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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 05/05/09

12:05 AM Showtime
What We Do Is Secret (2008 USA): In accordance with my general disdain for biopics, I avoided this film on its initial release. Regular readers have probably read my rant regarding the genre often enough, so I'll refrain from repeating it today, except to point out that What We Do Is Secret depicts a crucial period of my adolescence and mistakes of fact or tone will, therefore, be frowned upon with considerable vigor! The story of punk rock closet case Darby Crash (born Jan Paul Beahm in 1958) and his notorious band The Germs (which also included future Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear), What We Do Is Secret recreates the heady days of late 70s Los Angeles, when the mellow California sunshine of Laurel Canyon troubadours was eclipsed by the roar of a thousand out of tune Sunset Strip teenagers. Now that the film is making its American television premiere, I'm eager to see it - and hopeful that the results don't totally distort history. Also airs at 3:05 AM.

12:40 AM Starz
CJ 7 (2008 HK): Even in comparison to director Stephen Chow's earlier releases, Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle, CJ7 performed poorly at the US box office. That's probably because the film was primarily aimed at the under 12s - not a popular demographic when it comes to non-Anglophone films. Adult fans of Chow's oeuvre will, however, still find the author's signature comedic touches intact and will probably want to give CJ7 a look. The film stars Chow as a poor but proud dad who can't afford to buy his son all the latest gadgets, but compensates by giving the child a bizarre looking toy he finds at the dump. The "toy", in fact, turns out to be a cute, fuzzy space alien! The film features plenty of slapstick, CGI, and scatological humor, rendering it suitable for any youngster willing to put up with subtitles. Also airs at 3:40 AM.

7:50 AM Encore Mystery
Dog Day Afternoon (1975 USA): I've been waiting years for TCM to give this one an airing, and I'm still waiting, so in the meantime I'll settle for this pan and scan showing on Encore Mystery. Legendary in its time for its depiction of gay bank robbers, Dog Day Afternoon features Al Pacino and John Cavale as the hapless duo who are simply hoping to steal enough money to pay for an operation. Instead, they find themselves enmeshed in a hostage situation and the focus of intense media coverage that soon becomes as much a part of the robbery as the crime itself. Pacino and Cavale are outstanding and Sidney Lumet's direction near flawless. It's a great film, and considering it was shot in 1.85:1, worth watching in any aspect ratio.

8:45 PM Turner Classic Movies
Big Stakes (1922 USA): We don't often get to see silent westerns - perhaps the genre was considered so dispensable that even the works of William S. Hart, Broncho Billy Anderson, and others just haven't survived the ravages of time - so I'm very excited to note the TCM premiere of this rare Metropolitan oater. J. B. Warner stars as granite-jawed lawman Jim Gregory, who faces a tough decision: does he pitch woo to the beautiful white woman (Wilamae Carson) he desires, or fall under the spell of the fiery Mexican senorita (Elinor Fair) who also fascinates him? No prizes for guessing the correct answer, but en route to settling his relationship issues, Jim must contend with an angry rancher and some rather nasty Ku Klux Klanners, who, oddly enough, probably share his views on miscegenation.

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