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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 10/02/07

6:20 AM Encore Action
Critical Assignment (2004 SAF): Corruption in high places threatens to unseat an idealistic president in this South African drama from director Jason Xenopolos. Produced with the co-operation of the United Nations (as well as with co-funding provided by Cameroon, Ghana, and Nigeria), Critical Assignment stars Guinness Beer advocate Cleveland Mitchell as Michael Powers, a muckraking journalist working on a story about Eastern European arms dealers trying to topple the aforementioned chief executive, who has had the gall to slash his nation's arms budget in favor of funding a vast clean water program. The film plays a bit like an upscale After School Special, but it's refreshing to see a black actor play a crusading journalist for a change, and the film's heart is certainly in the right place.

1:15 PM Sundance
Red Lights (2004 FRA): Based on a story by the legendary Georges Simenon, Red Lights stars Jean-Pierre Darroussin as Antoine, a meek accountant with a drinking problem who rebels against his assertive lawyer wife Helene (Carole Bouquet) whilst on a road trip to pick up their children from summer camp (echoes of Serge Leroy's 1977 thriller Les Passagers). After one argument too many, Helene leaves Antoine at a rest stop and continues the journey by train, whilst her increasingly sozzled hubby keeps the pedal to the metal. Distracted by his personal problems, radio reports of a killer on the loose don't deter him from picking up a grumpy hitchhiker (Vincent Deniard) who, for some reason, won't take his hand out of his pocket. Director Cedric Kahn does an excellent job of ratcheting up the tension and keeps the audience off balance to the end, whilst Darroussin delivers a sweaty tour-de-force as the henpecked Antoine. Also airs 10/3 at 11:00 AM.

9:00 PM Cinemax
Science of Sleep (2006 FRA): This was my favorite film of 2006, but I can well understand how others might dismiss it as a sophomoric exercise in clever-clever filmmaking. Indeed, it's a showy effort from Michel Gondry, whose prior production Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind explored similar territory but left me unimpressed. Granted, much of my disdain for that film stemmed from the presence of Jim Carrey in the lead role, but The Science of Sleep also works better thanks to its French locations, which lend it an air of New Wave cheekiness absent from its predecessor. Starring Gael Garcia Bernal as Stephane, a wide eyed innocent new to the big city and still in thrall to his (unrealistic) dreams, the film is a delightful blend of the surreal and the real, as Stephane woos his neighbor Stephanie (the delightfully off kilter Charlotte Gainsbourg) whilst trying to hold down a job at a calendar company. There are scenes here that equal the best of Godard, and Bernal is wonderful as the woolly headed Stephane, who finds his subconscious a safe sanctuary from the hardships of modern life and the slings and arrows of romantic misfortune. Also airs at midnight.

Wednesday 10/03/07

1:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Hero's Island (1962 USA): Here's an underappreciated gem from the early ‘60s. Apparently a labor of love for co-producers James Mason and Leslie Stevens (who also wrote and directed), Hero's Island details the scramble for survival in the newly settled American colony of Carolina. It raises interesting issues of ownership and propriety without sacrificing an exciting and realistic story, and the cast is simply outstanding, particularly Warren Oates and (Harry) Dean Stanton in one of his earliest roles. Neville Brand is second billed but actually has quite a small role and future Andy Sidaris 'star' Darby Hinton gets a bigger chunk of screen time as a settler's son. The Panavision photography is uniformly outstanding, and frequently ravishingly beautiful as lensed by Ted McCord (Sound of Music, East of Eden, and many others). A very pleasant surprise indeed.

9:30 AM Starz Edge
Too Tough to Die: A Tribute to Johnny Ramone (2006 USA): Johnny, of course, was the grumpy Ramone, as opposed to cuddly Joey, goofy Dee Dee, and boring but reliable Tommy. Now known to be a rock-ribbed Republican whose admiration for George W. Bush knew few bounds, Johnny outlived Joey and Dee Dee but eventually succumbed to cancer in 2004 a month short of his 56th birthday. A live tribute to the Ronald Reagan of rock (who apparently wasn't too fond of Joey's disrespectful Bonzo Goes to Bitburg) was held only a few days before his passing, and director Mandy Stein (whose earlier film, You See Me Laughin', paid worthy tribute to the elderly bluesmen of Fat Possum Records) captured the proceedings for posterity. Performances by The Dickies and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (!) are the big draw, but interviews with contemporaries Debbie Harry, Thurston Moore, Tommy Erdelyi and others put Johnny's life in proper context, rendering Too Tough to Die essential viewing for punks and poseurs alike.

Thursday 10/04/07

2:30 AM Sundance
Pucker Up: The Fine Art of Whistling (2006 USA): Before seeing this documentary, I had no idea that there was such a thing as competitive whistling. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised - after all, a world that has room for competitive hot dog eating surely has room for a whistling showdown - and Pucker Up offers a neat summation of the proceedings at the 2005 Louisburg, North Carolina, world finals. Directed by Kate Davis, whose prior film was the Emmy-award winning transgender doc Southern Comfort, Pucker Up will have you putting your lips together and blowing in no time.

Friday 10/05/07

2:35 AM Encore Action
Joyeux Noel (2005 FRA): France's nominee for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2006 Academy Awards, Joyeux Noel depicts the apocryphal Christmas Eve truce of 1914, when British, French, and German soldiers lay down their arms for a day and played football (that's soccer to you Yanks) instead. Told from the differing perspectives of a Scots chaplain (Gary Lewis), a French lieutenant (Guillaume Canet), and a German officer (Daniel Bruhl), the film manages to avoid soaking in the maudlin and sentimental, and in addition to its Oscar nom earned half a dozen nominations at the Cesars.

