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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 1/11/11

8:30 AM Flix
Hello Again (1987 USA): After taking a two-week holiday hiatus, it seems fitting to kick off TiVoPlex 2011 with Hello Again. It’s a shame the film isn’t better than it is, but we’ll compromise for the sake of synchronicity! Shelley Long stars as Lucy Chadman, a bored, rich housewife who chokes to death at the dinner table. End of story, right? Well…not quite. Enter goofy sister Zelda (Judith Ivey), proprietor of an occult bookstore and dedicated practitioner of all things ooky and altogether spooky, including the resurrection of the dead. Soon enough, Lucy is back in the land of the living, but there’s a catch: she must find true love within 30 days or once again return to the grave, and all this in the pre-eHarmony era! Hello Again was director Frank Perry's penultimate film, but sadly displays little of the intelligence or attention to character one normally associates with his work. Corbin Bernsen, however, is reasonably amusing as Lucy’s widower, a plastic surgeon who has since remarried, and therefore isn’t available to supply the "true love" Lucy needs.

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Laurel and Hardy marathon: This is actually part of TCM’s month-long salute to Hal Roach Studios, which began last week with a 24-hour Our Gang marathon. Now it’s Stan and Ollie’s turn, and the day includes an impressive 40 short subjects and three features from the still much-beloved comedy duo. Best of all, 16 of the shorts have never been aired on TCM before, making this a very special occasion indeed. Amongst the days highlights are classics such as Towed in a Hole (1932, Stan and Ollie go fishing) at 11:00 PM, The Music Box (1932, Stan and Ollie move a piano) at 1:30 AM, and Hog Wild (1930, Stan and Ollie install a wireless antenna) at 7:00 AM. Don’t take any chances, though: if you’ve got enough room on your hard drive, record the lot. You won’t regret it.

Wednesday 1/12/11

8:15 AM Flix
Viva Max (1970 USA): Peter Ustinov headlines this moderately amusing, if badly dated, Jerry Paris-helmed comedy. Ustinov plays General Maximilian Rodrigues De Santos, a Mexican army officer who tries to impress his girlfriend by invading the United States and reoccupying the Alamo. Naturally, this doesn’t sit too well with the gringos, who send the Texas National Guard under the command of General Billy Joe Hallson (Jonathan Winters, squinting and gurning his way through another role) to return the landmark to its rightful owners. Culturally insensitive hilarity ensues. A fine supporting cast, including Keenan Wynn, Harry Morgan, Alice Ghostley, John Astin, and Kenneth Mars, renders the film tolerable. Bizarre footnote: the film is based on a novel written by Jim Lehrer—the same Jim Lehrer featured on PBS’s MacNeil-Lehrer Report.

9:10 AM Sundance
Amreeka (2009 USA): I approached this family drama with low expectations, but ended up loving it. The story of a Palestinian mother (the marvelous Nisreen Faour) who moves herself and her teenage son (Melkar Muallem) to suburban Illinois to escape the dangers of intifada and occupation, Amreeka is a wry, touching, and insightful look at the immigrant experience. Though the film can’t avoid politics entirely, that’s not the focus here, so even if you’re not favorably inclined towards the Palestinian cause you’ll still enjoy the film immensely. In addition to the leads, kudos to supporting cast members Hiam Abbass and Joseph Ziegler (playing, respectively, mom’s sister and mom’s love interest), and to writer-director Cherien Dabis’ wonderful screenplay. One of the nicest surprises of 2009.

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