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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 09/25/07

2:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Flying Fortress (1942 GB): More rare Teddington Studios quota quickies arrive on TCM this morning, starting with this stiff upper lipped tribute to the star spangled B-17 bomber. Future Robin Hood Richard Greene stars as Jim Spence, an RAF pilot leading a squadron of Flying Fortresses on a Berlin bombing raid. If you can overlook the historical inaccuracies (the Royal Air Force never actually used B-17s) and the dull romantic sub-plot, you may still enjoy the film for its relatively realistic depiction of London under siege. And, look — there's William Hartnell again, this time portraying the driver of a black cab! Flying Fortress is followed at 3:15 AM by This Was Paris (1942), in which British Military Intelligence keep busy in the occupied City of Light, and at 4:45 AM by The Prime Minister (1941), a biopic featuring John Gielgud as Benjamin Disraeli, the first (and still only) Jew to lead a British government.

6:35 PM Sundance
Clear Cut: The Story of Philomath, Oregon (2006 USA): Tree huggers take on lumberjacks in this documentary about changing times in rural Oregon. Located in the heart of timber country, Philomath has long maintained a cosy relationship with the lumber industry, scions of whom underwrote full college scholarships to all high school graduates in exchange for the town's complicity in forest clear cutting. Enter stage left the effete intellectuals of the computer tech industry, nattering nabobs of negativity determined to put a halt to the rape of Mother Earth. Bubbling beneath the surface is another element of the culture wars: a new school superintendent has brought his big city PC ideas — including environmentalism, gay rights, and racial sensitivity — to the God-fearin' folks of Philomath. A microcosm of the nation's current social divide, Clear Cut also airs 9/28 at 2:35 AM and 7:35 AM.

8:35 PM Showtime 2
The Underground (1997 USA): Jeff Fahey stars in this PM Entertainment epic as Brian Donnegan, a rap hating cop assigned to probe a massacre at a hip, happening, and oh-so-underground LA nightspot called The Alligator Club. After three gun-wielding gangstas in Abe Lincoln masks shoot their way through the performance of rising rapper Hot G (Greg Cummins), whose act was being eyed by hot shot producer Hound (Willie Carpenter), playa hater Donnegan draws the short investigative straw, and finds himself thrust into the weird and frightening world of hip hop. Did the potential business deal inspire the shooting — or was it merely a case of revenge inspired by Hound's disco music colleagues from back in the day? As far as crummy action movies go, this is a fun one, and is further enlivened by the presence of the late, great Brion James as Donnegan's supervisor Captain Hilton. Also airs at 11:35 PM.

Wednesday 09/26/07

4:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
All-American Co-Ed (1941 USA): I've never seen this low budget comedy, but how many American films about transvestism were made in the years of the Production Code? I'd guess this is the only one prior to 1959's Some Like It Hot. The unheralded Johnny Downs plays a college student tricked into enrolling as 'Bobbie DeWolfe—Queen of the Flowers' at Mar Brynn Horticultural School For Girls, and determined to maintain his feminine façade as long as possible. Clocking in at a mere 49 minutes, All-American Co-Ed can't possibly be a drag, and there's also the added attractions of silent film comic Harry Langdon as a publicist and a very early (uncredited) performance from Marie Windsor as, er, the Carrot Queen, whatever or whoever that is.

9:15 AM Showtime 2
Jacknife (1989 USA): Here's a little known Robert de Niro feature that's worth a look for fans of America's Greatest Living Actor™. De Niro plays ‘Jacknife' Megessey, a Vietnam vet helping his GI buddy Dave (Ed Harris) recover from his shattering wartime experiences. Dave has trouble with alcohol, and as a result has alienated wife Martha (Kathy Baker), a schoolteacher who doubles as grudging caretaker for her booze-addled husband. Megessey arrives just in the nick of time, and things seem to be turning around for poor old Dave — until Jacknife and Martha start making eyes at each other. This is not a flashy or clever film, but Stephen Metcalfe's screenplay (based on his play of the same name) elevates it above the madding crowd of post-Vietnam dramas. Also airs at 12:15 PM and 10/1 on Showtime Extreme at 7:00 AM and 10:00 AM.

