While wallowing in the excesses of digital cable the other night, I did some surfing through everything Time Warner currently has to offer. Man oh man, is there a lot, and the viewing choices are pleasingly diverse. Here are a few things to keep you occupied before and after the Oscars.
Turner Classic Movies - Though the channel is deep into 31 Days of Oscar, there are some great movies yet to be screened. Tonight you'll find the fabulous Gershwin/Gene Kelly musical An American Paris at 11 p.m. The heavy influx of new additions to the TCM library is represented by a Sunday 3 a.m. screening of American Beauty. Sunday at 6 p.m. brings Casablanca, a movie that actually lives up to 65 years of hype.
On Tuesday the 27th, you can absorb at least 10 hours of classic movie goodness, from the terrific drama A Place in the Sun with Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor at 11:45 a.m. through to one of my favorites at 8 p.m., the near-perfect screwball comedy My Man Godfrey, starring William Powell and Carole Lombard. In between there's Greta Garbo's career-capping comedy Ninotchka and Vincente Minelli's The Bad and The Beautiful, for which this blog is named. I could go on about why I love this movie and stole its title, but Noel Murray from The Onion already did it for me here.
The Independent Spirit Awards - Digital cable subscribers can watch the ceremony live at 5 p.m. on IFC this Saturday, and this year the dressed-down Oscar precursor will even have live reports from the red carpet on We, starting at 4:30. But basic cable subscribers aren't left out; an encore of the awards show with commercials and maybe a few bleeps for host Sarah Silverman will air Saturday on AMC at 10 p.m.
Movies on Demand - It's easy to find the hits in this area, and a few things you may want to catch up on before Oscar night such as An Inconvenient Truth and Little Miss Sunshine. It's almost as easy to find some cool, offbeat stuff, and a lot of it never or barely made it to Columbus. The general MOD page includes day-and-date releases from IFC and Magnolia, the two companies most aggressive in launching films on multiple platforms simultaneously, and a subset of IFC films that are up for Independent Spirit Awards, such as 2006 Deep Focus Film Fest selection Twelve and Holding, On the International MOD page I found over a half-dozen Bollywood films, both recent and classic, as well as a flawed but fiery gem - Takashi Miike's funny, intensely weird kind-of family film The Great Yokai War. It's best when shared with friends.
First, a reminder that Syndromes and a Century is screening tonight and tomorrow at the Wexner Center. In my fumbling attempt to write a critique of this indescribable film I neglected to mention the basic fact that several times while watching, I caught myself in a smile that spread from ear to ear, head to toe. There's something very special here. You should really check it out.
On Saturday morning, I'll be hitting the annual Victorian Village Yard Sale hard, as both a buyer and a seller. On the buying side, it's a lot of ground to cover, but that's what flats are for, and every year I've made the effort I've found at least one item that was worth the walk.
In the evening, Gallery Hop organizers are making the most of the warm weather and newly illuminated arches with a "Hop hub" at Victorian Gate featuring demonstrations by Studios on High artists and an Ohio Art League mural project. Prideful colorguard The Flaggots (who were looking good the other night at their King Ave. practice space) will also be roaming around, and several musicians will be performing live, including Vena Cava guitarist and occasional Surly Girl DJ Keith Novicki.
In other OAL attractions, artist Michael Owens will open a solo show of his fun and amazing pop art paintings (that's his ultra-awesome Wonder Woman painting shown above) with a reception sponsored by the Columbus Arts Fest featuring a cornucopia of vintage treats for your munching pleasure, including Tootsie Pops and Atomic Fireballs. We'll have more on the show in next Thursday's Alive.
ROY G BIV will unveil a new series by former Alive cover photographer Jill Gallenstein - intricate pen-and-ink work that "implies that beauty is a virtue of order," according to the statement. They're on view with the print and concrete creations of Andrew Barchus.
At Mahan, "Real Space" examines a current hot topic, the relationship between architecture and contemporary art. A couple of blocks down, contemporary surrealist Cyrus Fire will open his solo show of works on skateboard Saturday night at The Gallery Upstairs. Cyrus has a great eye for color and he's been venue-free since Studio 16 closed, so show your support with a stop-and-chat.
