TiVoPlex
By John Seal
September 12, 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 09/13/05
12:35am More Max
Wonderland (2003 USA): Wonderland is not a well-regarded film, and that puzzles me. I'm certainly not ready to claim that it's a neglected American classic, and it's easy enough to see why it sank without a trace at the box office. There are also plenty of legitimate nits to pick: the film lazily relies on contemporary and/or hip pop songs to fill up its soundtrack in lieu of original scoring, and director James Cox's predilection for hyperactive MTV-style shaky-cam work is distracting. Even after considering those faults, however, I found Wonderland a powerful and even moving film, albeit one that tells the same story portrayed in P. T. Anderson's better-regarded but fictionalized Boogie Nights. Start with the lead performance of Val Kilmer - yes, Val Kilmer - as porno movie star John Holmes. Generally considered a good comic actor unable to hold his own in a serious role, Kilmer is completely convincing here as the pathetic Holmes, strung out on crack cocaine and hangin' with some extremely shady homeboys whilst his fame recedes inexorably into the distance. Move on to the performance of Kate Bosworth, who brings the right balance of innocence and experience to her role as Holmes' paramour Dawn Schiller, and then take a look at the consistently underrated Lisa Kudrow, who arguably delivers the film's finest thesping as Holmes' estranged wife Sharon. Want more dramatic highlights? Josh Lucas, Tim Blake Nelson, and Dylan McDermott are equally outstanding as the sleazes who share guns, dope and women with the air-headed porn star, and Ted Levine provides world-weary grit as police investigator Sam Nico. Perhaps the film's only casting misfire is the too-recognizable Eric Bogosian (sporting a bad accent) as drug kingpin Eddie Nash, but that's a minor quibble at worst. This is a violent, unpleasant film about pathetic, unpleasant people, but the screenplay (co-written by director Cox with three others) doesn't oversimplify matters, leaving just enough shades of grey to make this a satisfying and unforgettable journey into Hollywood's heart of darkness. As long as you're comfortable with the subject matter, you owe it to yourself to take a trip to Wonderland.
12:30pm Starz!
An Angel For May (2002 GB): This delightful, family-friendly film features Matthew Beard as Tom, a young British lad who travels back in time via a magical chimney to experience the trials and tribulations of life during World War II. He meets May (Charlotte Wakefield), an evacuee from the big city trying to overcome her trauma in the relative safety of the Yorkshire countryside, and the two soon become fast friends who share a series of adventures. Also featuring Tom Wilkinson as May's caretaker Sam, this made-for-UK television feature is an old-fashioned but thoroughly enjoyable fantasy that earned an International Emmy nomination in 2003. Also airs at 3:30pm.
5pm Turner Classic Movies
Anna Christie (1931 GER): One of Greta Garbo's least-known features, the German-language version of Anna Christie, gets a rare airing this evening (The more commonly available English-language version airs immediately following at 6:45pm). During the early days of talking pictures it was common practice for popular films to be re-shot for overseas markets, and most film fans are familiar with one such production: the now-famous Spanish-language Dracula unearthed from a Cuban film archive in 1989 by historian David Skal. This iteration of Anna Christie is far more obscure than Dracula, but it was a natural choice for translation into German, as both Garbo and playwright Eugene O'Neill (whose work formed the basis of the screenplay) were fluent in the tongue. German actors also filled out the balance of the cast, and Belgian-born director Jacques Feyder replaced Clarence Brown behind the camera. The result is a very different picture; shot in an amazing 20 days, it heavily reflects the influence of its European cast and crew and makes for a fascinating case of compare-and-contrast with its better-heeled English-language progenitor.
8pm Showtime
Rock Fresh (2004 USA): Yo, bum rush the show, and all that rot! Rock Fresh may have a rather outré title, but it's an up-to-minute look at everyone's favorite funky fresh art form: graffiti! What's that? You don't approve of saggy-panted little hellions spray-painting their monikers on the wall of the local hardware store? You're living in Squaresville, Daddy-O, but luckily, this film is here to bring you up to speed on matters. Showtime is airing it in wide screen, so you can savor every last inch of childish, illegible doggerel. Not that I have anything against graffiti, mind you. Also airs at 11pm and throughout the month.
Wednesday 09/14/05
3:30am Turner Classic Movies
The Kiss (1929 USA): More rare and classic Garbo is on tap this morning courtesy The Kiss, another film helmed by Jacques Feyder. This time, our sloe-eyed temptress plays an unhappily married woman who gets caught by her husband as she innocently kisses young dog-walker Pierre (Lew Ayres). Can her marriage be saved? And is it worth saving in the first place? The Kiss looks great, but the creaky Vitaphone sound utilized at critical moments in the feature leaves something to be desired, and the film - MGM's last (partial) foray into silent cinema - works best when the microphones are left off, leaving it up to Garbo's face to tell the story.
Thursday 09/15/05
12:20am Starz!
