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Saturday 11/13/10

1:15 AM Showtime
Paris, Texas (1984 USA): For one brief, shining moment it seemed that Harry Dean Stanton might become a movie star, and Paris, Texas was that moment. Directed by Wim Wenders, the film stars Stanton as Travis Henderson, an amnesiac found wandering through the desert. Rescued by brother Walt (Dean Stockwell), Travis slowly begins to regain his memory whilst attempting to reestablish his relationship with son Hunter (Hunter Carson) and searching for estranged wife Jane (Nastassja Kinski). A huge arthouse and festival hit in its day, Paris, Texas features a memorable Ry Cooder score in addition to Stanton’s sterling performance. Airs again at 4:15 AM.

1:50 AM The Movie Channel
The Undeserved (2004 USA): Here’s an obscure but better than you might expect American indie. Paul Sado stars as the Faulknerian-sounding Vernal Hapgood, a student attending a pedagogically progressive Vermont high school. Vernal seems determined to fail, whilst best bud Charlie (James Martinez) copes with the dropping out and subsequent disappearance of gal pal Joy (Autumn Dornfeld), and other students deal with assorted teenage crises. Though a bit over-plotted and soapy, this largely improvised drama is an effective piece of low-budget filmmaking. Also airs at 4:50 AM.

7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Clipped Wings (1953 USA): Just when you thought the Bowery Boys had no more branches of the armed forces to screw up, along comes the ladies auxiliary of the United States Air Force. Once again, the lads encounter misfortune at the local recruiting office and end up in uniform. And once again they uncover a nest of spies. Look for Lyle Talbot and Tristram Coffin in supporting roles.

9:35 AM Flix
Day of the Locust (1973 USA): Before Matt Groening’s Simpsons there was Nathanael Hawthorne’s Day of the Locust. Donald Sutherland stars in this big screen adaptation of Hawthorne’s novel as Homer Simpson, an uptight accountant living in the sleazy back alleys of 1930’s Hollywood and in love with silver screen bit player Faye (Karen Black). Homer must compete for her affections with screenwriter Todd (William Atherton), whilst Faye’s father Harry (Burgess Meredith) tries to resurrect his pathetic vaudeville career and Geraldine Page’s Big Sister glowers in the background. Adapted for the screen by Waldo Salt, this is a relentlessly downbeat portrayal of losers living around the edges of success, and at almost two and a half hours in length, a pretty arduous slog. It’s not an easy film to like, but climaxes with an unforgettable sequence that confronts the nature and meaning of celebrity head-on.

Sunday 11/14/10

4:00 AM Sundance
Frontrunners (2008 USA): Hard to believe there’s more than one documentary about secondary school politics, but here’s the proof. 2006’s incredibly depressing Third Monday in October documented political competition at the middle school level, whilst Frontrunners turns the same trick for the even more devious older teens of New York City’s well-regarded Stuyvesant High School. Is there anything less attractive than watching impressionable young people assume the least attractive attributes of their elders? Also airs at 12:30 PM.

9:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Hoodlum (1919 USA): I might have overlooked this Mary Pickford meller if not for the presence of leading man Kenneth Harlan. Harlan was a pretty big star back in the day and he’s excellent here as poor but honest John Graham, a young man whose life has nearly been ruined by the machinations of oligarch Alexander Guthrie (Ralph Lewis). After Guthrie’s spoiled granddaughter Amy (Pickford) decides to spend some time slumming on the Lower East Side, she learns the sordid truth and determines to help John clear his name. This was Pickford’s second self-produced feature and was directed by future Academy Award nominee Sidney Franklin.

Monday 11/15/10

7:00 PM Sundance
Jar City (2006 ICE): A North Atlantic variant on the Fargo meme, this Baltasar Kormakur (White Night Wedding, 101 Reykjavik) joint follows the misadventures of an Icelandic police squad as they try to solve a particularly brutal murder. Worn-out chain-smoker Erlendur (Ingvar E. Sigurdsson) is in charge of the investigation, which dovetails with two other mysterious deaths, and he has a drug-addled teenage daughter to contend with, as well. The film is mordantly humorous - hence the Coen Brothers parallel - and though the audience learns who the killer is fairly quickly, offers enough surprises and plot twists to keep you engaged.

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