TiVoPlex
By John Seal
October 19, 2009
Sunday 10/25/09
9:00 PM Sundance
Victim (1999 HK): Director Ringo Lam was once one of the biggest names in Hong Kong cinema thanks to his stylish crime films (City on Fire) and martial arts crowd pleasers (Double Dragon). He's gone off the boil since then, but never lost the touch entirely, as evidenced by this thriller about a computer engineer who's kidnapped and tortured by...who? It's up to Detective Pit (Tony Leung Ka Fai) to ferret out the responsible party, and in the meantime, poor and unfortunately named victim Manson (Ching Wan Lau) seems to be losing his marbles, to say the least. Lam is only semi-successful in his attempts to blend crime and horror tropes into the proceedings, but Victim is never less than engrossing and features plenty of effective spooky bits.
Monday 10/26/09
4:25 PM Sundance
Dreams With Sharp Teeth (2008 USA): I haven't seen this documentary about science-fiction author Harlan Ellison, and I can't recall ever having read any of the man's books, but you know a film entitled Dreams With Sharp Teeth is going to catch my eye and earn a TiVoPlex mention. An IMDb reviewer wrote "even if you don't know a thing about him (Ellison), it's funny and revealing of human nature", and the film features an original soundtrack by, of all people, folk-rock pioneer Richard Thompson. On the other hand, Robin Williams is one of the featured talking heads...so you've been warned.
10:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Valentino (1977 USA): Ballet star Rudolf Nureyev stars as silent screen legend Rudolph Valentino in this historically inaccurate Ken Russell biopic. Using the actor's 1926 funeral as its starting point, the film proceeds to detail Valentino's career on screen, in jail, and in bed — ESPECIALLY in bed — for two distressingly bland hours. Valentino was never a great actor — he got by primarily on looks and mystique — so in that respect, first-time screen thesp Nureyev was perfectly cast, but the film lacks the erotic charge of the best Russell films and plods along like a dirty old man in a brand new raincoat. Regardless, Valentino's supporting cast is impressive — there's Seymour Cassel, Carol Kane, Linda Thorson, Anton Diffring, and even Bowery Boy Huntz Hall as producer Jesse Lasky! — and the film is making its widescreen television debut this evening.
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