TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex for Tuesday August 3 2010 through Monday August 9 2010
By John Seal
August 2, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 8/03/10
1:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Demon Seed (1977 USA): The concept sounds a bit yucky—computer impregnates woman—but Demon Seed is a surprisingly good science-fiction effort from director Donald Cammell. Julie Christie stars as Susan Harris, wife of super-genius scientist Alex (Fritz Weaver), who’s developed an organic computer named Proteus. Like all men who play God, however, Alex doesn’t understand the forces he’s unleashed until it’s too late. Proteus decides he rather fancies Susan, and after a somewhat clumsy courtship decides to take matters into his own hands, imprisoning her in her own home and then—how can I put this delicately?—raping her. Thankfully, Demon Seed isn’t pure exploitation on a par with such sleazy supernatural sex shockers as The Entity (1982), and handles its delicate subject matter with surprising taste and intelligence. In other words, this ain’t no I Spit on Your Circuit Board.
7:30 PM The Movie Channel
Life is Hot in Cracktown (2009 USA): You can’t go wrong with a title like this! Well, I’m making a leap of faith here, as I actually haven’t seen Life is Hot in Cracktown yet. However, the film was written and directed by Buddy Giovinazzo, the auteur behind 1986’s legendary grindhouse anti-classic Combat Shock—in which a seriously deranged Vietnam vet has problems on the home front—so its street cred is well-established. Though very poorly reviewed (the words ‘poverty porn’ echo ominously through the hallways of the critical academy), the film also features a surprisingly good cast, including Illeana Douglas, Lara Flynn Boyle, RZA, and Kerry Washington. Also airs at 10:30 PM.
Wednesday 8/04/10
5:00 PM HBO 2
12th and Delaware (2010 USA): The continuing abortion wars are examined in this excellent new documentary from the folks who brought us the equally disturbing Jesus Camp. Taking its title from an intersection in the town of Fort Pierce, Florida, the film focuses on two 12th and Delaware neighbors: an abortion clinic and a pro-life ‘Pregnancy Care Center’ that sit on opposite sides of the street. Needless to say, things get quite testy at times, especially when the pro-lifers harass—er, sorry, ‘counsel’—the women going into the clinic. It’s hard to believe this battle is still being fought almost forty years after Roe v. Wade—then again, it’s also hard to believe we’re still boycotting Cuba after fifty, another item of prime political importance in the Sunshine State. Also airs at 8:00 PM and throughout the month.
8:00 PM Sundance
Broken Noses (1987 USA): Boxing fans may want to check out this black and white documentary about a boys' boxing club in Portland, Oregon. Focusing on failed 25-year-old pugilist Andy Minsker, coach for the lads of the Mount Scott club, Broken Noses is a surprisingly arty affair, with a jazz score and snippets of Shakespeare's Richard II thrown in for good measure. Director Bruce Weber's next effort, the Chet Baker bio Let's Get Lost, would end up an Oscar nominee, and while Broken Noses isn't quite as good, it's still a beautifully made film.
Thursday 8/05/10
3:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Lion Hunters (1951 USA): First, the bad news: the Bowery Boys are nowhere to be seen on TCM’s August schedule. Now, the kinda good, this-is-some-sorta-recompense news: Bomba the Jungle Boy is back! TCM aired some of the earlier Bomba films a few years ago, but these later entries in the series have proven quite elusive. For those not familiar with the films, they star Johnny Sheffield as a white ape-boy living the life of Reilly in producer Walter Mirisch’s cardboard Monogram jungle. In The Lion Hunters, the strangely all-American lad takes on the titular sportsmen, who are eager to turn some of Bomba’s animal companions into living room ornamentation. Not so fast, fellas. It’s followed at 4:30 AM by African Treasure (1952), in which our hero faces off against diamond smugglers; at 6:00 AM (and continuing the morning’s jungle theme) by Tarzan’s Fight for Life (1958), featuring Gordon Scott as Edgar Rice Burroughs’ muscular vine swinger; and at 7:30 AM by Tarzan’s Three Challenges (1963), a classic of sorts featuring a severely emaciated, dysentery-racked Jock Mahoney wrestling a snake.
1:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Last Rebel (1971 USA): Football star and erstwhile thespian Joe Namath stars in this frankly dreadful western, which (for those of us obsessed with such matters) makes its widescreen television debut this afternoon. Broadway Joe plays Hollis, a Confederate soldier at the end of the War Between the States (known throughout the Deep South as the Great Patriotic War, I believe) who, along with chum Matt (Jack Elam), is on the run from the Damn Yankees. Fleeing through the badlands of Missouri, the two make common cause with Duncan (Woody Strode), an African-American they rescue from a lynching. Mighty fine o’ them Johnny Rebs to have tender feelins toward a Negro, doncha think? Later, money matters intrude, and Hollis and Duncan face off against Matt, who wants all the cash for himself. This is a truly bad film, but worth watching for Namath, whose appalling ‘acting’ has to be seen to be believed.
