TiVoPlex
TiVoPlex for Tuesday, February 13 through Monday, February 19, 2007
By John Seal
February 13, 2007
From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times Pacific.
Tuesday 02/13/07
12:35 AM More Max
Capone (1975 USA): Ben Gazzara devours the scenery as Chicago gangster Al Capone in this overripe Roger Corman-produced shoot ‘em up. Directed by Steve Carver, who'd had success the previous year helming Corman's box office hit Big Bad Mama, Capone gilds the historical lily considerably but succeeds as a mindless action flick. Gazzara gets to shout a lot at the supporting cast, which includes Harry Guardino as sidekick Johnny Torrio (a gangland character deserving his own movie, I'll add), Sly Stallone as a much too young Frank Nitti, Susan Blakley as Gazzara's love interest/object of abuse (and the first woman to reveal her, erm, innermost secrets in a mainstream movie), and, of course, Dick Miller, who seems to have been granted a job-for-life within the Corman empire sometime back in the 1950s. If you can overlook the cardboard back-lot sets and anachronistic hair-don'ts and just enjoy the copious violence (not to mention the darkest recesses of Ms. Blakley's anatomy), you'll be well satisfied.
7:00 PM Sundance
The Hero (2004 ANG): I haven't seen this one yet, but damned if I'm going to overlook the first Angolan film ever to appear on American television. It's a drama exploring the aftermath of the long Angolan civil war, which began as a war of independence from the nation's Portuguese colonial masters and evolved into a proxy war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The film tells the story of a one-legged veteran (Makena Diop) trying to survive in Luanda on no pension and no income, and the troubled youth (Milton Coelho) he meets amongst the wreckage. The Hero won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2005 and was deemed Best Feature at the Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival.
Wednesday 02/14/07
3:30 PM Sundance
Sabah (2005 CAN) : The life of a Canadian Muslim woman is explored in this quirky romantic-comedy drama from Quebecois director Ruba Nadda. Arsinee Khanjian plays the title character, a 40-something spinster whose conservative Syrian family has tried to maintain their Islamic traditions whilst living within secular Toronto society. When Sabah falls in love with decidedly not Muslim, divorced white guy Stephen (Shawn Doyle), her family - especially elder brother Majid (Jeff Seymour) take exception, and she finds herself disowned. Though these plot developments are nothing new - religious culture clash is merely the latest riff on the star-crossed lovers meme, which previously thrived on economic or racial distinctions - they're well-handled by Nadda, and her film provides insights into the interior and exterior lives of Arab Muslim families that may surprise viewers more familiar with what author Jack Shaheen dubbed ‘the TV Arab'. Also airs 2/17 at 3:35 AM and 1:45 PM.
Thursday 02/15/07
2:15 AM Cinemax
Buenos Aires 100km (2004 ARG): More cinema goodness from The Pampas arrives in the form of Buenos Aires 100km, an Argentine feature that looks at life beyond the confines of that nation's capital city. It's a coming of age drama about five boys set in a nameless town located the requisite 100 kilometres from town, where the quintet get up to the usual teen shenanigans, suffer the usual teen embarrassments, hang out on the stoop of a local salon, and play a whole lot of soccer. Think of it as Five Go Down to the Falklands - er, sorry, Islas Malvinas. Buenos Aires 100km has been compared to Rob Reiner's Stand By Me, but it's far more serious in intent and less nostalgic, echoing in some respects the themes of Fellini's I Vitelloni. Winner of the coveted Silver Colon at the Huelva Latin American Film Festival, this film also airs at 5:15 AM.
10:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Born Yesterday (1950 USA): This delightful screwball comedy stars Judy Holliday as Billie Dawn, the rough-edged gal pal of bare knuckles tycoon Harry Brock (Broderick Crawford). Harry loves Billie, but is embarrassed by her lack of edumacation, and hires Paul Verrall (William Holden) to give the little lady some book smarts. He regrets his decision when she wises up TOO fast and cottons on to his questionable business and legal practices. Based on a play by Garson Kanin, Born Yesterday is a superb George Cukor romantic comedy and a sad reminder of Holliday's unfulfilled potential, snuffed out by breast cancer at the tender age of 43.
6:00 PM IFC
How to Eat Your Watermelon In White Company (And Enjoy It) (2005 USA): Melvin Van Peebles is probably one of the most overrated directors of the late twentieth century - he's made only one genuinely great film, 1968's Story of A Three Day Pass - but he is truly a one of a kind iconoclast, and the worthy subject of this feature-length documentary. Van Peebles has led an amazing life: he flew fighters during the Korean War, took a lengthy exile in Paris (where he made the acquaintance of the local anarchists), drove cable cars in San Francisco, had a brief and uncomfortable fling with mainstream Hollywood, and made some money trading options on Wall Street. Still feisty at the age of 74, the man has consistently defied expectations, and even if you can't stand Sweet Sweetback or watermelon you're advised to take a look at this very enjoyable tribute/documentary (tributary?). Featuring interviews with Spike Lee, Gil Scott-Heron, former NY Times film critic Elvis Mitchell, and the late Gordon Parks - as well a whole lotta Melvin - How to Eat Watermelon also airs 2/16 at 2:30 AM.
