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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 02/05/08

3:25am Flix
Cannonball! (1976 USA): Circle of Iron, Death Race 2000, and now Cannonball! - fans of poker-faced thespian David Carradine have been spoiled for choice over the last few months. Indeed, Cannonball! saw Carradine reunite with Death Race writer/director Paul Bartel, and is yet another entry in the "wacky racers" genre that flourished in the wake of The Gumball Rally throughout the 1970s and early '80s. The story is simple and to the point: an illegal coast-to-coast race from New York to Los Angeles is being held, and the winner will take home the fabulous sum of $100,000. Hotshot automotive enthusiast Cannonball Buckman (Carradine) is out to claim the prize, but will his past catch up with him before the competition (including brother Robert, Belinda Balaski, and Mary Woronov) does? If you like movies with fast cars and lots of explosions, this one's for you, but there's also good fun to be had playing Spot the Guest Star, with cameo appearances from the likes of Bartel, producer Roger Corman, Sly Stallone, Martin Scorsese (!), Joe Dante, Aron Kincaid, and the immortal Dick Miller enlivening the proceedings. Also airs at 11:45am, 5pm, and 2/9 at 3am.

1:15pm Turner Classic Movies
Janie (1944 USA): As much as I moan and groan about TCM's 31 Days of Oscar every year, they always manage to turn up something truly unusual to fill out the bottom of the bill. Case in point: Janie, a completely forgotten Michael Curtiz feature that earned an editing Oscar nom in 1945. It's a romantic comedy starring Joyce Reynolds (who?) as the title character, a bobby-soxer determined to find herself a boyfriend from amongst the draft-age hordes training at a nearby Army camp. The story is bland and predictable, but the supporting cast is first-rate, including Robert Hutton, Edward Arnold, Hattie McDaniel, Alan Hale, Robert Benchley, Keefe Brasselle, Billy Benedict, and (in his big screen debut) 17-year-old Andy Williams. And, oh, that editing!

Wednesday 02/06/08

3:35am Cinemax
When Worlds Collide (1951 USA): There are few science fiction films from the '50s that can still evoke a sense of wonder. This is one that works for me, as mankind is forced to adapt to Planet Earth's looming destruction due to an oncoming collision with a roving planet. Starring the otherwise-forgotten Richard Derr as David Randall, a pilot who must fly 40 representatives of humanity to a safe house in the stars - where they will presumably breed like rabbits and create a New Eden - the film was based on a Philip Wylie story and does a decent (if whitewashed) job of representing that author's resolutely cynical views about the hardwired selfishness of the human race. When Worlds Collide must have been particularly effective for Cold War audiences, who no doubt imagined themselves being blasted into nuclear oblivion and fantasized about science rescuing them just in the nick of time. The premise is absurd and ultimately racist (not too many non-white or even non-American passengers make it aboard Randall's intragalactic Noah's Ark), but when that spaceship blasts off, my hopes go flying with it every time! Also airs at 6:35am.

11:05am Encore Action
Diamond Cut Diamond (2004 CAN): Originally released under the anodyne moniker Witness to a Kill, Diamond Cut Diamond is a Canadian thriller directed by underappreciated South African director Darrell Roodt. Roodt began his career helming art films such as A Place for Weeping and Cry the Beloved Country, and brings a politically-conscious sensibility to the two-fisted proceedings. It's a sequel to a rather bad film called Queen's Messenger, which featured beefcake Gary Daniels as Captain Anthony Strong, a representative of the British Crown sent to right wrongs around the globe. In this outing, Strong reports for duty to combat smugglers in Africa, who are busy reaping ill-gotten gains from drugs, diamonds, and dames. Produced and co-written by the legendary Harry Alan Towers, who got his start funding Jess Franco pictures in the 1960s, Diamond Cut Diamond is a guilty pleasure for those who think James Bond is a bit of a girly-man.

