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Wednesday 1/19/11

9:45 AM Encore Love Stories
Zebrahead (1992 USA): I really loved this film back in 1992, but have the troubling feeling it won’t have aged particularly well. I’m hoping I’m wrong, of course, but you might want to take this recommendation with a larger than normal grain of salt. Michael Rappaport stars as Zack, a white Detroiter whose predilection for black culture has earned him the titular sobriquet. When Zack falls for his African-American best friend’s cousin Nikki (N’Bushe Wright), however, his skin tone attracts the disapproving attention of Nikki’s mother (Marsha Florence) and local hardman Nut (Ron Johnson), neither of whom approve of interracial dating. Meanwhile, Zack’s father (Ray Sharkey) is an alcoholic womanizer keen on getting into Nikki’s pants, and Zack learns the hard way that "the darker the berry, the sweeter the juice" is not necessarily the best adage by which to live your life. Shot on location, this independently-produced drama features a score by Taj Mahal and marked the film debut of young Jon Seda (The Pacific). Here’s hoping it’s as good as I remember it.

7:00 PM Sundance
Cass (2008 GB): Nonsie Anozie plays a Jamaican-born Brit who rises to the top of the football hooligan underworld in this solid biopic written and directed by Jon Baird. Anozie plays the titular Cass, abandoned by his birth parents in infancy, adopted by a white couple, and raised in the searing heat of constant and casual working-class racism. Hardened on the terraces of West Ham United F.C., Cass ends up in charge of the notorious Inter City Club, a predominantly Anglo gang of louts who don’t think twice about getting into a ruck. After serving two terms in prison, Cass opens his own security company in an effort to go straight, but in classic fashion finds it hard to put his old life behind him. Based on Cass Pennant’s autobiography, this is far superior to your average Guy Ritchie geezer-thon and provides fascinating insights into what it was like to be young, British, and black in the 1960s and ‘70s.

Thursday 1/20/11

12:50 AM Cinemax
D.C. Cab (1983 USA): I pity the fool who doesn’t get a kick out of this goofy comedy starring Mr. T. The mohicaned one headlines as Samson, a driver employed at a second-rate Washington cab company operated by Harold (Barney Miller’s Max Gail). Fellow cabbie Albert (Adam Baldwin) has dreams of starting his own, somewhat more upscale operation, but when he’s kidnapped his plan, naturally, is put on ice. It’s up to his rag-tag band of colleagues — including T., Gary Busey, Bill Maher, and Paul Rodriguez — to rescue him and allow his dream to come to fruition. Directed by Joel Schumacher before he hit the big time and co-starring David and Peter Paul (aka The Barbarian Brothers) and the legendary Timothy Carey, D.C. Cab is a great way to while away 90 minutes on a long winter’s night. Also airs at 3:50 AM.

3:00 AM IFC
Project A (1983 HK): One of the more readily available of Jackie Chan’s Hong Kong-lensed eighties actioners, Project A will (hopefully) be getting a widescreen airing on IFC this morning (a print in the original Chinese is probably a dream too far). This time out Jackie portrays Dragon, a Coast Guard officer doing battle with the notorious pirates of villain Lor Sam (Dick Wei). The action is wall-to-wall, Chan is in top form, Wei makes for an absolutely brilliant baddie, and Sammo Hung provides admirable support in his usual role of comedic sidekick.

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