From the obscure to the obscurest to the merely overlooked or underappreciated; they all have a home in the TiVoPlex! All times PDT.
Tuesday 11/11/03
1:30pm Turner Classic Movies On Dangerous Ground (1952 USA): This above-average pseudo-noir stars Robert Ryan as a tough big-city cop sent to the countryside to regain his composure after brutalizing one suspect too many at the station house. Once in the sticks he falls in love with beautiful (but blind) Ida Lupino, whose brother (Sumner Williams) also happens to be the chief suspect in the case Ryan’s now investigating. Expertly directed by Nicholas Ray, and solidly written by A. I. Bezzerides (responsible for arguably the greatest paranoid thriller of all time, Kiss Me Deadly), On Dangerous Ground is a top-notch genre entry and a great showcase for both Ryan and Lupino. As an extra added incentive for soundtrack buffs, the film features one of Bernard Herrmann’s least-heard scores.
2:30pm HBO 2 The Struma (2001 GB): It could rely a little less on its relentless tugs at the heartstrings, but The Struma remains a solid Holocaust documentary about a ship of Jewish refugees adrift in the Black Sea circa 1941, rejected by the governments of Britain and Turkey and ultimately sunk by a Soviet submarine. The highlight of the film is undoubtedly the extended contemporary interviews with the sole survivor of the disaster, David Stoliar, who not only beat the odds in the icy waters, but appears remarkably youthful 60 years after the fact. There’s also a wealth of contemporary newsreel footage to help tell the story, along with less illuminating personal contributions from film crew members and relatives of the victims.
9pm More Max Max (2002 USA): Appropriately making its cable bow on a Max channel, Max was a controversial art-house hit last year. Starring Noah Taylor (who played am ambitious Jewish peasant in 1999’s Simon Magus) as Adolph Hitler and John Cusack as his art-dealer friend during the immediate post-World War I years, the film generated critical heat for presenting Hitler as less than the fully-formed monster he was to become by the 1920s. If you missed its week-long run at the local artplex, here’s an opportunity to make up your own mind: is Max a tasteless example of historical revisionism, or a bold statement about the power of art? Also airs 11/14 at 10:35am.
Wednesday 11/12/03
1:30am Turner Classic Movies Two Against the World (1932 USA): This obscure Warner’s courtroom drama stars Constance Bennett and Neil (Commissioner Gordon) Hamilton as lovers entangled in a murder case. It’s nothing particularly special, but it is a genuine rarity, nicely shot (as always) by Charles Rosher and snappily directed by Archie Mayo, the man who generally took the reins on crime pictures at Warner’s when Mervyn LeRoy was otherwise engaged. Watch for TiVoPlex favorite Luis Alberni in an uncredited cameo role.
9:01am Fox Movies The Incident (1967 USA): One of the first films to capture and exploit the overwhelming fear of crime that was to define the city of New York in the '70s and early '80s, The Incident stars Tony Musante and a young Martin Sheen as two toughs who take over a subway car and terrorize the passengers. Directed by Bronx native Larry Peerce, who started his career with the flawed but fascinating racial drama One Potato Two Potato, this is a somewhat dated but still powerful piece of filmmaking with an interesting supporting cast, including Beau Bridges, Ruby Dee, Jack Gilford, Thelma Ritter, Brock Peters, and, ah, Ed McMahon. Brilliantly shot in stark black-and-white by Gerald Hirschfeld (Fail-Safe), The Incident remains a riveting and gut-wrenching experience. Also airs at 11:01pm.
2:30pm HBO Signature Nine Good Teeth (2002 USA): Most of the documentaries I recommend in TiVoPlex are thoroughly depressing though illuminating. Here’s one that is uplifting and positive: director Alex Halpern’s cinematic love song to his (then 96-year-old, now 103-year-old) grandmother, the daughter of Italian immigrants and the matriarch of a huge extended family. Mary Mirabito Livornese Cavaliere tells the story of her life and illuminates the Italian immigrant experience in 20th-century New York City. She’s incredibly endearing, utterly vital, and at times brutally honest as she dissects the foibles and follies of her daughter (now a remarkably young-looking 70-year-old), her parents and siblings, and her two husbands, one of whom waited 30 years before asking her to marry him in 1967. A must-see.