Thursday 02/07/08>

12:30am Cinemax
My Summer of Love (2005 GB): This excellent drama from director Pawel Pawlikowski returns to the small screen this morning and comes strongly recommended to those who enjoy quality acting, intelligent and sensitive writing, and lingering shots of the Yorkshire Dales. The film features Emily Blunt as Tamsin, a well-to-do schoolgirl who meets working-class Mona (Holby City's Nathalie Press) over the course of her summer hols. The two fall in love and, in a fashion reminiscent of Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures (though with much less deadly consequences), engage in a series of guerrilla actions against Tamsin's adulterous father (Paul Antony-Barber) and Mona's holy-roller brother (Paddy Considine, excellent as always). A film festival favorite that took home half-a-dozen awards from an assortment of cinema soirees, My Summer of Love also airs at 3:30am.

1am Encore Action
Raid on Rommel (1971 USA): One of those films that used to play over and over and over again on local television during the 1970s, Raid on Rommel has long since faded into obscurity. Amongst the last films directed by Henry Hathaway, it stars Richard Burton as Captain Alan Foster, a British Army officer tasked with leading an assault on coastal Tobruk's shore batteries during the pivotal North African campaign of 1942. Slated to have a first-rate troop of commandos under his command, Foster ends up leading four wounded men and a group of medics led by a pacifist NCO (Christopher Cary), but still must complete his mission and give Field Marshall Rommel (the great Wolfgang Preiss) a panzer-sized headache. The film's low budget is belied by its over-reliance on action sequences lifted from 1967's Rock Hudson feature Tobruk, but my lingering adolescent memories of Raid on Rommel are fond ones nonetheless. Hey, as long as you haven't seen Tobruk recently, what's the harm? Plus this is probably the only war movie ever made that features a discussion about stamp collecting!

10:30pm Turner Classic Movies
Easy Rider (1969 USA): There's still a romantic (or is that post-coital?) glow surrounding Easy Rider. A cultural totem at the time of its release, the film seemed to accurately reflect the cultural zeitgeist of the era, but now plays like little more than an above-average biker flick or road movie. Indeed, the film was originally pitched to Sam Arkoff at AIP, where Fonda had starred in the hugely successful Wild Angels and The Trip, but ended up at Columbia when Arkoff made the mistake of rejecting it. As much as I enjoy Easy Rider - and I DO enjoy it - it's far from being the profound social statement it was considered in 1969, and it's hard to believe the film netted as many awards as it did around the globe during those, ahem, heady days. A vanity project for stars Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda, Easy Rider features the then-incomparably hip duo as rebellious bikers trying to find love, peace, and freedom whilst eluding The Man's heavy-handed grasp. Stashing their drug money in a gas tank, the two take off for Mardi Gras, but must navigate a treacherous path laden with kooky cults, slack-jawed rednecks, and other ornery critters before they get there. Co-starring Phil Spector, Luana Anders, Luke Askew, Jack Nicholson, and Karen Black, Easy Rider will probably resonate with Boomers until the last of them is pushing up joss sticks, but for the rest of us, it's just good old-fashioned exploitation fun.

Friday 02/08/08

2:15am Turner Classic Movies
The Whisperers (1967 GB): I'd like to think that my request e-mail to TCM inspired them to schedule this wonderful British drama, but even if my e-mail went right into the trash bin, I'm thrilled to see The Whisperers making an all-too-rare television appearance. Written and directed by Bryan Forbes, it stars Edith Evans as Maggie Ross, an elderly woman slipping into apparent senility whilst living alone in a damp bedsit. Beset by imaginary beings that plague her flat with radio noise, dripping taps, and creaking pipes, Maggie compensates for her loneliness by first attempting communication with these "whisperers", then reporting them to the police, who politely but firmly ignore her. Forbes establishes the same brooding atmosphere so effectively evoked in his 1964 triumph, Seance on a Wet Afternoon, and though there is some melodrama to be had in the proceedings, the focus remains on the daily indignities heaped upon the aged in a youth-obsessed society. Co-starring Eric Portman as Maggie's estranged husband, The Whisperers is long since overdue on DVD and well worthy of a critical reappraisal. Do yourself a huge favor and don't miss it tonight; who knows when it will next return.

9:30am Sundance
Buried in the Backyard (2005 USA): You probably thought people stopped building fallout shelters 40 years ago; I know I certainly did. Not so according to this brief 30-minute documentary, which details the efforts of folks coast-to-coast who are still preparing for a nuclear holocaust, or an alien invasion, or something. I haven't seen Buried in the Backyard yet, but if you see me digging a hole in the garden come Saturday afternoon, you'll know it did its Friday morning work well.

