Set Your DVR!: February 20 - 23, 2009

Hayden Childs — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:00:00 GMT

What a strange and marvelous weekend of movie viewing that cable tv is promising! One could even call it felliniesque, should one be so inclined. In fact, after the third part of Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai trilogy, it's all Fellini for the rest of the weekend. So you'd best bring your sense of wonder and delight, open a bottle or two or three of wine, fix yourself a delicious bowl of gnocchi and fresh pesto, and settle in!

First up is Samurai III: Duel At Ganryu Island on IFC Saturday morning, February 21 at 7 am central/8 am eastern. This is the climax of the Samurai trilogy that IFC has been showing on Saturday mornings for the last three weeks. And it's fantastic. As the accompanying video shows (and warning: there are spoilers in the video, although for those who have been watching the trilogy, the revelations within shouldn't be much of a surprise), the swordfight in Kill Bill: Volume I was nearly a shot-for-shot remake of the samurai battle in this movie.

Next, on Saturday evening, February 21 at 7 pm central/8 pm eastern and again at 10 pm central/11 pm eastern, Ovation is showing Fellini's 8 1/2, which is my second-favorite Fellini movie. I'm sure most of the readers of this blog are at least familiar with this movie, but man oh man, is it a worthwhile viewing, even for those who've seen it a dozen times. Marcello Mastroianni plays Guido Anselmi, a director of films who is so caught up in his own emotional turmoil that he cannot finish the screenplay for his current production. (Sidenote: His name is possibly a play on the names of the Renaissance painter Michelangelo Anselmi and the early philosopher St. Anselm, the father of ontology [which is the philosophy of being] and one of the first Western philosophers who attempted to argue rationally for the existence of God.) Anselmi is trapped in his memories and trying to hide from the mess he's making of his current project. This is required viewing for anyone who takes movies seriously as an artform. Another note: Ovation seems to be a recent addition to my cable lineup and I don't know anything about the format in which it shows movies. Are they uncut? Do they mess with the aspect ratio? I'm trying to assess whether this is more like AMC, which modifies movies so much that I'm loathe to recommend any, or TCM and IFC, which should be the gold standards for movies shown on cable. If it's the former, I'm less likely to recommend these in the future.

Finally, on Sunday, February 22, at 7 am, IFC is showing Fellini's Amarcord. If 8 1/2 whetted your appetite, Amarcord should be quite a feast. This is my favorite Fellini film, a fictional memoir of sorts based on a year in Fellini's childhood. It's funny and bawdy and sweet and terrifying, just like adolescence. Here's Salon's Andrew O'Hehir on why you should watch it. I don't always agree with his opinion, but here I wholeheartedly concur.

Set Your DVR!: October 13 - October 20, 2008

Hayden Childs — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Here’s upcoming Movies of Interest in the next week! I realized that last week’s entry gave all times in Central Time. From here on out, I’ll do the Central/Eastern thing. I will also spill things over to the following Monday, because several great movies show on Sunday night. Finally, let me know in comments if you see something I missed!

Other than that, the rules are the same: I’m trying to avoid recommending obvious movies, but I know you’re a knowledgeable reader, so some of the ones here might seem large and unsubtle to you. But that’s alright. I’m using an in-law test: I’ll stick with movies that my in-laws have most likely never heard of. And no premium channels, because I’m too broke to afford them.

Mon, Oct 13:

10:30/11:30 am: The Circus Queen Murder on TCM. Pre-code murder mystery starring Adolphe Menjou. Not available on DVD.

11:00 am/12:00 pm: George Washington on IFC (repeat at 4:15/5:15 pm and again on 10/14 at 4:30/5:30 am). Slow and thoughtful take on African-American youths in a go-nowhere Southern town directed by the guy who made Pineapple Express. Obvious influences: Terrence Malick and Charles Burnett.

2:00/3:00 pm: Vanishing Point on FMC. The lesser of the two great existential car movies of 1971 (Two-Lane Blacktop is the other). This one’s still a pop culture point-of-reference, especially for Tarantino movies. Definitely worth a viewing.

5:00/6:00 pm: Dave Chappelle’s Block Party. As mentioned last week, this one is a fun and light take on the concert film, directed by Michel Gondry and built around Dave Chappelle’s general awesomeness.

7:00/8:00 pm: My Man Godfrey on TCM. Now that we’re headed into a genuine financial depression, take a moment to consider one of the great films about the repercussions of the Great one.

