TiVoPlex
By John Seal
January 3, 2005
From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.
Tuesday 01/04/05
3:15am Cinemax
Straight Time (1978 USA): With the recent success of Meet the Fockers, film audiences have been reminded of the comedic talents of Dustin Hoffman. This unusual and nearly forgotten 1978 crime drama highlights the actor’s equally impressive dramatic skills. Hoffman plays Max Dembo, a recidivist burglar whose twisted parole officer (M. Emmet Walsh) likes a challenge and is determined to break Max’s spirit and see him once again cuffed, collared, and tagged. Based on real-life felon Edward Bunker’s novel No Beast So Fierce, Straight Time features a superb supporting cast, including Harry Dean Stanton as Hoffman’s partner-in-crime, the always-watchable Theresa Russell as Stanton’s moll, Gary Busey (with seven-year-old son Jake in tow) as a flaky friend, and a young and lithe Kathy Bates. Directed by the underutilized Belgian filmmaker Ulu Grosbard, Straight Time is long overdue for a DVD restoration, and returns to the small screen this morning after a lengthy absence. Also airs at 6:15am.
5am Flix
The Desperate Ones (1968 ESP-USA): Maximilian Schell and Raf Vallone play Polish political prisoners fleeing a Siberian labor camp for the relative safety of Afghanistan - where for some reason units of the Polish Army are in exile - in this obscure, made-in-Spain drama. Along the way they struggle against nature, illness, the NKVD, and their libidos, as Schell falls for the wife (Irene Papas) of the chap (Fernando Rey) who’s hiding them from the Soviets, and Vallone gets the hots for local lass Maria Perschy. This sudsy international co-production’s most memorable feature is a score from composer Cristobal Halffter, two years removed from his masterful work on Jules Dassin’s 10:30pm Summer. Also airs at 8am, on 1/5 at 1:35am, and on 1/9 at 6:55am.
6pm Showtime
Tupac: Resurrection (2003 USA): Hallelujah! He may not have been Jesus Christ Superstar, but judging from the number of Tupac albums released since his murder in 1996, he came pretty damn close to rolling back the stone. This appropriately-titled documentary looks at the brief and troubled life of the complex rap star, and conveys the eerie impression that young Mr. Shakur is still with us, laden as it is with copious interview footage (none, sadly, from beyond the grave) featuring its subject. A poet, a felon, a hero, a rapist, a rich man from an impoverished and deeply-political background whose talents were honed at a topnotch Baltimore school, Tupac crammed more into his 25 years than most of us will experience in a lifetime. Essential viewing for rap fans, this film also offers rewards for general viewers, including insights into the smothering burdens of fame and wealth, and the aggressive hyper-masculinity to which those living the Thug Life must surrender. Also airs at 9pm.
Wednesday 01/05/05
Midnight Flix
Savage Sisters (1974 USA-PHI): This thoroughly enjoyable action flick stars statuesque Gloria Hendry as a cop trying to track down bandits (perennial movie villains Sid Haig and Vic Diaz) who have double-crossed a buxom pair of righteous revolutionaries ( grindhouse favorite Cheri Caffaro and Rosanna Ortiz) and stolen dirty money from corrupt big-wig General Balthasar (Beast of the Yellow Night’s Leopoldo Salcedo). One of many films produced in the Philippines by American International Pictures during the 1970s, Savage Sisters was directed by the legendary Eddie Romero and co-produced by frequent Romero collaborator and former teen idol John Ashley, who also features here as bad guy W.P. Billingsley. A typically colorful Les Baxter score adds a tinge of class to this guilty pleasure.
10:50pm Encore Mystery
Across 110th Street (1973 USA): Apparently it’s Gloria Hendry day in the TiVoPlex, as she also has a bit part in this first-rate black action flick about gang warfare on the mean streets of New York City. Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto star as cops trying to tamp down a feud between the Mafia and the three African-American hoodlums who’ve ripped them off to the tune of $300,000. Featuring Bobby Womack’s classic eponymous theme song, Tony Franciosa as a Mob enforcer, an early appearance by Antonio “Huggy Bear” Fargas, and superior location work, Across 110th Street was a critical and popular success on its initial release, and remains one of the classics of the so-called blaxploitation genre.