With most Hop happenings starting around 6 p.m., you'll still have plenty of time to head to the Drexel Grandview for The Lost World at 10 p.m. with a live soundtrack by Yuganaut, covered by John Ross in this week's issue. Musicians have been creating interesting new soundtracks for silent film for years and the practice is gathering steam of late, but since Avant Garage folded, you haven't seen much of this in Columbus. Remember kids, support the cool stuff or it won't stick around.
On Sunday, before you settle down for one of the final gripping episodes of The Sopranos, set your DVR for a great Sunday night of programming on Turner Classic Movies, starting at 8 p.m.: The Wizard of Oz followed by Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away, the Lon Chaney silent classic He Who Gets Slapped and Marcel Carne's Le Jour Se Leve. You're going to need something to fill the void left by the end of sweeps.
The Sopranos is actually coming to a close. With all the delays in the later seasons, the finale doesn't seem to be making quite the pop cultural splash that it might have a couple of years ago. But there's some fun reading about it online.
Salon put together an excellent piece polling writers for their predictions of what might happen Sunday night. The first, from Salon's TV writer Heather Havrilesky, is pretty close to one of the theories I have, with pieces of my other two popping up from several contributors - most important, that if the Soprano family exists at all after the finale, it will be run by one of the Soprano women. (Really, who's scarier - Tony or Janice?) Several mention the Russian hit man last seen disappearing into the forest in one of the series' best episodes, but my mind keeps going back to a more recent thread left dangling - the gun Tony dropped in the snow and the snowballing Rico case that made the illegal firearm charge go away (which would line him up to enter Witness Protection and put that bastard Phil away). Another plausible factor from left field: the info Tony's been supplying to the Feds on his Arab acquaintances.
Also in on the predictions are TV writers around the country. You'll find a good summary here. The goofier side of the guessing game is covered by Gawker. And the best suggestion there comes from the reader comments: "It's revealed that Big Pussy's name is John. (too 2003?)"
Legendary French chanteuse Edith Piaf has a voice that begs questions - so strong and grounded, but with a passion that's almost intimidating. All I knew about her is her music, so I was stoked to learn more in Olivier Dahan's biopic La Vie En Rose, even though my first association with the actress in the lead, Marion Cotillard, was the horrible Russell Crowe romance A Good Year. It didn't hurt that in stills of her as Piaf, Cotillard was nearly unrecognizable.
Dahan's intuitive, non-linear approach does at least try to shake up a rut-prone genre. But he leaves too many holes as he hones in on the singer's larger-than-life personality and the pivotal moments, mostly tragic, that shaped Piaf's life - from her parents' abandonment and the years she spent in her grandmother's brothel to the murder of her first benefactor and the accidental death of the married boxer she loved. You get lots of shots of Piaf screaming as someone she loves is ripped from her life, yet no sense of who or how many times she married, or what's in the bottles and needles that drain her life away.
The film’s chronological game of hopscotch leaves the curious wanting, but if you’re well schooled in Piaf's short life, or you don’t care about the details and you just want to enjoy a truly amazing lead performance, you're set. Covering 25 years of hard living and 50 years of physical aging, Cotillard throws her every molecule into a part that's highly demanding despite someone else (Jil Aigrot) providing the singing voice. Her Piaf, a.k.a. "little sparrow," is a bird who felt trapped in a cage even at the height of her power, and who was never far away from the ferocity and self-destruction that such a feeling inspires.
Greetings to all from sunny Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Since the opening of The Simpsons Movie coincided with my vacation, I opted to see it out here, at a midnight show with a paying audience at a Regal Cinemas about a block from where roadies were prepping Fenway Park for this weekend's Police concerts.
It was a tough crowd that made for some laughs before the movie even started. They booed openly at most of the slew of family-friendly trailers that played before the film, like the new Rock movie and Daddy Day Camp, but the best reaction came from a preview for the new live action-animation Alvin and the Chipmunks. When Alvin puts a piece of poop in his mouth to fool Dave and then spits it out, one audience member sounded truly disturbed when he shouted, “Alvin wouldn’t do that!”
At the first sign that we were in Simpsons territory, however, when Ralph Wiggum appeared in the Fox logo, the crowd lightened up and started hooting in the positive. Unlike other blockbusters this summer, there’s a tangible feeling that viewers are rooting for this one to succeed. Praise Jeebus, longtime series director David Silverman and the VIP list of show writers have felt the pressure but still had fun with it.
