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9:00 PM IFC
Yakuza Papers 3: Proxy War (1973 JAP): Moving the story into the early 1960s, Proxy War returns the focus of the series to Hirono (Bunta Sugawara), now trying to maintain his independence from both the Muraoka and Yamamori clans. Still engaged in bloody competition for local racketeering rights, the two clans each feel they have a prior claim on Hirono, now running a semi-legit security company. Things only get more complicated with the arrival on the scene of a rival gang from Kobe, and Hirono tries to maintain a delicate balance between the groups whilst keeping his own nose as clean as possible. Plenty of violence and lots of political intrigue mark this entry in the series, which also airs 12/16 at midnight.

Saturday 12/16/06

4:30 AM Sundance
Heaven Comes Down (2006 USA): If you feel in the need for a little fire and brimstone, look no further than this documentary about Appalachian Pentecostalists. This lot make Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson look like the namby-pamby amateurs that they are: when was the last time you tuned in to The 700 Club and saw good ol' Pat wrasslin' with a snake, drinkin' strychnine, or dancin' in fire? Yeah, that's right, NEVER. It's all here, along with a heaping helping of speaking in tongues and other interesting hobbies of the Pentecostal denomination, which got its start back in North Carolina in '96. Er, 1896, not 1996.

Sunday 12/17/06

11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Viridiana (1961 ESP): One of my favorite Luis Bu�uel features gets an encore performance tonight. It's the story of the title character (gorgeous Silvia Pinal, later to memorably appear as the Devil in Bu�uel's Simon of the Desert), a pious and innocent nun who is paying her rich uncle Jorge (Fernando Rey) a visit. When a grief-stricken Jorge asks Viridiana to don the wedding gown of his beloved but deceased wife, she - in an act of Christian charity, no doubt - complies, with results that will still seem shocking to many viewers today. Many of Bu�uel's films are searing in their criticism of the Catholic church, and Viridiana is no exception. Naturally, I love it. Look for a cameo appearance by the great Mexican character actor Claudio Brook as one of the diners at the most profane Last Supper you've ever seen.

Monday 12/18/06

3:15 PM Flix
Dreamscape (1984 USA): Long absent from the airwaves, this enjoyable science-fiction feature returns tonight�and this being Flix, are we going to get it in widescreen? I'm not sure, but Flix has a habit of springing letterboxed prints on us unawares (this happened again in November when Jean-Jacques Beineix's opera thriller Diva resurfaced in its correct aspect ratio). Regardless, I'll be tuning in to reacquaint myself with Alex Gardner (an absurdly young Dennis Quaid) as he tries to use his psychic powers for good in the face of a terrible government conspiracy designed to plumb the dreams of unknowing subjects. (Today, of course, this is just one of many necessary investigative powers in the hands of the Unitary Decider as he wages his War Against Evil, and we are all grateful that our subconscious minds are reviewed for impure thoughts on a nightly basis.) The film's rogue's gallery includes Christopher Plummer as the nefarious head of covert intelligence, Max Von Sydow and Eddie Albert put in appearances as cat's paws, and Kate Capshaw supplies love interest.

6:00 PM Sundance
Godless In America (2006 GB): One of the most persecuted demographics in the country gets a look-in from this BBC documentary, which makes its stateside television debut this evening. Atheists make up approximately 10% of the population of the United States, but you wouldn't know it from either our political discourse or social structures, which continually undercut secularism in a never-ending effort to score holier than thou points. Anchored around the compelling story of the life and death by murder of Madlyn Murray O'Hair, the bete noire of the religiously inclined, Godless In America was directed by veteran small screen documentarian Leslie Woodhead. Me, I'm a television-worshipping animist.

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