TiVoPlex
By John Seal
December 20, 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 12/20/05
7am Turner Classic Movies
Secret of Madame Blanche (1933 USA): A good cast makes all the difference in this classy MGM weepie from director Charles Brabin. Irene Dunne stars as Sally, the wife of a weak-willed society brat (Phillips Holmes) whose ogre of a father (Lionel Atwill) brings misery to the couple and steals their child away. Twenty years later, it's World War I, and Sally has spent the intervening decades tending bar. After a set of contrived and rather absurd coincidences she's reunited with her son (Douglas Walton), now in the bloom of young manhood. Will the two successfully bond, or has too much time passed in the interim? Bring your hanky for this one.
12:10pm Showtime Edge
What the #$*! Do We Know!? (2004 USA): This dippy pseudo-documentary played for weeks at my local art-house, where it kept packing in the post-hippy, alternative-lifestyles crowd that dominates the neighborhood. It's one of those films that attempts to explain the meaning of life but simply leaves you feeling more confused than when you came in, not to mention unconvinced that the filmmakers have the slightest idea what they're talking about. What the (Bleep) Do We Know?! makes its American TV debut this afternoon, so if you really want to learn about quantum physics and how it impacts our (ahem) "happy hormones", this is the only film you'll ever need to see. Also airs at 9:20pm and on 12/25 at 11:40am.
11:15pm Sundance
Place Vendome (1998 FRA): Catherine Deneuve plays Marianne, the alcoholic widow of a bankrupt jewelry dealer in this engaging French take on the noir genre. Shortly before dying in a car crash, Marianne's distraught hubby shows her five flawless gems that he has stashed away in anticipation of a rainy day. With his passing, the business now belongs to Marianne, and against all odds she puts down the glass and picks up, well, whatever it is that people who work in the jewelry business pick up. One of those funny little things that looks like an eyebath, probably. Ah, but there are ghosts from the past and skeletons in the closet that are destined to make life difficult for our heroine, including her deceased hubby's attractive young mistress (Emmanuelle Seigner) and an old flame of her own (torch singer Jacques Dutronc), a man who also happens to be a first-rate jewel thief and con artist. Directed by actress Nicole Garcia, Place Vendome bagged an impressive 12 Cesar nominations in 1999, yet failed to win a single one.
Wednesday 12/21/05
4:45am Sundance
FM (1978 USA): I must be honest: this movie basically sucks. It's the story of a group of FM radio DJs who stick it to "The Man" by barricading themselves in their station and playing non-stop hits with no commercials. This sounds, in theory, like a good idea, until you realize that this being 1978, they're mostly playing yucky stuff by Foreigner, Steely Dan, The Eagles, and, urk, Dan Fogelberg. Bring back the commercials!! FM gets a mention this week because it features live footage of one of BOP's biggest influences: Jimmy Buffett. Also airs at 12:30pm and on 12/25 at 3:30pm.
10:45am Sundance
James' Journey to Jerusalem (2003 ISR): Terrible title aside - sounds like a Sunday school lesson, doesn't it? - this is actually a fairly engaging drama about a young African man's trip to Israel, where he intends to get back in touch with the roots of Christianity and return to his Zulu village spiritually recharged. Not something I'd choose to do on a vacation, but too each his own, I suppose. Once in Tel Aviv, however, James gets picked up by the police - who think this dark-skinned immigrant is a thief - and bailed out by an unscrupulous businessman who takes advantage of all manner of outcasts by employing them in his cleaning business. Soon enough, this contemporary Fagin has promoted our James to a position of responsibility, soiling his immortal soul and taking him down the path of corruption and materialism. It's not your typical Israeli film, and is all the better for it. Also airs at 6:30pm.
