TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex for Tuesday, September 9, 2008 through Monday, September 15, 2008
By John Seal
September 8, 2008
From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.
Tuesday 09/09/08
3:00 PM Flix
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974 USA): I was 12-years-old when this TV movie first aired, and was utterly convinced that it was a true story. Years later, when I learned Miss Pittman's tale was actually based on a novel by Ernest Gaines, I felt betrayed, but I've since made my peace and can once again recommend this artfully made and beautifully acted film. Cicely Tyson stars as the title character, an aged African-American woman retelling her life story in episodic fashion from slavery days through the civil rights movement. As a 12-year-old, I found it profoundly moving stuff, and as an adult I can strongly recommend it for the whole family.
11:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
Cops and Robbers (1973 USA): Joseph Bologna and Cliff Gorman star as a pair of bent coppers trying to supplement their modest pension plan in this fine comedy-drama from director Aram Avakian and novelist Donald Westlake. They play Joe and Tom, two Now York City policemen with a whiff of corruption about them. Joe has been moonlighting as an armed robber, but Tom convinces him that strong-arming liquor stores is for chumps, and our heroes promptly hook up with mob goon O'Neil (John P. Ryan), who will pay them big bucks if they can get their hands on some untraceable bearer bonds. Easier said than done, of course, and Joe and Tom soon learn that handing off the loot in Central Park isn't as simple a transaction as it sounds. Mainly shot far from the glamor of mid-town Manhattan, Cops and Robbers is a surprisingly gritty little picture that defies simple categorization, and makes its widescreen television debut this evening.
Wednesday 09/10/08
7:00 AM Sundance
Requiem for Billy the Kid (2006 FRA): Folks can never seem to get enough of Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid, and here's another cinematic examination of his apparently limitless allure. Narrated by gravel-voiced Kris Kristofferson and shot in New Mexico, the film draws comparisons between young William Bonney and rebellious French poet Arthur Rimbaud, who would later be cited as an influence on rockers such as Jim Morrison, Patti Smith, and Tom Verlaine. It's a gorgeous looking film bolstered by clips from Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, but its attempt to link violent outlawry with decadent poetry is a bit of a stretch — personally, I consider Bonney a bigger influence on J-K Huysmans than on Rimbaud.
4:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Hollywood My Home Town (1965 USA): A fascinating if all too brief reminiscence of Hollywood's Golden Age, Hollywood My Home Town examines the legacy of one Ken Murray, a minor actor who turned his hobby — shooting 16mm home movies — into an obsession that captured Tinsel Town royalty at work and play. Consisting entirely of excerpts from Murray's voluminous library, the film includes glimpses of Eddie Cantor, Boris Karloff, Jayne Mansfield, and literally dozens of other stars. Before there was That's Entertainment, there was this nostalgia-soaked encomium to the brightest stars in the universe. No Hollywood Babylon here — just lots of silent footage of the best and the brightest living it up with gay abandon.
10:50 PM Starz In Black
Neo Ned (2005 USA): On paper, this sounds like an unlikely, if not outright terrible, idea: neo-Nazi falls in love with deranged African-American girl who thinks she's Adolf Hitler. Sounds like the latest episode of South Park, right? In reality, however (and much to my surprise), it ain't half bad. Jeremy Renner plays skinhead Ned, who's been sent to a mental hospital as punishment for his involvement in a hate crime. Here he encounters Rachael (Gabrielle Union), a sexually abused young woman who periodically issues orders in guttural German to anyone who'll listen, and the two immediately find themselves strangely attracted to one other. Union and Renner are both excellent, rendering what could have been a ham-fisted folly into a surprisingly delicate tale of a most unlikely friendship.
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