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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 07/11/06

5pm Fox Movie Channel
Gauguin the Savage (1980 USA): This ain't your typical made-for-TV movie. It also ain't your typical David Carradine feature; though he may be the star of Gauguin the Savage, the film is a little more ambitious than some of the actor's other efforts: Evil Toons, Sundown: The Vampire In Retreat, or even Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror, for example. Of course, Carradine has a long history of going against the Hollywood grain, with A-list features such as Bound for Glory and The Serpent's Egg nestling comfortably in his filmography next to the aforementioned unadulterated junk. Why, it's as if he were the offspring of acting iconoclast John Carradine, whose workaholic ways saw him treading the boards in everything from John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath to Cirio Santiago's Philippines-lensed Vampire Hookers! Carradine Fils plays the titular character in this biopic about a temperamental French Impressionist who chased his muse all the way to the remote South Pacific, where he stirred up trouble for the political and clerical hierarchy whilst indulging in as much wine, women, and song as you could dig up in 1890s Tahiti. Though produced for the small screen, Gauguin the Savage features excellent production values, stunning location work, and a fine supporting cast, including Lynn Redgrave, Michael Hordern, Flora Robson, and Bernard Fox. The winner of an Emmy for Best Art Direction, this is a fascinating look at an artist beset - but untroubled - by demons of all shapes and sizes.

Wednesday 07/12/06

1am Sundance
Something Wild (1961 USA): Simply put, this is a forgotten American masterpiece that deserves to be rescued from oblivion by the good folks at Criterion. Carroll Baker stars as Mary Ann Robinson, a store clerk who tries to lose herself in the vasts of Manhattan after she is raped on her home turf in the Bronx. When Mike (Ralph Meeker) stops her from committing suicide, her life seems to have taken a turn for the better...or has it? Written and directed by Baker's then-spouse, Holocaust survivor Jack Garfein, this independent production also features Clifton James, Jean Stapleton, and Martin Kosleck, as well as brief appearances by TiVoPlex fave William Hickey and Diane Ladd. Recently aired on the Flix Channel and now moving over to Sundance, the film displays some wear (especially during reel changes), but those flaws can't disguise the brilliance of this monochrome masterpiece or of cinematographer Eugen Schüfftan's astonishing work. A blend of the surreal and the neo-real, Something Wild is also blessed with a brilliant Aaron Copland score that is at turns discordant, brooding, and celebratory. This film is a powerful example of what cinema can be but rarely is - a primarily visual art form - and with due acknowledgement of the fine efforts of Ralph Meeker and Carroll Baker, the real star of the film is New York City itself, which has rarely been captured with such magical realism as it is here. Unless you prefer formulaic and predictable storytelling, Something Wild is essential viewing. Also airs 7/15 at 12:30am.

6am IFC
Young Girls of Rochefort (1967 FRA): The cinematic equivalent of a Pixy Stick, Jacques Demy's Umbrellas of Cherbourg has never been one of my favorite films. If you, however, are one of the many moviegoers who swooned over Demy's colorful, all-singing love story, you'll want to take a look at its follow-up, Young Girls of Rochefort. Strictly speaking, it's not a sequel, but Catherine Deneuve returns as another love-struck young lady - here paired with Françoise Dorléac (who died before the film was released) as her twin sister - and the dialogue is, once again, sung in its entirety. It's twee and sickly sweet, but if you go for that sort of thing (or simply like to look at beautiful women in fashionable ‘60s wear), you won't want to miss it.

8am Turner Classic Movies
Untamed Africa (1933 USA): TCM has some mouthwatering jungle oddities on tap this morning, kicking off with Untamed Africa, a long-forgotten documentary detailing an American family's trip to the Dark Continent. Directed by Wynant Hubbard, whose wife and two small children accompanied him on a jungle jaunt from their base in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), the film includes many of the staples of the proto-mondo genre: wild animal attacks, simple but noble natives, out-of-control nature, and plenty of culture clash. This Warner's production is so rare that IMDb doesn't have a listing for it! It's followed at 10:30am by 1934's Wild Cargo, featuring big game hunter Jack Buck on an animal-trapping expedition throughout South Asia, and at 12:15pm by another Buck feature, Fang and Claw, which features the then0pain in the ass legendary explorer doing his thing in the Far East.

Thursday 07/13/06

3:30am Turner Classic Movies
Student Tour (1934 USA): Call me crazy, but I actually enjoy watching Jimmy Durante's shtick, and the ol' Schnozolla is in full effect in this lightweight MGM musical comedy. He plays the coach of Bartlett College's women's crew team, desperate to parlay their meager talents (and worse grades) into a fabulous, all-expenses paid trip to Europe. Also along for the ride is the hilarious Charles Butterworth (who co-starred with Durante in the surreal and unforgettable 1934 funfest Hollywood Party), here playing a philosophy professor who gets suckered into chaperoning the ladies of Bartlett. The songs are forgettable, the plot insipid and sappy, but Durante and Butterworth make it all worthwhile.

