Small films, small screen: Indie films on K.C. TV for the week of 6/22/09

June 22, 12:45 PMKansas City Indie Movie ExaminerZach Hoskins

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    Hitchcock is on TCM all day long this Saturday, June 27.

Distraught over the alleged impending divorce of Mr. and Mrs. Jon & Kate Plus 8? Hell, who am I kidding, neither am I. But in case you are, there are plenty of great films on basic cable this week that are sure to restore your faith in the reality-televised, tabloid-fodder, octo-parenting nuclear family...or at least quality entertainment. We have documentaries on the rise of contemporary art and the rebirth of New Orleans music; great world cinema from Spain, Japan, and Italy; and one 24-hour marathon of classic films from a certain portly-silhouetted Master of Suspense. Let's face it, if a day of Hitchcock isn't enough for you to fill the void left by Jon and Kate, then you're probably reading the wrong article. And in any case, I leave you to think upon this: while even the highest-rated, wholesomest TV relationships are bound to disintegrate into adultery, bitter custody battles, and at least eight emotionally scarred children, great films are forever.
 

Monday, June 22

At 12:00 noon, the Sundance Channel has Who Gets to Call It Art?, Peter Rosen's entertaining 2006 documentary about Henry Geldzahler, the Metropolitan Museum of Art curator who brought contemporary movements like Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, and Minimalism to wide public attention in the 1950s and '60s. Later, at 3:05, the 2007 documentary Body of War addresses the human cost of America's invasion of Iraq through the story of Kansas City's own Tomas Young, who was paralyzed by an insurgent bullet in 2004 and went on to become a nationally renowned anti-war activist. Then, at 5:30, see D.A. Pennebaker's groundbreaking 1968 chronicle of the original 1960s rock festival, Monterey Pop. And at 11:00, don't miss Pedro Almodóvar's hauntingly beautiful 2002 masterwork, Talk to Her.

Elsewhere, on the Independent Film Channel at 3:30, Rhys Ifans takes to the skies with nothing but a chair and a bunch of balloons in the quirky Australian comedy Danny Deckchair (2003). Then, at 7:00, Jon Favreau plays a struggling actor whose day job as a courier entangles him in a world of danger and intrigue in 2003's darkly comic sci-fi noir The Big Empty.

Tuesday, June 23

Check out Turner Classic Movies at 10:30 a.m. for Angel Face, Otto Preminger's 1952 noir about a femme fatale (Jean Simmons) obsessed with a handsome ambulance driver (Robert Mitchum). Then, at 2:15 p.m., there's Anatomy of a Murder (1959), another Preminger thriller starring James Stewart. Later, the network's "Great Directors" series presents an evening of Ernst Lubitsch's highly influential comedies, including 1939's Greta Garbo vehicle Ninotchka at 9:00, 1934's sprightly musical The Merry Widow at 11:00, and 1927's silent classic The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg at 1:00 a.m.

At 1:35 p.m., IFC has Miyazaki Hayao's enchanting 2004 anime, Howl's Moving Castle. Then at 8:00, see real-life mother and daughter Diane Ladd and Laura Dern in the film that earned them both Oscar nominations: 1991's Depression-era drama of a "fallen woman" redeemed, Rambling Rose. Finally, stick around after hours for the 11:00 showing of American Psycho, the grisly 2000 black comedy that convinced those in the know of Christian Bale's insanity long before he went off on any cinematographers.

Meanwhile, Sundance at 10:30 shows Who Are You Polly Maggoo?, famed photographer-turned-filmmaker William Klein's 1966 satire of celebrity culture and the Twiggy-era fashion industry.

Wednesday, June 24

On IFC at 12:45, see Gérard Depardieu in the title role of Andrzej Wajda's 1983 French Revolution biopic, Danton. Later, go from the Reign of Terror to the rise of Manchester indie rock with Michael Winterbottom's 2002 post-punk period piece 24 Hour Party People, airing at 11:00.

Fans of Stanley Kubrick would do well to tune in to TCM for an evening framed around two of the director's great 1960s works. First off, at 7:00, there's the 2001 documentary Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures; then, settle in for his enduring, recently-Canonized 1964 Cold War satire Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb at 9:30, and his poetic 1962 Vladimir Nabokov adaptation Lolita at 11:15.

For a more international (and steamier) night of films, check out Sundance at 9:00 for Eros, the 2004 anthology picture that united master filmmakers Wong Kar Wai, Steven Soderbergh, and Michelangelo Antonioni for three provocative portraits of desire. Then, for the late-night crowd, there's also Madame Satã: the visually rich, impressionistic 2002 biopic of Brazilian transvestite, lover, hustler, and sometimes criminal João Francisco dos Santos, airing at 2:00 a.m.

