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11:20 AM Encore Drama
Looker (1981 USA): Albert Finney headlines this silly but enjoyable sci-fi feature written and directed by Michael Crichton. Finney is Dr. Larry Roberts, a plastic surgeon who specializes in giving prospective super-models the final touch up they need to win a lucrative contract with Cosmo. His operations are a rousing success, but when his patients begin to turn up dead, Larry and potential customer Cindy Fairmount (The Partridge Family’s Susan Dey) don their trenchcoats in search of answers. Could Digital Matrix, the mysterious company run by John Reston (James Coburn), be responsible, or should Larry just start looking for a good malpractice lawyer? As silly as Looker is, it was also the first film to feature a completely digital character—a dubious honor, perhaps, but an important one nonetheless. Look for then-unknown Vanna White as one of Reston’s employees.

Friday 5/14/10

10:30 AM Sundance
The Matador (2008 USA): Not to be confused with the Pierce Brosnan thriller of the same name, this is a documentary about Spaniard David Fandila, a man on a rather bloody mission. Following Fandila on his three-year quest to become Spain’s top-ranked bullfighter —a quest that can involve up to a hundred ‘matches’ per season—The Matador offers fascinating insights into this traditional blood sport. It’s definitely not a film for the PETA-inclined, but is a riveting look at dedication and obsession—in one segment, Fandila defeats six bulls in one day, then heads to the hospital to have his gored abdomen repaired!

9:00 PM IFC
High Tension (2003 FRA): I’ve only ever seen a pan and scan, English-dubbed print of this ultra-violent Gallic thriller, and I was not impressed. A plot-light tale of an encounter between a psycho-killer and two college students, High Tension hits all the right torture porn notes, if that’s your thing. If it isn’t, give it a miss…but if it is, tonight’s widescreen, French-language IFC airing should definitely be on your list of things to do before you die a slow, painful death in Jigsaw John’s windowless basement.

Saturday 5/15/10

7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Smuggler’s Cove (1948 USA): Not a prequel to Smuggler’s Gold, Smuggler’s Cove is number eleven in the Bowery Boys series, and one of its better entries. This time, Slip (Leo Gorcey) mistakenly thinks he’s inherited a mansion on Long Island, and he and the lads head out to inspect the property. Of course, Slip is mistaken, and the gang stumble across a smuggling operation being run from the house by caretaker Digger (Eddie Gribbon) on behalf of suspicious foreigner Count Petrov (Martin Kosleck). Hilarity ensues with a Great Dane and the valuable Monrovian Diamond, and look for TiVoPlex character actor of the week Emmett Vogan as a lawyer.

9:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Swimmer (1968 USA): And what better film to follow the Bowery Boys than Frank Perry’s dense and chewy character study, The Swimmer? Burt Lancaster headlines as Ned Merrill, a stereotypical ‘lonely crowd’ suburbanite who decides to swim his way home one day. It’s not as tricky as it sounds: from his starting point at a friend’s house, there’s pretty much an uninterrupted string of backyard pools all the way home, and during the journey Ned even finds a companion (Janet Landgard) to share the trip with him. Needless to say, there are strangers and old acquaintances to be met along the chlorine-soaked highway, and a healthy dose of navel-gazing, too. Based on a John Cheever short story, this is a beautifully made, cerebral drama about one man’s not so epic journey of self-discovery.

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