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5:00 PM HBO2
The Windmill Movie (2008 USA): Here's something you don't see every day: a documentary about a filmmaker making a documentary about himself. To make matters even weirder, the filmmaker — Richard P. Rogers — died before completing his film, leaving a quarter century's worth of raw footage in the hands of his widow, who turned it over to another filmmaker to edit into a complete feature. So how's the film, you ask? Well, if you're in the mood for an exercise in child-of-privilege navel-gazing, pretty good. If that's more likely to annoy than enlighten you, though, let The Windmill Movie blow right past you. Also airs at 8:00 PM.

Thursday 10/29/09

4:05 PM IFC
Goth Cruise (2008 USA): Hey, if the guys and gals from National Review can hop an ocean liner to Alaska in order to scope out Sarah Palin, why shouldn't a bunch of chicken-dancing, panda-eyed goths sail off to the Caribbean for a week of glum fun in the sun? That's the unlikely but amusing subject of this doc, which is even more entertaining if you've actually spent time on a cruise ship — which I did for the first time in my life this past summer. Hey, if I can have fun on a cruise, anyone - even the bastard offspring of Bela Lugosi and Vampira — surely can.

10:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Looking Forward (1933 USA): Not, sadly, a big screen adaptation of Looking Backward, Edward Bellamy's socialist utopian novel of almost the same name, Looking Forward is actually a tale of compassionate capitalism brought to the big screen by right-wing director Clarence Brown. Lewis Stone portrays Gabriel Service Sr., the owner of a failing London department store caught in a bit of a liquidity trap. One of his competitor's is willing to buy his business from him, but Service balks when he learns the new owner is unwilling to keep his staff, including long-time bookkeeper Tim Benton (Lionel Barrymore), who's been tallying the pounds, shillings, and pence for nigh on 40 years. Will the cold, hard invisible hand of the marketplace be revealed for all to see — or will a miracle happen at the last minute to keep the store in family hands? If you can live with the fairy tale conclusion, you'll enjoy Looking Forward, shot in Hollywood but based on a play by Lancashire-born Dodie Smith.

11:00 PM Showtime 3
Crazylegs (1953 USA): I've got my doubts about this one — Republic second features are hardly the warp and woof of Showtime schedules — but just in case, I'll give it a quick mention. It's a biopic about American football star Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch, ably played here by, oh this is a bit odd, Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch. I bet you could save a lot of money producing biopics if you could always get the subject of the film to play themselves. It's very rare, not very good, and was directed by Francis D. Lyon, best remembered today for the awful 1966 horror film Castle of Evil, so unless you're a big pigskin fan you can probably give it a miss.

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