TiVoPlex
By John Seal
November 2, 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 11/02/04
2:30am Sundance
Salt (2002 ICE): This odd Icelandic road movie displays evidence of the influence of the Dogme manifesto, even though it cheats from time to time with the odd bit of artificial lighting. The story of two sisters (cute-as-a-button Brynja Dora Guonadottir and the more mature Melkorka Huldudottir) fighting over the same fella (Davio Orn Haldorrson), the film is a methodical character study that finds its protagonists moving at an appropriately glacial pace. If you don’t find the deliberate storytelling style to your taste, however, you may still enjoy this film, which takes full advantage of its Icelandic locales and at times looks quite stunning. The cast is uniformly fine, apparently improvising much of their dialogue, and the film hardly wears out its welcome, clocking in under an hour-and-a-half.
4:30am Turner Classic Movies
The Company She Keeps (1951 USA): Jane Greer stars as an embittered ex-con trying to survive life on the outside in this worthwhile RKO drama. Her first order of business: stealing the man (Dennis O’Keefe) of her parole officer (Lizabeth Scott). Greer is outstanding as the libidinous bad girl trying to go good, but Scott’s saintly characterization tends to undercut the film’s realism. Sharply shot by Nicholas Musaraca, The Company She Keeps is a smartly made soap opera, and features TiVoPlex favorites Nancy Kulp and Kathleen Freeman in small roles.
8:30am Black Starz!
Cosmic Africa (2003 SAF): This week’s speculative pick is a South African documentary about the astronomical history of the African continent. Directed by brothers Craig and Damon Foster, Cosmic Africa visits the world’s earliest known astronomical observatory, Egypt’s Nabta Playa, as well as important sites in Mali and Namibia, and includes interviews with South African astronomer Thede Madupe. Sounds like fascinating stuff, as long as it steers clear of the tabloid excesses of early star-watching docs such as In Search of Ancient Astronauts and Chariots of the Gods.
9:30am Sundance
Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties (2004 USA): Celebrate another depressing Election Day with two extremely depressing documentaries, kicking off with this look at the passage and implementation of the atrocious USA PATRIOT Act. Produced by Robert Greenwald, the gadfly behind Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War and Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism, this brief but powerful film includes interviews with concerned folks across the political spectrum, including far-right former congressman Bob Barr and card-carrying ACLU member Anthony Romero. If you didn’t feel paranoid before watching this film, you will afterwards. It’s followed at 10:40am by Bush’s Brain, an amusing and frightening look at political kingmaker Karl Rove, the bald, so-called "boy genius" who stage-manages the awesome Republican election machine. Bush’s Brain also airs at 9:30pm, 11/3 at 1pm, 11/4 at 9:35am, and 11/6 at 5:30am and 4:30pm.
Wednesday 11/03/04
4:30am Showtime 2
Time Out (2001 FRA): This lengthy but rewarding French drama stars mopey stage actor Aurelion Recoing as Vincent, a man who loses his white collar job but refuses to tell his family that he’s now unemployed. Instead, Vincent invents a fake job for himself as a consultant to the United Nations and spends his "working" hours spinning a web of occupational fantasy to further delude his wife and children. Of course, money problems soon surface, and Vincent is forced to get a new job, this time fronting a fictional company on the lookout for gullible investors. This bleak but brilliant tragic-comedy takes a look at the meaning and worth of work in the modern world, and is based on the true story of Frenchman Jean-Claude Romand, who lived a similar double life in the early 1990s. The sophomore effort of director Laurent Cantet, Time Out won the Don Quixote Prize at the 2001 Venice Film Festival.
10am IFC
Lagaan (2001 IND-GB): Americans may laugh at the concept of a four-hour long film about cricket, but the game itself actually takes longer, and isn’t nearly as entertaining as this Bollywood spectacular. Basically a critique of the British Empire - and a defense of a secular and multicultural India, a concept still threatened today by India’s opposition party, the BJP - the film is a true spectacular, breathtaking to look at, and featuring numerous songs, some of which are quite excellent. The story is straightforward enough for a child to follow - my eight-year-old sat through the last three hours of it, even with subtitles - but has enough rewards for older viewers to keep them on the edge of their seat. Watch it, you won’t be disappointed.
Thursday 11/04/04
8:15am Starz!
The Triplets of Belleville (2003 FRA): If you thought hand-drawn animation had creatively gone as far as it could go, think again; this delightful and utterly original tale of a kidnapped cyclist and his courageous mother features some of the most imaginative animated sequences ever devised. The Triplets of Belleville, a surprise art-house hit from late 2003, makes its American television debut this evening, is suitable for the whole family, and features a marvelous "hot jazz" style score by composer Benoit Charest. Also airs at 11:15am, 9:30pm, and 11/5 at 12:30am.