Thursday 09/27/07

3:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936): Documentary mavens will want to make time for this fascinating contemporaneous examination of the Depression-era disaster that was the Oklahoma Dust Bowl. The freshman effort of filmmaker Pare Lorentz, The Plow That Broke the Plains was also the first film ever produced by the United States government with a commercial release in mind. An indictment of the land's misuse — which contributed to and exacerbated the drought conditions that plagued the region throughout the 1930s — the film was critically well received, but suffered from lack of distribution thanks to the Hollywood studios, who decried the film as New Deal propaganda. That's an understandable concern — until one realizes that Lorentz paid for much of the production himself, as his already meager budget repeatedly became tangled in congressional red tape. At any rate, today it looks like a near masterpiece of the pastoral style, all the more impressive considering Lorentz edited the film with next to no editing experience.

12:15 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Juggler (1953 USA): Kirk Douglas plays Hans Muller, a Holocaust survivor struggling to adjust to a new life in Israel, in this exemplary Edward Dmytryk drama. Mentally scarred by his experiences, the violence prone Hans attacks a policeman and finds himself on the run in his new country, accompanied by a homeless teenage lad (Joseph Walsh) on his way to a kibbutz. The pair bond, but an unfortunate encounter with a land mine brings their odyssey to an end. Shot on location in Israel (though the interiors were studio setups back in Hollywood), The Juggler is prime fodder for Douglas, always at his best when angrily clenching his jaw and not so quietly seething, and co-stars Paul Stewart, Charles Lane (RIP), and John Banner, this time NOT playing a German Stalag guard.

Friday 09/28/07

2:30 PM The Movie Channel
Twelve and Holding (2005 USA): It's déjà vu all over again! Two weeks back, I got my wires crossed somehow and listed some incorrect times for this film. This time I think I've got things straightened out. Director Michael Cuesta's L.I.E. was one of the best films I've ever seen about adolescent sexuality, so I was quite excited about the release of Twelve and Holding, especially as it came out the same year my own son turned 12. As luck would have it, I didn't recognize a whole lot of my child in the film, but it's still a hell of an effort notwithstanding. Revolving around the trials and tribulations of three New Jersey families, Cuesta's film stars Conor Donovan as the Carges twins, 12-year-old brothers who, in consort with overweight chum Leonard (Jesse Camacho), get into big trouble one day in their tree house. Also living through the pains of pubescence is Malee (Zoe Weizenbaum), who has a crush on the same construction worker her mother (Annabella Sciorra) is lusting after. Saddled with adult-size problems they don't fully comprehend, these edge-of-adolescence tweenies undergo some pretty serious growing pains throughout the film, and the end result is a thoughtful, realistic, and frequently uncomfortable viewing experience. Also airs at 5:30 PM.

7:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Vice Versa (1948 GB): Remade as a Judge Reinhold feature in 1988, Vice Versa features Roger Livesey as 1880s businessman Paul Bultitude, who changes places with his son Dick (Anthony Newley) after his wish for youth is fulfilled by a magical Indian gemstone. Sent off to boarding school, the now pint-sized stockbroker can't break his cigar smoking habit—any more than his son can now adapt to his new role as the prim and proper master of the house. Directed by Peter Ustinov, Vice Versa is a delightful body-switch fantasy also involving mice, an elephant, and a bloodthirsty Pekinese. Petula Clark co-stars as the lovely young daughter of school headmaster Grimstone (James Robertson Justice), and keep your eyes peeled for James Hayter and Alfie Bass. Strangely enough, the remake airs 9/26 on Showtime at 12:00 PM and 3:00 PM!