Tues, Oct 14:

5:15/6:15 pm: Gerry on IFC (repeat at 7:45/8:45 am and 12:45/1:45 pm). I mentioned this one last week, too. And I think it’s on again next week. No matter, though, because it’s just brilliant. Since I mentioned it last, Scott Tobias at the AV Club wrote a great article on it.

Wed, Oct 15:

12:00/1:00 am: The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. on TCM. Dr. Seuss’s live-action insanity. Check it out!

5:00/6:00 am: Shall We Dance on TCM. Fred & Ginger. Score by the Gershwins. A dance scene on roller skates.

10:00/11:00 am: The Legend of Drunken Master (aka Drunken Master II) on G4 (repeat 10/16 at 1:00/2:00 am). It seems hard to believe now, but long before teaming up with Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan made movies that were actually funny. I mean, there’s ass-kicking galore, but the gags he stole from Buster Keaton are just delightful.

10:30/11:30 am: Carefree on TCM. More Fred & Ginger. More dancing. More joking around.

12:00/1:00 pm: Room Service on TCM. Not a bad movie for delving a little deeper into the Marx Brothers.

5:00/6:00 pm: Swing Time on TCM. And even more Fred & Ginger!

Th, Oct 16:

Got nothing for today. Go to the park!

Fri, Oct 17:

1:00/2:00 am: Kiss of Death on FMC. Film noir classic with a great turn by Richard Widmark.

Sat, Oct 18:

3:00/4:00 am: Them! on CHILLER. I don’t know what CHILLER is, but apparently it is a channel I have. Them! is a classic monster movie, complete with proto-environmentalist themes, officious foolishness from the authorities, and monsters deserving of a pronoun and an exclamation point and nothing more.

6:30/7:30 am: Gods and Monsters on LOGO (repeat at 1:00/2:00 pm). Lots of biopics want to wallop you over the head with their themes (hey, did you catch that drugs and womanizing might have affected Ray Charles’s life? I wonder if his brother’s death had anything to do with that), but Gods and Monsters, which is about the horror film director James Whale, has a lighter touch.

7:00/8:00 am: Samurai 3 on IFC. The apex of the Samurai trilogy, also known as Duel on Ganryu Island. Toshiro Mifune is in top form, and the climactic battle is the template for Quentin Tarantino’s understanding of Japanese cool.

12:30/1:30 pm: The Day The Earth Stood Still on AMC. Y’know, fuck Keanu Reeves. Go to the source.

11:00 pm/12:00 am: Dick on Oxygen. I mentioned last week that this movie is hilarious. It still is.

11:45 pm/12:45 am: Crash on IFC. This isn’t the noxious Oscar-bait Crash, but the deeply perverse Cronenberg movie based on the J.G. Ballard story.

Sun, Oct 19:

11:00 pm/12:00 am: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) on TCM. The silent version starring Lon Chaney. Yes, indeed.

Mon, Oct 20 (the overnight spillover):

1:00/2:00 am: Eyes Without A Face on TCM. Georges Franju’s horror classic that is guaranteed to give you the creeping heebie-jeebies. It's also well-written, well-shot, and well-acted, so what are you waiting for?

5:00/6:00 am: Kongo on TCM. Pre-Hayes Code movie that must be seen to be believed. A celebration of depravity loosely based on Conrad’s The Heart Of Darkness. As envisioned by Michel Houellebecq. There’s no DVD, so watch it while you can.

6:45/7:45 am: Ghost Ship on TCM. A Val Lewton production, this little horror film was on the losing end of a lawsuit that kept it out of the public eye for most of the last century. N.B. This is not the CGI craptacular from a few years back.

8:00/9:00 am: The Seventh Victim on TCM. Another Val Lewton production. I’ve never seen this one, but I know the Lewton name means it’s a moody little no-budget horror film that will stick with you for days.

1:30/2:30 pm: The Haunting on TCM. My good friend David Smay (author of the 33 1/3 book on Tom Waits’ Swordfishtrombones album, which you should buy and read and, preferably, love [plug!]), notes that when I mentioned this movie last week, I failed to include the following information, all of which increases your need to see it: (a) the coolness of Claire Bloom's sapphic sexy psychic, and (b) that she was lovers with Philip Roth for a long time (and then briefly married him). Also, if you've never seen her in James Joyce's Women then you should, because her performance of Molly Bloom's soliloquy at the end of Ulysses is AWESOME. Thanks, David! I will!

The Screengrab : samurai 3

Set Your DVR!: February 20 - 23, 2009

Set Your DVR!: October 13 - October 20, 2008