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5:50 AM Encore Dramatic Stories
The Band’s Visit (2007 ISR-FRA): Two Israeli films in one week - take that, haters! I’m a bit surprised I’ve never recommended this film previously, as it’s aired on TCM at least once within living memory and on Sundance before that. The story of a beknighted band of Egyptian policemen struggling to get to their gig at an Arab arts center located in Israeli territory, The Band’s Visit is a mordant Kafkaesque affair with a touch of absurdist humor thrown in for good measure. It’s a terrific little feel-good picture that will convince you that peace in the Middle East just might be possible after all.

Sunday 1/19/13

8:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
A High Wind in Jamaica (1965 GB): Perhaps I’ve been hibernating for the last decade or simply not been paying attention, but I could swear this is the first time this film has screened on Fox in its original aspect ratio. I’m probably wrong, but this is definitely the first time I noticed, which must count for something, right? Directed by Alexander Mackendrick and adapted by screenwriter Ronald Harwood from Richard Hughes’ 1929 novel, A High Wind in Jamaica stars Anthony Quinn and James Coburn as pirates with hearts of gold who essentially become the adoptive parents of two children en route from the Caribbean to England. I recall the film being a letdown in pan and scan, so I’m looking forward to seeing it in Cinemascope - which the rest of you have probably been enjoying on Fox since the turn of the century.

1:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Me and the Colonel (1958 USA): I’m only mildly amused by Danny Kaye – hence his extended absence from the TiVoPlex since, oh, forever – but this feature is worth a look for those who favor bizarre plots and good supporting casts. Kaye is cast as S. L. Jacobowksy, a Jewish refugee whose fate rests in the hands of an anti-Semitic Polish Army officer (Curt Jurgens), which sounds like pretty unlikely comedy material unless you’re Roberto Benigni. Never released on DVD, Me and the Colonel benefits from the presence of Martita Hunt, Akim Tamiroff, Alexander Scourby, and a host of other continental actors.

Monday 1/20/13

6:00 PM Starz in Black
February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four (2005 USA): It must almost be Black History Month, because Starz in Black has two very fine documentaries on offer this evening. First up is this look at the story of the Greensboro Four, a quartet of African-American men who sat at a whites-only Woolworths’ lunch counter in 1960 North Carolina and quietly waited to be served. A testament to the power of non-violent civil disobedience, their sit-in eventually led to the desegregation of all Woolworths’ counters a few months later. It’s followed at 7:00 PM by Revolution ’67, which documents the violent rebellions that began to break out in northern cities a few years later.

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