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

Tuesday 6/22/10

1:30 AM Encore Action
Vanishing Son Parts III & IV (1994 USA): The concluding chapters of this forgotten television mini-series air this morning. Russell Wong continues in the lead role of Jian-Wa, now competing in a music contest whilst being a person of interest for the FBI, who are investigating brother Wago’s (Chi Muoi Lo) gang-related activities. When tragedy strikes, Jian-Wa takes to the road in search of self. Unfortunately, some bad guys are also on his trail.

3:30 AM Showtime 2
WUSA (1970 USA): Here’s a real find. Paul Newman stars in this interesting Stuart Rosenberg-helmed feature, which examines the rise of right-wing talk radio decades before it became the standard to which all talk radio aspires. Newman is Rheinhardt, a mercenary mouth-for-hire who spouts reactionary opinion over the airwaves even though he doesn’t agree with it. He’s employed by station owner Bingamon (Pat Hingle), who’s also engaged social worker Ralney (Anthony Perkins) in some questionable research designed to prove that social programs don’t work. The film was a flop on first release and has since acquired neither reputation nor cult following, which is a shame because, alongside A Face in the Crowd, it’s one of the most prophetic political films ever made in America. Joanne Woodward, Laurence Harvey, Moses Gunn, Robert Quarry, and Cloris Leachman co-star.

Wednesday 6/23/10

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Word is Out (1977 USA): I haven’t seen this groundbreaking documentary for many, many years, but my opinion of it has changed ever so slightly over the intervening decades. I used to think the title was simply a declaration of gay liberation—here’s the news, we’re here, we’re queer, get used to it!—but now I suspect it’s more about the word ‘out’, and it’s application on an individual basis. Heck, perhaps the film’s trio of directors (Nancy Adair, Andrew Brown, and Rob Epstein) intended the title to convey a double meaning. Whatever the case may be, Word Is Out was the first documentary film to really acknowledge, front and center, the existence of homosexuality in the American mainstream, and though it looks a little quaint now, it’s importance should not be underestimated. Featuring interviews with more than two dozen gay and lesbian Americans (including the estimable Harry Hay, who started organizing gays in the early 1950s), the film was the first shot in a culture war that the good guys have been winning, inch by inch, ever since. Also airs 6/24 at 1:00 AM.

7:30 PM Sundance
Return to Rajapur (2006 IND-USA): East meets west in this worthy, if not entirely successful, culture clash drama written and directed by film neophyte Nanda Anand. Taking Woodstock’s Kelli Garner plays Samantha, a spoiled little rich girl having troubler adapting to the harsher realities of life in the titular Indian village. Though clearly the work of a beginner (the script is especially weak), Return to Rajapur is worth watching for its excellent widescreen cinematography (courtesy Harlan Bosmajian, who also lensed the excellent indie drama Kill the Poor) and for fine supporting turns from Frank Langella and Justin Theroux.

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