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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 5/22/12

1:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
The End (1978 USA): This is The End, beautiful friend, The End. No, it’s not a Doors promo film, but a Dom Deluise comedy in which the rotund one portrays a mental patient looking to assist a suicidal man to the nearest exit. After a failed attempt via overdose, Sonny (Burt Reynolds, who also directed) finds himself in the loony bin with Marlon (Deluise), and together they cook up a variety of ways to help Sonny pop his clogs. The mustachioed one, however, repeatedly gets cold feet and decides not to check out after all, whilst Marlon is distinctly uninterested in ending the project. Uh oh. The film is a bit scattershot, with its comedy veering from black to slapstick and back again, but Deluise is as always great fun and the supporting cast (Sally Field, Joanne Woodward, Myrna Loy, Pat O’Brien, Norman Fell, Strother Martin, Carl Reiner, and Robby Benson) impressive.

6:30 AM HBO Signature
Earth Made of Glass (2010 USA): History happens in a hurry, and we tend not to learn the truth - if the truth is ever really knowable - until years after the fact. Last year we were sold a war in Libya as a necessary means to prevent a bloodthirsty dictator from killing his own people, but how much of that was the truth and how much hyperbole on the part of the business and power elite eager to get their hands on Libyan oil? If we’re lucky, we’ll find out what’s really going down five, ten, or a hundred years from now. As for Earth Made of Glass, it’s a fascinating reappraisal of the Rwandan genocide of 1994 - a historic moment no one anticipated, and almost everyone responded to inadequately. The film focuses on both the individual search for justice - as personified by a man named Jean Pierre Sagahutu, whose father was murdered in the slaughter - and the national desire for healing, represented by Rwandan President Paul Kagame. In equal parts troubling and uplifting, Earth Made of Glass is a truly outstanding piece of documentary filmmaking.

Wednesday 5/23/12

9:45 PM Turner Classic Movies
Rififi (1955 FRA): Jean Servais stars as Tony, an unrepentant jewel thief out to score one last time (sigh) before his chronic lung disease does him in. He hooks up with a group of fellow baddies (including director Jules Dassin as a dapper safecracker) and plans an elaborate heist. Indeed, the job goes off without a hitch, but when Dassin’s character makes a tiny error of judgment, a competing gangster decides to muscle in on the action, leading to a litany of murder, revenge, and kidnapping. The 20-minute robbery sequence is the bit everyone remembers, but the rest of Rififi is also terrific, most notably Servais’ performance as the doomed protagonist and Philippe Agostini’s stunning cinematography. If you’ve never seen it before, make time for Rififi tonight.

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