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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 05/23/06

3:35am Cinemax
My Summer of Love (2004 GB): Thanks to a weeklong bout with the shingles that left me less than productive column-wise, I missed the American television premiere of this well-regarded drama from director Pawel Pawlikowski. It returns this morning and comes strongly recommended to those who enjoy quality acting, intelligent and sensitive writing, and lingering shots of the Yorkshire Dales. The film features the unheralded Emily Blunt as Tamsin, a well-to-do schoolgirl who meets working-class Mona (Holby City's Nathalie Press) over the course of her summer hols. The two fall in love and, in a fashion reminiscent of Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures (though with much less deadly consequences), engage in a series of guerrilla actions against Tamsin's adulterous father and Mona's holy-roller brother (Paddy Considine, excellent as always). A film festival favorite that took home half-a-dozen awards from an assortment of cinema soirées, My Summer of Love also airs at 6:35am.

9:30pm Showtime 2
Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (2003 THA): Action thrills arrive this evening in the form of Ong-Bak, a breathless tale of a stolen statue and the efforts of young ne'er-do-well Boonting to recover it from a thief in Bangkok who plans to sell it for big bucks. Shot sans stunt doubles, wirework, or computer graphics, this is the first Thai martial arts feature to get widespread distribution in the West, and it leaves a good impression. Boonting is played with alacrity and agility by boxing champion Tony Jaa (nom de fist of Panom Yeerum), who jumps through coils of barbed wire, slides beneath moving vehicles, and generally endangers life and limb in a fashion that would leave Jackie Chan nodding his head in admiration. The plot is pretty thin, but the action is non-stop, and it's airing in wide-screen, too.

Wednesday 05/24/06

12:05am Sundance
A Snake of June (2002 JAP): Shinya Tsukamoto's 1988 cyberpunk thriller Tetsuo remains one of my most uncomfortable viewing experiences ever, and this frosty "erotic thriller" doesn't exactly leave me feeling warm and fuzzy, either. Set in an unnamed and extremely damp Japanese city, the story revolves around a cancer patient who decides to stalk Rinko (Asuko Kurosawa), a kind-hearted woman who has offered him words of comfort via a call-in help line. His demands become more and more, erm, esoteric, and soon Rinko is receiving some rather revealing blackmail material in the mail. A worthy successor to the distinctly Japanese "pinky" genre that proved popular in the 1970s, A Snake of June is guaranteed to make all but the most seasoned filmgoers squirm uncomfortably at least once. It makes Ryu Murakami's Tokyo Decadence look like a Disney feature. You have been warned.

1pm Fox Movie Channel
Harry and Tonto (1974 USA): When last I recommended Harry and Tonto, I hadn't actually seen it, an egregious oversight that I made note of at the time. I have, of course, since corrected this state of affairs, and can now offer a wholehearted thumbs up for this Paul Mazursky-helmed feature. Art Carney is magnificent as Harry, a retired schoolteacher who takes off on the quintessential ‘70s road trip when his apartment building is leveled in favor of a parking lot. Also along for the ride is his faithful puss Tonto, and the two engage in a delightful series of misadventures stretching from Long Island to the West Coast. Amongst the supporting cast are Josh Mostel as Harry's peripatetic grandson, whose vow of silence has left him an outsider in his own family, and Geraldine Fitzgerald as a free-spirited hitchhiker who helps Harry get some answers about the fate of an old flame. This is as close to flawless as a film can get: it's humorous and moving in equal measure, and perfect viewing for the whole family. If you're still one of the few non-believers, it's time to convert.

Thursday 05/25/06

6pm IFC
The Dreamlife of Angels (1998 FRA): Or, Moi Et d'Amour, or some such. Sorry, my French is lousy, but you get the idea. Élodie Bouchez and Natacha Régnier star as Isa and Marie, a pair of 20-year-olds already burdened with the scars of bad life choices, numbing habit, and abusive relationships. The two meet in a sweatshop, become platonic soul-mates, and then have their relationship torn apart by bourgeois nightclub owner Chriss (Grégoire Colin), who shacks up with Marie for a doomed love affair whilst Isa is drawn closer to the comatose daughter of her landlady. A throwback to the classic era of nouvelle vague, The Dreamlife of Angels was expertly and atmospherically lensed by Agnes Godard (who as far as I know is not related to you-know-who), and in Bouchez and Régnier features not one but two superb leads, who ultimately shared the Best Actress award at Cannes for their remarkable work herein. Also airs 5/26 at 3am.

9pm Turner Classic Movies
Shaft (1971): Shut your mouth! Everybody's favorite black private dick makes his wide-screen television debut this evening as part of TCM's Race and Hollywood showcase. Directed by the recently-deceased Gordon Parks, Shaft is, of course, the story of John Shaft, a private investigator who has his own special techniques for taking down bad guys like big-time racketeer Bumpy (Moses Gunn) and bedding bodacious babes of various shapes, sizes, and colors. It's followed at 11pm by the inferior but grittier Superfly, also airing in wide-screen and starring Ron O'Neal as Youngblood Priest, the drug-dealing hustler with a heart of, if not gold, then of crushed velvet and rayon polyester. They're both complicated men, and no one understands them but their women.

