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Friday 11/09/07

6:30 AM More Max
The Hand (1981 USA): Do we ever get enough of Michael Caine here in the TiVoPlex? No, we do not - even when he's starring in a schlocky horror picture show like The Hand. Written and directed by Oliver Stone, a director far more suited to junk than JFK, The Hand features Caine as Jonathan Lansdale, a comic artist who loses the eponymous appendage in a car crash, then finds himself being stalked by his missing digits, which have acquired a mind of their own. Eager to return to and serve the sub-conscious biddings of its master, The Hand is soon wreaking havoc throughout Southern California, apparently populated by lots of folks with whom Jon has issues. A fun film with aspirations far beyond its station, The Hand co-stars Viveca Lindfors, Tracey Walter, and Stone himself as, appropriately enough, a tramp - though presumably not one of the grassy knoll variety.

11:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Shampoo (1975 USA): Expurgated prints of Shampoo have popped up over the years on standard cable, but I think this is only the second uncut, letterboxed broadcast ever. It's a sex farce about the conquests of the world's only straight male hairdresser - well, Beverly Hills' only straight male hairdresser - played with swagger by Warren Beatty. This being a Beatty picture, there's also a political subtext to the proceedings, with the 1968 Presidential election serving as a prominent backdrop for the bedroom frolics. Amongst Beatty's conquests are Goldie Hawn, Julie Christie, Lee Grant (who won the Supporting Actress Academy Award for her performance), and, in her debut, a pre-Princess Leia Carrie Fisher, who gets to say the ‘F' word. Directed by Hal Ashby and written by Robert Towne, Shampoo also features Jack Warden, Luana Anders, Howard Hesseman, and film director William Castle.

Saturday 11/10/07

7:00 PM Cinemax
The Last King of Scotland (2006 GB): Even if you hate this film, it's hard to deny the power of The Last King of Scotland's lead performance by Forest Whitaker as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin Dada. Whitaker deservedly took home the Best Actor Oscar at this year's Academy Awards for his portrayal of the syphilitic hard man with a soft spot for all things Celtic. The film focuses on Amin's relationship with the fictional Nicholas Garrigan, a callow Scots youth played by Mr. Tumnus himself, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed James McAvoy. An idealistic medical student, Garrigan has come to Africa to assuage his white liberal guilt, and he promptly meets not so cute with Amin over a dead buffalo, falls under his spell, and is taken on as his personal physician. Things go swimmingly at first, but soon Garrigan begins to catch glimpses of a less jovial, deeply unhinged side to Idi - and begins to regret his decision to snub his contacts at the British embassy. Based on a novel by Giles Foden, The Last King of Scotland also airs at 10:00 PM, 11:30 PM, and 11/11 at 2:30 AM and on More Max at 3:50 PM.

Sunday 11/11/07

9:0 PM Sundance
Nightmare (2000 ROK): A South Korean variant on the American teen slasher trope, Nightmare is an unsettling stew of gore and grue about seven youths being stalked by the vengeful corpse of their friend Eun-Ju. Eun-Ju's death was, naturally, the result of some carelessness on the part of the still living (though not for long) pseudo-teens, and they must pay for their transgressions. Basically Friday the 13th with a longhaired ghost instead of a guy in a hockey mask, Nightmare breaks no new ground but still manages to provide a modicum of entertainment for less discerning horror mavens.

Monday 11/12/07

6:30 AM HBO
Cool As Ice (1991 USA): Heeey, looky here! A month or two ago I listed this Vanilla Ice classic when it was airing on some obscure channel that no one gets simply because, well, it's Cool As Ice, and nothing is cooler than that! Now it reappears on garden variety HBO. To recap my prior précis: Ice portrays a rebellious bad boy with a bright yellow motorcycle and a hankering for clever and pretty waitress cum honor student (Kristin Minter), but the small-town local yokels don't take to the hip and happening newcomer and his girly-man earrings. The Washington Post's Richard Harrington aptly described the film as "'Footloose' meets ‘The Mild Ones'". Not to be missed! Also airs at 9:30 AM.

6:00 PM IFC
Darkon (2006 USA): If you play RPG's or belong to the SCA (or even just know what those acronyms stand for) you'll want to check out this documentary about LARPing. Darkon examines the fantasy lives of a group of geeky Baltimore residents who spend their weekends chasing each other around city parks in homemade armor. They're perfectly normal folks, just like you and I. Snigger. Also airs at 10:00 PM.

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