Good Film Broadcasts, Week Of September 26th, 2010

Screening Of The Week:

The Sting

George Roy Hill, 1973, 129 Minutes

Friday, 2:00 AM, Turner Classic Movies

One of the challenges in writing these recommendations is finding new ways to state the obvious.  I mean, The Sting is an awesome movie.  Why do I need paragraph after paragraph to reiterate what’s so incredibly clear?  Well, perhaps some of my readers (perhaps, even, both of them) haven’t seen this yet, and perhaps they need some convincing that it’s worth 129 minutes of their time.  And, finally, perhaps “trust me, it’s awesome”, isn’t exactly insightful film criticism.

But it is awesome, for many, many reasons.  This second pairing of Paul Newman and Robert Redford (after 1969’s Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, also under the direction of George Roy Hill), has Newman playing experienced grifter Henry Gondorff, showing the ropes to small-time conman Johnny Hooker, played by Redford.  The two leads arguably have better chemistry in this film than in their earlier pairing, with Newman bringing a sense of weary experience and Redford as the naive but enthusiastic student.

Hooker is on the run from Doyle Lonnegan, a crime boss he recently scammed, portrayed with great Irish menace by Robert Shaw.  Gondorff takes Hooker under his wing, and together, they plot an elaborate scam on Lonnegan.  Fleshing out this great cast are Charles Durning, Ray Walston, Dana Elcar and Harold Gould.  Together, these great character actors come together in an elaborate chess game to determine who’ll have whose money when all is said and done.

All this is set against Depression-era Chicago, with costumes and sets that do a great job of setting the atmosphere.  Is it authentic?  I don’t know, but it feels real, and, more importantly, it’s just what the story needs.  I do know that the famed soundtrack is somewhat anachronistic, being more appropriate for the turn-of-the-century than for 1936, but it also fits the mood, and helps elevate this film to a classic.

Up above I noted that this movie would take 129 minutes of your time.  The first time I saw it, it took a bit more of mine, as after it was over, I just sat there for 10 minutes or so, in stunned amazement at what I had just seen.

Other Good Films Screening This Week:

Just missing the cut this week is Turner Classic Movies’ screening of 1972’s Daughters of Satan, starring Tom Selleck.

Pulp Fiction

• Saturday, 7:15 PM, IFC
• What do they call this film in France?

Body Of Lies

• Monday, 10:00 AM, HBO2

The Informant!

• Monday, 12:15 PM, HBO2
• Why is there an exclamation point in the title?  Find out this Monday.

Eagle Eye

• Monday, 6:00 PM, HBO

Thank You For Smoking

• Monday, 6:45 PM, IFC
• You’re welcome!

Gran Torino

• Tuesday, 9:30 AM, HBO2

(500) Days Of Summer

• Tuesday, 12:30 PM, HBO

The Searchers

• Tuesday, 1:30 PM, Turner Classic Movies

The Magnificent Seven

• Tuesday, 5:45 PM, Turner Classic Movies

Schindler’s List

• Wednesday, 2:45 AM, HBO

American Splendor

• Wednesday, 6:00 AM, IFC

Home Alone

• Wednesday, 6:35 AM, HBO2
• This may not be the most highly regarded comedy that I’ve ever recommended on my blog, but I laughed like crazy.

Annie Hall

• Wednesday, 7:45 AM, IFC
• This, on the other hand, just might be the most highly regarded comedy that I’ve ever recommended on my blog.

Spider-Man

• Wednesday, 9:30 AM, HBO2

Fatal Attraction

• Thursday, 2:00 PM, HBO2

Sling Blade

• Thursday, 7:45 PM, IFC

Leaving Las Vegas

• Thursday, 10:30 PM, IFC

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

• Thursday, 6:30 AM, HBO2

Layer Cake

• Thursday, 10:30 PM, IFC

Pan’s Labyrinth

• Friday, 1:50 AM, The Sundance Channel
• If writing these recommendations has taught me anything, it’s the correct spelling of “labyrinth”.

