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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 11/13/07

1:20 AM HBO Signature
Casi Casi (2006 PUR): Arriving only one week after Ladrones y Mentirosos, the first Puerto Rican film to receive an American television airing in recent memory, comes Casi Casi, the second Puerto Rican film to...well, you get the idea. Written and directed by the Valles Brothers (Jaime and Tony), the film is basically Election—Caribbean-Style, and stars Mario Pabon as Emilio, a nerdy high schooler trying to impress object of affection Jacklynne (Maite Canto) by running for Student Council president. Alas, he learns too late that his chief opponent in the race is the very same Jacklynne, and Emilio decides he must engage in a little ballot-box fixing in order to ensure a political loss and a romantic win. Paging Sequoia, Diebold, and Intercivic! If you're in the mood for a light-hearted, PG-rated teen comedy, it doesn't get any better than Casi Casi, which won the Audience Award at the 2006 San Diego Latino Film Festival.

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Stakeout on Dope Street (1958 USA): Titles don't come much better than Stakeout on Dope Street, do they? As an added bonus, the film itself is actually pretty good, too. It's a black and white neo-noir about the temptations of big city life and three young men confronted by a terrible choice: report the brick of heroin they find to the local police, or pass it on to the local junkies in exchange for some fast cash? Shot on location around an already seedy downtown Los Angeles (including Chavez Ravine, a year prior to its redevelopment as Dodger Stadium), the film stars Yale Wexler, Morris Miller, and future Little Shop of Horrors lead Jonathan Haze as Jim, Nick, and Ves, three goofballs who clearly didn't get the message that ‘if it's brown, flush it down'. The first film directed by future Empire Strikes Back helmer Irvin Kershner, Stakeout on Dope Street also features a fantastic performance from Allen Kramer as smack-head Danny, who kindly assists the lads in their efforts to find out what brown can do for them. Watch for Russ Meyer/Ray Dennis Steckler regular Coleman Francis as a detective.

6:35 PM Sundance
Crapshoot (2003 USA): If you enjoy cable staple Dirty Jobs, your face will no doubt flush with joy at the thought of this full-length documentary about the dangers of sewage. Invented during the early can-do days of the Roman Empire, sewerage once served primarily as a conduit for our bodily excrescences but now doubles as a superhighway for all sorts of effluence, including chemicals, solvents, and all sorts of nasty toxic waste that gets carelessly poured down the drain. Crapshoot takes us up close and personal into this world of subterranean delights, where cancer-causing agents lie just around every u-bend, and poses the question: do modern sewer systems cause more problems then they solve? Go to the head of the class if you already know the answer—and start digging a deep hole in the backyard. Gardez l'eau!

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