TiVoPlex
By John Seal
May 4, 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 05/04/04
3:35am Black Starz!
Abouna (2001 FRA-CHA): From the cinematic hotbed of West Africa comes this excellent low-key drama about two brothers in search of their missing father, an itinerant worker gone abroad in search of employment. As regular readers will know, referring to West Africa as a film hotbed is not intended as sarcasm, especially with the recent news that 80-year-old Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene’s newest film, Moolaade, will be in competition at Cannes this month. A finely-etched character study of family and friendship, Abouna features a standout performance by Mounira Khalil as a mute young woman who befriends the eldest of the brothers, and was beautifully shot by cinematographer Abraham Haile Biru, whose filmmaking apprenticeship in The Netherlands has clearly borne fruit. Also airs 5/8 at 12:10pm.
9pm More Max
Owning Mahowny (2003 USA): One of 2003’s best indie features makes its television premiere this evening. Starring the chameleon-like Philip Seymour Hoffman as a banker and gambling addict whose work access to unlimited funds tempts him to dip into the till, Owning Mahowny also features a fine performance by Minnie Driver (in a fright wig, no less) as Hoffman’s long-suffering girlfriend. The film retreads territory already well covered in earlier films such as Karel Reisz’ The Gambler (1974), but Hoffman’s bumbling, low-key performance gives a new twist to the old story of a compulsive gambler whose addiction sends things spinning out of control. Directed by British-born Richard Kwietniowski (Love and Death on Long Island) and based on a true story, the film also features John Hurt (whose career seems to be in resurgence these days) in a juicy role as a casino operator who recognizes a good customer when he sees one. Owning Mahowny probably won’t teach you any valuable new lessons, but it’s an incredibly entertaining and well-acted film that will make you think twice about that weekend trip to Atlantic City. Also airs 5/8 at 9:35am and 12:35pm.
Wednesday 05/05/04
3am Showtime 3
Maryjane (1968 USA): The unwarranted excitement is almost palpable at Seal Manors. The elusive Maryjane, last spied by this scribe on television during the 1970s and never available on home video, returns to the small screen. This film has been on my wants list for years, and now that it’s finally within my grasp, I should probably come to grips with the fact that what enthralled me as an adolescent may bore me silly as an adult. After all, director Maury Dexter’s other clunkers include a number of titles - The Day Mars Invaded Earth, The Young Swingers, and The Mini Skirt Mob amongst them - that promised many more thrills than they actually delivered. Maryjane’s premise, though, remains interesting: a high school teacher (aging teen heartthrob Fabian) smokes dope, lives to tell the tale, and tries to break up the local gang of drug peddlers. Amongst the supporting cast of this AIP teensploitationer are Teri Garr, Dick Gautier, and future director Gary Marshall, and a groovy Mike Curb soundtrack (available, of course, via Capitol’s Tower Records subsidiary) is the final icing on the cake. Or should I say hash brownie?
3:20am Encore Mystery
The Killer That Stalked New York (1950 USA): It’s not as good as the similarly-themed bubonic plague melodrama Panic in the Streets (also 1950), but this Columbia thriller is still worth a look for noir fans and those who enjoy police procedurals, especially considering it hasn’t been on TV in quite some time. Starring Evelyn Keyes as a diamond smuggler unwittingly spreading smallpox throughout the Big Apple after a trip to Cuba, The Killer That Stalked New York follows a doctor and a Treasury agent (William Bishop and Barry Kelley, respectively) as they try to get hold of the hot ice and keep a lid on the dread disease. Dr. Germ and Chemical Ali ain’t got nothin’ on Evelyn Keyes. Joseph Biroc’s excellent location photography adds an extra dose of realism, and stargazers should watch out for cameo appearances by Whit Bissell, Jim Backus and Father Knows Best star Billy Gray.
6pm Sundance
In This World (2002 GB): This week’s speculative pick took home a boatload of awards at festivals around the world, in addition to the prize for Best Film Not in the English Language at this year’s BAFTAs. Director Michael Winterbottom has an erratic track record - the tedious and pretentious The Claim springs to mind - but this tale of two Afghan refugees wending their way from Peshawar to London sounds promising. Screenwriter Tony Grisoni is a Terry Gilliam regular who helped develop the head-swirling narrative tropes of 1998’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, another road movie with a difference, but In This World probably won’t feature any giant talking lizards.
Thursday 05/06/04
3:30am Turner Classic Movies
Knockout (1941 USA): This fast-paced Warner's bill-filler features Arthur Kennedy as a young boxer in thrall to a crooked manager and ignorant of the emotional needs of his young bride. Cornel Wilde made his second credited appearance in this film, and Anthony Quinn is on hand as well. Look for the patented swirling newspaper headline motif so beloved of producer Bryan Foy.
1pm Fox Movie Channel
John and Mary (1969 USA): This is an adult film. No, not an "adult" film, but a film that deals honestly with adult issues and adult relationships. Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow star as a couple who meet over drinks, have sex later that night, and then ponder exactly what it is they’ve done. Generally considered a dull exercise in navel-gazing, John and Mary strikes me as a fascinating look at the Woodstock-era peak of the Sexual Revolution, with the rapidly shifting sands of public and private morality captured brilliantly by director Peter Yates, whose previous production, Bullitt (1968), is about as dissimilar a film as you could imagine. Written for the screen by Rumpole of the Bailey creator John Mortimer (!), the film features a slinky Quincy Jones score, too. Unavailable on home video, John and Mary appears this evening in its original 1:2.35 aspect ratio.