The Motorcycle Diaries (2004 BRA): I'm not sure why this first-rate drama is making its cable premiere at such a late hour, but when you're a Spanish-language feature extolling the virtues of a Communist revolutionary, apparently things can conspire against you. The Motorcycle Diaries comes from the great Brazilian director Walter Salles (Central Station), and like all his films, it looks absolutely stunning; no one can capture the wide open expanses of South America quite like Salles. As with Central Station, the story is also utterly compelling, as it follows our overly-earnest young hero, Che Guevara (Gael Garcia Bernal) and his light-hearted buddy Alberto (Rodrigo de la Serna, in one of the great overlooked performances of 2004) as they embark on a road trip around the continent. The two middle-class boys soon discover a world of poverty and despair far from the privileged one they've inhabited, setting the idealistic Che on the path towards revolutionary fervor and T-shirt immortality. This beautiful and moving film also features a superb score from Gustavo Santaolalla. Also airs at 3:20am.
3am Turner Classic Movies
Dinky (1935 USA): Last week I recommended a film featuring winsome young Dickie Moore. Now here's a film featuring Dickie's role model, Jackie Coogan. Coogan was the top child actor of his day, a kid who, when he wasn't acting the rough-and-tumble street urchin, could turn on the waterworks and get moms in the audience blubbering along with him in no time. It's not a recipe that appeals to everyone, but if you have a soft spot for Coogan, you'll want to give Dinky a look. This time our tussle-haired hero plays a young lad whose mother (Mary Astor) is (*sniff*) sent to prison for a crime she didn't commit (*snuffle*!), thus leaving her son friendless and alone (*sob*!). But never fear; The Hays Code mandated a happy ending, so all turns out right in the final reel.
Friday 09/16/05
12:10am HBO Signature
Buena Vida Delivery (2004 ARG): If Homer Simpson were ever to have a favorite foreign-language film, this might be the one. It's a good-natured comedy/drama about Hernan, a young Buenos Aires man (Ignacio Toselli) whose family have emigrated, leaving him in charge of their estate. When his girlfriend Pato mentions she needs a place to stay, Hernan offers her a room in his house, only to find she decides to move the rest of her family in as well. The hitch? In order to make a living, the family has to operate its churro business out of their new digs. Filmed with Argentina's recent financial meltdown looming in the background, this story of love amongst the doughnuts will have most viewers reaching for the Krispy Kremes in no time.
10 pm Flix
Chopping Mall (1986 USA) : Clean up in Aisle 20! You'll need more than a bucket and a mop to collect the severed teenage remains on display in this cheesy ‘80s horror flick about out-of-control security bots at the local mall. When a group of adolescent employees decide to have an after-hours party on company property, the shopping center's automated security system decides to shut things down by any means necessary, putting the kibosh on the debauchery and depravity. Another winner from genre specialist Jim Wynorski (The Bare Wench Project), Chopping Mall stars a bunch of badly-coiffed teen actors you've never heard of and one of the finest line-ups of adult co-stars you could wish for in a Roger Corman-produced B-grade horror flick, including Dick Miller, Mary Woronov, Paul Bartel, Mel Welles, and Gerrit Graham. At a brisk 70 minutes, this is a cheap and cheerful diversion that doesn't wear out its welcome. Happy shopping!
11pm Turner Classic Movies
Münchhausen (1943 GER): This long-lost epic based on the stories of Rudolph Erich Raspe (otherwise persona non grata in Nazi Germany) was produced by Joseph Goebbels as the tide of the war turned at Stalingrad and was designed as escapist fare for increasingly war-weary audiences. The most expensive film of its time, Münchhausen was also produced to mark the 25th anniversary of UFA Studios, Germany's equivalent of MGM. It's an incredibly lavish epic that recently premiered on DVD, and now comes to television courtesy TCM. If your only previous encounter with the Baron was via Terry Gilliam's rather incoherent Adventures (1988), you'll be impressed by the scale of this film, which was shot on location in Venice, features thousands of Wehrmacht soldiers cast as extras, and even involves an elaborately staged trip to the moon.
Saturday 09/17/05
1am Encore Mystery
Scarecrow Gone Wild (2004 USA): This week's award for best title goes to this straight-to-video quickie about a migrant farm worker with a difference: he likes to kill sex-mad, drug-and-drink-addled college kids enjoying themselves at Spring Break! Good idea, scarecrow, and let me know if you need any help! I haven't seen this little gem, so please don't be too disappointed if the film completely blows.
Sunday 09/18/05
5pm Turner Classic Movies
A Matter of Life and Death (1946 GB): TCM's celebration of the 100th anniversary of director Michael Powell's birth continues with this color feature, originally released in the US as Stairway to Heaven. It features David Niven as an RAF pilot who, after cheating death when his plane is shot down, finds himself summoned before a heavenly tribunal to explain why, exactly, his life should be spared when his number had actually been up. The film is a moving meditation on love, life, and (of course) death, and also features some truly remarkable special effects from production designer Alfred Junge, as well as a beautiful performance by Kim Hunter as an American WAAF whose voice was the last one Niven hears on his radio before bailing out. It's followed at 7pm by Powell and Pressburger's 1947 entry, Black Narcissus, a heartfelt and deeply spiritual film about a community of nuns residing in the Himalayas.
Monday 09/19/05
6pm Sundance
Tarnation (2003 USA): This micro-budgeted feature - purported to have been assembled on a Mac for a little over $200 - was a huge success on the festival circuit and makes its American television premiere this evening. It's a unique documentary from first-time filmmaker Jonathan Caouette, who pieced together answering machine tapes, super-8 footage, and other personal ephemera to tell the story of a peripatetic childhood spent with his schizophrenic mother. This is raw, painful, and very brave confessional filmmaking featuring Lithium overdoses, shock therapy, and institutionalization.
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