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Friday 6/11/10

3:40 AM IFC
Cache (2005 OST): Michael Haneke’s po-mo headscratcher makes its widescreen television debut this morning on IFC. A Blow-Up for the video age, Cache stars Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche as Georges and Anne Laurent, a professional couple whose life gets turned upside down when someone starts leaving mysterious videotapes on their doorstep. The tapes are rather stalky, but it’s the drawings that accompany them that really creep out the Laurents—and when Georges decides to go on the trail of the responsible party, he gets a lot more than he bargained for. The film does not end so much as peters out, however, so if you’re anticipating a nice, neat Hollywood wrap-up, you are going to be disappointed beyond words, whilst those who prefer their cinematic puzzle pieces enigmatic will be in seventh heaven. It’s absolutely essential to see this film in its correct aspect ratio—rarely do films rely so much on framing to tell their story—so if you missed Cache on the big screen, or have only seen it in pan and scan, this is an opportunity not to be missed. Also airs at 10:00 AM if you’re not a night owl.

5:07 PM Starz
District 9 (2009 NZ-USA): One of the biggest boxoffice surprises of 2009, District 9 actually debuted on the small screen last week, but as I was ‘on assignment’ at the time it’s only now appearing in the TiVoPlex. Most readers are probably well aware of the film’s plot, so I won’t bore you with unnecessary details, but will point out that Sharlto Copley’s performance as G-man Wikus van der Merwe personifies the very essence of the words ‘spineless bureaucrat’. Like many viewers, I was disturbed by the film’s stereotypical Nigerian thugs, but District 9 is, overall, an extremely entertaining—and surprisingly intelligent—piece of science-fiction. Also airs at 8:07 PM and throughout the month.

Saturday 6/12/10

12:05 AM Sundance
The Necessities of Life (2008 CAN): This unique French-Canadian drama stars Natar Ungalaag as Tiivii, an Inuit battling one of the diseases gifted to his people by the white man: tubercolosis. Set in 1952, the film follows Tiivii’s travels from the remote interior to urbane Quebec City, where he is sequestered against his will in a sanitarium. As in Kurosawa’s Dersu Uzala, the transition is an unhappy one one, but a supportive nurse (Eveline Gelinas) intervenes before it’s too late and helps Tiivii by introducing him to bilingual child patient Kaki (Paul-Andre Brasseur). Though that sounds like a recipe for sloppy sentiment, The Necessities of Life thankfully dodges the three-hanky bullet in favor of a more honest and delicate approach to human relationships.

7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Hold That Baby (1949 USA): I know you’ve been jonesing for more Bowery Boys action (the lads took Memorial Day weekend off and there was no ‘Plex last week), so your wish is my command. In series entry number fourteen, the Boys discover an abandoned baby wrapped in swaddling clothes at the local laundromat (the laundromat Slip and Sach have, of course, just opened in the back of Louie’s Sweet Shop). Unbeknownst to them, the child is heir to a considerable fortune—but wouldn’t you know it, gangster Cherry-Nose Mason (John Kellogg) has his eyes on the loot, too. Someone call Child Protective Services!

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