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10:00 AM Sundance
The Situation (2006 USA): The war in Iraq hasn't had much in the way of fictional movie treatment yet, but here's an indie effort that tries to make sense out of the mess in Mesopotamia. Dane Connie Nielsen (Brothers) stars as war reporter Anna Molyneux, a hard-working newshound willing to don the chador and niqab in order to scoop the story. In this case, the story involves American troops chucking Iraqi boys off a bridge, but Anna's main squeeze Dan (Damian Lewis) is a CIA operative who'd rather she write about the "good news" instead. The Situation does a decent job conveying the (very unfun) funhouse mirror state of affairs in Iraq, where today's good guys were yesterday's insurgents and it's virtually impossible to know who you can really trust.

Saturday 06/27/09

7:00 PM Sundance
The Witnesses (2007 FRA): I haven't seen this Andre Techine film yet, but apparently, it's an ensemble piece about the reactions and responses of a group of Parisians to the AIDS epidemic circa 1984. Its reputation is mixed, but the presence of Emmanuelle Beart and Michel Blanc render it of interest to admirers of Gaullish cinema.

Monday 06/29/09

5:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Deadly Affair (1967 GB): A somewhat underdone Cold War thriller from director Sidney Lumet, The Deadly Affair has a super Quincy Jones score and a fine cast to recommend it. James Mason stars as Charles Dobbs, an intelligence operative working on behalf of Her Majesty's government and assigned to investigate the death of a diplomat. The death looks like a suicide, but Dobbs suspects there's more to the case than meets the eye, and as sure as you can say John Le Carre Cashes Another Royalty Cheque, he's proven right. Co-starring Maximilian Schell, Simone Signoret, Harry Andrews, Harriet Andersson, and Lynn Redgrave, the film is well acted if a wee bit on the dull and grey side.

6:00 PM HBO
Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech (2009 USA): I haven't had the opportunity to pre-screen this brand spanking new HBO original documentary, but early reviews suggest it's an important film examining contemporary free speech issues and the Constitution's most important amendment, numero uno, in light of the PATRIOT Act and other efforts to censor speech. The list of interview subjects, ranging from Ward Churchill to David Horowitz, suggests that free speech really shouldn't be an ideological issue. And judging from the chilling and suppressive tactics of both Bush and Obama, it isn't... also airs at 9:00 PM.

6:00 PM Sundance
Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell (2006 USA): An important fixture in the New York City music scene for almost two decades, late composer Arthur Russell gets his due in this informative and entertaining doc from Brooklyn-born neophyte filmmaker Matt Wolf. Russell was a Zelig-like presence in the Big Apple throughout the 1970s, leaving his mark on the disco, no wave, punk, and avant music scenes before his death from AIDS in 1992. Featuring interviews from poet Allen Ginsberg, composer Philip Glass, singer-songwriter Jens Lekman, and many others (including Russell's parents), Wild Combination underscores the brilliance and breadth of the man's talents.

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