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Saturday 1/15/11

1:15 AM Showtime 2
Louie Bluie (1985 USA): This Terry Zwigoff-helmed documentary examines the life and times of Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong (not to be confused with Louis Armstrong), an African-American fiddle player who entertained generations of Chicagoans from the 1930s through the 1970s. Zwigoff tracked Armstrong down in the early '80s, after he had relocated to Detroit, and records his observations herein (Armstrong would live until 2003, when he was well into his 90s). It’s a loosely structured salute to a genre-defying musician who was also an artist and amateur philosopher, and will be best appreciated by admirers of films such as American Splendor and Zwigoff’s own Crumb.

1:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan (1959 JAP): Back in 2008, IFC aired a black and white 1949 screen adaptation of Yotsuya Kaidan, a hugely popular Japanese play of the 19th century. Now TCM brings us this version from ten years later, and it’s a doozy. Though the story is the same — ghost of samurai’s wife returns to wreak vengeance upon those who done her wrong — it’s now told in widescreen and in color, and looks spectacular. Directed by Nobuo Nakagawa, also responsible for the infamous Jigoku (Hell), this is a contemplative and haunting tale of the supernatural.

7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Jail Busters (1955 USA): After taking a few weeks off for the holidays, the Bowery Boys are back. This time, newshound Chuck (David Gorcey) gets beaten up for filing a report on prison corruption, so Slip, Sach, and Butch get themselves arrested in order to go behind bars and get the real scoop on their ol’ pal’s behalf. Bowery Boys semi-regulars Emil Sitka, Henry Kulka, and Lyle Talbot all show up in series entry number 39.

7:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Missing (1982 USA): Costa-Gavras was perhaps losing the plot a bit by the time he got around to making this semi-fictional account of an American journalist who goes missing in a South American banana republic. Part of the problem probably stemmed from his decision to make films within the studio system, causing him to soften his political messages, Missing being Exhibit A, as he chose not to out Chile as the military dictatorship in question. It's probably also likely that his artistic abilities were in natural decline; it would be hard indeed to top, or even match, such incendiary masterpieces as Z or State of Siege. When all's said and done, though, this is still a damned good film, with a compelling story and a fine cast, including Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek as the lost journo's questing father and wife (On the minus side, the Vangelis soundtrack hasn't aged particularly well). If you're the sort who instinctively places their trust in the United States government, you probably won't want to check it out, but those of a more cynical and/or conspiratorial persuasion may want to give it a look.

Sunday 1/16/11

5:45 PM IFC
Game of Death (1978 HK): Five years after his death, Bruce Lee managed to star in this action flick. How? Well, he’d begun work on Game of Death shortly before his untimely demise, and the producers couldn’t bring themselves to throw away all that great Lee footage. Director Robert Clouse (Enter the Dragon) padded it with shots of a Lee-lookalike (shades of Ed Wood, Bela Lugosi, and Plan 9 from Outer Space), and this is the deeply unsatisfying result. Game of Death is, however, worth checking out, if only to see (the real) Bruce Lee do battle with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Here’s hoping IFC will be airing it in widescreen.

9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Dekigokoro (1933 JAP): I’ve never seen this early Yasujiro Ozu film, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention it. I don’t expect Dekigokoro to be quite as entertaining as Game of Death, but it will probably be a bit more…artistic. And quieter, too…it’s a silent.

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