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Saturday 1/14/12

7:00 PM Showtime
I’m Still Here (2010 USA): The infamous film mockumenting Joaquin Phoenix’s attempted transition from film actor to rap artist, I’m Still Here makes its small screen debut this evening. Directed by Phoenix’s bro-in-law Casey Affleck (the Affleck it’s okay to like!), the film failed at the box office, but a brilliant marketing campaign convinced the world that its subject truly had lost his marbles and traded in his thespian credentials for a degree in hip-hop. The truth eventually came out and Phoenix is about to resume his acting career in Paul Thomas Anderson’s forthcoming Scientology takedown The Master. As for I’m Still Here, it’s a superbly conceived comment on the rapacious state of pop culture and reality television, and airs again at 10:00 PM.

Sunday 1/15/12

6:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951 USA): The title says it all, really: A & C do indeed tangle with an invisible man in this mediocre series entry. To refer to him as THE Invisible Man, however, is a little cheeky, as the character has nothing at all to do with the H.G. Wells’ character immortalized in 1933’s classic creature feature. Instead, he’s a poor schlep (played cheerily by Arthur Franz) who must outwit gangsters with the help of an invisibility serum. The laughs don’t come very often, but a good supporting cast (William Frawley, Adele Jergens, and Sheldon Leonard) render the film watchable, as does Bud’s boxing match with pro pugilist Rocky Hanlon (John Day).

9:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
A Story of Floating Weeds (1934 JAP): TCM rounds up two sets of floating weeds tonight! First up is Yasujiro Ozu’s silent 1934 drama, the tale of an itinerant actor trying to rekindle an old romance. I’ve never seen this version of the tale, but I’m a big Ozu admirer and am really looking forward to it. It’s followed at 11:00 PM by Floating Weeds, the much better known sound remake Ozu filmed in 1959, and one of Roger Ebert’s ten favorite films of all time. Featuring Ganjiro Nakamura as traveling actor Komajuro, newly returned to the town where his love for old flame Oyoshi (Kwaidan’s Haruko Sugimura) still burns bright, it’s a lovely, low-key film, and though probably not on my ten best list, is still well worth your while.

Monday 1/16/12

1:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Vote for Huggett (1949 GB): Bet you didn’t know there was a whole series of Huggett films - and truth be told, until they started showing up on TCM this month, neither did I. This is the only one of them I’d seen previously, and that so long ago that I remember naught about it. It stars Dixon of Dock Green regular Jack Warner as Joe, patriarch of the gently argumentative and mildly humorous Huggett clan, which also includes wife Ethel (Kathleen Harrison) and daughters Susan and Pet (Susan Shaw and future pop star Petula Clark, then only 17 but already appearing in her tenth film). Think of it as Ma and Pa Kettle Go to the Midlands. Also on hand: Diana Dors, Anthony Newley, and Ferdy Mayne.

10:25 AM Fox Movie Channel
The World’s Greatest Lover (1977 USA): I’m not sure if this marks the widescreen television premiere of this rather vulgar farce, but it’s the first time I’ve noticed it on the schedule, so I’ll give it a brief mention. Written and directed by Gene Wilder - then at the top of his game - The World’s Greatest Lover recounts the silent-era Tinsel Town mis-adventures of Rudy Hickman (Wilder), a plain small-town boy who lucks into an unlikely career as a matinee idol. Perhaps this was Wilder’s idea of an autobiographical film. Oh, and Fox Movie Channel… "FXM" sucks big time.

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