The movie opens with Homer bitching about paying to see an Itchy & Scratchy movie when he can just watch it for free at home. Rising to their own spoken challenge, the creators then pack as much gag material as reasonably possible into 85 minutes, including a few scenes that take advantage of the PG-13 rating (no no-nudity clause for Bart), frequent references to the film jump (Bart’s chalkboard detention is to write repeatedly, “I will not illegally download this movie”) and a genuine movie star cameo (Tom Hanks), along with the subversive material that’s popped up in the show for years. Disney, the U.S. government and Fox, of course, make handy fodder.
The expanded storyline finds Homer again screwing up big time, when he falls for a pig about to be slaughtered at the local Krusty Burger and tries to dispose of its waste in the lake. His dumping into water already tainted by power plant runoff and Krusty’s flop sweat brings the wrath of the EPA down on Springfield, threatens the Simpsons’ marriage, introduces Lisa to a dreamy new love interest (poor Milhouse) and prompts Bart to seek a father figure elsewhere – next door, at the Flanders’.
Since non-fans aren’t likely to read this, let’s talk fan to fan. The movie mines from the history of the series, like the series itself. Unlike the series in recent years, there’s cohesion to the plotline, and less randomness in the jokes - although there’s still a little, and it goes a long way. If you’ve gotten to know and love Springfield on TV, you’ll probably enjoy it just as much on the big screen.
Between one tantalizing episode caught in a Toronto hotel room and the raves of Chris DeVille, who let me borrow season one on DVD, I bit the bullet and picked up Showtime for the third season of Weeds, catching up with reruns on season two and its pulse-pounding Mexican standoff finale.
The terrific start to season three keeps the adrenaline flowing, as Mary Louise Parker's suburban mom-slash-dealer Nancy Botwin tries to catch up with her crop before someone finds it in the trunk of her son Silas' car, where he stashed it after he stole it from the operation's grow house in a bid to become part of the family business. Guns remain drawn for most of the episode and the issue of Nancy's younger son Shane taking off with brother-in-law Andy's crazy ex-girlfriend (Zooey Deschanel, who should really work more) is resolved, but the show hasn't tired of cliffhangers, delivering another doozy.
The pilot for Californication does a suprisingly good job of following a tough act. David Duchovny executive produces and stars as Hank Moody, a blocked author whose one literary success has just been pablumized into a Hollywood romantic comedy. Separated from his dream woman (Natasha McElhone) and their daughter, Hank spends his days maintaining an exhaustiing schedule of casual sex and self-loathing.
Duchovy just annoyed me on The X-Files, before his funny-creepy homoerotic stint on The Larry Sanders Show showed he was capable of more (not screenwriting, however, if House of D is any indication). Generally, he's more lovable as a loser, and while "lovable" may not be exactly right for him in this circumstance - Hank has a nasty, razor-sharp wit and a habit of giving in to his scummiest impulses - the show may be something to love. It's definitely easy to watch.
Turner Classic Movies is giving every night in November over to its Guest Programmer series, in which celebrities are invited to show a few of their favorite films for TCM audiences. First up is Whoopi Goldberg with a solid selection of four titles, including Jean Cocteau's indescribably gorgeous Beauty and the Beast from 1946 and Elia Kazan's still-relevant A Face in the Crowd from 1957, which will forever alter your view of Andy Griffith as a kindly small-town sherriff (the movie's so good it was actually chosen by two guest programmers).
The biggest viewer benefit from TCM allowing its vaults to be raided by outsiders is an illuminating mix of the channel's lifeblood classics (Citizen Kane, A Night at the Opera, Inherit the Wind) and some rarely seen titles (Alfred Molina picked the not-on-DVD The Secret of Santa Vittoria for his November 2 showcase). What follows are a few of the better nights to catch.
I'm not going to pretend that I can guide you through the minutiae of the now-official WGA strike, but when there's a major development or an interesting side note, I'll pass it on. Chris DeVille has an excellent list of links here for the inside skinny on the strike from people a little closer to the action, and to that I second Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily, one of the very few places to offer some perspective on what's really driving both sides of the negotiations. Today she reports on late night talk shows going into rerun mode and what that situation could mean for movie marketing campaigns, and gives props to Jon Stewart for covering the salaries of writers on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report for the first two weeks of the strike - out of his own pocket. Alive's other contributors are going to have to go pretty far to out-class that move.
