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Sunday 01/18/09

11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Le Million (1931 FRA): It's a musical. In French. From 1931. That doesn't sound terribly promising, but I remember Le Million as being vastly entertaining. I haven't seen it since catching it on a double bill at the late, lamented UC Theatre in downtown Berkeley, but I can still hum one of the songs from this film a quarter century after the fact! Director Rene Clair also made the equally fine A Nous La Liberte in 1931 before moving on to wartime Hollywood success with And Then There Were None and I Married a Witch.

Monday 01/19/09

3:45 AM IFC
Mon Oncle Antoine (1971 CAN): A fine French-Canadian coming of age drama, Mon Oncle Antoine takes place in Quebec circa the 1940s. Directed by Claude Jutra, the film tells the story of 15-year-old Benoit (Jacques Gagnon) and his family, who run a general store and funeral parlor. Benoit is your typical breast-obsessed lad, but one who is also innocent to the ways of the world, including the realities of adult relationships and the undertaking business. Set during a chilly Christmas season, Mon Oncle Antoine is considered one of the greatest Canadian films ever made. I'm not sure I'd go that far, but it IS better than many of the tax break cheapies produced north of the border over the last few decades. Also airs at 8:40 AM and 1:35 PM.

7:00 PM Sundance
The Unforeseen (2007 USA): Most of the eco-documentaries that air on Sundance are informative, earnest, serious — and not terribly interesting cinematically. This one's different. Directed by Laura Dunn, The Unforeseen is a visually impressive look at what careless development has wrought upon one community near Austin, Texas. It's the tragic story of an aquifer transformed from a crystal clear swimming spot into a grungy lake, and its all beautifully lensed by Dallas-born Lee Daniel, who also shot the excellent Roky Erickson doc You're Gonna Miss Me in 2005, as well as that ten-minute Barack Obama puff piece shown at the Democratic National Convention.

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