5pm Turner Classic Movies
Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do It (2005 USA): I'm shuddering as I type this, because once again my bête noire Quentin Tarantino is worming himself into one of my columns. Tarantino has long been a fan of second-string Western director Budd Boetticher, so it should come as little surprise that he's one of the featured talking heads in this brand new TCM documentary. Yes, he'll be flapping his lips and waving his hands about...god, it's almost enough to put me off my dinner. Thankfully, there'll also be some rare archival footage and interviews with folks such as Paul Schrader, Clint Eastwood, and Peter Bogdanovich, and it will be followed at 6:30pm by Boetticher's most famous film, the Randolph Scott vehicle Seven Men From Now (1956), a tale of Old West revenge with Scott squaring off against villain Lee Marvin.
11:40pm The Movie Channel
Whore (1991 GB): Never one to mince words, that Ken Russell. Not only did he lumber this film with a title guaranteed to fill the box office chalice with poison, he also cast the wife of one his best friends (Theresa Russell, spouse of Nic Roeg) in the title role. This gritty and blunt look at the oldest profession earned itself an NC-17 certificate on its initial release, and has lost little if any of its power to shock, though it remains a little less surreal than your average Russell flick. The supporting cast includes Antonio Fargas, Jack Nance, and Ken Russell himself. Also airs 12/22 at 2:40am.
11:45pm Sundance
Fearless Freaks (2005 USA): Either they changed or I did. I remember seeing The Flaming Lips open for Nick Cave back in the ‘80s, and I was not impressed. They looked and sounded like a metal band, and I especially didn't like that song about how she didn't like the jelly. Twenty years on, I consider them amongst the finest contemporary exponents of psychedelic music. Go figure. This rockumentary does a pretty good job of explaining The Lips' evolution from hairy rock gods to purveyors of perfect, though slightly perverse, pop. There's lots of concert footage, home movies, and interviews, so this is absolutely essential viewing for anyone interested in Oklahoma's finest export since Will Rogers.
Friday 12/23/05
1:30am Sundance
Gettin' Square (2003 AUS-GB): Aussie actor David Wenham steals the show as a likable drug addict - complete with mullet - in this comedy from Down Under. It's the story of an ex-con (Sam Worthington) whose plans to "get square" - go straight, in Antipodean parlance - go awry thanks to the intervention of Spit (Wenham) and his pal Darren (the estimable Timothy Spall). Boxing fans should note the presence of former world champ Joe Bugner in a small role. Gettin' Square is a good, meat-and-potatoes feature that will appeal to folks who enjoy pre-Madonna Guy Ritchie films.
2:30pm Turner Classic Movies
While the Patient Slept (1935 USA): TCM has a boatload of Ray Enright-helmed B features scheduled today, but for my money, this is the most interesting of the lot. That's down to the presence of Aline MacMahon, a much-loved actress around these parts, here cast as a nurse hired to care for an ailing elderly gentleman (Walter Walker) residing in an old, dark house. MacMahon was a fine dramatic actress, but she was versatile enough to enliven comedies such as the hilarious Big Hearted Herbert (1934), and she gets to show off some of her comedic skills here. While the Patient Slept is a Warner's program of the first rank, atmospherically lensed by Arthur Edeson, and featuring such familiar players as Lyle Talbot, Allen Jenkins, and Guy Kibbee amongst its supporting cast.
9pm Sundance
Fellini's Casanova (1976 ITA): I run hot and cold regarding Fellini, but one thing's for sure: his Casanova has not been an easy film to view over the years, so it's great to see it making an appearance on Sundance. Unavailable on home video - though it did recently appear in the UK on a PAL DVD - Casanova is dominated by the performance of Donald Sutherland in the title role of the legendary love-maker, daubed in some of the most hideous makeup you can imagine. Shot entirely on set at Cinecitta, this is typical 1970s Fellini, and therefore isn't much to my taste - his predilection for big breasts and other grotesqueries had by now overwhelmed him - but it's still tantalizingly rare and worthy of a recommendation, if only for the stellar set design and lush Nino Rota score. Also airs 12/26 at 9pm.
