TiVoPlex

By John Seal

December 9-15, 2003

I feel a little bit blue.  Do you feel blue?

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

Tuesday 12/09/03

2am Turner Classic Movies
The Naughty Flirt (1931 USA): The week starts out with a pair of early ‘30s rarities, the first of which is a First National romantic comedy about a rich flapper (Alice White) trying to entrap lawyer Paul Page whilst fending off the unwanted advances of gold-digger Douglas Gilmore. The film also costars the wonderful Myrna Loy as Gilmore’s manipulative sister, and it’s a breezy and entertaining 57 minutes of pre-Code fun. It’s followed at 3am by 1931’s marvelously titled Loose Ankles, starring Loretta Young as a spiteful heiress using Doug Fairbanks Jr. as a foil to deny her family their inheritance. This marvelous double bill is must-see TV for fans of Golden Age cinema.

8:50am Showtime Extreme
Huk! (1956 USA): The first of half-a-dozen films shot in the Philippines with star George Montgomery, Huk! Is the best of the bunch, though it’s certainly no forgotten classic. Montgomery stars as a young man whose family estate is threatened by the titular guerrillas, led by the evil Mario Barri and no doubt taking their orders direct from their paymasters in Moscow. Written by a young Sterling Silliphant (who also wrote the novel of the same name), the film’s best quality is actually its Albert Glasser soundtrack. Huk! is nothing special, but it is an interesting early example of the American-Filipino cinematic collaboration which would peak with 1979’s Apocalypse Now.

1pm HBO Signature
Questioning Faith: Confessions of a Seminarian (2002 USA): Filmmaker Macky Alston reflects on his three years in seminary in this documentary about a man who has lost faith in his God. Addressing the basic theological question, “How can a good God exist when bad things happen?”, the film includes interviews with people who can - and cannot - reconcile their faith with this philosophical conundrum. It’s not the most polished or professional documentary you’ll ever see, but it is thoroughly thought-provoking, unless you’re already a committed atheist like yours truly.

Wednesday 12/10/03

1;00am Sundance
City of Lost Souls (2000 JAP): The ever-busy Takashi Miike returns to the Sundance Channel with another of his ultraviolent oddities, this one set in the sleazy yakuza underworld of drug dealing and, erm, cock-fighting. Starring Hong Kong movie veteran Michelle Reis and the singular Teah as a pair of ne’er-do-wells out to rip off the syndicate, this is a fairly plotless riff on Tarantino-esque violence that is essential viewing for Miike fans, and probably an easy miss for most everyone else. If you like your movies with a dash of comic superhero silliness, though, City of Lost Souls is a slam-dunk.

1am Turner Classic Movies
The Richest Girl in the World (1934 USA): Another night of top notch pre-Code ‘30s rom-coms and dramas kicks off with this Miriam Hopkins vehicle about a wealthy socialite slumming it in order to find true love. The outstanding supporting cast includes Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, and Reginald Denny, and Norman Krasna’s screenplay is top notch. Then 1932’s college drama Huddle follows at 3am and features Ramon Novarro as a steelworker who’s moving on up from Gary, Indiana, to Yale University, which he attends on a football scholarship. Well directed by Sam Wood (King’s Row, A Night at the Opera), Huddle writer Arthur Hyman’s screenplay takes a decent stab at social realism, class issues, and racism. Another great cast headlines 1932’s They Call It Sin, which follows at 5am and stars Loretta Young as a small-town girl suckered by a big-city heel (an out-of-character David Manners). Luckily George Brent is around to save the day, and the film also features Warner’s stalwarts such as Una Merkel, Louis Calhern, and Roscoe Karns.

5pm HBO
Rebels of Oakland: the A’s, the Raiders, the ‘70s (2003 USA): It’s the world television premiere of this HBO original documentary about the only sports teams that matter. Okay, I must admit I have no interest in football, but I live and die with my beloved Athletics, who one day will win a third playoff game and actually advance to the league championships. Maybe Ken Macha and company will tune in to see how Reggie, Rollie Fingers, Vida Blue, and company got it done back in the old days. And there’s even time for the Black Panthers, Oaktown homeboy Tom Hanks, and all-around stand-up guy Al Davis. I have no idea if this will be any good, but I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Also airs at 8pm and 12/13 at 9am and noon.

