TiVoPlex
By John Seal
April 10, 2006
From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.
Tuesday 04/11/06
3am Fox Movie Channel
Hell and High Water (1954 USA): This little-known Sam Fuller action flick was one of the earliest CinemaScope features, and gets a rare wide-screen airing this morning on Fox. Richard Widmark stars as an ex-Navy man hired to command a secret mission aboard a refurbished Japanese submarine. He's on the trail of a suspicious Commie freighter bound for the Arctic, but all sorts of trouble impedes Widmark's expedition: a Red Chinese sub bristling with atomic weaponry, medical emergencies, and love beneath the waves in the shape of a sexy scientist (Polish actress Bella Darvi in her film debut). An underwater drama doesn't seem like the best opportunity for utilization of CinemaScope's 2.55:1 lens, but as usual Fuller does a good job with the camera, taking advantage of long tracking shots to emphasize the claustrophobic confines of the I-boat. Cameron Mitchell, David Wayne, and Richard Loo co-star, and the film earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Special Effects.
7am Sundance
Salvador Allende (2004 A Whole Bunch of Countries): The story of Salvador Allende's rise to power and the subsequent CIA-backed coup that overthrew and assassinated him is well-known, especially around lefty political circles, where it still scares the children and remains the gold standard of American foreign policy perfidy. Less has been known about the man himself, and this documentary from Chilean director Patricio Guzman is designed to fill in some of the gaps. Was Allende a dupe of the Soviets, or was he a beacon of democracy, and what legacy did he leave behind him? Of particular note is the interview footage of Edward Korry, the United States' ambassador to Chile who contributed to the coup's success and still thinks he did the right thing today. Salvador Allende won the Best Documentary award at the 2004 Latin American Film Festival.
4pm Cinemax
The Protocols of Zion (2005 USA): Another fascinating Cinemax original documentary, The Protocols of Zion takes a fresh look at the renewed interest in this long disproven Tsarist forgery, and expands to explore its influence on the modern-day strands of anti-Judaism both at home and abroad. The Protocols posited a Zionist conspiracy to rule the world, and though its true origins have been known for years, director Marc Levin offers himself up as a punching bag for its contemporary adherents - who gleefully regale him with outrageous tales about Rudolph Giuliani and Rupert Murdoch being in the pocket of a cabal of international bankers - and even saves room for a segment on the good ol' medieval blood libel, recently resurrected by a TV movie from the Arabian Peninsula. Though the film would have been more powerful if it had focused specifically on the undying and frankly inexplicable appeal of the Protocols themselves, it remains a fascinating look at this age-old prejudice, which seems to gather new strength every time we bomb another Middle Eastern nation. Also airs at 7pm.
7pm Sundance
L'Inondation (1994 FRA-RUS) : Isabelle Huppert stars as Sofia, the female half of a childless couple, in this 1920s-set period piece from Russian director Igor Minayev. When she and her husband (Boris Nevzorov) adopt a 13-year-old orphan (Masha Lipkina), their prayers seem to have been answered, until Sofia finds hubby Trofim taking an inordinate interest in the blossoming young woman in their care. Based on a short story by Yevgeni Zamyatin, whose 1924 novel We established the new genre of dystopian future fiction, L'Inondation is a rather ponderous but well-acted drama which will appeal primarily to fans of the divine Miss Huppert. It's unavailable on home video and makes its American television premiere this evening.
Wednesday 04/12/06
6pm IFC
Office Space (1999 USA): The film that brought stapler lust out of the closet for good, Office Space returns to premium cable tonight after an all-too-lengthy absence. For anyone who's ever endured the horrors of cubicle life - or anyone who's lucky enough to have avoided it - it's a hilarious and dead-on send-up of modern corporate life from the observant eye of writer-director Mike Judge. The cast is uniformly excellent, with particular kudos to Stephen Root as über-drone Milton Waddams, so put on your flair and load up your Swingline for an hour-and-a-half of relentless laughter. Also airs at 10pm.