10pm Showtime
Capturing the Friedmans (2004 USA): I know I was amongst the last bipedal hominids on the planet to see this film, but just in case you've been living in a neighboring cave, here's a very strong thumb's up for this truly remarkable documentary. If you're skittish about child pornography and pedophilia, you're best advised to give it a miss, but Capturing the Friedmans is stunning documentation of an upper-middle-class family coming apart at the seams (luckily for us, the Friedmans were rabid home-movie fans, and filmed everything, including family squabbles). Alerted to computer professor and former Latin bandleader Arnold Friedman's penchant for ordering "special" magazines through the mails, the local vice squad turned the case into a headline-hogging story of rampant child sexual abuse by Friedman and his son, Jesse. Based on the apparently coerced interrogations of Friedman's pre-pubescent computer pupils, the film discusses the national hysteria surrounding this issue in the 1980s, but doesn't shy away from the truth: Friedman DID purchase child porn from Holland, and he DID admit to being attracted to young boys. Friedman also admitted to acting on those impulses in years past, but the lack of physical evidence in this case and the cockeyed accusations levied against him by some Long Island youngsters hardly ensured a clear-cut conviction. Featuring fascinating interviews with Jesse, troubled elder son David (America's favorite party clown!), and embittered wife Elaine, this film raises as many questions as it answers. Also airs 7/15 at 1am, 7/16 at 9pm, and 7/17 at midnight.

Friday 07/14/06

5:50am Showtime
Crusoe (1988 USA): Aidan Quinn stars as the titular Robinson Crusoe in this attractive, though extremely revisionist, adaptation of Daniel Defoe's novel. This Crusoe is a slave trader who ends up on a desert island with a living, breathing piece of cargo (Elvis Payne) after being blown off course one dark and stormy night. Oh, the irony! The story isn't terribly engaging and Quinn is adequate at best, but Showtime's letterboxed print presents the Seychelles locations at their best, and a good supporting cast, including Timothy Spall, Shane Rimmer, and Oliver Platt provides added value. Also airs at 8:50am.

10:30am Fox Movie Channel
No Down Payment (1957 USA): Tony Randall steals the show as an alcoholic suburbanite with wandering hands in this engaging Peyton Place-esque ensemble piece. It's an edgy soap about life in suburban Southern California and features a superb cast and an excellent screenplay by blacklisted Ben Maddow, here fronted by his loyal friend Philip Yordan. Starring Joanne Woodward and Cameron Mitchell as a happy couple living in one of the increasingly ubiquitous tract-housing estates then gobbling up orange orchards across the Southland, the film records the travails of their new neighbors (Jeffery Hunter and Patricia Owens) as they try to adapt to life in Paradise. Of course, things aren't as perfect as they seem on the surface, and the bloom soon comes off the utopian suburban rose when Randall's character starts dogging around. No Down Payment - the second effort by director Martin Ritt - was one of the first films to explore the hard facts about life behind the Kiss the Chef curtain, and it's now thankfully airing in wide-screen after some earlier pan-and-scan appearances on Cinemax.

Sunday 07/16/06

3:45am Sundance
Goal Dreams (2006 USA): Arriving just in time - well, almost - for the final match of this year's World Cup, this is a brand-new documentary about the efforts of four Palestinian men to field their own side at the planet's most popular sporting event. Politics and national identity are unavoidable subjects for the film, but football remains the focus. This is the American premiere - theatrical or otherwise - for Goal Dreams, which also airs at 12:30pm.

9:15pm Fox Movie Channel
29th Street (1991 USA): This enjoyable-if-predictable gangster flick makes its wide-screen television debut this evening. It's the based-on-a-true-story tale of Frank Pesce Jr. (Anthony LaPaglia), a lucky guy whose life takes an unexpected turn for the worse after he wins the New York State Lottery in 1976. Frank lives with his stereotypical Italian-American parents (Danny Aiello and Lainie Kazan) in a Brooklyn row house, and when his lottery ticket comes up a winner, the family dream - moving to Queens - looks set to become a reality. Unfortunately, Frank Senior has some dealings he needs to settle with the local goodfellas, and claiming the over-$6 million prize is not an easy proposition. Robert Forster is on hand as a cop, the REAL Frank Pesce appears as his own brother, and there's even room for a cameo appearance by beloved TV talk show host Joe Franklin.

Monday 07/17/06

3am Sundance
Interesting Times: The Secret of My Success (2002 PRC): Or, Democracy, Chinese Style. This riveting documentary takes a look at a local election deep in Fan Shen, a small village deep in the heart of rural northeastern China. Turns out Chinese elections aren't all that different from our own: the incumbents have the edge, corruption is rampant, and backroom deals make a mockery of the government's own rules and regulations. At least the Chinese don't pretend to live in a representative democracy, so perhaps they're better off. Interesting Times won the Silver Wolf at 2002's Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival.