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Wednesday 2/2/11

11:30 AM Sundance
How to Be (2008 GB): Here’s some more coming of age anxiety, this time in a 21st century stylee. Aptly-named artist Art (brooding vampire Robert Pattinson) is going through a personal crisis, which he decides can only be resolved by having a personal coach. Enter Canadian elder Doc Ellington (Powell Jones, in his first and last big screen role—the poor chap died before the film opened), author of self-help bible ‘It’s Not Your Fault’ and a man quite willing to pay house calls. Gentle whimsy and navel-gazing ensue. Also airs at 2:35 PM.

8:00 PM HBO Signature
GasLand (2010 USA): This excellent HBO original documentary returns tonight and—happy coincidence!—is up for a Best Documentary Feature gong at this year’s Academy Awards. GasLand examines ‘hydraulic fracturing’ (also known as fracking), a method by which natural gas is removed from the ground across a wide swath of the Eastern Seaboard. Director Josh Fox, whose family was offered a deal for the gas beneath their property, decided to travel throughout the region to see what effect ‘fracking’ has had on other communities. Needless to say, it ain’t been good, unless you like to perform party tricks in your kitchen—some people can now set fire to their drinking water! Though I’m pulling for Exit Through the Gift Shop, without a Michael Moore entry there’s no clear documentary Oscar winner this year…so GasLand could surprise and sneak through to victory.

1:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Lonelyhearts (1958 USA): A super cast makes this otherwise underwhelming drama worth a look. Montgomery Clift headlines as Adam White, a newly minted journo just getting his start in the big city newspaper industry. Hired at the Chronicle, Adam finds his talents diverted into writing the paper’s advice column—not exactly the assignment he had in mind after graduating from J-school. Dickensian-monikered editor Shrike (Robert Ryan) is a bully who abuses his employees as well as his dipsy wife (Myrna Loy), serial letter writer Fay Doyle (Academy Award-nominated Maureen Stapleton) intrudes into Adam’s personal life, and the strain of the job starts to tell on his relationship with gal pal Justy (Dolores Hart). Lonelyhearts is based on a Nathanael West novel, but not the one you’ve read!

Thursday 2/3/11

1:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Guardsman (1931 USA): Real life couple Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne basically play themselves in this MGM comedy of errors. Alfred and Lynn are The Actor and The Actress, a couple whose marriage is fraying at the edges. The Actor suspects The Actress may be willing to succumb to the temptations of infidelity, so disguises himself as a dashing Russian officer to test her loyalty. Gentle humor ensues, much of it involving co-star Roland Young as family friend and theatre critic Bernhardt. The Guardsman is a typically static early talkie, but provides a rare opportunity to see the once renowned stage couple in action together. Ooh, that sounds a bit creepy.

3:15 PM Flix
Ernest Scared Stupid (1991 USA): Ah, Slinky Dog—how we missed you in Toy Story 3. I’m not sure I miss late Slinky portrayer Jim Varney’s other cinematic creation, Ernest, with quite as much fervor—but the character, who appeared in a series of eight comedies, was a likable goofball nonetheless. In this one, Ernest brings an evil troll to life on Halloween. This being Flix, we might even get Ernest Scared Stupid in its correct 1.85:1 aspect ratio! Wouldn’t that be a thrill?

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