TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex
By John Seal
September 3, 2012
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 9/4/12
11:45 PM (Monday 9/3) Turner Classic Movies
My Name Is Ivan (1962 USSR): Okay, so sue me! Yes, I’m cheating here, and should have included this film in last week’s column. However, its late-in-the-day start time on the program grid threw me for a loop – and it’s such a fine film it really does deserve your attention. Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky (Solaris, Andrei Rublev), My Name is Ivan charts the adventures of a 12-year-old boy (Kolya Burlyayev) who undertakes dangerous spying missions on behalf of Mother Russia during the darkest days of World War II. Though thoroughly patriotic, the film was banned in the Soviet Union for its suggestion that the country might have needed (and used) children to defend itself. A fascinating blend of gritty realism and fantasy that established the artistic template Tarkovsky would return to in his later, even dreamier, work, My Name Is Ivan features a cameo appearance by future director Andrey Konchalovsky as a (fully grown) Russian soldier. It’s followed at 1:30 AM by Orlando (1992 GB), Sally Potter’s strangely similar yet utterly different (and quite unique) Virginia Woolf time travel mini-epic.
5:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
The Other (1972 USA): This film has aired many, many times on both Fox and TCM since the TiVoPlex opened its doors ten years ago this week. However, The Other only recently began screening in its original aspect ratio and is worth another look if you’ve previously only scoped it in pan and scan. Directed by Robert Mulligan, the film tells the eerie tale of twins Niles and Holland Perry (real life twins Chris and Martin Udvarnoky) who play a special "game" taught to them by their grandmother (Uta Hagen). In the Other, it truly is fun and games until someone gets hurt, and once that happens the twins heretofore extremely close relationship begins to fray in disturbing and dangerous ways. The film is a little too low-key for my liking, but an opportunity to see Robert Surtees’ cinematography in widescreen makes this a tempting option.
2:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Anzio (1968 ITA-USA): This movie used to play all the time on local television back in the early ‘70s. I guess Peter Falk was pretty popular back then, what with Colombo and all, but boy...Anzio was on a lot, and this war movie mad adolescent watched it as many times as he could. Directed by Edward Dmytryk with a helping hand from Duilio Coletti, the film stars Falk as a GI slogging his way across Anzio Beach in Italy circa 1944, but he’s not alone: the film also has other American heavyweights, including Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Arthur Franz, Arthur Kennedy, and Mark Damon, as well as a host of European thespians such as Anthony Steel, Patrick Magee, Wolfgang Preiss, and Giancarlo Giannini. I remember this film never quite living up to my expectations, but with a widescreen airing in the cards, it’s definitely time to give it another look.
3:50 PM HBO Signature
La Otra Familia (2011 MEX): Apparently they have crack babies in Mexico, too. In La Otra Familia (The Other Family), lil’ tyke Hendrix (Bruno Loza) has been dumped by druggie mama Nina (Nailea Norvind). Nina’s bestie Ivana (Ana Serradilla) steps up the plate, but when Houston beckons she passes the boy on to gay couple Jean Paul and Chema (Jorge Salinas and Luis R. "no, not that Luis" Guzman). Did you know gay marriage is legal in Mexico City? Neither did I, and apparently that doesn’t sit entirely well with the local Catholic church, who deny Hendrix a spot in their school when his new "parents" try to enroll him. This touching and effective drama makes its American television debut this afternoon.
Wednesday 9/5/12
5:40 AM Encore Dramatic Stories
In a Better World (2010 DEN): 2011’s Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, In a Better World is another impressive notch in the belt of director Susanne Bier (Brothers, After the Wedding). The film stars Mikael Persbrandt (Everlasting Moments) as Anton, a Danish doctor doing the Lord’s work in Africa, where he works assiduously to heal the wounds of war victims. Meanwhile, back at home, 10-year-old son Elias is being subjected to severe schoolhouse bullying, which only comes to an end when he befriends new student Christian, a bigger lad not at all reluctant to use violence to protect his pal. The film was misinterpreted by many critics as a simplistic morality play, but its original Danish title - simply, Revenge - suggests there’s much more going on in the film, which I found a worthy if surprising Oscar choice.
11:50 PM HBO
Perfect Creature (2006 NZ-GB): This being a film from New Zealand, you might think Perfect Creature is a sequel to Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures - but despite its vaguely nostalgic setting, it just ain’t so. Instead, it’s a pretty decent vampire flick starring Dougray (how do you pronounce that?) Scott as brother Silas, tipped for the top of the vampire hierarchy but threatened by his warped and wicked fellow bloodsucker Edgar, a runaway child running wild and supping on the blood of Aucklanders left and right. Oh, did I forget to mention Perfect Creature’s gimmick? In this iteration of the vampire mythos, the night owls live in harmony with humans, and are actually a repository of knowledge and wisdom. Anyhoo, Silas needs to stop Edgar before he ruins (or ensanguinates) everything, whilst human police officer Lilly (Saffron Burrows) lends a hand. Unsurprisingly, the two find themselves attracted to each other – with predictably problematic results. Also airs on 9/6 at 2:50 AM.
