premium channel. Still a few years away from super stardom, Johnny Depp headlines as William Blake, a Cleveland accountant who goes west and gets rescued in his darkest hour by a Native American named Nobody (Gary Farmer). This being a Jarmusch film, Nobody naturally assumes that Blake is the renowned English poet of the same name, despite the fact that poet Blake had been dead since 1827. Together, the odd couple embark on a mystical (and occasionally mystifying) journey through a monochromatic landscape beautifully filmed by cinematographer Robby Muller. If the story is a little too opaque for you, there’s a fine supporting cast to enjoy, including Robert Mitchum (delivering his penultimate performance), Iggy Pop, Lance Henriksen, John Hurt, Crispin Glover, and Butthole Surfers lead vocalist Gibby Haynes. Added bonus: Neil Young soundtrack!
Monday 3/4/13
3:20 AM Cinemax
The Backwoods (2006 GB-FRA-ESP): Gary Oldman and Aitana Sánchez-Gijón play Paul and Isabel, a married couple getting the Straw Dogs treatment Spanish-style in this decent if rather predictable thriller. Vacationing in Spain with friends Lucy and Norman (Virginie Ledoyen and Paddy Considine), the men gets into an argument with some locals who clearly don’t like foreigners much, and also tend to hold a grudge. Things get worse when Paul and Norman discover a girl shackled in a remote cabin, her captors – of course – being the aforementioned locals. Director Koldo Serra does a decent job developing a suspenseful set-up, but the payoff is minimal. Nonetheless, any film headlined by Oldman and Considine is worth a look.