TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex for Tuesday, October 7, 2008 through Monday, October 13, 2008
By John Seal
October 6, 2008
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 10/07/08
10:45 AM Sundance
Lemon Sky (1987 USA): A young Kevin Bacon stars in this above average made for TV drama about a less than perfect 1950s-era nuclear family. Bacon plays estranged son Alan, returning home to make his peace with father Douglas (Tom Atkins). In his absence, Dad has remarried and is fostering a pair of teenage girls, and Alan finds the household fraught with emotional and sexual tension. In fact, new mom Ronnie (Lindsay Crouse) seems more welcoming than Dad, who resents his college-kid son's scholarly accomplishments and is having a hard time keeping his hands off his foster daughters, too. Based on a play by Lanford Wilson and produced by Boston's public television station WGBH, Lemon Sky wholeheartedly embraces its stage roots, so be prepared for lots of talking.
6:45 PM Encore
Scarface (1983 USA): Say hello to my little friend — now, in 2.35:1 Panavision! Yep, it looks like Brian De Palma's Scarface is finally making its widescreen television debut. To be honest, I still prefer Howard Hawks version of the story, but De Palma's take has strengths, too, including what I believe was the world record for most uses of the 'F' word in a major motion picture. I think it's since been eclipsed, but that's an impressive accomplishment and must have been quite a point of personal pride for star Al Pacino. Snark aside, this is certainly an entertaining, if extremely bloated, piece of Hollywood hokum that will be catnip for action fans. Also airs at 9:45 PM.
Wednesday 10/08/08
5:30 AM HBO Signature
Maradona, la Mano di Dio (2007 ARG): The footballer everyone (well, mostly the British) love to hate, Diego Maradona led Argentina to a World Cup championship in 1986 after scoring the controversial Hand of God goal in the team's quarter-final match against England. Maradona is a larger than life character and has earned headlines off the pitch thanks to personal foibles and controversial political opinions, and this Argentinian film does a reasonably good (if predictable) job of depicting his life story. Weaving stock footage of career highlights with re-enactments of Maradona's personal highs and lows, the film features Marco Leonardi as the footy prodigy who snorted cocaine, drank like a fish, ate handfuls of PEDs, and had his stomach stapled in 2005. That's enough controversy for at least TWO movies, I think.
11:35 AM Starz Edge
Uncounted (2008 USA): Recently awarded the Best Documentary Prize at the San Diego Film Festival, Uncounted makes its American television premiere tonight on — rather strangely — Starz Edge. The film examines the parlous and deeply corrupted state of America's voting systems, which have left the country in the position of either not knowing — or worse, not being able to trust — the results of elections at federal, state, and local levels. If you were incensed by HBO's Hacking Democracy, you'll really get your knickers in a twist with Uncounted.
Thursday 10/09/08
11:40 AM Flix
On the Yard (1979 USA): This forgotten prison drama from director Raphael Silver (Hester Street) features underappreciated John Heard as Juleson, a convicted wife murderer spending quality time behind bars with other equally upstanding citizens. His buddies include Red (Mike Kellin from The Incident), who's spent more life in prison than out; Chilly (Thomas G. Waites), the prison's BMOC; and Morris (Joe Grifasi), a suck-up who runs errands in exchange for protection. Adapted by Malcolm Braley from his own novel, On the Yard is solid, straightforward storytelling supported by an excellent cast and aided by location footage shot at Rockview State Correctional Facility in central Pennsylvania, which kindly provided a goodly supply of extras at little cost to the producers.
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Jour de Fete (1948 FRA): An evening of Jacques Tati whimsy kicks off with Jour de Fete, the French funnyman's salute to postal workers. An expansion of his earlier short subject, School For Postmen, Jour de Fete stars the taciturn Tati as Francois, a delivery man who's been egged into adjusting his work routine by a documentary extolling the virtues of American postal techniques. Naturally, the speedy ways of America are distinctly at odds with the bucolic ways of France, and Francois finds himself — and his customers — flummoxed by the innovations. Jour de Fete paved the way for Tati's later masterpieces, three of which also air tonight: at 6:45 PM, the near silent Mr. Hulot's Holiday, which features the actor as a bumbling merrymaker disrupting the residents of a sleepy seaside resort; at 8:15 PM, 1958's Mon Oncle, wherein M. Hulot is rudely introduced to the trappings of modern suburban life; and at 10:15 PM, Playtime, in which he has similar adventures in the mod, mod world of Paris circa 1967.
Friday 10/10/08
4:00 AM Sundance
For the Bible Tells Me So (2007 USA): Christian fundamentalists and their right-wing enablers love to fixate on certain biblical passages that they interpret as condemnatory of homosexuality. Director Daniel Karslake takes them to task in this informative and enjoyable documentary, which features extensive re-examination of scripture as well as interview segments with gay churchgoers and their families. Also featuring segments with Bishops Robinson and Tutu, For the Bible Tells Me maintains its composure and never descends to the level of hyperbolic polemic.
