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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 7/23/13

3:45 AM Turner Classic Movies
Storm Fear (1955 USA): Actor Cornel Wilde directed a number of independent features during the 1950s and ‘60s, some of which - The Naked Prey and Beach Red, for example – are very good indeed. Here’s one his earliest behind-the-camera efforts – one not quite up to the standard of the aforementioned films, but still worth seeing. Wilde plays Charlie Blake, a bank robber on the run with sidekick Benjie (Steven Hill) and moll Edna (Lee Grant) after engaging in a firefight with police. The threesome intrude into the life (and farmhouse) of Charlie’s brother Fred (Dan Duryea), an unwell novelist who isn’t particularly pleased to see them and doesn’t hide his feelings. Unfortunately, a snowstorm blows in, preventing Fred from sending them on their way and forcing the group to hunker down and cope until such time as the weather improves. Naturally, tensions rise, nerves become strained, and bad stuff happens. Featuring an intelligent screenplay by future Oscar winner Horton Foote, Storm Fear also features a young Dennis Weaver in a supporting role as a meddlesome neighbor.

7:00 PM Flix
Dead Man (1995 USA): Still a few years away from super stardom, Johnny Depp headlines the excellent Jim Jarmusch feature as William Blake, a Cleveland accountant who goes west and gets rescued in his darkest hour by a Native American named Nobody (Gary Farmer). This being a Jarmusch film, Nobody naturally assumes that Blake is the renowned English poet of the same name, despite the fact that poet Blake had been dead since 1827. Together, the odd couple embark on a mystical (and occasionally mystifying) journey through a monochromatic landscape beautifully filmed by cinematographer Robby Muller. If the story is a little too opaque for you, there’s a fine supporting cast to enjoy, including Robert Mitchum (delivering his penultimate performance), Iggy Pop, Lance Henriksen, John Hurt, Crispin Glover, and Butthole Surfers lead vocalist Gibby Haynes. Added bonus: Neil Young soundtrack!

Wednesday 7/24/13

6:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Twelve Chairs (1970 USA): Though this Mel Brooks comedy can’t hold a candle to its predecessor, The Producers, it still has its moments. Set in the Soviet Union circa 1920, the film stars Ron Moody as Vorobyaninov, a down-on-his-luck fellow of noble descent who now earns a meager living working in an office. Summoned to his mother-in-law’s deathbed, Vorobyaninov learns that the family fortune - a cache of valuable jewelry once thought lost - still remains hidden within the upholstery of a chair. Ah, but which one? Unfortunately, it’s not clear precisely which of a matching set of 12 chairs holds the treasure, but - determined to regain his rightful legacy - our hero embarks upon a quest to examine each of them, not so ably assisted by a beggar (Frank Langella) and an Orthodox priest (Dom Deluise) who hope to get a cut of the proceeds. Based on a popular Russian novel by Ilf and Petrov, The Twelve Chairs isn’t as laugh out loud funny as you would hope, but still provides its fair share of chuckles. Airs again 7/25 at 1:45 AM.

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