The Sting

• Friday, 2:00 AM, Turner Classic Movies

The Odd Couple

• Friday, 10:00 AM, Turner Classic Movies

Fail-Safe

• Friday, 2:15 PM, Turner Classic Movies

The Wrestler

• Saturday, 3:10 AM, HBO2

A Beautiful Mind

• Saturday, 11:30 AM, HBO2

Duplicity

• Saturday, 5:45 PM, HBO2

Swimming With Sharks

• Saturday, 5:55 PM, IFC

Bonnie & Clyde

• Saturday, 8:00 PM, Turner Classic Movies

Monster

• Saturday, 10:00 PM, The Sundance Channel

Boxcar Bertha

• Sunday, October 3rd, 3:15 AM, Turner Classic Movies
• Martin Scorsese’s first color movie, courtesy of (who else?) Roger Corman.

Edit, 9/30: Spelling correction.

Good Film Broadcasts, Week Of September 19, 2010

Screening Of The Week:

Ran

Akira Kurosawa, 1985, 160 Minutes

Tuesday, 9:10 AM, The Sundance Channel

Not Kurosawa’s final film, but his final of the epic Samurai films that he’s best remembered for.  He was known to describe Kagemusha, completed five years before, as a “dress rehearsal” for this one.

Ran opens with a hunting expedition led by feudal lord Hidetora Ichimonji.  Also in attendance are two lords his family is allied with, and his three sons.  Hidetora takes this opportunity to announce his “retirement”: he will abdicate his position in favor of his eldest son Taro; his two younger sons, Jiro and Saburo, will inherit two lesser fortresses in support of Taro.  Taro’s all for this, as you might expect, and Jiro voices his support as well, but Saburo attempts to point out the flaws inherent in divvying up the power in such a way.  This dissent does not sit well with Saburo, and soon he’s exiled from the kingdom.  Of course, the transfer of power don’t go quite as expected, and once Taro and Jiro sense weakness from their father, relations between the men begin to deteriorate.

If this all sounds somewhat familiar, it might be because it’s inspired by Shakespeare’s King Lear, but only loosely.  It also draws inspiration from the historical Japanese lord Mori Motonari.  But most importantly, it’s Kurosawa’s story from start to finish.

Leading the way on screen is Kurosawa’s leading man of choice (for his later films): Tatsuya Nakadai, who faithful readers of this blog (yes, both of you) will remember from the several previous shout-outs I’ve given him.  He’s supported here by a talented ensemble, perhaps most notably Shinnosuke “Peter” Ikehata, as Ichimonji’s jester.

Kurosawa was nearly blind when he made Ran, which is astonishing considering how visual this film is.  Each faction gets its own color scheme, and when the cavalries charge, the way the colors flow across the screen is something to behold.  But this is not a stirring, inspirational film by any means.  The title translates to “chaos”, and the message reinforces the nihilistic view of an absurd, random universe where ones life’s work can evaporate before ones eyes.

Other Good Films Screening This Week:

Yeah, I’m posting a day late, which means I’m too late to alert you to the fact that Turner Classic Movies showed Wait Until Dark last night.  The fact that these sorts of things keep me awake at night, keeps me awake at night.

Anyway, this week’s theme is “monsters”, with Monster, Monster’s Ball, Pan’s Labyrinth and Sunset Boulevard.

Dancer In The Dark

• Tuesday, 6:15 AM, IFC
• David Morse usually plays nice guys, but I can never quite trust him after what he does in this one.

Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten

• Tuesday, 7:00 AM, The Sundance Channel

Eagle Eye

• Tuesday, 7:30 AM, HBO
• Everyone complained that this was too implausible, and by real-world standards, it is, but it consistently plays by its own rules, and I liked it.

Ran

• Tuesday, 9:10 AM, The Sundance Channel

Monster

• Tuesday, 11:20 PM, The Sundance Channel

Body Of Lies

• Wednesday, Noon, HBO2
• I like Ridley Scott, and I like Russell Crowe, but I haven’t always liked their collaborations.  This is an exception – a well made thriller.

Gran Torino

• Wednesday, 4:00 PM, HBO2

Sunset Boulevard

• Wednesday, 6:00 PM, Turner Classic Movies
• Yes, it’s as good as advertised.  Check it out.

The Informant!

• Wednesday, 6:00 PM, HBO2

Rashomon

• Wednesday, 10:00 PM, Turner Classic Movies

Brewster McCloud

• Wednesday, 11:45 PM, Turner Classic Movies
• I’ve caught bits and pieces of this over the years, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it from beginning to end.  I’m looking forward to doing so this week.

This Is Spinal Tap

• Thursday, 1:45 AM, Turner Classic Movies
• It took me a while to see this, and by the time I did, I had had all the jokes spoiled for me.  But even knowing exactly what was going to happen, I still laughed like crazy during the Stonehenge scene.

