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9:00 PM Sundance
Shutter (2004 THA): I don't know if I somehow overlooked a previous airing of this Thai horror film, but it looks like we just might be getting some fresh blood in Sundance's Asia Extreme series. I haven't seen Shutter yet, but it sounds like a fairly routine genre effort, this time involving that old chestnut, the ghosts you can't see until they show up on the film you develop (or, more likely, download to your laptop). And why don't they ever smile when you say "cheese"?

10:00 PM IFC
Kill the Poor (2006 USA): Not a documentary based on the Dead Kennedy's song of the same name (or any GOP legislation of the last 40 years), Kill the Poor is an above-average indie about life on Manhattan's Lower East Side during the hardscrabble early 1980s. Adapted for the screen by Lemony Snicket author Daniel Handler from Joel Rose's novel, the film follows the efforts of everyman Joe (David Krumholtz) to find safe and affordable housing for his wife (Clara Beller) and their forthcoming progeny. Alas, his old neighborhood is now awash in drug addicts and ladies of the night, and it's up to Joe to pull out his Magnum 357 and clean things up. Er, no, wrong film — but someone DOES commit an act of arson, all in the name of improving the local quality of life. This is a solid, well written film that manages to avoid most of the indie ghetto clichés, and also looks great thanks to Harlan Bosmajian's widescreen photography.

Monday 04/13/09

7:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Gaslight (1940 GB): Four years before George Cukor's Gothic romance was produced, the original film version of Patrick Hamilton's play was released in British cinemas. Directed by Thorold Dickinson (The Queen of Spades), Gaslight stars Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynyard in the roles later popularized by Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman. Most film fans prefer the glossier Hollywood take on the story, but this remains an atmospheric, low-budget adaptation nicely shot by early Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Knowles. Both versions are good, but this is the one that gets the TiVoPlex nod.

7:00 PM Fox Movie Channel
Marriage of a Young Stockbroker (1971 USA): A forgotten little gem from the Fox library, Marriage of a Young Stockbroker returns to the small screen tonight, with the minor caveat that it's airing in pan and scan. Richard Benjamin stars as William Alren, a bored moneyman with a roving eye, and Joanna Shimkus as wife Lisa, who gets wind of her hubby's wandering eye and abandons him for furthest Pasadena, where sister Nan (Elizabeth Ashley) begins to plot divorce proceedings. The film has often been compared to The Graduate, and it was, in fact, also the product of the earlier film's producer (Lawrence Turman). Derivative, perhaps, but Marriage of a Young Stockbroker is still worth a look. Also on hand: Adam West as Nan's hen-pecked spouse, and Tiffany Bolling in a small role.

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