By John Seal
May 12 - May 18, 2003
From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or under-appreciated - they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times PDT.
Monday 05/12/03
1:00 AM Showtime
Paperhouse (1988 GB): This haunting British film tells the story of a fever-wracked 11-year-old drawn into the fantasy world she has created on paper whilst in her sickbed. Played by amateur actress Charlotte Burke, the young girl floats between reality and fantasy, until the two become intertwined and impossible to distinguish. Written by Matthew Jacobs (The Emperor’s New Groove) and featuring a haunting score by Stanley Myers (with an assist from a young Hans Zimmer), Paperhouse is an excellent and unheralded spooky movie, with considerable appeal for non-genre moviegoers. Also airs at 4:00 AM.
9:00 AM Fox Movies
Rogue Male (1976 GB): A superior made for television thriller, this BBC production stars Peter O’Toole as a would-be (fictional) assassin out to kill Adolf Hitler in pre-World War II Europe. Adapted for the small screen by American-born writer Frederic Raphael (earlier responsible for excellent screenplays such as Darling (1965 GB) and Far from the Madding Crowd (1967 GB), this taut thriller co-stars playwright Harold Pinter and features former St. Trinian’s head Alistair Sim in his penultimate performance. Also airs at 11:00 PM.
6:00 PM Sundance
Vakvagany (2002 HUN): This week’s speculative pick sounds thoroughly strange yet strangely appealing. It’s a cut and paste collection of old home movie footage, shot between 1948 and 1964 by an Hungarian family and collected, edited and interpreted by not only the filmmakers (American Benjamin Meade and Magyar Andras Suranyi), but their panel of “experts,” including the late great experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage, author James Ellroy, and psychiatrist Roy Menninger. Let the furrowing of the brows begin. Also airs 5/18 at 1:30 PM.
Tuesday 05/13/03
12:30 PM Turner Classic Movies
Bound For Glory (1976 USA): The last time this aired on TCM, host Robert Osborn interviewed cinematographer Haskell Wexler regarding his Academy Award winning work on this film. I don’t know if that illuminating interview will re-aired tonight - probably not - but Bound For Glory is worth watching regardless. The story of folk singer and activist Woody Guthrie (played here to perfection by David Carradine), the film is also the story of the Depression, the Dust Bowl, and the labor movement of the 1930s. Of particular note is the performance of Ronny Cox as Guthrie compatriot Ozark Blue and the film also features Randy Quaid and Ji Tu Cumbuka. If you enjoy riding the rails, picking crops, or simply singing along to This Land Is Your Land, this is your film.
9:00 PM More Max
Nueve Reinas (2000 ARG): The world’s first philatelic thriller (unless you count Krzysztof Kieslowski’s short 1988 Dekalog morality play, Thy Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Goods), Nueve Reinas (Nine Queens) involves a couple of small time hoods with a batch of counterfeit postage stamps. If they can pass them for real, they’ll be set for life…but this being a caper film, you know things aren’t going to be that easy. The winner of numerous Argentinian film awards, this is a slick, well made, and satisfying diversion.
10:45 PM Encore True Stories
Withnail and I (1987 GB): Could someone please explain to me why this is on the “True Stories” channel? Perhaps screenwriter-director Bruce Robinson DID base this film on some of his own experiences in late ’60s London, but it’s hardly a straight autobiography. Pedantic grumbling aside, Withnail is a caustic and hilarious take on the counterculture of the period and features the cinematic debut of the scathingly funny Richard E. Grant, an actor who has never received the acclaim he has deserved, even when featured in popular films like Gosford Park (2001 GB). He’s at his acerbic best here, and anyone who likes their comedy black with no sugar will surely appreciate this film.
Wednesday 05/14/03
3:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Frisco Jenny (1932 USA): TCM continues their celebration of Women’s History Month (yes, it happens every March) with this rare pre-Code Warners’ drama starring Ruth Chatterton as a San Francisco madame. Louis Calhern costars as her evil sidekick, who’s determined to kill the meddling District Attorney - who just happens to be Chatterton’s son. Chatterton was one of the better actresses of her time but, like TiVoPlex favorite Aline MacMahon, is all but forgotten today. Look for J. Carrol Naish and Clarence Muse in bit parts.
2:45 AM More Max
Liam (2000 GB): Stephen Frears' film about poverty in 1930s Liverpool is a fine - at times great - film, at least until the absurd conclusion. Jimmy McGovern's screenplay is superb until the final ten minutes. I won't give away the ending, and I heartily recommend the rest of the film, but the way the story barrels along in an effort to tie up its loose strings is very disappointing, especially after the careful and deliberate pacing of the first 80 minutes. Beyond this serious flaw, Liam has a tremendously likable and drop-dead cute lead in little Anthony Borrows, who couldn't have been more than five when he made this film, and solid grown-up stars in Ian Hart and Claire Hackett. Trivia fans please note: Hart has played John Lennon twice…and Anthony Borrows has played him once! Cue The Twilight Zone theme.
