By John Seal
March 10-16, 2003
From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated - they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times PST.
Monday 03/10/03
1:35 AM Encore Mystery
The Last of Sheila (1973 USA): Movie star deaths are a regular event, but it’s not often they really shock me. James Coburn seemed indestructible, a force of nature who was back on his game again in the late ‘90s with a meaty role in Affliction and a delightful cameo in Mel Gibson’s Payback. I hadn’t seen him in anything since then, though I was aware of his voice acting in Monsters, Inc. It’s hard to imagine a world without Derek Flint or Dr. Sidney Schaefer, but we must adapt. The Last of Sheila is prime mid-period Coburn, a satisfying mystery involving a wealthy playboy (guess who) who invites friends for a week on his yacht and engages them in a game of crime that turns deadly. Surprisingly well written by a very odd duo - actor Anthony Perkins and composer Stephen Sondheim - the film is well directed by Herbert Ross (Play It Again, Sam, Pennies From Heaven) and features appearances by James Mason, Ian McShane, and TiVoPlex favorite Dyan Cannon, and costume design by - wait for it - Joel Schumacher. I’m not making this up!
7:00 AM Sundance
Ballad of A Soldier (1959 RUS): Sometimes I recommend films I haven’t seen in 20 years or more, basing my opinions on dim memories from countless trips to long gone movie palaces like the UC Theatre or the Telegraph Repertory. Now that I’ve seen this one again, I’m pleased to issue an even more fervid recommendation than previously. Ballad of A Soldier is a very simple story of a Russian infantryman (Volodya Ivashov) who stumbles into committing an act of bravery. Impressed by his ability to knock out two German tanks, his commanding officer grants him a leave to fix the family roof. He has six days to get home, fix the roof, and return to the front, and numerous obstacles get in his way, including an overburdened rail system, a legless Russian veteran (played brilliantly by Yevgeni Urbansky, who looks a bit like Marlon Brando) in need of help, a recalcitrant railway guard who responds to bribery, and - most importantly - a young woman (Zhanna Prokorenko) who falls in love with him. The film is deeply moving without being in the least bit sentimental and is gorgeous to look at, featuring magnificent and superbly framed black and white cinematography by Vladimir Nikolayev and Era Savelyeva. Try watching it without at least getting a lump in your throat.
8:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Caine Mutiny (1954 USA): Making a return engagement to TCM during Oscar month, The Caine Mutiny netted seven nominations - including one for Bogie - but sadly didn’t take home any gongs. I first saw this film when I was, oh, 11 or 12, and I spent the next few days walking around the house, rolling my fingers together and muttering “the shtrawberries! The shtrawberries!”. I’ve since read Herman Wouk’s novel of the same name, but the film is actually better, paring down Wouk’s tendency to overwrite in favor of a lean narrative about military loyalty, competence, and cowardice. Humphrey Bogart stars as the wretched Captain Queeg, assigned to command the sloppiest ship in the U.S. Navy. On the surface he seems like the right man for the job, whipping the sailors into shape and clamping down on disorder and sloth. When the U.S.S. Caine heads into action, however, things start to go horribly wrong, and it’s up to the ship’s other officers - played by Fred MacMurray, Jose Ferrer, and Van Johnson - to set a new course.
4:00 PM HBO Family
The Little Prince (1974 USA): I haven’t seen this film, nor have I read Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s book, but the film’s pedigree is enough to attract my interest - plus I never recommend anything on HBO Family, so this seemed like a nice way to get that channel into the TiVoPlex mix. Produced and directed by Stanley Donen, the film has an irresistible cast, including peak-period Gene Wilder, Clive Revill, Bob Fosse, and Victor Spinetti. Also airs at 7:00 PM.
7:00 PM Fox Movies
Joanna (1968 GB): This is not a good film. Having got that out of the way, it would be a dereliction of duty if I were not to report that Fox is airing - for the first time - a letterboxed print of this Swinging London time capsule. If any of you took my advice and watched the widescreen Modesty Blaise that recently aired, you know that this film’s new print was stunningly beautiful and made up for a lot the story’s considerable shortcomings. In short: I’m expecting Joanna to look just as good, and I’m willing to overlook the ridiculous story, bad acting and dreadful Rod McKuen music.
