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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 3/20/12

1:35 AM Sundance
Pablo’s Hippos (2010 GB-COL): If you enjoyed the recently aired HBO documentary Sins of My Father, but felt that you wanted to know more about Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, look no further. Pablos’ Hippos details what happens when a man with more money than sense becomes the seventh richest man in the world: he buys a menagerie complete with pet hippopotami. It would be ridiculous if it weren’t so tragic, as is made abundantly clear in this feature produced for BBC4, which examines how Escobar’s animal importing "cartel" became almost as feared as the big man’s goon squads.

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933 USA): I know this isn’t an uncommon film, at least not by the standards of the TiVoPlex, but it’s been positively ages since I last recommended it and the pickings are a bit slim this week. Though never a big fan of things all singing all dancing, I happily make an exception for Gold Diggers of 1933 (and while I’m at it, 42nd Street, too), a prime example of Depression-era glitz featuring magnificent production numbers, terrific songs, and a marvelous cast, including Warren William, Aline MacMahon, Dick Powell (whose singing doesn't repulse me for once), Ruby Keeler, Joan Blondell, and character actors Ned Sparks and Guy Kibbee. The scene that always sticks with me is the Pettin' in the Park number, featuring a leering Billy Barty as a baby in a rain slicker! Directed with joie de vivre by Mervyn LeRoy, it’s the movie musical for folks who don’t like movie musicals.

Wednesday 3/21/12

9:45 PM Sundance
Mad Bastards (2011 AUS): With a title like Mad Bastards, you’d expect an Australian film about hard drinking ‘roo hunters riding emus through the outback whilst grilling shrimp on the barbie and shooting aborigines for fun. And you know what? You wouldn’t be far wrong. Mad Bastards is a thoroughly entertaining, episodic road trip movie about a man’s (Dean Daley-Jones) search for his lost son in the remotes of Western Australia, where he does indeed encounter a fascinating array of eccentric characters. While director-screenwriter Brendan Fletcher’s story is perfectly serviceable, it’s Allan Collins widescreen cinematography that really impresses, and the film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at last year’s Sundance.

Thursday 3/22/12

10:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Five Finger Exercise (1962 USA): Based on a play by Peter Shaffer (Sleuth), this is an awkward but still intriguing screen adaptation helmed by Daniel Mann. Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackert’s screenplay is less a problem than is the rather odd casting, which sees Rosalind Russell and Jack Hawkins playing the fussin’ and feudin’ Harringtons, an unhappily married couple who spend most of their time arguing and/or corralling their troublesome offspring (Richard Beymer and Annette Gorman). The introduction of a handsome tutor (Maximilian Schell) into the volatile mix doesn’t help matters. Columbia’s decision to relocate the story from Britain to America is awkward, but Russell is the real problem, her major league bluster completely overwhelming the proceedings, and Beymer is as wooden as a park bench. Still and all, it’s an interesting failure.

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