TCM
TiVo ALERT
For
December
1–December 7
DAVID’S
BEST BETS:
TRILOGY
OF FAITH (December
3, 1:30 am): To me, there is no greater or more important film
director than Ingmar Bergman. TCM is showing six of his films on
December 3, starting with Smiles
of a Summer Night at
8:00 pm, a very funny film from someone whose body of work featured
few comedies. After that are Bergman's two best-known pieces, Wild
Strawberries at
10:00 pm and The
Seventh Seal at
11:45 pm. For those who have never seen a Bergman film, these are his
most approachable and among his finest, and I would highly recommend
watching them. For those who have seen those and other Bergman
movies, and are looking for more, the three films that follow The
Seventh Seal,
know collectively as the "Trilogy of Faith," are essential
viewing. It starts with Through
a Glass Darkly at
1:30 am, followed by Winter
Light at
3:15 am and The
Silence at
4:45 am. Rather than give you a short synopsis on each of the films,
I urge you to click
here and
read my analysis and thoughts on the three.
ROLLER
BOOGIE (December 6, 2:00 am): Yeah, this 1979 film is
awful, and one that's I've wanted to write a Train Wreck Cinema
article about for a long time. The plot is unbelievably terrible,
including the male lead wanting to be an Olympic roller skater.
High-society girl Linda Blair resists at first, but eventually falls
in love with him while he gives her skating lessons. Along the way,
they foil a plan from mobsters who wants to buy their favorite
roller-skating rink. It's laughably awful, but a film that I can
never not watch when it's on. Easily the best scene is toward the
beginning with the rink filled with dancers getting down to Earth,
Wind & Fire's "Boogie Wonderland."
ED’S
BEST BETS:
SHE
DONE HIM WRONG (December 1, 9:30 pm): Mae West at her
absolute peak as she adapted her Broadway hit, “Diamond Lil” into
a film. Mae is Lady Lou, a saloon singer and nightclub owner in the
gay ‘90s who has more men friends than she can count.
Unfortunately, one of them is a jealous criminal who has escaped and
is looking for his lady, not knowing she hasn’t exactly been
faithful in his absence. For her part, though, Mae is more interested
in seducing young Captain Cummings (Cary Grant), a local temperance
league preacher. It’s filled with hilarious double entendres and
ribald situations, including the song, “I Wonder Where My Easy
Rider’s Gone?” This film not only rescued Paramount Studios from
bankruptcy, but also spurred the formation of the Legion of Decency.
Not a bad day’s work.
I’M
NO ANGEL (December 1, 10:45 pm): Mae West again, and
why not? This is another gem. Mae is Tira, a circus sideshow
entertainer whose real talent is luring men backstage after the show
and swindling them out of money and jewelry. Cary Grant is Jack
Clayton, a millionaire victim of Tira’s who is the only man to win
her heart. The plot makes little sense, but go with it; after all,
we’re not tuning in to see an intricate plot, but to see the great
Mae West in action before the bluenoses shut her down. And there’s
much to see with Mae’s one-liners flying around, lines such as
“It’s not the men in your life, it’s the life in your men,”
and “When I’m good, I’m very good, but when I’m bad, I’m
better.” That’s the Mae West we want to see.
WE
DISAGREE ON . . . ADVISE AND CONSENT (December 5, 8:15 am):
ED:
B-. The early ‘60s saw a slew of political intrigue
and conspiracy movies: The Manchurian Candidate, Seven
Days in May, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man,Fail-Safe,
and Dr. Strangelove. Compared with these heavyweights,
this is one of the weaker movies of the bunch. Now I’m not saying
this is a bad movie; it’s not. It boasts an excellent cast and a
good script. However, the one failing is the direction by Otto
Preminger, which tends to be stilted at times. Also, in comparison
to The Best Man, which covers much of the same territory,
it pales in comparison. Hence the grade.
DAVID:
A-. This 1962 film
about the confirmation process of a secretary of state nominee (Henry
Fonda) was ahead of its time. Having the president (Franchot Tone)
dying while the proceedings are occurring is overdramatic, but the
storyline rings true with politics of later years that saw and still
see numerous presidential nominees have their entire lives
scrutinized just for the sake of partisanship and not for the
betterment of the country. The cut-throat style of politics
shown in this film is about as authentic as it gets. It relies
a lot on dialogue, but the script is so good that it elevates
the quality of the film. Add the excellent all-star cast – Fonda,
Lew Ayres, Charles Laughton, Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lawford and
Burgess Meredith (in a small but memorable role) – and
great directing by Otto Preminger, who makes the viewer feel
like a Washington insider, and you get a film that's
interesting, intelligent and compelling.
No comments:
Post a Comment