Thursday 12/11/03

6am HBO Signature
Kandahar (2001 IRA): It takes a while to get used to the amateurish acting (especially that of star Nelofer Pazira), but if you can adapt, you’ll be richly rewarded. Pazira basically plays herself: a young, Westernized Afghan refugee who returns to her war-torn country to search for her sister, whilst avoiding the misogynistic excesses of the Taliban regime. Filled with stunning imagery - especially the shots of crippled war veterans - Kandahar also features a magnificent performance by Hassan Tantai as an African-American Muslim doctor trying to blend the blessings of Western medicine with the austerities of fundamentalist Islam. Another classic from director Mohsen Makhmalbhaf, Kandahar is an extremely powerful educational, emotional and political statement. Also airs at 10:50pm and 12/15 at 4:30pm.

9:45am The Movie Channel
Southern Comfort (1981 USA): Walter Hill’s Vietnam allegory stars Keith Carradine and Powers Boothe (great as usual) as a pair of reluctant National Guardsmen on exercises in the bayou country of Louisiana. When one of their squad mates shoots off a belt load of blanks at some local hunters, the Deliverance style chase is on, as the back-country woodsmen don’t take too kindly to being shot at. Frankly, this is a better film than Deliverance, superbly co-written by Hill, Tales from the Crypt producer David Giler, and Jaws 3-D(!) scribe Michael Kane, and featuring a superb supporting cast of rednecks and reprobates, including Fred Ward as a loathsome soldier, Peter Coyote as the short lived platoon commander, Les Lannom as the hopeless second-in-command, and an almost-unrecognizable Brion James as the one-armed(!) Cajun taken prisoner by the GIs. Ry Cooder’s haunting score adds to the atmosphere of this first rate thriller, which amps up the suspense in its final minutes to terrific effect. Also airs at 12:45pm.

7pm IFC
Edward II (1991 GB): Art-house fans may want to make time for this Derek Jarman adaptation of Christopher Marlowe’s Elizabethan-era play. Steven Waddington plays the title role, the doomed gay king of England, but Tilda Swinton is the reason to watch the film, playing Isabella, Edward’s spurned spouse who shuffles off to bed with a competing nobleman when the king’s fancy turns to male companionship (The time-shifting narrative also anticipates that of Swinton’s next film, the Sally Potter-directed Orlando). If you’re allergic to Jarman’s meandering meditations on sexual politics, homosexual subtext, and art, you’ll probably want to give this one a miss. If you’re in the mood for a serious dose of chin-scratching (or just fancy taking a gander at the remarkable costuming work of Academy Award-winner Sandy Powell), this is your film.

Friday 12/12/03

4:05am More Max
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner (1962 GB): By now long overdue for a DVD restoration, Tony Richardson’s tale of a borstal boy sublimating his demons via long cross-country runs remains a powerful tale of redemption. The film that made Tom Courtenay a star, albeit ever so briefly, The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner was adapted for the screen by novelist Alan Sillitoe and is beautifully shot in black-and-white by Walter Lassally. Co-starring Michael Redgrave, Frank Finlay, and John Thaw, this is one of the highlights of Britain’s “Angry Young Man” cinema movement of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s.

1:35am Sundance
Life After War (2003 USA): For those who prefer a little action in their lives, here’s a film that may spur you on to quit your day job and buy a one-way ticket to Asia Minor. NPR reporter and Harvard grad Sarah Chayes decided she’d had enough of watching and recording other peoples’ miseries and chose to do something about it: she exchanged her microphone for a trowel and relocated to an Afghani village in need of assistance in post-war reconstruction. The film traces her attempts to help rebuild 13 houses whilst contending with the difficulties posed by a local warlord (who wears American-supplied fatigues), political inertia, and cultural differences. Is Chayes a liberal hero, an Ugly American in disguise, or simply another variety of imperialist? I’m not sure, but her tremendous courage is certainly impressive, and this is a remarkable little film.

