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Thursday 04/09/09

5:00 PM IFC
It's Alive! (1974 USA): Not to be confused with Larry Buchanan's execrable 1968 effort of the same name (minus the exclamation mark), Larry Cohen's It's Alive! asks the burning question: what happens when a carnivorous mutant baby is let loose upon society? John P. Ryan and Sharon Farrell play the Davies, a typical American couple preparing for the pitter-patter of little feet. Alas, when baby finally arrives, the sound they hear is that of razor sharp teeth rending human flesh. It's a great set-up and a gruesomely satisfying effort from the reliable Cohen, and also co-stars beady-eyed Robert Emhardt as a beady-eyed business executive. It's Alive! airs again at 11:30 PM, and is followed at 6:35 PM by the widescreen television premier of the 1988 chiller Pumpkinhead, an equally entertaining piece of hokum featuring Lance Henriksen as a vengeance-seeker who unleashes the titular demon upon a group of irresponsible teenagers.

Friday 04/10/09

5:00 PM The Movie Channel
Bug (2006 USA): A William Friedkin-helmed psychological thriller, Bug makes its television debut this evening. Protector-of-wolves Ashley Judd stars as waitress Agnes, who's stuck between a rock and a hard place: she has a nasty ex-husband (Harry Connick Jr.) who's just been paroled, and a creepy guest named Peter (Michael Shannon) who swears he's on the up and up, but whose thousand-yard stare implies otherwise. Peter is suffering from a particularly nasty case of PTSD he picked up in Iraq, as well as an obsession with the insects he believes inhabit his body...and Agnes falls into the trap of buying into the bug theory, leading to a journey deep into the paranoid heart of darkness. Based on a play by Tracy Letts, Bug is Friedkin's best film in a long time, and airs again at 8:00 PM.

Saturday 04/11/09

7:00 PM Sundance
Diary of a Chambermaid (1964 FRA-ITA): Jeanne Moreau stars as the titular household help in this surprisingly linear Luis Bunuel feature. Moreau plays Celestine, a maid starting a new position in the countryside after spending years working in Paris. Her employer, M. Monteil (Michel Piccoli), is a rabid horndog, whilst Madame (Francoise Lugagne) is a shopping junkie, but Celestine's real problem is gardener Joseph (Georges Geret), a hyper-nationalist bigot who can't stop ranting about Jews, immigrants, and other untermenschen. The film is decidedly unflashy by Bunuel's usual standards; it is, perhaps (and appropriately), a chamber piece about one woman and the adaptations she makes in order to survive. As such, it's much less immediately accessible than the director's usual visually striking efforts, and descends more from the tradition of Renoir than Dali. It's followed at 8:30 PM by Bunuel's Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), which covers some of the same ground in distinctly brasher terms, and at 10:30 PM by That Obscure Object of Desire (1977), the great man's final feature film.

Sunday 04/12/09

Noon HBO2
Thrilla in Manila (1975 USA): There are quite a few Muhammad Ali documentaries out there; this one was an early production of the fledgling HBO but hasn't been seen on the channel in a while. The Thrilla was a much-hyped bout between Ali and former world heavyweight champ Joe Frazier, and the fight ultimately lived up to the promotional material: the brawl went the distance and ended up supplying Sly Stallone with some tips for his forthcoming boxing pic Rocky. If you're a boxing fan, you won't want to miss Thrilla in Manila.

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