TiVoPlex
By John Seal
November 15, 2005
From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.
Tuesday 11/15/05
7:15am Turner Classic Movies
Strictly Unconventional (1930 USA): Well, perhaps unconventional by the standards of 1930, but these days, this MGM weepie's predictable story is pretty tame stuff. The now completely forgotten Catherine Dale Owen plays a young married woman who looks to her mother-in-law for advice when her hubby (The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake's Paul Cavanaugh) starts to stray from the reservation. Still, it is a pre-Code screed about adultery, so Strictly Unconventional is worth a look, especially for fans of W. Somerset Maugham, whose play The Circle served as inspiration for screenwriter Sylvia Thalberg (sister of Irving). As an added bonus, at 54 minutes, it's one of the shortest sound features ever made.
4pm Sundance
Missing (1982 USA): Costa-Gavras was perhaps losing the plot a bit by the time he got around to making this semi-fictional account of an American journalist who goes missing in a South American banana republic. Part of the problem probably stemmed from his decision to make films within the studio system, causing him to soften his political messages, Missing being Exhibit A, as he chose not to out Chile as the military dictatorship in question. It's probably also likely that his artistic abilities were in natural decline; it would be hard indeed to top, or even match, such incendiary masterpieces as Z or State of Siege. When all's said and done, though, this is still a pretty good film, with a compelling story and a fine cast, including Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek as the lost journo's questing father and wife (On the minus side, the Vangelis soundtrack hasn't aged well). If you're the sort who instinctively places their trust in the United States government, you probably won't want to check it out, but those of a more cynical and/or conspiratorial persuasion may want to give it a look.
Wednesday 11/16/05
1:20am Starz!
Valentin (2002 ARG): Okay, something strange is definitely going on here. Perhaps there is a sinister cabal of Argentinean filmmakers greasing the palms of programmers at the major American cable networks, because here's yet another feature from the land of the Patagonia and the pampas. Though not as gritty as the recently aired Argentinean drama El Cielito, Valentin is also a story of childhood, seen Wonder Years-style through the eyes of an eight-year-old boy whose rocky family life involves a grumpy grandma, a randy father, and an estranged mother. The lad (Rodrigo Noya) is compelled to take on unexpected adult responsibilities, and of course learns some valuable life lessons by the final reel. It's nothing terribly original, but this autobiographical feature from director Alejandro Agresti does a good job evoking the atmosphere of a childhood spent adrift in cosmopolitan Buenos Aires. Also airs at 4:20am.
2am Turner Classic Movies
The Invisible Menace (1938 USA): Boris Karloff stars in this obscure Warner's comedy/mystery feature about murder on an Army base. Eddie Craven plays a private who, with his disconsolate bride (Marie Wilson) discovers a corpse on his wedding night, Cy Kendall is in charge of the investigation, Frank Faylen and Eddie Acuff are fellow GIs, and Regis Toomey and Henry Kolker are stuffy Army officers. Can you guess who the main suspect is? If Karloff weren't in this film, it wouldn't be worth a mention, but as usual, he delivers a fine, arched eyebrow performance in this very slight John Farrow-helmed production.
8:30am Turner Classic Movies
Bannerline (1951 USA): Stop the presses! Extry, extry, read all about it! Perennial Gong Show punchline and USS VD: Ship of Shame star Keefe Brasselle stars in newspaper expose! He plays a hotshot young reporter hot on the heels of corruption in city hall in this MGM bill filler, which has a surprisingly decent supporting cast, including Lionel Barrymore, Spring Byington, Lewis Stone, Michael Ansara, J. Carrol Naish, and (as love interest) Sally Forrest. The first film from TV director Don Weis, Bannerline also features an uncredited appearance by former SAG president William Schallert, now a ubiquitous late-night TV presence pitching life insurance to seniors.
5pm Encore Dramatic Stories
Dust to Dust (2002 USA) : You know I love documentaries, and you know I especially love depressing documentaries. Here's one guaranteed to make you sag forlornly into your armchair, weep into your beer, or hurl the remote at the screen, depending on your preference. Dust to Dust examines the town of Libby, Montana, where residents have suffered from five decades of corporate pollution courtesy the W. R. Grace Company; you know, the Asbestos People! The film features extensive interviews with residents, many of them sickened by (if not dying from) the asbestos dust that coated their town for 50 years whilst Grace made a mint selling Vermiculite to housing contractors nationwide. The company that fittingly got its start in the surprisingly lucrative bird guano import business in 1854 chose to file for bankruptcy in 2001, leaving taxpayers with the bill for cleaning up the atrocious mess they left behind. Isn't unfettered capitalism wonderful! Also airs 11/21 at 1:30pm.
Thursday 11/17/05
1:30am Fox Movie Channel
The Magnificent Dope (1942 USA): No, man, this isn't an old Cheech and Chong movie, though it is a comedy. Come to think of it, that's more than can be said for most Cheech and Chong efforts, which you would have to be seriously stoned to find funny. Anyhoo, The Magnificent Dope stars a young and handsome Henry Fonda as Tad, a laidback country bumpkin (from a time when laidback country bumpkins could hail from Vermont) who takes a "power of positive thinking" course from oily entrepreneur Dwight (Don Ameche). Dwight intends to parlay his previously unsuccessful venture into big bucks by proving that even lazy Tad can find success, but of course, things don't go according to plan. Ameche is great - as is Edward Everett Horton as his partner - and Fonda was always adept at playing innocent babes-in-the-woods. A late-in-the-cycle screwball comedy with a touch of Capra, The Magnificent Dope still hasn't made it to home video, so take a look this morning.
