TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex for July 20 2010 through July 26 2010
By John Seal
July 19, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 7/20/10
4:45 AM IFC
Walkabout (1971 AUS): I think I’ve written about Walkabout once or twice before, but it’s a truly wonderful film and I can’t resist heaping a bit more praise on it. Set in the Australian outback, the film features Jenny Agutter and Luc Roeg (son of director Nic) as two Anglo children abandoned in the wilderness, only to be rescued and cared for by an Aborigine teenager (legendary Native Australian actor David Gulpilil, in his first role). That’s basically it. Roger Ebert compared Walkabout to Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, and that seems like an apt comparison, as the film lacks much in the way of traditional plot. On the other hand, it’s a stunningly beautiful work of art (and I don’t use that term lightly) that brilliantly illuminates man’s relationship to the Earth, compares and contrasts the concepts of ‘civilization’ and ‘barbarism’, and features a haunting John Barry score. In other words, it’s a must see. Also airs at 10:30 AM and on 7/21 at 2:00 AM.
10:10 AM Flix
The 400 Blows (1959 FRA): It must be classic movie week in the TiVoPlex, because here’s another one. Don’t worry, we’ll get to the Bowery Boys soon enough! The film that made an auteur out of director Francois Truffaut, The 400 Blows is a marvelous coming-of-age drama about the youthful stirrings of young Frenchman Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud). Antoine lives with his Mere and Step-Pere (Claire Maurier and Albert Remy), but despite their best efforts he can’t seem to stay out of trouble: whether sneaking a smoke, engaging in a little shop-lifting, or merely peeking at a little cheesecake (ooh la la!), our hero is always up to his neck in it. The semi-autobiographical Doinel would return in three additional Truffaut films, but this is the best of the lot, and one of the foundation stones of the French New Wave.
Wednesday 7/21/10
3:00 PM Showtime 3
Grace (2009 USA): Button-cute scream queen Jordan Ladd (Cabin Fever, Hostel: Part II) births a decidedly unattractive child in this grimly effective and decidedly yucky horror flick. Ladd is Madeline, who’s had two previous miscarriages and is determined that her third pregnancy will be the charm. Unfortunately, she and her husband get into a car wreck in which both he and the fetus are killed. Unchastened by this Act of God, Madeline decides to carry the corpse to term—with predictably unpleasant results. You’ll either be completely engrossed in Grace, or completely grossed out by it: there’s no middle ground with this one.
5:00 PM HBO
Lucky (2010 USA): Are you feeling lucky, punk? If so, tune in for this brand new HBO documentary about the wonderful world of legalized gambling. Lucky focuses on the national Powerball lottery, which entices millions of Americans with dreams of quick, easy wealth in exchange for a painless $1 (or maybe $2, or $5, or…) investment. The odds of winning it all are, apparently, 195,249,054 to one, but that doesn’t stop folks from imagining themselves next week’s winner. Amongst the players featured herein: Verna, a housewife who’s fruitlessly spent thousands over the course of decades; James, who was literally down to his last three bucks before winning five million more; and Quang, a factory worker who split the big prize with his colleagues. Directed by Jeffrey Blitz (2003’s Oscar-nominated Spellbound), Lucky also airs at 8:00 PM.
10:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Ladies of the Jury (1932 USA): The wonderfully stuffy Edna Mae Oliver stars in this entertaining RKO mystery with comedic overtones. Edna Mae plays Mrs. Livingstone Crane, a society woman who finds herself assigned to a jury passing judgement on Yvette Gordon (Jill Esmond). Yvette is accused of murdering her wealthy husband, and the evidence provided by maid Evelyn Snow (Helene Millard) is damning indeed. But Mrs. Crane is nothing if not hard to convince, and her refusal to cast a vote of ‘guilty’ leads the jury to take a fresh look at things. It’s a bit like Twelve Angry Men, only with One Stubborn Woman thrown into the mix. Look for Hollywood’s most famous stutterer, Roscoe Ates, as a fellow juror.
Thursday 7/22/10
9:15 AM Flix
Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies (1969 GB): The 1920s were much in vogue during the late 1960s (how else to explain Tiny Tim?), and amongst the cultural flotsam and jetsam tossed up by this nostalgic wave was this film. Greatly inspired by Blake Edwards’ bloated comedy-adventure The Great Race (along with 1965’s Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines and 1967’s Those Fantastic Flying Fools), TDYMiTJJ stars Tony Curtis as Chester Schofield, a motorist who enters a cross-continental rally for love and money. The comedy is broad, the romantic sub-plot uninteresting, and the cars divine—but most folks will want to tune in for the all-star cast, which includes Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Terry-Thomas, Gert Frobe, Susan Hampshire, Hattie Jacques, Jack Hawkins, Eric Sykes, and a whole bunch of familiar French and German faces you may not be able to put a name to. Perhaps most importantly, TDYMiTJJ airs this morning in widescreen—it’s an unwatchable abomination in pan and scan.
