TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex for March 23 2010 through March 29 2010
By John Seal
March 29, 2010
9:00 PM IFC
Bug (2006 USA): A William Friedkin-helmed psychological thriller, Bug makes its widescreen television debut this evening. Ashley Judd stars as waitress Agnes, who's stuck between a rock and a hard place: she has a nasty ex-husband (Harry Connick Jr.) who's just been paroled, and a creepy guest named Peter (Michael Shannon) who swears he's on the up and up, but whose thousand-yard stare implies otherwise. Peter is suffering from a particularly nasty case of PTSD he picked up in Iraq, as well as an obsession with the insects he believes inhabit his body...and Agnes falls into the trap of buying into the bug theory, leading to a journey deep into the paranoid heart of darkness. Based on a play by Tracy Letts, Bug is Friedkin's best film in quite some time and probably should have earned Judd some Oscar consideration.
Saturday 3/27/10
12:15 AM Starz in Black
Child's Play 3 (1991 USA): So number 2 wasn't enough for you, eh? Then feast your eyes on Child's Play 3, airing this early Saturday morning on Starz In Black. That's because, this time out, Chucky is trying to steal the soul of African-American youngster Ronald (Jeremy Sylvers), who attends the same military academy as our old chum Andy (tennybopper Justin Whalen). Andy is almost all growed up, but his old playmate just won't leave him alone—hey, he is your friend to the end! Appropriate mayhem ensues.
7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Spook Busters (1946 USA): After a three year hiatus from matters supernatural (a theme last explored in 1943's East Side Kids comedy Ghosts on the Loose), the Bowery Boys return to haunted house shenanigans in Spook Busters. Directed by William ‘One-Shot' Beaudine, Spook Busters is proof positive that the series was already on the decline: instead of Mike Mazurki and Pamela Blake in the supporting cast, we get Charles Middleton and Douglas Dumbrille. It still had a good ways to go before hitting bottom, however, and as far as Bowery Boys features go, you can do far worse than this one. Faint praise, I know.
7:30 PM The Movie Channel
Midnight Movie(2008 USA): It's not credited as such, but Midnight Movie is basically a remake of 1991's Popcorn. (Which, come to think of it, was itself probably inspired by Bigas Lunas' 1987 shocker Anguish.) Both flicks are post-modernist takes on the slasher meme, and feature a masked killer victimizing audience members attending the screening of a legendary horror flick at a small town bijou. This is an irresistible conceit for yours truly, though others will find it much less enticing. Also airs at 10:30 PM.
9:00 PM Sundance
Election (2005 HK): Rhetorical question of the week: how did this Johnny To classic not earn a spot in Sundance's much missed Asia Extreme series? Detailing the bloody court intrigue surrounding a Hong Kong crime organization, Election features the great Simon Yam as Lok, a clear-headed candidate for presidency of the Wo Shing Society, and Tony Leung Ka Fai as Big D, his unhinged opponent. Somewhat surprisingly, this is not an ultraviolent shoot ‘em up, though there are some fairly rough and tumble street throwdowns mixed in with the electioneering and (figurative) backstabbing. Handsomely shot in widescreen, this is one of To's most satisfying features, and won Best Picture honors at the 2006 Hong Kong Film Awards.
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