TiVoPlex
By John Seal
April 5, 2004
From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.
Tuesday 04/06/04
4:10am More Max
The Mating Season (1951 USA): A screwball comedy produced a decade after the genre’s heyday, The Mating Season stars one of my favorite leading ladies. No, I don’t mean Gene Tierney, I mean the irrepressible Thelma Ritter, here playing a mother-in-law who pays an unexpected visit on her son’s new bride (Tierney) only to find herself mistaken for the new household help. Doesn’t sound like enough plot to carry a full-length motion picture, but Charles Brackett’s excellent screenplay is up to the challenge, keeping things amusing throughout the requisite hour-and-a-half running time. A supporting cast full of old-time stars, including Miriam Hopkins and Billie Bird, add an extra patina of fun for seasoned film fans, and John Lund is excellent as Ritter’s boorish son.
Noon Trio
Mr. Love (1985 GB): This is a wonderful British comedy with an extra added bonus: it was filmed in my original hometown of Southport, Lancashire (Technically Southport is now part of the borough of Sefton, but old timers don’t recognize the boundary change). Did you know that Miranda Richardson is from Southport? So is former Soft Cell lead singer Marc Almond, and The Beatles played there four times in the early 1960s. And now that I’ve done my utmost to support the efforts of the Southport Tourist Board (http://www.visitsouthport.com/), back to our story. Starring Maurice Denham as an elderly gardener reminiscing about the good old days, Mr. Love captures the realities of life in a middle-class north of England town, where almost everyone leads a life of quiet desperation. When I think of Southport I’m always reminded of Morrissey’s brilliant Every Day is Like Sunday (“this is the coastal town/ that they forgot to close down”), and this film will give you an idea of what he was writing about.
Wednesday 04/07/04
12:50am HBO
May (2002 USA): It may not be quite as good as its staunchest proponents would have you believe, but May is still one of the better psychological horror films of recent years. Directed by Lucky McKee, currently wrapping The Woods with Bruce Campbell and Patricia Clarkson, the film features an unforgettable performance by Angela Bettis as a disturbed and lonely young woman teetering between normality and insanity. When she sets her sights on a nice but gullible young man (Jeremy Sisto) she one day espies walking past her workplace, things seem to take a turn for the better in her life, as Sisto initially finds Bettis’ quirkiness charming and attractive. But their relationship starts to hit a few bumps, sending May off the tracks and leading to an ultimately not-very-satisfactory conclusion on Halloween night. For the first 70 minutes or so, however, this is a fascinating film full of surprising twists, courtesy McKee’s sensitive yet quirky screenplay. If you can imagine a slightly darker take on the relationship between Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet in the current Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, you’ll have an idea of what transpires in this dark tragicomedy. Also airs at 3:50am and 4/10 at 8pm.
11:30am Sundance
Gacaca, Living Together Again in Rwanda? (2002 FRA-USA): I haven’t seen this documentary about the Rwandan equivalent of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation tribunals, but for anyone interested in the genocide the rest of the world shamefully ignored in 1994, this will be essential viewing. Focusing on the proceedings in the small village of Ntongwe, this will hopefully be a worthy companion piece to Steven Silver’s astonishing Last Just Man, also released in 2002 (If you’ve yet to see that gut-wrenching film, it airs again on Sundance on 4/12 at 4:15am).
9:30pm Turner Classic Movies
King of Kings (1927 USA): Like a certain filmmaker of recent vintage, Cecil B. DeMille loved a good Biblical epic, especially when he could add generous lashings of violence and sex to the broth. Proving that everything old can be new again, here’s one of Cecil B.’s earliest tub-thumpers, complete with crucifixion and resurrection. Starring H. B. Warner as You Know Who - and the idea of H. B. Warner ever being young enough to play You Know Who underlines how old this film really is - it’s a top-notch example of DeMille at his most pious. It all looks quite grand, with production design by Anton Grot and first-rate cinematography by J. Peverell Marley (who shot the amazing early soundie Dynamite for Cecil B. two years later), and remains a silent classic. Apparently nut-ball philosopher Ayn Rand is an extra in this movie, but as she isn’t seen hawking copies of The Foundation or holding forth on objectivism, you’ll have to spot her yourself. And what is it about Ayn Rand groupies? They all seem to be white men in blue blazers and tan slacks. Time for some fashion tips from the local Mormon missionaries. On a related note, Dynamite airs at 11:30pm, and King of Kings re-airs 4/11 at 11pm.