Thursday, June 25

On Sundance, Civil Rights-era drama Nothing But a Man airs at 8:25 a.m., boasting one of the notable early "positive" portrayals of African American life thanks to its lead performances by Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln (For Love of Ivy). And at 3:45 p.m., there's more on race - with a generous helping of cricket - in Paul Morrison's charming Wondrous Oblivion (2003).

IFC has an evening of darker fare, beginning with their 5:30 showing of Darren Aronofsky's 1998 film about a mathematician's descent into madness and paranoia, Pi. Afterwards, at 7:00, a family of murderous sociopaths take an ultraviolent road trip in Rob Zombie's 2005 horror The Devil's Rejects; and at 9:00, a 17-year-old boy shows signs of hideous mutant parentage - complete with striking prosthetic creature effects by Tom Burman, the special effects artist behind the late-'70s Island of Dr. Moreau and Invasion of the Body Snatchers - in 1982's guiltily pleasurable The Beast Within.

For viewers of weaker stomach - or just those with a completely understandable love for the films of Federico Fellini -turn to TCM in the evening for a marathon of films by the Italian pioneer. La Strada (1954) kicks off the proceedings at 7:00, followed by Juliet of the Spirits (1965) at 9:00, Fellini Satyricon (1969) at 11:30, and Roma (1972) at 1:45 a.m. The 2002 documentary The Magic of Fellini follows at 4:00.

Friday, June 26

On IFC at 10:45 a.m. is Three Times, Hou Hsiao-hsien's triptych of love stories set in 1911 China, 1966 Taiwan, and 2005 Taipei. If all that sounds a little too sensitive and emotional for your tastes, tune back in at 11:00 p.m. for Victor Salva's 2001 film about teens on the run from flesh-eating demons, Jeepers Creepers. Then, at 12:35 a.m., see the classic, hallucinogenic 1963 Brazilian horror At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul.

Meanwhile, daytime TCM has films by British director David Lean; be sure to see his Noël Coward-scripted 1945 romance/class- system critique Brief Encounter at 11:00 a.m. Later, at 8:00 p.m., see Sidney Poitier in Norman Jewison's 1967 racial drama In the Heat of the Night.

Sundance shows 2007's The Situation, the first dramatic film set entirely during the Iraq War, at 12:00 noon. If that sounds a tad too political, enjoy a little music with the 2005 outlaw-country mockumentary The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico, airing at 9:00; then, at 11:00, see Music Rising, the 2006 documentary about the celebrity-aided recovery of New Orleans' musical culture in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Whoops, just got political again.

Saturday, June 27

In an all-day marathon on TCM, see some of the greatest entries in the considerable ouevre of Alfred Hitchcock. The festivities begin with his 1972 appearance on The Dick Cavett Show, airing just after cow-milking time at 5:00 a.m. Then, we get to the goods: Suspicion (1941) at 6:15, Rebecca (1940) at 8:00, Spellbound (1945) at 10:15, Marnie (1964) at 12:15 p.m., Psycho (1960) at 2:30, North by Northwest (1959) at 4:30, Notorious (1946) at 7:00, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) at 9:00, Rear Window (1954) at 11:15, Vertigo (1958) at 1:15 a.m., and The 39 Steps (1935) at 3:30. If you have any interest whatsoever in finely-crafted thrillers, Hollywood cinema as art, or just film in general, you owe it to yourself to see all of these movies. Cancel your appointments, turn off your cell phone, and invest in some Depends undergarments and TV dinners. That's an order!

Meanwhile, if you're a fan of samurai movies and you've been reading this column for the last two weeks, you'll know to tune into IFC at 7:00 a.m. for the third in Inagaki Hiroshi's and Mifune Toshirô Miyamoto Musashi trilogy, 1956's Samurai 3: Duel at Ganryu Island. Later in the day, Vince Vaughn is a con artist working for (and sleeping with the wife of) ex-con telemarketing guru Ed Harris in The Prime Gig (2000), showing at 11:00 a.m. and 4:15 p.m.; and at 8:45, Bruce Willis is a Prohibition-era gunman playing rival bootleggers against each other in Last Man Standing, Walter Hill's 1996 gangster-western tribute to Kurosawa Akira's Yojimbo and Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars.

Finally, for some less testosterone-filled viewing, Sundance has The Witnesses - André Téchiné's 2007 period drama set in 1984, the time of the first AIDS outbreak in Paris - at 9:00.

Sunday, June 28

IFC at 4:30 has Ripley's Game, Liliana Cavani's 2002 sequel to Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley starring John Malkovich as the brilliant sociopath. Later, at 8:35, Famke Janssen (The Wackness) and Jon Favreau (The Big Empty) star in 2000's romantic comedy-drama Love & Sex.

Meanwhile, on Sundance at 9:00, see the early Fellini classic Nights of Cabiria (1957), starring the legendary auteur's longtime wife/muse Giulietta Masina. Afterwards, The Host director Joon-ho Bong tackles the serial-killer genre with 2003's Memories of Murder, airing at 11:00.

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