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Friday 4/12/13

1:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
Man In the Middle (1964 GB-USA): Directed by Guy Hamilton and penned by mildly angry young man Keith Waterhouse (Billy Liar, A Kind of Loving), Man In the Middle stars Robert Mitchum as Barney Adams, a military lawyer defending a fellow officer charged with murdering a British soldier. The difficulty: there’s no question that defendant Winston (Keenan Wynn) did the deed. It’s up to Adams to discover why Lieutenant Winston did what he did, and to offer him the best possible defense before the anticipated guilty verdict and death penalty. Set and partly shot in India, this is a solid drama with a super supporting cast, including Barry Sullivan, Trevor Howard, Sam Wanamaker, Alexander Knox, and Glenn Beck. No, not that Glenn Beck, silly - the Canadian one. Also airs at 8:30 AM.

2:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Most Dangerous Man Alive (1961 USA): I prefer to think of this film as Boringest Sci-Fi Movie Dead On Arrival. Of course, that’s not going to stop me from recommending it, but seriously – this is one thrill-free ride. Ron Randell headlines (are you still awake?) as Eddie Candell (rhymes with Randell!), an escaped con who wanders into a nuclear testing site and gets a super duper dose of radioactivity for his troubles. Does it kill him? Of course not, it mutates him, allowing his body to metabolize steel! That’s not good news for either law enforcement or hoodlum rivals, and it’s up to brilliant scientist Meeker (Tudor Owens) to stop Candell before he becomes strong enough to conquer the world or make a car out of his forearm, or something. Morris Ankrum, naturally, is also involved. The last film directed by Allan Dwan (it’s a long way from Doug Fairbanks movies to Ron Randell ones), Most Dangerous Man Alive is no Beast of Yucca Flats, which is kind of a shame because at least that movie is completely aware of its own ineptitude. (Can a movie be “aware”? I posit that any movie starring Tor Johnson must, indeed, be sentient of its awfulness.) The TCM website indicates this is a widescreen airing, but IMDb suggests the film was shot in Academy Ratio – in Mexico City, no less.

10:35 AM Showtime 3
Limelight (2011 USA): If you’re in the mood for a documentary with a side order of sleaze, check out Limelight. Taking its title from a long-gone New York City nightclub, the film tells the story of Peter Gatien, a one-eyed impresario who picked up where Studio 54 left off and provided Big Apple residents with a place to go dancing whilst out of their minds on various illegal substances. It’s hugely entertaining, despite the presence of Moby, Jay-Z, and the late Ed Koch.

Saturday 4/13/13

12:15 PM HBO 2
American Winter (2013 USA): If you’re in need of a come-down after Limelight, here’s the perfect curative: a thoroughly depressing look at regular folks trying to survive the fallout from 2007-8’s never-ending financial crisis. Focusing on eight families in Portland, Oregon, this HBO original doc makes its television debut this evening after playing a few dates on the festival circuit. It’ll definitely harsh your mellow, man.

Sunday 4/14/13


1:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Last Dragon (1987 USA): Here’s Motown mastermind Berry Gordy’s ill-advised martial arts epic, a bizarre concoction of flying fists, music, and romance that could only have been brought to the screen by a directorial hack like Michael Schultz, whom I still cannot forgive for the travesty that was and is Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band (1978 USA).

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