November 6 update: Nikki Finke is now reporting that Jon Stewart's people are denying the previous salary deal, but they're not getting into specifics. And a quick end to the strike now appears unlikely, as WGA negotiators met with the top men from CBS and Fox on Sunday and the moguls reportedly failed to live up to a previously agreed upon compromise that their side had initiated. Ugh.
I have yet to catch up with NBC's controversy-generating "news" special on the Golden Globes, which was run prior to the hour-long announcement of the winners. But based on that alone, all I really missed from the cancellation of the awards ceremony was watching stars get drunk and loose-lipped - an opportunity provided the previous weekend by the Critics' Choice Awards - and some beautiful and questionable gowns. In that department, Nancy O'Dell's black satin number made her look like a linebacker.
As for the awards themselves, it was a pleasant surprise to see Julian Schnabel take Best Director for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and Mad Men take Best TV Drama, it was sad to see Eastern Promises, Pushing Daisies and Amy Ryan (pictured) from Gone, Baby, Gone shut out, and I just don't get David Duchovny taking Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy Series. Californication quickly became a big disappointment, and he was the weakest nominee in the bunch.
With the Globs out of the way and Oscar nominations coming next Tuesday, the burning question is whether negotiators from the WGA and the AMPTP will be able to work something out in time for the Academy Awards ceremony to take place as planned on February 24. The all-knowing Nikki Finke, who's taking a much-deserved vacation this week, thinks the WGA will never cut a separate deal to allow stars to attend without fear of a picket line to cross, as they did with the Screen Actors Guild for their awards, because show presenter ABC has too much to gain in ratings and advertising revenues. You can't really blame the WGA, considering some of the actions Disney/ABC's taken to intimidate or punish strikers and supporters, which Finke describes here. The more time, effort and money spent by some moguls to end this strike without caving on new media residuals, the less their shaky lynchpin argument - that there's no money in the Internet - holds weight.
Fortunately, it'll be warming up somewhat this weekend so you'll only need the triple layers for going out tonight, say, to the Dynamites show at Ravari Room, or the final double feature in the Wexner Center's popular Cinema Latino series.
Saturday, you can get creative with a T-shirt workshop in the morning hosted by Substance at the North Market, or Mahan Gallery's latest Art Jam event, which encourages patrons to get loose with brushes, canvas and an open wine bar. Or you can just go see Lisa Lampanelli say "c**t" a lot at the Palace.
On winter Sundays, going to brunch is usually about as ambitious as I get, but a Wex matinee of the horribly named The Rape of Europa, a doc about Hitler's systematic plundering of European art treasures, sounds very tempting (I got to see the first half-hour before a tape glitch took over and it was fascinating). The film also screens Saturday night.
If you choose to stay in, Turner Classic Movies is showing Woody Allen's own personal 8 1/2, Stardust Memories, at 1 p.m. At noon, the Sundance Channel offers Sleeping Dogs Lie, Bobcat Goldthwait's controversial comedy about the difference between loving your pet and loving your pet, then at 9 p.m. highlights from this year's Sundance Fest will air, followed by a rebroadcast of Donnie Darko, conveniently timed to rub it in that Columbus won't see Southland Tales until it comes out on DVD in March.
From Madame Tutli Putli, part of the Gateway's program of Oscar-nominated animated shorts
Homebodies, especially those without Showtime, can look forward to the network debut of the terrific series Dexter Sunday night. But if you're going out this weekend, there's plenty to keep you busy, between the big DoneWaiting anniversary shows, fancy footwork from BalletMet and Columbus Dance Theatre and a few interesting film presentations, such as the Oscar-nominated shorts at the Gateway, the continuation of the Pedro Costa series at the Wex and Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth. We weren't able to see that one before deadline this week but other critics have painted it as one of the more fascinating messes in recent film history.
Also this weekend is Studio 35's 70th anniversary celebration, featuring screenings of the first movie ever to play there, Stage Door, and local filmmaker Tim Baldwin's new documentary about the neighborhood moviehouse. Sorry for not mentioning this in the paper, but I only heard about it yesterday.
