TiVoPlex
By John Seal
July 18, 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 07/19/05
11am Sundance
Purple Hearts (2004 HOL): The War in Iraq goes on, and whether or not it's truly part of a "war on terror", the maimed soldiers keep coming home. This documentary takes a look at some of the collateral damage of the Bush ‘N' Blair War of Choice (hey, the marketplace demanded it!) in the disfigured shape of five grievously wounded members of the United States Armed Forces. Suffering from lost limbs, blindness, or garden-variety post-traumatic stress, these victims retain deep loyalty to the military and display impressive personal strength and fortitude as they recall the events that changed their lives forever. Produced for Holland's renowned VPRO public television station, the film premiered stateside at this year's Brooklyn International Film Festival.
5pm Encore Mystery
The Attic Expeditions (2001 USA): There's some fun to be had here for those who like their horror films served with a thick slice of American cheese. Directed by rookie Jeremy Kasten, The Attic Expeditions stars Andras Jones (Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-A-Rama) as a young man sentenced to confinement in a mental institution for the murder of his girlfriend. As time passes, Trevor begins to question the nature of reality: did he really commit the crime, or is he the guinea pig of some fiendish experiment? You'll want an extra bag of popcorn handy for this enjoyable Beyond the Slimy Wall candidate, which - considering you've probably never heard of it before - features a surprisingly good cast, including Seth Green, Jeffrey Combs, Ted Raimi, and Alice Cooper.
7:30pm HBO
Pretty Things (2005 USA): Ah, the golden age of burlesque, when middle-aged men in ill-fitting suits hung out in sleazy night clubs listening to second-rate comedians and third-rate orchestras whilst scantily clad women bumped and gyrated their way to near nudity...but don't drop those pasties, ladies! Back in the 1940s and 1950s, this was big business, and a top-of-the-tier strip-tease artiste could make a decent living baring flesh for sex-starved salary men. Director Liz Goldwyn, a self-proclaimed fan and practitioner of this lost art form, crisscrossed the nation to make this HBO original and collected an impressive assortment of interviews with surviving queens of the burly-q stage and a nice selection of archival footage, fleshing it out with contemporary film of Goldwyn's personal act shot in evocative black-and-white by the great Albert Maysles. If you have a penchant for ladies in and or out of their underwear, you'll enjoy this fascinating film, which makes its television premiere this evening. Also airs at 10:30pm and throughout the month.
Wednesday 07/20/05
1am The Movie Channel
Feedback (2002 USA): Another indie genre pic potentially worth your while this week, Feedback is airing in wide screen on TMC this morning. It's a time-travel thriller about three pals trying to escape their present (and future) by utilizing a stolen "super-phone" to transport themselves to a safer and securer past. There are no familiar names amongst the crew of this film, but this is truly a pleasant surprise: a genuine independent - admittedly aimed at the straight-to-video market - with a believable cast, a solid if small scale story, and some unpredictable plot twists. Also airs at 4am. ltx
12:30pm Fox Movie Channel
Wake Me When It's Over (1960 USA): This screwball comedy stars the inimitable Dick Shawn as a veteran forced to serve a second tour of duty on a remote Pacific island thanks to an administrative foul-up. With the enthusiastic support of his commanding officer (Ernie Kovacs), Shawn decides to enliven his tour by building a hotel on the island, staffed by beautiful local women. When those higher up the chain of command get wind of the development, a court martial is in order, and Shawn's defense lawyer (Jack Warden) really isn't up to the task. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, who specialized in service comedies in the later portions of his career, this CinemaScope beauty remains AWOL on home video, and though it's overlong at two hours-plus is worth a look for admirers of Shawn and Kovacs, as well as co-stars Don Knotts and Raymond Bailey.
Thursday 07/21/05
6am Turner Classic Movies
Never the Twain Shall Meet (1931 USA): A full slate of obscure features starring C. Aubrey Smith are on tap tonight, kicking off with this long-forgotten Cosmopolitan rom-com. Smith was the quintessential stiff-upper-lip Britisher, his rigid stance, deep voice, and resplendent moustache reflecting the influence of the actor's Oxbridge background. An avid (and reportedly good) cricket player, Smith came to cinema late, and was pushing 70 by the time he became a recognizable and popular character actor. In Never the Twain Shall Meet he plays Pritchard, an import/export man in San Francisco whose son (Leslie Howard) gives up his one true love (Karen Morley) when an exotic South Seas beauty (Spanish-born Conchita Montenegro) arrives on the scene. Yes, this is one of those old-time films where young white folks learn the hard way that race-mixing isn't "all that" after all. Nonetheless, it's an enjoyable pre-Code romp from director W.S. Van Dyke, who utilized some leftover footage from the recently completed Trader Horn to pad the film's 80-minute running time. It's followed by a decent Warner Bros mystery, The Florentine Dagger (1935), at 8:45am, the tepid wilderness drama Jalna (1935, with Nigel Bruce and David Manners) at 10am, the Somerset Maugham adaptation A Right to Live (1935, with Colin Clive) at 11:30am, and the very fine afterlife fantasy Beyond Tomorrow (1940, with Maria Ouspenskaya) at 1pm.
