TiVoPlex
By John Seal
July 22, 2013
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 7/23/13
3:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Storm Fear (1955 USA): Actor Cornel Wilde directed a number of independent features during the 1950s and ‘60s, some of which - The Naked Prey and Beach Red, for example – are very good indeed. Here’s one his earliest behind-the-camera efforts – one not quite up to the standard of the aforementioned films, but still worth seeing. Wilde plays Charlie Blake, a bank robber on the run with sidekick Benjie (Steven Hill) and moll Edna (Lee Grant) after engaging in a firefight with police. The threesome intrude into the life (and farmhouse) of Charlie’s brother Fred (Dan Duryea), an unwell novelist who isn’t particularly pleased to see them and doesn’t hide his feelings. Unfortunately, a snowstorm blows in, preventing Fred from sending them on their way and forcing the group to hunker down and cope until such time as the weather improves. Naturally, tensions rise, nerves become strained, and bad stuff happens. Featuring an intelligent screenplay by future Oscar winner Horton Foote, Storm Fear also features a young Dennis Weaver in a supporting role as a meddlesome neighbor.
7:00 PM Flix
Dead Man (1995 USA): Still a few years away from super stardom, Johnny Depp headlines the excellent Jim Jarmusch feature 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!
Wednesday 7/24/13
6:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Twelve Chairs (1970 USA): Though this Mel Brooks comedy can’t hold a candle to its predecessor, The Producers, it still has its moments. Set in the Soviet Union circa 1920, the film stars Ron Moody as Vorobyaninov, a down-on-his-luck fellow of noble descent who now earns a meager living working in an office. Summoned to his mother-in-law’s deathbed, Vorobyaninov learns that the family fortune - a cache of valuable jewelry once thought lost - still remains hidden within the upholstery of a chair. Ah, but which one? Unfortunately, it’s not clear precisely which of a matching set of 12 chairs holds the treasure, but - determined to regain his rightful legacy - our hero embarks upon a quest to examine each of them, not so ably assisted by a beggar (Frank Langella) and an Orthodox priest (Dom Deluise) who hope to get a cut of the proceeds. Based on a popular Russian novel by Ilf and Petrov, The Twelve Chairs isn’t as laugh out loud funny as you would hope, but still provides its fair share of chuckles. Airs again 7/25 at 1:45 AM.
Thursday 7/25/13
9:40 PM Encore Love Stories
Bolero (1984 USA): This bodacious piece of baloney stars ‘80s sex goddess Bo Derek as a young woman experiencing erotic stirrings as she travels across the globe in search of the ideal lover. Written and directed by Bo’s then husband John Derek and co-starring George Kennedy (keep your clothes on, George), Bolero is the sort of soft porn epic that once aired with frequency on Skinemax but now isn’t seen quite as often. The film not only won six Golden Raspberry awards (including Worst Actress, Worst Director, and Worst New Star – Olivia D’Abo!), it went on to be named the Worst Picture of the Decade by the Razzies - an impressive accomplishment in a decade overflowing with really, really dreadful films. If you’re in the mood for something so bad it’s terrible, or just like looking at Bo Derek in the buff, you won’t want to miss this.
Friday 7/26/13
1:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Explosive Generation (1961 USA): Daring for its time, The Explosive Generation rails against parental hypocrisy when the taboo subject of sexuality arises in our public schools. Social studies teacher Peter Gifford (William Shatner, in one of his best performances) inadvertently begins a discussion of the birds and the bees in his high school classroom, realizing that his students have legitimate questions that mom and pop are too uncomfortable to answer. When he has the kids fill out questionnaires regarding the dos and don’ts of teenage courtship, angry parents rise in rebellion and try to get Shatner fired by principal Edward Platt, a go-along-to-get-along guy who soon caves in to the pressure. Of course, Shatner’s beloved students soon come to the rescue, leading the school in the kind of civil disobedience tactics which would soon become de rigueur on campuses around America. Gently pushing the envelope whilst carefully tiptoeing around some of the stickier questions, The Explosive Generation is a mild-mannered but prescient precursor of the generational conflicts about to burst wide open.