Thursday 01/06/05
6:15am Showtime
Fat City (1972 USA): Stacy Keach and Jeff Bridges play a pair of struggling Stockton, California boxers in John Huston’s film adaptation of Leonard Gardner’s novel of the same name. Keach plays Tully, a past-his-prime pugilist holding out for one last big fight, whilst young Bridges is Ernie, the ambitious but not particularly talented youngster looking to earn glory in the ring. Co-star Susan Tyrell earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance as Oma, an alcoholic drifter with a soft spot for Tully, and the film also features superb support from Candy Clark, Nicholas Colesanto, and - in a brilliant and wordless turn as Lucero, a physically devastated Mexican boxer - Sixto Rodriguez. Shot by the great Conrad Hall in tones of burnt ochre which perfectly capture the dank and dreary atmosphere of a Central Valley summer, Fat City is a film best experienced in its original aspect ratio, and happily Showtime is airing a wide-screen print this evening. Also airs at 9:15am.
7:05pm Encore True Stories
From Swastika to Jim Crow (2000 USA): This brief but rewarding documentary casts light on a little-known aspect of 20th century American history: the departure of well-educated Jews from 1930s Germany and their subsequent arrival in the segregated southern climes of the United States, where they acquired jobs teaching at predominantly black colleges. A reminder of the deep and abiding ties between the Jewish and African-American communities - ties that grew during the Civil Rights era and remain strong, if frayed, to this day - From Swastika to Jim Crow features interviews with former instructors and students, most of whom were decidedly unpopular with the local rednecks. Also airs on 1/10 at 2:15pm.
9:30pm Turner Classic Movies
Sparrows (1926 USA): It’s hard to believe that William “One-Shot” Beaudine directed this gothic drama, but it’s true. It was all downhill for Beaudine after this film, as his insistence on realistic and dangerous stunt work enraged star Mary Pickford, who refused the director future work with either the Pickford Corporation or United Artists (Forty years later his career wound down with the twin embarrassments known as Frankenstein Meets Jesse James’ Daughter and Billy the Kid Vs. Dracula). Back in 1926, Sparrows provided America’s Sweetheart with her final pigtails-and-dimples role before she set up shop with Doug Fairbanks and Charles Chaplin at the newly-incorporated UA, and thanks to its blend of superb set design and stifling atmosphere holds up well for modern audiences. Set on a Deep South farm doubling as an orphanage, the film features Gustav Von Seyffertitz as Mr. Grimes, the abusive lord of the manor who employs his youngsters as slave labor. When Grimes goes off the deep end and threatens to chuck one of the youngsters into a nearby predator-filled swamp, it’s up to spunky Mary to rescue the little ones, and the film’s finale surely influenced the surreal atmosphere of Charles Laughton’s 1955 noir classic Night of the Hunter. Even if you’re not a big Pickford fan, Sparrows is a fine example of late-period, big-budget silent cinema.
Friday 01/07/05
11pm Turner Classic Movies
Kapo (1959 ITA-FRA-YUG): This week’s most intriguing feature is this early film by Gillo Pontecorvo, the brilliant Italian director responsible for the urban warfare classic Battle of Algiers (1963). It features 21-year-old Susan Strasberg as a teenaged concentration camp inmate who gains a new, non-Jewish identity after a fellow female prisoner succumbs to illness. This apparent good luck is soon revealed to be a very cruel gift, as the young woman then witnesses the murder of her family by camp guards. One of the first fictional films to visualize the horrors of the camp system, Kapo’s impact is lessened somewhat by an unnecessary romantic subplot between Strasberg and co-star Laurent Terzieff, but also includes well-edited documentary footage that lends the story an extra dose of realism. Filmed outside Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Kapo also features the film debut of Eurotrash regular Gianni Garko as a German soldier, and was nominated in 1961 for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award...three years prior to actually appearing in American cinemas.