Friday 11/05/04
3pm Turner Classic Movies
Stars in My Crown (1950 USA): Director Jacques Tourneur is remembered today primarily for his work for producer Val Lewton and his horror classic, Curse of the Demon (1956). Here’s one of the forgotten gems in his filmography, a western with all the typical Tourneur touches. In fact, this was his favorite film, and in his brief essay Taste Without Clichés, he related the story of how he begged MGM producer William Wright to assign the film to him instead of a director lower on the totem pole. Eventually Tourneur got the job, but only after agreeing to work for the minimum fee, taking a two-thirds pay cut in the bargain. The result is a dreamy story of a Southern town beset by an outbreak of typhoid fever and plagued by a local Klan chapter. Racism was a long-term thematic concern for Tourneur, and he was lucky - or smart - enough to cast the always-wonderful Juano Hernandez as a black farmer targeted by Klansman Ed Begley. Hernandez remains one of the great unsung heroes of mid-20th-century American cinema in films ranging from Intruder in the Dust (1949) to Kiss Me Deadly (1955) and The Pawnbroker (1964). There’s also an outstanding performance from Joel McCrea (who introduced Tourneur to the source novel for the film) as a local parson initially blamed for the typhus outbreak, and a fine supporting cast, including future Gunsmoke star Amanda Blake, Alan Hale, and Dean Stockwell. This isn’t your typical two-fisted oater, but if you’re a fan of the fever-dream terrors of I Walked with a Zombie and Cat People, you’ll definitely want to take a look at Stars in My Crown.
8pm Showtime
The Amityville Horror (1979 USA): This landmark horror film isn’t much good, but it’s making its wide-screen TV debut this evening. Truly terrifying for those who believe in the supernatural, it’s just another bump-in-the-night ghost story for the rest of us. A massive hit at the box office in 1979, The Amityville Horror was one of the last films produced by AIP, America’s foremost exploitation house during the late 1950s and 1960s. Also airs at 11pm.
11:15pm Turner Classic Movies
Ecstasy (1933 CZH-OST): This controversial and spicy European film features 19-year-old Hedy Lamarr in her film debut. She plays the young trophy wife of a rich man uninterested in having either a sexual or emotional relationship with his spouse, and Ecstasy traces her adulterous transition from childhood to womanhood. The film is best remembered for its infamous skinny-dipping scene (yes, Lamarr bared all for the cameras) and retains its remarkably erotic charge today. Seventy years on it’s still a film for adults, delving into female sexuality in ways Hollywood has rarely - if ever - adequately explored. Director Gustav Machaty followed Lamarr to Hollywood, but couldn’t adjust to the limitations of the studio system, and ultimately returned to Europe post-World War II. He never made a better film than this one.
Saturday 11/06/04
6pm Starz!
Peter Pan (2003 GB-USA): This adult film in children’s clothing was a box office dud last holiday season, but deserves rediscovery via home video. A surprisingly mature interpretation of J.M. Barrie’s story of the boy who refused to grow up - or even go through puberty - this Peter Pan is a sumptuous feast for the eyes and features a marvelous cast, including Jason Isaacs as a particularly nasty Captain Hook. Perhaps the only disappointment of the film is Jeremy Sumpter’s performance as the titular character; there’s a bit too much of the All-American boy in Sumpter, and he seems at odds with the balance of the predominately British cast. This is a film children will enjoy whilst their parents ruminate and contemplate those inevitable little talks about the birds and the bees. Also airs at 9pm and 11/7 at 2pm and 5pm.
6pm Sundance
DiG! (2004 USA): In record time - I saw this film on the big screen only last month! - Ondi Timoner’s fascinating, hilarious, and ultimately heartbreaking documentary about delusional musician Anton Newcombe comes to the boob tube. Newcombe, a self-proclaimed musical genius who seems determined to ape psychedelic head cases like Roky Erickson and Sky Saxon and whose less-than-original rock band, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, marauded club stages across America and Europe for a full decade, agreed to have Timoner’s cameras follow and film him for eight years. His fractious relationships with family, band-mates, and friends - most notably competing rock band The Dandy Warhols - are explored, as are his problems with substance abuse. If you’ve never heard of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, you’ll still enjoy this film, but if (like myself) you’ve actually seen the band - and engaged in less-than-witty (and generally abusive) repartee with Newcombe - it may bring back unpleasant memories. In a disturbing example of programming synchronicity, IFC is airing This is Spinal Tap tonight at 8:00 and 11pm.
Sunday 11/07/04
10:30pm Turner Classic Movies
The River (1951 IND-GB): This lush and languid drama is a must-see for cineastes, especially considering it was directed by Jean Renoir and shot by nephew Claude, cinematographer on a wide range of films including the pop-art classic Barbarella and 1977’s Bond entry The Spy Who Loved Me. Set in the early days of an independent India, The River features real-life husband-and-wife team Nora Swinburne and Esmond Knight as the mater and pater of a family of British expats, with their coming-of-age daughters played by Adrienne Corri (a future scream queen for Hammer Studios), Patricia Walter (the daughter of comedy star Bert Wheeler in her only film appearance), and Indian-born Radha. In keeping with this week’s unofficial coming-of-age theme, the three girls compete for the hand of a wounded American officer, played by Thomas Breen. Future auteur Satyajit Ray worked as an assistant director on this film, but was still several years away from Pather Panchali and worldwide fame.
Monday 11/08/04
6pm Sundance
The Five Obstructions (2004 DEN): In and out of American cinemas in the blink of an eye last summer, The Five Obstructions features yet another manifesto from the fevered brain of cinematic enfant terrible Lars Von Trier. In this film, Von Trier interviews Jorgen Leth, a filmmaker who directed a film entitled The Perfect Human in 1967. Von Trier presents Leth with a challenge: remake The Perfect Human five times, each time with a specific list of Von Trier determined limitations, the "obstructions" of the film’s title. Up first: re-shoot the film in Cuba! Next, take a trip to the “most miserable place on Earth” - in this case, Mumbai, India - and shoot it again! This fascinating and typically mischievous Von Trier sweetmeat tracks three further iterations of the theme, and will delight, confound, and entertain anyone interested in the artistic process.
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