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Thursday 10/01/09

3:15am Showtime Extreme
Rescue Dawn (2006 USA): German bad boy Werner Herzog briefly dipped his toe into the mainstream with this exciting film about American prisoners of war during the Vietnam conflict. Christian Bale stars as Dieter Dengler, a German immigrant who joins the US Air Force, only to get shot down whilst flying a combat mission over Laos. Imprisoned and tortured by the Viet Cong, Dieter meets fellow POWs Duane (Steve Zahn) and Gene (Jeremy Davies), and though the three are desperate to escape, they disagree vehemently about how to do so. Filmed in lush jungle reminiscent of Herzog's Aguirre the Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo, Rescue Dawn is a fictional representation of the events depicted in the director's earlier documentary, Little Dieter Learns to Fly. DirecTV's program guide indicates Rescue Dawn is airing in wide-screen this morning; great news if it's correct, but previous airings on Showtime 3 were also supposed to be letterboxed and...weren't. Also airs at 4:55pm.

7am Turner Classic Movies
Mrs. Soffel (1984 USA): Here's one of those "we report, you decide" moments in the TiVoPlex. This extremely anemic prison drama stars Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson, neither of whom excite me much, and will remind you of better films like The Shawshank Redemption, Dead Man Walking, and Bonnie and Clyde. However, Mrs. Soffel is making its wide-screen television debut this evening, so if you're an original aspect ratio fanatic, favorably inclined towards Mad Mel, or just want to check out the film debut of 14-year-old Heather Graham, you might want to save a little space on your hard drive for it.

Friday 10/02/09

10am Showtime
Mario's Story (2006 USA): If your appetite for injustice wasn't sated by Incident at Oglala, you might want to scope this documentary about Mario Rocha, a California inmate serving - you guessed it - two consecutive life terms for murder and attempted murder. Rocha, who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, was accused of gang-banging a teenager at an East LA kegger and was assigned a crummy public defender who got his clock cleaned by zealous prosecutors. The film explores the efforts of prison chaplain Janet Harris to get Mario a new trial, and while it's neither the subtlest nor least-manipulative doc you've ever seen, it makes a strong case that will tug at both your conscience and your heartstrings. Also airs at 1pm.

9pm Sundance
Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback (2006 GER-USA): Legendary rockers The Monks get their due in this absolutely terrific feature from filmmaker Dietmar Post. For those not yet in the know, The Monks were a group of five American GIs stationed in West Germany and bored out of their ever-lovin' skulls. Originally a bar band known as the Torquays, the group were taken under the wing of managers Walther Niemann and Karl-Heinz Remy, who re-invented them as an avant-garde proto-punk band of tonsured weirdos and got them a deal with Polydor Records. The Monks went on to surprising success in Germany, as can be seen from the copious performance footage excerpted within, but would soon break up and disappear from popular consciousness until the 1990s, when their LP Black Monk Time was rediscovered by, amongst others, The Fall's Mark E. Smith. Their story is fascinating and their music remains as exciting today as it was when first recorded over 40 years ago. Also airs 10/3 at 2:05am and 9:30am.

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