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From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.

Tuesday 02/21/06

11:30am Encore Mystery
Mary Reilly (1996 USA): Here's something this Eric Roberts booster never thought he'd write: upon reflection, and duly taking into consideration all the grief I've given her over the years, the truth is that Julia Roberts IS capable of delivering a good performance. Whether it was as a mysterious matron in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, as brash environmental gadfly Erin Brockovich, or as Mary Reilly, a lowly scullery girl in Victorian England, Roberts has, from time to time, delivered the goods. It's a great day, too, when you see a Roberts film without her infamous toothy grin on display, and she is determinedly sullen in director Stephen Frears' take on Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of split personalities. John Malkovich seems somewhat miscast as Dr Henry Jekyll, but does well as his alter ego Hyde, and there's a fine supporting cast led by Michael Gambon as Mary's abusive father and Glenn Close(!) doing her Cruella de Ville thing as a madam who has to clean up Mr Hyde's mess. I could have done without the final transformation sequence, which lowers the film to pulp level, but overall this is a worthy and interesting effort, and one of the best films in the Roberts canon. Also airs at 8:45pm.

9:30pm Turner Classic Movies
Nashville (1975 USA): Robert Altman's episodic Bicentennial paean to the capital city of country music makes a rare wide-screen appearance this evening as part of TCM's 31 Days of Oscar celebration. Nashville's mammoth cast portray a galaxy of characters whose lives intersect via the music biz, their individual tales viewed through the prisms of a third-party political campaign and an unctuous BBC reporter. As in any Altman film, there's also a healthy quota of unhealthy relationships to explore for those can't tell a pedal steel from a Hawaiian lap guitar. Amongst the cast are (deep breath) Keith Carradine, Karen Black, Scott Glenn, Allen Garfield, the great and much underappreciated Henry Gibson, Keenan Wynn, Shelley Duvall, Robert Do Qui, Bert Remsen, Julie Christie, and many, many more. Sadly, the only Academy Award Nashville took home was for I'm Easy, a languid Carradine composition which may represent the Altman ethos quite well but didn't make for a very memorable tune. One of the highlights of Altman's career and one of the best American films of a decade filled with very good American films, Nashville is essential viewing.

11:35pm Flix
Alienator (1989 USA) : Approximately a billion miles from Nashville, an evil-doing space alien named Kol is about to meet intergalactic justice at the wrong end of a death ray (They still have capital punishment beyond the Milky Way?). Before the trigger can be activated, however, Kol manages to break free, hijack a handy space cruiser, and ease on down the road to Earth, which apparently lies just around the corner from Planet X. A woman with a metallic brassiere is sent to recapture him, setting in motion the awesome effects and unforgettable story of this epic Fred Olen Ray blockbuster shot on location in bucolic Topanga Canyon, California. Alienator's cast includes some of the most respected thespians of this or any other era, including Robert Quarry, Robert Clarke, P. J. Soles, Ross Hagen, John Phillip Law, and blonde tree stump Jan Michael Vincent, and screenwriter Paul Garson proves that his work on 1987's Cyclone was no fluke. Unavailable on home video, Alienator makes its wide-screen television debut this evening, an event that will surely leave permanent scars on the fragile psyches of more impressionable viewers. You have been warned.

Wednesday 02/22/06

2:45pm IFC
Sound and Fury (2000 USA): Cochlear implants; try saying that three times fast without embarrassing yourself. This documentary takes a look at medical advances that have made it possible for the deaf to hear, and the ethical fallout resulting from those advances. Focusing on a family where deafness has extended through three generations, Sound and Fury doesn't take sides, but carefully considers the war of (signed) words between the wise-beyond-her-years child who wants to hear, and her parents, who believe quite firmly that silence is golden. Sound and Fury was a popular hit on the festival circuit and was nominated in 2001 for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards.

