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

Tuesday 10/06/09

2:45am Encore Dramatic Stories
Genocide (1981 USA): 1982's Academy Award-winner for Best Documentary, Genocide may be an odd programming choice for Encore Dramatic Stories, but is worthwhile viewing nonetheless. This was the first major American doc about the Holocaust and, though it suffers in comparison to Claude Lanzmann's magisterial (if exhausting) Shoah, remains a gut-wrenching and powerful experience. Perhaps Liz Taylor and Orson Welles weren't the best choices to narrate, but that's a minor quibble indeed.

9:30pm Sundance
Intacto (2002 ESP): This quite splendid and very unusual Spanish thriller features Leonardo Sparaglia as Tomas, a criminal whose getaway is spoiled by a plane crash that leaves him the sole survivor. Whilst recovering from his injuries and counting the days until he's fit enough to move into a jail cell, he's visited by Federico (Eusebio Poncela), a broker of sorts who deals in the most elusive commodity of them all: luck. Federico believes he can leverage Tomas' good luck into a fortune and, after helping him escape from hospital, introduces him to an underground gambling game that can be both extremely lucrative and extremely dangerous. Amongst the other players is the white-suited Holocaust survivor Samuel (Max Von Sydow, commanding as always), who likes to play Russian roulette, and undercover police detective Sara (Monica Lopez), who's trying to play the game in order to get Tomas back in custody. It all adds up to a very satisfying and assured first feature for director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later). Intacto had some pan-and-scan play dates a couple of years ago, but IFC is airing it in wide-screen, which is by far the best way to appreciate this intricately-plotted puzzle piece.

Wednesday 10/07/09

10:45pm Encore
Dead and Breakfast (2004 USA): Guilty pleasure alert! This is a pretty minor horror film about a group of annoying young people encountering deadly force in the great unwashed reaches of rural Texas. Besides this incredibly original set-up, what's to like? Well, in addition to that wonderfully punny title - hard to believe it hadn't been used before! - there are zombies, David Carradine as a creepy innkeeper, and such groan-inducing dialogue as "I can't kill anyone. I'm a vegan!". It's never going to make you forget Night of the Living Dead, but it'll do as a Shocktober time killer. Also airs 10/8 at 1:45am.

Thursday 10/08/09

1:30pm HBO Signature
El Rey de la Montaña (2004 ESP): Ready for another nerve-tingling Spanish thriller? El Rey de la Montana features TiVoPlex Star-of-the-Week Leonardo Sparaglia as Quim, a guy whose overactive libido gets him into all sorts of trouble during a road trip. On his way to make nice with his girlfriend after a recent bust-up, Quim meets Bea (Maria Valverde) at a gas station, and after an extremely brief courting period, retires with her to the lav for a knee-trembler. Whilst his pants are around his ankles Quim's wallet is stolen, and after resuming the journey his car is shot at and disabled by a sniper. Lost in the forest primeval, our randy hero must somehow outrun an invisible foe and wonder whether or not he can really trust Bea, who's made a mysterious reappearance amidst the woods. Featuring sterling cinematography by Jose David Montero, El Rey de la Montaña is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your tree-stump.

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