TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex for May 4 2010 through May 10 2010
By John Seal
May 3, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 5/04/10
2:35 AM Sundance
Paradise Now (2005 PAL-FRA-GER-ISR): A pan and scan print of this Academy Award-nominated drama has been airing on Starz recently—but that print also committed the egregious crime of featuring horrendous English-language dubbing. Now we (hopefully) are getting a widescreen print of Paradise Now in its original Arabic. Shot on location in the Occupied Territories and Israel, the film tells the story of Said and Khaled (Kais Nashif and Ali Suliman), two working class friends sent to Tel Aviv on a suicide bombing mission. Disguised as Jewish settlers, the chums’ plan begins to go wrong almost immediately, and their separation at the border offers both of them time to reflect on what lies ahead. Will a bomb in the belly of the beast make a difference—or will it just perpetuate the cycle of violence? The source of considerable controversy during production—apparently some Israelis and Palestinians took exception to various (but no doubt different) aspects of the film—Paradise Now is a thoughtful and dispassionate attempt to make sense of an ongoing tragedy.
7:00 AM Sundance
Un Secret (2007 FRA): An excellent cast goes a long way in this French tale of family subterfuge. Directed by Claude Miller and divided into three acts, Un Secret begins in the immediate post-World War II years, and introduces us to the Grimbert family, French Jews who have changed their surname (from Grinberg) and are eager to forget their past. Easier said than done, of course, and when teenage Francois (Quentin Dubuis) asks Aunt Louise (Julie Depardieu) about the family heritage, skeletons rapidly begin to tumble from the closet. Although unlikely to appeal to those who favor action over dialogue, Un Secret is well worth a look for fine performances by Depardieu (who won the Cesar for her work here), Matthieu Amalric (as a grown-up Francois), and Ludivine Sagnier as Hannah, the mystery woman who won the heart of family patriarch Maxime (Patrick Bruel) back in the day.
4:05 PM IFC
Blow Out (1981 USA): Brian de Palma hadn’t quite jumped the Hitchcockian shark yet (that would come with 1984’s Body Double), but Fonzie and his water-skis were surely close at hand during the production of this derivative thriller. John Travolta, still a boxoffice stud in 1981, stars as Jack, a sound man working in the ‘B’ movie trenches of Philadelphia. Whilst recording owls late one night, Jack witnesses an auto accident and pulls victim Sally (Nancy Allen) from the wreckage. But Sally wasn’t alone in the car: her deceased companion was an important politician, and even more troubling, Jack’s convinced his equipment recorded a gunshot immediately prior to the ‘blow out’. Even if (like me) you have a visceral loathing for Travolta, you’ll enjoy putting the conspiracy pieces together with Jack, and good supporting turns by John Lithgow and Dennis Franz make the film all the more worthwhile.
Wednesday 5/05/10
8:00 AM IFC
Strangers in Good Company (1990 CAN): An unknown delight from North of the Border, Strangers in Good Company is a mostly-improvised ensemble piece about a group of elderly women aboard a bus. Stranded in the middle of nowhere (rural Quebec, to be precise), the bored matriarchs hold forth about all manner of things whilst scrounging the countryside for food. The film’s (mostly) amateur cast acquit themselves brilliantly, and if you’ve ever wanted to learn how to fish with pantyhose, this is your film. Also airs at 1:00 PM.
Thursday 5/06/10
9:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Tartars (1962 ITA): A stilted historical epic with pretensions of Hollywood grandeur, The Tartars remains a viable option for admirers of sixties Euro-cinema. Victor Mature, looking ridiculous in period garb and elevator sandals, plays Oleg, a Viking prince who’s somehow found his way to the Russian steppes, where he’s been invited to join forces with the Mongol hordes in war against the opposing Slavic hordes. Oleg refuses and immediately becomes a target for Tartar big man Burundai (Orson Welles, who’s clearly enjoying himself). Oddly, IMDb doesn’t list a director for the film—it will be interesting to see if TCM’s print includes a credit—but it’s well established that MGM vet Richard Thorpe was at the helm, and his experience directing costume dramas (such as 1954’s Knights of the Round Table) is evident. Featuring terrific art design, plenty of action, and a fine score by Renzo Rossellini, The Tartars is clearly head and shoulders above the usual sword and sandal pictures of the period—even though Mature seems out of his (admittedly shallow) depth.
