TCM
TiVo Alert
For
June
1–June 7
DAVID’S
BEST BETS:
A
HARD DAY'S NIGHT (June 2, 8:00 pm): If you consider
all of the films starring music bands put together quickly to
capitalize on their popularity, you'd be hard-pressed to find more
than a handful that are even mediocre. This one starring the Beatles
is the best of the bunch – by
a lot. The premise of the film is basic: it's a look at a couple of
days in the incredible lives of the Fab Four at the height of
Beatlemania as they run from screaming fans and prepare for a TV show
in which they'll perform. While I'm a huge Beatles fan, I much prefer
their music from 1965 to 1969. However, the songs in this 1964 film
are among the best of the early Beatles' music, including the title
track, "Can't Buy Me Love," and "I Should Have Known
Better." The biggest surprises are the script is clever and the
four come across as charming and witty, at ease with funny one-liners
and amusing sight gags. They'd try to repeat the magic a year later
with "Help!" The soundtrack is better, but the film is a
silly throwaway piece of fluff more in tune with this genre.
2001:
A SPACE ODYSSEY (June 3, 8:00 pm): Besides This
Is Spinal Tap, I have seen this film more than any other, and
that's well over 50 times. Each time I watch it I am more impressed
by how visually beautiful and stunning it is, and how sophisticated
the special effects are, particularly when you consider the film was
released in 1968. The storyline can be extraordinarily challenging to
understand even to those who've seen it more than 50 times. This is
not a movie to see once, and it's almost a crime to watch this
groundbreaking film on a small screen. It's an important piece of
cinema with so many moments of brilliance and amazement. There are
few films I enjoy watching more than 2001 as it's
the story of mankind, a higher power, artificial intelligence and
what happens when they come together through advances in technology.
Watching it is an incredible experience no matter how many times you
see it.
ED’S
BEST BETS:
GO
GO MANIA (June 2, 9:45 pm): While this film is no
more than a compilation of British rock ‘n’ roll acts, it’s
still a wonderful trip down Memory Lane for those of us who came of
age in the ‘60s. The Beatles, The Animals, Herman’s Hermits,
Peter and Gordon, all the icons of the British Invasion, plus some
that never lasted, such as Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Sounds
Incorporated, and the Spencer Davis Group. Also look for Matt Munro
singing the theme song for the 1963 bond movie From Russia
With Love. Now that’s nostalgia.
NIGHT
AND FOG (June 3, 6:45 am): A disturbing and
heartbreaking documentary featuring the abandoned grounds of
Auschwitz and Majdanek while describing the lives of those imprisoned
there. It alternates between the past and present (1955) while using
both black and white and color footage. These are disturbing images,
as director Alan Resnais makes a powerful and eloquent statement
about man’s inhumanity to his fellow man by showing the contrast
between the lives of the SS guards and the prisoners, the horrific
medical experiments, and cremation of the bodies. This film has been
used as a teaching tool in French schools since 1961. It still holds
its power today.
WE
DISAGREE ON ... MON ONCLE D'AMERIQUE (June 3, 7:15 am)
ED:
C. This
dissection of middle-class life, told in three stories, has its ups
and downs, but not enough ups as far as I‘m concerned. Of the three
stories, the one with Gerard Depardieu as a middle manager in a
textile firm is by far the most interesting, and the segment about
the actress (Nicole Garcia) the least interesting. We’ve seen her
story endless times already. Biologist Henri Laborit’s commentaries
make for a good counterpoint to the action, but only for so long;
after a while they become stale, and I wonder if Alain Resnais could
have dispensed with it altogether and come up with a better movie.
It’s interesting (anything is more interesting than his Last
Year at Marienbad) but
not interesting enough.
DAVID:
A-. This 1980 French film takes the theories of Henri Laborit, a scientist, writer and philosopher, who comments
throughout, about human behavior and turns them into a satire. It
creates a fascinating contrast. Among the best moments is we're shown
interactions among people which are cross-cut to Laborit dryly
discussing and showing how lab rats react to stressful situations.
It's a clever-funny film even though there are many dramatic aspects.
Gerard Depardieu is outstanding as a naive farm boy who comes to the
big city to be a textile executive only to lose it after 20 years on
the job. The other stories revolve around an ambitious and
self-absorbed politician and his mistress, an actress who sacrifices
her personal happiness while falling for a lie. The showdown between
the latter two at the end of the film is quite powerful. As a bonus,
we see clips of various French actors, including the legendary Jean
Gabin, who represent the film's three main characters.
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