TiVoPlex
By John Seal
August 3, 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 08/03/04
12:35am Sundance
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974 BRD): One of my favorite Fassbinder flicks, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is the story of a North African immigrant (El Hedi ben Salem, who committed suicide in 1982 whilst imprisoned in France) who meets a stodgy, middle-aged German woman (veteran actress Brigitte Mira). The couple fall in love and decide to marry, but the path of interracial romance is strewn with difficulties, especially in a post-war Germany unprepared for multiculturalism. Like most Fassbinder films, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul manages to deliver a political or social message whilst avoiding ideology or preachiness. Astonishingly, the redoubtable 93-year-old Mira starred in 2003 in an unattributed German-made sequel (or remake, I’m not sure which), Angst Ist Seele Auf, playing the same character, this time opposite a black East German-born actor, Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss.
2:35pm Starz!
Only the Strong Survive (2002 USA): Overshadowed by the superficially-similar Standing in the Shadows of Motown, Only the Strong Survive takes a look at surviving members of the loose fraternity of '60s soul singers NOT associated with that famous Detroit label. Directed by D. A. Pennebaker (Don’t Look Now, Monterey Pop), the film includes interviews with and performance footage of such luminaries as William Bell, Sam Moore, Ann Peebles, Wilson Pickett, and the late, great Rufus Thomas. If those names mean anything to you, you need to see this film. If they don’t, tune in and learn about arguably the greatest popular music of the 20th century: the gospel-soaked rhythm-and-blues of the American South and Memphis’ Stax Records. Also airs at 5:35pm and 8/9 at 1:15am and 4:15am. .
5:10pm Showtime Extreme
Narc (1999 USA): Hailed in some quarters as the finest Hollywood crime film of recent vintage, Narc doesn’t quite live up to that hyperbolic standard, but is, nonetheless, a solid character study about a burned-out cop (Jason Patric, good as usual) trying to solve the murder of an undercover policeman on the drug beat. Perhaps more surprising than Patric’s fine performance is the superlative work of the oft-maligned Ray Liotta as his hard-nosed partner. Liotta, who has labored in the shadow of his appearance as Henry Hill in Martin Scorcese’s Good Fellas for more than a decade, is brilliant here as aorta-popping detective Henry Oak, whose friendship with the late narco agent colors his every action. Written and directed by Joe Carnahan (responsible for indie hit Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane), Narc is an extremely satisfying (though ultimately predictable) look at two very different people dangling over the precipice of personal and professional disaster. Also airs 8/7 at 7pm.
Wednesday 08/04/04
1:15am Sundance
The Last Just Man (2002 CAN): It’s easy to get carried away with superlatives when writing film commentary, especially in a column like this one, where I’m trying to find things to recommend. So please consider that fact when you read the next sentence. The Last Just Man is, in my opinion, one of the greatest and most important documentaries ever made. General Romeo Dellaire was the Canadian commander of the UN peacekeeping forces in Rwanda in the early 1990s, and in a series of interviews, he details the bureaucratic inertia and political backbiting that hamstrung his efforts to forestall the genocide perpetrated by that country’s Hutu majority against the Tutsi minority, a slaughter that killed close to a million people in the breathtaking span of a hundred days. This film takes the viewer as deep into the heart of darkness as it is possible to go and will bring tears to your eyes. For more information about the Rwandan catastrophe, read Dellaire’s superb Shake Hands With the Devil, now available in good bookstores throughout the United States and Canada.
11:35am More Max
Kursk: A Letter From the Deep (2002 DEN): If you’re not completely wrung dry from watching The Last Just Man, save some Kleenex for this Danish documentary about the Kursk submarine disaster of 2000. Lost at sea with all hands in August of that year, the Kursk became the poster-sub of the decaying post-Soviet Russian military. This film, however, focuses on the last letter home written by crew member Dmitry (Mitja) Romanovich Kolesnikov; a letter that was never mailed, but found on his remains and used to identify his corpse. Kolesnikov kept writing as hope flickered and died, and this deeply moving film will have you reaching for your hanky. Only it’ll be too wet to soak up any more tears.
11:30pm Encore Love Stories
The Love Machine (1970 USA): The works of novelist Jacqueline Susann were hot stuff in the early ‘70s, and best sellers to boot. This trash classic is based on one of them, and while it’s pretty awful, fans of Showgirls and Valley of the Dolls (also a Susann adaptation) will be in seventh heaven. The Love Machine stars John Philip Law as a TV talking head climbing his way to the top via the bed of his boss’s wife (Dyan Cannon), and also features Robert Ryan (as the cuckolded husband), Jackie Cooper, and David Hemmings. Fans of Hammer horror films may also want to give it a look, as the film co-stars the infamous Collinson Twins, Madeleine and Mary (I Am a Groupie, Twins of Evil). With theme music by Mark Lindsay (Paul Revere and the Raiders) and a mod, mod wardrobe courtesy Moss Mabry, you’ll be soaking in kitsch.
