Small films, small screen: Indie films on K.C. TV for the week of 6/14/09

June 14, 11:30 AMKansas City Indie Movie ExaminerZach Hoskins

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    Orson Welles and cinematographer Gregg Toland on the set of Citizen
    Kane (1941), showing on TCM this Tuesday.
 

Love films, but didn't go to film school? Fear not, because as long as you have a TV, this week's programming provides a virtual crash course in cinema history, all from the comfort and safety of your own living room. From the progressive Old Hollywood of Orson Welles to the pioneering New Hollywood of Martin Scorsese, all the way to your contemporary Aronofskies and Coens and Cronenbergs and Linklaters - plus pitstops for the French and British New Waves along the way -if you watch enough cable this week, you can probably start writing these articles instead of me. Which is good, because frankly I could use the break. Now forget about going outside, grab those remotes, and coccoon!
 

Sunday, June 14

Tune in to the Independent Film Channel at 11:35 a.m. for IFC Original Documentary The Spaghetti West, a rundown on the history of Italian westerns. Later, at 4:30 p.m., see Sean Penn don a moustache and try to kill the president in 2004's The Assassination of Richard Nixon; and at 8:15, experience proof positive that indie cinema is not just for eggheads with Jay Chandrasekhar's Super Troopers (2001).

Elsewhere, Ovation TV has Martin Scorsese's 1977 period drama New York, New York at 11:00 a.m. And at 2:00 p.m. on the Sundance Channel, see La Moustache (2005), a Kafkaesque domestic psychodrama about a man who shaves his moustache and begins to lose his sense of self (if only my fiancée would watch this). Later, at 4:30, see Duck Season, a 2004 Mexican coming-of-age comedy that has been compared to the work of both Jim Jarmusch and John Hughes (!). For the nighttime crowd, there's also John Cassavetes' 1976 neo-noir The Killing of a Chinese Bookie at 9:00, followed by Ki-hyeong Park's unsettling 2003 horror Acacia at 11:15.

At 9:00 p.m. on Turner Classic Movies, see Howard Hawks' legendary 1946 noir The Big Sleep: starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, based on a classic hard-boiled detective novel by Raymond Chandler, with a script co-written by William Faulkner, there have to be more answers to trivia questions in this one film than in every other chapter of movie history combined.

Monday, June 15

Early risers and fans of queer cinema alike should rejoice when Logo airs The Click List: Best in Short Film at 7:00 a.m.; followed by 8 Women (2002), François Ozon's homage to the "women's films" of the Classical Hollywood era, at 7:30. Later in the day, take in some documentaries: at 1:30 p.m., Maestro traces the evolution of dance music in the 1970s and '80s, while at 3:30, Equality U tackles the ongoing struggle with sexual orientation discrimination in American colleges.

At 12:05 on IFC, see period satire Bright Young Things (2003), the directorial debut of venerable British actor Stephen Fry based on Evelyn Waugh's 1930 novel Vile Bodies. Then, at 3:30, Michael Showalter is the perennial nice guy who finishes last in 2005's The Baxter; and at 7:00, Steve Coogan is Factory Records founder Tony Wilson in Michael Winterbottom's 2002 post-punk docu-drama 24 Hour Party People. Finally, settle in for some edgy late-night fare with Pi, the mind-bending 1998 thriller by The Wrestler's Darren Aronofsky, at 11:00.

Meanwhile, Sundance has documentaries on subjects from Colombian freedom fighters to macaroni artwork. First, at 12:00 noon, there's Guerrilla Girl (2005), about a middle-class woman who joins the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Then, at 2:15, we go from the South American jungle to Parisian haute couture with 2002's Yves St. Laurent: 5 Avenue Marceau 75116 Paris; and at 3:45, we make the natural transition to 2006's Summercamp! Later, at 7:00, it's on to a unique solution for the Middle Eastern conflict in 2007's A Slim Peace, in which Israeli-American filmmaker Yael Luttwak brings together Israeli, Palestinian, and Bedouin Arab women...as part of a Jerusalem weight-loss group. Then, at 11:00, see Paz Vega in the 2001 erotic drama Sex and Lucia; and at 1:15 a.m., go from eros to thanatos with Memories of Murder (2003), The Host director Bong Joon-ho's dramatization of the investigation into South Korea's first serial killer.

