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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 06/23/09

9:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
Road House (1948 USA): You can't get a much better screen pairing than Ida Lupino and Richard Widmark, which of course is exactly what's on offer in this above average noir from director Jean Negelusco. Widmark plays Jefty Robbins, the manager of an upscale bowling joint in need of a new entertainer to keep the booze hounds happy, drinking, and, presumably, out of the gutter (ball). He hires husky-voiced chanteuse Lily Stevens (Lupino) against the advice of his boss (Cornel Wilde), but soon regrets the decision when a bizarre love triangle develops amongst the trio. Who will strike out — and who will split for Canada? Tune in to find out, and be sure to have your two-tone bowling shoes on.

4:00 PM Sundance
The Balanda and the Bark Canoes (2006 AUS): I overlooked this documentary last week when it aired immediately following the American television premiere of the Aboriginal feature Ten Canoes. Sorry ‘bout that, as it's the logical companion piece for that film, and would make a great DVD "extra" (if it hasn't already served duty in that role). The Balanda and the Bark Canoes provides deep background for director Rolf de Heer's production, with particular emphasis on negotiations between the crew and the Aboriginal peoples of remote Arnhem Land, who quite naturally have concerns whenever outsiders try to portray their culture on film. Happily, those concerns were successfully allayed, and the puckish, pseudo-Herzogian Ten Canoes was the result. (And if you're wondering, "Balanda" is a word used by Aborigines to describe non-indigenous Australians.)

Wednesday 06/24/09

5:00 PM HBO2
Be Like Others (2008 CAN-IRA): Cows...in Berkeley? For many years, that was the tagline for a brand of milk produced and sold here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Which somewhat circuitously brings me to Be Like Others, which could, perhaps, be promoted with the tagline: Sex Change Operations...in Iran? That conjures fantastical images on a par with bovine ruminants grazing peacefully on Sproul Plaza, but it's also the subject of this Canadian documentary. I haven't seen it yet, but — the recent turmoil in the Islamic Republic notwithstanding — it can only add further nuance to our sometimes wilfully stubborn refusal to accept and understand the complexities of life in that highly educated and heavily urbanized nation. Also airs at 8:00 PM.

7:00 PM Sundance
Eros (2004 USA-ITA-HK): A trio of thematically linked stories, each one directed by a master of cinema, are collected in this mildly erotic anthology. First up is Wong Kar-Wai's The Hand, in which the ever-radiant Gong Li portrays Hua, a high-rent lady of the night who encounters quiet but hunky tailor Zhang (Chang Chen) at an, ahem, business meeting. Zhang has been hired to create a fabulous new outfit for Hua, but gets distracted by the strangely arousing noises being made behind closed doors, and an unusual aide memoire seals their new relationship. Wong's segment is followed by Steven Soderbergh's Equilibrium, featuring Robert Downey Jr. (here in white face) as a psychiatric patient whose ramblings fail to hold the attention of his therapist (Alan Arkin), who is constantly distracted by someone, or something, just outside his window. Eros concludes with Michaelangelo Antonioni's The Dangerous Thread of Things, a loose-limbed shaggy dog tale about a wayward husband and his sexy adventures in the park. On balance, Eros is a pretty decent effort, but the results vary wildly: whilst the first two segments represent the work of two brilliant filmmakers at the height of their powers, the last was Antonioni's final film, and to be blunt, it's not something he'll be remembered for.

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