TiVoPlex
By John Seal
November 1, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 11/2/10
2:30 AM Flix
Betrayal (1983 GB): An infrequently seen British drama, Betrayal gets a rare airing on Flix this morning. Written by the great Harold Pinter (and based on one of his less well-known plays), the film stars Jeremy Irons as fashionable literary agent Jerry, a handsome rake cuckolding his best buddy, publisher Robert (Ben Kingsley). The film tells its story in reverse, beginning with Jerry’s pub reunion with paramour Emma (Rumpole of the Bailey’s Patricia Hodge) two years after the fact and re-tracing the end and the beginning of their relationship, in that order. Directed by David Hugh Jones, Betrayal is classic Pinter: incisive, intelligent, and never showy.
8:30 AM Flix
Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1972 USA): Hubba, hubba! Fans of a very different kind of playwright - in this instance, wry comic Neil Simon - will want to check out the widescreen television debut of this memorably titled sex farce. The great Alan Arkin plays middle-aged restaurant operator Barney Cashman, who’s not getting quite everything he wants out of his marriage to wife Jeanette (Renee Taylor). When Barney realizes that his mother’s apartment is always vacant one day a week, he decides to test the waters and see if he can find sexual satisfaction with other partners, including Paula Prentiss and Sally Kellerman. Unsurprisingly, his flings have unexpected and hilarious consequences. Directed by Gene Saks and scored by Neal Hefti (!), Last of the Red Hot Lovers is good, old-fashioned fun from one of America’s most beloved and prolific writers.
4:30 PM Cinemax
Black Sunday (1977 USA): I always found the premise of this film more enjoyable than the film itself. As someone who can’t stand football, the idea of a psychologically scarred Vietnam vet (played in suitably twitchy fashion by Bruce Dern) plotting to disrupt the Stupor Bowl by detonating a bomb with a dart shot from the Goodyear blimp seems…strangely attractive. Though director John Frankenheimer tries valiantly to make this ridiculous idea work on screen, the end result is rather flat, with Robert Shaw offering one of his poorer performances as Israeli secret agent Kabakov and normally reliable Fritz Weaver merely so-so as FBI agent Corley. All in all, Black Sunday is a good (if implausible) idea executed with a distinct lack of vim and vigor. Also airs at 7:30 PM.
6:05 PM Sundance
No One Knows About Persian Cats (2009 IRN): The fledging and deeply underground Iranian indie music scene gets a look-in in this brave feature from filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi (A Time for Drunken Horses). Shot in what weren’t the easiest of conditions in Tehran (arrests were made), No One Knows About Persian Cats stars Nagar Shaghaghi and Ashkan Koshanejad as Nagar and Ashkan, a nu-folk duo hoping to spread their wings and fly to London for a series of concerts. Getting visas, however, is a daunting affair - as is staying one step ahead of the police, who are determined to break up any unapproved concerts taking place in the Islamic Republic’s capital city. This Kafkaesque drama, enlivened by an amazing array of Iranian musical talent, was the final straw for Ghobadi, Koshanejad, and Shaghaghi,who have since gone into self-imposed exile. Sometimes life does imitate art.
Wednesday 11/3/10
4:00 AM HBO Signature
The Nine Lives of Marion Barry (2009 USA): This even-handed documentary may make you reconsider your opinion of Washington, DC, politician Marion Barry. Barry, a civil rights movement veteran with a healthy ego and an eye for the ladies, served four tumultuous terms as mayor of Washington and is now in his second term as council representative for the city's impoverished 8th Ward. His political career began in triumph as the white southerners who had traditionally controlled city patronage and purse-strings were swept into the dustbin of history; by the time of Barry's fourth mayoral term, however, the southerners regained control thanks to the GOP resurgence of the late 1990s - and to the mayor's taste for sex, drugs, and alcohol. There's no doubt that Barry did sterling work in the city prior to his first term in office, and no doubt that he was targeted and set-up by a zealous federal prosecutor who also happened to be a Republican. The film unfortunately skimps on the details of what he actually accomplished as mayor, but it's easy to understand why Barry became a neighborhood hero: he's the local lad who made good and overcame his own personal demons. Is that enough to warrant his continued presence on the city council? Barry's vigorous opposition to gay marriage (not discussed in this film) opens him up to charges of hypocrisy, and would certainly be the last straw for me. But it's also clear that, though now more of a follower than a leader, Barry remains a man of the people. Like him or not, he reflects the hopes and aspirations of his constituents.
8:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
Nickelodeon (1976 USA): For some reason, I always get this film confused with Bugsy Malone when I should be getting it confused with Paper Moon. After all, both Nickelodeon and Paper Moon are set in the first half of the 20th century, were directed by Peter Bogdanovich, and star Ryan and Tatum O’Neal, but for some reason that other film - helmed by Alan Parker, headlined by Jodie Foster - always comes to mind. Anyhoo, Nickelodeon is nowhere near as good as Paper Moon, nowhere near as twee as Bugsy Malone, and a touch too goofy but still good fun and worth a look. Ryan O. plays Leo Harrigan, a lawyer who winds up becoming a filmmaker during Hollywood’s earliest days, whilst Burt Reynolds makes the most of his performance as manual worker turned leading man Buck Greenway.
Thursday 11/4/10
9:45 AM More Max
Silver (1999 JAP): Here’s something you don’t see every day on More Max: a straight-to-video Takashi Miike crime drama about wrestling, with (apparently) BDSM overtones. Yikes. I haven’t seen Silver yet, but you can be sure I’ll be checking it out this morning.
11:15 AM Encore Action
Superman (1978 USA-GB): Richard Donner’s classic comic book adaptation gets a rare widescreen airing today on Encore Action. For those who’ve been living without access to mass media for the last quarter century plus, it’s the tale of superhero Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve), exiled from Krypton and newly arrived on Earth, where his cover as a mild-mannered reporter allows him to do battle against (amongst others) villain Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman). It’s followed at 2:40 PM by 1980’s Superman II, also in its original aspect ratio and focused on Kent’s desire to hang up the tights and marry fellow news-hound Lois Lane (Margot Kidder); and at 4:50 PM by 1983’s Superman III, oddly not listed as appearing in letterboxed format but co-starring Richard Pryor as a comic baddie.
10:00 PM Sundance
Vincere (2009 ITA): Benito Mussolini’s love life doesn’t sound like the most attractive subject for a film, but that’s what we get in Vincere, and happily the results aren’t too appalling. Filippo Timi plays Mussolini in his younger, pre-great dictator days (too bad Jack Oakie wasn’t available), when he was tall, dark and handsome and irresistible to woman of means Ida Dalser (Giovanna Mezzogiorno), who loves him for his inner and outer beauty but doesn’t really care one way or the other about his creepy political opinions. Benito knocks Ida up, goes off to war, disappears for a while, and then reappears with a wife and some heavy-duty political aspirations. Complications - and Ida’s admission to the loony bin - ensue. Written and directed by established vet Marco Bellochio, Vincere was a big hit on the festival circuit and a firm Silvio Berlusconi favorite. Kidding. I think.
Friday 11/5/10
6:45 AM The Movie Channel
Heartland (1979 USA): Regular readers know that westerns (non-spaghetti variety) rarely make an appearance in the ‘Plex, but this one’s worth a quick mention. That’s down to three things: great performances by leads Rip Torn and Conchata Ferrell, and stunning Montana location footage shot by cinematographer Fred Murphy, who’d later film The Dead for John Huston. As for the story, it’s the usual stuff about hardy pioneers overcoming every curve ball nature throws at them. Heartland is not exactly thrilling - sorry, no shootouts or Indian massacres here - but is superbly served by its cast and crew, who truly make a silk purse out of, if not a sow’s ear, perhaps a pair of dull but comfortable ear muffs.
11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Secret Ceremony (1968 GB): Last time this Joseph Losey feature appeared on TCM (1/19/07), it appeared in pan and scan. That’s been corrected this go-round. Liz Taylor stars as Leonora, an aging sex worker who finds herself adopted by immature 22-year-old Cenci (Mia Farrow), who accosts her one day on the bus after mistaking her for her dead mother. Disturbed at first by the stalkiness of it all, Leonora tries to give her admirer the slip, but soon warms to her presence when she learns Cenci is a young woman of some means. After a suitably sunny honeymoon period, creepy step-dad Albert (Robert Mitchum) shows up on their doorstep, jolting Leonora and Cenci back to reality and setting off a disturbing series of recriminations, rape accusations, and seedy sexual shenanigans, none of them involving Julian Assange. Unless you've invested in Universal's region 2 PAL disc - or, like me, have an old videocassette hanging around - this is the only way to catch this quaintly perverse oddity, which also features a slumming Dame Peggy Ashcroft as Cenci's light-fingered aunt.
