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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 06/19/07

3:30 AM Starz
Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006 USA): I had always thought it was Professor Plum, in the kitchen, with the candlestick, but it turns out I was wrong. It was actually the least likely suspect of all: Mr. Automobile Executive, in the smoke-filled courtroom, with the lawsuit. That, of course, is the thesis of this well-intentioned, if somewhat underpowered, documentary from first time director Chris Paine. Unnecessarily larded with testimonial appearances by celebrity enthusiasts ranging from Tom Hanks to Phyllis Diller, but bolstered by fascinating archival footage, Who Killed the Electric Car? makes a cogent point about the poisonous intersection between commerce and the body politic, all within the space of a lean 90 minutes. Now, if only someone would kill the Segway, the world would truly be a better place. Also airs at 6:30 AM.

8:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
Beware, My Lovely (1952 USA): Robert Ryan plays a psychotic handyman with his eye on Ida Lupino in this enjoyably far-fetched RKO thriller. Ryan, always at his best portraying morally compromised characters laden with disturbing tics and compulsions, essays the role of Howard Wilton, a wandering jack of all trades whose unfortunate penchant for violence has left a trail of death in his wake. Moving to a new town, Wilton lucks into a gig working for kindly World War I widow Helen Gordon (Lupino), but his paranoia rapidly redevelops and he convinces himself that she doesn't have his best interests at heart. Plunging over the edge into madness, he proceeds to imprison the terrified Helen in her own home whilst alternating death threats with periods of helpful fixer-uppery. Oddly, Beware My Lovely (based on Mel Dinelli's play The Man) avoids the implication that Howard could himself be a shell-shocked victim of The War to End All Wars — but perhaps that un-stated premise may have seemed quite obvious to 1952 filmgoers wearied by World War II and the then ongoing ‘police action' in Korea.

Wednesday 06/20/07

8:00 PM HBO Signature
The Fever (2004 GB-USA): This fever is neither of the boogie nor baseball variety, but simply of the base: politics. Committed revolutionary and long-term activist Vanessa Redgrave stars as a mysterious unnamed woman who awakens one morning in a dank hotel somewhere on the wrong side of the old Iron Curtain. Finding a copy of Das Kapital left on her doorstep by a kindly stranger, our heroine immerses herself in the exciting new ideology of Marxism, learns that free markets have enslaved and bled dry the Third World, and determines to change things for the better and overcome her newly awakened middle class guilt. An allegorical and autobiographical tribute to its star, The Fever was written by Wallace Shawn (My Dinner With Andre, The Princess Bride) and directed by the wonderfully monickered Carlo Gabriel Nero, who also happens to be Vanessa's son by Franco Nero. This fascinating if occasionally maddening vanity project also features appearances by right wing bete noir Michael Moore, Angelina Jolie (!), and Redgrave's daughter (this time via Tony Richardson) Joely Richardson.

Thursday 06/21/07

3:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown (1957 USA): A low rent take on the Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? meme, The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown stars future brassiere huckster Jane Russell as Laurel Stevens, a sexy blonde actress whose new film, The Kidnapped Bride, is just about to open in monoplexes around the nation. On her way to the premiere, Stevens is snatched off the street by a pair of bumbling hoods (Ralph Meeker and Keenan Wynn), and everyone assumes it's all a publicity stunt — which it most assuredly isn't. To further complicate matters, Laurel soon comes down with a full-fledged case of Stockholm Syndrome, as she falls in love with abductor Mike Valla (Meeker). Will the studio ante up the $100,000 demanded by the goombahs — or will love trump all? A frothy concoction from Lewis and Martin director Norman Taurog and screenwriter Richard Alan Simmons, The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown is ideal early morning viewing for insomniacs and Playtex Cross Your Heart Bra enthusiasts alike.

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