9 :00 PM IFC
Bubba Ho-Tep (2002 USA):Tivoplex (and BOP) favorite Bruce Campbell plays an aged Elvis Presley, sequestered in a retirement home with JFK (the great Ossie Davis), in this marvelous, mytho-poetic feature about America's two greatest 20th century heroes joining forces to battle against the undead. That might sound like a touch too much praise for what was probably intended as a low budget horror comedy by director Don Coscarelli (Phantasm), but Bubba Ho-Tep is as moving as it is funny, and I challenge the most cold-hearted of you not to tear up when JFK makes the ultimate sacrifice. Brian Tyler's elegiac score is the final icing on this surprisingly insightful cake. Also airs 9/29 at 12:15 AM.

Saturday 09/29/07

5:30 AM More Max
Supercross (2005 USA): I haven't seen this film set in the world of Motocross racing, but it's currently #95 on IMDb's Bottom 100. Knowledge is power, folks. Use it wisely.

6:00 AM Sundance
A Healthy Baby Girl (1997 USA): I really enjoyed Blue Vinyl, Judith Helfand's 2002 documentary about the dangers of vinyl siding. The film explored the carcinogenic qualities of this ubiquitous product, but maintained a cheery sense of humor in spite of all the depressing facts related by the film. Such is also the case in A Healthy Baby Girl, an earlier film from Helfand that examines the history of DES, a drug much-prescribed in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s to reduce the risk of miscarriage in pregnant women. In 1971, its efficacy was called into question, and DES turned out to be a carcinogen—and in 1991, Helfand, whose mother took the drug during her pregnancy, found herself with cancer at age 25 and in need of a full hysterectomy. We can only wonder what pharmacological nightmares are currently percolating in the nation's medicine chests—but they'll probably be worse than a case of dry mouth or a bout of priapism.

6:00 PM IFC
After Hours (1985 USA): After the box office failure of 1983's King of Comedy, disappointed director Martin Scorsese decided to test himself to see if he could still make a successful low budget picture. The result was After Hours, one of his finest films and an overlooked classic that deserves a far more prominent place on the great man's resume. It's another of his loving tributes to New York City, this time conveyed through the innocent eyes of a lonely computer programmer played by Griffin Dunne. Dunne, who remains an underutilized comic actor to this day, meets Rosanna Arquette in a coffee shop, determines to date her, and then gets sucked into a maelstrom of hilarious misfortune as he stumbles around the streets of an eerily deserted Lower Manhattan. The cast is full of familiar and welcome faces, including Dick Miller, Linda Fiorentino, Victor Argo, and Cheech and Chong, and the film also features Teri Garr's finest hour as a retro diner waitress who has trust issues with men. As an added bonus, Howard Shore's minimalist score is one of the best and most effective of his career. Also airs 9/30 at midnight.

Sunday 09/30/07

9:00 PM Sundance
Ab-Normal Beauty (2004 HK): Hong Kong's Pang brothers wrote and directed this thriller about a troubled photographer (Race Wong) whose obsession with death gets out of hand after she takes a snapshot of a car crash victim. Her muse awakened by the corpse, our shutterbug heroine soon finds herself involved in the wonderful world of snuff films — and with a serial killer who fancies he's found a soul mate. It's not the most original premise in the world — the film definitely owes a debt to Takashi Miike's Audition — but the Pangs pull it off with style, and fans of Asian horror will be satiated.

Monday 10/01/07

9:35 PM Flix
Circle of Iron (1978 USA): Long a much sought after VHS rarity — I can't tell you how many times I get outbid for a copy on Ebay — Circle of Iron finally got a DVD release a couple of years back, and now makes a rare appearance on the small screen. Based in part on a story by Bruce Lee, the film stars David Carradine as a wise man trying to bring enlightenment to a stroppy young initiate (Jeff Cooper). So far so Kung Fu, but Circle of Iron goes much further over the edge than that relatively unambitious TV series ever did, featuring a bad guy played by Christopher Lee, a eunuch-in-waiting played by Eli Wallach, and a screenplay full of ripe dialogue supplied by Sterling Silliphant, of all people. Not to be missed by fans of the outré or psychotronic, Circle of Iron also features a hammy performance by Roddy McDowell as White Robe, arbiter of all things ethical vis a vis the martial arts.