Thursday 08/05/04
1:50pm Encore True Stories
The Mystery of Picasso (1956 FRA): After years of directing some of cinema’s greatest and most beloved suspense films, French auteur Henri-George Clouzot’s career took an interesting turn when he produced this documentary about painter Pablo Picasso and the creative process. Picasso admitted Clouzot’s camera into his studio, allowing the director to film him at work by utilizing a transparent easel that traced brush strokes and rendered the artist “invisible”. This unlikely film tracks the development of 20 Picasso works, some in ink, some in oils, some in "wide-screen", and all of them displaying the artist’s predilection for cubism. A fascinating and truly unique film, The Mystery of Picasso has rarely appeared on television, so be sure not to miss it. Also airs at 10pm.
4:30pm HBO
My Uncle Berns (2004 USA): Bernhardt Crystal is comedian Billy Crystal’s 88-year-old uncle, and is the subject of this biopic directed by Billy’s daughter, Lindsay. This HBO original documentary - TiVoPlex’s speculative pick o’ the week - may be a vanity production, but the film’s synopsis makes it sound quite intriguing in its own right. Bernhardt, who grew up in a theatrical family in Grand Rapids, Michigan, served as a combat artist on D-Day, ran a New York City art gallery in the post-war years, and spent the next 50 years telling stories, collecting masks, and making his family laugh. Lindsay decided to make this film after September 11th, 2001, when Uncle Berns was still living in a nursing home a block from the World Trade Center. Maybe he’ll be available to host the 2005 Academy Awards. Also airs at 7:30pm and 8/8 at 9am and noon.
Friday 08/06/04
8pm IFC
City on Fire (1987 HK): This Ringo Lam/Chow-Yun Fat crime feature is reportedly a great favorite of motor-mouth style-hound Quentin Tarantino, but don’t hold that against it. It’s a stylish, if predictable, Hong Kong action film, with Fat starring as an ex-cop brought back into the fold in order to infiltrate a gang responsible for the death of a fellow officer. Greatly influenced itself by the works of Peckinpah and Kurosawa, City on Fire also features a fine performance by co-star Danny Lee as a gangster. It’s not clear if IFC is airing this in its correct aspect ratio (or even whether their print is subtitled), but even a full-frame version of City on Fire is worth a look for Asian cinema fans and admirers of the star, who looks remarkably youthful here. Also airs at 11pm.
8:20pm Black Starz!
Black Caesar (1973 USA): Starring Fred Williamson as Tommy Gibbs, the handsome and immaculately accoutered Godfather of Harlem, Black Caesar is one of the masterpieces of the so-called blaxploitation genre and one of the best films of director Larry Cohen’s starcrossed career. The film isn't terribly original, but it has an outstanding supporting cast, including Gloria Hendry and D'Urville Martin; has a drop-dead terrific score by the OTHER Godfather, James Brown; and is intelligently written and well directed by the underrated Cohen, whose script for the 2003 surprise hit Phone Booth earned him some overdue mainstream attention. Also airs 8/7 on Showtime Extreme at 10:15pm.
Saturday 08/07/04
6pm Sundance
The Man on the Train (2002 FRA): Even if the film itself weren’t much good, The Man on the Train would be worth a mention for its unique cast, including the great Jean Rochefort, French pop star Johnny Hallyday, and sepulchral Edith Scob (the masked woman of Georges Franju’s Eyes Without a Face). As it happens, the film is excellent, with director Patrice Leconte fashioning a fascinating existential tale from the unlikely relationship forged between Rochefort’s teacher and Hallyday’s bank robber. Set on the platform of a French train station in the bleakness of early winter, The Man on the Train is an elegant set piece anchored by two riveting performers at the top of their game.
Sunday 08/08/04
5am Fox Movie Channel
Project X (1987 USA): If you like movies with monkeys or apes - and who doesn’t? - you’ll love Project X, a Matthew Broderick vehicle about animal experimentation. Broderick stars as a lowly enlisted man assigned to cage cleaning duties at a Florida Air Force base where chimpanzees are being trained in flight simulation. This being a Hollywood film, of course things are not as simple as they seem, and Broderick is soon learning that the program is not as benign as it appears on the surface. A thriller with heart (and, for the most part, a brain, thanks primarily to Stanley Weiser’s screenplay), Project X gets a wide-screen airing on Fox this morning. Helen Hunt co-stars as Virgil the Chimp’s original owner and there’s a small role for TiVoPlex favorite Dick Miller as one of Broderick’s co-workers.
6:30am Sundance
Elling (2001 NOR): I recommended this one sight-unseen earlier this year, and now offer it a full-blown double thumbs-up. Starring Per Christian Ellefsen and Sven Nordin as a pair of socially-detached loners released from a mental-health facility and into the care of a Stockholm social worker (Jorgen Langhelle), the film follows the duo as they attempt to integrate into Swedish society. Ellefsen, the more introverted of the two, finds his outlet in poetry, whilst the cluelessly filthy Nordin falls for the pregnant, single mother-to-be (Marit Pia Jacobsen) who lives upstairs. Elling is a leisurely-paced comedy/drama that doesn’t try to make any grand statements but succeeds superbly as a well-written character piece. The film ignores the typical Hollywood story arc that would precipitate a life-affirming crisis in the third act, instead settling into an increasingly upbeat groove that culminates in a very satisfying conclusion. This is a wonderful film for anyone who isn’t completely averse to subtitles. Also airs at 2pm and 8/9 at 2am.
Print this column
