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5:15 AM Showtime 2
Burden of Dreams (1982 USA): Les Blank's salute to obsessive German filmmaker Werner Herzog returns to the small screen this morning. Shot whilst Herzog was producing Fitzcarraldo, the film highlights the on-set squabbles between Herzog and star Klaus Kinski and the over-the-top decisions made by the director, such as the infamous sequence wherein Amazonian tribesmen were hired to haul a fully assembled riverboat up a hillside. Featuring valuable footage of Jason Robards and Mick Jagger, both of whom left the production early, Burden of Dreams is a fitting tribute to one of the greatest of all filmmakers, who has defied the odds by continuing to produce excellent work to this very day.

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Rachel, Rachel (1968 USA): Paul Newman never really got his due as a director, but probably came closest with this touching and sensitive drama about middle-aged romance. Mrs. Newman, Joanne Woodward, stars as Rachel Cameron, a 35-year-old spinster and small town school teacher still living at home with Mom (Kate Harrington). When childhood chum Nick Kazlik (James Olson) returns from the big city for a visit, he tries to get her out of her shell, but finds the challenge a tough one, as Rachel has long been subsisting on a rich fantasy life in lieu of interaction with other humans. Woodward’s performance earned her a Golden Globe and the film also chalked up four Oscar noms, though no gongs were forthcoming.

6:00 PM HBO
Crazy Heart (2009 USA): When was the last time Jeff Bridges wasn’t at least nominated for an Oscar? Seems to be an annual occasion now. This year, it’s for his re-interpretation of Rooster Cogburn in the Coen Brothers’ True Grit, but in 2010 it was for his performance in this film as a down on his luck country-western singer — and, as we all know, that nomination turned into a win for the bearded one. I didn’t catch Crazy Heart during its theatrical run — contemporary country music and me don’t really get along — but I’ll definitely be checking it out this evening. Also airs at 9:00 PM.

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