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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 03/21/06

2:40am Starz!
3-Iron (2004 ROK): A Korean odd couple hook up in this challenging and unusual drama from director Ki-duk Kim (Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall...and Spring). The reticent Kim's films are reminiscent of the works of Robert Bresson: both directors are former painters whose films feature little in the way of dialogue or narrative explication, and 3-Iron takes that style about as far as it can go without tipping into Warholian conceit. Hee Jae stars as Tae-Suk, a motorcycle delivery-man whose hobby is burglarizing people's homes and living vicariously (if briefly) through their possessions. When he breaks into what he incorrectly suspects is an empty house on his route, he finds himself rescuing abused wife Sun-Hwa (Seung-yeon Lee) from her husband - whom Tae-Suk proceeds to pelt with golf balls - and flees the premises with liberated victim in tow. Echoing themes from films as disparate as Bonnie and Clyde and Badlands, unlikely anti-heroes Tae-Suk and Sun-Hwa spend the next few days on the run from the law, living a nomadic existence in other people's houses, with the police (and a decidedly peevish husband) in hot pursuit. As with all Kim films, 3-Iron looks gorgeous but isn't easy going, though it is an easier pill to swallow than his bitter and unpleasant 2001 feature Bad Guy, recommended in this column last December.

4:30am Turner Classic Movies
The Pagan (1929 USA): The Pagan features Mexican-born actor Ramon Novarro as Henry, a half-breed island shop-keeper whose love for a native girl (Dorothy Janis) is stymied by the objections of Slater, her lustful guardian (Donald Crisp). When the sleazy Slater decides it's his Christian duty to marry the heathen wench, it's up to Henry to save her from a life of dutiful housewifery. Directed by W. S. Van Dyke, this very old-fashioned but most enjoyable MGM silent was shot on location in Tahiti, lending the otherwise predictable tale of star-crossed lovers a crepuscular sheen. The film co-stars Renée Adorée as the stereotypical whore with a heart of gold, and the synchronized musical score also features the singing voice of Novarro himself!

7:30am Turner Classic Movies
Eskimo (1933 USA): Another W. S. Van Dyke rarity surfaces this morning in the form of Eskimo, a docu-drama about Inuit life in the Great White North. Framed as a year in the life of an Eskimo couple - portrayed effectively by Alaska native Mala (AKA Ray Wise) and Hawaiian enchantress Lotus Long (Think Fast, Mr. Moto) - the film takes us from summer to winter and back again, but there the similarities to the films of Ki-duk Kim end. Detailing the hardships of a hunter/gatherer society in one of the world's harshest and remotest regions, this pre-Code film is also surprisingly unflinching in its appraisal of the white man's intrusive and poor behavior, depicting Europeans as inebriated orgiasts with a penchant for rape, until, of course, the steadfast and true lads of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police show up to put things right. Stunningly shot by (amongst others) Clyde De Vinna, Eskimo can't quite match the magnificence of the anthro-documentaries of Cooper and Schoedsack but did take home the very first Academy Award for Best Editing.

5 pm Turner Classic Movies
I Love You Again (1940 USA): William Powell and Myrna Loy made names for themselves in the ever-popular Thin Man mystery/comedy series, but they also appeared together in a number of other films, including this humorous W. S. Van Dyke-helmed effort. The story involves a tangled web of amnesiac misfortune, as Powell plays the boring husband of Loy, having forgotten his previous existence (wiped from the slate by a blow to the head) as a con man. When a second knock on the noggin returns him to a state of insouciant malediction, Powell finds himself wed to a beautiful woman he doesn't remember, and Loy finds herself married to a man who has a little more gumption than she bargained for. Both actors display the easy charisma and abundant charm that made them big stars, and Charles Lederer's witty screenplay gives them plenty of zingers to deliver. Look for little Bobby Blake in an uncredited appearance as the son of one of Powell's business associates.

Wednesday 03/22/06

11:05pm The Movie Channel
Kontroll (2005 HUN): Welcome to Kontroll, a W. S. Van Dyke-free zone located somewhere deep beneath the metropolis of Budapest, Hungary. This middle-European netherworld is the home of the city's poor, huddled masses, who live sub-surface and work as the guardians and ticket-takers of the local subway system. Abandoned by their supervisors - who live above ground and only periodically descend to check up on staff - these gone-to-seed "controllers" enliven their days by trying to fill their quota of turnstile-jumping fare cheats. This nightmarish existence worsens with the advent of a hooded serial (or is that se-rail?) killer, whose modus operandi is shoving his victims under the wheels of oncoming trains. Filmed on location during the Budapest subway system's real-life downtime, this first feature-length film from the unfortunately named Nimród Antal is an assured and very stylish existential thriller, and will appeal to fans of Philip K. Dick's dystopian nightmares. Also airs on 3/23 at 2:05am.

Thursday 03/23/06

12:30am Showtime
Body and Soul (1981 USA): One of the candidates for worst remake of all time, this wretched boxing drama makes its wide-screen television premiere this morning. Based on the 1947 John Garfield drama of the same name, this 1981 version was written by its star, former disc jockey Leon Isaac Kennedy. Kennedy also cast his wife, Jayne Kennedy, as the film's love interest, and somehow convinced a bunch of Playboy Playmates and Muhammad Ali to put in appearances, too. Though corruption in the boxing game may still have been news in the post-war ‘40s, there was little new to add to the meme in the early ‘80s, and sadly, but predictably, the result is a completely botched film, with Kennedy less than convincing during the ring sequences and the acting uniformly on a par with his paper-thin screenplay. On the other hand, there are three (briefly) nude Playboy Playmates on display at various points in the story, so if you're the kind of person who perks up at the sight of nipple, you may be able to overlook Body and Soul's otherwise considerable shortcomings. Also airs at 3:30am.

