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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 4/5/11

3:15 AM Encore Dramatic Stories
Sometimes a Great Notion (1971 USA): When last I wrote about Sometimes a Great Notion (which I hadn’t seen at that point), I pondered the meaning of its Ken Kesey-coined title. Now that I’ve seen it I still have no idea what it means (maybe Kesey came up with whilst on an acid bender), but I can report conclusively that Sometimes a Great Notion is Always a Great Movie. Michael Sarrazin stars as Leeland Stamper, a long-haired black sheep who returns to his family of fiercely independent, deeply reactionary lumbermen in search of a little peace but finds crusty patriarch Henry (Henry Fonda) as unforgiving as ever. Brother Hank (Paul Newman) is a little more open-minded and allows Leeland to go to work chopping down old growth Oregon timber, but there’s trouble a-brewin’ due to a union dispute that the Stamper clan refuse to support. I’d still love to see this film in its correct aspect ratio, but even in pan and scan it’s a top rate character study with a deceptively simple story that will keep you engaged. If there’s a sour note to be found, it’s Lee Remick as Henry’s wife Viv: there’s nothing wrong with her performance, but she’s a tad too elegant for the role.

3:30 AM Showtime
Nic and Tristan Go Mega Dega (2010 USA): They do what now? Here’s one of those titles that sells itself. Who are Nic and Tristan, you ask, and what is mega dega? Turns out they’re pre-pubescent twin brothers who rock the Justin Bieber look and love sidewalk surfing, whilst "mega dega" refers to some big time skateboard competition. The twins play themselves in this independently produced family film, which I haven’t seen and probably won’t watch. I just wanted to type the words "mega dega." Try it yourself. You haven’t lived until you’ve typed ‘em. Also airs at 6:30 AM.

10:20 PM Encore Mysteries
Code 46 (2003 GB): The ever busy Michael Winterbottom directed this cerebral science fiction tale of unrequited love in the bleak world of tomorrow. The film stars Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton as the unlikely and unlucky couple, who must subvert the system which has deemed them incompatible and find a way to satisfy their surreptitious cravings. It's typical Winterbottom stuff - heavy on the intellect, easy on the action - and frustratingly oblique at times. But there's enough thought-provoking material packed into Frank Cottrell Boyce's screenplay to satisfy those inclined toward the William Gibson/Philip K. Dick end of the sci-fi spectrum, and David Holmes provides a typically effective ambient score.

Wednesday 4/6/11

1:40 AM Starz in Black
Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (2008 USA): I’m a huge fan of Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 Starship Troopers feature; I’m a little less enamored of its first sequel, the straight-to-video Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation, which basically jettisoned Verhoeven’s barely concealed political sub-text in favor of lots and lots of CGI bug-busting. The bad news is that film number three also ignores the original’s anti-imperialist message, but the good news is that it’s just as much fun as Hero of the Federation and just as, er, juicy. After taking a film off, Casper Van Dien returns to the series as Johnny Rico, once again tasked with stopping the deadly alien species in its tracks. That’s pretty much all you need to know about the plot: the rest is silence. Did I say silence? I actually meant loud, constant, and bloody explosions.

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