4:40 AM HBO Signature
Position Among the Stars (2011 GER): The third film in director Leonard Retel Helmrich’s trilogy recording the lives and times of an average Indonesian family, Position Among the Stars returns to HBO Signature this evening. Helmrich’s subjects are the Shamsuddins, a tight-knit family just getting by in the slums of Jakarta, and the film follows their efforts to assist niece Tari to achieve her dream of a higher education - including, if need be, pawning the family home to help pay for it. Think of Position Among the Stars as a really, really good South Asian version of PBS’s An American Family.
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Day For Night (1973 FRA): The title of this Truffaut film deeply intrigued me when I was 11 or 12 years old. What could it possibly mean? How could day and night ever be substituted one for the other? It wasn’t until quite a few years later that the title’s cinematic meaning (a reference to scenes shot in daylight to save money, then artificially darkened to masquerade as the wee, wee hours of the morning) finally sank in. Yeah, I was a slow kid. As for Day For Night (the film), it features Truffaut as a filmmaker struggling against near insurmountable odds to complete his latest picture, Meet Pamela, during a fraught shoot in Nice. An anthology of sorts, the film includes half a dozen small scale stories within its overarching framework, with the big themes – love, death, and birth – well represented. Is this, as Roger Ebert and others have contended, the best film ever made about filmmaking? Well, The Player certainly offers some strong competition, but on balance Day For Night is an impressive candidate for the title. If you’ve never seen it, make time this evening – but be sure to turn on all the lights and pretend you’re watching at high noon.
Saturday 7/27/13
10:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
Lisa (1962 GB-USA): A Holocaust drama light on Holocaust and heavier on interpersonal relationships and romance, Lisa stars Dolores Hart as a Jewish girl saved from the ovens by a Dutch policeman (Stephen Boyd) who rescues her from white slaver Marius Goring and then tries to smuggle her into Palestine. Boyd is badly miscast, his lightweight performance an unfortunate distraction from Nelson Gidding’s solid screenplay, but a fine supporting cast – including Donald Pleasence, Harry Andrews, Finlay Currie, and Leo McKern – provides sufficient counterbalance. Also of note is Arthur Ibbetson’s fine cinematography, best appreciated in its original aspect ratio – which, thankfully, is how it will be seen this morning.
5:00 PM HBO
Savages (2012 USA): Last week I damned Oliver Stone with faint praise, but clearly I can’t quit him. The testy director’s most recent effort, Savages examines the wonderful world of drug cartels, with Salma Hayek headlining as a coldblooded cartel kingpin and Benicio del Toro as her equally vile sidekick. Determined to prevent anyone from honing in on their business, our anti-heroes determine to put a halt to the competition offered by three small-time Southern California pushers who’ve developed a particularly strong strain of wacky tobacky. If you’re looking for something a little more serious but just as potcentric as Harold and Kumar, look no further. Warning, though: this film could seriously harsh your mellow. Also airs at 8:00 PM, 8:15 PM, 11:00 PM, and 11:15 PM.
Sunday 7/28/13
11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Ugetsu Monagatari (1953 JAP): Is it a ghost story? A war story? How about social commentary on life in 16th century Japan? Kenji Mizoguchi’s classic is a bit of all three, with its tale of two potters contending with difficult business conditions in the midst of civil conflict. You’ll want to tune in to appreciate the exquisite cinematography of Kazuo Miyagawa, who later went on to shoot Sansho the Bailiff, Floating Weeds, Yojimbo, and half a dozen Zatoichi flicks.
Monday 7/29/13
3:45 PM Turner Classic Movies
Fear (1946 USA): An uncredited adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, this low-budget Monogram second feature stars a not at all well-looking Warren William (who would be dead within two years) as Burke, a police officer craftily trying to wheedle a confession from medical student Larry Crain (Peter Cookson), who (in a fit of fiscal fright) has murdered a pawnbroker. Nestor Paiva co-stars as Burke’s colleague Shaefer, and there’s a blink and you’ll miss him appearance by Darren McGavin as "blonde student". A cut above your average Monogram effort, Fear benefits from a baffling final reel plot twist that will will leave you in need of a second viewing.