Thursday 04/13/06
6:30am Sundance
Seventeen (2003 FRA): Shot over a period of 27 months, Seventeen examines in occasionally excruciating and painful detail the peregrinations of a troubled teen named Jean-Benoit. Jean-Benoit lives in the French city of Rouen, where he apprentices as a mechanic, gets into all sorts of trouble at school and at home, and puts up with the imprecations of his overly indulgent girlfriend. This documentary is a blunt examination of the numbing existential angst that affects the average adolescent, so if you favor ennui and aimless drifting, you'll go for this film in a big way.
10pm Turner Classic Movies
Vacation From Marriage (1945 GB): This light-hearted romance from director Alexander Korda features Robert Donat and Deborah Kerr as Robert and Catherine, a couple whose wartime separation forces them to reconsider the meaning and viability of their marriage. After a dull but relatively happy five years of wedded bliss and with Hitler's blitzkrieg machine looming across the English Channel, Robert enlists in the Royal Navy and Catherine decides to do her part as a WAC. After an involuntary three-year schism, the story picks up the action as the two are on their way to a rare stint of shared leave, but both have changed over the course of the war, and separately fear that their marriage has succumbed to irrelevancy. Also released as Perfect Strangers, Vacation From Marriage eventually settles on a predictable happy ending, but not before exploring some topics that were extremely relevant in 1945, when servicemen and women were homeward bound and unsure of exactly what would be awaiting them there. Produced by Korda's London Films, this is a little-seen but above-average feature starring two of Britain's finest, as well as Glynis Johns, Ann Todd, and Roland Culver in supporting roles.
Friday 04/14/06
10:15am Sundance
White Balloon (1995 IRA): Written by Abbas Kiarostami, this gentle and sweet Iranian film is about a young girl who desperately wants to buy a goldfish for New Year's. Her mother gives her some money, but the child loses it, and what follows are her picaresque adventures through the backstreets of Tehran as she attempts to find the lost allowance and make it back to the little shop with the fat goldfish before closing time. The White Balloon is another delightful reminder of the riches and talents of Iranian cinema, no doubt about to be blown to hell by the Coalition of the Willing in the next front of the War on Terror. Hey, the Liberating Army of Sweets and Flowers couldn't protect the artistic and cultural treasures of the cradle of civilization, so I don't see them fretting over some moldy old film canisters, do you?
Saturday 04/15/06
5am Turner Classic Movies
Railroaded! (1947 USA): Fans of Poverty Row Cinema will be thrilled to have the opportunity to check out this PRC noir starring John Ireland as a mobster who frames an innocent man (Ed Kelly) for a double murder during a botched robbery (one of the victims is perennial Gong Show whipping boy Keefe Braselle). Hugh Beaumont plays the homicide detective assigned to the case, Jane Randolph is a sultry troublemaking temptress, and Grandma Walton, Ellen Corby, makes an uncredited appearance as a landlady. Director Anthony Mann soon went on to bigger and better projects at Universal - primarily Westerns - but Railroaded! marked the beginning of his crime period, notable primarily for the six films he shot with cinematographer John Alton. Railroaded!, shot by journeyman Guy Roe, lacks the distinctive Alton touch but is a real rarity you won't want to miss.
9am Turner Classic Movies
Top Gun (1955 USA): There's nary a hint of Tom Cruise in this long-forgotten indie Western featuring Sterling Hayden. Hayden plays Rick Martin, a man out for revenge against the person or persons who murdered his mother. When a job opens up as a small-town sheriff, Rick steps into the breach, determined to use the status of his new position to bring down the rancher who he suspects is responsible for Mom's demise. There's nothing particularly elegant or clever about Top Gun, but Hayden is always worth watching, and the supporting cast - including Rod Taylor and Denver Pyle - offers added value.
