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9:00 PM IFC
Man Bites Dog (1992 BEL): Speaking of prophetic, Man Bites Dog is a bizarre and disturbing Swiftian commentary on mass media, and is even more relevant now than on its initial release. Definitely not for all tastes, it follows a film crew documenting the bloody exploits, opinions, and philosophies of a serial killer — and eventually, the crew crosses the line and start aiding and betting the criminal in his murderous activities in order to get a better story. At times extremely violent and at other times extremely funny, Man Bites Dog screams "j'accuse!" at journalists and audience members alike. Which means anyone with a conscience probably shouldn't watch it.

Saturday 02/21/09

7:00 PM Sundance
Toi et Moi (2006 FRA): Want to know what French actress Marion Cotillard was getting up to before she won last year's Best Actress Academy Award for her performance as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose? Look no further than this middling Gallic romantic comedy about a writer (Julie Depardieu), her lover (Tomer Sisley), and her little sister (Cotillard). It's not really my cup of meat, but if you like to take in the occasional chick flick, you could do worse.

Sunday 02/22/09

9:00 PM Sundance
Lady Vengeance (2005 ROK): The third and final film in director Chan-Woo Park's loosely related trilogy of "revenge" stories (the first two being Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy), Lady Vengeance stars Lee-Young Ae as Geum-ja, a beautiful woman who is also the confessed and convicted murderer of a five-year old child. Geum-ja has done her time, though, and like villains the world over has found a modicum of peace via religious conversion, in this case to Christianity. But she's also harboring a secret - an obsession with her old high school teacher Mr. Baek (Min-sik Choi), who has a few skeletons of his own in the closet. It's thrilling, deeply dark and disturbing stuff that will leave you feeling a little queasy - even if you've already experienced Park's frequently gruesome set pieces in other films.

Monday 02/23/09

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941 USA): This amazing fantasy film from director William Dieterle remains one of the greatest American films of the 1940s — and though it's had a Criterion DVD release, is still relatively unknown. Walter Huston, always a favorite in these here parts, stars as Mr. Scratch, a devilish sort who makes a deal with farmer Jabez Stone (James Craig): he'll give him seven good harvests in exchange for his soul. When the seven years are up and Scratch comes to collect his reward, Stone has a change of heart — and engages the services of master orator Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold) to save his immortal soul from eternal damnation. Y'know, kinda like America's bankers did when they convinced Congress to repeal the Glass-Steagel Act, then came crying for a bailout after their ill-gotten gains went up in a puff of CDOs and over-leveraged loans. Besides the magnificent cast, Dieterle was also blessed to have the services of composer Bernard Herrmann, cinematographer Joseph August, and editor Robert Wise behind the camera.

6:00 PM Sundance
F.T.A. (1972 USA): I'm not in a forgiving mood at the moment. Whether it was a busy and stressful time at work, or the effective evisceration of the stimulus bill by gutless Democrats who aimed too low and shameless Republicans who think tax cuts are the answer to everything, or the Justice Department's decision to assume the Bush position on so-called "States Secrets", last week was not the best of weeks. So when a documentary called F(uck) t(he) A(rmy) shows up on Sundance, you know I'm gonna be all over it. I've never seen it and hadn't even heard of it before now — but F.T.A. seems like the perfect sentiment this week. Now pardon me while I go and scream it from the rooftops.

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