AMC TV has David O. Russell's 1999 Gulf War action-comedy Three Kings at 7:00 p.m. And for insomniacs, enjoy some cheeseball '50s sci-fi with Earth vs. the Spider (1958) at 3:30 a.m.

Tuesday, June 16

If you're up early enough (or just know how to program a DVR), catch Logo's 6:00 a.m. showing of The Two Cubas, a 2006 documentary following two gay friends who grew up in Cuba under Fidel Castro's regime.

Indulge in some indie hors d'ouevres with IFC's Short Film Showcase, playing at 11:00 a.m. Then, at 3:05 p.m., experience some colorful local history with Robert Altman's Kansas City(1996). And if that's not enough Altman for you, see his brilliant 1992 Hollywood satire The Player at 6:55.

On Sundance at 5:15, there's Paul Morrison's charming 2003 comedy/drama Wondrous Oblivion, about a Jewish boy in 1960s who learns about cricket (and racial tolerance) from the Jamaican family who move in next door. Later, at 11:00, join Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous) and Tom Waits in an afterlife for suicides in 2006's Wristcutters: A Love Story.

If you're in more of a mood for the classics, TCM at 5:00 has groundbreaking 1963 horror The Haunting. Afterwards, it's an evening of Orson Welles: starting strong with his 1941 masterpiece Citizen Kane at 7:00, followed by 1947's The Lady from Shanghai at 9:15, 1942's The Magnificent Ambersons at 11:00, and 1948's Macbeth at 12:45 a.m. Then, if you can, try and stay up until 2:45 for Welles' flawed but visually arresting 1963 adaptation of Kafka's The Trial, starring Anthony "Norman Bates" Perkins as Josef K.

Wednesday, June 17

At 6:00 a.m., AMC shows Harrison's Flowers (2000), starring Andie MacDowell as the wife of a photo-journalist who has disappeared into war-torn Yugoslavia.

During the day, TCM airs a series of films by British New Wave director Tony Richardson, beginning with the 1968 Crimean War drama The Charge of the Light Brigade at 5:00 a.m.; highlights afterwards incude Mick Jagger in the Australian Outback western Ned Kelly (1970), playing at 8:45, and 1963's Tom Jones, the formally adventurous Henry Fielding adaptation that helped make Albert Finney a household name in America, at 2:45 p.m. Then, at 8:00, see the star-making turn by James Cagney in William A. Wellman's Pre-Code gangster masterpiece, The Public Enemy (1931).

IFC airs I Like Killing Flies, music video director Matt Mahurin's 2003 slice-of-life documentary about a Greenwich Village eatery and its eccentric owners, at 10:45 a.m. and 3:50 p.m. Later, at 8:35, see early Coen Brothers comedy Raising Arizona (1987); and at 11:00, Crash...the good one by David Cronenberg, not the lousy one by Paul Haggis.

Modern art buffs should check out Ovation in the afternoon: they're showing Matisse & Picasso, a documentary on the two modernist giants, at 1:00 and 4:00. If that piques your interest, you can also delve into the roots of Cubism with Paul Cézanne: Three Colours at 2:00 or 5:00; and for an altogether more representational turn, Vermeer: Light, Love & Silence at 3:00 or 6:00. And at 9:00, tune in to Sundance for Ten Canoes, Rolf de Heer's mesmerizing 2006 celebration of Australian Aboriginal life.

Thursday, June 18

Make sure to wake up by 6:00 a.m. - or just build a time machine - and turn to IFC for Chris Marker's seminal avant-garde sci-fi short La Jetée (1962): 28 minutes of still frames and narration that just happened to provide the primary inspiration for Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys. Afterwards, Flight of the Red Balloon director Hou Hsiao-Hsien explores three love stories in three different time periods in Three Times (2005), showing at 6:35 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. Then, at 3:05, Claude Chabrol explores the personal and political intrigues of three generations of a bourgeois family with The Flower of Evil (2003); at 4:55, former Nouvelle Vague director Alain Resnais explores the romantic travails of six Parisians with Private Fears in Public Places (2006); and at 7:00, John Carpenter pretty much invents the contemporary slasher with Halloween (1978). Afterwards, delve even further into the sleazy side of life with porn-murder docu-drama Wonderland (2003) at 8:35, followed by the harrowing Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer at 10:30.

