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Wednesday 5/05/10

8:00 AM IFC
Strangers in Good Company (1990 CAN): An unknown delight from North of the Border, Strangers in Good Company is a mostly-improvised ensemble piece about a group of elderly women aboard a bus. Stranded in the middle of nowhere (rural Quebec, to be precise), the bored matriarchs hold forth about all manner of things whilst scrounging the countryside for food. The film’s (mostly) amateur cast acquit themselves brilliantly, and if you’ve ever wanted to learn how to fish with pantyhose, this is your film. Also airs at 1:00 PM.

Thursday 5/06/10

9:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Tartars (1962 ITA): A stilted historical epic with pretensions of Hollywood grandeur, The Tartars remains a viable option for admirers of sixties Euro-cinema. Victor Mature, looking ridiculous in period garb and elevator sandals, plays Oleg, a Viking prince who’s somehow found his way to the Russian steppes, where he’s been invited to join forces with the Mongol hordes in war against the opposing Slavic hordes. Oleg refuses and immediately becomes a target for Tartar big man Burundai (Orson Welles, who’s clearly enjoying himself). Oddly, IMDb doesn’t list a director for the film—it will be interesting to see if TCM’s print includes a credit—but it’s well established that MGM vet Richard Thorpe was at the helm, and his experience directing costume dramas (such as 1954’s Knights of the Round Table) is evident. Featuring terrific art design, plenty of action, and a fine score by Renzo Rossellini, The Tartars is clearly head and shoulders above the usual sword and sandal pictures of the period—even though Mature seems out of his (admittedly shallow) depth.

5:00 PM HBO
Sergio (2009 USA): I haven’t seen this documentary yet, but it garnered good reviews on the festival circuit and sounds interesting. Sergio Vieira de Mello was the UN Special Representative killed by a massive bomb in Iraq in 2003; his death signaled the beginning of a long-haul insurgency which continues to simmer to this day. This is his story. Also airs at 8:00 PM and throughout the month.

9:00 PM Fox Movie Channel
Death Hunt (1981 USA): A fairly average action pic with a decent cast, Death Hunt makes its widescreen television premiere this evening. Charles Bronson stars as Albert Johnson, a circa 1930s drifter in the Yukon Territory who looks suspiciously like the Brawny paper-towel man. Albert gets into trouble with the locals after he rescues a dog (so much for no good deed going unrewarded), shoots one of them dead, and goes ballistic when the Mounties try to arrest him. After a lengthy shootout with Sergeant Millen’s (Lee Marvin) men, our anti-hero heads off for Alaska—but Millen isn’t about to let him escape so easily and is soon hot on his trail. Co-starring Andrew Stevens, Angie Dickinson, Ed Lauter, and Carl Weathers, this is one of seven Bronson features that include the word ‘death’ in their title, but the only one in which he seems as likely to sell you paper products as shoot you.

Friday 5/07/10

12:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Navajo Joe (1966 ITA-ESP): Burt Reynolds stars as the titular Native American in this above average Euro-western, newly released on DVD and now getting a widescreen airing on TCM as part of the channel’s Native American Images in Film series. Joe’s friends and family have been massacred by nasty Duncan (Aldo Sambrell, who probably appeared in more spaghetti westerns than any other actor), and he’s now on the trail of the assassins. After knocking off a handful of the villains, Joe offers his services to the inhabitants of Peyote(!), who are concerned that Duncan’s gang plan to take over their town, and the film climaxes with a spectacular train explosion. Navajo Joe is chock full of action and benefits tremendously from Sergio Corbucci’s direction and an incessant—and very catchy—theme song. It’s followed at 2:30 AM by Stay Way, Joe! (1968), a completely unrelated Elvis Presley vehicle in which the King portrays a young Indian trying to keep the rez out of the hands of a greedy developer.

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