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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 03/25/08

5:00 PM HBO
Autism: The Musical (2007 USA): A musical about autism sounds like something of an oxymoron, but such is not the case according to this HBO original documentary. Depicting the six months long production of a play designed to provide autistic children with a creative outlet (and to educate audiences about the nature of their condition), the film focuses on the theatrical aspirations of five youngsters working to overcome their unique challenges. If you're like me, you'll be surprised to learn that autism comes in more than one variety, with some kids more communicative than others. If you know or love someone with autism, or just want to learn more about it, this is a terrific primer about this much misunderstood disorder. Also airs at 8:00 PM and 3/26 on HBO2 at 6:30 AM and 9:30 AM.

11:30 PM Sundance
Road to Guantanamo (2006 GB): The relentlessly productive Michael Winterbottom scored big with this politically charged tale of The Tipton Three, three young Britons of Asian extraction who were in the ‘wrong place at the wrong time' and ended up imprisoned for over two years in the Guantanamo Bay concentration camp. If you want to experience some righteous anger, watch this film, and then go and read Moazzem Begg's Enemy Combatant. Then impeach the President.

Wednesday 03/26/08

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Tunnel (1935 GB): Also known as Transatlantic Tunnel, this rarely seen, Maurice Elvey-helmed effort makes its TCM debut this afternoon. Produced decades before The Dover-to-Calais Chunnel was constructed (though the idea had been mooted as early as 1802), the film stars American Richard Dix as Mack McAllen, a cocksure Yank engineer working to construct an underwater connection between Britain and the United States. McAllen's obsession with the job leads to estrangement from wife Ruth (Madge Evans), who takes a job working in the tunnel as a nurse. The couple are brought back together by a series of tragedies, which culminate in a climactic trip to the tunnel's mid-point deep below the Atlantic Ocean. Co-starring C. Aubrey Smith as a financier and Leslie Banks as McAllen's closest chum, this Michael Balcon-produced futuristic fantasy isn't as much fun as 1930's classic of camp prognostication Just Imagine, opting instead for a straightforward examination of the two countries' nascent special relationship.

6:00 PM IFC
The Great Silence (1968 ITA): Perhaps the greatest spaghetti western not to have the name ‘Sergio Leone' attached to it, The Great Silence returns to IFC this evening. Starring Klaus Kinski as Loco, a crazed bounty killer with no moral compass, and Jean-Louis Trintignant as Silence, a mute gun for hire who prefers to offer his services to the weak and helpless, The Great Silence takes place during a harsh Utah winter, immediately setting the film apart from its dust and sand-encrusted genre compadres. The two meet aboard a stagecoach bound for the aptly named Snow Hill, a Mormon town offering business opportunities for both of them - but along for the ride is Sheriff Burnett (American émigré Frank Wolff), a straight arrow lawman determined to stamp out bounty hunting all together. Very much in the tradition of ‘political' westerns such as Sergio Sollima's The Big Gundown and the films of Damiano Damiani, The Great Silence never had an American theatrical release, and - unless you had previously invested in a pricey Japanese laserdisc - was virtually impossible to see until its 2004 Fantoma DVD release. For anyone interested in westerns - of any style - or of European cinema in general, it's a must see. Also airs at 9:45 PM.

Thursday 03/27/08

12:40 AM Starz
Black Book (2007 HOL): Paul Verhoeven's salute to the Dutch resistance makes its premium channel premiere this morning. Bookended by scenes set in 1956 Israel, the film stars Carice van Houten as Rachel Stein, a Jewish woman hiding from the Nazis with the assistance of a sympathetic Christian family. When her cover is broken, Rachel finds herself working in a factory operated by a Commie resistance fighter who enlists her for the cause and sends her on an incredibly dangerous mission to penetrate Gestapo headquarters. The film doesn't stint on production values (this is the most expensive Dutch film yet made) and relies on some traditional narrative tropes, but still displays the puckish Verhoeven touch, with plenty of sex and violence on hand in addition to a super-sized bucket-load of feces. Though clocking in at two and a half hours, Black Book is never boring, and is one of the rare foreign language films that the subtitle averse might still appreciate. Also airs at 3:40 AM.

1:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Cottage to Let (1941 GB): Leslie Banks makes his second TiVoPlex appearance of the week in this obscure Anthony Asquith spy drama. Banks plays scientist Dr. Barington, a boffin helping the RAF develop a new bombsight in the wilds of Scotland. Assistant Alan Trently (Michael Wilding) is suspected of espionage on behalf of the German Reich, and it's up to double agent Dimble (Alistair Sim) to ferret out the truth. Matters are complicated by the nearby presence of a rehab center for wounded Tommys, one of whom (John Mills) also becomes deeply involved in the proceedings. Cottage to Let is minor Asquith, but doesn't get seen on American television with anything approaching regularity, so plan accordingly.

3:30 PM HBO Signature
Un Buen Dia lo Triene Cualquiera (2007 ESP): Here's one I know nothing about, which of course makes it all the more intriguing. Un Buen Dia lo Triene Cualquiera (which roughly translates to Has Everyone Had a Good Day) never received an American theatrical or home video release and didn't even make it to the US festival circuit. I don't recognize any names amongst the cast or crew. The Spanish-language trailer makes it look like a romantic comedy. Hopefully HBO's print will have subtitles! Also airs 3/31 at noon.

8:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
High School Confidential! (1958 USA): This legendary J.D. (juvenile delinquency) feature has all the necessary ingredients - sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll. Russ Tamblyn stars as Tony, a transfer student determined to make a big first impression on campus. Wasting little time, Tony moves to seize control of The Wheelers & Dealers gang from current head honcho J. I. (John Drew Barrymore), and for good measure tries to steal J.I's girlfriend Joan (Diane Jergens) as well. With a wad of cash and a switchblade knife, Tony is soon dealing dope on behalf of racketeer Mr. A (Jackie Coogan), whilst teacher Mrs. Williams (Jan Sterling) and ‘Aunt Gwen' (Mamie van Doren!) make appropriate fretting sounds. Add in a dynamic appearance by wild man Jerry Lee Lewis on a flatbed truck, and you have one of the quintessential ‘50s flicks, albeit one with a somewhat nastier edge than you might expect.

Friday 03/28/08

Midnight Turner Classic Movies
Gypsy Girl (1965 GB): John Mills makes HIS second appearance in this week's ‘Plex, but this time behind the camera as director of Gypsy Girl, a terrific drama released in Britain as Sky West and Crooked. Daughter Hayley Mills took time out from her increasingly successful Disney career to play Brydie White, a young girl stricken with developmental issues after suffering a traumatic accident. Teenage Brydie enjoys burying dead pets in the village graveyard, but adolescent romance suddenly arrives in the form of handsome Romany traveller Roibin (Ian McShane). Latent village prejudices promptly bubble to the surface, however, and their path to love is soon strewn with the rocky rubble of racism. Handsomely shot in color by Arthur Ibbetson, this long forgotten tearjerker was co-written by Mary Hayley Bell - who also happened to be the wife of the director and the mother of the star - as well as Hamlet, the Mills' family dog.

9:00 AM Sundance
Henri Cartier-Bresson(2003 SUI): Cartier-Bresson was one of the most influential photographers of all time, and his still-lifes informed and influenced the work of countless motion picture cinematographers. This Swiss documentary features late-in-life footage of the master, who lived to the ripe old age of 95, as well as interviews with admirers Isabelle Huppert, Arthur Miller, and others. There are no gimmicks in this film - it's basically lots of photographs and people talking - but Cartier-Bresson's life and works hardly need embellishment. If you're not familiar with the great man's work, here's the perfect entry point.