7:00 PM IFC
Motel Hell (1980 USA): Has there ever been a more memorable promotional tagline than the one attached to Motel Hell? “It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent fritters” really says it all. Rory Calhoun, slumming but clearly having fun, plays Vincent Smith, a farmer who ‘grows’ people on a small plot of land, then sells their…by-products…from his roadside food stand. Locally grown organic produce is where it’s at today, and Farmer Vincent was already there decades ago. Wolfman Jack co-stars as gravel-voiced preacherman Reverend Billy.
7:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003 USA): A great cast makes up for a so-so story in this action-filled Robert Rodriguez flick, which makes its widescreen television debut this evening. A sequel to Rodriguez’ early masterpiece El Mariachi, the film features Antonio Banderas as a gun for hire brought out of retirement by CIA agent Sands (Johnny Depp) to help overthrow the Mexican government. The film is much too convoluted for its own good—the charm of the first film was, at least in part, due to the simplicity of its plot—but Banderas and Depp are ably assisted by a star-studded array of supporting actors, including Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin, Ruben Blades, Danny Trejo, Eva Mendes, Enrique Iglesias, Tito Larriva, Willem Dafoe, and Mickey Rourke. Interestingly (but entirely coincidentally), the original El Mariachi also airs this evening, on Encore Mystery at 10:35 PM.
Friday 8/06/10
9:00 PM Sundance
Monster (2003 USA): Charlize Theron gives the performance of a lifetime in this outstanding biopic about serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Theron, who would later deliver one of the most embarrassing suck up to my agent and my lawyer thank you speeches of all time for this Oscar-winning turn, is breathtaking (not to mention unrecognizable) as Wuornos, a part-time prostitute who got tired of being beaten up by johns and decided to do something about it. Seven dead dudes later, Wuornos was arrested, sentenced to death, and subsequently executed in 2002. Directed by Patty Jenkins (who, sadly, hasn’t done much since), Monster also features outstanding performances from Christina Ricci as Aileen’s lover Selby and Bruce Dern as un-murdered male chum Thomas.
Saturday 8/07/10
9:00 PM Sundance
Tazza: The High Rollers (2006 KOR): As sad as I am about the Bowery Boys absence on Saturday mornings, it looks like we’re getting a new season of Asia Extreme on Sundance, albeit on Saturday rather than Sunday nights. Kicking things off is this South Korean thriller about gambling. I haven’t seen it yet, but reviews were generally positive, and co-star Hye-su Kim was excellent in 2005’s The Red Shoes. Of course, I’d be checking it out even if the reviews were bad and Kim was a worse actor than Joe Namath. That’s how I roll.
Sunday 8/08/10
8:30 AM Fox Movie Channel
Woman Obsessed (1959 USA): A decent (if overly ruminative) character study helmed by the under appreciated Henry Hathaway, Woman Obsessed stars Susan Hayward as Mary, a weary widow weepily trying to keep the family farm a going concern. She hires jack-of-all-trades beefcake Fred (Stephen Boyd) to help around the homestead, and sure enough, the two make doe eyes at each other and end up tying the knot. Fred, however, is the tightly wound sort and doesn’t get along too well with stepson Robbie (Dennis Holmes), and expresses his distress by punishing Mary in unspeakable fashion. Woman Obsessed is pretty standard fifties melodramatic fare, but Hayward was always good in this type of role, and the film makes a rare widescreen appearance tonight. Arthur Franz, fresh off 1958’s Monster on the Campus, plays unlucky hubby number one.
5:30 PM IFC
Slayground (1984 GB): Peter Coyote in a slasher flick?!? Well…sorta. Coyote plays Stone, a taciturn criminal who robs an armored car and kills an innocent passer-by whilst making his escape. Alas, this unfortunate accident causes said innocent’s father (Morons From Outer Space’s Mel Smith, oddly enough) to go completely around the bend. Dad hires a killer to track down and eliminate Stone…but Stone is a resourceful sort, and the killer ends up killing a bunch of other innocent people who get in the way. Two wrongs do make a right, apparently, or director Terry Bedford and writer Trevor Preston were convinced they were making a heavy, heavy monster statement with their film. Regardless, this completely bizarre feature was shot in New York and England: specifically, in my original home town of Southport (20 miles north of my birthplace, Liverpool) and Blackpool.
8:45 PM Showtime Extreme
Transsiberian (2008 USA): Not sure I’m buying this, but the program guide indicates this will be a letterboxed airing of Transsiberian. If that’s the case, it’s a must-see, but if not, it’s still a good thriller about mysterious goings on aboard a train in the middle of nowhere. Woody Harrelson, Ben Kingsley, and Emily Mortimer headline.
Monday 8/09/10
8:00 PM Starz
Capitalism: A Love Story (2009 USA): Michael Moore’s most recent screed is perhaps his best yet. Setting his sights on the crony capitalism that has all but destroyed the economic bedrock of the United States, the film continues a welcome Moore trend: there are fewer pranks then in the past, though chuckles are duly provoked by those that remain (the crime scene tape is a classic). As in most Michael Moore features, the focus tends to wander, but Capitalism: A Love Story is still a powerful broadside. Also airs at 11:00 PM.