Box Office Prophets: TiVoPlex

TiVoPlex

By John Seal

June 10th - June 16th, 2003

'It made every Indian critic's top 400 list'

From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or under-appreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times PDT.

Tuesday 06/10/03

3:40am The Movie Channel
Queen of Blood (1966 USA): This bizarre Curtis Harrington science-fiction film stars Czech-born Florence Marly as an extraterrestrial queen moonlighting as a vampire during a vacation to Mars and Earth. This is one of those films that gave me the willies as a child, featuring as it does a green-skinned bloodsucker and some rather disturbing eggs that presage the gooey special effects of the 1970s. Dennis Hopper, who earlier appeared in Harrington's excellent Night Tide, co-stars with John Saxon and Basil Rathbone, and sci-fi giant Forry Ackerman is on hand for one of his frequent cinematic cameos. The film really belongs to Marly, though, who brings a creepy intensity to her character that raises this one above the camp level and helps you forget this is an AIP production. Also airs at 6:40am, 11am, and 2pm.

5pm Turner Classic Movies
Kelly's Heroes (1970 USA): Here's a film that has always had a rabid cult following, especially during the 1970s, when it aired almost monthly on local TV stations nationwide. It's another Vietnam-era military comedy, this time starring Clint Eastwood and Telly Savalas as the commanders of an American tank squadron out to steal $16,000,000 worth of German gold. Three Kings (1999 USA) and recent events in Iraq have since transpired to sap the comedic value from this set-up, but in 1970, Americans were still in the mood for comedy SS officers in the popular TV series Hogan's Heroes, and the cynicism and suspicion bred by the Vietnam War made World War II irreverence acceptable and punctured the myth of the pure and honest GI Joe. Is the film any good? Well, it's not as good as the fan-boys of the day thought it was, but it has its moments and features a decent supporting cast, including Carroll O'Connor, Harry Dean Stanton, Donald Sutherland (as a hippie tank commander, of all things), and Gavin MacLeod. Trivia buffs should note that screenwriter Troy Kennedy Martin's film prior to this was the original version of The Italian Job (1969 GB).

Wednesday 06/11/03

3:20am Encore True Stories
Young Winston (1972 GB): Simon Ward does a respectable job playing the 20-something Winston Churchill in this lavish biopic about the great man's early years as a war correspondent in South Africa and the Sudan. Fans of British film will want to watch this one for the cast alone: Robert Shaw, Anthony Hopkins, Jack Hawkins, Edward Woodward, Patrick Magee, Ian "Bilbo" Holm, and Sir John Mills all feature prominently. Based on Churchill's book My Early Life, the film was brought to the screen by Carl Foreman (The Guns of Navarone) and director Richard Attenborough. Unfortunately, Encore is airing the truncated 124-minute version released in American cinemas, so we'll have to keep waiting for a DVD reissue to restore the 33 minutes deemed too boring for Yank cinemagoers. Also airs 6/14 at 10:30pm.

6:30am Sundance
Downtown 81 (2001 USA): Originally filmed in 1981 but unreleased for 20 years, this look at the art and music scenes of early '80s New York City is required viewing for anyone interested in either. A day in the life of the late artist Jean Michel Basquiat, this film also features a veritable who's who of New York rockers of the time: Blondie (except, of course, original bass player Gary Valentine), August Darnell of Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Tav Falco of the Panther Burns, Lounge Lizard John Lurie, and Coati Mundi. I've read that the film originally featured appearances by no-wave bands like DNA, the Contortions, and Tuxedomoon, but I haven't seen this yet, so they may not have made the final cut. Even without them, this looks like a fun time capsule. Also airs at 7:50pm and 6/16 at 4:05am.

10:45am More Max
Pumping Iron (1977 USA): Want to see über-Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger smoke pot and wax nostalgic about his Nazi-era Austrian police-officer father? Here's your opportunity. This documentary about bodybuilding competitions was Arnie's big break - the appalling Hercules in New York (1970 USA) notwithstanding - and also features the young Lou Ferrigno before his days as the Incredible Hulk. It's good-natured fluff, but it could serve as vital campaign fodder for the Democratic candidate should the Terminator choose to run for California governor in 2006.