11:00 AM HBO Signature
Schmatta (2009 USA): New York City’s legendary garment district gets the documentary treatment in this terrific HBO original. Directed by reliable if unflashy filmmaker Marc Levin (Soldiers in the Army of God, Protocols of Zion), it surveys the past, present, and uncertain future of "the rag trade", which has of late been hemorrhaging manufacturing jobs along with the rest of the United States. Beginning with the Triangle Factory Fire (in which HBO producer Sheila Nevins' great aunt was killed) and concluding with the outsourcing epidemic of the present day, this is a fine documentary about one of Manhattan's most fascinating ethnic and business enclaves.
8:45 PM Turner Classic Movies
Gregory’s Girl (1982 GB): If there’s one word that best describes this made-in-Scotland rom-com, it’s ‘lovely’. Written and directed by Bill Forsyth (Local Hero), Gregory’s Girl stars geeky John Gordon Sinclair as the titular teenager, a lad with a schoolboy crush on football teammate Dorothy (Dee Hepburn). Gregory is hellbent on winning her heart, but he seems incapable of making a good impression: Dorothy’s even better at football than he is. Enter platonic gal pal Susan (Altered Images singer Clare Grogan), who is determined to give our hero a new lease on life. Gregory’s Girl is a romantic comedy with a difference: it won’t make you throw up in your mouth, and it won’t treat you like a complete idiot. In other words, it’s soooo dreamy.
Friday 7/23/10
3:30 AM Sundance
Leila Khaled (2006 SWE): Nobody likes a 'terrorist'--but watch this film, and you will have a better understanding of what motivates one. Leila Khaled was born in Palestine in 1944, and--along with hundreds of thousands of other Palestinian Arabs--lost her home in 1948 when Israel came into existence. Exiled throughout the Middle East, the Palestinian people placed their hope in Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, but when the 1967 war ended in disaster, they turned to more radical tactics, including airline hijackings. This utterly riveting documentary, produced for Swedish television, tells the story of Ms. Khaled, the poster girl for the Palestinian liberation movement, who was involved in a pair of hijackings, and who now works on behalf of her people as a member of the Palestinian National Council. For anyone interested in the often byzantine history of Palestine and Israel, this is essential viewing.
Saturday 7/24/10
7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Blues Busters (1950 USA): I told you we’d get to the Boys soon enough! In this outing (series entry number 19), Sach (Huntz Hall) gets his tonsils removed—and becomes a smooth Crosby-style crooner as a result. Slip (Leo Gorcey) and the boys decide to cash in on his newly dulcet tones, and open a night club, but find they have criminal competition. Interesting footnote: Blues Busters marked the final series appearance of Gabriel Dell, one of the original Dead End Kids.
1:00 PM HBO
A Small Act (2010 USA): In the mood for something heartwarming? Check out this documentary about a Swedish woman who paid for the education of a Kenyan child who grew up, graduated from Harvard Law School, and became a United Nations Human Rights Commissioner. He also started his own scholarship fund in honor of his mentor. Somehow A Small Act manages to tell this story without resorting to doe-eyed sentimentality, and Sally Struthers is nowhere to be seen. Also airs at 4:00 PM.
Sunday 7/25/10
8:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Noose Hangs High (1948 USA): I was a pretty big Abbott and Costello fan when I was a wee sprout. Their movies aired constantly on commercial television throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s, but there were three dozen of them and you never got bored with the repeated routines. Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, Captain Kidd—A & C capered with all of them throughout their wildly successful career, but one of the duo’s films never, ever aired in the Los Angeles area—and this is it. Even Dance With Me Henry and Africa Screams would show up every now and then, but not The Noose Hangs High! I used to think this was because of the film’s somewhat gruesome and out of character title, but now I suspect it all came down to business: this was the only film A&C produced themselves, and probably wasn’t included in syndication packages sold to television by Universal. It’s now part of the MGM library and has even been released on DVD, but for me remains a bit of a holy grail, somewhat akin to Val Lewton’s Ghost Ship before it also resurfaced a few years ago. Long story short: this is the only A&C film I’ve never seen, and I’m thrilled it’s finally showing up on TCM.
Monday 7/26/10
5:00 PM Sundance
The U.S. vs. John Lennon (2006 USA): Richard Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover did not like John Lennon. The lank-haired Liverpudlian was, they believed, a terrible and even dangerous influence on American youth, and Hoover’s FBI worked hard to keep him out of the United States. Lennon, of course, had relocated to the States in the early ‘70s and begun supporting a number of radical political causes, and the Feds desperately tried to deport him on the basis of a British drugs conviction. This fascinating and still topical film is essential viewing for any self-respecting Lennon fan, and anyone who cherishes civil liberties and the right to dissent.