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From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.

Tuesday 11/22/11

3:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Terror on a Train (1953 USA): Not to be confused with the Jamie Lee Curtis slasher Terror Train, Terror on a Train is a somewhat more sedate affair headlined by Glenn Ford. Glenn plays Peter Lyncort, a Canadian Army ordnance expert who finds himself in a tricky situation: he’s a passenger aboard a choo-choo with a bomb on it. Naturally it’s up to him to defuse the device, but will he accidentally set it off by mistake? Start biting your nails! Set and shot in Britain (where it was released as Time Bomb), Terror on a Train co-stars Anna Vernon as Peter’s concerned spouse and Maurice Denham as a helpful police constable who lends a hand with the tricky job. It’s nothing special, but Freddie Young’s cinematography is quite good.

3:30 PM Flix
The Young Sinners (1959 USA): Here’s a spicy one! Sadly, though the title promises steak, it doesn’t really provide all that much in the way of sizzle, either. Nonetheless, The Young Sinners is an interesting little picture that will appeal to fans of the JD (juvenile delinquency) genre. Better known as High School Big Shot (also a great title, I think you’ll agree), our film features Tom Pittman as Marv, a poverty-stricken kid whose scummy father (Malcolm Atterbury) steals his son’s last three bucks so he can take the town floozy out on a date. Meanwhile, bad girl Betty (Virginia Aldridge) convinces our loser hero to do her homework in exchange for some up close and personal time with her. Things don’t turn out well when school administrators find out about the arrangement. Barely clocking in at an hour in length, this is one of the bleakest JD pics you’ll ever see - and that’s saying a lot.

Wednesday 11/23/11

9:15 PM Fox Movie Channel
An Unmarried Woman (1978 USA): Jill Clayburgh earned a Best Actress Oscar nom for her role in this solid if now rather outdated Paul Mazursky feature. Clayburgh is Erica, a New York art dealer trying to get her life back in order after her 16-year marriage to Wall Street hubby Marty (Michael Murphy) comes to an end when he has a fling with a shopgirl at Bloomies. Her newfound disdain for the male sex is exacerbated when her doctor makes a pass at her, and a blind date goes tits up (as we English so delicately put it). Soon she’s burning her bra and experimenting with lesbianism. Okay, that last sentence isn’t true, but a one-night fling with "artist"/pornographer Charlie (Cliff Gorman) opens her eyes to the power of p*y. Though well-written and superbly acted, An Unmarried Woman is very much of the Studio 54 pre-AIDS era. You’ll need to wear a crushed velvet leisure suit in order to best appreciate it.

Thursday 11/24/11

10:00 PM Sundance
A Little Trip to Heaven (2006 USA): The first English-language feature from Icelandic auteur Baltasar Kormakur (Jar City, White Night Wedding), A Little Trip to Heaven stars Forrest Whitaker as Abe Holt, an insurance investigator reviewing a suspicious auto accident which resulted in the death of a policy holder. Beneficiaries Fred and Isold (Jeremy Renner and Julia Stiles) will make out like bandits if the claim is legitimate, but Abe has his doubts. A great cast makes up for Kormakur’s apparent discomfort and/or unfamiliarity with certain aspects of American culture, which tends to undercut the film’s realism (in fact, it was shot in Iceland). Worth a look if you like Whitaker or enjoy neo-noir.

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