TiVoPlex
By John Seal
March 21, 2011
From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.
Tuesday 03/22/11
7:00 AM HBO Signature
Ultima y Nos Vamos (2009 MEX): Four young men spend a night on the tiles in this episodic Mexican coming-of-age drama. Unlike many of the Spanish-language films that appear on HBO Signature, I can’t speak very highly of this one: the characters are frequently annoying, the screenplay predictable, and the production values unimpressive. However, this is the first time Ultima y Nos Vamos has had wide exposure in the United States (it played very briefly on the festival circuit), so you may want to check it out if Spanish-language cinema is your cup of meat.
11:35 AM Encore Dramatic Stories
Minnie and Moskowitz (1971 USA): Yeah, it's a John Cassavetes film, which means there's no story and most of the cast spend their screen time mumbling and twitching. Still, any film that teams Gena Rowlands (known as Mrs. Cassavetes to her neighbors) with Seymour Cassel is worth a look. Rowlands is Minnie, who works in a museum, and Cassel is, er, the other one, who works in a parking garage. Together they make discordant, atonal music. Also on hand is the always wonderful Timothy Carey, as well as Holly Near and numerous members of the extended Cassavetes-Rowlands family.
5:00 PM Fox Movie Channel
Only the Strong (1993 USA): Unpicky viewers looking for a dose of widescreen martial arts, mark your calendar — everyone else, slowly edge away from the remote control and don’t look back. Only the Strong features capoeira practitioner and rumored actor Mark Dacascos as Louis Stevens, an ex-Special Forces soldier who returns to his old Miami neighborhood to put the kibosh on drug-dealers, who are pushing their foul wares on local teenagers. Just say no? Just say uncle is more like it, as Louis puts boot in ass and saves the town from some stereotypical South American narco lords. Dacascos's "acting" is on a par with other wooden wonders such as Christopher Lambert and Johnny Weissmuller, so you’re tuning in strictly for the acrobatics. Also airs at 9:00 PM.
Wednesday 03/23/11
3:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Good Morning (1959 JAP): Here’s the TiVoPlex catch o’ the week. Directed by Yasujiro Ozu, Good Morning is another of the director’s pointed yet good-spirited tributes to the middle-class Japanese family, with particular attention paid, of course, to the younger generation. The story focuses on Isamu (Masahiko Shimazu) and Minoru (Koji Shitara), two pre-pubescent brothers whose constant nagging for a television set prompt mom and dad to tell them to be quiet and to stop asking. The disgruntled lads oblige by refusing to utter a sound until their demands are met, setting off repercussions at home, at school, and in town. Ozu’s first film in color, Good Morning is an absolute delight and will please viewers who enjoyed his (technically) silent tributes to the joys and mysteries of childhood, Tokyo Chorus and I Was Born, But…
Thursday 03/24/11
12:15 PM HBO2
Secrets of the Tribe (2010 GB-BRA): The effect of modern civilization on Brazil’s isolated Yanomami aboriginal tribe is the subject of this outstanding documentary directed by Jose Padilha (Bus 174). "Discovered" by the outside world in the 1960s, the Yanomami became an instant hit on the anthropological circuit, attracting attention from academics both home and abroad. A slew of books and academic papers duly followed, but Secrets of the Tribe questions the wisdom and necessity of the scientific intrusion: warfare, disease, and discord were just some of the gifts given by anthropologists to the Yanomami. The film gives full vent to the still ongoing ethical debate, offering a no holds barred look at academic infighting. Also airs at 3:15 PM.
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