Saturday 12/24/05
5am IFC
Samurai Spy (1965 JAP): IFC continues to deliver the samurai goodies with another obscure genre entry from director Masahiro Shinoda, also responsible for 1964's terrific Yakuza thriller, Pale Flower. You'll need to pay attention, because this features a complex plot of deceit and backstabbing between its three major characters: warrior Koji Takahashi (later in Sanshiro Sugate and Godzilla vs. Biollante), titular spy Eiji Okada, and mystery man Tetsuro Tamba (whose amazing filmography needs to be seen to be believed). Samurai Spy also features a score by avant-garde composer Toru Takemitsu, whose discordant and distinctive work graces classics like Ran, Dodes'Ka-Den, and Double Suicide.
7pm Fox Movie Channel
Dunston Checks In (1996 USA): Your long wait is over; Dunston Checks In finally arrives on the small screen in glorious wide-screen. Don't you dare miss it.
Sunday 12/25/05
4:20am Encore
Dragnet (1987 USA): Most TV-to-big screen adaptations are complete and utter turds that no one in their right mind would watch. The Beverly Hillbillies, Car 54 Where Are You?, Lost In Space, and so many others stand as bleak testimony to aspiring filmmakers who think they'll soon be rubbing shoulders with Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese once they've paid their dues by helming a wide-screen take on My Mother the Car. This is one of the rare exceptions that almost works. Dan Aykroyd is a natural for the role of Joe Friday, and had done the Jack Webb thing to great effect during the good, early days of Saturday Night Live. Tom Hanks, sadly, is not up to filling the shoes of Harry Morgan, whose poker-faced Bill Gannon was the perfect partner for Friday in the original series. The plot, such as it is, revolves around a pagan cult terrorizing the greater Los Angeles area, and though the film degenerates into the usual bang bang shoot ‘em up during the final act, it's actually got some pretty funny moments during the first hour. Also airs at 7:20am.
8:45pm The Movie Channel
The Big Easy (1986 USA): With the recent death of beloved character actor Marc Lawrence, I couldn't let The Big Easy pass without a brief mention. Lawrence only has a small role in the film - playing, of course, a hoodlum - but as always, his much-too-brief appearance is a memorable one. This was an actor who gave his all every time, no matter how lousy the film or small the part. Rest in peace, Marc; you were truly one of a kind. As for the rest of the film, it's a perfectly decent crime tale set in New Orleans, featuring John Goodman, Dennis Quaid, Ellen Barkin, Ned Beatty, Solomon "King of Rock and Soul" Burke, and Gaillard Sartain. Also airs at 11:45pm.
Monday 12/26/05
Midnight Fox Movie Channel
The Blue Bird (1940 USA): A massive failure at the box office, The Blue Bird was Fox's attempt to get their share of the fantasy gravy left pooling in the wake of the success of The Wizard of Oz. By combining a fantastical tale of fairytale lands with box office dynamo Shirley Temple, how could they miss? Sadly, the film lacks the wonder of Oz, and though beautifully shot in Technicolor, is a dull, episodic series of moral lessons, and we all know children prefer not to take such lessons straight. A decent supporting cast, including Gale Sondergaard and Nigel Bruce, is some consolation...but not much.
11am Sundance
The Alcohol Years (2000 GB): Few nations can drink with the vim and vigor of the British, and Sundance has three films scheduled today to prove it. First up is a Mancunian documentary from director Carol Morley, who examines her hard-drinking past with musician pals Vini Reilly (Durutti Column), Pete Shelley (Buzzcocks), and Douglas Hart (The Jesus and Mary Chain). Her tell-all confessional is followed at noon by Drinking For England (1998 GB), in which ordinary Britons extol the virtues of raising the wrist, and at 1pm by Sixteen Years of Alcohol (2003 GB), former Skids singer Richard Jobson's autobiographical tale of booze and redemption in 1970s Scotland.
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