TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex for June 22 2010 through June 28 2010
By John Seal
June 21, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 6/22/10
1:30 AM Encore Action
Vanishing Son Parts III & IV (1994 USA): The concluding chapters of this forgotten television mini-series air this morning. Russell Wong continues in the lead role of Jian-Wa, now competing in a music contest whilst being a person of interest for the FBI, who are investigating brother Wago’s (Chi Muoi Lo) gang-related activities. When tragedy strikes, Jian-Wa takes to the road in search of self. Unfortunately, some bad guys are also on his trail.
3:30 AM Showtime 2
WUSA (1970 USA): Here’s a real find. Paul Newman stars in this interesting Stuart Rosenberg-helmed feature, which examines the rise of right-wing talk radio decades before it became the standard to which all talk radio aspires. Newman is Rheinhardt, a mercenary mouth-for-hire who spouts reactionary opinion over the airwaves even though he doesn’t agree with it. He’s employed by station owner Bingamon (Pat Hingle), who’s also engaged social worker Ralney (Anthony Perkins) in some questionable research designed to prove that social programs don’t work. The film was a flop on first release and has since acquired neither reputation nor cult following, which is a shame because, alongside A Face in the Crowd, it’s one of the most prophetic political films ever made in America. Joanne Woodward, Laurence Harvey, Moses Gunn, Robert Quarry, and Cloris Leachman co-star.
Wednesday 6/23/10
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Word is Out (1977 USA): I haven’t seen this groundbreaking documentary for many, many years, but my opinion of it has changed ever so slightly over the intervening decades. I used to think the title was simply a declaration of gay liberation—here’s the news, we’re here, we’re queer, get used to it!—but now I suspect it’s more about the word ‘out’, and it’s application on an individual basis. Heck, perhaps the film’s trio of directors (Nancy Adair, Andrew Brown, and Rob Epstein) intended the title to convey a double meaning. Whatever the case may be, Word Is Out was the first documentary film to really acknowledge, front and center, the existence of homosexuality in the American mainstream, and though it looks a little quaint now, it’s importance should not be underestimated. Featuring interviews with more than two dozen gay and lesbian Americans (including the estimable Harry Hay, who started organizing gays in the early 1950s), the film was the first shot in a culture war that the good guys have been winning, inch by inch, ever since. Also airs 6/24 at 1:00 AM.
7:30 PM Sundance
Return to Rajapur (2006 IND-USA): East meets west in this worthy, if not entirely successful, culture clash drama written and directed by film neophyte Nanda Anand. Taking Woodstock’s Kelli Garner plays Samantha, a spoiled little rich girl having troubler adapting to the harsher realities of life in the titular Indian village. Though clearly the work of a beginner (the script is especially weak), Return to Rajapur is worth watching for its excellent widescreen cinematography (courtesy Harlan Bosmajian, who also lensed the excellent indie drama Kill the Poor) and for fine supporting turns from Frank Langella and Justin Theroux.
9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Legong, Dance of the Virgins (1935 USA): Considered a lost film until it was rediscovered and released on DVD by Milestone a few years ago, Legong makes its worldwide television premiere this evening. It’s a semi-documentary— shot in Technicolor no less—about native life in Bali, and is perhaps best known for one thing: its endless parade of topless women. If that’s not enough for the average BOP reader, consider the anthropological value of the film, which recorded the daily lives, religious ceremonies, and artwork of the indigenous Balinese. Shot by W. Howard Greene (who also worked on other early color films such as 1937’s Nothing Sacred and 1942’s Arabian Nights), Legong was rescued by UCLA, who pieced it back together from several different prints, and is utterly unlike any other film you’ve ever seen.
Thursday 6/24/10
9:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
Night and the City (1950 USA): One of the best films noir of all time, Night and the City (and we are, of course, talking about the original, not the wretched Robert De Niro remake) returns to Fox this evening. Richard Widmark stars as Harry Fabian, an American con man in London planning to parlay his relationship with aging wrestler Gregorious (Stanislaus Zbyszko) into a fortune. Gregorious is convinced he can make a comeback, but sports promoter son Kristo (Herbert Lom) isn’t so sure he likes the idea of Fabian moving in on his territory—especially in cahoots with dear old dad. Without going into too much detail, know this: Widmark spends much of the film’s final reel running (and sweating) his way through the luminous black and white streets of London after midnight. Beautifully shot by Max Greene, Night and the City was the last major studio film made by director Jules Dassin before the blacklist kicked in.
Friday 6/25/10
6:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Bamboo Prison (1954 USA): A feverish tale of life behind enemy lines, The Bamboo Prison features Robert Francis (dead a year later in a plane crash) as American double agent John Rand. Rand is helping the North Koreans interrogate Yank POWs held in Panmunjon. Unbeknownst to the clueless commies, however, John is actually a red-blooded patriot gathering evidence of their war crimes! Richard Loo and Keye Luke play the baddies; E. G. Marshall appears as a commie simp, and Brian Keith shows up as a prisoner.
3:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Hell in Korea (1956 GB): Hmm, I detect a pattern: yep, TCM is acknowledging the 60th anniversary of the Korean War with a 24-hour movie marathon, concluding with this excellent actioner featuring Stanley Baker as a tough as nails British Army non-com. Curiously retitled for the American market (the film was originally A Hill in Korea in its native UK), Hell in Korea tells the story of a platoon of troops besieged by the Chinese army over the course of three days. There’s nothing here that will surprise anyone who’s already seen Fixed Bayonets or Pork Chop Hill, but Hell in Korea is a solid war pic with a great cast, including Harry Andrews, George Baker, Stephen Boyd, Robert Shaw, and (in his first screen appearance) real-life Korean war vet Michael Caine.
8:45 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Deep (1977 USA): After years of pan and scan screenings on Encore and Starz, this mediocre adventure flick finally gets a widescreen airing on TCM. Perhaps its correct aspect ratio will improve The Deep’s tepid tale of treasure hunting in the Bermuda Triangle, but at the very least, a quality cast (including Jacqueline Bisset, Nick Nolte, Eli Wallach, and Robert Shaw) suggests a reappraisal may be in order.
9:00 PM IFC
The Hearse (1981 USA): Trish van Devere inherits a creepy old house in this enjoyable horror romp directed by George Bowers (also responsible for such bad eighties comedies as My Tutor and Private Resort). Trish plays Jane Hardy, whose late aunt has beqeathed her the family homestead. Jane decides moving in will provide the fresh start she needs after a traumatic divorce, but how wrong can a woman be: it turns out auntie was a witch, and who is that strange young man behind the wheel of the mysterious and threatening vehicle of death? Co-starring Joseph Cotton as a grumpy lawyer who thinks he should have inherited the property (why?), The Hearse is a perfect, brainless way to start the weekend.
11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Deep End (1970 GB): Gather round, children, and let me tell you a sad story that yet may have a happy ending. Travel back with me through the mists of time to the far-off days of, ahem, January, when Deep End first appeared on TCM. Here’s what I wrote at the time:
“Here it is, folks: the TiVoPlex Movie of the Month. Unless you saw Deep End on its original release or spent the intervening decades tracking down a horrible fuzzy bootleg, you probably haven't seen this rather strange film from Polish expatriate director Jerzy Skolimowski. John Moulder-Brown stars as Mike, a teenage public baths (that's what we call a swimming pool in Britain) attendant in London. Mike is sexually...confused...and spends his time either mooning over the baths' female users or strolling the sleazy streets of Soho. Hello, Raymond Revue Bar! Mike rather fancies fellow employee Susan (charming Jane Asher), but things get a little weird when mature "lady client" Diana Dors starts giving him the eye...and things just get stranger from there. Featuring music by Cat Stevens and Can, Deep End is one of those cinematic head trips so common at the time, but now virtually extinct. Look for Burt Kwouk selling hot dogs!”
As you can tell, I was excited. In fact, I was so excited, I decided to stay up and watch the film as I recorded it! Woo-hoo! Bring on the chips and soda! Yeah, I might be a little sleepy…but this is Deep End, fer chrissakes! I’m not gonna…yawn…miss it. Nope. Oh man, this sofa is comfy. Think I’ll just lie down and close my eyes for a minute. Little nap won’t hurt before the movie starts. Deep End. Can’t wait. Can’t…(cue snoring).
Two and a half hours later, I woke up with a start. I missed the movie! Well, never mind, I recorded it. Didn’t I? I didn’t? I forgot to set the friggin’ timer?
Needless to say, I am excited all over again. But instead of chips and soda, I will be popping No-Doz this evening. That and triple checking to make sure the timer is set.
Saturday 6/26/10
7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Master Minds (1949 USA): One of the better Bowery Boys pictures, Master Minds (series entry 16 should you still be keeping track) relates Sach’s (Huntz Hall) sugar overdose, which gives him the power to predict the future. Slip (Leo Gorcey) turns Sach into a carnival attraction, but mad doctor Druzik (a slumming Alan Napier) kidnaps the lad with the intention of swapping his brain into the body of Atlas the Monster (former Frankenstein’s Monster Glenn Strange). Add in Skelton Knaggs, House of Dracula’s Jane Adams (still with us today at 88), and Minerva Urecal, and you have a horror comedy that even Bowery Boys haters might enjoy. Emphasis on ‘might’.
9:00 PM IFC
Antichrist (2009 DEN and the rest of the EEC): I missed Lars von Trier’s latest when it briefly played in theatres earlier this year, but it certainly alienated a lot of folks. Considering von Trier’s past efforts, that’s probably not surprising, but even so…the amount of negative press Antichrist received was impressive. That said, I’m excited to have another opportunity to see bad things happen to Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg…even if that annoying IFC ‘bug’ keeps appearing at the bottom of the screen. C’mon, guys…is it really necessary to repeatedly promote The Whitest Kids U Know during every movie?
Sunday 6/27/10
8:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Siren of Bagdad (1953 USA): Back when all things Arabian were considered exotic or funny, there were quite a few pictures like this one. Produced independently but released by Columbia, Siren of Bagdad is yet another Arabian Nights-style fantasy comedy, this time featuring Paul Henreid as a magician who rescues slave girls from evil Sultan el Malid (Charles Lung, an actor born in Britain of Chinese parentage). Also along for the orientalist fun: Patricia Medina as the rightful heir to the throne, Hans Conreid as a goofy sidekick, and (in a bit part) occasional Bowery Boy Frankie Darro!