8:45pm Flix
The Immortalizer (1990 USA): If you thought The Alienator was bad, wait till you get a look at this piece of cinema flotsam. It's a straight-to-video monstrosity about Dr. Divine (Ron Ray), a physician who transplants the brains of his rich, sick and generally cranky elderly clients into the bodies of attractive young nubiles for the fee of ONE MILLION DOLLARS! Was that still a lot of money in 1990? Complications ensue when romance blooms in the lab, and when some of the mad doctor's failed experiments get loose and develop a taste for long pig. The film co-stars F Troop's Melody Patterson as the doc's love-stricken assistant (think House of Dracula's Jane Adams without the hump) and was directed by Joel Bender, whose equally exploitative but far more enjoyable soft-core comedy Gas Pump Girls briefly popped up on cable a few years back. Unless you want to pony up megabucks for a decaying old VHS copy, though, this may be your only chance for some time to take a gander at The Immortalizer.

9pm Fox Movie Channel
Night and the City (1992 USA): Like most recent remakes, this ‘90s take on Jules Dassin's classic 1950 noir amps up the violence and foul language but can't come close to matching the artistry and style of the original. What it does offer is a pretty good Robert De Niro performance as Harry Fabian (a part essayed brilliantly by Richard Widmark in Dassin's film), a two-bit lawyer whose dalliance with the boxing business gets him involved with some unpleasant characters. Though Richard Price's screenplay tries hard and is far from formulaic, the film features weak performances from Jessica Lange and Cliff Gorman and is really rather pointless unless you strongly object to watching black-and-white films. Yet to arrive on DVD, Night and the City appears this evening in letterboxed format, which is why it's appearing in this week's column.

Thursday 02/23/06

2am HBO
Methadonia (2005 USA): HBO seems to be - pardon the pun - addicted to producing documentaries about drugs and drug addiction. From the sensationalistic and not terribly enlightening Crank: Made in America to the remarkable Dope Sick Love, Home Box Office can't seem to get enough of America's love affair with narcotics and other controlled substances. Thankfully, Methadonia is more than just another example of the pornography of despair, and serves to enlighten viewers about the Methadone experience and how recently developed psychotropics interact with it. The film focuses on a half-dozen New York junkies over an 18-month period and their struggles coping with not only their addictions to heroin and mood elevators but with the detox from Methadone itself. You'll gain a new appreciation for the hardships these folks live through, and the courage it takes for them to try to reclaim a normal life. Moving and uplifting, Methadonia is essential viewing for documentary fans. Also airs at 5am.

Friday 02/24/06

12:50am Flix
The Siege of Firebase Gloria (1989 USA): For those who think we didn't try hard enough to win the Vietnam War, this is your film. Set during the dark days of 1968's Tet Offensive, when America won the battle but lost the war, the film features screen martinet R. Lee Ermey as a tough USMC Sergeant Major leading his squad's heroic resistance on the front lines against overwhelming odds. Though The Siege of Firebase Gloria is neither a simplistic World War II flag-waver or the kind of racist polemic that arose in the wake of the 1950 "police action" in Korea, we're clearly expected to empathize with Ermey's gung ho character and there's little doubt or cynicism expressed regarding the morality of the mission. Regardless, the film is filled with terrific action sequences and is getting a very rare wide-screen airing on Flix this morning.

5pm Turner Classic Movies
The Karate Kid (1984 USA): Hard to believe, but true: the recently-deceased Pat Morita was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at 1985's Academy Awards for his portrayal of Mr. Miyagi in this hugely popular, if slight, family adventure. For the three of you reading this who haven't yet seen it, The Karate Kid tells the story of teen punching bag Daniel (Ralph Macchio), who finds his inner Charles Atlas with the help of a wise old janitor (Morita) who catches flies with chopsticks. As Daniel learns the ins and outs of martial arts, he's also wooing squeaky-clean high school cutie Ali (Elisabeth Shue in her first role), whose all-American blonde tresses inspire the lad to get his revenge on pot-smoking villain Johnny (William Lawrence). Directed by John Avildsen, The Karate Kid has much in common with his earlier underdog epic, Rocky, including a terrific climactic battle between good and, er, not very nice. Airing in wide-screen tonight, The Karate Kid even includes a Bill Conti score, though it's nowhere near as good as the one he provided for the aforementioned Sly Stallone vehicle.

