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Saturday 12/13/08

4:30 AM CInemax
In Bruges (2007 GB): I had comp tickets to see this film last year, and due to boring family complications, didn't use them. I was willing to pay to see it, too, but it just never happened, so I'm thrilled that In Bruges is making its small screen debut this morning. Written for the screen by esteemed playwright Martin McDonaugh (The Lieutenant of Inishmore, which I enjoyed at the RSC in 2001), it stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as mob hit men temporarily stranded in the titular medieval city. I'm no Farrell fan, but I do love me some Gleeson, and the film got great reviews, so I will definitely be tuning in.

Sunday 12/14/08

6:00 AM Flix
A Taste of Honey (1961 GB): Director Tony Richardson's adaptation of Shelagh Delaney's controversial play returns to television this morning. Mousy Rita Tushingham stars as Jo, a 17-year -ld Mancunian who flees her harridan of a mother (Dora Bryan) for a flat-share with homosexual Geoffrey Ingram (Ken Russell regular Murray Melvin). Jo, however, has previously been knocked up by Afro-Caribbean sailor Jimmy (Paul Danquah), and once her condition becomes obvious, Geoffrey decides he'd make a good surrogate dad. Much knitting and shouting ensues. Considered very hot stuff in 1961, A Taste of Honey has aged well, right down to the grim but oddly uplifting denouement.

9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Godless Girl (1929 USA): Cinema moralist par excellence Cecil B. DeMille put all his cards on the table in this salute to the values and virtues of That Old Time Religion. The film features Lina Basquette and George Duryea as Girl and Boy, two all-American Christian high schoolers led into temptation by — shock horror! — atheists. They get what's coming to them via a trip to reform school. This warning to youngsters to stay on Christ's bright shining path to salvation was DeMille's final silent picture before he embarked on more salacious material such as 1932's Sign of the Cross.

11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Das Boot (1981 BRD): This World War II actioner has frequently appeared on premium satellite, but I believe this is the first time it's been aired in widescreen AND with subtitles. Jurgen Prochnow stars as Kriegsmarine Captain Lehmann-Willenbrock, who must turn 42 raw recruits into an effective U-boat crew that will bring death, destruction, and terror to the North Atlantic convoy lanes. Like most submarine films, it's absolutely essential to see Das Boot in its correct aspect ratio, but the presence of subtitles is equally important: though the film was a surprising US box office hit in 1981, success came at the expense of its original language. Important note: TCM is airing the extended 200-minute director's cut, so short of investing in a DVD or opening your own revival house, you'll probably never have a better opportunity to see this film as God, nature, and director Wolfgang Petersen intended it.

Monday 12/15/08

3:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
Kipps (1941 GB): A completely forgotten film from director Carol Reed, Kipps makes a rare appearance this morning on Fox. Based on a novel by H. G. Wells, it's the story of a working-class draper (Michael Redgrave) who falls for a middle-class girl (Diana Wynyard) and finds Britain's class system unwilling to accommodate his desires. It's a lovely, sad little film about regret and resigned disappointment, which if you're British are two of the most important aspects of life. Caveat: at no point in the film does anyone say ‘Goodbye Mr. Kipps', which is a real shame.

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