6:00 PM Showtime
Cocaine Cowboys II: Hustlin’ with the Godmother (2008 USA): I haven’t seen this documentary yet, but with a title like this you know it’s going to be on moi’s radar. Even more enticing: it’s partly filmed in my adopted hometown of Oakland, California, home of the hyphy and land of the sideshow! The original Cocaine Cowboys was a sleazy but informative doc, so here’s hoping for more of the same from part deux. Also airs at 9:00 PM.
Saturday 11/6/10
7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Loose in London (1953 USA): One of the least convincing cinematic reproductions of London town - and that’s saying something - appears in this Bowery Boys entry, in which the lads cross the Atlantic after Sach (Huntz Hall) inherits a fortune. Luckily most of the action is set in a creepy old mansion complete with dungeon, in which Sach becomes the target of a murder plot designed to fleece him of his legacy. Should you still be keeping count, this is series entry number 30.
5:00 PM HBO
Avatar (2009 USA): Here’s a little film a few of you might have heard about. I’m not sure why you’d want to watch Avatar flat, but if that’s your desire, it makes its television debut this evening. Also airs at 8:00 PM and from here until the sun burns out and/or Jesus returns.
6:00 PM Starz
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus(2009 GB): As much as I enjoyed Avatar - yes, I really did like it, though it wasn’t worthy of that Best Picture nom - Terry Gilliam’s latest effort was by far the best fantasy feature of 2009. Starring Christopher Plummer as the title character - a traveling magician who’s made a deal with the Devil (the wonderful Tom Waits) for the soul of his daughter (Lily Cole) - this is the best Gilliam feature in a long time, with the director finally harnessing his limitless visual imagination with a story worth telling. I absolutely adore this film - and it single-handedly convinced me I needed to finally make the move to Blu-Ray. Also airs at 9:00 PM.
Sunday 11/7/10
5:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Ten Little Indians (1966 GB): A mildly entertaining adaptation of one of Agatha Christie’s best and best-known stories, Ten Little Indians features an international cast (Leo Genn, Daliah Lavi, Fabian, and others) as visitors to a remote mountaintop villa, where they’re being murdered one by one. Though the film is burdened by producer Harry Alan Towers usual low-budget limitations, it’s still fun trying to guess who’s going to be knocked off next - plus we get to hear the uncredited voice of Christopher Lee!
4:15 PM Sundance
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000 USA): Anyone watching this documentary will end up loving Tammy Faye Bakker, the much maligned, much ridiculed wife of televangelist Jim Bakker. Tammy Faye died of breast cancer in 2007, and she was already ill when this film was made, but her overwhelming lust for life and open-hearted "live and let live" philosophy will win over all but the stoniest of hearts. So what if she wore too much make-up and her husband was a jackass? It’s the feel-good movie of the week.
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Metropolis (1924 GER): The fully restored "Argentinian" print of Fritz Lang’s futuristic classic made a resoundingly successful trip around the festival circuit earlier this year and now makes its television debut on TCM (Kino on Video will be releasing the film on DVD, complete with bells and whistles, a little later this month). Though I missed Metropolis during its roadshow release, I can’t adequately express to you my excitement over this development, which saw approximately 40 minutes of previously "lost" footage added to what was already a bonafide science-fiction masterpiece. This is far and away TiVoPlex movie of the week, and is essential viewing for anyone remotely interested in cinema as an art form or the sci-fi genre. It’s followed at 8:00 PM by the new documentary Metropolis Refound, which details the rediscovery and restoration process; at 9:00 PM by Lang’s later intrigue classic Spies (1928), in which Rudolf Klein-Rogge lay the foundation for all international screen super spies to come; and at 11:30 PM by M (1930), Lang’s grueling tale of a child murderer (Peter Lorre) and his ultimate comeuppance.
Monday 11/8/10
9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Birth of a Nation (1915 USA): Once a staple on PBS, D. W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation rarely gets TV airings any more - in large part because of its abject and unforgivable treatment of African-Americans. As a result, both the film and filmmaker Griffith have fallen into, if not disregard, a category of things best left undiscussed in polite company. That’s a real shame, of course, as this is a great film made by one of the true pioneers of cinema - a man who was probably considered a bit of a wimpy liberal in his day thanks to the "can’t we all get along" plea that was Intolerance (1916) and the stunning anti-war classic Hearts of the World (1918). No doubt, Birth of a Nation is a hard slog at times - but it remains a hugely important and influential film that everyone should see at least once.