From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times PDT.
Tuesday 10/21/03
4:30am Cinemax Sebastian (1968 GB): This enjoyable snapshot of swinging London at the height of its hipness stars Dirk Bogarde as a cryptographer who compromises national security when he falls in love with a fellow mathematician (Susannah York). Based on a story by Leo Marks, the head cryptographer at Britain’s Special Operations Executive during World War II, Sebastian is an unusual film with a marvelous Jerry Goldsmith score and a terrific supporting cast, including Nigel Davenport, John Gielgud, Lilli Palmer, and Donald Sutherland, plus terrific location photography by Gerry Fisher. Long overdue for either a VHS or DVD release, here’s a rare opportunity to catch this one-of-a-kind film. Also airs at 7:30am.
1pm Turner Classic Movies High Wall (1947 USA): Robert Taylor stars as a brain-damaged man falsely committed to an asylum for the murder of his wife in this solid, if unremarkable, MGM psychological noir. In an interesting case of casting against type, Audrey Totter co-stars as the doctor determined to climb across the wall in Taylor’s mind that prevents him from remembering what actually happened. The immediate post-war period was the golden age for films focusing on psychoanalysis, with Alfred Hitchcock’s Spellbound (1945 USA) setting the pace, and films like The Snake Pit (1948 USA) underlining America’s newfound interest in the subconscious and Freudian psychology. Co-starring Herbert Marshall, H. B. Warner, and Morris Ankrum, High Wall doesn’t reach the exalted heights of those two films, but noir fans will want to make time for it.
6:30pm Sundance Songs for Cassavetes (2001 USA): Not sure what this has to do with the late actor John Cassavetes, but this looks like a good pick for fans of indie rock, as it surveys some of the most popular (well, within college radio circles, at least) acts of the last decade, including interviews with and performances by acts like Sleater-Kinney, Henry’s Dress, The Peechees, and the marvelous Hi-Fives. If you think Nirvana sold out and that Mudhoney were too mainstream, this is your film. Also airs 10/25 at 8pm.
Wednesday 10/22/03
1pm More Max Beavis and Butthead Do America (1996 USA): Hey, a guy’s allowed to go lowbrow every once in a while, isn’t he? It’s been a few years since this one showed up on the small screen, and with the show long since retired from MTV, this is the perfect time to reacquaint yourself with the antics of America’s third-favorite cast of cartoon characters (after The Simpsons and Itchy and Scratchy, of course). I could try and put Beavis and Butthead into a postmodern context, or write about the underlying homoerotic subtext of the show, or even suggest that it’s time for Beavis and Butthead to be subjected to a post-colonial, post-feminist re-interpretation, but I won’t. I’ll simply remind you that this film features the funniest animated psychedelic experience you’re ever likely to see...or, at least, until The Simpsons tackles the subject again.
5pm Turner Classic Movies The Sugarland Express (1974 USA): The forgotten film in Steven Spielberg’s filmography, The Sugarland Express deserves a somewhat kinder fate than the one it has heretofore received. The then-very-popular Goldie Hawn stars as the wife of a prison inmate (William Atherton) whose toddler has been placed in foster care by overzealous state officials. She plots to spring her husband from jail and, once together again, the couple complete the family reunion by liberating their child, Raising Arizona-style. Matters are complicated, however, when they take a policeman (Ben Johnson, great as usual) hostage, and the film climaxes with a terrific cross-Texas car chase. It’s airing wide-screen, of course, so you can fully appreciate Vilmos Zsigmond’s typically superb cinematography, and as an added bonus, the early John Williams score totally avoids his usual syrupy excesses.
Thursday 10/23/03
5:15am HBO 2 American Standoff (2002 USA): Barbara Kopple, the woman behind the incomparable Harlan County USA, produced this equally impressive documentary about the American labor movement. Focusing on the struggle between the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the corporate bean-counters at Overnite Transportation (and their parent company, Union Pacific), the film also features the battle between the overly slick James P. Hoffa and the reforming forces of Ron Carey as a backdrop. It'll be a stony-hearted viewer who doesn't come away from American Standoff without a slightly revised opinion of Hoffa and his father, who are presented in a somewhat favorable but not entirely uncritical light, but the real heroes are, of course, the stalwart employees who, to this day, are manning the picket lines in front of Overnite terminals across the country. This is a tremendously moving film that should make all shipping managers check to make sure they're only dealing with union freight lines.
2:30pm Sundance Mountain Men and Holy Wars (2003 USA): This remarkable yet succinct documentary tells the story of Imam Shamil, a legendary Chechen warrior of the 19th century who fought a long (and ultimately, losing) 40-year war against the Russian empire. Shamil remains a folk hero in the Muslim countries of the Caucasus, the mountainous and unruly region that may be one of the next battlefields in Dear Leader George Bush’s “War on Terror”. Bringing the story up to date, the film includes shocking footage of the Chechen takeover of a Moscow theater last year (and the disgusting aftermath perpetrated by Russian special forces), and focuses on the current rebel leader, the unrelated (though also magnificently bearded) Shamil Basayev, the Che Guevara of his people. The landscape of Chechnya is hauntingly beautiful, the history tragic and the outlook unhappy, especially should the United States become embroiled in another oil war in the Muslim-dominated neighbor nation of Azerbaijan.