Saturday 01/08/05
6pm Sundance
Northfork (2003 USA): This puzzling art-house oddity will either captivate you or drive you nuts. The third feature from the enigmatic Polish Brothers, Northfork takes place in a remote Montana town slated for demolition in order to make way for the construction of a new dam. Some of the residents, including mumbling orphanage administrator Nick Nolte, are reluctant to move, however, and company goons - including James Woods - arrive to assist in relocating the stubborn holdouts. If you enjoy gorgeously shot scenery, surreal imagery, bizarre dream sequences, and obtuse dialogue, you’ll find Northfork an absolute delight, but if you prefer your stories with a plot and a straightforward narrative arc, look elsewhere for entertainment this evening.
Sunday 01/09/05
11am IFC
Haiku Tunnel (2001 USA): Berkeley resident Josh Kornbluth stars in this gut-busting screen adaptation of his successful stage play. He plays Josh, a temporary worker in a law firm who gets the opportunity to “go perm” when his boss (the inscrutable Warren Keith) decides he likes him. His first task as a newly-hired perm: mail 17 incredibly important letters. Needless to say, Kornbluth is not up to this complex task, and things get more and more complicated as deadlines pass (and pass again) in this post-modern screwball comedy. The film’s first half-hour will leave you gasping for breath as it sets up our hero for his inevitable fall, and though Haiku Tunnel struggles to maintain its initial energy as the story continues, it’s still one of the funniest films you’ll ever see. Also airs 1/10 at 7pm.
1:40pm HBO Family
The One and Only (1978 USA): This silly but fun Carl Reiner comedy stars Henry Winkler - fresh from his long-term success as television’s Fonzie - as an unemployed actor in early 1950s New York who gets into pro wrestling when Broadway fails to answer his phone calls. Also on hand are Hervé Villechaize, Ed Begley Jr., Mary Woronov, and real-life wrestling personalities Gene LeBell and Roddy Piper, as well as legendary ring announcer Jimmy Lennon. The perfect film to share with the family on a cold winter weekend. Also airs at 4:40pm.
Monday 01/10/05
11:30am Showtime 3
Year of the Bull (2003 USA): They take their high school football seriously in Miami's impoverished Liberty City neighborhood. VERY seriously. This documentary takes a look at Taurean Charles, the star player for Northwestern High, a school that has produced countless college athletes and almost two dozen NFL players. The film follows Charles on the field, where he generally excels, and in the classroom, where he doesn't. His future is tied up in the SAT exam, a test he's taken four times without successfully crossing the threshold established for college athletes by NCAA rules (He takes the test for a fifth time at film's end, but I won't give away the result). The most disturbing element of this film, however, isn't Charles' somewhat lackadaisical approach to the SAT, but the, erm, “training methods” of his coaches. I know nothing about the game of football, but I can't imagine that the physical and mental abuse these young men are pounded with really does them much good. Coaches slap players, scream profanities at them, tackle players, and generally beat the living crap out of them...right on camera, and apparently without second thoughts. The testosterone is palpable. This is an interesting twist on the Hoop Dreams genre, but that film's basketball coaches were quite restrained in comparison to what we see here. Year of the Bull is a gut-wrenching and powerful film...for all the wrong reasons.
8pm Sundance
The Purified (2002 DAN): If you have any interest in the wacky world of Danish director Lars Von Trier, you definitely need to see this documentary look at the artistic fallout from his 1995 Dogme Manifesto. Filmed during the course of a day-long retreat attended by Dogme adherents Von Trier, Soren Kragh-Jacobsen, Thomas Vinterberg, and Kristian Levring, The Purified doesn’t shy from confronting the contradictions and flaws of the manifesto. Levring has the most insightful comments, and it's clear that Vinterberg was most comfortable with stretching the rules. Vinterberg's Festen scenarist Mogens Rukov is also around with some interesting thoughts.
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