Hunger

• Thursday, 3:20 AM, The Sundance Channel

Burn After Reading

• Thursday, 4:25 AM, HBO
• Just what is he building down there in the basement?

Encounters At The End Of The World

• Thursday, 7:15 AM, The Sundance Channel
• Werner Herzog’s career seems motivated by asking questions nobody else thinks to ask, and the world is better off for it.
  

Barton Fink

• Thursday, 10:35 AM, IFC

Ben-Hur

• Thursday, 8:00 PM, Turner Classic Movies

American Psycho

• Thursday, 11:15 AM, IFC
• I still think of this movie every time Huey Lewis comes on the radio.

Monster’s Ball

• Friday, 1:15 AM, HBO
• I love this movie, but it’s going to be a while before I’m ready to watch it again.

Duplicity

• Friday, 11:45 AM, HBO

(500) Days Of Summer

• Friday, 6:15 PM, HBO

Pan’s Labyrinth

• Friday Night/Saturday Morning, Midnight, The Sundance Channel

The Cincinnati Kid

• Friday Night/Saturday Morning, Midnight, Turner Classic Movies

The Mouse That Roared

• Saturday, 9:00 AM, Turner Classic Movies
• Name a 60s comedy about nuclear war that has Peter Sellers playing three roles.  Well, OK, there’s that one, but there’s this one too.

Bend It Like Beckham

• Saturday, 10:05 AM, IFC

A Streetcar Named Desire

• Saturday, 8:00 PM, Turner Classic Movies
• Three years before Brando played Napoleon, he spends much of this film instructing us on the subtleties of the Napoleonic code.

The Wrestler

• Sunday, September 26, 2:50 AM, HBO

The Hunt For Red October

• Sunday, September 26, 3:40 AM, HBO2

Good Film Broadcasts, Week Of September 12th, 2010

Screening Of The Week:

Lord Love A Duck

George Alexrod, 1966, 105 Minutes

Wednesday, 6:00 PM, Turner Classic Movies

I’m really not sure where to begin with this one.  I definitely recommend it, and have been wanting to make it the Screening Of The Week for a while now, but what can you say about such a bizarre little movie like this?

Roddy McDowell plays Alan “Mollymauk” Musgrave, in what is one of his best performances.  The “Mollymauk” nickname comes from a type of albatross which Alan shares certain qualities with – you really have to see McDowell’s performance to understand.  Alan befriends Barbara Ann, portrayed by Tuesday Weld, who embodies every mid-60s sexy teenage stereotype.  Alan has a sort of hypnotic power over Barbara Ann, and, everywhere he goes, he’s pretty much the smartest person in the room, and this allows him to manipulate the events in the film for his own amusement.  Soon, Barbara Ann has a job, a husband, and a chance to become a Hollywood star.

All of this provides director George Axelrod the opportunity to skewer various 1960s pop-culture standards: modern education, with a newly built, high-tech school presided over by principal Harvey Korman; commercialism, with a Cashmere sweater scene that has to be seen to be believed; and married life, with Barbara Ann’s ill-fated husband Bob, and his perpetually drunk mother, played by Ruth Gordon.  (And how can any movie with Ruth Gordon not be worth seeing?)

This is a pretty dark comedy, and it goes to some really weird places (again, what is up with that Cashmere sweater scene?), but if you like those surreal comedy films that only the 1960s seemed to be able to produce, check this one out.

Other Good Films Screening This Week:

This week is “Elia Kazan Week”, with A Face In The Crowd, A Streetcar Named Desire and Baby Doll all showing up on the schedule.

Layer Cake

• Sunday, 6:00 PM, IFC
• Another entry in the often-rewarding genre of British gangster movies, featuring a pre-Bond Daniel Craig.

Hunger

• Sunday Night/Monday Morning, Midnight, The Sundance Channel
• For those who felt “Oz” wasn’t quite harsh enough, check out this depiction of IRA members held prisoner by the UK.

The Wrestler

• Monday, 2:45 AM, HBO
• This one lives up to all the hype it received.

It Happened One Night

• Monday, 6:15 AM, Turner Classic Movies
• Storm the walls of Jericho with Clark Gable.

Ran

• Monday, 8:35 AM, The Sundance Channel
• One of Kurosawa’s last films, and his most epic.