Friday 05/07/04
6:05am Encore
Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? (1970 USA): This comedy could easily have slipped into a Kelly's Heroes-style parody of the US military, and its climactic chase scene teeters on the edge at times. But there's no discounting the intelligence at work here: the screenplay is unusually well-written, making subtle points about the Vietnam War, racism, and sexism without alienating the audience with dogma. There are especially fine performances by Brian Keith and Ivan Dixon here, a restrained turn from Tony Curtis, and a reminder of the untapped talents of Suzanne Pleshette. A pleasant surprise from TV director Hy Averback. Also airs at 9:05am.
11:35pm Showtime
Motel Hell (1980 USA): If it has nothing else of merit, Motel Hell can at least lay claim to one of the great taglines of cinema history: “It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent fritters!” This gruesome parody of slasher films features former cowboy star Rory Calhoun as the aforementioned agronomist, whose crop consists of kidnapped passers-by who later end up in the food chain. Director Kevin Connor - fresh off his series of kiddie-oriented Amicus features - adapted well to the genre, and all but the most hardened gorehounds will be squirming in their seats by the time Motel Hell reaches its pulse-pounding conclusion. Wolfman Jack co-stars as Reverend Billy, who, regretably, is no relation to the current anti-globalization performance artist of the same name. Also airs 5/8 at 2:35am.
Saturday 05/08/04
8am Encore Mystery
The Bank (2001 AUS-ITA): A week or so ago, I gave a tempered recommendation for Guy Pearce’s The Hard Word, a caper film about a gang of cons trying to pull off "one last job". We’ve got another Antipodean crime drama today, but this time I’m much more enthusiastic. The Bank features Anthony LaPaglia (Lantana, Sweet and Lowdown) and David Wenham (Faramir from the final two Lord of the Rings films) as, respectively, a corrupt banker and a mathematician who cook up a unique scheme to play the stock market and make themselves filthy stinking rich. It’s an intelligent thriller that garnered an impressive nine nominations at the 2001 Australian Film Institute Awards, and the film took home the award for Best Screenplay. Sadly, the film didn’t impress the folks at the Socialist Equality Party (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/nov2001/bank-n16.shtml), but I think it’s a decent film nonetheless. Also airs at 3:10pm.
5pm IFC
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984 USA): Last month I waxed overly poetic regarding the chilling effect Nightmare on Elm Street, Part 2 had on me back in the 1980s. Having now revisited that sequel, I can safely report that, whilst it’s a perfectly reasonable slasher film - certainly better than 90% of the films in that over-populated genre - it really doesn’t deliver the goods. Like most other pop-culture detritus from the Reagan decade, the sequel has aged about as well as Members Only-style jackets or Vanilla Ice records, and instead of cowering under my chair, I was glowering at my TV, pondering the cruel tricks of fate memory plays on us all from time to time. Now IFC is airing the original film, and I’m once again going to foolishly lay odds that it’ll give me the willies (Twice as many willies if IFC airs it letterboxed, never a sure bet with this AMC-owned network). Besides making Freddy Krueger/Robert Englund a household name, this is also the movie that launched Johnny Depp’s film career. Also airs at 8:45pm.
Sunday 05/09/04
1pm Sundance
Choropampa: The Price of Gold (2002 USA): This deeply affecting documentary records the devastating effects of a 1999 mercury spill in a small Peruvian mountain village. Exposed daily to heavy trucks delivering goods and equipment needed for operations conducted by multinational gold-mining companies, Choropampa’s people were rendered ill or worse by the careless handling of this extremely toxic chemical. The villagers’ fruitless efforts to get compensation from the responsible parties and justice from a government more interested in economic development than the health and welfare of its poorest citizens, as well as the bravery of the peons in the face of police threats and intimidation, make this a classic documentary about underdogs taking on the system. It also offers classic lessons in the machinations of capitalism, with the townsfolk ultimately divided and weakened by the manipulative tactics of big business.
9pm Turner Classic Movies
The Penalty (1920 USA): I’ve said it before, but some weeks, this column almost writes itself. Thanks to TCM’s Silent Sunday Night, we’re getting an opportunity to see this once-rare Lon Chaney drama about a maniacal cripple out for revenge against the doctor who mistakenly amputated his legs. Whoops! (This is why we need trial lawyers, okay? Just say no to tort reform!) Directed by Wallace Worsley, who later worked with Chaney on 1923’s Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Penalty is a superb example of silent melodrama and is, of course, a huge treat for Chaney fans. Watch it and be impressed by the physical contortions and bravura acting of The Man of a Thousand Faces, who literally walked on his knees when making this film.
Monday 05/10/04
3am Turner Classic Movies
Spooks Run Wild (1941 USA): This week’s East Side Kids film is one that has broad appeal, relatively speaking. For once Monogram anted up for a name co-star, in this case, the perennially down-on-his-luck Bela Lugosi, who appears here as Nardo, the owner of a creepy old mansion the lads stumble upon whilst attending summer camp (Leo Gorcey at summer camp? The mind reels). The second of two films in the series scripted by future director, writer and producer Carl Foreman, this is cinematic comfort food for baby boomers, who got to watch this over and over and over again on the inappropriately monickered Million Dollar Movie way back when. Look for little Angelo Rossitto (Freaks, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome) as Luigi the Dwarf.
8:45am Cinemax
The Stunt Man (1980 USA): One of the most enjoyable movies about the movies you’re likely to see, The Stunt Man stars Steve Railsback as a criminal on the lam who takes on a new stunting career after contributing to the death of director Peter O’Toole’s previous stunt guy. Perhaps not quite as heady a brew as Dennis Hopper’s The Last Movie (1971), this remains a quite surreal look at filmmaking, and is with little doubt the finest work of enigmatic auteur Richard Rush’s career. Also featuring Barbara Hershey, Allen Garfield, and Adam Roarke (who also worked with Rush on 1968’s biker flick, The Savage Seven), the film garnered three Academy Award nominations in 1981. Also airs at 11:45am.
Print this column
