TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex for June 29 2010 through July 5 2010
By John Seal
June 28, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 6/29/10
9:30 AM HBO Signature
For Neda (2010 USA): Who was Neda Agha-Soltan? We do know she was a young Tehrani woman who died protesting the results of last year’s contentious Iranian presidential election. But is that all there is? Was she also a poster child for the Green Movement, a traitor to the Islamic Revolution, or a convenient chess piece for American neo-conservatives? This brand new HBO original documentary, narrated by actress Shohreh Agdashloo, tries to distill the essence of the real Neda Agha-Soltan, a child of middle-class affluence shot dead by Basij militiamen on the streets of Tehran on June 20 2009. Utilizing interview footage of her friends and family, as well as the infamous video footage of her death, For Neda is a gripping and very, very sad film.
9:00 PM IFC
The Gate (1987 USA): This rather silly horror flick makes its widescreen television debut this evening. Directed by Tibor Takacs (Mansquito, Mega Snake), The Gate features the big screen debut of fourteen-year old Stephen Dorff as Glen, a youngster who discovers a passage to Hell beneath an uprooted tree in his back garden. Left alone with sister Al (Christa Denton) and best bud Terry (Louis Tripp), Glen must find a way to seal the hole and return the Devil’s minions to the fiery pit from whence they came before Mom and Dad return home from vacation. The Gate is pretty tame stuff (even for a PG-13 movie), but if you’re the kind of person who enjoys Ghoulies, Goonies, and Honey I Shrunk the Trolls (okay, sorry, I made that one up), you’ll enjoy it.
Wednesday 6/30/10
7:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Side Street (1950 USA): MGM weren't known for their crime dramas or noirs, but on the rare occasions they made ‘em, they usually did ‘em right. Directed by Anthony Mann, Side Street is an above average thriller featuring Farley Granger as Joe Norson, a mailman trying to make ends meet and keep his family fed. Then one day, whilst earning money for food, up from the ground came a bubblin' crude. By which, of course, I mean that Joe steals some dirty money from scumbags Georgie and Victor (James Craig and Edmon Ryan) and finds it hard to make amends. If you like fifties location footage of New York, flag down a yellow cab toot sweet and take a trip to Side Street.
3:15 PM IFC
2:37 (2006 AUS): Hmm. Is that the time of day, a mathematical equation, or a biblical verse? I’m being a bit disingenuous, because I know the answer, but you’ll need to tune in and watch this Australian ensemble drama to find out for yourself. Set in an Adelaide high school, 2:37 details a difficult day in the lives of six Aussie students. There’s the pregnant girl (Teresa Palmer), the boy with the bad temper (Frank Sweet), the pot-smoking loser (Joel Mackenzie), the nerd (Charles Baird), the tortured jock with a secret (Sam Harris), and the nice girl (Marni Spillane). How much you’ll enjoy 2:37 will probably depend on how much you enjoyed Gus Van Sant’s Elephant, though this film’s (admittedly stereotypical) characters are a little more engaging than Elephant’s emotionless cyphers.
Thursday 7/01/10
2:00 AM IFC
Coffin Joe: The Strange World of Jose Mojica Marins (2001 BRA): IFC has, from time to time, aired the films of Jose Marins, the bearded, top-hatted actor whose series of Coffin Joe (Zé do Caixão) horror films have been packing ‘em in in Brazil since the early 1960s. This, however, is the first time they’ve shown this excellent documentary about the Coffin Joe phenomenon. For fans and neophytes alike, The Strange World of Jose Mojica Marins is a great compendium of clips and interview footage that really captures the flavor and the feeling—not to mention the philosophy—of Coffin Joe, still a going concern after all these years.
9:00 AM Univision
El Zurdo (1965 MEX): I generally don’t recommend films that air on commercial channels, but we’ll make a brief exception here because this film is so, so obscure…at least for English-speaking film fans. Perhaps Mexican cineastes know it like the back of their hand, but I sure don’t! At any rate, the DirecTV program guide plot synopsis describes it thusly: Dos amigos comparten una enorme pasion por el juego, which I think translates roughly as ‘two friends share an enormous love’. The film features Mexi-horror veteran German Robles as well as Ofelia Montesco from Bunuel’s The Exterminating Angel, and was directed by Arturo Martinez, also responsible for such intriguing titles as La Muerte en Bikini (1967) and Los Vampiros do Coyoacan (1974). No way I’m going to miss El Zurdo…even though there won’t be any subtitles!
Friday 7/02/10
6:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Flying High (1931 USA): Early Hollywood musicals were frequently amongst the strangest of major studio productions, and Flying High is no exception. The Cowardly Lion himself, Bert Lahr, stars as Rusty, an airplane mechanic who has invented an experimental vehicle called an aero-copter and is planning to give it a test flight at a prestigious air show. Also on hand are Charlotte Greenwood as Rusty’s loose-limbed gal pal Pansy, super Busby Berkeley choreography, a picture of Clark Gable, and some steamy pre-Code footage—none of it, thankfully, featuring co-stars Guy Kibbee and Hedda Hopper.
