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9:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Burn! (1969 FRA-ITA): I’ve been waiting a long, long time to see this film in its correct aspect ratio, and the day is finally at hand. Directed by the great Gillo Pontecorvo (The Battle of Algiers), Burn! stars Marlon Brando as William Walker (the same historical character depicted by Ed Harris in Alex Cox’s Walker), an Englishman sent to foment unrest in a Portuguese colony that - if things go according to plan - will allow British sugar interests to profit mightily. The revolution goes swimmingly in the short term, but wouldn’t you know it - blowback is afoot, and the ungrateful rebel leader (Evaristo Marquez) Walker has left in charge starts to get a little uppity. Walker must return to regain control of the territory, but - in a twist perfectly atuned to the anti-colonialist times in which Burn! was made - finds that that train has already left the station. Here’s hoping this is the full-length Italian-language version, but even if it isn’t, I’ll be pleased to see this classic in its original aspect ratio.

11:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Strange Behavior (1982 AUS): Strange Behavior is set in Illinois but was actually shot in New Zealand, because the film’s Australian producers didn’t think Australia looked American enough! It’s a pretty terrible horror film about a mad scientist carrying out horrendous experiments on the neighborhood all-American Kiwi teens, but appears tonight in its full 2.35:1 glory, making it essential viewing for all fans of Le Bad Cinema.

Saturday 11/27/10

4:05 AM Sundance
Apres Lui (2006 FRA): Catherine Deneuve stars in this intense French drama from director Gael Morel. Deneuve plays Camille, a bookseller and loving mother who loses her young adult son in a car wreck and begins to obsess about his (still living) best friend Franck (Thomas Dumerchez). Camille wants to help Franck, and hires the lad to work in her shop, but things get out of hand when she decides to stalk him during his holiday in Portugal. Deneuve is excellent and the film features impressive cinematography from Jean-Max Bernard, but its tale of Oedipal Complex by proxy probably isn't for everyone.

7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Paris Playboys (1954 USA): Sach gets mistaken for a brilliant French scientist in chapter 33 of the Bowery Boys saga. Commie spies grab him, believing he has a secret formula that will give the Soviets a leg up in the arms race. How wrong they are.

Sunday 11/28/10

5:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Beggar’s Opera (1953 GB): I’ve never seen this film before, primarily because it has the word "opera" in the title, and I absolutely cannot stand opera. Please, bring on the fat lady and tell me it’s over. Regardless, The Beggar’s Opera has an impressive enough pedigree that it’s probably time for me to check it out. Behind the camera: cinematographer Guy Green, producer Laurence Olivier, and director Peter Brook (Lord of the Flies, Marat/Sade). In front of the camera: Olivier, Hugh Griffith, Stanley Holloway, Yvonne Furneaux, Kenneth Williams, and Eric Pohlmann. Pass the earplugs.

7:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Nanny (1965 GB): Bette Davis essayed one of her best late career roles in this suspenseful Hammer thriller. Davis plays the title character (if she has a ‘real’ name, we don’t find out what it is), a child-minder employed by the Fanes (Wendy Craig and James Villiers) to care for ten-year-old Joey (William Dix). Joey has just returned from reform school after "serving time" for the death of his younger sister, drowned in the bathtub during what the authorities have assumed was some overly rough play, and everyone has him pegged as a troublemaker. But there are deeper, darker secrets hidden within the heart of The Nanny, and her relationship with Joey rapidly disintegrates. Directed by Seth Holt, this is one of Hammer’s best and even compares favorably to Polanski’s Repulsion.

7:00 PM Sundance
Red Riding 1974 (2009 GB): Here’s hoping Sundance intends to air all three chapters of the Red Riding trilogy - but this month, we’re only getting the first film. It’s a gritty retelling of the search for the Yorkshire Ripper, a serial killer who murdered at least a dozen women between 1975 and 1980 and consistently managed to elude the police. Red Riding is grueling stuff and probably won’t appeal to those who (for example) like opera, but all others (especially Paddy Considine fans) are advised to give it a look. Also airs 11/29 at 1:15 AM.

Monday 11/29/10

5:00 PM Sundance
Sounds Like Teen Spirit (2008 GB): Ever heard of Junior Eurovision? Me neither, but apparently it sounds like a deodorant. This popumentary examines the finalists of the 2007 Junior Eurovision competition, including a band from Belgium, a singer from Cyprus, a belter from Bulgaria, and, erm, a genuine Georgian. Phew, alliteration is hard! The result is an utterly charming film that you will enjoy tremendously - even if you generally prefer Nirvana to Neil Diamond. More alliteration!

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