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11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Performance (1970 GB): Please allow me to introduce myself - I'm a man of wealth and taste living in a boarding house in a non-descript part of London. Performance features Mick Jagger as rock star Turner, whose malign personality clashes with that of Chas (James Fox), a spiv on the run from the coppers who stumbles into said boarding house one day and decides it's a great place to hide out while he waits for a counterfeit passport that will get him to New York. Old-fashioned Chas has, however, met his match in Turner, and after a day or two of hallucinogen-fueled gender bending will never be the same again. Co-directed by Donald Cammell and Nic Roeg, Performance plays a bit like a post-psychedelic take on Tony Richardson's The Servant. It's not as good as its reputation would have you believe, but it's still worth a look, especially if you're a fan of Sir Mick.

Sunday 12/13/09

3:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Travels with My Aunt (1972 GB): Alec McCowen stars as Henry Rollins (no, not that one), a dull office worker pulled into the orbit of his energetic Auntie Augusta (Maggie Smith), in this likeable if far-fetched drama based on one of Graham Greene's lesser novels. Henry and Augusta are reunited at his mother's funeral, where she asks him for assistance in rescuing her lover Visconti (Robert Stephens), who is being held captive by kidnappers somewhere in the exotic East. Directed by George Cukor, clearly a bit out of puff at this point, Travels with My Aunt is carried by its two leads, who get decent support from Lou Gossett, Robert Flemyng, Cindy Williams, and Daniel Emilfork. Frock flick enthusiasts will want to tune in to appreciate Anthony Powell's Oscar-winning costumes.

9:00 PM Sundance
Cadaver (2006 THA): Over the years, I've found myself tending to favor Thai horror films over their Southeast Asian rivals. Though not as flashy as your average J-horror, nor as grim as most Korean efforts, there's a certain old-fashioned reliability and calm about films such as The Victim and Nang-Nak that I really appreciate. Cadavar, unfortunately, tries to up the ante a bit, and ultimately fails, though not for lack of trying. Set in a Bangkok medical school, the film relates the story of Mai (Natthamonkarn Srinikornchot), a student whose work with a lab corpse provides her with an unsettling experience in the lab and an even more haunting one after hours. The film doesn't know when to stop and verges on comedy at times, but is still worth a look if you enjoy the long-haired ghost genre.

Monday 12/14/09

12:45 PM Sundance
A Perfect Candidate (1996 USA): A fascinating documentary examining the 1994 Senate race between Republican proto-fascist and serial liar Oliver North and Democratic silver spoon oligarch Chuck Robb, A Perfect Candidate is an abject reminder that both parties are pretty crummy. In this case, you had two of the crummiest of crumb bums knocking heads for the right to be Virginia's junior senator, and neither covered himself in glory during the campaign. Watch A Perfect Candidate, then donate money to the Peace and Freedom Party or the Greens.

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933 USA): Perhaps the best Frank Capra film you've never heard of (though The Miracle Woman is pretty darn good, too), The Bitter Tea of General Yen stars Babs Stanwyck as Megan, an American missionary who finds herself caught up in the horrors of the Chinese Civil War and in thrall to the titular officer (Nils Asther), who rescues her when she loses her orphans aboard a train and faints. After recovering in the General's palace, young Megan tries to convert her savior to Christianity, but soon finds herself adapting to and adopting Chinese culture with disturbing ease - and that's before she develops a crush on him. As with all Hollywood interracial romances of the period, things do not proceed smoothly. Beautifully shot by Joe Walker and featuring one of the most memorable dream sequences of the 1930s, The Bitter Tea of General Yen is a fine corrective for the later Capra-corn we still associate with this hugely talented but artistically compromised director.

6:00 PM Sundance
What Would Jesus Buy? (2007 USA): Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir take to the malls in this wickedly barbed documentary. If you're not familiar with Reverend Billy, he's actually Bill Talen, an Andy Kaufman-esque performance artist who has assumed the persona of a Hellfire and brimstone preacher testifying about the evils of consumerism. If you've ever wanted to see someone exorcize the demons from Wal-Mart, this is your film.

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