9:00 PM IFC
Hostel (2005 USA): Between this and Turistas, IFC has been on a bit of a torture porn spree lately. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the genre (though I maintain a bit of a soft spot for the Saw series), but Hostel makes its widescreen television debut this evening and at least has the advantage of being superior to its repulsive sequel, 2007’s cleverly monickered Hostel: Part II. If you’ve ever considered spending your next holiday backpacking through Central Europe, this film may change your mind. Look for Japanese director Takashi Miike’s cameo appearance as himself.
Saturday 7/03/10
7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Blonde Dynamite (1950 USA): Slip, Sach, and pals take over the Sweet Shop and run an escort service from the back room whilst Louie vacations on Coney Island in Blonde Dynamite, the seventeenth Bowery Boys film. Adele Jergens stars as Joanie Marshall, a floozy fooling around with Gabe (Gabriel Dell) whilst fronting for a gang of bank robbers plotting to burrow their way into the bank next door. Hilarity and malapropisms ensue.
7:30 PM Flix
Explorers (1985 USA): it’s been quite some time since Joe Dante’s kiddie sci-fi feature Explorers has been on television, and tonight’s screening also marks the first time its aired there in widescreen. Ethan Hawke made his film debut as Ben Crandall, a geeky teen obsessed with extraterrestrials who designs a spaceship with pals Wolfgang (fellow newcomer River Phoenix) and Darren (Jason Presson). Utilizing odds and ends from around the house, the lads turn their design into a working vehicle and blast off for zany intergalactic adventures. As with all Dante films, there’s a cast of familiar faces (Dick Miller, James Cromwell) and copious references to the fantasy films of the director’s childhood. It’s good, clean, and enjoyable fun for the whole family—a science fiction Gate, if you will.
Sunday 7/04/10
9:15 AM Flix
Inside Moves (1980 USA): Here's one of those films that should show up during TCM's 31 Days of Oscar, but rarely do. Inside Moves is an underappreciated drama featuring an outstanding Academy Award-nominated performance from Diana Scarwid as Louise, a social worker helping newly-wheelchair bound Roary (John Savage, also excellent) adapt to life without legs. Roary has brought his difficulties on himself—he jumped off a bridge—but isn't getting much in the way of support from bitter best pal Jerry (David Morse), a Golden State Warriors basketball player who doesn't have the funds to get his knee repaired. The NBA didn't offer health insurance in 1980?? East Bay residents such as myself will appreciate the Oakland location footage, whilst Warriors fans will be cock-a-hoop to see the entire 1980 team in action.
Monday 7/05/10
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Moby Dick (1956 USA): An evening of Gregory Peck features is highlighted by this big screen adaptation of Herman Melville’s classic novel. Director John Huston’s film version has always impressed me, but perhaps I’d be less favorably inclined towards it if I’d actually read the book: yes, I’m ashamed to admit I’ve yet to reel in a copy! That said, Ahab’s quest for the great white whale is so deeply ingrained in American pop culture that it feels like I’ve read at least the Cliffs’ Notes version, and Huston’s work lends the story the epic quality it demands. Shot in color by the great British cinematographer Oswald Morris and featuring a stellar supporting cast—including Harry Andrews, Orson Welles, Richard Basehart, Leo Genn, Joan Plowright, and James Robertson Justice—Moby Dick is as good as a mainstream Hollywood epic gets.
6:00 PM HBO
No One Dies in Lily Dale (2010 USA): For some reason the title of this brand new HBO documentary is reminding me of Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle, but please be assured the subject matter is much less salacious (if no less ridiculous). Lily Dale is not a porn star, but a town in upstate New York with an inordinately high percentage of seers and mediums amongst its population. The film examines those who come to the town (and have been coming since 1879!) in search of answers from their deceased loved ones, and was directed by Academy Award nominee Steven Cantor. Will it be suitably skeptical, or wide-eyed and gullible? You’ll have to tune in to find out, as I haven’t had the opportunity to screen this one in advance. Also airs at 9:00 PM.
5:00 Sundance
Of Time and the City (2009 GB): I was born in Liverpool, England, and though I’ve lived in the United States most of my life I still feel a strong connection to the city. So does director and fellow ex-Liverpudlian Terence Davies, who made this all too brief (but brilliant and beautiful) tribute to a city that is much more than the birthplace of British beat music. If you’re old enough to remember a time when coal smoke filled the air, horsedrawn wagons traversed the streets, and Britannia’s merchant navy ruled the waves, you’ll adore this heartfelt salute to the Pool. Also airs at 10:15 PM.