Tuesday 03/11/03
11:00 AM Sundance
Kurt and Courtney (1998 GB): Nick Broomfield (Heidi Fleiss: American Madam, Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer, and the more recent Biggie and Tupac), the not-so-enfant terrible of cinema vérité, has made an incredibly entertaining but dubiously documented film about the death of Kurt Cobain and what he clearly thinks is some sort of Faustian bargain made by Cobain's widow, the not-very-talented Courtney Love. If you take it with a grain of salt, you’ll be vastly entertained by the parade of losers on display, especially the late Mentors singer El Duce, who claims he was hired to kill Kurt. El Duce was regrettably killed shortly after being filmed by Broomfield when he lay down on some railroad tracks. I bet he ate yellow snow and put Q-Tips into his ear canal, too. To quote the great Henry Silva in Amazon Women of the Moon, “Bullshit…or not? You decide!” Also airs 3/12 at 1:30 AM.
3:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Asphalt Jungle (1950 USA): This gritty John Huston crime drama copped four Oscar nominations but also failed to bring home any gold. It’s a very early example of the caper flick, with the maleficent brain of Sam Jaffe setting up the big hit for his gang of no-goods (Sterling Hayden, James Whitmore, Louis Calhern, and Anthony Caruso). The cast is uniformly good, but the bookish Jaffe steals the show as the Hans Moleman-style criminal mastermind. There are small roles for Marilyn Monroe and long-time bad guy Marc Lawrence, and the film is nicely shot by Harold Rosson - who earned one of those nominations.
9:00 PM More Max
Last Orders (2001 GB): Here’s one of those small scale British dramas that slink onto the screen at the back of the multiplex for a week and then swiftly disappear. Widely praised on its release, I missed it in the cinema, but I imagine it’ll transfer well to the small screen. The story of a group of old friends reunited by the passing of an old compatriot, Last Orders assembled a veteran cast of British talent (Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, David Hemmings, Tom Courtenay, Ray Winstone, and Helen Mirren) and was written and directed by Australian Fred Schepisi (The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Fierce Creatures).
9:55 PM Sundance
The Isle (2000 ROK): I’m really only beginning to dip my toes into Korean cinema, primarily thanks to Sundance, who are periodically airing films from Kim Jong Il’s favorite neighbor to the south. The Isle sounds intriguing - a woman rescues a man with a fish hook, establishing a bizarre pleasure/pain relationship - but has evinced a wide range of reactions from viewers. Apparently there’s some animal cruelty on display, so the squeamish should probably avoid it. The speculative pick o’ the week, and one I hope to report back on in future columns - providing its actually any good.
Wednesday 03/12/03
7:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
White Heat (1948 USA): Other than Gone With the Wind’s “Frankly Scarlet”, I can’t think of another film that has left such a memorable quote in cultural memory (well, The Hudsucker Proxy’s “You know…for kids!” is a close runner-up). Yes, this is the film where James Cagney screams “Made it, Ma! Top o’ the world!” at the top of his lungs. The movie lives up to its title, with director Raoul Walsh upping the ante on the gangster films of the 1930s. Edmond O’Brien, still lithe and handsome, co-stars as the cop assigned to infiltrate Cagney’s criminal organization. White Heat is a brutal film for the time, with heightened levels of violence and sadism that would have been unacceptable on pre-World War II American screens, and the finale - set in a Long Beach oil refinery - is amazing.