Sunday 04/16/06
1am Turner Classic Movies
Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding (1967 USA): Or, Sandra Dee grows up, tries to shake off her Gidget image, and attempts to acquire an edge by playing an unwed mother. This shocking development is undercut by the presence of three competing suitors - portrayed by George Hamilton, Bill Bixby, and Dwayne Hickman - desperate to make an honest woman of her. The film crashed and burned at the box office and has been seen very rarely since, so if you're a fan of Swinging ‘60s sex farces, this may be your only chance in a while to catch it. This slightly amusing and not particularly risqué comedy from Wonderful World of Disney director Peter Tewksbury airs in wide-screen, and features old-time Warner's player Allen Jenkins in his penultimate big-screen role.
11:15am Showtime 3
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1969 GB): Shakespeare's tragedies generally have translated well to the big screen, but the comedies are a different story altogether. This middling adaptation of the Bard's most accessible and well-known rib-tickler is no exception to the rule. Produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and helmed by theatrical director Peter Hall, it's a passable but unexceptional interpretation of the story, as a troupe of actors inadvertently stumble into the supernatural world of Oberon and Titania. Made on the cheap and looking it, this Midsummer Night's Dream doesn't lack for acting talent, including Diana Rigg, Helen Mirren, David Warner, Judi Dench, and Ian Holm, but doesn't really cut it as film entertainment, though it does reflect the psychedelic cultural zeitgeist of the time, rendering it a rather unique, if odd, period piece. Also airs at 8:30pm.
Monday 04/17/06
4:30pm Showtime
My Date with Drew (2004 USA): Okay, it's not terribly consequential - scratch that, it's entirely IN-consequential - but this is a charming documentary in the Morgan Spurlock vein about one man's obsession with Drew Barrymore. Apparently co-director Brian Herzlinger has lusted for the actress since ET came out, and this film chronicles a month-long charm offensive designed to snag him some quality time with the object of his affection. The film is relentlessly chirpy and unnecessarily adulatory, with Herzlinger revealed to be a rather sad amateur stalker with too much time on his hands and too much movie memorabilia in his den, but there's something compelling about My Date with Drew that will keep you watching to the end. Must be a bit of the paparazzi in all of us. Also airs at 7:30pm.
5pm Turner Classic Movies
The Entertainer (1960 GB): Laurence Olivier stars as Archie Rice, a washed-up vaudevillian who refuses to recognize his own obsolescence, in this searing film adaptation of John Osborne's play of the same name. The Boys From Brazil notwithstanding, Olivier rarely got to play the bad guy on-screen, but is superb as the bitter and abusive comedian whose career is just about up. Olivier's future real-life wife, Joan Plowright, plays Mrs. Rice, and the cast rounds out superbly with Alan Bates, Albert Finney, Daniel Massey, and Thora Hird. Directed by Tony Richardson and written by Nigel Kneale (the creator of Professor Quartermass), this is a brilliant kitchen-sink drama that stands up to repeated viewings.
9:50pm Encore
Kitchen Stories (2003 NOR-SWE): There must be something in the Scandinavian water, because that region of the world seems to churn out a disproportionate number of fish-out-of-water comedies. Whether it's Aki Kaurismäki, Petter Næss, or Kitchen Stories' director Bent Hamer (what a great name!), there seems to be no end of feature films from Northern Europe about determinedly and proudly odd Everymen making their way through life. Set during the 1950s, this film details an odd real-life social experiment that was sponsored by the Swedish government. Designed to tease out the details of everyday life, the Swedes partook in a mass observation project that involved bureaucrats spending their nine-to-fives in people's kitchens, with the ultimate goal of streamlining the day-to-day drudgeries of food preparation. Our fictional story revolves around Isak, a functionary sent over the border to examine the culinary habits of single Norwegian men, in this case the habits of a bachelor named Folke. As with Petter Næss' superb Elling, this set-up cries out for broad odd-couple humor but deftly avoids it, and the result is a highly enjoyable character study about two very different men who slowly develop a grudging and unusual friendship.
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