TiVoPlex
By John Seal
October 15, 2012
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Tuesday 10/16/12
12:15 AM Sundance
Together (2000 SWE): Lukas Moodyson’s paean to ‘70s Swedish counterculture returns to Sundance Tuesday morning. Lisa Lindgren stars as Elisabeth, an unsatisfied housewife who abruptly ups sticks and moves herself and her two children into a Stockholm commune. The commune is also home to her brother Goran (Gustaf Hammersten) and a whole host of sexual and political outcasts; meanwhile, hard-drinking husband Rolf (Michael Nyquist) is determined to clean up his act and win back his spouse. Co-starring Noomi Rapace’s now estranged husband Ola, this superb ensemble piece won over a dozen prizes on the festival circuit, but surprisingly failed to garner any Oscar love.
4:30 AM Fox Movie Channel
The Eyes of Annie Jones (1964 GB): No, this isn’t a prequel to Faye Dunaway’s Eyes of Laura Mars, but an obscure thriller about a teenage girl with extrasensory perception. Annie Jones (British television regular Francesca Annis) also walks and talks in her sleep...and eventually stumbles across a murder case whilst on the narcoleptic prowl one night! Shot in Britain by Bowery Boys director Reginald le Borg, the film co-stars Yank Richard Conte as the man young Annie falls in love with, as well as Joyce Carey as her dear old Aunt Helen. Forgotten for decades until popping up in widescreen on Fox last June, The Eyes of Annie Jones is a very pleasant surprise indeed.
8:55 AM HBO Signature
Three Meters Above the Sky (2010 ESP): Also known, somewhat more poetically, as Three Steps Above Heaven, this Spanish drama hews to well-worn narrative paths but still provides value. Shot in Barthelona - sorry, Barcelona - the film stars Maria Valverde and Mario Casas as Babi and Hache, star-crossed Romeo and Juliet-style lovers from different sides of the tracks. There are typical servings of melodrama, romance, and adversity overcome, but the film (based on a popular novel by Italian Federico Moccia) is well written and well acted, especially by Casas. It does nothing new, but does what it does well.
Wednesday 10/17/12
8:00 PM Cinemax
Shame (2011 GB): Michael Fassbender plays a sexual addict going through the motions in this intelligent drama written and directed by Steve "no, not the white one, the Afro-Caribbean one" McQueen (Hunger). Fassbender is Manhattan office drone Brandon, who fills his empty hours and hollow soul with unfulfilling sexual liaisons. When sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) unexpectedly moves in, Brandon flips out - you just don’t want family in the house whilst bedding whichever complete stranger happened to cross your path that day. Sharply written and superbly acted, Shame was released with an NC-17 rating. It’ll be interesting to see if we get full frontal Fassbender in all his glory on Cinemax tonight, or if his appearance will be, ahem, trimmed. Also airs at 11:00 PM.
9:30 PM Encore Westerns
Shoot Out (1971 USA): Action specialist Henry Hathaway’s penultimate feature, Shoot Out features Gregory Peck as Clay Lomax, an ex-con looking for revenge against Sam Foley (James Gregory), the man who double-crossed him. Though eager to get his hands on Foley, Lomax must first contend with a youthful band of miscreants (Pepe Serna, Robert F. Lyons, and John Chandler) who’ve been roughing up lady of the evening Alma (Susan Tyrrell) - and then there’s the orphan he gets stuck with. It’s a tough life when you’re a cowpoke played by Gregory Peck! Shoot Out is strictly routine old west stuff, but its cast will be of moderate interest to some - especially oater enthusiasts.
Thursday 10/18/12
10:30 AM Cinemax
Pariah (2011 USA): First we get the Shame, now we get the Pariah...it’s a big week for sexual guilt here in the TiVoPlex. Written and directed by Dee Rees, Pariah is a superb coming of age drama about an African American high school student hiding her sexual orientation from, well, just about everybody. She’s Alike (Adepero Oduye), a bright 17-year-old keeping her secret, but none too convincingly. She’s in that netherworld where everyone sorta kinda knows but have never had their suspicions confirmed, while Mom and Dad (Charles Parnell and Kim Wayans) are strictly in denial. Expanded from a short subject Rees made in 2007, this is an assured and promising feature debut anchored by a great performance by Oduye. Also airs at 1:30 PM.
1:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Swordsman of Siena (1962 FRA-ITA): If you enjoyed last month’s TCM screening of The Castilian (1963), you should get similar mileage from this rare set-in-Spain costume epic. Stewart Granger stars as Thomas Stanswood, a 16th century Englishman hired to protect the fiancee of an unpopular Spanish nobleman. However, Stanswood soon finds himself attracted to the rebels’ political position...and also to the woman (Sylva Koscina) he’s supposed to be guarding. Uh oh! Sadly, it looks like this shot-in-widescreen feature will be airing in pan-and-scan. It’s followed at 3:00 PM by The Crooked Road (1965), a British-Yugoslav co-production featuring Robert Ryan as a reporter wheedling secrets from a dictator (Granger). Happily, this one will be airing in its correct aspect ratio.
Friday 10/19/12
11:30 AM HBO Signature
Lobos de Arga (2011 ESP): There may be no Paul Naschy in this film (the great man had died long before it went into production), but it’s still the best Spanish werewolf movie in a long, long time. Winner of the Audience Award at the San Sebastian Horror and Fantasy Film Festival, Lobos de Arga (Game of Werewolves) references Hammer’s Spanish-set feature Curse of the Werewolf from the get-go, with a hex being placed on a small village by a wandering gypsy. Then it’s full speed ahead to the present day, where local boy Tomas (Gorka Otxoa) becomes an unwitting pawn in a plot to finally end the curse. Be aware that this is a horror film with comedic overtones, so if your preference for things lycanthropic is The Howling you may be a little disappointed. However, favorable comparisons to An American Werewolf In London are definitely in order. Highly recommended.
Saturday 10/20/12
4:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Shadow of a Woman (1946 USA): Fancy another gypsy curse? Consider the one on offer in this obscure Warners programmer, in which a wizened crone ruins an otherwise perfect honeymoon. The unlucky newlyweds are Eric and Brooke Ryder (Helmut Dantine and Andrea King), who start experiencing all sorts of problems as soon as they return home to San Francisco from their unfortunate Monterey sojourn. Featuring a particularly ludicrous denouement, Shadow of a Woman is pretty forgettable, but nonetheless an enjoyable enough timewaster if you’ve got 78 minutes to spare.
9:00 AM Encore Westerns
Windwalker (1980 USA): Not to be confused with 2002’s Windtalkers or the forthcoming Wind Walkers, Windwalker is a forgotten western starring Trevor Howard as an aging Native American warrior trying to save his family from the wicked white man. Wait...Trevor Howard?!? Yes, and shock of shocks, he does a superb job playing completely against type... and delivers all his dialogue in Cheyenne! Even better, he’s played in flashback by James Remar...yep, this is one strange movie, funded by the Mormon church and shot in Utah. But don’t let that put you off - Windwalker is really quite good, well-acted and beautifully shot by cinematographer Reed Smoot, who now lenses concert films for the likes of Justin Bieber and The Jonas Brothers!
Sunday 10/21/12
3:50 AM Cinemax
Weekend at Bernies (1989 USA): What perfect timing. With my hometown Oakland Athletics making the post-season for the first time since 2006 - and riding that wave on the back of a dance tune entitled The Bernie Lean - here comes the film that inspired both the song and the team’s (sadly now concluded) run for glory. Folks who don’t follow the A’s closely probably don’t know that Weekend at Bernie’s star Terry Kiser became a cult idol in Oakland this summer, where he attended a series of games and recreated his famous "dance" after throwing out a ceremonial first pitch. As for the film: if you’ve never seen it, it’s the silly but funny tale of a dead man (Kiser) and the two goofballs (Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman) who tote him around on a holiday weekend. It’s not as much fun as winning the AL West after the pundits pegged you for a hundred-loss season, but it’ll definitely inspire some smiles.
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Gulliver’s Travels (1939 USA): This animated feature from the Fleischer Brothers (Dave and Max) used to air pretty frequently back in the ‘70s but has rarely been seen of late. That’s probably down to the Fleischer’s style, which was already pretty outdated 40 years ago and now looks positively quaint. Regardless, this cartoon rendering of Jonathan Swift’s wicked 18th century satire is essential viewing for anyone interested in the history of animation. It’s followed at 6:30 PM by the Fleischer’s next major production, Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941), a pointed and enjoyable tale of urban sprawl and the threat it poses to the community of Buggville.
11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Carnival of Sinners (1943 FRA): I’ve never seen this forties French fantasy, so I’ll rely on Yepok’s IMDb plot synopsis for the details:
Roland Brissot bought for a nickel a talisman that gives him love, fame and wealth. The talisman is a cut left hand, and it works perfectly. But of course there is nothing free in this world, and after one year the devil comes and asks for his due...
That sounds intriguing, but the capper is that Carnival of Sinners was directed by the legendary Maurice Tourneur (father of Jacques) and stars the great Pierre Fresnay, whose next film was Clouzot’s classic Le Corbeau. Based on the preponderance of evidence, I think I can say with confidence that this is a film not to be missed.