8:15 PM Flix
Spetters (1980 HOL): Sadly, Flix is utilizing a dubbed print of Paul Verhoeven’s motorcycle classic, but it’s still worth watching. At times the film stretches the credulity of the audience - one supposes it’s possible (though unlikely) for someone to be subjected to homosexual gang rape and then decide they were gay all along - but the characters are strangely intriguing and the tragic narrative steamroller simply sucks the viewer in. Renee Soutendijk was the film’s marketing tool in America (her penchant for extremely thin tee shirts determined that angle), but she’s more than just a pretty face as the proprietor of a chip shop on wheels, maintaining an enigmatic presence until the very end. The only other actor U.S. audiences will recognize is Rutger Hauer, here cast as a rather snotty motorcycle champion, but the bulk of the acting rests on the shoulders of three young Dutch actors whose relative anonymity adds a patina of realism to the proceedings. Lots of people dislike Ton Scherpenzeel’s emotive score, but I rather like it.
Thursday 03/13/03
1:20 AM The Movie Channel
Amazon (1990 USA-FIN): Amazon manages to make a decent case for rain forest preservation without bashing us over the head with that predictable thesis. The film's major weakness is, also predictably, its star turn by the acting-challenged Rae Dawn Chong, who fills in needlessly as the love interest. Otherwise this is a leisurely-paced but intriguing look at the greed driving the (presumably ongoing) deforestation of this ecological landmark.
Director Mika (brother of Aki) Kaurismaki has clearly cribbed a lot from the Werner Herzog playbook, as there are many echoes of both Fitzcarraldo (with the Caterpillar filling in for the riverboat) and Aguirre, the Wrath of God. Also airs at 4:20 AM.
2:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
Dynamite (1929 USA): Could Cecil B. DeMille direct a small, character-driven picture? Well, try one from column A and one from column B. It’s true that this drama of tangled love and complicated relationships doesn’t feature any chariot races or sea partings, nor do any Christians get fed to jungle beasts. At the same time, DeMille couldn’t resist his penchant for dragging things out, and the result is a somewhat bloated 129 minute soap opera. Worth looking at for the cast - Conrad Nagel, Joel McCrea, and Kay Johnson - and the art direction of Oscar-nominee Mitchell Leisen.
1:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Great Dictator (1940 USA): I’ve never been a huge fan of Charles Chaplin - TiVoPlex regulars know that my tastes tend toward the Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd schools - but this is by any measure a great film, and probably my personal favorite of Chaplin’s. If you caught TCM’s original documentary The Tramp and the Dictator a few months ago your appreciation for this comedy will be considerably heightened, but even if you didn’t you’ll enjoy this satirical stab at fascism. Chaplin’s take on Hitler is deservedly what people remember - his sequence with the inflated globe is one of the most beautifully choreographed scenes you’ll ever see - but it’s important not to overlook Jack Oakie’s spot-on interpretation of Mussolini.
9:30 PM The Movie Channel
Last Tango Paris In Paris (1972 ITA-FRA): I’ve never seen this controversial Marlon Brando feature, shot on the continent by Bernardo Bertolucci, so I can’t comment on its qualities or worthiness - though it certainly has a reputation, albeit one that rests on the steamy sex scenes between Brando and co-star Maria Schneider which earned the film an X-rating upon its initial release. It’s in this week’s column because the film hasn’t aired on cable in years, and is being shown widescreen by TMC, a channel that suddenly seems to be taking some programming chances. Also airs 3/14 at 12:30 AM.
Friday 03/14/03
5:00 AM The Movie Channel
Skateboard (1978 USA): A few weeks back I recommended the documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys and made some rather snotty comments about the skateboarding community, for which I apologize. (Note to skaters: apologize is a big word meaning I’m sorry.) Now that I’ve seen Dogtown, a film like Skateboard actually makes some sense, as it features one of the young athletes covered in considerable depth by that film. Yes, young Tony Alva actually parlayed his skating prowess into a brief movie career. The film is the implausible but engaging story of the LA Wheels, a “professional” team of adolescents traveling the skateboard circuit of Southern California. Allen Garfield plays their mentor and manager, and he is surprisingly effective as the desperate Manny Blum who needs cash to pay off gangster Antony Carbone. Kathleen Lloyd provides a touch of class as his assistant coach and the kids of the skate team seem to be having fun. An excellent family film that goes out of its way to eschew profanity, Skateboard has a happy ending for everyone, including the hoodlum.
11:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Blue Lagoon (1980 USA): This column has a rule of thumb: try and recommend at least two films a day. Some days are harder than others and some days are so loaded with goodies I sometimes cut some stuff out. Today we have a distinct example of the former. My excuse is that The Blue Lagoon doesn’t get shown very often, it’s being aired in widescreen, and Robert Osborne will no doubt point out something interesting and worthy about it - probably Nestor Almendro’s Academy Award nominated cinematography.
Saturday 03/15/03
5:00 AM IFC
The Blind Swordsman and the Fugitives (1968 JAP): While I really appreciate IFC’s Samurai Saturday as a concept, I wish they could show more than just the first dozen Zatoichi movies. C’mon, guys…the series went on for another dozen entries. There are plenty of other samurai movies to choose from, including some real rarities waiting to be discovered by an American television audience (I’m thinking Kihashi Okamoto’s Sword of Doom in particular). In the meantime, we take what we can get (an unfortunate mantra in the TiVoPlex). Don't be lulled to sleep by the (typical) orderly pacing of this Zatoichi entry: this was the bloodiest entry in the series to date. Add in an outstanding score from the unsung Hajime Kabarugi, and you have a winner! Also airs at 11:30 AM and 3/16 at 3:00 AM.
10:35 AM Starz
Supercop (1992 HK): Released in Hong Kong as Police Story III, I imagine this will be another poorly dubbed (and probably cut) version of this action classic. Thanks Dimension Films, we sure wouldn’t want to have to read those annoying subtitles! With Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, and Michelle Yeoh in the cast, however, we can grudgingly overlook Weinstein’s folly and just enjoy the martial arts. Perhaps with the sound turned all the way down. Also airs at 1:35 PM, 9:30 PM, and 3/16 at 12:30 AM.
10:35 AM Flix
Clouds Over Europe (1939 GB): Stubbornly resisting pigeonholing, this strange film - originally released as Q Planes - is an odd mix of science fiction, comedy, and intrigue, with Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson sharing center stage as British agents out to stop a nefarious foreign power from stealing experimental aircraft. Produced by the Korda brothers’ London Films, Clouds Over Europe is well directed by Tim Whelan, an American ex-pat also responsible for the 1940 version of Thief of Bagdad and 1937’s Mill On the Floss.
Sunday 03/16/03
8:30 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Man Who Would Be King (1975 GB): When people say “they don’t make ‘em like they used to”, this is the sort of film they’re unconsciously referring to, an old-fashioned Gunga Din style salute to the British Raj. Based on a story by arch-imperialist and Anglo-Indian Rudyard Kipling, this was adapted for the screen by director John Huston, who wisely cast Sean Connery and Michael Caine as two British NCO’s adopted as gods by the residents of the small fictional kingdom of Kafiristan. TCM is of course airing it widescreen, which is the only way to fully appreciate Oswald Morris’ (The Hill, Sleuth) terrific camera work, and the film is enlivened by bookend appearances from Christopher Plummer as Kipling himself. And while I’m thinking about Plummer, I’d just like to lodge a complaint with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for overlooking his performance as Ralph Nickleby in last year’s terrific remake of Nicholas Nickleby. Give the man a statue!
9:30 AM Sundance
Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press (1996 USA): George Seldes was a journalist and leftist gadfly from the 1920s through the 1950s. He started his career working for the conservative Chicago Tribune and founded a newsletter called In Fact that reported the news the mainstream media ignored. Tell the Truth and Run is not only the story of Seldes struggle to inform, it's also the story of American journalism and its unholy marriage with corporate America. The most remarkable segment involves his efforts, starting in 1942(!), to report the results of Johns Hopkins research that showed the dangers of cigarette smoking - news that the Surgeon General apparently ignored for 20 years. Now more relevant than ever, this is a must see film for critical thinkers of all political stripes.
