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Saturday 09/05/09

6:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Dick Tracy, Chapters 3 & 4 (1937 USA): Shamus Dick Tracy continues his epic struggle with The Lame One in the next two installments of this Republic serial. Don't worry, he didn't REALLY die at the end of Chapter 2.

Sunday 09/06/09

7:00 AM IFC
Sarkar (2007 IND): Now this is a bit more like it, IFC. This week's Bollywood feature is an above average crime drama starring Amitabh Bachchan as the boss of a vigilante gang working to keep the ‘hood safe from corrupt police and garden-variety thugs. He also has to contend with trouble at home: first son Vishnu (Kay Kay Menon) lusts after the power his father possesses, whilst younger sprog Shankar (real-life offspring Abhishek Bachchan) is a more refined sort who's been educated in America. When tragedy strikes and Dad is crippled in an assassination attempt, the two sons butt heads regarding the organization's future direction. Sarkar has been endlessly compared to Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, but it's a pretty decent crime pic in its own right and is a definite step up from last week's underwhelming Welcome.

9:00 PM Sundance
Triad Election (2006 HK): And speaking of films that have been compared to The Godfather, here's another! Hong Kong cinema may have passed its peak years ago, but filmmaker Johnnie To keeps on truckin'. The director of such testosterone-soaked shoot ‘em ups as The Mission and Police Tactical Unit, To is as busy as ever, and here's one of his more recent efforts. A sequel to his earlier Election (2005), Triad Election is pretty typical To, with the always excellent Simon Yam headlining as a crime boss struggling to keep control of his organization whilst keeping the ambitious young pups in check. Johnnie To is a master of the genre, and this is one of his best, with sterling cinematography by Cheng Siu-keung and a solid turn by Louis Koo as a corrupt businessman. Also airs 9/14 at 2:00 AM.

11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Earrings of Madame de... (1951 FRA): If you enjoyed last week's TCM import, La Ronde, you'll definitely want to make time for The Earrings of Madame de... . Also directed by Max Ophuls, the film relates the tale of Comtesse Louise (Danielle Darrieux), who's recently sold some expensive jewelry given to her as a wedding gift by husband Andre (Charles Boyer) in order to pay her debts. She tries to assuage hubby by claiming she lost the baubles - but he sees through her subterfuge, buys them back, and presents them to his mistress (Lia de Leo), whilst Louisa embarks on an affair of her own with Baron Donati (Vittorio de Sica). Oh, those Europeans and their liberal attitude towards sex! Another of Ophuls' beautifully made chamber pieces, The Earrings of Madame de... received an Academy Award nomination for Best Costumes in 1955 (Oscar's Best Foreign Language Film award wouldn't be inaugurated for another two years).

Monday 09/07/09

11:50 AM Encore Westerns
Legend of the Northwest (1978 USA): I honestly know nothing about this western other than what it says on IMDb, which, of course, makes it all the more enticing. Apparently, it was a vanity production for producer-director Rand Brooks, a Gone With the Wind vet who shot the film in 1964. Legend of the Northwest than sat on the shelf for over ten years and Brooks was left penniless until he went into the ambulance business, where he made himself a fortune. As for the film, it features Fritz Feld and Denver Pyle, somehow escaped to the drive-in circuit in 1978, and even earned a DVD release in Germany!

6:00 PM Sundance
Shadow of the Holy Book (2007 FIN): I've been writing this column for seven years, and this is certainly the first time I've recommended a Finnish documentary! Exotic provenance aside, this is also an excellent film detailing the twisted tale of Saparmurat Niyazov, late President of the central Asian republic of Turkmenistan. Rising from the ashes of the former Soviet Union, Turkmenistan became the personal fief of this one-time loyal Communist Party appartchik who became the focus of a personality cult and was elected, unopposed, to the Turkmen presidency in 1992. He proceeded to help himself to his homeland's wealth, skimming off a billion here and a billion there before his death in December 2006, attributed at the time to cardiac arrest, but the subject of rumors involving poison. Director Arto Halonen has definitely taken a leaf or two from Michael Moore's playbook, but the story of Niyazov - and the ‘Ruhnama', the ‘Holy Book' he wrote - is so fascinating you'll forgive him the stylistic plagiarism.

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