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Sunday 11/09/08

9:00 PM Sundance
One Missed Call 2 (2005 JAP): Phone calls from the future are STILL killing Japanese young adults in this unremarkable sequel to Takashi Miike's hugely successful 2004 hit. This time, the friends of Kyoko (Mimura) are dropping dead one by one after receiving robo-calls from the John McCain campaign—er, sorry, phone calls from some hellish supernatural force - and it's up to feisty femme journo Takako (Asako Seto) and cop Motomiya (Renji Ishibashi) to finally put the curse to rest. Folks, things would just be a lot easier if you stuck to a landline.

Monday 11/10/08

1:30 AM Cinemax
The Caveman's Valentine (2001 USA): This is not a great film, or even a very good one, but it's making its widescreen television debut this morning and does feature a strong lead performance by Samuel L. Jackson, who's almost always a treat to watch. He plays dreadlocked street person Romulus Ledbetter, a mentally ill musician who's trying to convince the police that a death in the park was not accidental or a suicide, but was in fact the result of homicide. Needless to say, they're not entirely convinced by the bipolar detective's theories. There's also some silly stuff about Romulus re-connecting with his family, but you're really tuning in to watch Jackson get his twitch on. Director Kasi Lemmons tends to pile the sentiment on a little heavily, but it's still worth a look. Also airs at 4:30 AM.

3:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
Doctor Faustus (1967 GB): Dick Burton and Liz Taylor star in this fantasy film about the legendary Faustus, who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for a 24-year lease on minion Mephistopheles (the memorable Andreus Teuber), be incredibly wealthy, and gain the love of Helen of Troy. It's been a very, very long time since I've seen this film, but if memory serves, there's a whole lot of dry ice in evidence. Based on Christopher Marlowe's 16th century play The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, this was apparently a labor of love for Burton, who co-directed the film with Nevill Coghill and hogs most of the screen time for himself.

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