Friday 07/22/05
2:15am Cinemax
The Cuckoo (2002 RUS): Most weeks I feature a speculative pick, a film I missed during its one-week run at the local art-house or single-date appearance at PFA or the San Francisco International Film Festival. More often than not, these picks aren't in English and come from abroad, and sometimes they turn out to be neither entertaining nor interesting. They're simply small indicators of the ever-burgeoning power of cinema to reach into the furthest corners of the globe, allowing us all to take a peak at the lives, concerns, and emotions of people very different (yet oh so similar) to those of us in the First World. The Cuckoo comes from Russia, and since the fall of the Soviet Union, it's been a long, hard slog for that nation's film industry, still suffering through a lengthy post-Mosfilm malaise. Here's a hint of a minor resurgence in Russian cinema that actually DID play in American cinemas (I remember seeing the trailer), a No Man's Land-style fable about two soldiers - one Finnish, one Soviet - trying to escape the Eastern front meat-grinder in 1944. And speaking of the San Francisco International Film Festival, The Cuckoo took home that fest's Audience Award in 2003. Also airs at 5:15am.
Saturday 07/23/05
7pm Cinemax
Shaun of the Dead (2004 GB): The best zombie comedy ever made in Britain makes its American television debut this evening. The creation of writer Simon Pegg and director Edgar Wright, Shaun (Pegg) is a mordant working-class Briton whose journey to work one morning takes place against an increasingly odd background: many of his neighbors and fellow commuters have inexplicably turned into the living dead. By the time Shaun realizes something's up, there's a veritable army of zombies eager to feast on his flesh, and he and his friends must battle their way to the last bastion of civilization: the local pub. Though not QUITE as good as some would have you believe, Shaun of the Dead succeeds on a number of levels: suffused with classically understated British humor, it also works as a horror film and even offers some poignant moments involving Shaun's parents (Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton). The film had a surprisingly strong US theatrical run, netting Pegg and Wright well-deserved cameo appearances in George Romero's recent Land of the Dead. Also airs at 10pm, on 7/24 at 1:20am and 4:20am, and on 7/25 at 5pm and 8pm.
Sunday 07/24/05
7pm Turner Classic Movies
Mask (1986 USA): For some reason I always get this one mixed up with Sondra Locke's bizarre Ratboy, probably because both films came out in the same year and deal with the difficult lives of disfigured youths. There the similarities end, however, as this is actually a big studio Cher vehicle that took home an Academy Award, albeit one for best make-up. If you can get past the fact that Cher is the star, you'll be amply rewarded by this sensitive coming-of-age drama about a young man with an unfortunate facial malformation. Directed by Peter Bogdanovich and co-starring Eric Stoltz, Laura Dern, and Estelle Getty, Mask airs tonight in wide screen.
8:35pm Encore Westerns
Johnny Guitar (1954 USA): Nicholas Ray's highly-stylized Western about a woman barkeep in the Old West plays a bit like a 19th-century Mildred Pierce, but maybe that's because Joan Crawford is the woman in question. This film has become infamous on the postmodernist circuit for its lesbian "subtext," which arguably is there, but not to the extent some might hope. Top acting kudos go to Mercedes McCambridge (why didn't she work more?) as Emma Small, the town bluenose determined to get rid of the den of iniquity owned and operated by Ms. Crawford. Lushly shot in Trucolor (there's a process we all miss), Johnny Guitar has acquired a camp reputation it doesn't really deserve. Either way you view it, it's pretty good.
Monday 07/25/05
6pm Sundance
Crazy (1999 HOL): If Purple Hearts didn't provide you with enough post-combat horror stories for one week, check out this documentary from director Heddy Honigmann, also responsible for Good Husband Dear Son, recommended in this space last week. Like that film, Crazy is very simple and direct: it's a series of interviews with Dutch soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder in the wake of their service under UN command in Cambodia, Lebanon, and the former Yugoslavia. Whilst there is certainly great nobility in the peacekeeping aims of these missions, those who actually carry them out still suffer from the stress and strain of life in a combat zone. The film also takes a look at a new type of music therapy being used to ameliorate the damage, therapy that includes playing Guns ‘N' Roses for one patient. That's enough to drive ME crazy, but apparently the therapy has had some success.
6:45pm Encore Dramatic Stories
Goodbye, Lenin! (2003 GER): I overlooked this sparkling German comedy/drama when it made its American television debut last week. It's a film with a gimmick, but a good one: an East German woman (Katrin Sass) with a deep and abiding faith in Communist ideology awakes from a coma in a newly-united Germany. The Cold War is over, the Berlin Wall has fallen...and her doctor urges her son Alex (Daniel Bruhl) to help her avoid any unnecessary stress, as this would probably kill her. Taking his new responsibilities with utmost seriousness, Alex tries to maintain a façade of normalcy, plying his mother with East German treats, bringing in young boys to sing patriotic songs, and - in the film's most hilarious moments - creating his own news broadcasts on videotape to allow his mother to bask in the glory of the Honecker regime's continued successes. As his mother's recovery continues apace, however, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain the illusion, and the film takes a bittersweet turn by the final reel. This is a lovely little picture that belongs to Sass, a superb actress who bears a passing resemblance to Julianne Moore. It's a shame Encore isn't airing this letterboxed, but the film doesn't lose a lot in pan-and-scan (witness the titular scene of an airborne Lenin statue) and it IS subtitled, so give it a look, even if you don't care much for foreign-language films.
10:30pm Turner Classic Movies
Brainstorm (1983 USA): After you've seen your first 5,000 or so movies, your memories of most of them turn into a blur. Such is definitely the case this week (see Mask above), because Brainstorm is a film I constantly confuse with The Dead Zone. Why? Well, they're both pseudo-scientific shockers from 1983 featuring Christopher Walken, I suppose. This one features Walken and Natalie Wood as a scientific team who have discovered a way to "record" people's memories and play them back at will. Needless to say, this development soon gets out of control, and Walken ends up doing his bug-eyed crazy man thing to great effect. Co-starring Louise Fletcher and Cliff Robertson, The Dead Zone - um, sorry, Brainstorm - airs tonight in wide screen.
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