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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 04/10/07

1:15 PM Encore
Shopgirl (2005 USA): Every once in a while, supremely talented but badly advised funny man Steve Martin gets a hankering to do something a little more intimate than the big budget Hollywood schlock comedies that have paid his laundry bill for the last oh so many years. Such is the case with Shopgirl, another small-scale mock-indie in the tradition of Martin fare such as the underrated Novocaine (2001). It's yet another take on the May-December romance meme, with Martin cast as Ray Porter, a dot.com bazillionaire who engages in a fling with sales clerk Mirabelle (Claire Danes). Ray imagines himself the youngster's sugar daddy, but what for him is a whim is something far more serious for the impressionable 20-something, who's just terminated her OWN less than life-affirming affair with dullard Jeremy (Jason Schwartzmann). Martin, who also wrote and produced, is fine, but Danes is the revelation here, as she delivers a deeply nuanced performance that will have you reaching for a hanky. Beautifully shot by David Cronenberg's regular DoP, Peter Suschitzky, Shopgirl is an overlooked gem that comes highly recommended. Also airs at 4:15 PM.

Wednesday 04/11/07

10:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Stars In My Crown (1950 USA): Director Jacques Tourneur is remembered today primarily for his work for producer Val Lewton and his horror classic, Curse of the Demon (1956). Here's one of the forgotten gems in his filmography, a western with all the typical Tourneur touches. In fact, this was his favorite film, and in his brief essay Taste Without Cliches, he related the story of how he begged MGM producer William Wright to assign the film to him instead of a director lower on the totem pole. Eventually Tourneur got the job, but only after agreeing to work for the minimum fee, taking a two-thirds pay cut in the bargain. The result is a dreamy story of a Southern town beset by an outbreak of typhoid fever and plagued by a local Klan chapter. Racism was a long-term thematic concern for Tourneur, and he was lucky - or smart - enough to cast the always-wonderful Juano Hernandez as a black farmer targeted by Klansman Ed Begley. Hernandez remains one of the great unsung heroes of mid-20th-century American cinema, appearing in films ranging from Intruder in the Dust (1949) to Kiss Me Deadly (1955) and The Pawnbroker (1964). There's also an outstanding performance from Joel McCrea (who introduced Tourneur to the source novel for the film) as a local parson initially blamed for the typhus outbreak, and a fine supporting cast, including future Gunsmoke star Amanda Blake, Alan Hale, and Dean Stockwell. This isn't your typical two-fisted oater, but if you're a fan of the fever-dream terrors of I Walked with a Zombie and Cat People, you'll definitely want to take a look at Stars in My Crown.

8:15 PM Showtime 3
A Brother's Kiss (1997 USA): This has ‘bad indie' written all over it, but beats the odds and transcends the rather run of the mill subject matter. The film stars Nick Chinlund and Michael Raynor as Lex and Mick, a pair of Harlem-raised brothers who have learned different lessons in life from their diabetic alky of a mom (Cathy Moriarty). After an unfortunate encounter with a paedophilic policeman, Lex finds himself on the road to reform school, and his life goes into a drug-fuelled tailspin. In contrast, the meek Mick becomes a straight arrow copper who must, inevitably, choose between his brother and the law. Based on a stage play by writer-director Seth Zvi Rosenfeld - a play that also featured Chinlund and Raynor as Lex and Mick - A Brother's Kiss was a labor of love for all involved, including cast members Rosie Perez and John Leguizamo.

Thursday 04/12/07

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Once Upon A Time In the West (1969 ITA): There are few other films I love as passionately as this one. Once Upon A Time In the West is a mytho-poetic masterpiece about the taming of the Old West, told, of course, through the romantic eyes of the master of the Eurowestern, Sergio Leone. Starring ultimate everyman Henry Fonda as a gunslinger who inadvertently takes on the might of a local landowner, Leone's picture is not only a great western, but also one of the essential films, with Leone's vision being realized through Tonino Delli Colli's stupendous widescreen camera work and, of course, an unforgettable and moving score by Ennio Morricone. If you only ever see one spaghetti western, this is the one.

