TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex for Tuesday, August 21, 2007 through Monday, August 27, 2007
By John Seal
August 21, 2007
From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.
Tuesday 08/21/07
6:30 PM Sundance
Inheritance: A Fisherman's Story (2003 AUS): This documentary takes a look at an environmental catastrophe most of us have never heard of: the destruction of the ecosystem of Hungary's Tisza River in 2000. Devastated by 120,000 tons of cyanide dumped into the river by a multinational company, the Tisza could no longer support local communities who relied on freshwater fishing to survive. Inheritance follows one such fisherman, Balasz Meszaros, as he travels to Australia to visit the company responsible for the disaster. Needless to say they didn't roll out the red carpet when he arrived.
Wednesday 08/22/07
10:15 AM Starz In Black
A Room For Romeo Brass (1999 AUS): Shane Meadows - whose current feature This Is England is currently on stateside release - is one of the most intriguing young directors working in Britain today, a working-class auteur whose screen style differs markedly from that of kitchen-sink specialists such as Ken Loach and Mike Leigh. Though rooted firmly in the lower middle-class environs we're familiar with from the works of those two great filmmakers, Meadows' vision is at times more hopeful, more wistful, and certainly funnier. A Room for Romeo Brass investigates the relationship of two awkward Midlands teenagers and the rather strange adult (played brilliantly by Paddy Considine) who insinuates his way into their lives in an effort to date one of their female siblings. As in Meadows' Once Upon a Time in the Midlands, you feel like you've seen these characters and this story somewhere before, but frequent collaborator Paul Fraser's wise and thoughtful screenplay adds more than enough twists to the proceedings to make A Room for Romeo Brass a distinctive rumination on the trials of adolescence. Also airs on Encore Dramatic Stories 8/27 at 10:35 AM.
10:30 PM HBO Family
Smashed: Toxic Tales of Teens and Alcohol (2006 USA): It may not be on par with the legendary made-for-TV movie of the week Sarah: Portrait of A Teenage Alcoholic, but this HBO original documentary still manages to do something quite remarkable: by avoiding the grim excesses of those drivers' ed movies we all grew up with (Red Asphalt, anyone?) it provides foolish teenagers with a valuable object lesson that isn't steeped in hysterical hyperbole. Focussing on the cases of six adolescents who came an automotive cropper thanks to demon drink, Smashed turns the tortuous trick of teaching this heretofore immortal race of beings that perhaps knocking back a third of a pint of vodka or a six pack of beer might not be the wisest decision you could make before putting the pedal to the metal. Show this one to someone you love - especially if they're under 18. Also airs 8/23 at 1:30 AM.
Thursday 08/23/07
5:15 AM Sundance
It's All About Love (2003 A Whole Bunch O'Countries): Claire Danes and Joaquin Phoenix are unhappily married couple John and Elena in this faux science-fiction film about the bleak future of New York City circa 2020. The climate has shifted, leaving the Big Apple icebound in July. Phoenix and Danes are planning on a divorce, but then they don't, instead fleeing the snowed-in city, where ice dancing is the hippest thing happening and Danes' character is considered one of the finest practitioners of the art. Written and directed by Dogme veteran Thomas Vinterberg, with a helping hand from the puckish Mogens Rukov, It's All About Love was reportedly howled off the screen at Sundance 2003 and drove a distracted Danes to tears when she first viewed the finished product. The artistic presence of enfant terrible Lars Von Trier hovers over this wacky love story, however, and that - and the sterling work from cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, as well as a guest appearance by Sean Penn - make this one a must-see for film fans made of sterner stuff. Also airs at 12:45 PM and on 8/26 AT 5:35 AM and 7:00 PM.
11:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
Devils of Darkness (1965 USA): Here's the American television premiere of this long forgotten British horror flick, now finally mooted for a DVD dust-off next month. It would be nice to report that it's a lost classic, but alas, such is not the case, as it's a rather tatty and (even worse) dull affair from pedestrian director Lance Comfort. The premise - a village in rustic Brittany is threatened by a plague of vampires - is far from original stuff, and the plot lumbers along predictably when a group of American and British tourists arrive for a spelunking holiday but find themselves battling the evil Lord Sinistre and his band of bloodsuckers instead. Noel Hubert delivers the goods as Sinistre, but the film really can't overcome it's low budget limitations - not to mention its set-bound recreation of the bucolic French countryside. If you're a British horror completist, it's essential viewing—all others can probably give it a miss.
Friday 08/24/07
3:15 AM Showtime
From the Hip (1987 USA): Rapidly maturing brat packer Judd Nelson began to transition into more adult roles in this decent if predictable comedy drama about the moral dilemmas confronted by an up and coming lawyer during the 1980s. Nelson plays Robin Weathers, a yuppie with an expensive loft, a driving desire to become a junior partner at his ‘A' list Boston law firm, and enough of a conscience to make him question his latest assignment: defending rich scumbag Benoit (John Hurt), who has murdered a lady of the night and expects to get acquitted on all charges. Will Robin bite the bullet and take the easy money - or will his moral qualms about taking the case cause him to put ethics before a nameplate on the office door? Directed by reliable jack of all trades Bob Clark (Deathdream, Porky's), From the Hip is an amusing time capsule from the Reagan era that benefits from a fine supporting cast - including Darren McGavin, David Alan Grier, and Ray Walston - and is making its widescreen television premiere this morning. Also airs at 6:15 AM, 12:45 PM, and 3:45 PM.