And as long as you're getting up early for La Jetée, why not tune into TCM at 5:00 a.m. for Phaedra, Jules Dassin's wonderfully bizarre contemporary adaptation of Euripides' Hippolytus, starring Anthony Perkins and Melina Mercouri. If that piques your interest, there's more by the Hollywood blacklistee turned French émigré Dassin: best bets include 1948's part-noir, part-documentary, part proto-Law & Order The Naked City, playing at 1:00 p.m., and 1964 heist film Topkapi, at 3:00. Afterwards, in the evening, settle in for a night of François Truffaut: first up is Jules and Jim (1962) at 7:00, followed by The 400 Blows (1959) at 9:00, The Bride Wore Black (1968) at 11:00, Small Change (1976) at 1:00 a.m., and The Wild Child (1970) at 3:00.

Also for the early morning crowd, Charles Bronson plays the titular, bank-robbing anti-hero of Roger Corman's Machine-Gun Kelly (1958), playing on AMC at 5:00 a.m. Later, on Logo at 12:30 p.m., there's Total Eclipse, a 1995 biopic about the turbulent love affair between 19th century Symbolist poets Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud. Stars Lenardo DiCaprio as Rimbaud (how many times do I get to say that in a week?)! And on Sundance at 5:30, see La Vie en Rose's Marion Cotillard in 2006 French romantic comedy Toi et moi. Later, at 10:30, there's the Nixon-era faux-documentary Punishment Park, a portrait of an "imaginary" future America where political dissenters are tried and punished by secret military tribunals. And at 12 midnight, see the darkly comic 2006 French horror Sheitan.

Friday, June 19

Richard Linklater's experimental 2001 animation Waking Life shows at 11:00 a.m. on IFC. Later, at 6:15 p.m., a 1950s housewife discovers that her husband is gay in Todd Haynes' 2002 homage to the lush melodramas of Douglas Sirk, Far from Heaven; and at 8:05, a gay lawyer battles a blackmailer who threatens to expose homosexuals in Basil Dearden's Victim (1961).

Daytime TCM is showing films by Blake Edwards, beginning bright and early with He Laughed Last (1956) at 5:00 a.m. Coming highly recommended are his three greatest collaborations with Peter Sellers: 1968's The Party, airing at 1:15 p.m., and the first two films featuring inimitable French Inspector Jacques Clouseau, 1964's A Shot in the Dark at 3:00 and 1963's The Pink Panther at 5:00. But adventurous viewers may also want to catch Experiment in Terror, Edwards' aptly-named 1962 attempt at a thriller, which comes on at 6:30 a.m. And if Henry Mancini and slapstick hijinks really aren't your thing, just tune in at 7:00 p.m. for Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), kicking off an evening of programming by the legendary New Hollywood director that also includes 2004 documentary Scorsese on Scorsese at 9:00, 1983 black comedy The King of Comedy at 10:30, 1990 gangster opus Goodfellas at 12:30 a.m., and the director's 1973 breakout success Mean Streets at 3:00.

Ovation has Jean-Pierre Jeunet's whimsical love story Amélie at 1:00 and 4:00. Then, Sundance is showing Congorama (2006), a playful Canadian drama about cultural identity, parenthood, and the fate of the electric car. Afterwards, stick around for the Palestinian-Israeli suicide bombing thriller Paradise Now (2005), at 5:25. And at 1:45 a.m., it's never too early for the Flaming Lips' acid-fried, atmospheric Christmas on Mars (2008), playing at 1:45 a.m. If your tastes run a little darker than that, see Gus Van Sant's shot-by-shot 1998 remake of Psycho, showing on AMC at 1:30.

Saturday, June 20

Legendary Japanese actor Mifune Toshirô plays legendary Japanese samurai Miyamoto Musashi in Inagaki Hiroshi's Samurai 2: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (1955), airing at 7:00 a.m. on IFC. Later, Tim Roth plays a piano virtuoso whose extraordinary life begins and ends on a four-stacker ocean liner in Giuseppe Tornatore's The Legend of 1900 (1998), playing at 1:35 p.m.

Elsewhere, tune into Sundance at 9:00 a.m. for the pioneering cinema vérité documentary Primary, capturing the pivotal 1960 Wisconsin presidential primary between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey. Then, on Logo, see more LGBT shorts than you can handle with a marathon of The Click List: Best in Short Film from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. And last but not least, TCM has the original creepy-little-girl thriller, 1956's The Bad Seed, at 9:15 p.m.

Know something I don't? Care to recommend some indie TV I may have missed? Email all tips to kc.indiefilm@gmail.com.