TiVoPlex
By John Seal
November 22, 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 11/23/04
3:45am Encore True Stories
A Night to Remember (1958 GB): The sinking of the Titanic has been a popular subject for filmmakers ever since steel first kissed iceberg. First out of the slips in 1915 was an eponymous Italian film (which may or may not still exist), followed by emigré director E. A. Dupont’s large-scale re-enactment, Atlantis, in 1929, a recently restored Nazi propaganda version in 1943, Hollywood’s first take on the subject ten years later, and, most recently, a really crap version by some guy called Cameron in 1997. The best of the lot, however, remains this historically accurate iteration, adapted from Walter Lord’s magisterial book by mystery writer Eric Ambler and brought to the screen by director Roy Ward Baker. Kenneth More, a lightweight British actor more inclined to comedy roles in films such as The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw, acquits himself nicely as the ship’s second officer and narrative device, and the supporting cast includes Honor Blackman, David McCallum, Andrew Keir (who would portray Professor Quatermass for Baker in 1967’s Five Million Years to Earth), and Desmond Llewelyn. Magnificently shot in black-and-white by Geoffrey Unsworth, the film also utilizes - without credit - some of the special effects shots from the German version. The film went on to win the 1959 Golden Globe award for Best English-Language film, but surprisingly received no Academy Award nominations, not even for its purloined special effects!
Wednesday 11/24/04
9am Encore Westerns
The Singing Hill (1941 USA): The hills are alive…with the sounds of cowboy Gene Autry strummin’ and hummin’ in this rarely-aired Republic program. This time, Gene must come to the aid of a damsel in distress (Virginia Dale) with HUGE…tracts of land, upon which the local cowpunchers like to graze their herds. He’s ably assisted as always by comedy sidekick Smiley Burnette, and low-budget regulars Spencer Charters, George Meeker and Wade Boteler are also on hand. Notable primarily for the inclusion of the newly composed Blueberry Hill - soon to be a rock and pop standard - The Singing Hill will have you yodelling along in no time.
9:35pm Starz!
Empire (2002 USA): There are plenty of films about folks on the wrong side of the railroad tracks establishing themselves as kingpins in the illegal pharmaceuticals industry, only to have things go badly wrong and come crashing down upon their heads. On the surface, Empire is a predictable staple of this genre, rehashing familiar themes explored in a wide assortment of films ranging from Deep Cover and New Jack City to Traffic. Luckily, writer-director Franc Reyes - who grew up in the same Bronx neighborhoods seen in this film - does an outstanding job tweaking the clichés and eking out solid performances from his cast, including an out-of-character John Leguizamo, jittery Peter Sarsgaard, and tough guy Treach. You won’t learn anything new from this film, but it is a surprisingly mature and believable look at the life of an ambitious drug dealer. Also airs 11/25 at 12:35am.
Thursday 11/25/04
1:05am Starz!
I Capture the Castle (2003 GB): If you’re in the mood for a fairytale, you might want to take a look at this flawed but interesting frock flick from BBC director Tim Fywell. The story revolves around an artistic family - Dad’s a dried-up author, Step-Mum’s an aspiring painter - who rent an abandoned castle when life elsewhere becomes too expensive. Raising three children isn’t cheap, however, and when the family fall behind in their monthly payments and are threatened with eviction, Prince Charming arrives just in time in the form of wealthy Yank landowner Simon Cotton (Henry Thomas). Cotton is soon falling in love with eldest daughter Rose (Aussie actress Rose Byrne), but complications ensue when younger sibling Cassandra (Romola Garai) decides she fancies him, too. This is an odd film that doesn’t fit comfortably into any particular genre, lurching from overdone romance to barbed humor and subtle social commentary without warning. While Heidi Thomas’ screenplay leaves a bit to be desired, the cast is flawless, especially Bill Nighy as the family patriarch, Tara Fitzgerald as his flighty second wife, and the charming Ms. Garai. Less effective are the American actors, including Sinead Cusack, who seem one-dimensional in comparison to the family of eccentric Brits. I Capture the Castle was shot on the Isle of Man and looks stunning, and if you can overlook the meandering nature of the writing, is an above-average chick flick. Also airs at 4:05am.
5am Turner Classic Movies
Jack and the Beanstalk (1952 USA): This extremely modest and somewhat threadbare fantasy film returns to television this morning after a long absence. Featuring comedy team Abbott and Costello, this musical take on the Brothers Grimm fairytale was adapted for the screen by Lou Costello’s brother Pat and features forgettable songs by Lester Lee (You can trust me on this one: I first saw this film on cable sometime in the1980s, and I can’t remember a note). It’s pretty dreadful - in fact, it’s probably their worst film - but Abbott and Costello completists will want to see it at least once, as the film was the duo’s first featuring color photography (albeit color photography bookended by black-and-white sequences). Thankfully, this was also the only all-singing, all-dancing A&C flick, after which the two wiseacres wisely reverted to semi-witty repartée in films like Lost in Alaska and Abbott and Costello Go to Mars.