9:00 PM Sundance
Tout va Bien (1972 FRA): Chances are, if not for the presence of Jane Fonda in this obscure Jean-Luc Godard feature, we wouldn't be celebrating its arrival on American television tonight (and it probably wouldn't have received a domestic DVD release, either). Don't let the presence of the annoying Fonda put you off, however, as Tout va Bien is a fascinating and compellingly bizarre post-Marxist treatise on the failure of the May 1968 Paris ‘revolution'. Fonda plays an American reporter pursuing a story on an industrial strike in a sausage factory whilst dealing with the fallout from her prickly relationship with a radical filmmaker (Yves Montand). The film gets very talky during the factory-bound second act, but anyone remotely interested in either Godard or in radical politics will find this endlessly fascinating. Also airs 8/25 at 6:00 AM and 3:00 PM.
Saturday 08/25/07
4:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Cargo to Capetown (1950 USA): Real life former merchant seaman Broderick Crawford stars as an unlucky Tar in this tale of a sea-bound love triangle from Columbia Pictures. He plays Johnny Phelan, the engineer of the good ship Mokara, and the future husband of bright-eyed ingénue Kitty Mellar (Ellen Drew). Enter new captain Steve Conway (John Ireland), newly assigned to the Mokara by ship's owner Singh (Leonard Strong) and a good deal better looking than the lumpy Phelan. Not only that - he also happens to be Kitty's ex, and the embers of their old romance soon threaten to rekindle and engulf all three of our protagonists in a triangular conflagration. Considering the Academy Award pedigree of those involved - Crawford was coming off his Best Actor Oscar for All the King's Men, Ireland off a nomination from the same picture - Cargo to Capetown is pretty mediocre stuff. It's followed at 9:15 AM by another (and much better) Crawford feature, the 1954 police procedural Down Three Dark Streets, in which Brod plays an FBI agent working three cases inherited from his murdered friend (Kenneth Tobey).
7:00 PM Cinemax
The Departed (2006 USA): For those who spent 2006 in a cave, Martin Scorsese's Infernal Affairs remake, The Departed, was widely touted as the best film of the year. In my opinion, that wasn't the case (I gave the nod, controversially, to Michel Gondry's Science of Sleep), but it was an inarguably strong return to form for the legendary director, who coaxed a truly great performance out of Leonardo di Caprio as well as first rate turns from Mark Wahlberg and Jack Nicholson. It makes its premium cable debut tonight, and whilst one could hardly begrudge Scorsese the Oscar night vindication, I'm compelled to point out that Thelma Schoonmaker's Academy Award for Best Editing was not deserved - her work here is uncharacteristically sloppy and choppy. Also airs at 10:00 PM, on 8/27 at 8:00 AM and 11:00 AM, and 8/26 on More Max at 3:30 PM.
11:30 PM Encore Dramatic Stories
Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers (2006 USA): Yet another documentary from the seemingly tireless Robert Greenwald, Iraq For Sale does exactly what it says on the tin: succinctly details the war profiteering efforts of some of America's best connected major corporations. As with last week's Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices, those already ‘in the know' won't learn a great deal here, but as an introduction to the subject for your pro-war relatives, you could do worse.
Sunday 08/26/07
4:30 PM Sundance
The Oyster Farmer (2004 AUS-GB): Here's a low-key drama that offers a host of quiet rewards for patient viewers. Written and directed by Anna Reeves, Oyster Farmer tells the tale of Jack (Alex O'Loughlin), a troubled resident of the Aussie outback who pulls off a successful armored car robbery, retires to a remote riverbank hideout, and falls into the oyster farming routine whilst waiting for his loot to show up in the post. Whilst honing his shellfish harvesting skills along the River Hawkesbury, he falls for brunette bombshell Pearl (Diana Glenn), befriends a crusty Vietnam vet (yes, Australia provided ground troops in that war), and spars with the prickly local sewage collector. With the emphasis on quirky characters and a bucolic setting, Oyster Farmer rarely strays from the path of your average Aussie feature, but is as comfortable as an old slipper, though its gorgeous outback cinematography certainly looks better than one. Also airs 8/27 at midnight.
Monday 08/27/07
6:00 PM Sundance
Guerrilla Girl (2005 DEN): A genuinely intriguing documentary from Danish filmmaker Frank Poulsen, Guerrilla Girl follows 21-year-old Colombian Isabel as she signs up for service in that nation's FARC revolutionary army. FARC have been struggling to overthrow the Colombian government since the early 1960s and now specialize in a line of high quality, long-term kidnappings. Isabel is far from being a downtrodden prole, and probably enlists to assuage her middle class guilt. She soon finds herself woefully inadequate to the task, as we see her struggling with the rugged training, not terribly interested in the ideological lectures, and determinedly unwilling to share her toiletries with her comrades. Granted unprecedented access to a training camp by FARC commanders (what WERE they thinking?), Poulsen produced this appropriately bizarre documentary on behalf of Lars Von Trier's Zentropa outfit.
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