Friday 04/13/07

4:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Bring Your Smile Along (1955 USA): This very rare Columbia musical makes its TCM debut this evening, and even if, like me, you don't much care for musicals, there's enough of interest here to make it worth a look. For starters, it's the first feature film directed by Pink Panther creator Blake Edwards. The star is the recently deceased Frankie Laine, who plays Jerry Dennis, an unemployed songwriter who needs a break, and catches it when he moves in across the hall from New England schoolmarm and amateur lyricist Nancy (Constance Towers, the unforgettable lead in Sam Fuller's bizarre The Naked Kiss). The two come up with a pair of ditties entitled If Spring Never Comes and Mamma Mia, and they're off on the road to success - until romance gets in the way of things. Also on hand are Keefe Braselle as Jerry's roommate and accompanist Martin, Jack Albertson as a song publisher, and William Leslie (The Night the World Exploded) as Nancy's erstwhile boyfriend. It's pretty bland stuff with nary a hint of rock n roll in sight, but Laine is very good, as is Towers - and she even keeps her wig on.

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Barefoot Executive (1971 USA): I guess there wasn't room on The Disney Channel for this one. The Barefoot Executive was one of the Mouse House's low-budget, big box-office Kurt Russell comedies, and it stars the fresh-faced young actor as Steven Post, an ambitious mailroom worker looking to move up the ladder at his place of employment, the UBC television network. His boss is contemptuous of his efforts, but when Steven discovers that his neighbor's pet chimp (!) has a knack for recognizing good TV programs, he figures he has the ideal tool to prove his worth to the network bigwigs. Preposterous plot aside, The Barefoot Executive actually delivers some pretty barbed commentary on the then sorry state of American broadcasting, which of course has vastly improved over the intervening decades. Bolstered by the presence of Disney regulars such as unctuous Joe Flynn, unflappable Harry Morgan, and ditzy Wally Cox, as well as Robert Shayne, Tris Coffin, and a very young John Ritter, this is a fun trip down memory lane for those of us who grew up in the 1970s.

Saturday 04/14/07

5:00 AM Fox
Born Reckless (1937 USA): This frantically paced Fox second feature stars Brian Donlevy as an auto racer who takes a job with a taxi company. Donlevy, looking uncharacteristically young and spry, plays Bob ‘Hurry' Kane, a racing champ who knocks heads with a gang of racketeers led by Jim Barnes (Barton Maclane). Frank Nugent's original New York Times' review for this film called it ‘mentally retarded and incurably lame', but time has been relatively kind to Born Reckless, and it's simply a fun time-killer at this point. Incidentally, there were a whole bunch of similar taxi-mob movies during the '30s - I'd love to know if this was a genuine social problem at the time, and if it was, how it got cleaned up. You just don't hear about gangland ties to Yellow Cab these days. Look for Lon Chaney Jr.'s cameo as an auto mechanic, and watch out for Tivoplex favorite Charles Lane, who also puts in an appearance.

6:00 PM Showtime
Capote (2005 USA): Here's the American television premiere - in widescreen, no less - of this award winning biopic. I generally have a hard time with biopics, and Capote is no exception to the rule. One of my favorite character actors, Philip Seymour Hoffman, took home the Best Actor Academy Award for his performance as gay writer Truman Capote, who spent four years researching his ‘non-fiction' novel In Cold Blood. Those are the years recreated in director Bennett Miller's film, and whilst the results are very good, it's hard to watch Hoffman's performance without wincing in recognition. In a truly astonishing performance, Hoffman recreates Capote's verbal and physical tics to remarkable effect, but as with most such performances, one can't overlook the fact that this is an actor bringing a long dead, but very familiar, celebrity back to life. The result is a good film, but uncomfortable viewing for those of us old enough to remember Capote during his Studio 54 heyday. Also airs at 9:00 PM.

