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11:30 PM Starz

12 (2007 RUS): Here's an unlikely but welcome programming choice from Starz: an epic length Russian drama, in Russian and Chechen, about a jury deliberating over the fate of a Chechen teen charged with murder. I haven't seen it yet, but any variant on the 12 Angry Men theme is of interest to me. Writer-director-actor Nikita Mikhailov previously directed the award-winning Burnt by the Sun. Also airs 1/15 at 2:30 AM.

Friday 1/15/10

6:30 PM Turner Classic Movies

Race Street (1948 USA): George Raft plays a bookie trying to get out of the business in this copacetic film noir helmed by Edwin L. Marin. Raft is Dan Gannin, whose plans to open a nightclub featuring his sister (Gale Robbins) as the headline attraction get sidetracked by the demands of his old business. In short, our hero finds himself pulled back into the underground's orbit when buddy Hal (Colonel Potter himself, Harry Morgan) takes a nasty beating from some racketeers, and comes to Dan for help. Despite the best advice of honest cop Barney (William Bendix), Dan soon finds himself once again packing heat and throwing punches. Unlike many films tagged with the label, Race Street is a genuine noir (Dan's snared in a trap of his own making), and also features outstanding San Francisco location footage.

11:30 PM Turner Classic Movies

Deep End (1970 GB): Here it is, folks: the TiVoPlex Movie of the Month. Unless you saw Deep End on its original release or spent the intervening decades tracking down a horrible fuzzy bootleg, you probably haven't seen this rather strange film from Polish expatriate director Jerzy Skolimowski. John Moulder-Brown stars as Mike, a teenage public baths (that's what we call a swimming pool in Britain) attendant in London. Mike is sexually...confused...and spends his time either mooning over the baths' female users or strolling the sleazy streets of Soho. Hello, Raymond Revue Bar! Mike rather fancies fellow employee Susan (charming Jane Asher), but things get a little weird when mature "lady client" Diana Dors starts giving him the eye...and things just get stranger from there. Featuring music by Cat Stevens and Can, Deep End is one of those cinematic head trips so common at the time, but now virtually extinct. Look for Burt Kwouk selling hot dogs! It's followed at 1:00 AM on Saturday morning by Skolimowski's equally strange (if somewhat less successful) 1978 head-scratcher The Shout, in which Alan Bates has a very loud voice that kills. And in other Skolimowski news, this most enigmatic of filmmakers is currently working on The Essence of Killing, in which Vincent Gallo plays a member of the Taliban. Yah.

Saturday 1/16/10

1:05 AM The Movie Channel

Backfire (1987 AUS): Two coppers transport a prisoner across the desert in this decent if unexceptional Australian crime drama. The PCs are portrayed by David Argue and Gia Carides, their charge by Lydia Miller, and the film makes its widescreen television debut this morning. It's nothing special, mind, but worth a look if you're up late. Also airs at 4:05 AM.

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