We also have a couple of personal requests for your time:
On Saturday, our own Brittany Kress will be at North Market taking on the daunting task of cooking in public, with able assistance from co-workers Chris DeVille and Shelley Mann. Her "Spicy Cooking for Singles" workshop starts at 2 p.m. in the Dispatch Kitchen.
And on Monday at 11 a.m., I'll be joining Dispatch critic Frank Gabrenya and Wexner Center film curator Dave Filipi for a discussion with WOSU 820's Fred Anderle about this year's Oscar race. Call in with your questions and comments!
I was pleased to find that Kid in the Hall Scott Thompson was feeling chatty when we spoke earlier this week. He was even nice enough to offer me quite the scoop. Moving away from his parked car to keep our cell phone connection intact, he said, "I’m standing in the middle of the freeway, but if I get killed it’ll be a fabulous story for you. You’ll be the last person to talk to me before the car hits me." Now there's a celebrity who's willing to go the extra mile, so to speak. I felt so special, but didn't feel comfortable getting that kind of exclusive. The time when Buddy Cole coached the lesbian softball team was gift enough.
One of the things to come up in the conversation but not in this week's print feature was Brain Candy. The comedy troupe's ill-fated 1996 movie satirized the anti-depressant industry and a corporate environment that favors competition and profit over safety and the greater good. Pretty much abandoned by its distributor when it opened, the movie did next to no business in theaters (the DVD is currently out of print). As Thompson explained, it contributed to some of the Kids not speaking to each other for about five years. It's also got a lot of hilarious stuff in it, including Mark McKinney's Lorne Michaels impersonation for the big pharmaceutical company's CEO, and Thompson's gay-and-in-denial family man ("Where's dad?" "Masturbating to gay porn." "Again?"). We agreed that the movie's ripe for a resurgence.
"I’ve always believed that we were a little too ahead of the curve," he said. "I don’t think people were ready for a movie mocking the anti-depressant industry because it was just getting started. But now we’re 13 years into it and the chickens are coming home to roost. I think people might look back on Brain Candy and go, 'Holy s--t! They’re kind of right.'"
A couple of the things I didn't have room to cover in this week's print feature on Heavy Load, which premieres June 23 on IFC: The band started an activist movement to try to change practices at assisted residences around England, so that residents would have an easier time staying out late at the pub. And they do an unforgettable version of Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head" that's been approved by the pop icon herself. Personally, my favorite song is an original: "We love George Michael because he’s gay all week and gay at weekends".
You can hear that song and others here on Heavy Load's MySpace page. After the jump, my full Q&A from SxSW with director Jerry Rothwell and bassist and support worker Paul Richards (he's bringing up the rear in the photo above).
To honor the work of late comedian and free speech roustabout George Carlin, whose relationship with HBO went back decades, the cable channel is hosting a message board for remembrances here. It will repeat his latest stand-up special, It's Bad for Ya, Friday night at 9 p.m. And over two days, starting tonight at 8 p.m., HBO2 will air 11 of Carlin's specials, including George Carlin at USC from 1977 and 1983's Carlin at Carnegie, in which he expanded his infamous list of "Seven Dirty Words You Can Never Say on Television" to a healthy 200. Here's hoping Carlin took some pleasure in sticking around long enough to hear a couple of those original words make it to basic cable.
6/26 Update - Here's what I was hoping to hear: NBC announced that this Saturday night at 11:30, it will re-run the very first episode of Saturday Night Live from 1975 (back when it was just known as Saturday Night), which Carlin hosted, and which also features a performance by another late comedy legend, Andy Kaufman.
Before you go out a-ComFestin' or partying for Pride, set your DVR to record some fine viewing entertainment for after the weekend, when you're a lumpen, hungover mess trying to rest up for next week's holiday. (If you're ComFestin' around the Offramp stage tonight for Brainbow and the Weightless set, I'll be MCing, so stop by and say hello.)
Turner Classic Movies
Saturday at 2 a.m., TCM presents Death Race 2000 as this week's "Underground" selection. See this futuristic, car-crunching cult classic from Roger Corman and Paul Bartel now before the remake with Jason Statham shows up in August to ruin it for you.
On Sunday at 11:30 a.m., the station airs a more traditional classic, the wonderfully bitchy theater drama All About Eve, followed at 2 p.m. by Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious, in case you can't make the Ohio Theatre screening of the film that's starting at the same time.
