New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.

Wednesday 04/15/09

11:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Twonky (1953 USA): This legendary, long unseen Arch Oboler pop-culture classic makes an extremely rare small screen appearance on TCM this morning. Hans Conried stars as everyman Cary West, who's invested in that brand new middle-class status symbol, the television set. At first, the set seems innocuous enough — but when it starts walking, talking, and hypnotizing the neighbors, Cary decides drastic action must be taken. A remarkably prescient social satire, The Twonky has for years only been available as a crummy grey area bootleg, so here's hoping TCM's print will be a step up from barely watchable.

5:00 PM IFC
Night Watch (2003 RUS): Remember when IFC aired the Russian thriller Day Watch last month? At the time I mentioned I hadn't seen it, nor had I seen its predecessor, Night Watch. That film now makes its American television debut this evening, and is followed at 7:00 PM by an encore appearance of Day Watch, which has been resting comfortably upon my hard drive since early March. No truth to the rumor that the still unproduced third film in the series, Twilight Watch, will be airing tonight as well. Night Watch, however, airs again at 11:15 PM.

6:00 PM HDNET
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2006 USA): Alex Gibney's superb documentary takedown of our 21st century robber barons makes its hi-def television debut tonight. As it turns out, however, Enron were more canaries in the coalmine than masters of the universe, as the con game they were running now looks like small potatoes compared to the efforts of Bernie Madoff, "Sir" Allen Stanford, and their capitalist comrades on Wall Street. Enron managed to bilk Californians out of a lot of money, but they were truly only the tip of the iceberg, as we are all currently learning to our eternal regret. As for Gibney's film, it's great stuff, but had the misfortune of being nominated for the Best Documentary Academy Award the same year as the crowd-pleasing March of the Penguins.

10:30 PM HBO Signature
Menor de las Males (2007 ESP): Sad-eyed Roberto Alvarez stars as a Spanish politician with a professional reputation to uphold in this first-rate drama from well-regarded director Antonio Hernandez. Alvarez plays Eduardo, a middle-aged Madrileno who takes a trip to the old Galician homestead to visit sister Julia (Leonor's Carmen Maura). What should be a happy family reunion, however, gets complicated when Eduardo's scantily clad young lover Vanessa (Veronica Echegui) also puts in an appearance — and announces her pregnancy at the hands (so to speak) of her happily married partner in elicit sex. Hernandez' film snagged a trio of awards at the 2007 Malaga Film Festival and makes its American television debut tonight on HBO Signature.

Friday 04/17/09

5:00 AM IFC
Lockdown USA (2006 USA): Recently back in the news after the New York Times touted a new legislative effort to repeal them, the infamous "Rockefeller Drug Laws" are the gold standard for law and order types determined to lock up potheads and throw away the keys. This documentary takes a look at the efforts to roll back these extremely strict laws, passed on Governor Nelson Rockefeller's watch in 1973 and laden with harsh mandatory sentencing rules which require first time offenders be hit with fifteen or twenty year stretches. The film is weakened by its focus on publicity hog Russell Simmons' work on behalf of the repeal effort, but is a worthwhile eye-opener for those otherwise unfamiliar with this aspect of the never-ending War on Drugs.

Continued:       1       2       3