Friday 11/26/04
3:35am Encore
Freaky Friday (1977, 1995, 2003 USA): In one of 2004’s cuter programming conceits, Encore is airing back-to-back-to-back showings of all three versions of this body-switch comedy…and they’re airing them repeatedly, all day, hence making this a thoroughly Freaky and maddeningly circuitous Friday indeed. I was blissfully unaware that there had even been a 1995 remake, but here it is, featuring Shelley Long in the Jamie Lee Curtis role…er, I mean the Barbara Harris role. It’s the day after Thanksgiving, so I guess your choices are this, Christmas shopping, or more turkey. Hand me a straight razor.
Sunday 11/28/04
5pm Fox Movie Channel
Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love (1994 USA): Last week I lauded Rocky V, the final entry to date in the cycle of films about a working-class Philly pugilist (Can I call it a cycle, or is that word reserved for Wagnerian opera and the like?). This week, the nation is blessed by the small-screen return of the most recent Revenge of the Nerds picture, 1994’s Nerds in Love. While it’s difficult to recommend any picture as bad as this one, my unrequited passion for the first film - rekindled by the somewhat backhanded compliments it received in last year’s American Splendor - demand that I draw your attention to this cultural landmark. Alas, screenwriters Steve Zacharias’ and Jeff Buhai’s creative juices had been sucked dry by the time this sorry made-for-cable mess hit the airwaves, but at least they had the sense to bring back series stars Robert Carradine, Curtis Armstrong, Larry Scott, Brian Tochi, Donald Gibb, and Bernie Casey. Originally aired in 3-D and in AeromaVision, a scratch-and-sniff device reminiscent of the ones used for John Water’s Polyester (1981), Nerds in Love is, sadly, airing this afternoon in its flat format.
9pm Turner Classic Movies
Phantom (1922 GER): Arrrrrrrrr. That’s my Homer Simpson drooling sound going into high gear at the thought of getting to see this rarity. Phantom is a long-forgotten film (once thought lost) from the great German director F. W. Murnau, and to the best of my knowledge has never been on American television before. It’s also next to impossible to find on home video in ANY format. I haven’t seen Phantom, and judging from the few reviews available online it’s not one of his best, but heck, this is MURNAU we’re talking about, the man who brought us Nosferatu (1922), The Last Laugh (1924), and Sunrise (1927). Written by Fritz Lang’s mistress, Thea Von Harbou (Metropolis), and featuring Lang regular Lil Dagover, the film tells the story of an obsessed shop clerk (Alfred Abel from Dr. Mabuse the Gambler and Metropolis) with a penchant for poetry and psychotic visions of a woman in white. Though not a tale of the supernatural, the film does feature production design by Hermann Warm, the man responsible for the unforgettable Expressionistic sets of 1919’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. If you only watch one film this week, make it this one.
Monday 11/29/04
4:15am More Max
Fraternity Row (1977 USA): No, this isn’t another college comedy featuring breasts, booze, and bad behavior, but a serious drama about initiation rites and fraternity hazing based on events at an unnamed East Coast college during the 1950s. Narrated by Cliff Robertson, Fraternity Row was actually a thesis project by writer-producer and USC Film School doctoral student Gary Allison, and with a few exceptions was shot by an amateur crew and populated by student actors. Released to theaters by Paramount, the film still hasn’t had a home video release and hasn’t been on the boob tube in quite some time.
8:15pm Turner Classic Movies
The Odessa File (1974 GB): This solid though flawed spy film stars a still-handsome Jon Voight as Peter Miller, a German journalist on the trail of former concentration camp commander Eduard Roschmann (Maximilian Schell) during the early 1960s. This was the first of two consecutive film projects in which Voight curiously was cast as a German (1976’s End of the Game was the second), and his accent unsurprisingly borders on the ridiculous. That aside, The Odessa File is an engaging and entertaining thriller, well directed by Poseidon Adventure helmer Ronald Neame and getting a very rare wide-screen airing this evening. Adapted from Frederick Forsyth’s popular novel of the same name - itself loosely based on fact - the film also features Derek Jacobi and Maria Schell (Maximilian’s sister), as well as an inappropriate but jaunty Andrew Lloyd Webber score.
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