TiVoPlex
By John Seal
August 30, 2010
9:00 PM HBO
The Informant! (2009 USA): Matt Damon! gets the lead in this amusing, puzzling, and slightly disturbing shaggy dog tale from director Steven Soderbergh. Damon! plays Mark Whitacre, a moustachiod senior employee of wicked agribusiness Archer Daniels Midland. Whitacre is cajoled into assisting a government investigation concerning price fixing allegations, but the skeletons in his closet complicate matters considerably. The Informant! is not the easiest film to enjoy - the subject matter itself will be a turn-off for most people - but stick with it, and the rewards will come. Also airs 9/2 at midnight and throughout the month.
10:00 PM HBO Signature
El Nido Vacio (2008 ARG-ESP): Entitled Empty Nest in English, El Nido Vacio is an Argentinian comedy-drama about a Jewish couple trying to adapt to life without their (now adult) children. Oscar Martinez and Cecilia Roth play Leonardo and Martha, who have grown distant over the years whilst concentrating on their parental duties. Leonardo deals with his estrangement by taking up with a younger woman (don’t men - in movies at least - always seem to do this?), whilst Martha heads back to school. It’s neither the most eventful nor the most intriguing film ever made, but both leads are good, and remote-control aircraft fans are in for a real treat. If you enjoyed director Daniel Burman’s earlier Derecho de Familia, you’ll get similar mileage from EL Nido Vacio.
Thursday 9/02/10
5:05 AM Sundance
No End in Sight (2007 USA): As we await the production of No End In Sight 2: Afghani Bugaloo, we can still appreciate this fine documentary about the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Produced when the war was at lowest ebb (at least from the perspective of our Masters of War), No End in Sight won’t supply well-informed viewers with much they didn’t already know, but will provide a valuable overview for everyone else. With Imperial forces oh so gradually being withdrawn from our Middle Eastern satrapy, No End in Sight may seem somewhat out of date at this point…but who knows what the future holds for the American Empire. It could well be a case of Back to the Future in very short order. Also airs at 10:05 AM.
5:20 AM Encore Wam!
Police Academy: Mission to Moscow (1994 USA): Call me a philistine, but I have always enjoyed the Police Academy movies, and I found this one a pleasant diversion thanks to guest stars Christopher Lee and Ron Perlman. It's as silly as ever, but quite inoffensive, and cinematographer Ian Jones captures some wonderful Moscow locations. Just think, without the fall of the Berlin wall, this film would not have been possible! Rife with continuity errors (look at the car windows during the chase sequence, and note that Perlman's character's last name is spelled differently on a manifest than it appears elsewhere), this was obviously filmed on the cheap. I like it anyway. Also airs at 3:00 PM.
Friday 9/03/10
5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Asi Era Pancho Villa (1957 MEX): TCM salutes the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution this evening with a trio of tributes to the legendary Pancho Villa. First up is Asi Era Pancho Villa (This Was Pancho Villa), in which - at least according to online synopses—the disembodied head of Villa narrates the story of his life! Pedro Armendariz plays our hero, with Maria Elena Marquez (La Perla, Dona Barbara) providing feminine support. It’s followed at 7:00 PM by 1960’s Pancho Villa y la Valentina and at 9:00 PM by Cuando Viva Villa es la Muerte, both also starring Armendariz (and both times with noggin firmly in place, I believe). All three films were directed by Ismael Rodriguez, the man responsible for shooting the Mexican location footage for 1956’s creature feature The Beast of Hollow Mountain. These are VERY rare films - I’ve never seen them, and they’re basically unknown outside Mexico—so you won’t want to miss them this evening.
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