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Saturday 2/5/11

10:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Ali (2001 USA): I’m not much of a Will Smith fan, but I will grudgingly admit he is not entirely terrible in this film. I’m not sure his performance deserved the Best Actor Oscar in 2002...but leaving that aside, Smith does a creditable job of channeling the spirit of the irrepressible Muhammad Ali, not to mention all that floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee.

Sunday 2/6/11

1:30 AM More Max
Whirlpool (1949 USA): This film didn’t earn any attention at Oscar time, so instead of airing in its natural habitat (TCM) here it is on More Max. Directed by a still at the top of his game Otto Preminger, the film stars Gene Tierney, Richard Conte, and Jose Ferrer in a story about kleptomania, the power of suggestion, and the terrible things that can happen when a hypnotist goes bad.

Monday 2/7/11

1:50 AM Starz in Black
Undercover Brother (2001 USA): It’s since been outdone by the superior Black Dynamite, but this comedic tribute to the black action genre has its moments, and also makes its widescreen television debut this morning. Eddie Jackson stars as the titular super hero, a BROTHERHOOD operative trying to protect America’s first black presidential candidate (who else but Billy Dee Williams) from THE MAN. A black presidential candidate? Yeah, call me back when that happens, ho ho! Though a little too tame for its own good, Undercover Brother still has some laughs, and Griffin looks good in a ‘fro.

3:00 PM Fox Movie Channel
Bedazzled (1967 GB): The rare cult film that deserves its reputation, Bedazzled has, of course, since been re-imagined to ill effect by the insidious Hollywood money machine. Well, okay, perhaps the 2000 remake wasn't completely without merit, but compared to the original - a truly inspired and unique piece of work - it was a load of old codswallop, as my granddad used to say. At any rate, Fox is showing the REAL Bedazzled, wide-screen and complete with Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Raquel Welch, the beautiful Eleanor Bron, and Dame Edna himself, Barry Humphries, this afternoon. This gold standard for Swingin' ‘60s comedies is a brilliantly-written Peter Cook paean to sin and temptation that features a wall-to-wall barrage of quotable dialogue. In fact, I could reel off numerous chunks of the film right now, but I suppose that would be boring. Think I'll just pop out to the shops for a bottle of Fruney's Green Eyewash instead.

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