TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex for Tuesday May 11 2010 through Monday May 17 2010
By John Seal
May 10, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 5/11/10
12:45 PM Turner Classic Movies
Murder in the Fleet(1935 USA): An uneven blending of comedy and mystery, this MGM second feature remains an option for Robert Taylor fans and/or warship mavens. Taylor essays his first starring role as Lieutenant Tommy Randolph, the officer in charge of installing the U.S.S. Carolina’s new firing system, which will, apparently, revolutionize naval warfare. When the equipment is damaged by saboteurs, Tommy becomes wrapped up in the ensuing intrigue, which also involves the murder of engineer Al Duval (Raymond Hatton). Are the Asian dignitaries visiting the Carolina responsible, or could a white man be to blame? Co-starring Una Merkel, Nat Pendleton, and Jean Hersholt, Murder in the Fleet was shot aboard a genuine U.S. warship and features an impressive scene set in a flooded powder magazine. The ship, naturally, out-acts Mr. Taylor.
7:00 PM Sundance
Edge of Heaven (2007 GER-TUR): Writer-director Fatih Akin, previously responsible for 2004’s rapturously received feature Head-On, returns with this equally fine ensemble piece about Turks living in Germany (and, to an extent, Germans living in Turkey). Nejat (Baki Davrak) has reconciled himself to the fact that his father’s live-in lover Yeter (Nursel Köse) was once a lady of the night. After Dad kills her in a drunken rage, Nejat goes in search of her daughter, Ayten (Nurgül Yesilçay), who he believes to be a college student in Turkey. But Ayten has actually been in Germany all along, where her political activities have attracted the attention of the police and upset the mother (Hanna Schygulla) of her lover Lotte (Patrycia Ziolkowska). It’s appropriate, perhaps, that Werner Fassbinder vet Schygulla is in The Edge of Heaven, which by coincidence or design channels some of the legendary German director’s spirit and political intensity—and, as with Akin’s Head-On, won scads of awards on the festival circuit.
9:00 PM IFC
Galaxina (1980 USA): Camp alert! Camp alert! The film that was supposed to make a star out of tragic Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten is actually an outre classic, which naturally means it has a home in the TiVoPlex. Stratten, the starlet who never made a good movie (unless one considers the biopic Star 80 a Stratten feature), was murdered in 1980 by scumbag boyfriend Paul Snider, and her paltry cinematic legacy rests uneasily on this wretched science fiction ‘parody’. How Stratten's agent allowed her to be cast opposite the unattractive and unfunny Avery Schreiber (as Captain Cornelius Butt) is a mystery for the ages, but for those who appreciate Le Bad Cinema, Galaxina is a must-see, and makes its widescreen television debut this evening. Look for little Angelo Rossitto (Freaks, Dracula Vs. Frankenstein) as the Monster From the Egg.
Thursday 5/13/10
9:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Big Gusher (1951 USA): A trio of 1951 Columbia obscurities appear on TCM today, commencing with this forgotten tale of life and adventure in the Nevada oil fields. Preston Foster and Wayne Morris star as Hank and Kenny, buddies celebrating four thousand dollars worth of good fortune at a casino. Waitress Betsy (Dorothy Patrick) eyes their wad of cash and decides she’d like a piece of the action, too, and after getting Kenny plastered convinces him to lease some land owned by crooked pal Jim (Emmett Vogan). Jim’s sold the land several times before, each time promising his tenants that it’s rich in hydrocarbons, but the oil remains strangely elusive. Hooking up with fellow wildcat Cappy (Paul E. Burns), our heroes determine to strike it rich—but will lose their investment to Jim if they don’t find oil within sixty days. Directed by the always busy Lew Landers, The Big Gusher is the very definition of bill-filler. It’s followed at 10:15 AM by Flame of Stamboul, a set-in-Turkey thriller featuring Norman Lloyd, George Zucco, and Nestor Paiva, and at 11:30 AM by Smuggler’s Gold, starring Cameron Mitchell as a diver who gets involved with the daughter (Amanda Blake) of a gold smuggler.
11:20 AM Encore Drama
Looker (1981 USA): Albert Finney headlines this silly but enjoyable sci-fi feature written and directed by Michael Crichton. Finney is Dr. Larry Roberts, a plastic surgeon who specializes in giving prospective super-models the final touch up they need to win a lucrative contract with Cosmo. His operations are a rousing success, but when his patients begin to turn up dead, Larry and potential customer Cindy Fairmount (The Partridge Family’s Susan Dey) don their trenchcoats in search of answers. Could Digital Matrix, the mysterious company run by John Reston (James Coburn), be responsible, or should Larry just start looking for a good malpractice lawyer? As silly as Looker is, it was also the first film to feature a completely digital character—a dubious honor, perhaps, but an important one nonetheless. Look for then-unknown Vanna White as one of Reston’s employees.
Friday 5/14/10
10:30 AM Sundance
The Matador (2008 USA): Not to be confused with the Pierce Brosnan thriller of the same name, this is a documentary about Spaniard David Fandila, a man on a rather bloody mission. Following Fandila on his three-year quest to become Spain’s top-ranked bullfighter —a quest that can involve up to a hundred ‘matches’ per season—The Matador offers fascinating insights into this traditional blood sport. It’s definitely not a film for the PETA-inclined, but is a riveting look at dedication and obsession—in one segment, Fandila defeats six bulls in one day, then heads to the hospital to have his gored abdomen repaired!
