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10:50 PM The Movie Channel
Quadrophenia (1979 GB): The film that temporarily convinced teenage me that being a mod was cooler than being a punk, Quadrophenia was adapted for the big screen from The Who's classic double LP of the same name. Directed by Franc Roddam, it stars newcomer Phil Daniels (who briefly parlayed the role into a musical career with his group The Cross) as Jimmy, a pill-popping teenager desperate for kicks and determined not to settle for Mum and Dad's boring, nine to five working class lifestyle. Like most teen lads, spotty faced Jimmy is also trying to pull the birds, including sexy Steph (Leslie Ash), but has a hard time competing with the sharply dressed and smooth complected competition, including Ace Face (Sting), the reticent figurehead leader of the local scooter club. A day trip to Brighton soon beckons, of course, and the inevitable battle between the Vespa-riding Mods and their greasy-haired, Norton mounted enemies, the Rockers, leads Jimmy to a tragic turning point. I was 17 when Quadrophenia came out, and it's safe to say the film changed my life about as much as any film can change anyone's life. For one thing it led to some truly embarrassing behaviour, such as chanting 'we are the Mods, we are the Mods, we are, we are, we are the Mods' on the way out of the cinema. Yikes. Also airs 5/25 at 1:50 AM.

Friday 05/25/07

3:30 AM Sundance
Blue Vinyl (2002 USA): If you needed something else in your life to worry about, take a look at Blue Vinyl, an excellent documentary about the PVC industry that puts the lives of its workers at risk so that we can enjoy cell phones, vibrators, and vinyl siding. Director Judith Helfand brings a light touch to this tale of toxic horrors, though, and whilst you may be feel compelled to immediately re-side your house with clay, recycled wood, or stucco before a fire engulfs your neighbourhood in deadly smoke, you'll have had a few chuckles beforehand. Helfand's perspective is definitely that of a chemical industry victim, as her mother's exposure to DES during pregnancy led to her daughter's cervical cancer, but her sunny outlook and can-do attitude lift this film above the morass of death, doom and destruction documentaries. Also airs 5/28 at 8:15 AM.

9:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Racket (1951 USA): Robert Ryan stars as Nick Scanlon, a Los Angeles mobster with a penchant for sadism, in this above average crime drama from jack of all trades director John Cromwell. Scanlon's had firm control of his town's criminal activity for many years, and when the big boys from back east try to hone in on the action, he's none too pleased. He also must contend with the only cop in town who isn't on his payroll, Captain McQuigg (Robert Mitchum), who, with the aid of Patrolman Johnson (Perry Mason's William Talman), is determined to bring Scanlon to justice. Based on the same ancient play that informed Howard Hughes' silent 1928 picture of the same name, The Racket doesn't break any new ground, but rates strongly thanks to the presence of Mitchum and Ryan, who had previously worked so effectively together on 1947's ‘problem film' Crossfire.

9:00 PM IFC
C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud (1988 USA): Possibly the worst film airing on any channel this week, Bud the Chud is, nonetheless, worthy of mention in TiVoPlex. The sequel to the bloody 1984 film C.H.U.D. (it stands for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers, if you're interested), it's basically a comedy remake of its predecessor that cross-pollinates elements from the superior Return of the Living Dead series with a narrative trope lifted wholesale from George Romero's magnificent and underappreciated Day of the Dead (1983). I use the word "comedy" advisedly, as you probably won't find much to laugh at, but the film definitely belongs on the periphery of the "So Bad it's Good" universe and it does feature a mind-boggling cast, including the great Gerrit Graham (as Bud himself!), Robert Vaughn, June Lockhart, Larry "M*A*S*H" Linville, Norman Fell, and Bianca Jagger. There's even a Robert Englund cameo. Be warned: this film is truly awful, but you may not be able to take your eyes off it. It's also making its premium channel widescreen debut tonight in the IFC Grindhouse.

Saturday 05/26/07

11:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
A Face In the Crowd (1957 USA): Many movie fans consider 1939 the apex of American filmmaking, but I'd make the argument that 1957 was just as strong a year—if not stronger, thanks to the slow but steady relaxation of the Production Code. 12 Angry Men, A Hatful of Rain, and Paths of Glory are all amazing films — and then there's A Face In the Crowd, as relevant today as it was fifty years ago. Andy Griffith — yes, Matlock himself — should have received an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Lonesome Rhodes, a no-good hobo who hustles his way to the top of the heap with the assistance of Arkansas radio broadcaster Marcia Jeffries (the luminous Patricia Neal, who never looked more beautiful than she does here). Griffith's performance is a true tour de force, his Rhodes a primal force of nature who uses his gift of gab to move from a backwoods jail cell to a nationally broadcast television show, where his faux-homespun, cracker barrel wisdom strikes a chord with the great American public. Perhaps arguably, though rock and roll is never mentioned in the film, I'd submit that A Face in the Crowd IS, secondarily, a film about rock and roll. The narrative arc—hardscrabble country boy with a killer voice sings and talks his way into the hearts of his countrymen—certainly bears some similarities to the life story of one Elvis Aron Presley, and the film's prescient examination of the inevitable intersection of revolution and commodification is fascinating food for thought. This is a great film, keynoted by two great performances by Griffith and Neal, and comes with my strongest recommendation.

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