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Saturday 11/28/09

5:00 PM HBO
The Wrestler (2008 USA): One of the best films of 2008 makes its television debut this evening. Mickey Rourke delivers a powerhouse performance as washed up wrestler Randy, who finds his efforts to transition back to civilian life and a regular day job at the local butcher's quite the challenge. On top of that, he's also trying to reconnect with estranged daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood), who has serious abandonment issues and doesn't exactly relish the prospect of getting to know Dad. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, The Wrestler features amazing and bloody recreations of squared circle action, but the focus always remains on Randy's personal struggles, rendering this one of the best character studies of recent vintage. Also airs at 8:00 PM.

7:00 PM Sundance
Hunger (2008 GB): Written and directed by Steve McQueen — NO, not the dead one, the alive one from London — Hunger is a biopic about IRA soldier Bobby Sands and the hunger strike he engaged in whilst being held in Belfast's notorious Maze prison in the early 1980s. Unfortunately, I missed Hunger during its theatrical run last year, but it received near universal plaudits from critics, not least for Michael Fassbender's performance as Sands. Judging from the consensus, it's gruelling but extremely worthwhile stuff.

Sunday 11/29/09

1:50 PM IFC
Evelyn (2002 GER-IRE-USA-GB-HOL): Pierce Brosnan stars in this rather soppy drama from director Bruce Beresford. Brosnan plays Desmond Doyle, an Irish everyman circa 1953 who loses custody of his children when his wife leaves him. Determined to get his kids back, Doyle does the impossible: he takes on the combined might of the Irish government and the Catholic Church, and litigates. This extremely old-fashioned film will bring a tear to your eye whilst it tugs at your calcified heart-strings, but Brosnan (who co-produced) is very good and admirers of the actor should overlook the film's extremely manipulative screenplay.

9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Battle of the Sexes (1928 USA): One of the few comedies directed by cinema pioneer D. W. Griffith, Battle of the Sexes features Jean Hersholt as Bill Judson, the hapless target of gold-digging Jazz Age flapper Marie (Phyllis Haver). Judson, a middle-aged tycoon looking for kicks he can't find at home, leaves his wife and two kiddies in favor of the fun-loving Marie, but will he find true happiness, as well? Like most Griffith' features, there's a moral to be learned from this silent saga, though it's not as heavy-handed as Intolerance or Hearts of the World, and also reflects the more open attitudes of the Roaring ‘20s.

Monday 11/30/09

5:00 PM IFC
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2005 GB): This acclaimed meta-movie about the filming of Laurence Sterne's "unfilmable" novel Tristram Shandy, which famously takes 600 plus pages to go exactly nowhere (or everywhere, depending upon your perspective), returns to IFC tonight. Coogan plays both himself and the title character of the film within a film, which also features Rob Brydon and Gillian Anderson in double roles as well as Jeremy Northam as the director of Tristram Shandy (the "fake" one, not the "real" one you're watching on IFC tonight). It's all rather post-modern and very, very cheeky in the understated British style, but I love it. Also airs at 10:30 PM.

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