Saturday 03/29/08

12:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Brotherhood of Satan (1971 USA): Strother Martin stars as a backwoods California doctor who moonlights as the head of a cult in this grimy grind-house classic from actor-producer L.Q. Jones. After dad Ben (Charles Bateman) and daughter K. T. (Geri Reischl) discover some mutilated bodies on a cross-desert drive to grandma's house, they pull up at the nearest outpost to alert the locals. The town Sheriff (co-producer Jones) and his deputy (other co-producer Alvy Moore) immediately suspect Ben and K.T. of foul play, but the plot thickens when the victims' chlldren also begin to disappear. Surely kindly old Doc (Martin) and his merry band of Satanists can't be responsible for the mayhem? A lively little chiller shot impressively in Techniscope, Brotherhood of Satan gets its widescreen television debut this morning.

6:00 PM The Movie Channel
Blood for Dracula (1974 ITA-FRA): Now long since shorn of its tenuous commercial connections with pop artist Andy Warhol, Paul Morrissey's revisionist vampire epic returns to the small screen tonight after a lengthy absence. Starring the unforgettable Udo Kier as a lisping Count Dracula, here in desperate need of wirgin blood, the 1930's-set Blood for Dracula is a gory, hilarious, and quite handsomely mounted treat, and a far better film than its reputation suggests. Add in the presence of chiseled tree-stump Joe Dallesandro as commie symp handyman Mario - whose bedroom eyes and way with the ladies keep throwing a monkey wrench into the Count's plans - and you have one of the most enjoyable vampire films ever made. As an extra added bonus, the film also features one of the greatest vomiting scenes ever committed to celluloid! It's followed at 7:45 PM by Morrissey's next release Flesh for Frankenstein (1974), in which Kier portrays the titular mad doctor and Dallesandro reprises his strong, silent man of bedroom action role as a randy stable-boy. Both films re-air at 9:00 PM and 10:45 PM respectively.

Sunday 03/30/08

9:50 PM Starz
Grindhouse (2007 USA): First they were together. Then they were brutally separated like Siamese twins in a Brian dePalma flick. Now Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez' Grindhouse features have been sewn back together and appear as one this evening in widescreen format. Also airs 3/31 at 12:50 AM.

11:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
Mafioso (1962 ITA): The newest addition to the Criterion Collection, the previously unheralded Mafioso is a delightful surprise for fans of Italian cinema. Directed by Alberto Lattuada, the film features comedy star Alberto Sordi as Nino, a Milanese businessman who decides to take his family on a relaxing vacation to the place of his birth - Sicily. Determined to reconnect with his roots, Nino pooh-poohs the notion that the Mafia is much more than a slightly corrupt social organization, but soon learns that his rose-tinted childhood memories of running messages for a local capo don't necessarily mesh with present day reality. When that same capo (Ugo Attanasio), now bent and worn with age, learns his old protégé is back in town, he turns to him for help - but the payment of an old debt may be more than Nino can handle. Blending comedy and tragedy in equal measure, Mafioso also features an excellent Piero Piccioni score and superb location photography by Armando Nannuzzi (The Damned).

Monday 03/31/08

6:45 PM Sundance
I for India (2005 GB-GER): The unusual tale of an Indian doctor living in Britain is detailed in this excellent documentary. The subject is Yash Pal Suri, who moved to Darlington, County Durham, in 1965. The tech-savvy Suri immediately acquired a Super 8 camera and a reel-to-reel tape deck, and starting sending home movies and recordings of his new life to his parents back in Mother India. Featuring fascinating archival footage shot by Suri over the years, including some from a temporary one-year return to the sub-continent in 1982, the film ends on a bittersweet and ironic note, as one of his own daughter's departs Britain's shores for more hospitable climes in Australia. Directed by Suri's eldest child Sandhya, I for India is an engrossing examination of the immigrant experience and the changing face of mid-20th century Britain.