Saturday 02/25/06

3am Turner Classic Movie
Captain Caution (1940 USA): This rarely-seen Hal Roach production appears on TCM thanks to its Academy Award nomination for Best Sound Recording. Victor Mature stars as an American patriot out to stick it to the Brits during the War of 1812 whilst tussling with blackguard Bruce Cabot for the hand of lovely Louise Platt. I've never seen Captain Caution and it doesn't have the best reputation, but apparently its pre-Foley era sound effects are impressive. Star spotters should keep their eyes peeled for an early appearance by Alan Ladd as a mutinous swabbie, and for El Brendel, presumably cast to provide comic relief.

3 am Turner Classic Movies
Lovers and Other Strangers (1970 USA): Allow me to briefly wax poetic about Gig Young, not something I get to do very often, as you may imagine. Born Byron Barr in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Young caught the acting bug early and was duly offered a contract by the Brothers Warner in 1940. Though war service interrupted his film work, he managed to essay a lengthy and successful screen career, primarily being cast as the second banana in a string of romantic comedies before finally getting a shot at a serious dramatic role in 1951's Come Fill the Cup. Young went on to win the Best Supporting Actor prize in 1970 for his memorable performance as a careworn Depression-era MC in They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, but things went badly wrong shortly thereafter as alcoholism took its toll, and Young committed suicide in 1978 shortly after murdering his fifth wife. For me, Young was Dana Andrews with acting chops - that's no knock on Andrews, by the way - and it's a crying shame that he didn't earn more recognition whilst alive and now, of course, is basically forgotten. Lovers and Other Strangers was the first film he appeared in after his Oscar triumph, and though it returned him to the type of role he was eager to put in the rearview mirror, it also includes one of his finest screen performances. It's a comedic character study of newlyweds (Bonnie Bedelia and Michael Brandon) and their families, with Young playing the adulterous father of the bride, Cloris Leachman his wife, and the hilarious Anne Jackson his secret amour. Amongst the wonderful supporting cast are Bea Arthur, Harry Guardino, Diane Keaton, Jerry Stiller (plus wife Anne Meara and daughter Amy), Conrad Bain, and - in one of his very first paying gigs - Sly Stallone. Lovers and Other Strangers is a delightfully written and witty film, but the real attraction for me is Young. Give it a look and see if you agree.

Monday 02/27/06

7pm Showtime Extreme
Bloodfist (1989 USA): Fans of Don "The Dragon" Wilson will be in seventh heaven tonight as Showtime airs the first three of his Bloodfist epics back-to-back-to-back. First up is the one that started it all, a set-in-Manila thrilla featuring Wilson as Jake, out for revenge when a mysterious perp murders his brother Michael (Ned Hourani) before an important kickboxing match. Murder is definitely an underhanded means of clearing the field, and it's up to Jake to don tights, enter the ring, and finger the villain, preferably after putting him in a headlock and pounding him with a triple suplex or one of those other fancy wrasslin' type moves. Fans of kickboxing will be excited by the screen presence of karate champion Billy Blanks, and fans of bad Filipino movies will relish that of ubiquitous heavy Vic Diaz. This Roger Corman production is followed at 8:30pm by 1990's Bloodfist II, which story-wise doesn't differ markedly from its predecessor, and at 10pm by 1992's Bloodfist III: Forced to Fight, which changes the name of Wilson's character and basically bears no relationship at all to the first two films. Sadly, there's no indication that Bloodfists IV-VIII will be returning to the small screen any time soon.