Thursday 04/08/04
2am Turner Classic Movies
The Affairs of Anatol (1921 USA): If you can stand another lecture on immorality and loose women, here’s an additional DeMille silent for your delectation. The Affairs of Anatol stars Wallace Reid as a do-gooding socialite who rescues floozies and sets them on the straight-and-narrow, a hobby that causes consternation at home, where Gloria Swanson plays his loyal and long-suffering wife. Reid, who ended up dying from a combination of flu, alcoholism and morphine addiction in 1923, was a huge star in the early ‘20s, and he ably mixes comedy and drama in this Paramount feature. Fans of silent cinema will see plenty of other familiar faces, too, including Monte Blue, Raymond Hatton, Lucien Littlefield, and Polly Moran.
9am Sundance
An Injury to One (2002 USA): This documentary about the miners and capitalists of Butte, Montana, is pretty good, considering it's part of someone's dissertation. Comprised mostly of lingering landscapes, stills, and narration, the film details the efforts of IWW activist Frank Little to organize the workers of Butte in 1917. The film also takes some surprising diversions regarding novelist Dashiell Hammett and McCarthyism and ends with a brief update on the dire condition of Butte and its environs in the 21st century. Though imperfect - the deadpan narration is a little too self-important, the utilization of Butte mining songs disengaging, and some camera shots tend to linger several seconds too long at times - this is a fascinating document of a little-known period of American history. The soundtrack, provided by artists such as Low, Dirty Three, and Will Oldham, is particularly noteworthy. Also airs 4/11 at 4:30am and 1:30pm.
Friday 04/09/04
4am Showtime Extreme
Cannon for Cordoba (1970 USA): I haven’t seen this shot-in-Spain Western for a good 30 years, but it used to be a late-night staple back in the good old days, when you could watch movies on broadcast television all day long. Of course, those movies were all cut to hell, interrupted by commercials, and pan-and-scanned, but for a movie-mad adolescent, it was heaven. Anyway, this fake spaghetti Western stars George Peppard as a US Army cavalryman out to stop a dastardly Mexican bandit (Eurotrash vet Raf Vallone) from ravishing local farms and local white women. Directed by Paul Wendkos, one of the better made-for-TV filmmakers of the period, Cannon for Cordoba is no classic, but I’ll be tuning in anyway for a blissful trip down memory lane. Francine York, fresh off several Larry Buchanan pictures and warming up for TV Mikel’s Doll Squad (1973 USA), co-stars. Also airs at 10:40am and 4/12 at 5:10am.
6am Turner Classic Movies
Flesh (1932 USA): This very fine John Ford picture stars Wallace Beery as a dumb but loveable wrestling waiter who marries bad-girl Karen Morley and gets drawn into an underworld of fixed fights by Morley’s old boyfriend, the caddish Ricardo Cortez (No, this film was not written by Barton Fink). For some reason, this film reminds me of G.W. Pabst’s The Last Laugh (1924 GER), and while it can’t measure up to that silent classic, it remains a powerful and ultimately quite moving film, especially during the final reel. Look for Warner Bros regular Nat Pendleton in a small role as a fellow wrestler.
Saturday 04/10/04
1pm Fox Movie Channel
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943 USA): I’ve recommended this one in the past, but as it may be my favorite American Western of all time, I don’t feel too bad about giving it another plug. I’ve only ever read two Western novels in my life: this one, by Walter van Tilburg Clark, and the decidedly pulpier Destry Rides Again, by Max Brand. Their cinematic adaptations match the aspirations of their print precursors, with Destry being a solid, big-budget piece of entertainment, and Ox-Bow Incident being a bleak, existential look at justice - and the lack thereof - in the Old West. Henry Fonda and Harry (Henry) Morgan star as a pair of cowhands caught up in a fever of lynch-mob justice when a local farmer is murdered. Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn, and William Eythe are the threesome accused by vigilantes of the crime, and Fonda fills his regular role as the conscience of the crowd, but this relentlessly downbeat and realistic film doesn’t provide any catharsis for its audience. Directed by the great William Wellman, and co-starring Jane Darwell and Marc Lawrence, this is one of the finest American films of the 1940s, and an artistic triumph all the more surprising considering it was produced during wartime. Speaking of the still-active Lawrence, most recently seen in Joe Dante’s Looney Tunes: Back in Action, he’s been all over the premium channels lately, in films such as Dom Deluise’s Hot Stuff (playing a gangster), the Chevy Chase-Goldie Hawn 1978 comedy Foul Play (playing a gangster), and 1950’s Mafia drama, The Black Hand (playing a…oh, never mind). Also airs 4/11 at 3am.
