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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 10/14/08

12:45 AM Encore Action
Melvin Purvis G-Man (1974 USA): I absolutely loved this TV-Movie-of-the-Week when I was 12-years-old. Based on the true-life adventures of the titular FBI agent, it features Dale Robertson as Purvis, who pursued John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, and other less noteworthy gangsters throughout the 1930s. In this film, director Dan Curtis and writer John Milius have him chasing Machine Gun Kelly (Harris Yulin) - which is a little odd, considering Kelly was one criminal that the real-life Purvis never actually drew a bead on. It's been more than 30 years since I last saw Melvin Purvis G-Man, so perhaps my adolescent fascination with gats, fedoras, and vintage cars has left me with some overly charitable memories of it, but I'm certainly excited about the opportunity to see it again.

11:00 PM Fox Movie Channel
Trouble Man (1972 USA): It's primarily remembered today for its Marvin Gaye soundtrack, but Trouble Man is a decent little black action flick in its own right. Making its widescreen American television debut tonight, the film features Robert Hooks as Mr. T (!), a hyper-masculine L.A. gumshoe trying to keep the lid on a brewing South Central gang war. Directed by Hogan's Heroes' co-star Ivan Dixon, whose next film would be the superior The Spook Who Sat By the Door, Trouble Man is an action and sex-packed feature enlivened by the presence of Paul Winfield, Julius Harris, and Ralph Waite - Ralph Waite?!? - amongst its supporting cast, in addition to that killer score.

Wednesday 10/15/08

7:00 PM Sundance
It's A Free World (2007 GB): Coming hard on the heels of Ken Loach's acclaimed historical drama The Wind That Shakes the Barley, It's A Free World finds everyone's favorite Marxist director returning to his contemporary proletarian roots. The film tells the story of Angie (Kiersten Waring), an ambitious young East Ender who loses her job at a shady employment agency (their specialty being finding work for illegal Eastern European immigrants) and decides to open her own, similar, business with the help of chum Rose (Juliet Ellis). Written by regular Loach collaborator Paul Laverty, It's A Free World is a disturbing micro-level examination of the insidious effect of Thatcherism and Reaganism on the working classes in the era of greed-is-good exploitation, when society - and history - have both been declared things of the past. Also airs 10/16 at 2:00 AM.

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