New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

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

Tuesday 5/18/10

5:30 PM Sundance
Waste: The Nuclear Nightmare (2009 FRA): Waste not, want not…unless you’re keen to acquire the detritus left behind by France’s atomic reactors. Produced in a country that relies heavily on nuclear power, Waste: The Nuclear Nightmare asks uncomfortable questions, such as where do we put all the excess Plutonium generated by reactors, and is the production of more radioactive waste really the best way to tackle climate change? Most controversially, the film suggests that French nuclear waste is being exported to Siberia, where it’s being stored…in a parking lot. Also airs at 11:00 PM.

7:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975 USA): It’s no exaggeration to say I’ve been waiting at least ten years for this film to air on TCM. Not sure why it’s taken them so long, but thanks to the channel’s Native American Images on Film series, the time is now at hand. For the few of you who don’t already know, Jack Nicholson earned an Academy Award for his performance as R.P. McMurphy, a troublemaker sequestered within a mental institution, where he knocks heads with crabby Nurse Ratched (fellow Oscar winner Louise Fletcher). Amongst his fellow patients are stoic indigenous person Chief (Will Sampson), stutterer Billy Bibbit (Brad Dourif, in his first major role), wise guy Martini (Danny DeVito), and others played by Michael Berryman, Vincent Schiavelli, and Sydney Lassick. It’s a terrific film, and one I’m dying to get re-acquainted with.

Wednesday 5/19/10

12:20 AM Starz
Lorna’s Silence (2008 BEL): The Dardenne Brothers return with another slice of Belgian working-class life. Lorna’s Silence stars Alban Ukaj and doe-eyed Arta Dobroshi as Sokol and Lorna, Albanian immigrants trying to gain permanent residence status—and better jobs—in their adopted (low) country. Lorna plans to marry junkie Claudy (In Bruges’ Jeremie Renier) on a temporary basis, naturalize, and then leave him for Russian gangster Andrei (Anton Yakovlev), who will in turn acquire legal residence status through her.

This is all being orchestrated by Italian con artist Fabio (Fabrizio Rongione, previously seen in the Dardenne’s Rosetta), and Lorna believes she will ultimately be able to marry her true love, Sokol, and live happily ever after. When murder, smuggling, and drugs are involved, however, you can be sure things will go seriously awry. If you’re a fan of the Dardennes, Ken Loach, or good old-fashioned Italian neo-realism, you’ll definitely want to give Lorna’s Silence a look. Also airs at 3:20 AM.

1:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Vanishing American (1925 USA): Richard Dix stars as Nophaie, a Navajo chief fighting to preserve his tribe’s dignity and property, in this surprisingly progressive silent feature from Famous Players-Lasky. Nophaie and his people live on a reservation administered by Booker (Noah Beery), a wicked white man with more interest in the tribe’s horses than in the Navajo themselves. With the arrival of World War I, sympathetic school teacher Marion Warner (Lois Wilson) convinces the Indians to sell their horses to the Army and support the war effort, holding out the promise of better treatment once peace returns. The war ends, but things don’t improve, and Nophaie realizes the white man only understands the language of violence. This refreshingly blunt assessment is, of course, gussied up with Hollywood schmaltz, but it’s good stuff nonetheless. Look for Gary Cooper, rumored to be here somewhere as a cowboy extra.

Continued:       1       2       3       4