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Thursday 3/17/11

3:00 PM Sundance
Keep Eye on Ball (2009 USA): Title of the week, hands down. Keep Eye on Ball is a documentary about Hashim Khan, a legendary Pakistani squash player who won the British Open (squash variety) seven consecutive times during the 1950s. His string of victories kick-started a national frenzy for the sport that persists to this day, and his children also became championship caliber players. Based on Khan’s biography of the same name, Keep Eye on Ball is the best squash documentary you’ll ever see, casting light on a sport most people have never heard of and on a sports dynasty that...well, most people have never heard of.

11:10 PM Encore Dramatic Stories
Croupier (1998 GB): Though technically not his first film, Clive Owen made a great first impression in this gritty crime drama helmed by Mike Hodges (1971’s Get Carter, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead). Owen — who coulda been a James Bond contenda, but lost the 007 sweeps to the equally worthy Daniel Craig — plays Jack Manfred, a would-be novelist in need of supplemental income to support his going nowhere fast writing career. He takes a job in a London casino as a croupier (the guy or gal who takes and pays out bets), but foolishly gets tangled up with a frequent customer (Alex Kingston) who inveigles him into helping her rob the joint. This is a solid if somewhat stodgy heist flick that wouldn’t be half as good without Owen.

Friday 3/18/11

1:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
R.P.M. (1970 USA): Do you ever drool in anticipation of seeing a film? I do. Oh sure, I drool when I’m asleep, too...but wide awake drooling is drool of a higher order. This is one of those films that send my salivary glands into overdrive. Unavailable on home video and absent from television for decades, R.P.M. stars Anthony Quinn as Paco Perez, a professor trying to get down with the kids on a strife-torn California college campus. Always one to sympathize with his students, Paco finds himself thrust into a position of authority when activists take over the campus and name him President. He finds their demands increasingly hard to comply with, however, raising the question: how much revolution is too much revolution? Ann-Margret co-stars as Paco’s grad student mistress (surely grounds for dismissal?), whilst Paul Winfield and Gary Lockwood agitate the masses. I haven’t seen this film in at least 30 years and its reputation isn’t the best, but gosh darn it, my keyboard is awash in slobber!

6:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Roar of the Dragon (1932 USA): This rip-roaring RKO adventure stars Richard Dix (1923’s Ten Commandments) as a riverboat captain squaring off against Manchurian bandits and a bad guy (C. Henry Gordon) trying to steal his gal. Well-directed by Wesley Ruggles, Roar of the Dragon also includes Zasu Pitts, Dudley Digges, and flapper extraordinaire Arline Judge as Western tourists caught up in the conflict. And if you ever wanted to see Edward Everett Horton wielding a gat, look no further.

10:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Smarty (1934 USA): It must be Edward Everett Horton Day on TCM, because here’s another of the prissy comedian’s early efforts. I’ve never seen Smarty, but in addition to Horton it also features Joan Blondell and Warren William, two of the greatest actors of the pre-Code era. Best of all, they play a married couple, ensuring that the snappy banter meter will be bouncing between 10 and 11.

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