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10:00 PM Sundance
Vincere (2009 ITA): Benito Mussolini’s love life doesn’t sound like the most attractive subject for a film, but that’s what we get in Vincere, and happily the results aren’t too appalling. Filippo Timi plays Mussolini in his younger, pre-great dictator days (too bad Jack Oakie wasn’t available), when he was tall, dark and handsome and irresistible to woman of means Ida Dalser (Giovanna Mezzogiorno), who loves him for his inner and outer beauty but doesn’t really care one way or the other about his creepy political opinions. Benito knocks Ida up, goes off to war, disappears for a while, and then reappears with a wife and some heavy-duty political aspirations. Complications - and Ida’s admission to the loony bin - ensue. Written and directed by established vet Marco Bellochio, Vincere was a big hit on the festival circuit and a firm Silvio Berlusconi favorite. Kidding. I think.

Friday 11/5/10

6:45 AM The Movie Channel
Heartland (1979 USA): Regular readers know that westerns (non-spaghetti variety) rarely make an appearance in the ‘Plex, but this one’s worth a quick mention. That’s down to three things: great performances by leads Rip Torn and Conchata Ferrell, and stunning Montana location footage shot by cinematographer Fred Murphy, who’d later film The Dead for John Huston. As for the story, it’s the usual stuff about hardy pioneers overcoming every curve ball nature throws at them. Heartland is not exactly thrilling - sorry, no shootouts or Indian massacres here - but is superbly served by its cast and crew, who truly make a silk purse out of, if not a sow’s ear, perhaps a pair of dull but comfortable ear muffs.

11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Secret Ceremony (1968 GB): Last time this Joseph Losey feature appeared on TCM (1/19/07), it appeared in pan and scan. That’s been corrected this go-round. Liz Taylor stars as Leonora, an aging sex worker who finds herself adopted by immature 22-year-old Cenci (Mia Farrow), who accosts her one day on the bus after mistaking her for her dead mother. Disturbed at first by the stalkiness of it all, Leonora tries to give her admirer the slip, but soon warms to her presence when she learns Cenci is a young woman of some means. After a suitably sunny honeymoon period, creepy step-dad Albert (Robert Mitchum) shows up on their doorstep, jolting Leonora and Cenci back to reality and setting off a disturbing series of recriminations, rape accusations, and seedy sexual shenanigans, none of them involving Julian Assange. Unless you've invested in Universal's region 2 PAL disc - or, like me, have an old videocassette hanging around - this is the only way to catch this quaintly perverse oddity, which also features a slumming Dame Peggy Ashcroft as Cenci's light-fingered aunt.

6:00 PM Showtime
Cocaine Cowboys II: Hustlin’ with the Godmother (2008 USA): I haven’t seen this documentary yet, but with a title like this you know it’s going to be on moi’s radar. Even more enticing: it’s partly filmed in my adopted hometown of Oakland, California, home of the hyphy and land of the sideshow! The original Cocaine Cowboys was a sleazy but informative doc, so here’s hoping for more of the same from part deux. Also airs at 9:00 PM.

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