Friday 10/24/03
12:15pm Encore Mystery The Tingler (1959 USA): Producer and ballyhoo artist William Castle made a
lot of films in his time, but this is probably the one people remember him
for...and with justification. Vincent Price stars as a physician who discovers
the mysterious 'Tingler', a strange creature that lives in vertebrates and,
once roused from slumber by a shot of fear-driven adrenaline, kills its
victims. This is a heady mixture of grand guignol thrills and over the top
emoting, with particular kudos to Judith Evelyn, who plays Price's patient,
a deaf-mute woman who runs a silent movie theatre-and ends up dead when she
asks her husband to work the ticket booth! You'll want to check underneath
your seat before watching The Tingler, and afterwards, you'll definitely
want to take extra precautions before you settle into the bathtub.
5pm Turner Classic Movies A Portrait of Jennie (1948 USA): It’s overly sentimental and ultimately ridiculous, but the combination of Joseph Cotten’s typically sublime performance and William Dieterle’s expressionistic direction elevate this weepy Selznick film into the recommended category. Cotten plays a struggling painter bereft of ideas, until he meets a young woman (Jennifer Jones) who changes his life and provides him with the inspiration he needs to put his concepts on canvas. Cotten begins to fall in love with her but is stymied by the reluctant Jones, who won’t (or can’t) reveal any of the relevant facts of her life. Bolstered by a solid supporting cast, including Ethel Barrymore, Lillian Gish, and David Wayne, and gauzily shot by cinematographer Joseph August, this is romantic fantasy of the highest order.
Saturday 10/25/03
7:55am Showtime Extreme Master of the Flying Guillotine (1975 HK): I rather imagine if there's a guillotine flying around that one would like to be its master, or at least to have mastery over it. Here's a kung-fu classic about the eponymous bad guy taking on a one-armed boxer. Doesn't sound fair, does it? Well, to complicate matters, the master of the flying guillotine is blind, so it's not quite the uneven match-up it seems at first blush. This is a heady and outrageous example of martial-arts filmmaking and will have even the most jaded viewers on the edge of their seats. Showtime has been airing a letterboxed print of this title, though it appears that may have been yanked in favor of a pan-and-scan copy. To which we say: boo.
11:30pm IFC The Company of Wolves (1984 GB): Neil Jordan’s gothic fairy tale is also a heck of a werewolf movie, featuring transformation effects as impressive as those in An American Werewolf in London (1981 GB-USA). Loaded with otherworldy atmosphere, the film features Angela Lansbury as a grandmother sharing cautionary tales with her granddaughter (Sarah Patterson), including the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Former Lemon Kitten Danielle Dax co-stars as a rather voracious wolfgirl and David Warner is on hand as Lansbury’s nervous wreck of a son. Based on the Angela Carter story of the same name, The Company of Wolves was director Jordan’s breakthrough feature, earning him the Director of the Year prize at the 1985 London Film Critics Awards. Also airs 10/26 at 3am.
REMEMBER TO TURN YOUR CLOCKS BACK AN HOUR!
Sunday 10/26/03
10am HBO Terror in Moscow (2003 USA): If Mountain Men and Holy Wars whetted your appetite for things Chechen, this HBO original documentary (premiering this month) should serve as the main course. Detailing the October 2002 seizure of 700 Russian citizens by three dozen Chechen rebels in a theater in the heart of Moscow, this film will probably be the closest we’ll get to the truth of what happened over the course of the three-day seige that followed. Featuring footage shot by a theater stagehand, a Chechen soldier, and television reporters outside the theater, Terror in Moscow ends, of course, with the building being inundated with poison gas and stormed by Russian special forces, resulting in the tragic deaths of over 100 hostages as well as the execution of all 41 Chechens.
9pm Turner Classic Movies The Eyes of the Mummy(1918 GER): The first time this silent rarity popped up on the TCM schedule - a year or two back, I think - I was agog with excitement. After watching the film, I was a-gagging about how bad it was. Nevertheless, this is only way you can see this film, as it has yet to appear on VHS or DVD. Starring Emil Jannings and Pola Negri, The Eyes of the Mummy barely qualifies as a horror film, playing more like a low-budget Cecil B. DeMille potboiler. Definitely more trick than treat, this is included here simply because it’s very old and very rare.
Monday 10/28/03
10am HBO Long Night’s Journey into Day (2000 USA): South Africa’s unique approach to justice in the post-apartheid era - Bishop Desmond Tutu’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission - is the subject of this excellent documentary from the editor and cinematographer of the equally fine Times of Harvey Milk (1984 USA). Regardless of the ethnicity of the victims or criminals, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s goal was not to punish, but to forgive, as long as the actual facts of the individual cases came to light and those responsible admitted their guilt. Focusing on four apartheid-era crimes - the murder of American Amy Biel, the murder of an African man by a white policeman, the murder of white civilians by ANC activists, and the murder of four African men by white police with the aid and complicity of a black informer - Long Night’s Journey into Day went on to win the Grand Jury Prize at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival.
9:30pm Sundance The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979 BRD): For those who missed it last month, here’s a repeat of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s brilliant tribute to Mildred Pierce. Hanna Schygulla stars as a German woman ruthlessly climbing the corporate ladder during the post-World War II West German wirtschaftswunder, all the while waiting for her husband’s release from jail after his false conviction for the murder of an American soldier found sleeping with his wife. Schygulla’s rise to the top is aided by soft-hearted corporate big-wig Ivan Desny (a star of countless ‘60s and ‘70s Eurotrash films), whose attempts to woo her are alternately encouraged and rebuffed by the mercurial Schygulla. She’s outstanding as the fesity Braun, but also notable is Hark Bohm as Desny’s fishfaced accountant and business partner, Senkenberg. Magnificently shot by Fassbinder regular Michael Ballhaus, this is a terrific entry in Fassbinder’s so-called BRD trilogy, which also includes Lola (1981) and the excellent Veronika Voss (1982).