9pm IFC
Tokyo Drifter (1966 JAP): Seijun Suzuki’s films can be criticized for their lack of plot, but visually, they have it all over the competition. Here’s another of his mid-‘60s masterpieces, starring genre specialist Tetsuya Watari as an ex-gangster trying to keep to the straight and narrow. Like many Japanese films of the period, Tokyo Drifter features outstanding (and extremely colorful) use of wide-screen photography, dazzling costuming and set design (there’s also an elegiac theme song for Watari to warble), and is one of Suzuki’s finest Nikkatsu Studios efforts. If you like eye candy and don’t mind a somewhat obtuse storyline, you should definitely set the recorder this evening. Also airs 12/13 at 3am.

Saturday 12/13/03

9pm Turner Classic Movies
The King’s Thief (1955 USA): By no means a great film, The King’s Thief gets a mention because (naturally) TCM is giving it a rare outing in wide-screen. Shot in extreme 2.55:1 CinemaScope, the film is unwatchable in pan-and-scan, so if you have a predilection for swashbucklers, this is your best opportunity to see it. Shot on MGM’s backlot in a risible effort to recreate 17th-century Britain, the film stars David Niven as an evil lord out to get rich quick by having all his royal rivals executed for treason. Also on hand are George Sanders, a very young Roger Moore, and a bevy of British ex-pats to lend the film what little authenticity it features. You won’t get much of a history lesson from The King’s Thief, but you will appreciate the copious amounts of swordpay and derring-do.

5pm Encore
Scarface (1983 USA): First, the good news: hot on the heels of its brief theatrical rerelease, Encore is airing the uncut version of Brian DePalma’s outrageous gangster epic starring Al Pacino as the potty-mouthed title character (Indeed, the film supposedly holds the record for most uses of the F-word in a major studio release, though Gary Oldman’s Nil By Mouth surely came close to usurping it). Now the bad: it’s airing pan-and-scan. There’s really no excuse for that, but the film hasn’t been seen on cable in a while, so we’ll let it slip and include Scarface in this week’s column. Did I mention that it’s nowhere near as good as the 1932 original starring Paul Muni in the title role? Also airs at 8pm.

Sunday 12/14/03

4am HBO
Hate.com: Extremists on the Internet (2000 USA): Take a gander at some of the not-so-nice folks peddling their not-so-nice opinions on the Internet. Turner Diaries author William S. Pierce shows up here, as does lawyer, amateur geneticist, and religious racist Matthew Hale. Unfortunately, the film plays a bit like a promotional piece for the Southern Poverty Law Center, diluting the power of its message somewhat with an overreliance on fundraiser extraordinaire Morris Dees for commentary. Raising uncomfortable questions about censorship and civil rights - even for those we disdain, regardless of their politics - Hate.com is the feel-bad movie of the week. Also airs at 7am.

9pm Turner Classic Movies
The Kid (1921 USA): One of Charlie Chaplin’s best-loved features, The Kid features Chaplin’s Little Tramp character as a kind-hearted loser who finds an abandoned baby and takes it into his home. The baby, of course, grows up to become Jackie Coogan, who is reunited with his birth mother (Edna Purviance) after she rises to fame and fortune as an opera singer. Heartbreak ensues for the Little Tramp until the final reel, when he is reunited with Coogan in a scene sure to raise a lump in your throat (or, alternatively, activate your gag reflex). Coogan’s real-life father appears briefly as a pickpocket in The Kid, the earliest of Chaplin’s feature-length films, and the film also features a bit part for future TV actress Esther Ralston.

Monday 12/15/03

3:35am
Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press (1996 USA): George Seldes was a journalist and leftist gadfly from the 1920s through the 1950s. He started his career working for the conservative Chicago Tribune and founded a newsletter called In Fact that reported the news the mainstream media ignored. Tell the Truth and Run is not only the story of Seldes struggle to inform, it's also the story of American journalism and its unholy marriage with corporate America. The most remarkable segment involves his efforts, starting in 1942(!), to report the results of Johns Hopkins research that showed the dangers of cigarette smoking, news that the Surgeon General apparently ignored for 20 years. Now more relevant than ever, this is a must-see film for critical thinkers of all political stripes. Also airs at 1:45pm.

     


 
 

Need to contact us? E-mail a Box Office Prophet.
Thursday, March 28, 2024
© 2024 Box Office Prophets, a division of One Of Us, Inc.