New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Saturday 11/6/10

7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Loose in London (1953 USA): One of the least convincing cinematic reproductions of London town - and that’s saying something - appears in this Bowery Boys entry, in which the lads cross the Atlantic after Sach (Huntz Hall) inherits a fortune. Luckily most of the action is set in a creepy old mansion complete with dungeon, in which Sach becomes the target of a murder plot designed to fleece him of his legacy. Should you still be keeping count, this is series entry number 30.

5:00 PM HBO
Avatar (2009 USA): Here’s a little film a few of you might have heard about. I’m not sure why you’d want to watch Avatar flat, but if that’s your desire, it makes its television debut this evening. Also airs at 8:00 PM and from here until the sun burns out and/or Jesus returns.

6:00 PM Starz
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus(2009 GB): As much as I enjoyed Avatar - yes, I really did like it, though it wasn’t worthy of that Best Picture nom - Terry Gilliam’s latest effort was by far the best fantasy feature of 2009. Starring Christopher Plummer as the title character - a traveling magician who’s made a deal with the Devil (the wonderful Tom Waits) for the soul of his daughter (Lily Cole) - this is the best Gilliam feature in a long time, with the director finally harnessing his limitless visual imagination with a story worth telling. I absolutely adore this film - and it single-handedly convinced me I needed to finally make the move to Blu-Ray. Also airs at 9:00 PM.

Sunday 11/7/10

5:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Ten Little Indians (1966 GB): A mildly entertaining adaptation of one of Agatha Christie’s best and best-known stories, Ten Little Indians features an international cast (Leo Genn, Daliah Lavi, Fabian, and others) as visitors to a remote mountaintop villa, where they’re being murdered one by one. Though the film is burdened by producer Harry Alan Towers usual low-budget limitations, it’s still fun trying to guess who’s going to be knocked off next - plus we get to hear the uncredited voice of Christopher Lee!

4:15 PM Sundance
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000 USA): Anyone watching this documentary will end up loving Tammy Faye Bakker, the much maligned, much ridiculed wife of televangelist Jim Bakker. Tammy Faye died of breast cancer in 2007, and she was already ill when this film was made, but her overwhelming lust for life and open-hearted "live and let live" philosophy will win over all but the stoniest of hearts. So what if she wore too much make-up and her husband was a jackass? It’s the feel-good movie of the week.

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Metropolis (1924 GER): The fully restored "Argentinian" print of Fritz Lang’s futuristic classic made a resoundingly successful trip around the festival circuit earlier this year and now makes its television debut on TCM (Kino on Video will be releasing the film on DVD, complete with bells and whistles, a little later this month). Though I missed Metropolis during its roadshow release, I can’t adequately express to you my excitement over this development, which saw approximately 40 minutes of previously "lost" footage added to what was already a bonafide science-fiction masterpiece. This is far and away TiVoPlex movie of the week, and is essential viewing for anyone remotely interested in cinema as an art form or the sci-fi genre. It’s followed at 8:00 PM by the new documentary Metropolis Refound, which details the rediscovery and restoration process; at 9:00 PM by Lang’s later intrigue classic Spies (1928), in which Rudolf Klein-Rogge lay the foundation for all international screen super spies to come; and at 11:30 PM by M (1930), Lang’s grueling tale of a child murderer (Peter Lorre) and his ultimate comeuppance.

Monday 11/8/10

9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Birth of a Nation (1915 USA): Once a staple on PBS, D. W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation rarely gets TV airings any more - in large part because of its abject and unforgivable treatment of African-Americans. As a result, both the film and filmmaker Griffith have fallen into, if not disregard, a category of things best left undiscussed in polite company. That’s a real shame, of course, as this is a great film made by one of the true pioneers of cinema - a man who was probably considered a bit of a wimpy liberal in his day thanks to the "can’t we all get along" plea that was Intolerance (1916) and the stunning anti-war classic Hearts of the World (1918). No doubt, Birth of a Nation is a hard slog at times - but it remains a hugely important and influential film that everyone should see at least once.

Continued:       1       2       3       4