Dog Day Afternoon, playing on TCM on Thursday

There are a good many first-timers this week, and a number of mini-marathons to look out for on TCM. First off, Eastwood-directed Civil War-era western The Outlaw Josey Wales airs tonight as part of a month-long retrospective of Civil War films (the TCM Classic Film Festival at the end of this month will premiere a new digital restoration of the film, but this’ll do until then), a trio of Harold Lloyd comedy classics on Wednesday, a fantastic three-film tribute to the recently passed Sidney Lumet on Thursday, and a surprisingly diverse set of religious-themed films to celebrate Easter on Sunday night.

Monday, April 18

1:30pm – IFC – Hero
Jet Li is the titular hero in this Zhang Yimou film, arguably the best of Yimou’s period action-on-wires films (though I’m partial to House of Flying Daggers myself). The story unfolds in flashback as Li explains to a warlord how he eliminated three would-be assassins (who happen to be three of Hong Kong cinema’s biggest stars, incidentally) – but all may not be precisely how it seems.
2002 China. Director: Zhang Yimou. Starring: Jet Li, Zhang Ziyi, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung.

3:30pm – IFC – Curse of the Golden Flower
One of the weaker entries in Zhang Yimou’s series of historical martial-arts-on-wires films, but it still has its moments – and the production design, as usual, is flawlessly beautiful. Definitely worth a watch if you’re a fan of the style.
2006 China. Director: Zhang Yimou. Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li, Jay Chou, Ye Liu.
(repeats at 9:00am on the 19th)

8:00pm – TCM – The Outlaw Josey Wales
One of Clint Eastwood’s most highly regarded turns as actor/director, about a Missouri farmer who joins a Confederate guerrilla unit after Union soldiers murder his family, then ends up on the run after the war. I’ve not caught up with this yet, but I’ve meant to for quite some time.
1976 USA. Director: Clint Eastwood. Starring: Clint Eastwood, Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke.
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8:00pm – IFC – American Psycho
A virtuoso performance from Christian Bale leads this controversial thriller about an affluent Wall Street investment banker leading a double life as a psychopath carrying out his amoral and misanthropic fantasies through sex and murder.
2000 USA. Director: Mary Herron. Starring: Christian Bale, Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas, Chloe Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon.
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(repeats at 2:15am on the 19th)

Tuesday, April 19

3:45am (20th) – TCM – The Uninvited
Not to be confused with the 2009 film The Uninvited, which is actually a remake of Korea’s A Tale of Two Sisters, this unrelated ghost story film is a lovely example of a certain style of 1940s horror – quiet, understated, atmospheric, and yet chilling and haunting.
1944 USA. Director: Lewis Allen. Starring: Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, Donald Crisp.

Wednesday, April 20

7:15am – TCM – Safety Last!
Finishing off the trifecta of great silent comedians is Harold Lloyd, and this is his most famous film. He’s a mousy department store clerk, trying to earn enough money to bring his girlfriend from the country to join him in the city. It culminates in the famous building-climbing setpiece, which is incredible even before you remember that he did the stunts himself and there’s no CGI involved. TCM is also showing two more Lloyd films, Girl Shy and The Freshman, immediately following, so check those out for more silent comedy genius.)
1923 USA. Director: Fred C. Newymeyer, Sam Taylor. Starring: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Bill Strother.
Must See

1:30pm – TCM – A Shot in the Dark
Here’s your counter example for the “sequels are never as good as the original” argument. This second film in the Pink Panther series is easily the best, and stands as ones of the zaniest 1960s comedies ever.
1964 USA. Director: Blake Edwards. Starring: Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom.

Thursday, April 21

6:45am – IFC – Che
Steven Soderbergh’s ambitious two-part epic about South American revolutionary Che Guevara. IFC is playing both parts back to back.
2008 USA. Director: Steven Soderbergh. Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Julia Ormond, Rodrigo Santoro.
(repeats at 2:30pm, and 8:30am on the 22nd)

11:00am – TCM – Road to Morocco
Bob Hope and Bing Crosby (along with Dorothy Lamour) made seven or so of these “Road” movies, combining the appeal of exotic locales with Bing’s crooning and Bob’s one-of-a-kind comedy; Road to Morocco is arguably the best. Pretty slight, but quite entertaining if you like the people involved. A young Anthony Quinn plays the villain of the piece.
1942 USA. Director: David Butler. Starring: Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Anthony Quinn.