9:00 PM IFC
High Tension (2003 FRA): I’ve only ever seen a pan and scan, English-dubbed print of this ultra-violent Gallic thriller, and I was not impressed. A plot-light tale of an encounter between a psycho-killer and two college students, High Tension hits all the right torture porn notes, if that’s your thing. If it isn’t, give it a miss…but if it is, tonight’s widescreen, French-language IFC airing should definitely be on your list of things to do before you die a slow, painful death in Jigsaw John’s windowless basement.
Saturday 5/15/10
7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Smuggler’s Cove (1948 USA): Not a prequel to Smuggler’s Gold, Smuggler’s Cove is number eleven in the Bowery Boys series, and one of its better entries. This time, Slip (Leo Gorcey) mistakenly thinks he’s inherited a mansion on Long Island, and he and the lads head out to inspect the property. Of course, Slip is mistaken, and the gang stumble across a smuggling operation being run from the house by caretaker Digger (Eddie Gribbon) on behalf of suspicious foreigner Count Petrov (Martin Kosleck). Hilarity ensues with a Great Dane and the valuable Monrovian Diamond, and look for TiVoPlex character actor of the week Emmett Vogan as a lawyer.
9:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Swimmer (1968 USA): And what better film to follow the Bowery Boys than Frank Perry’s dense and chewy character study, The Swimmer? Burt Lancaster headlines as Ned Merrill, a stereotypical ‘lonely crowd’ suburbanite who decides to swim his way home one day. It’s not as tricky as it sounds: from his starting point at a friend’s house, there’s pretty much an uninterrupted string of backyard pools all the way home, and during the journey Ned even finds a companion (Janet Landgard) to share the trip with him. Needless to say, there are strangers and old acquaintances to be met along the chlorine-soaked highway, and a healthy dose of navel-gazing, too. Based on a John Cheever short story, this is a beautifully made, cerebral drama about one man’s not so epic journey of self-discovery.
9:50 AM Flix
The Domino Principle (1977 USA): Definitely not the finest film in director Stanley Kramer’s filmography, The Domino Principle is still worth a look for its superb cast. Gene Hackman tops the list as Roy Tucker, a down on his luck Vietnam vet doing time in San Quentin for murder. Offered a chance to walk free in exchange for the use of his sharpshooting skills in an assassination, Roy eagerly accepts—but soon learns that his target is the President of the United States. Rumored to have originally run three hours in length, The Domino Principle was cut in half by distributor ITC, and the result is a predictably choppy film with characters whose motivations and actions don’t always make sense. Hackman is very good, however, and is ably supported by Richard Widmark, Candice Bergen, Edward Albert, Eli Wallach, and Mickey Rooney. The Domino Principle makes its widescreen American television premiere this morning.
Sunday 5/16/10
9:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
Cry of the City (1948 USA): A terrific police procedural, Cry of the City stars Victor Mature as Candella, a police lieutenant locking horns with a pal from his old neighborhood, cop-killer Martin Rome (Richard Conte), now trying to squirm his way out of an appointment with the electric chair. He's willing to throw anyone under the bus, including girlfriend Teena (Debra Paget) and sleazy lawyer Niles (Barry Kroeger). Candella and his partner (the always fine Fred Clark) are determined not only to put a stop to Rome's reign of terror, but also to keep Martin's younger brother Tony (Tommy Cook) from straying off the straight and narrow. Directed by Robert Siodmak and co-starring Shelley Winters and former Charlie Chan Roland Winters, Cry of the City is a fine blend of noir and procedural, with exceptional cinematography by Lloyd Ahern (Miracle on 34th Street) and a stirring Alfred Newman score.
10:50 AM Encore Action
Neon City (1990 USA-CAN): Fans of the ‘bleak future’ style will want to check out Neon City, if only because it features another ‘too good for a genre film’ performance from Michael Ironside (Scanners, Starship Troopers). Ironside plays Harry Stark, a balding bounty hunter with a pony-tail transporting prisoner Reno (model-singer-actress-part time plumber Vanity) to the safe, non-radioactive confines of the titular burg In the Year 2525…er, sorry, 2053. In a plot as old as Stagecoach, the two are travelling with other passengers in an armored car piloted by Bulk (appropriately enough, steroid pioneer Lyle Alzado), and encounter all sorts of difficulties along the way, including deadly sun rays (no more ozone layer), the worst pollution this side of the San Gabriel Valley, and marauding gangs of Mad Max extras. As far as these things go, Neon City is actually slightly above average, and takes good advantage of some desolate Utah locations.
Monday 5/17/10
3:45 AM IFC
The Valet (2006): This slight French farce won’t induce many belly laughs, but it will keep you smiling throughout its 80-minute running time. Gad Elmaleh stars as Francois, a parking attendant who stumbles into a paparrazi photo shoot involving a billionaire and his super-model girfriend. Oligarch Pierre (Daniel Auteuil), immediately aware of the marital peril posed by the snap, hires our hero to pose as the boyfriend of mistress Elena (Alice Taglioni). How long can he maintain the façade? Well, for about 80 minutes. Also airs at 8:30 AM and 1:25 PM.
5:30 AM Sundance
Painters Painting(1973 USA): Is this film as much fun as watching paint dry? Well, yes…but the more you enjoy modern art, the more you’ll appreciate it. A documentary about the New York art scene between 1940 and 1970, Painters Painting is an uncharacteristically non-political film from director Emile de Antonio, with particular emphasis on the abstract expressionists active during this period. Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol are all here, as are a dazzling array of lesser knowns. If you’re the kind of guy or gal who goes to the Museum of Modern Art on a first date, you’ll love Painters Painting. Also airs at 11:15 AM.