5:00 PM HBO
Sergio (2009 USA): I haven’t seen this documentary yet, but it garnered good reviews on the festival circuit and sounds interesting. Sergio Vieira de Mello was the UN Special Representative killed by a massive bomb in Iraq in 2003; his death signaled the beginning of a long-haul insurgency which continues to simmer to this day. This is his story. Also airs at 8:00 PM and throughout the month.
9:00 PM Fox Movie Channel
Death Hunt (1981 USA): A fairly average action pic with a decent cast, Death Hunt makes its widescreen television premiere this evening. Charles Bronson stars as Albert Johnson, a circa 1930s drifter in the Yukon Territory who looks suspiciously like the Brawny paper-towel man. Albert gets into trouble with the locals after he rescues a dog (so much for no good deed going unrewarded), shoots one of them dead, and goes ballistic when the Mounties try to arrest him. After a lengthy shootout with Sergeant Millen’s (Lee Marvin) men, our anti-hero heads off for Alaska—but Millen isn’t about to let him escape so easily and is soon hot on his trail. Co-starring Andrew Stevens, Angie Dickinson, Ed Lauter, and Carl Weathers, this is one of seven Bronson features that include the word ‘death’ in their title, but the only one in which he seems as likely to sell you paper products as shoot you.
Friday 5/07/10
12:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Navajo Joe (1966 ITA-ESP): Burt Reynolds stars as the titular Native American in this above average Euro-western, newly released on DVD and now getting a widescreen airing on TCM as part of the channel’s Native American Images in Film series. Joe’s friends and family have been massacred by nasty Duncan (Aldo Sambrell, who probably appeared in more spaghetti westerns than any other actor), and he’s now on the trail of the assassins. After knocking off a handful of the villains, Joe offers his services to the inhabitants of Peyote(!), who are concerned that Duncan’s gang plan to take over their town, and the film climaxes with a spectacular train explosion. Navajo Joe is chock full of action and benefits tremendously from Sergio Corbucci’s direction and an incessant—and very catchy—theme song. It’s followed at 2:30 AM by Stay Way, Joe! (1968), a completely unrelated Elvis Presley vehicle in which the King portrays a young Indian trying to keep the rez out of the hands of a greedy developer.
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Sound Barrier (1952 GB): Released in the US with the cumbersome (if easier to market) title Breaking the Sound Barrier, The Sound Barrier is David Lean’s salute to the test pilots who push their planes to the limit—and beyond. Ralph Richardson stars as Sir John Ridgefield, owner of an aircraft manufacturing firm determined to set new speed records. His pilot of choice is son-in-law Tony Garthwaite (Nigel Patrick), an RAF hero now making the transition to jet-propelled planes. Tony is eager to play his part, but wife Susan (Ann Todd) strongly objects, fearing her husband will be lost in what she considers to be a crude scientific experiment. It’s not Lean’s best effort, but Richardson is very good, and the film’s sound effects earned an Academy Award in 1953.
Saturday 5/08/10
12:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Tentacles (1977 ITA-USA): Or, Eight Arms to Hold You! This completely ridiculous blend of giant monster and disaster movie memes features a cast full of Hollywood regulars who really should have known better, but apparently couldn’t resist the implorings of director Ovidios Assonites. Perhaps he offered them a lifetime supply of calamari. Amongst the victims are John Huston as a scientist who suspects overdevelopment has contributed to the growth of a monster cephalopod, Shelley Winters as his wife, Henry Fonda as the evil developer who started the whole problem, and Bo Hopkins as a marine biologist. Even the special effects aren’t up to snuff in Tentacles, which makes its widescreen television debut this morning. Can an airing of Rollercoaster be far behind?