Thursday 06/12/03

4:30am Encore Westerns
Frontier Hellcat (1964 BRD-FRA-ITA-YUG): Okay, it's not very good, but I can't let a German western go unmentioned. Believe it or not, American readers, our friends in Germany are huge fans of the genre, especially the Old Shatterhand and Winnetou novels of Karl May, a good dozen of which were adapted for the Silver Screen in the 1960s. British star Stewart Granger appeared in several as Shatterhand (changed to Surehand for American audiences) and Pierre Brice played his loyal Native American sidekick, Winnetou, in all of them. The two team up here, along with Elke Sommer and future Trinity star Terence Hill, in this tale of good guys - guess who - versus bad guy-bank robbers who disguise themselves as Indians! Director Alfred Vohrer was also responsible for a number of German Edgar Wallace films, another Teutonic taste treat that never really caught on in the United States. Also airs at 7pm and 6/16 at 1pm.

5pm Turner Classic Movies
Rangeela (1995 IND): This week's Bollywood block on TCM starts off with this romantic tale of a love triangle amidst the Bombay movie industry and stars Urmila Matondkar as a young woman torn between two lovers, one of whom is played by Aamir Khan, the star of the brilliant Lagaan (1999 IND). It's followed at 7:30pm by 2001's Dil Chahta Hai, which also stars Khan, this time as a man who doesn't believe in love. This being a Hindi musical, of course, he's going to be disabused of that silly notion by the end of the film. Sholay (1975 IND) concludes the evening at 11pm and was written by Javed Akhtar, the father of Dil Chahta Hai's director, Farhan Akhtar. This one's an adventure story, with police officers in pursuit of a marauding bandit. Not to worry, though, as there's plenty of time for the traditional musical numbers. I haven't seen any of these films, but I'm excited about them all, especially Sholay, which sounds particularly entertaining.

Friday 06/13/03

6:10am Sundance
Carlo Giuliani, Boy (2002 ITA): Did Carlo Giuliano deserve to die at the hands of the Italian police during 2001's demonstrations at the G-8 meeting in Genoa, Italy? This film unequivocally and unsurprisingly says no, though the story is perhaps murkier than it is presented here. Nonetheless, it's a powerful piece of filmmaking with special appeal for those opposed to the continuing march of the multinationals. Also airs 6/16 at 10:25am.

1:45pm Showtime Extreme
Southern Comfort (1981 USA): Not to be confused with the recent transgender documentary I've previously recommended, this is a decent action movie set in the Deep South and featuring enough slack-jawed hillbillies (well, Cajuns, to be exact) to satisfy even the most rabid Deliverance fan. No, it's not the most ethnically-sensitive film ever made, but it is pretty exciting. Directed by Walter Hill in between his box office action hits The Warriors (1979 USA) and 48 Hrs. (1982 USA), this story of National Guardsmen lost in the bayous of Louisiana is extremely well-cast, with Keith Carradine, Fred Ward, and the underappreciated Powers Boothe as some of the part-time soldiers and cinema heavy Brion James as one of the angry locals. There's an outstanding score by Ry Cooder, too.

Saturday 06/14/03

3:35am More Max
Tarzan's Magic Fountain (1949 USA): Oh, for a time when you could release a film called Tarzan's Magic Fountain and not have filmgoers snigger on their way into the theater. By 1949, Johnny Weissmuller had moved on - the execrable Jungle Jim series was just around the corner - and the ape-man was firmly ensconced at RKO, where this film served as Lex Barker's entree to the role. It's one of the more fantasy-oriented films in the series, with Tarzan investigating the report of a jungle-bound Fountain of Youth. Magic Fountain is supremely silly stuff but great fun, and co-stars Albert Dekker, Evelyn Ankers, and Alan Napier, as well as Elmo Lincoln, the very first man to don the loincloth in 1918. No truth to the rumor that Boy made his first film appearance nine months after this was released.