10:00 PM Cinemax
The Funhouse (1981 USA): Director Tobe Hooper became a cult hero in the wake of 1974's Texas Chainsaw Massacre and parlayed that fame into box office success with 1982's Poltergeist. In between those films (and in the wake of 1979 TV movie Salem's Lot), he made this obscure horror flick about a carnival concealing a dark secret. The story revolves around four teenagers enjoying a wild night at the fairgrounds, where they plan to hide out in the funhouse and spend the wee hours smoking wacky tobacky and engaging in unprotected, pre-marital sex. Their plans go awry after they witness a murder — and find themselves being stalked by a killer wearing a Frankenstein's Monster mask. As in most slasher films, the protagonists are so annoying and clueless that you end up rooting for the killer, but The Funhouse benefits from impressive set design and an all too brief appearance by William Finley (Phantom of the Paradise) as magician Margo the Magnificent. At Also airs 10/11 at 1:00 AM.
Saturday 10/11/08
6:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Shockproof (1949 USA): Cornel Wilde stars as a parole officer with a problem in this excellent film noir from director Douglas Sirk. Wilde portrays Griff Marat, who's taken a keen interest in parolee Jenny Marsh (Patricia Knight) and has gone so far as to take her on as his mother's caretaker. Breaking all sorts of rules, Griff falls for Jenny and marries her on the sly, offering sleazeball Harry Wesson (John Baragrey) the blackmailing opportunity of a lifetime. Sirk predictably amps up the melodramatic aspects of Sam Fuller's story, and things take a tragic turn before the redemptive final reel.
11:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
Dreamer (1979 USA): A few weeks back, I wrote about 1948's Roadhouse, a founder member of the exclusive 'bowling noir' genre. If you enjoyed Roadhouse, but felt that it underemphasized the bowling aspects of its story, you're ready for Dreamer, an obscure Fox feature returning to television tonight after a very lengthy absence. The film stars Tim Matheson as the titular all-around good guy, who holds down a day job at a bowling alley whilst hoping against hope that one day he will be admitted into the hallowed halls of the Professional Bowling Association. Dreamer is basically Rocky with skittles, but without the scene in the meat locker, or the exciting fight sequences, or Philadelphia City Hall. If memory serves, however, it does have a training montage, so the comparison remains apt.
Sunday 10/12/08
12:00 PM Starz in Black
The Front Line (2006 IRE): Frenchman Eriq Ebouaney takes the lead as a security officer in a sticky situation in this entertaining Irish caper flick. He plays Joe, a Congolese asylum seeker working as a bank guard whilst awaiting final determination of his immigration status. Though surrounded by blatant prejudice and racism, Joe maintains a sunny disposition — until a gang of robbers led by psychotic Eddie (James Frain) kidnap his family and force him to serve as the inside man for their pending bank job. The Front Line takes some intriguing and unpredictable turns, and provides further proof that the tiny but resilient Irish film industry is leaving its cosy rural roots behind.
12:30 PM Sundance
Manderlay (2006 DEN): Part two of Lars Von Trier's still incomplete Dogville trilogy makes its American television debut this afternoon. The luminous Bryce Dallas Howard replaces Nicole Kidman in the lead role of Grace Mulligan, and the story commences as she departs with her father (Willem Dafoe) from Dogville for greener pastures in rural Alabama. It's 1933, and apparently this back-of-beyond part of the Deep South hasn't received word that slavery was outlawed 70 years prior. The Mulligans meet plantation owner Mam (Lauren Bacall) and overseer Wilhelm (Danny Glover), neither of whom believe their slaves are ready for the responsibilities of freedom. Grace believes differently, and ends up leading a slave rebellion. Shot in the same arch-theatrical style as its predecessor, Manderlay exposes American's post-racial mythology through the prism of Von Trier's puckish point of view. It's not easy or entertaining viewing, but like all of the Danish nutter's output, thought provoking and maddening in equal measure.
6:30 PM IFC
Jeepers Creepers (2001 USA): Jeepers Creepers was hailed as a minor miracle of modern horror when it was released in 2001: a film that provided brooding atmosphere and genuine scares and avoided relying (entirely) on blood and grue to score points with the audience. Whilst that analysis looks somewhat questionable in retrospect — there's still plenty of latex and Kayro Syrup to go around — it's still a decent and slightly above average chiller about a spooky drainage ditch and its flesh-eating inhabitant. Jeepers Creepers makes its widescreen television debut tonight, and is well worth a look for those hoping to get a head start on Halloween.
Monday 10/13/08
8:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Circus Queen Murder (1933 USA): Titles don't get much better than 'The Circus Queen Murder', do they? It's got to either be a film about a) a serial killer who follows the carnival from town to town with the intention of murdering their effeminate employees, or b) a maladjusted Divine-type who's knocking off the trans-phobic members of a travelling circus. Really, there are no other options. For example, there's NO WAY such a film could star Adolphe Menjou as a district attorney who gets involved with cannibals and Dwight Frye as a trapeze artist. That just couldn't happen. Could it?
3:45 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Snorkel (1958 GB): If not for Michael Weldon's essential Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film, I would never have heard of this film before. There it is on page 641, however, and ever since that book came out a quarter-century ago, I've read and re-read The Snorkel's oh so brief précis and wondered what on earth the film would be like. Now we're all going to find out. Besides being one of Hammer Films most obscure productions, The Snorkel stars Peter Van Eyck (The Brain, The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse), was directed by Guy Green (who would go on to helm worthy efforts The Angry Silence, The Mark, and A Patch of Blue) and was co-written by Jimmy Sangster and Italian pulpmeister Antonio Margheriti! With pedigree like that — and the fact that this marks its first American television appearance in living memory — The Snorkel ranks as this week's critical must see for obsessive-compulsive movie mavens.