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

9:15am Turner Classic Movies
The Living Ghost (1942 USA): The war years were truly a fallow period for horror films, with crypto-chillers constantly undermined by comedic pratfalls and unwelcome outbursts of "logic". Here's one of those ubiquitous faux-fear films, this one a rarely-seen Monogram cheapie starring James Dunn as private eye Nick Trayne, on the trail of kidnapped industrialist Walter Craig (Gus Glassmire), who turns up in glassy-eyed, "zombiefied" condition. Can Nick and perky sidekick Billie Hilton (Joan Woodbury) bring the fiend responsible to justice, or will they find their own grey matter excised against their will? Basically a murder mystery without a murder victim and some terror trappings layered on to middling effect, The Living Ghost remains one of those strangely enjoyable Poverty Row features helmed by the always busy William "One-Shot" Beaudine.

6pm IFC
The Burning (1981 USA): Heard the one about the badly-burned counselor stalking the summer camp and getting his revenge on the teens responsible for his horrific disfigurement? Yeah, I thought you had, and this is it: a mediocre slasher making its wide-screen boob tube debut this evening on IFC's Grindhouse. The Burning includes the big-screen debuts of both Jason Alexander and Holly Hunter (both with full heads of hair) and also airs at 9:15pm and 1/3 at 1:35am.

10:20pm HBO Signature
El Método (2005 ESP): If you've ever suffered through a particularly intense job interview, you'll enjoy El Método (The Method), a Spanish comedy about the grueling hiring procedures utilized by a Madrid corporation. Set against the backdrop of anti-globalization protests, the film focuses on seven hopefuls competing for a single position. Amongst the candidates are brown-noser Enrique (Ernesto Altiero), male chauvinist pig Fernando (Eduard Fernández), ladies' man Carlos (Eduardo Noriega), corporate secretary Montse (Natalia Verbeke), and an undercover mole in their midst tasked with winnowing the field from within. A blunt critique of the bloody battlefields of modern capitalism, El Método was a huge hit at Spanish-language film festivals around the world and richly deserves the wider audience it will finally receive tonight.

Thursday 01/031/08

6:20am Encore Action
The Killer Elite (1976 USA): James Caan plays a CIA contractor out for revenge in Sam Peckinpah's tale of perfidy and deceit in the underworld of international intrigue. Caan is freelance spy Mike Locken, whose betrayal at the hands of old chum Hansen (Robert Duvall) has left him physically crippled. Toddling around on a cane, Locken is hired to pull off a complex job in San Francisco, where, by happy coincidence, erstwhile pal Hansen has been hired by The Other Side. The proceedings are overly complex and surprisingly talky for a Peckinpah flick, but Caan is very good, the City by the Bay looks terrific, and the supporting cast outstanding (Gig Young, Burt Young, Mako, Sondra Blake, Bo Hopkins, and Victor Sen Yung).

8:15am Turner Classic Movies
The Red Mill (1927 USA): Though Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's legal troubles (which culminated in a 1923 acquittal) ended his onscreen career, the husky-sized funny man was still occasionally hired to work behind the cameras. The Red Mill is one of the films that paid Fatty's bills during the last troubled years of his life, and though it's only a modest effort, remains fascinating for its cast. Unjustly maligned starlet Marion Davies stars as little Dutch girl Tina, who works at the eponymous tavern and falls in love with transient Dennis (Owen Moore). Their quick-‘n'-torrid affair goes off the rails thanks to Tina's scheme to help local lass Gretchen (Louise Fazenda), whose arranged marriage has left her deeply unhappy, but she soon skates her way back into Dennis' heart for the requisite happy ending. Also on hand are plug-ugly Karl Dane and silent comic Snitz Edwards, as well as 19-year-old Sally Eilers in her film debut, rendering The Red Mill of considerable interest to silent film fans.

Continued:       1       2       3       4