By John Seal

December 9-15, 2003

Tuesday 12/09/03

8:50am Showtime Extreme
Huk! (1956 USA): The first of half-a-dozen films shot in the Philippines with star George Montgomery, Huk! Is the best of the bunch, though it’s certainly no forgotten classic. Montgomery stars as a young man whose family estate is threatened by the titular guerrillas, led by the evil Mario Barri and no doubt taking their orders direct from their paymasters in Moscow. Written by a young Sterling Silliphant (who also wrote the novel of the same name), the film’s best quality is actually its Albert Glasser soundtrack. Huk! is nothing special, but it is an interesting early example of the American-Filipino cinematic collaboration which would peak with 1979’s Apocalypse Now.

1pm HBO Signature
Questioning Faith: Confessions of a Seminarian (2002 USA): Filmmaker Macky Alston reflects on his three years in seminary in this documentary about a man who has lost faith in his God. Addressing the basic theological question, “How can a good God exist when bad things happen?”, the film includes interviews with people who can - and cannot - reconcile their faith with this philosophical conundrum. It’s not the most polished or professional documentary you’ll ever see, but it is thoroughly thought-provoking, unless you’re already a committed atheist like yours truly.

Wednesday 12/10/03

1am Turner Classic Movies
The Richest Girl in the World (1934 USA): Another night of top notch pre-Code ‘30s rom-coms and dramas kicks off with this Miriam Hopkins vehicle about a wealthy socialite slumming it in order to find true love. The outstanding supporting cast includes Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, and Reginald Denny, and Norman Krasna’s screenplay is top notch. Then 1932’s college drama Huddle follows at 3am and features Ramon Novarro as a steelworker who’s moving on up from Gary, Indiana, to Yale University, which he attends on a football scholarship. Well directed by Sam Wood (King’s Row, A Night at the Opera), Huddle writer Arthur Hyman’s screenplay takes a decent stab at social realism, class issues, and racism. Another great cast headlines 1932’s They Call It Sin, which follows at 5am and stars Loretta Young as a small-town girl suckered by a big-city heel (an out-of-character David Manners). Luckily George Brent is around to save the day, and the film also features Warner’s stalwarts such as Una Merkel, Louis Calhern, and Roscoe Karns.

5pm HBO
Rebels of Oakland: the A’s, the Raiders, the ‘70s (2003 USA): It’s the world television premiere of this HBO original documentary about the only sports teams that matter. Okay, I must admit I have no interest in football, but I live and die with my beloved Athletics, who one day will win a third playoff game and actually advance to the league championships. Maybe Ken Macha and company will tune in to see how Reggie, Rollie Fingers, Vida Blue, and company got it done back in the old days. And there’s even time for the Black Panthers, Oaktown homeboy Tom Hanks, and all-around stand-up guy Al Davis. I have no idea if this will be any good, but I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Also airs at 8pm and 12/13 at 9am and noon.

Thursday 12/11/03

9:45am The Movie Channel
Southern Comfort (1981 USA): Walter Hill’s Vietnam allegory stars Keith Carradine and Powers Boothe (great as usual) as a pair of reluctant National Guardsmen on exercises in the bayou country of Louisiana. When one of their squad mates shoots off a belt load of blanks at some local hunters, the Deliverance style chase is on, as the back-country woodsmen don’t take too kindly to being shot at. Frankly, this is a better film than Deliverance, superbly co-written by Hill, Tales from the Crypt producer David Giler, and Jaws 3-D(!) scribe Michael Kane, and featuring a superb supporting cast of rednecks and reprobates, including Fred Ward as a loathsome soldier, Peter Coyote as the short lived platoon commander, Les Lannom as the hopeless second-in-command, and an almost-unrecognizable Brion James as the one-armed(!) Cajun taken prisoner by the GIs. Ry Cooder’s haunting score adds to the atmosphere of this first rate thriller, which amps up the suspense in its final minutes to terrific effect. Also airs at 12:45pm.

7pm IFC
Edward II (1991 GB): Art-house fans may want to make time for this Derek Jarman adaptation of Christopher Marlowe’s Elizabethan-era play. Steven Waddington plays the title role, the doomed gay king of England, but Tilda Swinton is the reason to watch the film, playing Isabella, Edward’s spurned spouse who shuffles off to bed with a competing nobleman when the king’s fancy turns to male companionship (The time-shifting narrative also anticipates that of Swinton’s next film, the Sally Potter-directed Orlando). If you’re allergic to Jarman’s meandering meditations on sexual politics, homosexual subtext, and art, you’ll probably want to give this one a miss. If you’re in the mood for a serious dose of chin-scratching (or just fancy taking a gander at the remarkable costuming work of Academy Award-winner Sandy Powell), this is your film.

Friday 12/12/03

1:35am Sundance
Life After War (2003 USA): For those who prefer a little action in their lives, here’s a film that may spur you on to quit your day job and buy a one-way ticket to Asia Minor. NPR reporter and Harvard grad Sarah Chayes decided she’d had enough of watching and recording other peoples’ miseries and chose to do something about it: she exchanged her microphone for a trowel and relocated to an Afghani village in need of assistance in post-war reconstruction. The film traces her attempts to help rebuild 13 houses whilst contending with the difficulties posed by a local warlord (who wears American-supplied fatigues), political inertia, and cultural differences. Is Chayes a liberal hero, an Ugly American in disguise, or simply another variety of imperialist? I’m not sure, but her tremendous courage is certainly impressive, and this is a remarkable little film.

9pm IFC
Tokyo Drifter (1966 JAP): Seijun Suzuki’s films can be criticized for their lack of plot, but visually, they have it all over the competition. Here’s another of his mid-‘60s masterpieces, starring genre specialist Tetsuya Watari as an ex-gangster trying to keep to the straight and narrow. Like many Japanese films of the period, Tokyo Drifter features outstanding (and extremely colorful) use of wide-screen photography, dazzling costuming and set design (there’s also an elegiac theme song for Watari to warble), and is one of Suzuki’s finest Nikkatsu Studios efforts. If you like eye candy and don’t mind a somewhat obtuse storyline, you should definitely set the recorder this evening. Also airs 12/13 at 3am.

Saturday 12/13/03

5pm Encore
Scarface (1983 USA): First, the good news: hot on the heels of its brief theatrical rerelease, Encore is airing the uncut version of Brian DePalma’s outrageous gangster epic starring Al Pacino as the potty-mouthed title character (Indeed, the film supposedly holds the record for most uses of the F-word in a major studio release, though Gary Oldman’s Nil By Mouth surely came close to usurping it). Now the bad: it’s airing pan-and-scan. There’s really no excuse for that, but the film hasn’t been seen on cable in a while, so we’ll let it slip and include Scarface in this week’s column. Did I mention that it’s nowhere near as good as the 1932 original starring Paul Muni in the title role? Also airs at 8pm.

Sunday 12/14/03

9pm Turner Classic Movies
The Kid (1921 USA): One of Charlie Chaplin’s best-loved features, The Kid features Chaplin’s Little Tramp character as a kind-hearted loser who finds an abandoned baby and takes it into his home. The baby, of course, grows up to become Jackie Coogan, who is reunited with his birth mother (Edna Purviance) after she rises to fame and fortune as an opera singer. Heartbreak ensues for the Little Tramp until the final reel, when he is reunited with Coogan in a scene sure to raise a lump in your throat (or, alternatively, activate your gag reflex). Coogan’s real-life father appears briefly as a pickpocket in The Kid, the earliest of Chaplin’s feature-length films, and the film also features a bit part for future TV actress Esther Ralston.

Monday 12/15/03