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 5/7/13

1:25 AM HBO Signature
El Dedo (2011 ARG): No, not the middle one. Dedo, of course, is Spanish for finger, and this one belongs – or at least, previously belonged – to Baldomero (Martin Seefeld), a mayoral candidate in a small Argentinian village who ends up dead at the hands of some unsavory locals. Preserved in a jar by his loving brother (Fabian Vena), Baldomero’s index finger begins to have a strange effect on the villagers, exerting a holy relic-like influence, affecting local political developments, and serving as a metaphor for Argentina’s transition from dictatorship to democracy during the 1980s. Directed by Sergio Teubal, El Dedo won the Glauber Rocha Award (a prize for the most popular Latin American film) at the Montreal World Film Festival.

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Asphalt Jungle (1950 USA): This gritty John Huston crime drama snagged four Academy Award nominations but failed, alas, to bring home any golden statuettes. It’s a very early example of the caper flick, with the maleficent brain of Sam Jaffe setting up a big hit for his gang of no-goodniks (Sterling Hayden, James Whitmore, Louis Calhern, and Anthony Caruso). The cast is uniformly excellent, but the bookish Jaffe steals the show as the Hans Moleman-style criminal mastermind. There are small roles for Marilyn Monroe and long-time bad guy Marc Lawrence, and the film was nicely shot by Harold Rosson, whose work here secured him one of the aforementioned nominations.

Wednesday 5/8/13

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Don’t Say No Until I Finish Talking: (2013 USA): I haven’t seen this TCM original documentary yet, but it’ll surely be an interesting one. Focused on the life of Hollywood producer Richard Zanuck – son of the legendary Daryl F. Zanuck – the film premiered at this year’s TCM Film Festival. For those of us unable to attend, it makes its small screen debut this evening and airs again at 8:30 PM.

Thursday 5/9/13

12:05 AM Encore Love Stories
Atlantic City (1980 USA): I only recommended this film a few weeks ago, but enjoyed it so much that it deserves an encore appearance. Here’s what I previously wrote:

Burt Lancaster headlines this excellent Louis Malle feature about residents of a ramshackle building awaiting the demolition of their home in the name of progress, or if not progress, legal gambling. In addition to (illegal) numbers runner Lou (Lancaster), there’s widow Grace (Kate Reid) and waitress Sally (Susan Sarandon), and the three of them make common cause as they wait for the axe – or in this case, the wrecking ball – to fall. Also on hand is Sally’s sister Chrissie (delightful Hollis McLaren from Outrageous!) and her drug-peddling boyfriend Dave (Robert Joy), who’s looking to unload his current stash on the high rollers of Atlantic City. The result is a terrific character study thanks to a fine screenplay from playwright John Guare, who earned one of the film’s five Oscar nominations.

Continued:       1       2       3