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10:35 PM HBO Signature
Solo Quiero Caminar (2009 ESP-MEX): Or as I prefer to think of it, Savage Sisters - Central American Style. Straddling the line between exploitation and straight crime drama, Solo Quiero Caminar (Just Walking) tells the story of a group of four Mexico City women scheming to get revenge against a scummy drug dealer. The film is a little too long and features a few too many subplots, but it’s extremely well-acted and never boring.

Friday 3/2/12

1:30 AM Fox Movie Channel
Up the River (1930 USA): Creaky as it is, this John Ford-helmed prison comedy-drama still has enough juice to warrant a look. Up the River also marked the onscreen debut of not one, but two, significant new acting talents: Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart! The two play cons St Louis and Steve, the former a hard bitten criminal veteran; the latter, a poor little rich boy wrongfully sent up for manslaughter. There’s a jail break, an unrequited love affair, a baseball subplot for fans of America’s pastime, and Ward Bond getting punched in the nose — always a good thing in my book.

Saturday 3/3/12

4:45 AM HBO Signature
Good Hair (2008 USA): Chris Rock’s amiable but pointed documentary about black women’s hair — and the hair care products that help make it possible — returns to the small screen this evening. Good Hair manages the difficult act of avoiding both poker-faced political correctness and unwitting endorsement of the use of straighteners and "relaxers" that, inadvertently or otherwise, help African-American women adjust their hair to conform with "cultural norms." Wryly amusing and intelligently presented, Good Hair won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance 2009.

6:05 AM Sundance
Amreeka (2009 USA): I approached this family drama with low expectations, but ended up loving it. The story of a Palestinian mother (the marvelous Nisreen Faour) who moves herself and her teenage son (Melkar Muallem) to suburban Illinois to escape the dangers of intifada and occupation, Amreeka is a wry, touching, and insightful look at the immigrant experience. Though the film can’t avoid politics entirely, that’s not the focus here, so even if you’re not favorably inclined towards the Palestinian cause you’ll still enjoy the film immensely. In addition to the leads, kudos to supporting cast members Hiam Abbass and Joseph Ziegler (playing, respectively, mom’s sister and mom’s love interest), and to writer-director Cherien Dabis’ wonderful screenplay. One of the nicest surprises of 2009.

9:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Golden Idol (1954 USA): With 31 Days of Oscar safely in the rear view mirror, it’s time for TCM to return to our regularly scheduled Saturday morning Bomba-fest! This time our hero does battle with an evil Arab chieftain (Paul Guilfoyle, previously cast as an evil Arab chieftain in 1950’s Bomba and the Hidden City), who’s eager to get his hands on the titular treasure. You can imagine how it all plays out, and look....there’s Smoki Whitfield, once again doing his thing as an African with an American accent!

Sunday 3/4/12

1:45 AM Fox Movie Channel
Music Is Magic (1935 USA): I haven’t seen this Fox musical, and I’m not terribly keen on musicals period, but this one is obscure enough to pique my interest. Alice Faye plays a laundry worker who lucks into an understudy gig for movie star Bebe Daniels and doesn’t look back. (Strangely enough, Daniels never made another film in Hollywood after this one.) Familiar faces Luis Alberni and Hattie McDaniel round out the cast.

Monday 3/5/12

1:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Illustrated Man (1969 USA): This isn’t a very good film, but it’s woven a spell over me ever since I first saw it on television back when I was an impressionable stripling. Perhaps it’s the sight of Rod Steiger’s tattooed torso that keeps me coming back, hoping to find more in The Illustrated Man than there is to find. Adapted from Ray Bradbury’s novel of the same name, the film is actually an excuse for an anthology of vaguely creepy but hardly terrifying tales of dystopian future days. Directed by Jack Smight and narrated by Claire Bloom, this is a surprisingly bloodless (as in unemotional) feature that Bradbury himself apparently hates. Can’t say I really blame him, but Steiger’s back tats continue to exert a relentless hypnotic influence over me, so I’ll be watching once again this morning.

7:00 PM Sundance
The Possession of David O’Reilly (2010 GB): Not to be confused with The Possession of Joel Delaney or The Reincarnation of Peter Proud, this is a muddled but interesting British horror flick in a Blair Witch vein. Giles Anderson headlines as the title character, a regular fellow who spoils friends Kate and Alex’s weekend with ridiculous tales of unexplained and embarrassing photographs. Invited to stay the night by the gullible couple, David is soon wreaking all kinds of demonic havoc in their flat — all of it conveniently caught on tape by Alex’s elaborate camera set up. It’s unoriginal, but watchable nonetheless.

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