TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex for Tuesday, October 21, 2008 through Monday, October 27, 2008
By John Seal
October 20, 2008
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 10/21/08
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film (2008 USA): Warner Bros. was the studio best known for producing gritty crime dramas, and this brand new TCM original documentary re-examines its heyday throughout the 1930s and '40s. It was at Warners that actors James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, and Humphrey Bogart became huge stars, whilst directors such as Mervyn LeRoy, Michael Curtiz, and Raoul Walsh helped define the style in films such as Little Caesar, 20,000 Years in Sing Sing, and White Heat. I didn't get the opportunity to pre-screen Public Enemies, but it features dozens of interview subjects, clips from 100 films, and narration from that big goombah Alec Baldwin. All told, it should be a comprehensive overview of the studio's crime output, and well worth a look.
Wednesday 10/22/08
11:00 PM Fox Movie Channel
Mystery on Monster Island (1981 ESP): Fantasy films don't get much worse than this Spanish made junker from director Juan Piquer Simon (Pieces, Slugs: The Movie). It's a lame and tame kid-friendly (and extremely loose) adaptation of Jules Verne's Mysterious Island, and stars a gurning Terence Stamp as the evil ruler of a remote island populated by some less than convincing dinosaurs. Enter callow youth Jeff Morgan (Ian Sera), who must come to maturity by facing the island's horrifying dangers, which consist primarily of men in rubber suits. Mystery on Monster Island co-stars Peter Cushing and Spanish horror legend Paul Naschy, but don't let that fool you: from the pathetic special effects to the cop-out ending, this is one mystery best left unsolved.
Thursday 10/23/08
6:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Dear Murderer (1947 GB): Eric Portman stars as a betrayed husband with homicide on his mind in this above average British crime drama from Gainsborough Pictures. Portman portrays Lee Warren, whose beautiful wife Vivien (Greta Gynt) is shamelessly carrying on with another man (Dennis Price). Lee decides to rub out the competition and disguise the death as a suicide — but when he discovers that his wife's lover isn't such a bad sort after all, things take on a new and more treacherous complexion. Directed by Arthur Crabtree and co-starring Jack Warner and the recently deceased Hazel Court, Dear Murderer is an effective if methodically paced blend of noir and character study.
2:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Cloudburst (1951 GB): Another forgotten British mystery — this one from Hammer Films — arrives this afternoon in the form of Cloudburst. Set in 1946, the film features Robert Preston as John Graham, a Canadian code-breaker and spy now married and living in Britain. His spouse Carol (Elizabeth Sellars) served alongside him during the war and suffered horrific torture at the hands of the Gestapo, leaving her disabled and embittered and John extremely protective — especially now that she's pregnant. When Carol is killed by a hit and run driver, an enraged John decides to take the law into his own hands, leading, unsurprisingly, to tragic consequences. The first Hammer production to earn widespread American release, Cloudburst is a sombre effort that would have made a great vehicle for Robert Ryan and Gloria Grahame if it had been produced in Hollywood. It's followed at 3:30 PM by the colorfully titled Cop Hater (1958), in which Robert Loggia plays a New York police officer pursuing a serial killer during a deadly Big Apple heat wave.
Friday 10/24/08
5:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
Tales of Manhattan (1942 USA): A recent viewing of Julien Duvivier's elegant comedy La Fin du Jour (1939) reminded me of the director's excellent American feature Tales of Manhattan — which just so happens to be airing on Fox this early Friday morning. The episodic story of a bespoke dress coat which keeps changing hands, Tales of Manhattan introduces us first to Broadway actor Paul Orman (Charles Boyer), who disposes of the coat after being shot by cuckolded husband John Halloway (Thomas Mitchell), jealous of the thespian's adulterous relationship with his wife (Rita Hayworth). The coat, complete with bullet-hole, becomes in turn the property of cad Harry Wilson (Cesar Romero), who sells it after getting dumped by his fiancée (Ginger Rogers); of composer Charles Smith (Charles Laughton), who literally stretches it beyond capacity; of skid row denizen Browne (Edward G. Robinson), who wears it to his college reunion; and of gangster Costello (J. Carrol Naish), who needs formal wear for an appointment in a gambling den. The coat has one more stop on its journey, but I'll leave its final resting place as a surprise for those unfamiliar with the film. Blessed with an impressive array of talent (also including Henry Fonda, Elsa Lanchester, Eugene Pallette, Paul Robeson, James Gleason, and La Fin du Jour star Victor Francen), Tales of Manhattan is an example of major studio Hollywood at its best — thanks, no doubt, to the man behind the camera, who had recently fled to the States from occupied France. Incidentally, if you would like to see Duvivier's La Fin du Jour, please visit my friend David Cairns' excellent film blog Shadowplay (http://dcairns.wordpress.com/) for details. He loves the film so much he'll hook you up with a free copy at no expense!
