New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Thursday 06/11/09

3:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
The Bowery (1933 USA): Wallace Beery stars in The Bowery, an almost forgotten Raoul Walsh drama set during the gay '90s. A Beery Bowery...something about that just sounds right, don't you think? Anyhoo, Beery plays Chuck Connors, a barkeep vying with slimy gambler Steve Brodie (George Raft) for the hand of virtuous Lucy Calhoun (Fay Wray). Though one of the most blatantly racist films of its time, it's also the sort of gritty man's picture Walsh excelled in and is really quite good if you can get past the Asian-baiting and the unrepeatable name of Connors' saloon. Interesting footnotes: real life actor Steve Brodie (born John Stevens) purportedly took his screen name from a bookie who jumped off the Brooklyn bridge in 1886 — an event recreated in this very picture — whilst fellow western actor Chuck Connors was known as Chuck Connors from childhood.

10:40 PM HBO Signature
Ganja Queen (2007 AUS): "You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life...See that girl, watch that scene, diggin' the Ganja Queen!" I LOVE that song, which was written by Benny, Bjorn, and Stig specifically for this fascinating documentary about an Australian tourist named Schapelle Corby. Corby's 2004 holiday trip to Indonesia was spoiled when customs agents uncovered a ten-pound sack of oregano in her luggage, a transgression worthy of the death penalty in that island nation. Was she the unwitting tool of a nefarious gang of herb smugglers - or was she a canny, pot-pushing monster convinced she could play dumb and fool (or perhaps pay off) the incorruptible Indonesian civil servants? Directed by Janine Hosking, whose excellent Mademoiselle and the Doctor took a look at assisted suicide in Australia, Ganja Queen will have you checking and double-checking the status of your luggage. Has it REALLY been in your possession since you first packed it?

11:45 PM Turner Classic Movies
Red Beard (1965 JAP): Toshiro Mifune stars as Dr. Niide, the titular "Red Beard", in this lesser known effort from Akira Kurosawa. Niide is the head doctor at a rural charity hospital in early 19th century Japan, where the arrival of a new and well-trained intern (Yuzo Kayama) from the big city of Nagasaki sparks a rivalry with old set in his ways "Red Beard". The film offers plentiful examples of Kurosawa's skills: he has an outstanding cast, superb cinematography, and a fascinating story about pre-modern Japanese medicine that is episodic but never boring — even at a full three hours in length.

Friday 06/12/09

3:15 PM Showtime
Steel City (2006 USA): American indie films have earned a pretty bad, if honestly earned, reputation over the last decade or so, but here's an indie that's definitely worth a look. Written and directed by Illinoisan Brian Jun, Steel City features '70s indie vet John Heard as Carl Lee, a working class Joe who ends up behind bars after getting himself mixed up in a little vehicular manslaughter. Carl's eldest son, mill worker Ben (Clayne Crawford), has always had his differences with the old man and definitely belongs to the good riddance to bad rubbish school, whilst unlucky younger sibling PJ (Mystic River's Tom Guiry) empathizes with Dad and goes to visit him in jail at every opportunity. Will the Lee family pull together — or will Carl's problems permanently tear them asunder? Shot on location in Jun's hometown of Alton, Steel City does its damnedest to avoid the clichés of the working class drama, and though it doesn't succeed consistently, it's still well worth your while. Look for lovely America Ferrara in a small role. Also airs at 6:15 PM and 6/13 on Showtime 2 at 5:15 PM.

Continued:       1       2       3