Thursday 9/6/12
5:00 PM Sundance
Control (2007 GB): Do you ever feel so close to the subject of a biopic that you can't bring yourself to actually watch the film? This happened to me at least twice in 2008: once with What We Do Is Secret, which retold the life of LA punk rock god Darby Crash, and again with this film about Joy Division singer Ian Curtis. When I was a callow youth, the music of Crash's group The Germs and of Joy Division was incredibly important to me, and the fact that both singers killed themselves (Curtis only a month before his group's performance at the Starwood in Hollywood, for which I already had tickets) left raw wounds on my adolescent psyche. The wounds have long since healed, but I'm still not sure I want to live through those times again - hence my initial aversion to Control during its theatrical run. However, there are certainly plenty of reasons to see the film: it was directed by photographer Anton Corbijn, who took some of Joy Division's most iconic publicity shots; features Sam Riley - who bears a startling resemblance to Curtis - in the lead role; and is in black and white, which is almost always a good thing in and of itself. And who knows: maybe this is that special biopic that actually gets everything right. Now wouldn't that be a novelty. This film previously screened in pan and scan on More Max; this screening represents its widescreen American television premiere.
Friday 9/7/12
5:00 PM Sundance
Secretary (2002 USA): Probably not for all tastes, Secretary stars Maggie Gyllenhaal as Lee, a slightly disturbed young woman hired to be the personal assistant of lawyer Grey (James Spader). The two of them engage in a sado-masochistic sexual relationship, perhaps not a million miles away from the one detailed in Michael Hanecke's The Piano Teacher (2001). A solid if unspectacular indie cast, including Stephen McHattie, Jeremy Davies, and Lesley Ann Warren, support them. And I'm going to resist the temptation to make bad puns about taking dictation. Also airs at 10:45 PM.
Saturday 9/8/12
2:00 AM Encore Families
Wonder of It All (1973 USA): There were a lot of nature documentaries around in the 1970s, but they weren’t always cut from the same cloth. Many were family friendly (like this one), but sometimes you’d encounter one edging into gruesome mondo territory (I remember being traumatized at a big-screen showing of one such film, the title of which I’ve long since expunged from my memory). Wonder of It All, however, remains firmly in G territory. Supposedly shot on all seven continents over the course of seven years, it’s balm for the soul of those who love the cute and cuddly. Awww.
2:30 PM HBO
Klitschko (2011 GER): Pugilism enthusiasts should be all over this riveting documentary, but others will find value, too. The film follows the exploits of the boxing Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladimir, as they take the pro circuit by storm. But they’re not your stereotypical knuckleheaded brawlers: they both have PhDs, love playing chess, and speak multiple languages. Don’t worry, though: the focus stays on the ring, where we see the Ukrainian lads batter a series of hapless opponents to bloody pulp. Also airs at 5:30 PM and throughout the month.
Sunday 9/9/12
9:20 PM Sundance
Zift (2008 BUL): Neither Zardoz nor Zotz, but Zift. Shot in the city of Sofia and set during the 1960s, Zift tells the tale of Moth (Zahary Baharov), a convict paroled after serving time for a crime he didn't commit. Imprisoned prior to Bulgaria's Communist takeover, Moth finds himself at sea in a country he doesn't understand and people who seem to have changed beyond recognition. It's a little bit noir, a little bit Lars von Trier, and impressively shot in widescreen black and white by DoP Emil Hristow.
Monday 9/10/12
9:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Man in the Dark (1953 USA): This wacky pseudo-noir stars Edmond O’Brien as Steve Rawley, a villain who undergoes experimental surgery to remove the part of his brain that makes him commit crimes. I really like the idea of a section of one’s brain being like a New York City block populated by little men in stripy shirts and masks running around with swag bags and knuckledusters. All it takes is a little urban brain renewal to put an end to all that! As for Steve, the surgery is a success, but his old cronies don’t believe he’s on the straight and narrow and kidnap him in order to get him to spill the beans about where the last of his ill-gotten gains are stashed. Unfortunately, Steve’s operation has also stolen his memories of the moolah, as well as of loyal gal pal Peg (Audrey Totter). Originally shot partly in 3-D, Man in the Dark is followed at 10:45 AM by an even more obscure O’Brien vehicle, 1958’s The World Was His Jury, in which the rotund one plays a lawyer defending a ship’s captain on charges of murder.
2:00 PM Encore Action
Deadlocked: Escape from Zone 14 (1995 USA-CAN): Sorry, there are three things I can’t resist: 1) Canadian action movies. 2 )Canadian action movies starring Stephen McHattie. 3) Any movie starring a former Top of the Pops presenter (in this case, Nia Peeples). Bingo!