TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex for February 16 2010 through February 22 2010
By John Seal
February 15, 2010
From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.
Tuesday 2/16/10
1:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Emma (1932 USA): If ever there were an unlikely matinee idol, Marie Dressler was it. Blessed with a Michelin Man body and a face only a hatchet could love, Dressler encompassed no one's idea of beauty, yet her down to Earth persona was the number one box office draw during the early years of the Great Depression. Emma is one of her best films, and features Marie as the title character, a woman hired by wealthy widower Frederick Smith (Jean Hersholt) to care for his three motherless offspring. After the children have grown and left the nest, Frederick and Emma marry, but an ugly fight erupts after his unexpected death: should his working-class widow really be allowed to inherit the family fortune? Co-starring Myrna Loy and John Miljan, this Clarence Brown-helmed soap earned Dressler a well-deserved Best Actress Academy Award nomination.
7:45 PM Sundance
This is Not a Robbery (2008): Death panels, cuts in Medicare, the cancellation of Matlock—today's senior citizens face unprecedented stress, so perhaps we shouldn't be surprised when they opt for a life of crime. This documentary takes a look at one such fun lovin' criminal, a Texan named J. L. ‘Red' Rountree, an oil baron who lost his millions and developed a taste for stick ‘em ups at the ripe old age of 86. Though caught several times between 1998 and 2003 (when he turned 92), Red got away with thousands until his luck finally ran out one day in Abilene, and he ended up doing a twelve-year stretch in a Federal pokey. Guess the guy really didn't like banks much. Also airs 2/17 at 1:15 AM.
Wednesday 2/17/10
12:10 PM Encore Action
Snake Eater (1989 USA): This low-budget Lorenzo Lamas actioner isn't much good, but who can resist a film called Snake Eater? I haven't seen it in quite some time, and I sure don't remember Lorenzo actually indulging in serpent during the film, but who knows...maybe he does throw a little snake on the barby. At any rate, I'll be tuning in this afternoon to refresh my memory and pick up on any culinary tips the film may offer.
9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Saturday Night Fever (1977 USA): The film that nudged disco into the pop mainstream makes its widescreen television debut this evening. Sweathog John Travolta stars as Tony Manero, a leisure be-suited Brooklyn kid who escapes the boredom of his workaday life in a paint store by fleeing to the local discotheque and boogying up a storm. When Tony meets fellow dancer Stephanie (Karen Lynn Gorney), the ambitious lad sees the opportunity for advancement, and the couple enter a dance competition that may allow them to leave Brooklyn for the bright lights of Manhattan. Travolta's first big screen performance remains his best, and even the music—camp as it is—has aged surprisingly well. Either that, or I'm getting soft in my old age.
Thursday 2/18/10
1:35 AM HBO2
I Come in Peace (1990 USA): For those who enjoyed James Cameron's alien invasion opus Terminator or 1988's alien immigration drama Alien Nation, here's the Dolph Lungren semi-knockoff that followed both of them into theatres. Dolph plays bad boy Houston vice cop Caine, in pursuit of Talec, an alien drug dealer (Matthias Hues) come to Earth with a batch of super-heroin that keeps killing those who sample it—or have it sampled upon them. It's all done in the name of gathering a human brain enzyme that apparently is Acapulco Gold to the residents of points beyond the Milky Way, but Talec hasn't reckoned on the kick-ass awesomeosity of Caine. Oh yes, there will be blood.
Continued:
1
2
3
Print this column