5:10 Starz Edge
The Electrifying Conclusion (2006 USA): Not sure what to expect from this. It's an hour-long excerpt from a four hours plus DVD celebrating the final tour of indie-rock mega-group Guided By Voices, who hung it up in 2004 after a two decade odyssey that saw them release dozens of records and play hundreds of shows in arenas, bars, and dives around the world. Recorded at Chicago's Metro club on New Year's Eve, GBV played a 240-minute show- 63 songs - that has been edited down to 69 minutes for the purpose of this broadcast. If, like me, you're a GBV fan, you'll probably want to check it out - if only to determine whether or not you need to invest in the full-length DVD (which also has some nifty bonus features).

7:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Vampire (1957 USA): TCM's month long Halloween celeboo-ration gets underway today with The Vampire, a decent blend of horror and science fiction tropes that doesn't actually feature a vampire at all. John Beal stars as Dr. Paul Beecher, a scientist who accidentally exposes himself to some pills that ‘regress' him to a more primitive state. Once in this state, Beecher takes on the appearance of an oatmeal-encrusted Mr. Hyde, and engages in horrendous misbehaviour that results in a large body count and may put the kibosh on his budding relationship with sexy lab assistant Carol (Coleen Gray). Culminating in a life or death struggle in someone's storm drain, The Vampire is quite enjoyable, even sans bloodsucker. It's followed at 9:00 AM by its DVD partner, The Return of Dracula (1958), which actually DOES feature its eponymous villain, herein transported to the small California community of Mayberry - with predictably gruesome results.

Saturday 10/06/07

2:00 AM Starz
Volver (2006 ESP): Confession: I'm not much of a Pedro Almodovar fan. I know that makes me an apostate in the circle of serious cineastes, but I just don't get his post-feminist schtick. That doesn't, however, stop me from, erm, admiring his muse, Penelope Cruz, who headlines this film as a restaurateur haunted by the ghost of her mother. Volver makes its American television premiere this morning (in widescreen no less), and airs again at 5:00 AM.

10:35 AM Encore Action
Independence Day (1996 USA): If I'm not much of an Almodovar fan, I'm even less of a Dean Devlin fan. The producer who best personifies white male patriotic bluster, Devlin had a huge hit in the summer of 1996 with this bloated science fiction epic about an alien invasion and the brave men (Will Smith, and, er, Randy Quaid) who Save the World (but mostly Save the Good Ol' U. S. of A.) from the saucer people. Then, thanks to this success, Devlin next took on the assignment of destroying the Godzilla franchise! Way to go, Dean! So why am I giving Independence Day more attention than it deserves in this week's TiVoPlex? Quite simply, it's making its widescreen television debut this morning - always a strong selling point around these parts - and if you're a fan of explosions, you may as well see them in their correct aspect ratio.

3:30 PM Sundance
Red Without Blue (2007 USA): The winner of the Audience Award at this year's Slamdance festival, Red Without Blue is a fascinating look at the lives of Missoula, Montana's Farley twins. As you might expect, however, the Farleys are no ordinary, run of the mill twins: brother Mark is gay, and brother Alex is a transsexual who goes by the name of Clair. In Missoula! Why, there are surely fewer gays, lesbians, and trans-genders there than in Iran. (Then again, it IS David Lynch's home town, so perhaps there's something in the water.) At any rate, the film follows Mark as he relocates to slightly-more-gay-friendly-than-Missoula San Francisco, whilst Clair enrolls as an undergrad at my old almost-alma mater, Sarah Lawrence. Shot over the course of three years, Red Without Blue also explores the unique relationship established between identical twins from birth, as well as the odd dynamics of growing up Christian Scientist.

Sunday 10/07/07

9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Headin' Home (1920 USA): Baseball is the theme of the evening on TCM, and whilst the original Bad News Bears (airing at 5:00 PM) is always a pleasant diversion, Headin' Home is the highlight of the night. It's a long unseen silent biopic starring Babe Ruth as Babe, an aspiring ballplayer who we see in his formative years both on and off the baseball diamond. The film is sadly short of big league action and mostly concerned with proving what a great, All-American guy the Babe was even in his youth, but for fans of the game (not to mention historians), this is required viewing. It's followed at 10:30 PM by a pair of equally rare one-reelers: 1909's His Last Game, in which a Native American player (not Pete Rose) tries to avoid the temptation of gambling on the sport, and 1912's The Ballplayer and the Bandit, featuring a fancy pants college baller who despatches a criminal with a well-placed fastball.

11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Family Diary (1962 ITA): Marcello Mastroianni stars in this forgotten drama about a man trying to recover from the death of his younger brother whilst struggling with his own cross to bear: tuberculosis. Marcello plays Enrico, a poverty-stricken Marxist writer whose wealthy sibling Lorenzo (Jacques Perrin, who now produces documentaries such as Microcosmos and Winged Migration) is felled by an intestinal disorder. Told primarily in flashback, the film is relentlessly bleak, but the despair is offset by superb color cinematography by the great Giuseppe Rotunno. Though some of director Valerio Zurlini's other films have been issued on Region 1 DVD in recent years, Family Diary remains unavailable on home video - so don't miss this rare opportunity to see it.