9am More Max
Juvies (2004 USA): This micro-budget documentary look at the juvenile justice system isn't as compelling as Nick Broomfield's muckraking 1982 classic Tattooed Tears, but it's a powerful indictment of the system nonetheless. Taking a look at 12 convicted juveniles, including one serving a 35-year sentence for a crime he neither committed nor was involved in, Juvies features narration from rappers Mos Def and Marky Mark...er, Mark Wahlberg. Director Leslie Neale is more familiar to filmgoers from onscreen appearances in Gremlins 2: The New Batch and Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, which somehow seems appropriate considering the subject matter of her debut directorial effort.
4pm Sundance
Mr. Reliable (1996 AUS) : Colin Friels stars as Wally Mellish, a petty criminal on the run in this amusing period piece set in late 1960s Australia. When Wally holes up in a Sydney house with his girlfriend Beryl (Jacqueline Mackenzie) and precipitates a three-day stand-off with the cops, negotiations ultimately lead to a marriage ceremony administered by the local police chief, a plot development so absurd it could only happen in a movie. Er, wait; it says here the events depicted in Mr. Reliable really DID happen in 1968. Those wacky bruces and sheilas don't half get up to some nonsense down under! Director Nadia Tass now makes "American Girl" TV movies for the WB. Also airs 11/18 at 2am.
Friday 11/18/05
9:15am Turner Classic Movies
Below the Sahara (1953 USA): Well, I imagine there's more sand, don't you? RKO commissioned Belgian-born Armand Denis, who spent most of his life filming obscure corners of the globe with his charming and telegenic second wife Michaela for British television, to capture the sights and sounds of sub-Saharan Africa for American cinemagoers. I haven't seen this feature yet, but I wager it'll offer more educational value than the Jungle Jim and Bomba features that provided the average 1950s movie fan with the bulk of his/her information about "The Dark Continent". No truth to the rumor that Michaela almost got cast as Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, though she did stunt-double for Deborah Kerr in the 1950 version of King Solomon's Mines.
10:30am Turner Classic Movies
Escapade (1955 GB): This unusual comedy/drama stars John Mills as the pacifist father of two lads (one of whom is played by Peter Asher, a decade prior to being half of Peter and Gordon) who fly to Berlin to present the occupying powers with a petition for peace. Unfortunately, they have to steal a plane to get there, and there's an ulterior motive at play, too. Co-star Alistair Sim predictably gets most of the funny lines in this adaptation of a popular Roger MacDougall play.
7:30pm Sundance
Tasty Bust Reunion (2004 AUS): In 1994, Melbourne police raided a gay bar called The Tasty Club, ostensibly to search for drugs. After strip-searching an astonishing 463 patrons over the course of three hours - and finding no illegal contraband - the police beat a hasty retreat, but once the story hit the press their institutional homophobia couldn't stay in the closet any longer. Ten years after this watershed event, frequently described as Australia's Stonewall, filmmaker Stephen MacLean interviewed several of those subjected to police humiliation, and found out how they'd spent their money from the successful lawsuit that ensued.
Saturday 11/19/05
4am Showtime
The Magic Kid (1994 USA): Okay, barrel-scraping time. It's one of those slow days that crop up every now and then in the TiVoPlex, but I'm compelled to throw you a bone, albeit a particularly skimpy, meatless and marrowless one in this case. The Magic Kid, an appalling kiddie ninja flick from the mighty PM Entertainment Group, returns to the small screen tonight, and to make matters worse (or better, if you're a movie masochist such as myself), its direct-to-video sequel (imaginatively titled Magic Kid 2!) airs immediately following at 5:30am. This awful excuse for a comedy stars Ted Jan Roberts (who?) as a prepubescent martial arts master who battles hoodlums on behalf of his uncle (Stephen Furst), whose gambling problem has gotten him into hot water with local mobsters. Also on hand are Joseph Campanella, Don "The Dragon" Wilson, and Chris Mitchum. Both films re-air later tonight, so if once isn't enough, check �em out again at 7am and 8:30am.
Sunday 11/20/05
9am Sundance
Minnie and Moskowitz (1971 USA): Yeah, it's a John Cassavetes film, which means there's no story and most of the cast spend their screen time mumbling and twitching. Still, any film that teams Gena Rowlands (known as Mrs. Cassavetes to her neighbors) with Seymour Cassel is worth a look. Rowlands is Minnie, who works in a museum, and Cassel is, er, the other one, who works in a parking garage. Together they make discordant, atonal music. Also on hand is the always wonderful Timothy Carey, as well as Holly Near and numerous members of the extended Cassavetes-Rowlands family. Also airs 11/21 at 2:30am.
9pm Fox Movie Channel
Careful, He Might Hear You (1982 AUS): Antipodean actress Wendy Hughes stars in this deftly-written drama about a young boy caught in the midst of a custody battle between two aunts. The lad is played with utter conviction and sincerity by amateur Nicholas Gledhill, and there's a small but important role for Aussie leading man John Hargreaves. This is a deceptively quiet film with good production values and impressive early 1940s period detail, and Michael Jenkins' carefully written screenplay elevates it far above most run-of-the-mill melodramas.
Monday 11/21/05
6pm IFC
Target (1985 USA): Gene Hackman and Matt Dillon play father Walter and son Chris in this Arthur Penn-helmed action flick. Chris thinks his dad is a total wuss, but when a loved one (Gayle Hunnicutt) is kidnapped, Hackman's past as a CIA operative is revealed, and his son has to reassess his attitude about his milquetoast dad. Attractively shot on location in Paris and Berlin, Target also features a brief appearance from legendary Romanian actress Jany Holt, who died two weeks ago at the tender age of 96. Also airs at 10pm.
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