2:15pm – TCM – La Strada
One of Fellini’s more neo-realist films (though he had a surrealistic flair already), La Strada follows a simple-minded innocent played beautifully by Giulietta Masina as she travels with brutish circus strongman Anthony Quinn. There simply are no faces in cinema quite like Masina’s, and Fellini’s camera loves her so much it’s impossible not to be caught under her spell, and the film’s.
1954 Italy. Director: Federico Fellini. Starring: Giulietta Masina, Anthony Quinn, Richard Basehart.
Must See

4:15pm – TCM – Lust for Life
Vincente Minnelli brings his trademark flair to the story of Vincent Van Gogh, a tortured artist if there ever was one, his life, loves, failures, and friendships rendered in larger-than-life color by Kirk Douglas. Anthony Quinn received an Oscar for his role as fellow painter, sometime friend, Paul Gauguin.
1956 USA. Director: Vincente Minnelli. Starring: Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, James Donald, Pamela Brown.
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8:00pm – TCM – 12 Angry Men
A brilliant exercise in minimalist filmmaking; after a brief courtroom scene, twelve jurors discuss the fate of a young man accused of murder. What’s assumed to be a cut-and-dried conviction is contested by Henry Fonda, who isn’t convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt, and slowly works through the evidence to pull the other jurors one by one to his side. The stifling heat, claustrophobic room, prejudices and preconceptions of the jurors, logic and emotions, everything plays into this film, which is much more engaging than it has any right to be.
1957 USA. Director: Sidney Lumet. Starring: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Klugman, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, Ed Begley.
Must See

11:45pm – Sundance – No One Knows About Persian Cats
A pair of Iranian rock musicians, unable to perform their music publicly because the government won’t give them a permit, try to put together a final underground gig to raise money to escape the country – it’s based on the actual story of the two people playing the musicians, so there’s an intriguing intersection of reality and fiction.
2009 Iran. Director: Bahman Ghobadi. Starring: Negar Shaghaghi, Ashkan Koshanejad, Hamed Behdad.
(repeats at 5:00am on the 22nd)

1:15am (22nd) – TCM – Network
Newscaster Peter Finch is as mad as hell and he’s not going to take it anymore. To see why, watch this incendiary unmasking of the ruthless world of network television. Finch, Dunaway, and Straight all won Oscars for their roles.
1976 USA. Director: Sidney Lumet. Starring: William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Peter Finch, Beatrice Straight.

3:30am (22nd) – TCM – Dog Day Afternoon
A straight-forward bank robbery turns into a hostage situation and media circus before long, but the strength of the film is not just the procedural aspects of the robbery and its aftermath (though in Sidney Lumet’s hands, those are handled extremely well), but in the characterization of Sonny and the spot-on performances from Pacino and everyone in the cast. A very simple concept becomes a very rich film.
1975 USA. Director: Sidney Lumet. Starring: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, Chris Sarandon.
Must See
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Friday, April 22

6:00am – IFC – Barton Fink
One of the Coen Brothers’ most brilliant dark comedies, Barton Fink follows its title character, a New York playwright whose hit play brings him to the attention of Hollywood, where he goes to work for the movies. And it all goes downhill from there. Surreal, quirky, and offbeat, even among the Coens work. It’s based loosely on the experiences of Clifford Odets, whose heightened poetic style of writing has clearly been influential on the Coens throughout their career.
1991 USA. Director: Joel Coen. Starring: John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Michael Lerner, Tony Shalhoub.
(repeats at 3:15pm)

8:45am – TCM – Love Me or Leave Me
One of Doris Day’s better roles places her as a singer in an abusive relationship with gangster/career supporter James Cagney. She’s tough yet vulnerable, and her rendition of the title song is suberb.
1955 USA. Director: Charles Vidor. Starring: James Cagney, Doris Day, Cameron Mitchell, Brian Keith.
(and a bunch of other Day movies)

1:00pm – IFC – Renaissance
In near-future Paris, a brilliant young scientist is kidnapped; her employer Avalon (a highly influential company that sells youth and beauty itself) wants her found, but her importance to them may be more sinister than first meets the eye. The story’s not handled perfectly here, but it’s worth watching for the beautifully stark black and white animation.
2006 France. Director: Christian Volckman. Starring (English version): Daniel Craig, Romola Garai, Ian Holm, Catherine McCormack, Jonathan Pryce.

8:00pm – IFC – Reservoir Dogs
Quentin Tarantino’s first directorial feature sets the tone for his career – ultraviolet, talky, self-aware, and flamboyantly confident. It’s far from my personal favorite Tarantino film, but I’m in the minority on that; most Tarantino fans rank it quite favorably against his later films.
1992 USA. Director: Quentin Tarantino. Starring: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi.

10:00pm – TCM – Stella Dallas
I tend to prize Barbara Stanwyck most for her sparkling comedic performances, but she did her fair share of melodramas, and Stella Dallas remains one of the best. Stanwyck is the title character, a working class girl who marries above her class, leading to various problems and heartbreak. It’s a three-hanky film, but a pretty solid one.
1937 USA. Director: King Vidor. Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, John Boles, Anne Shirley.

Saturday, April 23

8:05am – IFC – Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Easily one of the most absurd, random, hilarious, and quotable comedies of all time. A more hapless bunch of Round Table knights couldn’t be found, and Monty Python has never been better than they are here.
1975 UK. Directors: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones. Starring: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones.
Must See
(repeats at 3:30pm)

8:00pm – TCM – Gunga Din
Three British soldiers and an Indian water bearer join forces against an Indian cult gearing up for a murderous rampage. A classic adventure story, and one I should rewatch at some point.
1939 USA. Director: George Stevens. Starring: Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Sam Jaffe.

