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5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955 USA): Giant monsters rampage across the screen in this evening’s Drive-In Sextuple Feature. The troubles begin with It Came from the Sea, in which a Ray Harryhausen-animated octopus lovingly wraps its arms around the Golden Gate Bridge. This unsettles the film’s human characters, including naval officer Pete Mathews (Kenneth Tobey) and purty lady scientist Lesley Joyce (Faith Domergue), who try and convince the massive cephalopod to return to the atomic testing grounds from whence it came. This classic creature feature is followed at 6:30 PM by The Monster That Challenged the World (1957), a widescreen chiller in which something resembling a giant worm challenges not so much the world but the Salton Sea; at 8:00 PM by The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1956), in which a dinosaur rises from the Atlantic Ocean to threaten little ol’ Manhattan; at 9:30 PM by the oxymoronic The Giant Behemoth (1956), featuring a similar creature smashing his way across London; at 11:00 PM by The Phantom From 10,000 Leagues (1956), starring a radioactive rock that turns into a hideous monster; and at 12:30 AM by Creature From the Haunted Sea (1961), the last of Roger Corman’s infamous Puerto Rico trilogy.

Friday 6/24/11

Midnight Showtime Extreme
Chicago Overcoat (2009 USA): This surprisingly good independently made crime drama stars Frank Vincent as Lou Marazano, an aging Toddlin’ Town hitman now living in reduced circumstances. Lou hasn’t made a hit it years, and is now mostly employed for minor league shakedowns, but when the opportunity for One Last Big Job arises — and with it the chance to set his daughter up for life — he leaps feet first. It’s far from the most original of stories, but Vincent is excellent and Chi-Town looks great. Fans of gangster films will definitely enjoy it.

Saturday 6/25/11

8:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Ace Drummond (1936 USA): The adventures of Flying G-Man Ace Drummond continue in chapters 3 & 4 of this action-packed chapter play.

9:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948 USA): TCM’s weekly Tarzan retrospective has me thinking: what is it about the Jungle Lord and women? Why does such a major league he-man always seem to be getting into so much trouble with members of the female sex? The Huntress, The Leopard Woman, The Amazons...why couldn’t the T-Man do battle against something a little more manly? Could it be that he’s a little light in the loincloth? Only Edgar Rice Burroughs knows for sure, but here he is again, this time facing off against George Zucco and a bunch of salty sea maids. Johnny Weissmuller bowed out of the series after this film — and none too soon — but would return shortly in the far, far worse Jungle Jim films.

Monday 6/27/11

3:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Ballerina (1938 FRA): Here’s a film I’ve never seen and know nothing about. Neither does the TCM website. Well, there’s always IMDb to turn to...and in this case, it isn’t terribly helpful, either. So here’s what little we do know: directed by Jean-Benoit Levy, Ballerina (originally released as Death of the Swan) stars a bunch of French people I’ve never heard of, most of whom, presumably, were professional dancers. Someone has generously attached the word "lesbian" to the film’s tagline, but I’m guessing that reflects wishful thinking more than reality. Apparently TCM last aired this in 1996 — early days indeed, as the channel only went on the air in 1994.

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