Gran Torino

• Monday, 10:00 PM, HBO2

Dressed To Kill

• Monday Night/Tuesday Morning, Midnight, IFC

A Face In The Crowd

• Tuesday, 12:45 AM, Turner Classic Movies
• See Andy Griffith play an absolutely horrible human being.

Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten

• Tuesday, 3:30 AM, The Sundance Channel

Spider-Man

• Tuesday, 7:00 AM, HBO2

Encounters At The End Of The World

• Tuesday, 7:25 AM, The Sundance Channel
• Everyone’s vaguely aware that, at any point in time, there are various researchers living and working in Antarctica, but what sort of people decide to go to such a place?  Werner Herzog travels down there to find out in this documentary.

Gone With The Wind

• Wednesday, 8:00 PM, Turner Classic Movies

The Informant!

• Wednesday, 12:35 AM, HBO
• This is not exactly the movie that the ad campaign made it out to be.  In fact, for much of the running time, it’s not clear just what sort of film it is.  But by the time it ends, it’s clearly been an interesting story.

A Streetcar Named Desire

• Wednesday, 2:15 AM, Turner Classic Movies
• If you haven’t seen this yet, you really need to.

Lord Love A Duck

• Wednesday, 6:00 PM, Turner Classic Movies

Pan’s Labyrinth

• Wednesday, 8:00 PM, The Sundance Channel
• Guillermo Del Toro at his most Guillero-Del-Toro-esque.

The Usual Suspects

• Wednesday, 8:00 PM, IFC

Pulp Fiction

• Wednesday, 10:00 PM, IFC

(500) Days Of Summer

• Thursday, 10:30 AM, HBO
• There are so many bad romantic comedies being made these days, so don’t let this one, which is actually good, get lost in the shuffle.

Fatal Attraction

• Thursday, 1:30 PM, HBO2

A Beautiful Mind

• Thursday, 4:00 PM, HBO

Thank You For Smoking

• Thursday, 8:00 PM, IFC

Office Space

• Thursday, 11:15 PM, IFC
• PC Load Letter.

The Virgin Spring

• Friday, 12:30 AM, Turner Classic Movies
• Vintage Ingmar Bergman.

Schindler’s List

• Friday, 2:05 AM, HBO

Sling Blade

• Friday, 12:30 PM, IFC

F/X

• Friday Night/Saturday Morning, Midnight, IFC

Baby Doll

• Saturday, 12:15 AM, Turner Classic Movies
• Eli Wallach, in his first film role, absolutely owns every scene he’s in.

Body Of Lies

• Saturday, 11:30 AM, HBO2

Duplicity

• Saturday, 3:15 PM, HBO

Soylent Green

• Saturday, 4:00 PM, Turner Classic Movies
• Chances are that you already know the “surprise ending”, but don’t let that stop you from checking this one out.

Fail-Safe

• Saturday, 6:00 PM, Turner Classic Movies
• A more serious take on the same material famously covered by Dr. Strangelove.

Good Film Broadcasts, Week Of August 1st, 2010

Bananas

• Monday, 5:15 PM, IFC

A Christmas Tale

• Monday, 10:00 PM, The Sundance Channel

Body Of Lies

• Monday, 10;30 PM, HBO

The Station Agent

• Tuesday, 8:05 AM, IFC

The Great Escape

• Tuesday, 2:45 PM, Turner Classic Movies

Slumdog Millionaire

• Tuesday, 5:00 PM, HBO2

The Magnificent Seven

• Tuesday, 8:00 PM, Turner Classic Movies

Sugar

• Wednesday, 4:00 PM, HBO2

Recount

• Thursday, 2:50 AM, HBO

Coraline

• Friday, 7:30 AM, HBO2

The Dark Knight

• Friday, 9:30 AM, HBO

Mr. Hulot’s Holiday

• Friday, 11:45 AM, IFC

Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince

• Friday, Noon, HBO

Casablanca

• Friday, 9:30 PM, Turner Classic Movies

Notorious

• Friday, 11:30 PM, Turner Classic Movies

Autumn Sonata

• Saturday, 1:30 AM, Turner Classic Movies

Gaslight

• Saturday, 3:30 AM, Turner Classic Movies

The Adventures Of Robin Hood

• Saturday, 6:15 PM, Turner Classic Movies

The Sea Hawk

• Saturday, 8:00 PM, Turner Classic Movies

RocknRolla

• Sunday, August 8th, 1:45 AM, HBO2

Good Film Broadcasts, Week Of July 18th, 2010

Screening Of The Week:

American Splendor

Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, 2003, 100 minutes

Wednesday, 8:20 AM, IFC

There were a lot of contenders for “Screening Of The Week” this time around.  Earlier, I was sure it was going to be The Seventh Seal, which is one of my favorites.  Then there’s Jean Cocteau’s Beauty And The Beast.  And I’ve been looking for an excuse to write about Lord Love A Duck for nearly a year.  But, with the loss of Harvey Pekar last week, it’s time to give a shout-out to American Splendor, the 2003 film on his life.

