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Saturday 10/23/10

7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Jalopy (1953 USA): Boy, producer Ben Schwalb’s creative juices must have been particularly dry in 1953, or perhaps he was simply overwhelmed by the requirements of his new position (previous Bowery Boys producer Jan Grippo had just retired) and couldn’t come up with anything more original. How else to explain this film’s one-word title? Of the 48 Bowery Boys features produced between 1946 and 1958, this is the only one with a one-word title. And it’s not like options weren’t available: Hold That Jalopy would have been fine, as would Here Comes the Jalopy or even Bowery Buick. Whatever the reason, Jalopy is another series entry in which Sach exceeds expectations, this time by developing a super-fuel which will power the lads’ automobile to glory at the local racetrack. The usual merriment and mayhem ensue.

10:45 PM Flix
Trauma (1993 ITA-USA): One of director Dario Argento’s later and lesser efforts, Trauma will be worth a look tonight if Flix is airing it in widescreen. As the channel has a decent track record in terms of respecting original aspect ratios—a record they foolishly choose not to tout—we’ll give it a mention and hope for the best. Trauma features Dario’s daughter Asia as anorexic, suicide-inclined Aura, rescued one day by passing motorist David (Christopher Rydell) as she dangles dangerously on the edge of a bridge. Aura’s troubles, however, have only begun: back at home, Mom Adriana (Piper Laurie) is holding a séance…which gets interrupted by a serial killer who decapitates his victims! Can David save Aura from losing her head? The film’s wacky premise is undermined by its bland middle-America setting, and Ms. Argento is not at her best (only 18 at the time, this was her first starring role), but there’s still some good stuff here: the séance scenes and hospital sequences are prime Argento. Trauma plays best in 2.35:1, of course, so let’s hope Flix delivers the goods.

Monday 10/25/10

12:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Return of the Vampire (1943 USA): One of the more unusual horror flicks of the forties, Return of the Vampire takes place amidst the rubble-strewn streets of wartime London. A bomb has unearthed the coffin of Armand Tesla (Bela Lugosi), a blood-sucker whose previous reign of terror struck fear into the hearts of the Ainsley family during World War I. With a helping hand from the Wolf Man (where’d he come from? – Matt Willis), Tesla is once again free to roam the Earth, but chooses to update his image and masquerade as Hugo Bruckner, a German émigré scientist. Can Lady Jane Ainsley (Frieda Inescort) save daughter Nicki (Nina Foch) from his hypnotic gaze—and will Scotland Yard’s Sir Frederick Fleet (Miles Mander) ever admit to the existence of the supernatural? Return of the Vampire is a surprisingly effective and atmospheric feature from Columbia, a studio whose horror output was generally unimpressive, to say the least.

5:00 PM Sundance
It’s Hard Being Loved By Jerks (2008 FRA): With a title like this, you’d suspect this was some low-budget American indie feature. In actual fact, it’s a French documentary known in its native land by the much more musical title C'est dur d'être aimé par des cons. Focusing on Dutch agro-artist Theo van Gogh, whose anti-Islamic thunderings led to his murder in 2004, and the 2006 trial of a French magazine that published the infamous Muhammad cartoons, the film raises important questions about freedom of speech, censorship, multi-culturalism, and ‘political correctness’. It’s an important and fascinating film—even if it does rely on several rather repulsive characters (including Jean-Marie le Pen) to make its point.

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