3:10 AM HBO 2
The Jazz Baroness (2009 GB): This BBC documentary examines the life of Baroness Panonnica Rothschild de Koenigswarter, who left behind her comfortable life as one of the landed gentry and moved to New York in 1951 in search of the lost jazz chord, as personified by Thelonius Monk. Amazing archival footage is fleshed out by terrific interviews with Chico Hamilton, Quincy Jones, and Sonny Rollins, as well as sundry members of the Rothschild family, casting remarkable light on Monk's troubles with drugs and mental problems and the highly privileged yet stifling lives of the British aristocracy. It's absolutely fascinating stuff, even if you're not particularly interested in jazz music (as I am not).
7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Jinx Money (1948 USA): I am SO sorry. In my haste to complete last week’s column, I neglected to mention Angel’s Alley, the Ninth Chapter in the Bowery Boys Saga, which aired in the usual Saturday morning time slot. It won’t happen again! Here, by way of compensation, is Chapter the Tenth, sadly a rather mediocre entry in the series in which Sach and Slip stumble across some gambling money. Naturally, the bookies want their money back, and Sheldon Leonard (really the film’s sole saving grace) is available to find it for them.
Sunday 5/09/10
10:15 PM Sundance
Dog Eat Dog (2008 COL): Set in Cali, Colombia, Dog Eat Dog is, in part, a routine crime drama—but it also pays a bit more attention to character development than most gangster pics. The film focuses on the misadventures of drug lord El Orejon (the late Blas Jaramillo) and his lieutenants Eusebio (Oscar Borda) and Victor (Marlon Moreno). Eusebio and Victor display a distinct lack of loyalty by stealing some of El Orejon’s hard-earned cash and killing his godson, so the reclusive pusher does what you or I would do in the same circumstances: hires a witch (Paulina Rivas) to put a curse on them. There’s lots of violence, an upbeat soundtrack, and, as mentioned, characters who occasionally transcend the gangster movie cookie-cutter.
Monday 5/10/10
6:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Son-Daughter (1932 USA): A whole bunch of white actors don yellowface in this understandably obscure, but nonetheless interesting, MGM drama. Directed by the estimable Clarence Brown, The Son-Daughter stars Helen Hayes as Star Blossom, daughter of San Francisco Chinatown doctor Dong Tong (Lewis Stone). Father and child live a comfortable, happy life, but when she falls in love with humble student Tom Lee (Ramon Novarro), the family inadvertently become involved with gun runner Fen Sha (Warner Oland), who’s raising money and weaponry to send back to the old country. Racial issues aside, The Son-Daughter is a handsome, well-made feature with excellent cinematography by Oliver Marsh and a particularly fine performance by Stone.
1:15 PM Showtime 2
Diary of a Tired Black Man (2009 USA): I must confess to not having seen, nor even having heard of, this film before now. The title caught my eye, however, and when I learned that David Walker—the man behind much-missed fanzine turned well-worthy website BadAzz MoFo—liked it, any doubts were over: Diary of a Tired Black Man belongs in the TiVoPlex. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this film is the astonishing seventeen credits for writer-director-tea lady Tim Alexander, for whom this film was apparently a near-solo labor of love. The guy even worked make-up and wardrobe!!
5:00 PM Sundance
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (2008 GB): For those still not in the know, Scott Walker was a huge pop star in Britain during the 1960s and ‘70s. Walker (born Scott Engel) was originally a member of Yank instrumental combo The Routers, but when their career flatlined he made common cause with two other Americans, John Maus and Gary Leeds, and relocated to Britain, where the trio recorded numerous hits as The Walker Brothers. When the group broke up (the first time) in 1967, Scott went off on a solo career highlighted by four classic LPs reflecting the influence of songwriter Jacques Brel. Though his career slowly went into decline after the early ‘70s, Brits still love Scott Walker, and this film does a marvelous job of summarizing his career and bringing viewers up to date on the man’s current activities, including his recent experimental recordings. There’s never been another singer quite like Walker, and 30 Century Man is a worthy tribute to his unique talents.
7:40 PM More Max
Lust at First Bite (???? USA): Hmm. Well, I’ve heard of 1981's Love at First Bite, but Lust at First Bite seems to be an alternate title attached to schlockmeister Fred Olen Ray’s recent straight-to-video cheapie Twilight Vamps. Not sure what we’re getting this evening on MoreMax, but one thing’s for sure: it won’t be mistaken for Citizen Kane.