This recommendation isn’t based entirely on sentiment.  I’ve recommended the movie before, and I’ve loved it since I first saw it.  Documentary film-makers Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini create a great mix of real and fiction, with Paul Giamatti portraying Harvey, as well as the real Harvey offering commentary on various events, including his thoughts on Giamatti’s portrayal.

But could you tell Harvey’s story any other way?  Through his comics, Harvey always tried to show us the plain, simple truths of everyday life, from nobody else’s point-of-view but his own.  Having the real Harvey there to narrate his own story, and to occasionally comment on what the film isn’t getting right, just feels right.

If your not familiar with Harvey, take 100 minutes this week and get to know him.

Other good films screening this week:

To Catch A Thief

• Sunday, 2:00 PM, Turner Classic Movies

Spider-Man

• Sunday, 3:30 PM, HBO

Beauty And The Beast

• Sunday, 8:00 PM, Turner Classic Movies
• Check this one out; you’ve never seen anything quite like it.

King Kong

• Sunday, 10:00 PM, Turner Classic Movies

The Seventh Seal

• Monday, 2:00 AM, Turner Classic Movies

Coraline

• Monday, 8:15 AM, HBO

Home Alone

• Monday, 10:00 AM, HBO

Soylent Green

• Monday, 1:45 PM, Turner Classic Movies
• Edward G. Robinson’s final film.

2001: A Space Odyssey

• Monday, 3:30 PM, Turner Classic Movies

2010

• Monday, 6:00 PM, Turner Classic Movies

Grizzly Man

• Monday, 8:00 PM, The Sundance Channel
• One of Werner Herzog’s documentaries, examining a man whose fascination with grizzly bears lead to his death.

Watchmen

• Tuesday, 8:00 PM, HBO

The Cooler

• Tuesday Night/Wednesday Morning, 8:00 PM, HBO2

Ronin

• Wednesday, 3:35 AM, HBO2

American Splendor

• Wednesday, 8:20 AM, IFC

Apollo 13

• Wednesday, 9:00 AM, HBO2

Still Walking

• Wednesday, 10:30 AM, The Sundance Channel
• A Japanese take on dysfunctional family drama.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

• Wednesday, 6:00 PM, HBO

Little Children

• Wednesday, 7:40 PM, The Sundance Channel

The Usual Suspects

• Wednesday, 8:00 PM, IFC

Eraserhead

• Wednesday, 11:00 PM, The Sundance Channel

The Crying Game

• Wednesday Night/Thursday Morning, Midnight, IFC

Nights Of Cabiria

• Thursday, 11:00 AM, The Sundance Channel

A Prairie Home Companion

• Friday, 1:20 AM, The Sundance Channel

Lord Love A Duck

• Friday, 1:30 AM, Turner Classic Movies
• A great satire from the early 1960’s, starring Roddy McDowall, Tuesday Weld and Ruth Gordon.

Le Doulos

• Friday, 7:35 AM, The Sundance Channel

The Fifth Element

• Friday, 5:45 PM, HBO2

Office Space

• Friday, 8:30 PM, IFC

The Hangover

• Friday, 9:45 PM, HBO

RocknRolla

• Saturday, 1:30 AM, HBO

Bonnie And Clyde

• Saturday, 3:45 AM, Turner Classic Movies

Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

• Saturday, 8:00 AM, Turner Classic Movies

Annie Hall

• Saturday, 8:45 AM, IFC

Swimming With Sharks

• Saturday, 10:35 AM, IFC

Black Orpheus

• Saturday, 8:00 PM, Turner Classic Movies

Monty Python And The Holy Grail

• Saturday, 10:00 PM, IFC

Gran Torino

• Saturday, 11:00 PM, HBO

A Raisin In The Sun

• Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, Midnight, Turner Classic Movies