TiVoPlex
By John Seal
October 19, 2009
From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.
Tuesday 10/20/09
7:30 PM Sundance
Under the Bombs (2007 FRA-LEB): I love "firsts" in the TiVoPlex, so you can imagine the breathless excitement I'm experiencing as I write this. Yep, it's our first Lebanese film! Have a cigar! Oh, I know, Under the Bombs is technically a Lebanese-French co-production — but cut it a little slack, why doncha. Directed by Beirut-born Philippe Aractingi, the film tells the story of Zeina (Nada Abou Farhat), a mother searching for her son amidst the wreckage of devastated southern Lebanon. Shi'ite Zeina has been living in exile in Dubai, but when cease fire is declared after the disastrous Israeli invasion of 2006, she returns to look for offspring Karim, left in the care of her sister in their home village, Kherbet Selem. Along to help her: Christian taxi driver Tony (Georges Khabbaz), who takes pity on her when she finds the old homestead flattened during the war. Though the plot is somewhat predictable and at times awkwardly paced, Aractingi masterfully weaves improvised scenes and documentary footage into the proceedings, rendering Under the Bombs a powerful and disturbing tale of wartime horror. Also airs 10/21 at 1:30 AM.
8:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Tingler (1959 USA): It's Shocktober — what better time to disinter one of my favorite William Castle thrillers! Though hardly in need of an introduction, The Tingler remains a firm favorite in these parts, and stars Vincent Price as Warren Chapin, a pioneering scientist working to discover that shiver-inducing thing that grips you with terror and fear. No, it's not in your head...it's a physical entity, and Chapin is determined to capture it! Co-starring cadaverous Philip Coolidge as the no-good owner of the local bijou in which The Tingler finally gets loose, this is probably the best film Castle ever directed: it's actually ever so slightly disturbing, and features the first on-screen reference to psychedelic drugs.
Wednesday 10/21/09
11:30 AM Flix
Pulse (2001 JAP): This J-horror classic appears in widescreen tonight on Flix. Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cure, Bright Future), Pulse examines the impact of Taguchi's (Kenji Mizuhashi) suicide on his surviving friends. Ghostly images and possessed computers suggest he's trying to communicate with his pals from beyond the grave — but the truth is even more disturbing, as there appears to be an overcrowding problem in the after-life. Though it's inspired countless imitations over the last decade — most of them decidedly pale and inferior — Pulse is definitely amongst the best of show. Hey, you don't resent The Beatles for indirectly spawning The Knack, do you?
2:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
As Long as They're Happy (1955 GB): This rather bland musical rom-com comes recommended only to those of us attached to the great pantheon of British character actors. Directed by J. Lee Thompson, the film stars Jack Buchanan (who?) as John Bentley, a suburban London patriarch cursed with three troublesome daughters (Jeannie Carson, Janette Scott and Susan Stephen) and the visiting American crooner (Jerry Wayne) attached to one of them. The story is as banal as it sounds, and the leads not terribly appealing, but check out the supporting cast: in addition to sex goddess Diana Dors, there's Nigel Green, Joan Sims, Richard Wattis, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques, Dora Bryan, Leslie Phillips, Sam Kydd, and even Norman Wisdom! That's a remarkable array of talent, and reason enough to sit through this otherwise unremarkable feature.
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