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9:00 AM Showtime
Head Trauma (2006 USA): This well conceived indie horror effort deserves better than to be consigned to cable filler status. That's been its fate, but I encourage you to set aside your horror fodder preconceptions and give Head Trauma a chance. Newcomer Vince Mola stars as sad sack George, a drifter who's just inherited his grandmother's rundown house. George is determined to turn it into a home, but neighbor Chester (Jim Sullivan) and the city housing authority are less keen on the idea and would prefer the property be condemned. In addition to trying to pump water out of the flooded basement, George is also having some other problems: namely, nightmares about a hooded figure dragging a body through the woods. Head Trauma was director Lance Weiler's first film after 1998's excellent Last Broadcast, and it's on a par with the best Larry Fessenden features: superb atmosphere, decent acting (though some of it is quite amateurish), and a screenplay that isn't intended to placate ADHD-addled 14-year-olds. It's imperfect and flawed, but is also a huge breath of fresh air in a genre that has, of late, become very stale. Also airs at noon.

Friday 03/13/09

6:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Zotz! (1962 USA): Gadzooks! This obscure William Castle film has been on my must-see list for decades, but as I haven't felt like spending a fortune for it on VHS ($129 right now at Amazon), I've had a very long wait. Tom Poston — yes, that Tom Poston! — stars as Professor John Jones, who stumbles into possession of a rare and powerful coin that attracts the attention of both the Pentagon and the Kremlin. That's all I know about the plot, but with a supporting cast that includes Cecil Kellaway, Fred Clark, Jim Backus, Mike Mazurki, and former Marx Brothers foil Margaret Dumont in her penultimate big screen appearance, this is absolutely essential viewing.

9:00 PM IFC
Wonderland (2003 USA): Wonderland is not a well-regarded film, and that puzzles me. I'm certainly not ready to claim that it's a neglected American classic, and it's easy enough to see why it sank without a trace at the box office. There are also plenty of legitimate nits to pick: the film lazily relies on contemporary and/or hip pop songs to fill up its soundtrack in lieu of original scoring, and director James Cox's predilection for hyperactive MTV-style shaky-cam work is distracting. Even after considering those faults, however, I found Wonderland a powerful and even moving film, albeit one that tells the same story portrayed in P. T. Anderson's better-regarded but fictionalized Boogie Nights. Start with the lead performance of Val Kilmer - yes, Val Kilmer - as porno movie star John Holmes. Generally considered a good comic actor unable to hold his own in a serious role, Kilmer is completely convincing here as the pathetic Holmes, strung out on crack cocaine and hangin' with some extremely shady homeboys whilst his fame recedes inexorably into the distance. Move on to the performance of Kate Bosworth, who brings the right balance of innocence and experience to her role as Holmes' paramour Dawn Schiller, and then take a look at the consistently underrated Lisa Kudrow, who arguably delivers the film's finest thesping as Holmes' estranged wife Sharon. Want more dramatic highlights? Josh Lucas, Tim Blake Nelson, and Dylan McDermott are equally outstanding as the sleazes who share guns, dope and women with the air-headed porn star, and Ted Levine provides world-weary grit as police investigator Sam Nico. Perhaps the film's only casting misfire is the too-recognizable Eric Bogosian (sporting a bad accent) as drug kingpin Eddie Nash, but that's a minor quibble at worst. This is a violent, unpleasant film about pathetic, unpleasant people, but the screenplay (co-written by director Cox with three others) doesn't oversimplify matters, leaving just enough shades of grey to make this a satisfying and unforgettable journey into Hollywood's heart of darkness. As long as you're comfortable with the subject matter, you owe it to yourself to take a trip to Wonderland.

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