1:15pm Turner Classic Movies
Ransom! (1956 USA): Remember when it was okay to sympathize with the rich? In between starring in the equally blunt titles Trial (1955 USA) and Jubal (1956 USA), Canadian Glenn Ford appeared in this forgotten MGM drama about a wealthy businessman (Ford) whose son is kidnapped. Rather than succumbing to blackmail, however, Ford determines to track down the bad guys - even if it puts his child's life in danger. Bear in mind, Ford is responsible to his shareholders, so he can't afford to cut his son any slack by sapping dollars from the bottom line. Directed by early-TV vet Alex Segal, Ransom also features the brilliant Juano Hernandez (who also appeared with Ford in Trial), Donna Reed, and a sober (as in serious) Leslie Nielsen.

Sunday 06/15/03

9pm Turner Classic Movies
The Crowd (1928 USA): This stunning King Vidor drama is one of the most powerful silent films, tackling the dehumanizing effects of modern capitalism and the big city. Forgotten actor James Murray, who drowned in 1936, stars as the born-on-the-Fourth-of-July John Sims, a young man who answers the siren song of New York City and is sucked into a mindless desk job and a loveless marriage with Eleanor Boardman, star of last week's Silent Sunday feature Tell It to the Marines.

Monday 06/16/03

3am Turner Classic Movies
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933 USA): Here's an opportunity to see all of Warner's Gold Diggers movies in a single sitting. The first of the series is simply prime Depression-era brilliance, with magnificent production numbers, terrific songs, and a marvelous cast, including Warren William, Aline MacMahon, Dick Powell (whose singing doesn't repulse me for once), Ruby Keeler, Joan Blondell, and character actors Ned Sparks and Guy Kibbee. The scene that always sticks with me is the Pettin' in the Park number, featuring Billy Barty as a baby in a rain slicker!! Directed with joie de vivre by Mervyn LeRoy, this is one of the great, unheralded delights of the Warner's catalogue. It's followed at 5am by Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935 USA), a less successful but still watchable sequel that brought Powell back opposite Gloria Stuart, who's still steaming somewhere about not winning that Academy Award for Titanic (1997 USA). Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936 USA) airs at 7am, and though I haven't seen this one, there's still plenty to recommend it: Powell is still around, as are Glenda Farrell and Joan Blondell, and Busby Berkeley's choreography is still center-stage. Finally, Gold Diggers in Paris (1938 USA) airs at 9am. The least seen of the series, the film resorts to the desperation move of relocating the cast and story to an exotic locale. Rudy Vallee replaced Dick Powell as the lead (Powell wisely turned it down) and the supporting cast is definitely not up to the standards of the earlier films, though it's always good to see Allen Jenkins.

3:15am Cinemax
It Came From Hollywood (1982 USA): If you enjoy clip shows, you'll love this compilation of scenes from some of the best (and worst) science-fiction and horror films of the 1950s and '60s, complete with hip, out-of-date commentary from Cheech and Chong, Dan Aykroyd, and others. Genre fans can give this one a miss, but if you're a more casual viewer - or if the Mystery Science Theater 3000 approach is to your liking - this is a pain-free and entertaining way to spend an hour-and-a-half.

11:30am Sundance
The Last Just Man (2001 USA): We've grown accustomed to politicians playing the genocide game over the last few years. Summoning it carelessly to justify otherwise questionable wars, the word has suffered abuse at the hands of both the left and the right. In the Rwanda of the 1990s, genocide really took place, and the world, by and large, looked the other way. How could 800,000 people be killed in 100 days, and barely a whisper of regret or horror be raised? This short documentary tries to answer these questions via interviews with General Romeo Dellaire, the man assigned by the United Nations to - unsuccessfully - put an end to the horror. With war in the Congo, civil strife in Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, and Liberia, and a revolution stirring in Zimbabwe, perhaps it's time for the First World to pay attention to Africa even if, Nigeria aside, there isn't much oil there.