TCM Look-Ahead (Feb. 27)
The much-reviled 31 Days of Oscar enters its third excruciating week, with anointed mediocre classics dominating the programming. But there are a few gems that deserve your attention.
Saturday 02/28
04:30 p.m. PST The Naked Spur. Probably the best of the James Stewart/Anthony Mann westerns (they were all great), the ones where good old lovable Jimmy is angry and borderline psychotic. Here he is a Bounty Hunter (already unsympathetic, right?) chasing the great Robert Ryan. Also Janet Leigh! Oscar nominated for best original screenplay.
Sunday, 03/01
It's musicals day on TCM so, depending on how you feel about musicals, arguably the nadir of the reprehensible 31 days of Oscar. There are some great ones featured today, though, the stand out of which is...
04:00 p.m. PST The Band Wagon. Arguably Vincent Minelli's masterpiece, this show-biz-knowing meta musical features Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse (yes!) as an impresario and his fading movie star charge. A film that has slowly grown over the years to take its place amongst the three or four greatest musicals ever made. The Dancing in the Dark sequence is pure sublimity. Nominated for Screenplay, Costumes and Musical Score.
Monday, 03/02
10:00 p.m. PST Fat City. Stacy Keach as a palooka who mentors a promising younger fighter (Jeff Bridges, who was in every good movie made in the 70s), this is a feel-bad story without even a glimmer of character redemption. In other words, a great time at the movies! Directed by John Huston in the midst of his amazing 70s run. Susan Tyrell (Oscar nominated, should have won) as the "juicy" girl friend and drinking buddy of Keach. Great use of Kristoffeson's "Help Me Make it Through the Night." Speaking of the 1970s, this movie exemplifies what we mean when we reminisce about the new wave of serious American film that thrived that decade. You can essentially trace the end of that run to Rocky, another film about a palooka who this time finds redemption. Fat City is the Anti-Rocky.
Tuesday, 03/03
10:00 a.m. PST It's Always Fair Weather. Ironically titled classic musical that is actually a pretty gloomy, if tuneful and dance-tastic, affair (I promise, I am not as dour as I seem). 3 G.I.'s make a promise on V-E Day to meet ten years later so they can compare their fabulous lives. Turns out things ain't so fabulous. Nominated for best screenplay and best score.
Friday, 03/06
04:15 a.m. PST The Candidate. Michael Ritchie's great political film of 1972, probably the best ever made about an election. Robert Redford plays the relatively unqualified titular character (but he's so handsome!), who finds himself suddenly becoming a real threat to the entrenched incumbent in a senatorial race. Acerbic, funny, true and still prescient.