3:00am (24th) – TCM – The Informer
Social issue/crime pictures were a dime a dozen in the early 1930s – but when it’s directed by John Ford that won four Oscars (including Best Director and Best Actor for Victor McLaglen)? That’s something special. McLaglen is a former member of the Irish Republican Army who informs to the British government about his comrades in a fit of financial desperation and then falls into guilt and self-recrimination.
1935 USA. Director: John Ford. Starring: Victor McLaglen, Heather Angel, Preston Foster.
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Sunday, April 24

9:00am – TCM – Easter Parade
Fred Astaire actually retired in 1946, and managed to stay off the screen for two years – until Gene Kelly broke his leg playing football and Fred was asked to take over his role in Easter Parade. Of course, then Fred kept making movies nearly every year for another 15 or 20 years. Easter Parade remains an enjoyable entry into his and Judy Garland’s respective filmographies, due to solid Irving Berlin tunes and the winning combination of Astaire’s dancing and Garland’s singing (and comedic abilities). Oh, this was also tap star Ann Miller’s first of many MGM films.
1948 USA. Director: Charles Walters. Starring: Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Peter Lawford, Ann Miller.

7:55pm – Sundance – L’auberge espagnole
A French student moves into an apartment with six other people in Barcelona. The interactions of these roommates with diverse cultural backgrounds and personalities forms the basis of the film as a whole, which may be short on plot but is great on the interpersonal relations and conversations that the French are so good at putting on film.
2002 France. Director: Cédric Klapisch. Starring: Romain Duris, Judith Godrèche, Kelly Reilly.

8:00pm – TCM – Jesus Christ Superstar
I can think of a number of reasons to rag on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock musical (too religious, not religious enough, not religious in the right way, over-the-top, too hippie, etc.), but I actually find myself loving it pretty much every time I watch it. It isn’t perfect, but Jewison’s decision to film it in the desert among the ruins and show the group of kids preparing for it, as well as his intercutting religious iconography at key times works for me, though I’m sure it doesn’t for everyone. Also I like the music. Sue me.
1973 USA. Director: Norman Jewison. Starring: Ted Neely, Carl Anderson, Yvonne Elliman, Barry Dennen, Bob Bingham.
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8:30pm – IFC – 28 Days Later
Danny Boyle brought the zombie film into the new millennium, with a fast-spreading virus infecting the population at record speed (the “zombies” also move at record speed), leaving only a few survivors to try to escape London before it’s too late. I’m not a particular fan of the ending, but up until then, it’s a mile-a-minute thrill ride that’s hard to beat.
2002 UK. Director: Danny Boyle. Starring: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston.

10:00pm – TCM – Godspell
1973 brought two big counter-cultural musical versions of the passion to the screen in Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell, with Godspell transposing the story into contemporary New York, basically asking what would happen if Jesus had come today instead of the first century A.D. There are some interesting trains of thought coming from that, but ultimately it doesn’t work as well for me as JCS. But I also haven’t seen it enough for the music to seep into my brain.
1973 USA. Director: David Green. Starring: Victor Garber, Katie Henley, David Haskell.
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12:00M – TCM – The Godless Girl
By what I can only assume is coincidence, I wrote this film up in a recent Movies We Watched post; a late silent by Cecil B. DeMille, the film follows the conflict between high school factions of athiests and Christians, leading to the leaders of each group being sent to reform school. It’s a lot better and more engrossing that it sounds from that description, and well worth watching.
1929 USA. Director: Cecil B. DeMille. Starring: Lina Basquette, Marie Prevost, Tom Keene, Eddie Quillan, Noah Beery.

2:15am (25th) – TCM – Ordet
Carl Theodor Dreyer has many films focusing on faith, and Ordet, one of his later films, distills multiple views of faith and its relation to life in the story of a provincial Danish family and their interrelations with neighboring families, which bring up questions of agnosticism, mysticism, traditionalism, and radicalism within religion. Dreyer is a very subtle and careful filmmaker, and though I haven’t seen this film yet, I’m looking forward to it.
1955 Denmark. Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer. Starring: Henrik Malberg, Emil Hass Christensen, Cay Kristiansen, Preben Lerdorff Rye.
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4:30am (25th) – TCM – The Miracle Woman
This early Frank Capra film follows a female religious leader (based on Aimee Semple MacPherson) whose fervor attracts the attention of a charlatan who exploits her explosive preaching style and message for his own profit. I liked this a lot more than I expected to, thanks in no small part to Barbara Stanwyck’s sensitive performance and more nuanced-than-expected treatment of the subject, though there is a fair bit of sentimentality thrown into the mix.
1931 USA. Director: Frank Capra. Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Sam Hardy, David Manners, Beryl Mercer.
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