Saturday 02/09/08

3pm Flix
Wise Blood (1979 USA): I'm not the biggest fan of this late-period John Huston flick, but I do like me some Flannery O'Connor, and I'm holding out hope that the increasingly reliable Flix will be airing it in its original aspect ratio. Wise Blood stars Brad Dourif as Hazel Motes, a lad raised in the fire-and-brimstone American South by his fundamentalist grandfather (Huston). After returning from World War II duty, Hazel trades in his Army uniform for pastor's gear and becomes a traveling evangelist, eager to decry the cant and hypocrisy of his fellow man (and his kinfolk) via the newly established Church of Christ Without Christ. Grim, uncompromising, darkly comic, and laden with Southern Gothic imagery, Wise Blood is a hard slog at times and far from being a popcorn flick, but worth a look for Dourif's bravura performance, which, incidentally, I can't help but think informed that of Paul Dano in P.T. Anderson's There Will Be Blood. Watch Wise Blood this afternoon and let me know what you think.

8:30pm Sundance
Nightmare (2000 ROK): Another Asian take on the teen horror trope, Nightmare features the usual assortment of dumb kids with a deep, dark secret, plus the usual long-haired ghost out to avenge the indignities visited upon it in life by the aforesaid kids. Directed by Ahn Byeong-Ki, whose Phone was a much more effective chiller, Nightmare is strictly paint-by-numbers stuff, and only recommended for folks like me who feel compelled to see every last one of Sundance's "Asia Extreme" offerings.

Sunday 02/10/08

6:45am IFC
Wild Strawberries (1957 SWE): Produced during Ingmar Bergman's purple period, Wild Strawberries is one of the best (and at times, most disturbing) of the glum Swede's output. The legendary Victor Sjostrom stars as Isak Borg, an aging medico whose life is slowly drawing to its inexorable close. It's time for some introspection on ol' Isak's part, and as he is travels with his daughter (Ingrid Thulin) to a ceremony held to acknowledge his life's work, his reflections don't entirely please him. Unlike much of Bergman's bleak oeuvre, Wild Strawberries has shadings both light and dark, and manages to find the perfect balance of bittersweet and tragic before coming to an anti-climactic climax. The perfect companion piece for this week's other gerontological epic, The Whisperers, Wild Strawberries would almost make a great double bill partner with Vittorio de Sica's Umberto D.

5pm Turner Classic Movies
The Nightmare before Christmas (1993 USA): I'll take THIS Nightmare over the Korean variety any day of the week! Appearing tonight on TCM thanks to its Academy Award nomination for Visual Effects (remember, this was before AMPAS added the much-needed Animated Film category), it's the delightful and macabre holiday tale of Jack Skellington's efforts to convince his fellow Halloweentown citizens to join him in celebrating The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Produced by Tim Burton, it's a terrific family film with just enough edge to give the little ones a frisson of fear, and one of the few Christmas films of recent vintage to truly take root in popular consciousness. As extra enticement, it makes its wide-screen television debut this evening.

Monday 02/11/08

3am HBO Signature
Don't Bother to Knock (1952 USA): The not-yet-typecast Marilyn Monroe delivers the goods here as Nell Forbes, a babysitter with a difference: she's completely nuts. Nell's just moved to the big city, where she's moved in with equally out-there Uncle Eddie (Elisha Cook Jr.), and when not herding rugrats is on the prowl for a man. Enter rugged pilot Jed (Richard Widmark), who's just been ditched by his girlfriend (Anne Bancroft) and is nursing his wounds over a bottle of hooch. Whilst Nell is caring for little Bunny (Donna Corcoran), Jed introduces himself, but soon begins to realize he's made a big mistake. Directed by British filmmaker Roy Ward Baker, who briefly relocated to the States in the early '50s, Don't Bother to Knock is one of Monroe's best efforts, and further proof (see also: Niagara) that, given half a chance, she coulda been a dramatic contender.

6pm Sundance
37 Uses for a Dead Sheep (2006 GB): I haven't seen this documentary about Central Asian shepherds, but any film titled 37 Uses for a Dead Sheep is guaranteed a place in the TiVoPlex Hall of Fame. Enjoy!