Sunday 04/15/07

9:00 PM Encore Action
Octopussy (1983 GB): Is this the worst entry in the James Bond series? I'm inclined to say ‘yes', though Tomorrow Never Dies offers some pretty strong competition. Octopussy marked the penultimate appearance of Roger Moore as Agent 007, this time trying to use a Faberge egg to put a stop to a plot to start a third world war. Maud Adams stars as the titular character, the owner of a travelling circus who falls into bed with Bond before assisting him on his mission. Adams is by the far the least inspiring Bond girl ever, and things are made worse by Rita Coolidge's All Time High, perhaps the worst advised choice for a Bond theme song imaginable. For those of you keeping score at home, however, this marks Octopussy's first widescreen appearance on premium cable - so fans of the series will definitely want to set their timers.

9:00 PM Sundance
Pray (2005 JAP): We're scraping the bottom of the barrel here, folks. This week's Asia Extreme offering is not only derivative, it's also not particularly well made. The story revolves around a pair of kidnappers (Tetsuji Tamayama and Asami Mizukawa) who seize a schoolgirl (Sanae Miyata) and hold her for ransom in a spooky abandoned school - only to learn that their victim is not what she appears to be. Most of the film takes place in dark corridors, which doesn't make for a very enjoyable viewing experience, and the denouement is absurd even by the standards of the genre. You'll be praying for it to end.

Monday 04/16/07

1:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Robocop (1987 USA): Paul Verhoeven's ‘bleak future' classic makes its widescreen American television premiere this evening. Verhoeven has always been a director with a penchant for social commentary, and Robocop is full of acid observations about the direction in which law enforcement was headed in 1987 - a direction that has accelerated since then. As with the director's equally acerbic Starship Troopers, however, there's much more to Robocop than dystopian social criticism, and the film is chock full of action and humor, all the better to help the patented Verhoeven medicine go down.

10:00 AM The Movie Channel
Silent Partner (1978 CAN): A completely forgotten North of the Border comedy-thriller, Silent Partner appears in widescreen for the first time on American television this morning. Shot in Toronto, the film features Elliott Gould as Miles, a meek bank teller who suspects a local street corner Santa may be plotting to rob his bank - and decides to skim some off the top of Kris Kringle's haul. All goes according to plan, and Miles finds the perfect hiding place for his loot - a deposit box at his place of employment! Things go off the rails, however, when an overzealous cleaning lady disposes of the lockbox key, and Miles must cook up a new scheme to close out his unofficial account - a scheme that involves endangering fellow employee and gal pal Julie (Susannah York). A very enjoyable, tongue-in-cheek adventure that also features Christopher Plummer (in drag, no less), The Silent Partner repeats at 1:00 PM.

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Clash of the Wolves (1925 USA): Unless you own or have rented the magisterial DVD set More Treasures From American Film Archives 1894-1931, you probably haven't seen this Rin Tin Tin adventure from Warner Brothers. Rinty plays Lobo, the half-breed leader of a pack of wolves who jumps ship when he has moral qualms (or the canine equivalent) about attacking a herd of cows. Taken in by kindly prospector Dave (Charles Farrell), Lobo quickly becomes a pampered domestic house pet - but when a dastardly claim jumper arrives on the scene, quickly reverts to type and reclaims command of the wolf pack. Lassie, he ain't.

6:00 PM Sundance
Combover: The Movie (2004 USA): Ah, the comb-over, friend of men with thinning hair, arch-enemy of male pattern baldness, and signifier of a complete lack of cool. For hundreds (if not thousands) of years, the humble comb-over has been both boon and embarrassment for millions of the follically challenged, and this amusing documentary takes a close look at the phenomenon. Featuring interviews with physicians, psychologists, and of course, men with comb-overs, the film takes the form of a road trip, with directors Chris Marino and Tim Finoglio searching for their own great white whale - the most outrageous comb-over in the nation. You'll be suitably impressed with what they find.