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Friday 5/20/11

7:20 AM Sundance
Let It Rain (2007 FRA): Agnes Jaoui directs herself in this excellent comedy-drama/ensemble piece. Jaoui (and yes, that’s her real name!) plays Agathe Villanova, an aspiring politician who returns home to help sister Florence (Pascale Arbillot) settle their late mother’s affairs. Whilst sorting through bric-a-brac, she’s approached by Karim (Outside the Law’s Jamel Debbouze), an amateur filmmaker producing a documentary about successful women. Karim asks her to appear in his project, but what she doesn’t know is that he’s working in collaboration with film teacher Michel (Jaoui’s real life husband, Jean-Pierre Bacri), who’s having an affair with Florence in hopes of wooing her away from her husband. Complications ensue, and yes...it rains in this film. A lot.

Saturday 5/21/11

9:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Tarzan’s Desert Mystery (1943 USA): Jane is offstage again in this entry in the Tarzan series, but she still manages to make her presence felt by writing a letter to the Jungle Lord asking him to bring her a plant with special curative powers (she’s busy assisting the war effort by nursing Allied soldiers back to health). The T-man is happy to oblige but must beat up on giant spiders, carnivorous plants, and stock footage dinosaurs in order to do so. It’s definitely one of the more outrageous and fun Tarzan pictures.

8:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Johnny Doesn’t Live Here Any More (1944 USA): It’s Simone Simon night on TCM, and true to form the channel has dug up a real obscurity starring the sepulchral French beauty. I haven’t seen Johnny Doesn’t Live Here Any More, but it features Simon (Cat People) as a defense worker who unwittingly gets entangled in the private affairs of several G.I.s, one of whom is played by a very young Robert Mitchum. For added spice, there’s also a brief appearance by everyone’s favorite acromegaliac, Rondo Hatton, as a gravedigger. This was also the last film helmed by Joe May, legendary director of such silent German classics as The Indian Tomb.

11:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
House of Pleasure (1952 FRA): Zut alors! Is TCM now competing directly against Skinemax for the softcore porn audience? In a word...non. Though zestily entitled House of Pleasure for the American market, this film - originally known as Le Plaisir - is actually an extremely tasteful Max Ophuls joint starring French matinee idol Jean Gabin, amongst others. It’s an early example of the omnibus feature, and consists of three segments based on stories by Guy de Maupassant, all of them focused on - what else - pleasure in its various permutations. Simone Simon also pops up here, as do Jean Servais (Rififi), Claude Dauphin (Casque d’Or), and Danielle Darrieux (still with us today at 94, and working as recently as last year).

Sunday 5/22/11

9:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
Speedway (1929 USA): Nope, this is not the Elvis film of the same title - it’s a silent comedy about a dashing auto mechanic (William Haines) and the gal pilot he loves (Anita Page). The two of them make a great team, and I still don’t understand why Haines isn’t remembered as fondly as are some other stars of the silent era. Also on hand: handsome John Miljan, plug ugly Karl Dane, and plucky Polly Moran. Speedway is followed at 11:00 PM by Kanal, director Andrzej Wajda’s second cinematic salute to the Polish partisans of World War II.

Monday 5/23/11

2:15 PM Encore Action
Cobra (1986 USA): Sly Stallone reunites with Rocky IV co-star and sometime spouse Brigitte Nielsen in this thoroughly enjoyable and completely over-the-top crime drama. Sly plays "Cobra" Cobretti, a tough as nails cop who drives a 1950s police cruiser and doesn’t bother with any namby-pampy rules about Miranda rights and not beating up prisoners. A member of the so-called "Zombie Squad," Cobretti is on the trail of The Night Slasher, the boss of a group of psychos who dabble in random acts of violence and mayhem. When passerby Ingrid (Nielsen) witnesses a Slasher killing, she’s immediately placed in protective custody - but there’s a mole in the police department and danger lurks around every corner. If you like non-stop action and cheesy one-liners, you’ll love Cobra.

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