New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

9:00 AM Flix
Little Darlings (1980 USA): Who will lose their virginity first - Tatum O’Neal or Kristy McNichol? I don’t mean in real life, of course - presumably neither actress is virgo intacta at this point - but in this glossy exploitation feature that was a big hit in 1980. Tatum and Kristy play Ferris and Angel, two teenage girls looking to go all the way at summer camp in order to win a bet. Will Ferris be the first to score (so to speak), bagging French teacher (ooh la la!) Gary (Armand Assante), or will Angel land a big fish in the shape of camp counselor Randy (Matt Dillon, in only his second feature)? You’ll have to tune in to find out - this is one spoiler I’m keeping to myself!

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Fear and Desire (1953 USA): Somehow I’d completely forgotten this was Stanley Kubrick’s first feature film - I’ve thought for years he’d made his directorial debut with Killer’s Kiss in 1955. Not so, as Fear and Desire quite forcefully reminds us! The film focuses on a small group of American soldiers trapped behind enemy lines, and their efforts to cross back into friendly territory. There’s Corby (Kenneth Harp), the intellectual officer in command; Mac (Frank Silvera), the tough as nails non-com; Sidney (future director Paul Mazursky), the wet-behind-the-ears private; and Fletcher (Steve Coit), the family man with a heart of gold. Yes, we’re solidly in G.I. archetype territory here, but even at the tender age of 24 the director had some tricks up his sleeve, including some unusual casting decisions (wait till you see the German soldiers) and some early examples of what would become the Kubrickian camera style.

11:45 PM Showtime 2
Roadracers (1994 USA): One of the best of those "Rebel Highway" remakes of AIP "classics" Showtime churned out in the nineties, Roadracers benefits from having an at the top of his game Robert Rodriguez behind the camera. This was Rodriguez’s first film after his breakthrough indie hit El Mariachi, and stars David Arquette as Dude, a no-good ‘50s punk who spends his days smoking cigarettes, listening to that horrible jungle music, and wooing the wrong kind of women (such as the Mexican-American lass portrayed herein by Salma Hayek). Oh, and much to the chagrin of local lawman Sarge (William Sadler), he also drives hot rods far too fast. Witty, well-acted, and featuring some great rockabilly tunes, Roadracers is a guaranteed good time for all you hep cats and bobbysoxers.

Thursday 12/15/11

1:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Goldstein (1964 USA): Here’s another "first" film on TCM - this time from Philip Kaufman, who’d later bring us such classics as Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) and The Wanderers (1979). A shapeless collection of skits and stories detailing the misadventures of an old man (Juliet of the Spirit’s Lou Gilbert) who seems to have risen fully formed from the depths of Lake Michigan, Goldstein is as notable for its wintry Chicago location footage as it is for its (non-existent) narrative arc. There’s stuff about a moving van (the livery of which supplies the film’s title), an abortion doctor (TiVoPlex fave Severn Darden), a sculptor who specializes in metal work, and even an appearance by long-time Toddlin’ Town journo Nelson Algren. The film was a big hit at Cannes but sank without trace immediately thereafter - which is not terribly surprising considering its lack of storyline and reliance on abortion as narrative device. Goldstein is, however, never less than fascinating, and way better than Kaufman’s second feature, Fearless Frank.

5:20 PM Sundance
The New Protocol (2009 FRA): Big pharma bad! That’s the lesson to be drawn from The New Protocol, a fab thriller from French filmmaker Thomas Vincent. The story revolves around Raoul Kraft (Clovic Cornillac), a logging foreman whose young son dies in a car accident. Well, accidents will happen - but Raoul is subsequently contacted by Diane (Marie-Josee Croze), a whistleblower who suggests that a drug company may actually be responsible for the death of his son. Raoul, not exactly a ray of sunshine to start with, takes the news badly and takes the fight to corporate headquarters in Paris, where a surprising amount of mayhem ensues. The story also features a goodly assortment of intriguing and welcome plot twists that keep The New Protocol from straying too far into Walking Tall territory.

Continued:       1       2       3