New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.

Tuesday 7/20/10

4:45 AM IFC
Walkabout (1971 AUS): I think I’ve written about Walkabout once or twice before, but it’s a truly wonderful film and I can’t resist heaping a bit more praise on it. Set in the Australian outback, the film features Jenny Agutter and Luc Roeg (son of director Nic) as two Anglo children abandoned in the wilderness, only to be rescued and cared for by an Aborigine teenager (legendary Native Australian actor David Gulpilil, in his first role). That’s basically it. Roger Ebert compared Walkabout to Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, and that seems like an apt comparison, as the film lacks much in the way of traditional plot. On the other hand, it’s a stunningly beautiful work of art (and I don’t use that term lightly) that brilliantly illuminates man’s relationship to the Earth, compares and contrasts the concepts of ‘civilization’ and ‘barbarism’, and features a haunting John Barry score. In other words, it’s a must see. Also airs at 10:30 AM and on 7/21 at 2:00 AM.

10:10 AM Flix
The 400 Blows (1959 FRA): It must be classic movie week in the TiVoPlex, because here’s another one. Don’t worry, we’ll get to the Bowery Boys soon enough! The film that made an auteur out of director Francois Truffaut, The 400 Blows is a marvelous coming-of-age drama about the youthful stirrings of young Frenchman Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud). Antoine lives with his Mere and Step-Pere (Claire Maurier and Albert Remy), but despite their best efforts he can’t seem to stay out of trouble: whether sneaking a smoke, engaging in a little shop-lifting, or merely peeking at a little cheesecake (ooh la la!), our hero is always up to his neck in it. The semi-autobiographical Doinel would return in three additional Truffaut films, but this is the best of the lot, and one of the foundation stones of the French New Wave.

Wednesday 7/21/10

3:00 PM Showtime 3
Grace (2009 USA): Button-cute scream queen Jordan Ladd (Cabin Fever, Hostel: Part II) births a decidedly unattractive child in this grimly effective and decidedly yucky horror flick. Ladd is Madeline, who’s had two previous miscarriages and is determined that her third pregnancy will be the charm. Unfortunately, she and her husband get into a car wreck in which both he and the fetus are killed. Unchastened by this Act of God, Madeline decides to carry the corpse to term—with predictably unpleasant results. You’ll either be completely engrossed in Grace, or completely grossed out by it: there’s no middle ground with this one.

5:00 PM HBO
Lucky (2010 USA): Are you feeling lucky, punk? If so, tune in for this brand new HBO documentary about the wonderful world of legalized gambling. Lucky focuses on the national Powerball lottery, which entices millions of Americans with dreams of quick, easy wealth in exchange for a painless $1 (or maybe $2, or $5, or…) investment. The odds of winning it all are, apparently, 195,249,054 to one, but that doesn’t stop folks from imagining themselves next week’s winner. Amongst the players featured herein: Verna, a housewife who’s fruitlessly spent thousands over the course of decades; James, who was literally down to his last three bucks before winning five million more; and Quang, a factory worker who split the big prize with his colleagues. Directed by Jeffrey Blitz (2003’s Oscar-nominated Spellbound), Lucky also airs at 8:00 PM.

Continued:       1       2       3