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From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.

Tuesday 10/19/10

12:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Guilt of Janet Ames (1947 USA): Rosalind Russell takes the lead in this psychological drama, which I prefer to think of as The (Crazy) Quilt of Janet Ames. Roz plays the titular gal, a war widow whose husband died saving five of his fellow soldiers during the dark days of Dubya Dubya Two. Janet thinks her hubby’s life was worth more than those of the five GIs, but after she ends up in hospital following an auto accident learns otherwise from the learned hand of pickled journo Smithfield Cobb (Melvyn Douglas). Soon Janet is addressing her anger through hypno-therapy, and her journey of recovery takes her to the doorstep of each of the men she’s previously reviled. Directed by Henry Levin, this far-fetched amalgam of half-baked Freudian psychobabble and goofy philosophizing co-stars Sid Caesar, Nina Foch, and future television commercial pitchman Harry Von Zell.

5:45 PM Sundance
Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee (2009 GB): How on Earth did I miss this one? I’m a huge Shane Meadows fan, so I can’t imagine how this mockumentary slipped past me. I guess a US theatrical release would have helped, but until now I wasn’t even aware of its existence. Anyhoo, Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee was written and directed by Meadows (Once Upon a Time in the Midlands, This Is England) and stars regular collaborator Paddy Considine as a rock n roll nobody trying to wheedle his way into the inner circle of indie-rock darlings The Arctic Monkeys. I bet Paddy looks good on the dance floor!

8:15 PM Flix
Medium Cool (1969 USA): This ground-breaking Haskell Wexler film was considered revolutionary in its time and still looks pretty bold, albeit in a hazy, vaguely nostalgic post-modern, post-flower power way. Robert Forster stars as John Cassellis, a TV reporter assigned to cover the 1968 Democractic National Convention, and the film cuts between his (fictional) back story and the gruesome reality of the Convention, where the Chicago Police Department busted heads first and took names later. It’s one of the best films from one of Hollywood’s best years…and look!—there’s The Last Porno Flick’s Marianna Hill as Cassellis’ nurse girlfriend!

Wednesday 10/20/10

3:25 PM IFC
Blood Simple (1984 USA): For some reason IFC didn’t air Blood Simple in its scheduled slot a week or two ago. In case you experienced frustration but managed not to smash up your TV set in disgust, here’s what I wrote then (and stand by now):

The Coen Brothers made a strong impression with Blood Simple, an outstanding neo-noir with a nasty sting in its tail that also happened to be their first film. Dan Hedaya stars as Marty, a saloon owner who knows wife Abby(Frances McDormand) is cheating on him with bartender Ray (John Getz). Marty hires detective Visser (M. Emmet Walsh) to kill them both, but hasn’t counted on the private dick’s awesome backstabbing skills, and the plot soon begins to twist, turn, and take off in unexpected, violent, and grimly humorous directions. For anyone who’s ever enjoyed a novel by James Cain or Jim Thompson (or at least enjoyed a film based on a novel by James Cain or Jim Thompson), Blood Simple is manna from heaven.

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