Thursday 11/13/03
1am Encore Mystery The Lineup (1958 USA): Lots of films have been shot in San Francisco, but few present as many views of the City by the Bay as this one. Here's what we see: Pier 41 and the Embarcadero, Coit Tower, The Ferry Building, The Cliff House, Sutro's Baths (after the closure of the swimming baths in 1954, but during the heyday of the skating rink that took one of the bath's place until 1966; this is probably the only motion picture featuring this rare sight), lots of neighborhoods, and - to top it all off - a car chase on the then-under construction Embarcadero Freeway (since torn down due to earthquake hazard)! Add in a truly exciting and relatively believable story of drug smuggling - certainly cutting-edge stuff in 1958 - and you have a great little film. Of particular note is Robert Keith (the sheriff in 1954's The Wild One, and father of actor Brian Keith) as one of the twisted criminals. Whenever co-villain Eli Wallach kills someone, Keith writes down the victim's “final words” in his little black book. And in the Some Things Never Change Department, Oakland's Lake Merritt is cited by one of the film's numerous junkies as the location of a taxi theft!
2:35am More Max The Man Who Talks to Whales (1975 USA): I haven’t seen this film; heck, I’d never even heard of it before finding it buried deep in the Cinemax schedule. And of course, in the twisted world of the TiVoPlex, that means I’d better give it a mention. Starring a grey whale named Gigi and cinema bad=guy Victor Jory (here, apparently, playing a loveable grandpa), the film follows Jory and his grandson (Byrd Baker) as they track the progress of their maritime chum. Fans of Free Willy, rejoice! Action movie fans, run for your lives!
9:35pm Encore Mystery Wasabi (2001 FRA-JAP): I recommended this Jean Reno action-comedy last week sight unseen, but now that I’ve watched it, I can offer it a recommendation, with reservations. Shot wide-screen, the film is being aired in a pan-and-scan print. Filmed in French and Japanese, Encore’s print has been dubbed into English. Those caveats aside, however, this is a rip-roaring genre film, with Reno terrific as the somewhat worldweary cop taking on Japanese yakuza intent on bilking his daughter of her late mother’s estate. Also of note is bug-eyed Austrian actor Michel Muller as Reno’s sidekick Momo. The dubbing is surprisingly good - I suspect Reno recorded his own English-langauge track - and at least the opening credits are letterboxed. You won’t learn as much about the East-West culture clash as you might in Lost In Translation, but you will have a heck of a good time. Also airs at 5pm.
Friday 11/14/03
1:15am Showtime Too Revolution (1968 USA): Oh, boy. This is only airing once this month, so old hippies and students of cultural studies should definitely set the timer for it. Filmed vérité style during San Francisco’s infamous Summer of Love in 1967, Revolution captures the counterculture zeitgeist of the Haight-Ashbury like no other film. Music is provided by Country Joe and the Fish (good) and the Steve Miller Band (not so good, but better than their ‘70s hit-machine incarnation). A real rarity, long unavailable on home video and not seen on cable for at least ten years, Revolution will also air twice in December before disappearing back into the vaults.
8pm Sundance Band of Outsiders (1964 FRA): Roll out the carpet for this one: Sundance is airing the beautiful Criterion Collection print of this Jean-Luc Godard crime classic about an unlikely threesome (Sami Frey, Claude Brasseur, and the soon-to-be-ex-Mrs. Godard, Anna Karina) out to rob Karina’s father of his illgotten gains. Beautifully shot by the great Raoul Coutard (the original Breathless, Shoot the Piano Player, Weekend, Z, and many other greats), Band of Outsiders also features a terrific, jazzy Michel Legrand score. This is one of the greatest films of the nouvelle vague and certainly one of the highlights of Godard’s illustrious career.
9pm IFC The Cars That Ate Paris (1972 AUS): Just in time to coincide with the release of Master and Commander, IFC is airing the freshman feature film of renowned director Peter Weir. If you’re used to Weir’s metaphysical musings in films like Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Last Wave, or his big-budget hits such as Gallipoli and The Truman Show, prepare yourself for something completely different. Released in some territories as The Cars That Eat People, this is an extremely caustic and brutal black comedy that anticipated the Road Warrior series and clearly influenced that film’s director, George Miller. Set in the Outback of Australia, the film takes place in a small-town of car-crash enthusiasts who gleefully encourage and create deadly automobile accidents. Perhaps best appreciated on a double bill with Weir’s psychological TV thriller The Plumber, this is a low-budget gem that will appeal to mordant and nihilist alike.
Saturday 11/15/03
5am IFC Sword of Doom (1967 JAP): Some weeks it takes a superhuman effort to put together this column, and other weeks it’s a piece of cake. This week is definitely in the latter category, with some truly astonishing films on offer for the discriminating viewer. Here’s a film that I’ve long wanted to see, appearing as part of IFC’s newly rejuvenated Samurai Saturday package. Sword of Doom stars Tatsuya Nakadai (Ran, Kagemusha, and Kwaidan) as an over-the-edge samurai on the run from the brother of one of his victims. The film is reputed to have some of the greatest scenes of swordsmanship every captured on film, and co-stars Toshiro Mifune as a swordmaster and teacher. With its appearance here - and its reported DVD release next year - I can finally stop scouring eBay for second-hand laserdiscs of this samurai classic. Also airs at 10:45am and 11/16 at 3am.