10:30am Turner Classic Movies
The Outrage (1964 USA): An Old West take on Akira Kurosawa's Rashômon, The Outrage stars a mustachioed and badly miscast Paul Newman as a Mexican outlaw whose mistreatment of a handsome cavalry officer and his wife (Laurence Harvey and Claire Bloom, respectively) leads to a series of not-terribly engaging and increasingly absurd flashbacks. In fairness to Newman, he tries very hard, but ultimately is unable to overcome the overheated prose of screenwriter Michael Kanin. There is a very good reason to watch The Outrage, however: cinematographer James Wong Howe's work here is amongst his best - which is saying quite a bit - and makes up for a multitude of narrative sins. There's also an intriguing supporting cast, including William Shatner, Howard Da Silva, and Edward G. Robinson, and a decent if derivative score by Alex North. Unavailable on home video, The Outrage gets a rare wide-screen airing this morning.

Saturday 03/25/06

8am Cinemax
Wayne's World 2 (1993 USA): Party time! It's been a while since Wayne and Garth graced the small screen - Wayne's World itself only recently reappeared on premium channels last month - and here's the sequel to that beloved comedy about the dim-witted, Everyman cable access hosts. As you might expect, it's not quite as good as its illustrious, Penelope Spheeris-helmed predecessor, but it retains the goofy charm and relentless one-liners of the original, and most of the cast - including Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Tia Carrere, and Chris Farley - return as well. This time, Wayne and Garth are co-promoting an Aerosmith concert, whilst an evil-minded record producer (Christopher Walken) is putting the moves on Wayne's gal pal Cassandra (Ms. Carrere). Will good-natured, thick-as-a-brick Wayne keep his woman, and can good-natured, even thicker Garth find a soul-mate of his own? Wayne's World 2 re-airs at 11am, whilst Wayne's World itself airs on More Max at 4:15pm. Excellent!!

6:30pm Turner Classic Movies
This Happy Breed (1944 GB): The second feature from the short-lived but hugely creative cinema tag-team of director David Lean and writer Noel Coward, This Happy Breed did for the home front what In Which We Serve did for the men in uniform during World War II. In other words, it's a warm, sympathetic, and occasionally heartbreaking flag-waver with a wonderful cast. Actually set during the years between the world wars, the film relates the episodic adventures of the middle-class Gibbons family, who live lives of quiet rectitude on Clapham Common. Picking up where Coward's earlier (and otherwise unrelated) Cavalcade left off - roughly 1919 - This Happy Breed stars Robert Newton as the Gibbons patriarch, with the enormously likable Celia Johnson (Brief Encounter) as his wife and John Mills as the son of Gibbons' old wartime buddy (Stanley Holloway). It's soap-opera stuff of the finest quality, and well worth a look for anyone interested in British film.

Sunday 03/26/06

12:45am Flix
The Wild Party (1974 USA): Perhaps the wildest thing about The Wild Party is its wildly inaccurate, ‘70s-drenched impressions of life in 1920s Hollywood, but that doesn't prevent it from being an enjoyable, if veiled and highly fictional, account of the Fatty Arbuckle tragedy. Featuring James Coco as Jolly Grimm, a down-on-his-luck screen comic trying to stage a comeback, the film can't decide whether it's a nostalgic paean to days gone by or a stern morality lesson for the post-Sexual Revolution generation. Produced by the First Family of frock flicks, Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, The Wild Party also features Raquel Welch as Grimm's overworked and underpaid "companion" and Perry King as an on-the-rise big-screen hunk. Making its first-ever television appearance in its correct aspect ratio, The Wild Party lacks the gravitas of most Merchant-Ivory productions, which means I like it better than most of their overdressed and well-mannered output.

9:15pm Turner Classic Movies
The Red Lily (1924 USA): I could be mistaken, but I believe this is the world television premiere of this Fred Niblo (The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand) helmed melodrama. Set in a small French town, The Red Lily features Ramon Novarro as handsome and wealthy Jean, who's in love with poor peasant girl Marise (Mrs. Fred Niblo, Enid Bennett). When the locals - including Jean's bigwig father (Frank Currier) - get wind of the affair, they put the kibosh on the relationship, and Jean and Marise flee for the anonymity of Paris. Alas, things only get worse for them in the City of Light: the two are separated and find themselves mixed up with a super criminal known as The Toad (Dick Sutherland). Co-starring Wallace Beery and Gibson Gowland (Greed), The Red Lily also features a brand-new, TCM-commissioned score.

Monday 03/27/06

6pm Sundance
Pack Strap Swallow (2005 USA): Though burdened by its awkward title, Pack Strap Swallow is an otherwise excellent documentary about the risks and rewards of a career in the illegal narcotics trade. The film profiles five women - from the United States, Poland, Germany, and South Africa - imprisoned in Ecuador on trafficking charges. Less glamorously known as drug mules, these cocaine couriers find themselves behind bars in an inhospitable foreign land, with little hope for early release or legal recourse. If you've ever been tempted to make some quick cash in the lucrative world of drug smuggling, this sobering little film should set you straight, and if it doesn't, well, er, why do you think they call it dope?