TiVoPlex
By John Seal
November 16, 2009
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
One Potato, Two Potato (1964 USA): I somehow managed to overlook this excellent drama when it appeared on TCM several months ago, so I'm really pleased to see it airing again this afternoon. Extremely daring in 1964, and still pretty bold today, One Potato Two Potato is the story of husband and wife Frank and Julie (Bernie Hamilton and Barbara Barrie) and their struggles to keep their marriage intact and maintain custody of a child from Julie's earlier marriage to crumb bum Joe (Richard Mulligan). Oh, Frank's black and Julie's white, by the way, and interracial marriage was still illegal in certain parts of the country in the early ‘60s. Independently produced in Ohio and directed by Larry Peerce (The Incident), this is a remarkable and brave film that has lost little of its power over the years. And I bet you didn't know it was nominated for a Best Original Screenplay Academy Award...'cause I sure didn't.
11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy (1966 MEX): If you grew up watching the late, late show in the 1970s, chances are you've had repeated exposure to films such as Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy. American huckster K. Gordon Murray discovered there was quite a bit of cash to be made by importing dubbed Mexican horror films to the United States, and after he syndicated his package to television, youngsters of my generation soon learned to tell their German Robles from their Abel Salazars. Whilst a number of these Mexi-horrors were actually quite decent films in their own right...Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy ain't one of ‘em. One of half a dozen mummy movies directed by Rafael Portillo, the film stars Ramon Gay as a mad scientist who constructs an automaton to break into an ancient tomb guarded by the Aztec Mummy in order to steal the treasure within. Minor mayhem ensues. The robot is beyond pathetic - it's basically a guy in a tin can - but for some of us, this will be an irresistible trip down Camino Memoria.
Saturday 11/21/09
12:30 PM IFC
Hero (2002 CHI): Hero raked in a remarkable $53,000,000 in US cinemas when it finally got a Stateside release in 2004, an impressive feat for any foreign-language feature, especially one helmed by Zhang Yimou, a serious director whose gorgeous but leisurely-paced dramas (Raise the Red Lantern, The Road Home) are usually more at home in urban art-houses than middle American multiplexes. Cleverly (if somewhat inaccurately) marketed by Miramax as a martial arts epic in the style of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero's take was bolstered by the presence of Jet Li, a marginal but still credible box office draw in the United States. Li plays a rascal who comes to the court of the King of Qin, eager to receive a reward for killing off three assassins (Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, and Donnie Yen) intent on shortening the king's life, and by extension his reign. As with all Zhang films, Hero exhibits stunning production design and was artfully shot by the great Chris Doyle, but may prove to be a bit of a letdown for those anticipating non-stop chop-socky action. Also co-starring the beautiful Zhang Ziyi, this is one of those rare instances of cinema kismet where marketing, art, and sheer luck amply reward the efforts of the filmmakers.
6:00 PM Starz
Doubt (2008 USA): Undeservedly snubbed at last year's Academy Awards, Doubt was clearly too small and too stagey to garner more than the handful of nominations (and no statues) it ultimately earned. That's a shame, because it's a magnificently acted and thought-provoking picture, adapted for the screen and directed by playwright John Patrick Shanley. The ever terrific Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Father Flynn, the kindly - perhaps too kindly? - headmaster of a Catholic boy's school in 1960s New York. His bête noire is the eternally suspicious head-teacher, Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep), who suspects Flynn is getting a little too close to some of her pupils. Is Flynn a pedophile - or is Sister a prying busy-body? You'll have to decide for yourself, because Doubt leaves itself wide open to interpretation. Watch it with someone you love, and then have a fruitful post-movie discussion. Also airs at 9:00 PM.
Sunday 11/22/09
8:40 PM Starz in Black
Hatchet (2006 USA): Though it's no better than most modern-day grue-fests, Hatchet offers one advantage most of those films don't: location photography in post-Katrina New Orleans and rural Louisiana. Of course, we don't get to see the parts destroyed in the hurricane - we'll have to wait for a more socially conscious film before that happens - but we do get to see Mardi Gras revellers come to unfortunate and bloody ends in the swamps and bayous of the Deep South. Add in cameos from Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, and John Carl Buechler, and you have a passable and surprisingly well-acted time waster.
11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Black Orpheus (1959 BRA): I must admit to being a bit of an agnostic when it comes to this Brazilian reimagining of the legend of Orpheus. I've always preferred the Cocteau version, but perhaps that's just the dead old white man in me asserting itself...regardless, Black Orpheus was a huge hit on its initial release and was awarded the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 1960. Apparently it's less well-regarded at home, where the film's tale of non-stop Carnival partying was and is considered wildly inaccurate. I guess if you blended elements of City of God and Pixote into Black Orpheus, you'd have a pretty accurate depiction of life in Rio de Janeiro. Or maybe not.
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