Friday 05/26/06

2pm Sundance
Private (2004 ITA): Though it doesn't add a great deal to our understanding of the seemingly insoluble "Palestine Question", this Italian-made feature is a quality drama that is never less than engaging and is certainly accessible to general audiences. Starring a cast of expatriate Palestinian actors (and shot in Calabria!), Private's story revolves around the family of well-respected literature professor Mohammad (Mohammed Bakri), and the complications that ensue after their house is commandeered by the Israeli Army, ostensibly to provide protection for a nearby Jewish settlement. Shot on digital video, the film displays an affinity for vérité stylings, whilst providing more commercial appeal via a suspenseful set-up and humanizing portrayals of protagonists on both sides.

Saturday 05/27/06

7pm Cinemax
Land of the Dead (2005 USA): The latest chapter of George Romero's long-running zombie series makes its small-screen debut this evening. To my delight, it's a worthy successor to the previous entries in the series and will satisfy both gorehounds and those who also appreciate the director's razor-sharp social and political commentary. With humankind now reduced to living in gated communities and the undead free to roam the rest of the world at will, people's choices are becoming more and more limited. In one such burg, the wealthy upper-class continues to live in relative comfort thanks to the dictatorial rule of Kaufman (Dennis Hopper, a bit more restrained than usual, but clearly having fun), whilst the working classes get by on the table scrapings and whatever detritus they can scrape up outside the Green Zone. Beyond the city walls, the living dead are going about their normal business, but are clearly advancing on the evolutionary scale, and when a zombie gas station attendant (Eugene Clark) gets a whiff of human flesh and learns how to use a gun, watch out. Land of the Dead stands on its own as first-rate action entertainment, but provides plenty of fodder for fans of the Dead series, including a cameo appearance by Tom Savini as a machete-wielding corpse, and there's even room for cameos from Shaun of the Dead's Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright. Also airs at 10pm, on 5/28 at 2:30am and 5:30am, and on 5/29 at 8:30am, 11:30am, 5pm, and 8pm.

Sunday 05/28/06

1pm HBO 2
The Jacket (2005 USA): This interesting, if not wholly successful, sci-fi effort has been playing quite a bit on premium channels over the last few months, but I only recently got around to screening it myself. As there's little else to recommend to you on this Memorial Day Weekend Sunday, The Jacket gets the nod as Column Filler of the Week. Adrien Brody and his perpetual hangdog expression star as Jack Starks, a former GI who, thanks to some bizarre sensory deprivation techniques developed by wicked Dr. Becker (Kris Kristofferson), moves back and forth in time and can't quite figure out which reality is the REAL reality. Along for the ride and the love interest is Keira Knightley, and James Bond himself, Daniel Craig, shows up as another of Becker's mistreated patients. The Jacket was a commercial and critical flop, but I quite like it. Take that for what little it's worth.

9pm Turner Classic Movies
Hearts of the World (1918 USA): D. W. Griffiths' anti-war classic still hasn't made it onto DVD, so if you've never seen it, this Memorial Day screening may be your only opportunity for a while. Ostensibly made to support the war effort, Hearts of the World ultimately argues the pacifist party line, and surely disappointed the British government that originally commissioned it in an effort to get America's doughboys into the trenches. Lillian Gish stars as Marie, an American émigré who has relocated to bucolic rural France with her fiancé Douglas (Robert Harron). When war clouds gather, however, Douglas volunteers for service in the French Army, and when their rustic village is occupied by the Hun, Marie's virtue is threatened. Cut to ribbons over the years by the censors, it remains to be seen if Hearts of the World will ever be seen in anything approaching its original format, but what remains is a frequently moving, if over-simplified and occasionally jingoistic, anti-war screed. Look for the young Noel Coward in an early scene as a villager, and Erich Von Stroheim as an archetypical Prussian martinet.

Monday 05/29/06

6pm Sundance
Searching For the Wrong-Eyed Jesus (2005 USA): if you're at all interested in the "alt.country" or Americana music genres, this is a must-see documentary. Folksinger host Jim White takes viewers on a guided tour of the Bible Belt, where Hellfire and Damnation live just around the corner from Salvation and Sanctity. Interviews with the denizens of trailer parks, Pentecostal churches, and backwoods bars are bolstered by performances featuring the arched-eyebrow song-stylings of The Handsome Family, born-again bluesman (and once and future New York Doll) David Johansen, and country-rocker Johnny Dowd. Additional commentary is provided by astute novelist Harry Crews and Christian alt.country demigod David Eugene Edwards, formerly of 16 Horsepower, and one of the dourest men on the planet. Well, not as dour as Will Oldham, but he's no ray of sunshine and happiness.