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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 04/15/08

5:45 AM HBO Family
Ithuteng (Never Stop Learning) (2005 USA): I missed the premiere of this HBO original documentary back in December 2006 but caught up with it when it reappeared recently. If you're tired of the steady drip drip drip of doom and gloom in your average non-fiction feature, Ithuteng offers some peeks of sunshine filtered through the lowering clouds of everyday life. Shot at a Nelson Mandela-funded school for the scandalous in Soweto, South Africa, the film examines the work of Mama Jackey, a teacher and anti-apartheid activist determined to give troubled township kids an education. Focusing on the day to day struggles of three pupils, the film is a fitting tribute to an amazing woman who has helped thousands of youngsters, including street thugs, the HIV positive, and rape victims. Though it's not all lollipops and rainbows, Ithuteng provides proof that sometimes, one person really can make a difference. Also airs at 8:45 AM.

10:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Cha-Cha-Cha-Boom! (1956 USA): Director Fred Sears did it all under the tutelage of producer Sam Katzman: science fiction, crime dramas, westerns, and musicals, including this long unseen attempt to cash in on the popularity of band leader Perez Prado. Set on a back-lot pre-revolutionary Cuba, the film stars Stephen Dunne as A&R man Bill Haven, on a trip from New York to sign some hot local talent. He hasn't reckoned on having competition, though — especially when it comes in the form of his own girlfriend (Alix Talton), who's scouting the same talent on behalf of a business rival. The two soon learn that love and business don't mix well — but can the music re-unite them? One of many films that tried to anticipate the next, post-rock 'n' roll musical trend, Cha-Cha-Cha-Boom! failed to rhumba its way into the hearts of moviegoers and has been buried in the vaults for decades since. Don't miss it this morning.

11:05 AM Encore Dramatic Stories
L.B.J.: The Early Years (1987 USA): A surprisingly good made for television biopic, L.B.J.: The Early Years features a terrific performance from Randy Quaid as the Texas good ol' boy who became President after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Quaid won a well-deserved Golden Globe for his performance, and he does an outstanding job portraying this very complex and deeply conflicted man, who began his career as a culturally conservative congressman and ended up supporting the Voting Rights Act and fighting the War on Poverty (as well as the less commendable War on Vietnam). Co-starring Kevin McCarthy as Joe Kennedy, Patti LuPone as Lady Bird Johnson, and Pat Hingle as House Speaker Sam Rayburn, this is the sort of big-budget small-screen history lesson that they just don't make anymore.

Wednesday 04/16/08

10:00 AM Encore Westerns
The Iron Sheriff (1957 USA): There's not a lot to distinguish this film from the plethora of 1950s oaters that populate the Encore Westerns channel every day, but the offerings are slim in the TiVoPlex this week so we'll give The Iron Sheriff a mention. In fact, there's really only one reason to watch it, but it's a good one: the star is Sterling Hayden, who plays Sam Galt, an Old West lawman trying to find exculpatory evidence to prove his son innocent of the charge of stagecoach robbery. It's far from great, but Hayden is always worth watching — even with the thinnest of material to work with.

Friday 04/18/08

4:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Night Parade (1929 USA): This very rare early RKO talkie makes its unheralded TCM debut this morning. The film stars Hugh Trevor as boxer Bobby Martin, a foolish young lad who finds himself seduced by bad girl Paula (Aileen Pringle), who blackmails him into throwing a fight. Like most early talkies, Night Parade is badly recorded and statically shot, but is worth a look simply because you may never get a chance to see it again. Intriguingly, IMDb says the film was shot in a 1.20:1 aspect ratio, not unusual at the time but soon superseded by the 1.33:1 'Academy ratio' that would ultimately also become the standard for television broadcasts. Not sure if this means the film should be letterboxed on the SIDES, but it'll be interesting to see how it looks. It's followed at 5:45 AM by the entertaining 1930 feature The Fall Guy, about a pharmacist (Jack Mulhall) who gets mixed up with a narcotics ring.

8:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Heat Lightning (1934 USA): A forgotten feature from the great Mervyn LeRoy (I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, Gold Diggers of 1933), Heat Lightning is a terrific drama featuring the great Aline MacMahon as Olga, co-owner with her sister Myra (Ann Dvorak) of a combined gas station/motel somewhere in the California desert. Olga mans the pumps whilst Myra holds sway in reception, and when a pair of on-the-run gangsters (Preston Foster and Lyle Talbot) pull up to put a tiger in their tank, trouble ensues. Co-starring Jane Darwell, Glenda Farrell, and Frank McHugh, this is a top-notch Warners effort with a surprisingly downbeat ending. It's followed at 9:30 AM by the equally intriguing 1934 crime drama Straight is the Way, featuring Franchot Tone as a Jewish gangster.

3:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Highway West (1941 USA): TCM is certainly spoiling us for choice today. Highway West isn't nearly as good as the pictures mentioned above — the strictly enforced limitations of the Breen Office made sure of that — but it's worth a look for Arthur Kennedy's performance as phony oil magnate George Foster, who's been hiding his previous life as a criminal from his loving wife Claire (Brenda Marshall). It's a neutered remake of Heat Lightning, so have fun comparing and contrasting!

Saturday 04/19/08

3:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
Blood Money (1933 USA): Not to be outdone, our friends at Fox dig up one of their own crime rarities for our delectation this morning. A terrific pre-Code drama, Blood Money stars George Bancroft as the appropriately named Bill Bailey, a bent bondsman who falls for wealthy young socialite Elaine Talbart (Frances Dee), a woman with a five-finger discount problem. The pair get into all sorts of trouble with Bailey's underworld clientele, who set up our anti-hero for a final reel execution via pool cue! Featuring scenes in what appears to be a lesbian bar, as well as incidents of sexual masochism and violence, Blood Money remains pretty hot stuff by any standard. Perhaps director Rowland Brown, who occasionally got into punch-ups with his producers, was working through some issues at the time.

6:00 PM Starz
Ratatouille (2007 USA): I know I'm only supposed to mention obscure films in this column, but every now and then I'll break the rules when the movie merits it. Such is the case with Ratatouille, the best animated film of 2007 (if not the decade) and a delight for children and adults of all ages. If you somehow fell off the planet and missed it last year, it's making its small screen debut tonight, and re-airs at 9:00 PM and throughout the month—and well beyond, no doubt.

6:00 PM The Movie Channel
Shivers (1975 CAN): One of David Cronenberg's best (and yuckiest) films returns to television tonight. Set in a Montreal apartment building, Shivers (also known as They Came From Within) was Cronenberg's first full-length theatrical feature, and immediately established him as a filmmaker of note. His interest in the weaknesses of the flesh are already in full bloom here, as the story revolves around genetically-engineered parasites who inveigle their way into the building's water supply and HVAC system and then insinuate themselves into the tenants, who one by one turn into sex-crazed zombies desperate to copulate with (and thereby infect) their neighbors. It's surprisingly low on gore — a failing Cronenberg would correct in 1977's Rabid — but thanks to the subject matter remains supremely disturbing. Featuring scream queens Lynn Lowry as a nurse trying to stem the libidinous tide and Barbara Steele as a tenant, Shivers also airs at 9:00 PM.

Sunday 04/20/08

1:00 AM Sundance
The Mothers' House (2005 SAF): If Ithuteng provided too much in the way of uplift, here's a somewhat more downbeat South Africa-set documentary for you. Directed by Francois Verster, The Mothers' House takes a look at four years in the life of teenager Miche, who lives with her HIV-positive mother and cranky grandma whilst contending with a requisite dose of adolescent angst. If sulking teens or domestic violence are your thing, look no further.

9:00 PM Sundance
6ixtynin9 (1999 THA): Silly Se7en-type title aside, this is actually a very good Thai black comedy about a woman whose luck suddenly changes for the better — and then rapidly gets much, much worse. Directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang, who would go on to helm the enigmatic character study Last Life in the Universe five years later, 6ixtynin9 stars Lalita Panyopas as Tum, a woman who finds a box of cash on her doorstep, conveniently left there on the same day she's been fired from her secretarial job. Alas, the money has been left there mistakenly, and when two thugs show up to reclaim it, complications ensue as Tum will go to any lengths to keep her newfound nest egg. This delightfully mordant commentary on wealth and greed — produced in the wake of the Asian financial crisis of 1997 — is one of the best offerings in Sundance's current Asia Extreme season, and won the Don Quixote Award at the 2000 Berlin International Film Festival.

Monday 04/21/08

3:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Maltese Bippy (1969 USA): Incredibly, embarrassingly unfunny comedy alert! This dreadful Dan Rowan and Dick Martin vehicle is up there with Skidoo in the psychedelia-inspired wacky film stakes, right down to the presence of a veteran director (in this case Norman Panama) behind the camera and a plethora of recognizable guest stars (Carol Lynley, Julie Newmar, Mildred Natwick, and Robert Reed) in front of it. Alas, no amount of star power can make up for the awful Everett Freeman screenplay, which should never have made it within shouting distance of said camera. The Maltese Bippy is genuinely dreadful and deservedly remains unavailable on home video — but if you enjoyed Skidoo (or fellow train wreck Myra Breckenridge, for that matter), you might get some mileage out of it.

11:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
I Love a Bandleader (1945 USA): I've never seen this Columbia second feature, but I can't resist that title — and considering the film stars wacky Phil Harris and gravel-voiced Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, surely it can't be entirely without merit. It's one of only a few non-Three Stooges films directed by Del Lord, who helmed literally dozens of Larry, Moe, and Curly shorts throughout the 1930s and '40s. Maybe Rochester pokes Phil in the eyes!