Friday 02/16/07
5:00 PM Flix
The Official Story (1985 ARG): One of the first films to confront the effects of the ostensibly anti-terrorist ‘Dirty War' that plagued Argentina in the 1970s, The Official Story stars Norma Aleandro as Alicia, an adoptive mother with questions regarding the provenance of her five-year-old daughter. Alicia's husband Roberto (Hector Alterio) is a high-ranking government mucky muck who made the adoption arrangements, assuring his wife that little Gaby (Analia Castro) was procured through normal channels. When Alicia meets an old friend whose fiancée disappeared into the maw of Argentina's military junta, she starts to question ‘the official story', not only of her daughter's background, but also that of the right-wing government ruling in Buenos Aires. The Official Story was a huge hit in its native land, where distraught audiences wept their way out of theatres, and went on to win the Best Foreign Film Academy Award in 1986.
7:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Men In Black (1997 USA): I can't claim to be a fan of this Will Smith sci-fi comedy as, frankly, the man gives me hives. However, Men In Black is making its widescreen television debut this evening, Tommy Lee Jones and Rip Torn are good, and if memory serves there's a pretty funny scene with an alien-possessed dog. If you're a fan who hasn't yet bothered to invest in a DVD, here's your next best opportunity to see this film in its original aspect ratio.
9:00 PM IFC
Karate Bear Fighter (1977 JAP): Do you like non-stop kung fu action? Do you like Sonny Chiba? Most importantly, do you love films with improbable English-language titles like ‘Karate Bear Fighter'? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, you won't want to miss this film, the second in a ‘trilogy' of chop socky epics starring Chiba as Korean-born martial arts master Mas Oyama. Grafting 1970s action movie tropes onto the traditional kung fu style, Karate Bear Fighter (originally titled Kyokuskin Kenka Karate Burai Ken) features Master Oyama pounding the bejesus out of all comers, including the requisite ninjas, samurais, and gat-wielding yakuza, one of whom is played by the recently deceased Tetsuro Tamba. This marks the American television premiere of this film, which airs again 2/17 at 12:10 AM.
Saturday 02/17/07
7:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Sleuth (1972 GB): A delightful and twisty mystery based on Anthony Shaffer's one-act play of the same name, Sleuth stars Michael Caine as Milo Tindle, a cheeky nouveau riche cockney hairdresser who's cuckolded one of the well-heeled gentry, mystery writer Andrew Wyke (Laurence Olivier). Wyke invites Tindle to his country estate, ostensibly to settle their differences in a gentlemanly manner - but he hasn't counted on Milo's working class smarts, and the two become engaged in an increasingly bizarre series of mind games in lieu of reaching an agreement and dividing up the spoils. Olivier and Caine are absolutely superb as two polar opposites locked in a battle of wits, and the film takes many unexpected turns over the course of its surprisingly fleet 138-minute running time. Sleuth received four richly deserved Academy Award nominations, including one each for Caine, Olivier, director Joseph L. Mankiewicz (who, with the help of James Bond production designer Ken Adam, manages to make a one-act play shot on a single set absolutely riveting), and composer John Addison.
Sunday 02/18/07
9:00 PM Sundance
Marebito (2004 JAP): Now this is the real deal. If you've been underwhelmed by some of the Asian horror offerings seen on Sundance of late, prepare yourself for Marebito, a dark psychological thriller from Ju-On/Grudge creator Takashi Shimizu. The story revolves around freelance photo-journalist Masuoka (Tetsuo's Shinya Tsukamoto), a shutterbug obsessed with fear and urban anomie who's searching for a story in the remote reaches of the Tokyo subway system. Whilst trolling through a tunnel one day, he happens across a naked young woman in chains, and as you do in these situations, takes her home - and not to meet Mother, either. Shot on digital video in eight days, this J-horror take on Lovecraft-style terror is one of the best in show of recent years, and will entertain the most jaded fear fans.
Monday 02/19/07
2:15 PM Sundance
Camp Hollywood (2004 CAN): Last week we had a Bulgarian mental hospital taking pride of place on Sundance's Doc Day, this week it's a hotel in Hollywood. If it weren't for the language difference, you probably couldn't tell them apart, as the denizens of ‘Camp Hollywood' (otherwise known as the Highland Gardens) are a pretty eccentric bunch, including an aspiring soap opera actress, a retired clarinet player, a woman who dresses up as Marilyn Monroe, a criminal turned actor, and a slumming Roy Dotrice, who's apparently sick of Shakespeare and the theatre and looking to break into TV work. I know this sounds like a Christopher Guest movie, but it's all real. Only in Hollywood!
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