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2:25 PM Sundance
Barry Lyndon (1975 GB): How director Stanley Kubrick settled on Ryan O’Neal to play the title role in this film, I don’t know - but somehow pretty boy makes it work. Yes, an American leading man who specializes in light comedy delivers the goods as an 18th century Irish villain! Much credit, of course, is also due Kubrick himself, who miraculously adapted William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel for the screen, as well as cinematographer John Alcott, whose work here is as exemplary as ever. Grudgingly, though, I must issue a thumbs up for O’Neal as well. Hey, he was pretty good in Paper Moon, so why not Barry Lyndon?

Friday 10/14/11

4:15 PM HBO Signature
Contracorriente (2009 PER-COL): A married man has a gay lover on the side in this unusual Peruvian drama with supernatural overtones. Cristian Mercado is Miguel, a fisherman who’s haunted by the ghost of drowned lover Santiago (Manolo Cardona). Miguel hopes his secret lies safe below the waves, but when a nude painting of himself is found amongst Santiago’s belongings, word is out toute de suite. This subtle, nuanced character study won the Audience Awards at both the Miami Film Festival and at Sundance.

11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Stunt Rock (1979 AUS): Here’s one of the stranger films you’re likely to see, and one virtually no one outside of Australia had heard of before 2010 when it somehow got a Region 1 DVD release. Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith (also responsible for such classics as Pimpin’ Pee Wee and Leprechaun 4: In Space), Stunt Rock relates the misadventures of Aussie stuntman Grant Page (playing himself) during his sojourn in Southern California, where (in addition to working in Hollywood) he plays guitar in a heavy metal band named Sorcery.

Sorcery, mind you, is no garden variety metal band: no, these guys perform magic tricks in between shaking their shaggy locks and reeling off wicked hammer-ons. I guarantee you have never seen (and probably will never see) another film quite like Stunt Rock. It’s followed at 12:45 AM by the animated musical Heavy Metal (1981), which seems pretty mundane in comparison.

Saturday 10/15/11

8:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Zorro’s Fighting Legion (1939 USA): Zorro’s on the trail of some purloined ammunition in the fourth and fifth chapter of this Republic serial.

9:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Tarzan Goes to India (1961 GB): This is definitely one of my favorite Tarzan adventures, though not because of the quality of the film or its story. Oh, the film’s fine - the Jungle Lord does indeed travel to India, where he tries to save a herd of elephants threatened by a hydrological project (a.k.a. dam) - but it’s the body of Tarzan that’s most interesting in this outing. You see, star Jock Mahoney immediately contracted dysentery upon arriving in India for the location shoot, and if you watch the film carefully you’ll see Tarzan transform from rippling beefcake to diarrhea-racked beanpole and back again over the course of ninety sphincter-clenching minutes! Poor Jock hung up his (soiled?) loincloth after making one further Tarzan feature. I guess this one really took it out of him.

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