New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Thursday 11/01/07

1:30 AM Sundance
Diameter of the Bomb (2005 GB-CAN): The wide ranging after-effects of a Jerusalem suicide bombing that left 20 dead and scores more injured are explored in this even-handed, cool-headed National Film Board of Canada production. Shot in the wake of a 2002 bus bombing, Diameter of the Bomb interviews relatives of five of the victims - including the mother of the bomber. The film doesn't (and probably couldn't) provide any satisfactory answers to the Middle East conundrum, but the final 90 seconds - in which the horrors of the preceding 84 minutes are boiled down into a brief and bloodless BBC news story - speaks volumes about the numbing regularity and normalcy of such horrors. If you want another look at modern-day suicide bombing, you may also want to check out a brand new HBO doc, To Die In Jerusalem, which premieres today at 6:00 PM and 9:00 PM.

2:30 PM IFC
Buddy Boy (1999 USA): Featuring the great Susan Tyrrell as a monstrous stepmother, Buddy Boy is the product of a genuinely independent American cinema, and all the better for it. That's not to suggest that it's a great film - it certainly isn't - but director Mark Hanlon proves it's possible to make a film with attitude, style, and ambition without sucking up to what critic Dave Poland calls the "dependents", faux-independents such as Paramount Classics and Fox Searchlight. Tyrrell plays Sal, a harridan who shares a musty apartment with good Catholic stepson Francis (Aidan Gillen), whose job as a photo developer provides him an escape from the hectoring demands of Mom. He also finds relief by spying on his attractive neighbor (Emmanuelle Seigner), and the film reflects the influence of voyeuristic creep-out efforts ranging from Michael Powell's Peeping Tom (1960) to Todd Solondz' Happiness (1998). If you're an admirer of those films, you'll get your money's worth from Buddy Boy (which makes its widescreen television premiere this evening after some pan and scan screenings on Encore); if not, you can probably give it a miss.

Friday 11/02/07

9:00 PM IFC
Q: The Winged Serpent (1982 USA): For giant monster fun, you can't do much better than this terrific Larry Cohen picture. The film features David Carradine as Shepard, a New York City detective trying to solve a series of increasingly bloody deaths - which eyewitnesses claim have been caused by the eponymous creature. Left to their own devices, the sceptical cops can't find the perp - but when ex-con Jimmy Quinn (Michael Moriarty, giving a bravura performance) offers to lead them to Q's lair, Shepard puts aside his doubts and clambers atop one of Manhattan's most iconic buildings in search of the beast. A camp delight featuring some wonderfully old-fashioned stop motion special effects, Q: The Winged Serpent co-stars Richard Roundtree, Candy Clark, and former Los Angeles Dodger Ron Cey in his one and only big screen appearance to date.

11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Get Carter (1971 GB): Subjected to an entirely unwelcome turn-of-the-millennium Hollywood remake featuring Sly Stallone, the original Get Carter finally returns to American television tonight, and in its original aspect ratio, too. Directed by Mike Hodges (Croupier), the film stars Michael Caine as Jack Carter, a London wide boy who travels to distant Newcastle to investigate the suspicious death of his brother. Needless to say, the local hard men don't take kindly to Carter's visit to their manor, and ask him to leave - but their request is refused, and they soon find themselves looking down the wrong end of our anti-hero's pump action shotgun. The film that set the template for all British gangster flicks to come, Get Carter also features Britt Ekland, Ian Hendry, and playwright John Osborne, who seems to have enjoyed himself portraying Black Country crime lord Kinnear.

11:30 PM Flix
The Beach Girls (1982 USA): A drive-in staple during the early ‘80s, The Beach Girls makes a rare appearance on premium cable tonight. Debra Blee stars as high school student Sarah, who, with best buds Ginger and Ducky, take up summer residence in their uncle's groovy beachside pad. It's all sex, drugs, and pizza from there on out, as the girls carry on in decidedly risqué fashion. Average T & A fare at best, The Beach Girls at least has the presence of biker movie vet Adam Roarke in the cast to recommend it, as well as former Playboy Playmate Jeana Tomasina as party hardy gal pal Ducky.

Continued:       1       2       3       4