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Saturday 01/05/08

12:45am Turner Classic Movies
The Love-Ins (1967 USA): Après moi, le déluge...if you haven't sated yourself on the countercultural blowback of Skidoo, stay tuned for Columbia's hippie-sploitationer The Love-Ins, featuring straight arrow Richard Todd as a college professor whose radical lesson plan encourages his students to agitate, educate, and organize. Directed by hack of all trades Arthur Dreifuss, it's a straight (sic) drama that suffers from a tin-eared screenplay (co-written by Dreifuss and Hal Collins) that completely and utterly fails to understand anything about the late ‘60s youth movement. This was one of the last films produced by the legendary Sam Katzman, who never stopped trying to jump on a trend, even if the end product was invariably terrible. The presence of San Jose psychedelic punks The Chocolate Watchband make The Love-Ins required viewing for period music fans.

1:40am The Movie Channel
Small-Town Gay Bar (2006 USA): Gays and lesbians may be winning slow and grudging acceptance in big-city America, but in the heart of Mississippi it still takes a brave man or woman to openly step out of the closet. This excellent documentary takes a look at Rumors and Crossroads, two oases of tolerance in the sea of Bible Belt bigotry, that miraculously exist in two small and not terribly open-minded burgs. Featuring interviews with patrons, friends, and enemies of the establishments - including Rev. Fred Phelps, the Tall Man of evangelical nuttiness - Small-Town Gay Bar won Jury Awards at both the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and the LA Outfest. Also airs at 4:40am.

Sunday 01/06/08

9:30pm Encore Dramatic Stories
The Proposition (2005 AUS): This extremely bloody Australian Western was written by rock musician Nick Cave, who also provided the film with its outstanding ethereal score. Set deep in the outback, the film stars Ray Winstone as police officer Captain Stanley, in determined pursuit of the villainous Burns brothers, who have been robbing and raping their way across Queensland. When Stanley captures half-wit brother Mike (Richard Wilson) and handsome brother Charlie (Guy Pearce), he blackmails Charlie into helping him capture gang leader Arthur (Danny Huston), still on the loose and willing to do anything to stay out of the law's clutches. Not a film for the squeamish, The Proposition features superb performances from all concerned (with especial kudos for Huston) and magnificent cinematography - in burnt hues of brown and orange - from DP Benoit Delhomme.

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