Sunday 04/11/04
3:30am Encore Mystery
Affair in Trinidad (1953 USA): This passable but minor Columbia production tried to rekindle the on-screen sparks generated by 1946’s Gilda, reuniting the two leads of that film, Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford. Hayworth was in the midst of a comeback attempt after she became bored with her reclusive marriage to Ali Khan, but her leaden performance here indicates her heart still wasn’t really in filmmaking. There’s still fun to be had, though, in the persons of bad guy Alexander Scourby (The Big Heat) and local lass Juanita Moore, and Ford is good, as usual.
9:40am Sundance
War and Peace (2002 IND): They may be all smiles and cricket bats at the moment, but the threat of war is never too far from the India-Pakistan border. With a two-and-a-half hour running time, this documentary about the escalating nuclear arms race between these two countries echoes the general lengthiness of Indian film whilst also paying tribute to Tolstoy’s massive novel of the same name. With more and more flashpoints developing worldwide and an American president who prefers starting fires to putting them out, this is a deeply disturbing look at one of the most dangerous and long-standing disputes of the 20th - and now 21st - century. With Pakistan destabilized even further after the recent abortive attempts to uproot the Taliban from the Northwest provinces, this remains a timely and disturbing film.
Monday 04/12/04
3:00 Turner Classic Movies
Bowery Blitzkrieg If last week’s Kid Dynamite whetted your appetite for Leo Gorcey and company, here’s more of the same. It’s an earlier example of the East Side Kids oeuvre, a knockabout blend of comedy and thrills that remained a popular matinee staple in American cinemas for 20 years. This Monogram production introduced the rubber-faced Huntz Hall to the gang, but here he’s called Limpy instead of Sach and his penchant for goofy slapstick is well-disguised and kept under control by director Wallace Fox. It’s typical stuff about gangsters and the fight game, with Kid Bobby Jordan once again trying to hew to the straight-and-narrow when confronted by crooked promoters.
8:45am Black Starz!
Daresalam (2000 FRA-BRK-CHA): I’ve yet to see this French-language film from West Africa, but I always have time for obscure world cinema, so Daresalam is this week’s speculative pick. Actually, that’s not strictly true: I don’t have enough time for anything these days. Sheesh, between holding down a day job, raising a child, going to A’s games, and writing this column, it’s a wonder I see as many films as I do. Still, one must suffer for one’s art, so I’ll keep burning the midnight oil and falling asleep on the sofa, lulled to slumber by the dulcet tones of film actors speaking languages I do not understand whilst the cat uses me as a pillow. Apparently the first film to explore the civil wars that have swept across much of Africa in recent years, Daresalam is set in an imaginary African country during the 1970s, and depicts two lifelong chums who, driven apart by revolutionary fervor and economic necessity, become sworn enemies. Daresalam made its American premiere at 2001’s San Francisco International Film Festival but hasn’t been seen in the US since then.
6pm Trio
Hell’s Belles (1969 USA): Pull on your biker boots, hop on your hog, and have your buddies urinate on your leathers before settling down for a biker double-bill this evening. Okay, forego the urination if you must, but tune in for this rare treat anyway. It’s been hard times for motorcycle movie fans since the demise of the much-missed Speedvision channel, and we still lament the necessity of interrupting our road trips and gang fights with commercials, but this film - and The Savage Seven, which follows at 8pm - is essential viewing for genre buffs. There’s a groovy Les Baxter score, fan favorites Adam Roarke, Angelique Pettyjohn, and Jeremy Slate, and plenty of hog footage in this typically entertaining AIP feature. 1968’s The Savage Seven sees Roarke and company raising hell on an Indian reservation, and has the added bonuses of Penny Marshall, Max Julien, and Beach Dickerson in the cast, as well as some fine (though compromised) Laszlos Kovacs cinematography. You’ll have fun fun fun until your daddy takes your Harley away, or until you come down from the crystal meth.
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