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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 12/08/09

9:40 AM Encore Westerns
Return of Sabata (1972 ITA-FRA): Did you miss him? Not only is Sabata back, but he's changed his wardrobe and grooming considerably since his 1971 appearance in Adios, Sabata. In that film he was a chrome-domed man in black played by Yul Brynner - in this one, he's a thin moustachio'd chappie in a suit and tie played by Lee Van Cleef. The results aren't all that dissimilar, though...Return of Sabata is a fairly routine but enjoyable spaghetti oater in which our hero takes on a greedy businessman (Giampiero Albertini) looking to plunder the wealth of tiny Hobsonville, USA. Directed by western veteran Gianfranco Parolini, Return of Sabata also airs at 11:10 PM.

8:00 PM Sundance
Secret of the Grain (2007 FRA): Ah, the humble peasant epic. No, I don't mean an epic film about humble peasants...I mean the film itself, which is usually abrim with peasants of varying temperaments, lazy fields of wheat wafting in the breeze, and sex with farm animals. No, I've never fully recovered from that scene in Tree of Wooden Clogs where the 12-year-old boy chokes - sorry, pokes - the chicken. As for Secret of the Grain, well, it's not actually a peasant epic at all, but an industrial working class one about an elderly shipyard worker (Habib Boufares) trying to keep on keeping one against increasingly long odds. At 151 minutes in length, you'll need to activate the Magic Fingers in your La-Z-Boy to make it all the way to the end of the film, which was a monster hit on the festival circuit and also cleaned up at the Cesars. In its original French, the title is La Graine et le Mulet. Git ‘er done!

Wednesday 12/09/09

3:20 AM More Max
Double Indemnity (1973 USA): Hello, my name is John, and I'm addicted to bad made-for-television movies, especially bad made-for-television movies that are remakes of classic films. Last week I couldn't resist writing about Brief Encounter, which was pretty bad. This week, I can't resist writing about Double Indemnity, which is even worse. Remember how good Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck were in the original? Richard Crenna and Samantha Eggar ain't MacMurray and Stanwyck, nor is director Jack Smight even in the same league as Billy Wilder. And then there's the horrible ‘70s décor...the disgusting ‘70s fashions...the appalling ‘70s hair don'ts. I'm crying out for help here folks...

5:00 PM Encore Westerns
Pancho Villa (1972 SPA): More Eurowestern excitement is on tap today courtesy this enjoyable if thoroughly fictional biopic about the great Mexican nationalist of the same name. He's played with gusto by Telly Savalas, and in this telling of the legend mixes it up with the US Cavalry, who have interfered with Villa's efforts to maintain a revolutionary army. The better than average supporting cast includes Chuck Connors, Anne Francis, and Clint Walker, and the film was directed by Eugenio Martin, also responsible for Horror Express, another vehicle Savalas made in Spain around the same time.

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