9:00 AM Fox Movies
The Jackals (1967 RSA): In what is probably the only entry in the category of “voortrekker” westerns, Vincent Price plays a gold miner whose haul becomes the target of five bank robbers. Love interest for leading man Robert Gunner is provided by the oddly effective Diana Ivarson (who apparently never made another film) as Price's granddaughter. This remake of 1948’s Yellow Sky is quite enjoyable if somewhat disconcerting due to the British and Afrikaaner accents of the leading players who are also decked out in typical “western” garb. Also airs at 11:00 PM.
6:00 PM Showtime 2
Scrubbers (1982 GB): Here’s one for the oddities file, another women in prison film, this time set in Britain and written and directed by Swedish émigré Mai Zetterling. Zetterling actually had a brief directorial career in Sweden but is best known in America as an actress in films like Knock On Wood (1954 USA) and The Witches (1990 GB). This is a predictably gritty take on the theme, but benefits from a decent cast, including Kathy Burke (her film debut), Robbie Coltrane, and Fatal Microbes singer Honey Bane in her only cinema appearance. Sadly, she doesn’t get the opportunity to sing her group’s indie chart hit, Violence Grows. Also airs 5/17 at 7:00 PM.
Thursday 05/15/03
12:15 AM Sundance Channel
Burnt Money (2000 ARG-FRA-ESP-URU): In case Nueve Reinas didn’t fulfill your South American crime drama needs for the week, here’s another entry in the genre! Based on a true case in 1965, Burnt Money is a cross between Dog Day Afternoon (1973 USA) and The Getaway (1972 USA), with a pair of gay Argentinean bank robbers attempting to cross the Uruguayan border with their loot. Apparently their exploits acquired legendary status in the pampas akin to that of Bonnie and Clyde in the farmlands of America. Released in the same year as Nueve Reinas, the two films went head to head at the Argentinean Film Critics Awards, with this film getting the short end of the stick - a single Silver Condor for Best Screenplay. Watch them both this week and decide if the Argentinean critics got things right.
10:15 AM HBO 2
Blue Vinyl (2002 USA): Thinking of adding some vinyl siding to your house? You may have second thoughts after watching this documentary about the health and environmental hazards of household plastics. Sounds dull and unpleasant, but the film is well made and at times wistfully humorous. If you go ahead with the siding plan after watching this you may want to consider investing in one of those nifty biohazard suits. Also airs at 1:15 PM.
Friday 05/16/03
1:45 AM Black Starz
Welcome to the Club (1971 USA): This impossibly rare Columbia comedy about racism in the U. S. military was the only film directed by producer Walter Shenson (A Hard Day’s Night, Help!). Screenwriter Clement Biddle Wood based the script on his own novel, and Wood’s body of work suggests this might be interesting, including as it does part credit for 1969’s Spirits of the Dead as well as well regarded oddities like 1974’s Woman With Red Boots (newly available on DVD) and Juan Luis Bunuel’s Leonor (1975 FRA-ESP-ITA).
9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Enter the Dragon (1973 USA): This unlikely entry in the TCM schedule was the film that helped Bruce Lee become the first Asian actor to matter on American screens, and paved the way for countless martial arts epics since. Co-starring former teen heartthrob John Saxon and Jim Kelly as his companions in battle against a drug-dealing bad guy in Hong Kong, Enter the Dragon also features genre regulars like Bolo Yeung and Angela Mao. Pan and scan screenings severely compromise this film, so TCM’s letterboxed print is your best chance to see this groundbreaking film the way it was meant to be seen.
Saturday 05/17/03
5:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The One That Got Away (1957 GB): There have been plenty of films made about plucky Britishers and cocky Yanks breaking out of Stalag What-Have-You, but this is probably the only feature to date about a German POW escaping from an Allied camp and returning to the Fatherland. It’s based on the true story of Oberleutnant Franz von Werra, a Luftwaffe pilot shot down over Britain, and stars Hardy Kruger as the daring Deutschlander. This is a solid and enjoyable film from Britain’s Rank Organisation, nicely directed by former Gainsborough tea boy Roy Ward Baker and well shot by Eric Cross - still apparently with us today at the ago of 100.
Sunday 05/18/03
9:30 AM Black Starz
Zebrahead (1992 USA): This tale of racial unease in suburban Detroit takes place in a world a million miles from Eminem's 8 Mile. The film features the debut of Michael Rapaport, who went on to equally memorable roles in Handgun (1994 USA) and Bamboozled (2001 USA), and he's outstanding as a white youth trying to cross over to the African-American social scene. The film doesn't offer easy or pat answers to the conundrums of racial identity, and it's a shame that writer/director Anthony Drazan hasn't done much since. Also airs at 5:00 PM.
9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Metropolis (1926 GER): In case you missed the May 5th television world premiere of this newly restored silent science fiction classic, here’s your second and final chance to catch it for the foreseeable future. If you want to see from where Ridley Scott stole his ideas for Blade Runner, look no further.