1:30pm Turner Classic Movies The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959 GB): It’s been many moons since I’ve seen Hammer’s reinterpretation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s greatest Sherlock Holmes story, but it reappears on TCM in its correct 1:1.66 aspect ratio this afternoon. If memory serves (WARNING: my memory frequently lets me down), this is a solid remake, not quite up to the standard set by the 1939 Universal version. You certainly can’t go far wrong with Terence Fisher in the director’s chair and with Peter Cushing as Holmes, however, so I’m comfortable offering it a recommendation. With Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville and Andre Morell as Dr. Watson, this is a quintessential Hammer production, handsomely mounted and beautifully shot by Jack Asher, still operating the camera before Hammer’s higher-ups decided he spent too much time (and too much money) establishing his set-ups.
7pm Cinemax Auto Focus (2002 USA): Funnyman Greg Kinnear stars as actor Bob Crane in this decidedly unfunny look at the sordid life and death of the Hogan’s Heroes star. Directed by Paul Schrader - ignominiously replaced by Renny Harlin (cough, HACK) as the director of the forthcoming Exorcist: The Beginning - Auto Focus (making its cable premiere this evening) reveals Crane’s penchant for video porn in the early days of the home entertainment business. You’ll probably want to take a shower after watching this one, another cheery entry in Schrader’s filmography, which also includes Affliction, Mishima, and the tangentially-related Hardcore. Also airs at 10pm and 11/16 at 1:15am, 4:15am, and 4:15pm, and 11/17 at 5pm and 8pm.
Sunday 11/16/03
12:35am Encore Cruising (1980 USA): In case you didn’t feel slimy enough after watching Auto Focus, you might want to save time for William Friedkin’s oft-maligned film about a serial killer stalking gay men in (where else?) The Big Apple. Initially released to general opprobrium from both the gay and straight communities, the film plays better now that the sexual orientation wars are starting to die down somewhat. Al Pacino stars as an undercover cop who dives into the gay bar scene in an effort to unmask the killer, and one of the most interesting aspects of the film is not only watching him try to pass as a gay man, but adjusting to the reality of both discrimination and sexual harassment at the hands of straights and gays. It’s a fine performance, ably supported by Paul Sorvino, Karen Allen, and Joe Spinell, and features the sexually ambiguous (and less-than-dulcet) tones of Germs frontman Darby Crash on the legendary soundtrack. Not for all tastes, Cruising also airs at 3:35am.
9am Sundance Unprecedented (2002 USA): Still fuming about the year 2000 electoral fiasco in Florida? This film isn’t likely to lower your blood pressure, as it presents all the pieces of evidence you need to support the contention that Florida’s electoral votes were stolen from Al Gore by a ruthless Republican party and their big-business allies. If you still don’t want to get over it - and haven’t already read enough about the subject by journalists like Greg Palast, whose investigative work supplied much of the underpinnings for this documentary - you’ll want to tune in tonight. No guarantees that you won’t burst a blood vessel, though. Following at 10am is a fascinating look at Iran’s 2001 presidential election, directed by the “First Lady of Iranian Cinema”, Rakshan Bani-Etemad. Compare and contrast the two electoral systems, and decide if one is truly that much better than the other.
Monday 11/17/03
5pm Turner Classic Movies Lawrence of Arabia (1962 GB): To be honest, I’m not a big fan of David Lean’s epic tribute to the British soldier and armchair philosopher T. E. Lawrence, who swayed Arab support towards Britain and away from Germany during the First World War. The film is too long and too romanticized in my opinion, but it’s an otherwise quiet day in the TiVoPlex, so I’ll give it a mention. Certainly noteworthy are Peter O’Toole’s Academy Award-nominated performance as Lawrence, and it probably features the finest work of cinematographer Freddie Young, who took home one of seven Oscars awarded the film. This is one of those “greatest films of all time”, like Casablanca and, to a lesser extent, Citizen Kane, that simply don’t deliver the goods for me. However, you can be sure that TCM will be airing a pristine wide-screen print, so if you haven’t seen it before - and can’t wait for the next theatrical re-release - this is definitely your best opportunity to check out the rolling sand dunes and meandering camels of the Saudi kingdom. Just don’t look for any Bin-Ladens, though, because you probably won’t find any.
