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 03/8/11

Midnight Showtime 2
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2010 GB): Here’s a reason to be cheerful: this above average biopic about singer Ian Dury, which sadly sank with all hands at the US box-office, makes its American television debut this morning. That it failed should hardly be a surprise: Dury was never more than a brief flash in the pan on the American music charts, where his unique blend of pub rock, disco, and music hall befuddled the Foreigner-worshiping masses. The film — named after the song for which he remains most famous — stars chameleon Andy Serkis as the prickly Harrow boy crippled for life after a childhood bout with polio, Ray Winstone as his tough as nails old man, and Olivia Williams as his first wife. It’s a worthy tribute to one of the finest working-class poets of all time, and naturally features a lot of great music, too. Though Dury died of cancer in 2000, this is, ultimately, an uplifting tale of triumph over adversity.

4:30 AM HBO Signature
Boy Interrupted (2009 USA): And then there’s Boy Interrupted, a heart-wrenching documentary completely bereft of triumphalism. Produced by Hart Perry, the cinematographer who shot Barbara Kopple’s Oscar-winning doc Harlan County, U.S.A., and wife Dana Heinz Perry, the film is a deeply personal examination of the tragic life of their son Evan, who committed suicide at 15 after an all too brief life filled with depression and drug abuse. It’s a hard film to watch — especially if you’re a parent — but worthwhile nonetheless.

11:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Borderline (1950 USA): A fairly ho-hum, independently produced crime drama, Borderline is primarily of interest due to its impressive cast. Fred MacMurray eschews light comedy as Johnny Macklin, an undercover G-Man in the employ of Pete Ritchie (Raymond Burr), a mobster involved in narcotics smuggling across the Mexican border. Lady cop Madeleine Haley (noir regular Claire Trevor) is also trying to get the goods on the dope ring, but she’s unaware of Macklin’s assignment and assumes he’s truly one of Ritchie’s heavies. Confusion, double dealings, and unlikely coincidences ensue. Also on hand: two guys who never seemed to stop working, Morris Ankrum as Madeleine’s supervisor and Charles Lane as a customs agent.

Wednesday 03/9/11

Midnight Flix
Lovespell (1981 USA): Richard Burton headlines this all but forgotten retelling of the Tristan and Isolde legend, here getting a very rare widescreen airing. Burton is King Mark of Cornwall, who falls for sweet young thing Isolt (Kate Mulgrew) during a holiday trip to Ireland. Unable to get her out of his mind after returning home, Mark sends nephew Tristan (Nicholas Clay) back to the Emerald Isle with instructions to bring Isolt back to the King’s loving Cornish arms. Can you guess what happens next? Yep, it’s love triangle time. Though shot on location in Ireland, Lovespell looks suspiciously like a made-for-TV movie that lucked into a theatrical release: there’s virtually no sex or violence, Burton keeps the profanity to a bare minimum, and there’s some really dated soft-focus scenes that look like they were shot for a very chaste issue of Penthouse. On the plus side, there’s a fine Irish supporting cast, including Geraldine Fitzgerald as Isolt’s handmaiden Bronwyn and Cyril Cusack as nobleman Gormond.

Continued:       1       2       3