6:45 PM Turner Classic Movies
Eight Men Out (1987 USA): My favorite baseball movie of all time returns to the small screen tonight, and, I believe, for the first time in its original aspect ratio. Based on Eliot Asinof's book of the same name, the film dramatizes the penurious circumstances that drove members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox to participate in a game-fixing scandal that tainted Major League Baseball and led to the creation of the Commissioner's Office. Amongst the acting highlights in the film are David Strathairn's turn as pitcher Eddie Cicotte, Michael Rooker as first baseman Chick Gandil, and Clifton James as blustery team owner Charlie Comiskey, but the heart of the story remains that of illiterate third baseman and should be hall of famer Shoeless Joe Jackson (D. B. Sweeney), still on baseball's ineligible list after being banned from the game by newly appointed Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis. Though judged guilty by dint of his association with his teammates, Jackson long proclaimed his innocence and has since been exonerated by most historians. Either way, this is a great film that is a must-see for all baseball fans.
8:00 PM Sundance
Burning the Future: Coal in America (2008 USA): The heck with 'drill baby drill' — what about 'dig a mine shaft baby dig a mine shaft'? This depressing documentary takes a look at efforts to decrease our reliance on foreign oil by increasing our reliance on the filthiest of fossil fuels, coal. Focussing on the environmental holocaust wrought by strip-mining in West Virginia, the film also points out that politicians of both parties are pander bears for the coal industry, and that, quite bluntly, we need to cut down on our energy consumption. So stop reading this column and turn off your computer. Thank you for your cooperation.
9:00 PM IFC
Razor: The Snare (1973 JAP): The second entry in the Hanzo series makes its American television debut tonight. In this outing, Hanzo (Shintaro Katsu) takes his wrath out on villains of all stripes, including an abortion clinic(!), whilst abusing female suspects and pouring boiling hot water on his, ahem, 'rod of justice'. It's totally outrageous, frequently sexist beyond belief, and thoroughly memorable.
11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The World's Greatest Sinner (1962 USA): I never thought I'd see the day when this film showed up on television. A vanity production from the perfervid brain of the late, great character actor Timothy Carey, The World's Greatest Sinner has long been available only as a VHS tape, which you could mail order from Carey's son. Now its moment in the sun is finally at hand! Carey plays Clarence Hilliard, an insurance salesman who starts his own church and proclaims himself some sort of rock 'n' roll messiah. It's A Face in the Crowd on super-steroids (with a Frank Zappa score, to boot!), and absolutely, positively, cannot be missed.
Saturday 10/25/08
7:00 PM Sundance
Kippur (2000 ISR): No, this is not a children's film about that lovable cartoon pup Kipper. It's actually an Israeli film dramatizing the 1973 Yom Kippur War, in which Egypt and Syria launched a massive surprise attack against the Jewish State — and still couldn't win. Amos Gitai's film takes the up close and personal route to tell its tale, filling the screen with lots of shaky-cam action, explosions, and blood. Those scenes aren't undercut by the gauzy sentimentalism of a Spielberg or the abstract expressionism of a Mallick, leaving it a brutal testimony to the evil — and utter banality — of warfare.
Sunday 10/26/08
12:30 PM HBO Signature
Shot In the Dark (2002 USA): This poignant documentary takes a look at father-son relationships, as seen through the eyes of director (and erstwhile actor) Adrian Grenier, whose own dad abandoned him at the age of five. Along the way he hooks up with a sad skinhead, a fireworks salesman who claims to have 80 children, and his own grandparents. It's touchy feely stuff, but effective, and not quite as predictable as you might expect.
9:00 PM Sundance
Ghost of Mae Nak(2005 THA): This made in Thailand horror film was actually written and directed by Briton Mark Duffield, but still qualifies for Sundance's Asia Extreme series. It's based on a Thai legend that has, apparently, been previously filmed a whopping 21 times, so don't be surprised that THIS version treads some pretty familiar territory. The legend revolves around the bride of a departing soldier who dies in his absence; when G.I. Jaruwan returns from the wars he finds himself haunted by her spirit, which refuses to let him move on. As with many Asian chillers, there are some good set-ups and decent atmosphere, but the familiar will test all but the hardiest of souls.
Monday 10/27/08
12:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Black Room (1935 USA): Boris Karloff stars as twin brothers struggling for control of a Tyrolean estate in this decent Columbia programmer. Prophecy says that good bro Anton (Boris) will off bad bro Gregory (Boris) and restore justice to the land, but Anton is much too much of a sweetie and it's up to the local pitchfork peasants to lead their own rebellion. It's not quite on par with Karloff's Universal horrors, but it's not a bad imitation of the style, well-directed by Roy William Neill and attractively shot by Allen Siegler. It's followed at 2:00 AM by Before I Hang, a less successful vehicle which features Dear Boris as a kindly doctor who uses himself as a guinea pig, with unfortunate results.
4:00 PM Sundance
No End In Sight (2007 USA): If there was no end in sight for the Iraq War when this film was released last year, there surely is now, thanks to the financial meltdown and ballooning federal deficits. For those who keep up with current affairs, there's not a lot here you don't already know, but it's a damning document nonetheless, bringing together all the avarice, greed, incompetence, and outright stupidity you could ever imagine under one cinematic roof. It's making its American television debut this evening, and is followed at 6:00 PM by 1996's A Perfect Candidate, a fascinating political doc that examines the 1994 senate race between Republican proto-fascist and serial liar Oliver North and Democratic oligarch Chuck Robb.