Cinemax Waitress, Adrienne Shelly's delicious and biting indie romantic comedy, makes its cable debut Saturday at 10 p.m. Best watched with pie.
Starz
Wondering just how awful I Know Who Killed Me is? Lindsay Lohan's slutty starring vehicle from last year airs Saturday at 12:30 a.m. At 12:40 p.m. Sunday, Starz offers a must-see romantic comedy for young music lovers, High Fidelity with John Cusack. And if you've got the whole Starz/Encore package, check out Starz Edge Monday at 12:30 a.m. It's airing Paul Verhoeven's erotically driven, thoroughly satisfying WWII thriller Black Book.
The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly Not for Sale
Sunday, 9 p.m. HBO Signature
(also on HBO Thursday, 7/17 at 3:50 a.m.)
When Chuck Connelly was a rising star in the New York art world of the late 1980s alongside Jean Michel Basquiat and Julian Schnabel, his extraordinary paintings went for tens of thousands of dollars and he was chosen by Martin Scorsese as the inspiration for the main character of his New York Stories entry (the artist's work is featured in the film). Now Connelly is living in near squalor in Philadelphia with thousands of unsold paintings in a storage room and a chip the size of Mt. Everest on his shoulder. Filmmaker Jeff Stimmel chronicles the artist's self-defeating career in a work that's always fascinating even when it's uncomfortable to watch. This is a must-see for anyone considering or working on a professional life in the visual arts. And if you set your DVR for the Sunday 9 p.m. airing on HBO Signature, you're free to watch Generation Kill, the new miniseries from the creators of The Wire, which airs at the same time on HBO proper.
Eastern Promises Saturday, 10 p.m. on Cinemax
If you didn't get to see this in theaters, now's your chance to see why Viggo Mortensen got nominated for an Oscar, and why he would've won if the Best Actor category wasn't so competitive this past year.
Elvis Mitchell: Under the Influence
Saturday, noon on Turner Classic Movies
TCM repeats the first episode of its highly acclaimed new series pairing former head film critic for the New York Times Elvis Mitchell with Hollywood players and pioneers. Here he offers one of the last interviews with late filmmaker Sydney Pollack. Up next this Monday at 8 p.m.: Bill Murray. I'm betting the conversation will not cover the accusations of rage, infidelity and marijuana addication brought up by Murray's freshly divorced ex.
At 8 p.m. Saturday, this week's episode of The Essentials on TCM serves up the gritty, sexy 1946 noir The Postman Always Rings Twice. Noon Sunday brings The Trouble With Harry, Alfred Hitchcock's bizarre attempt at comedy with Shirley MacLaine and John Forsyth, a.k.a. the Angels' Charlie.
The Alive office is decidedly light on men today. With Brian Lindamood, John Ross and Chris DeVille all taking time off, I'm trying to cover multiple blog duties for the day. And since Misters Lindamood and DeVille are such big fans of Mad Men, it just doesn't seem right not to have weekend picks with the season two premiere coming up Sunday at 10 p.m. on AMC. I finally watched the last three episodes of the first season last night. Such an intriguing depiction of guys being guys, and such a great showcase for how brilliant advertising can be. Even if you hate being bombarded with ads, the Kodak carousel pitch in the season finale is a stunner.
Other options:
Saturday, you can show your support for CSO musicians at a benefit concert at Vets Memorial conducted by Alessandro Siciliani
Planning to get your BBQ on this weekend at Jazz & Rib Fest? If you go tonight, check out Either/Orchestra, a band from my old stomping ground of Somerville, Massachusetts, alongside Ethiopian jazz performers such as Mulatu Astatke. If you saw Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers, you already know Astatke's hypnotic melodies from the CD Jeffrey Wright burns for Bill Murray's road trip.
Sunday brings another collaboration between U.S. and African musicians, Extra Golden, to the Wex.
Also at the Wex on Friday and Saturday, A Jihad for Love, a new documentary about a little-known part of the Muslim community - gays and lesbians - and their struggles to reconcile same-sex orientation with a faith that strictly forbids it.
The idea of heading out to the Ohio Theatre tonight for an 11 p.m. screening of Monty Python's Life of Brian sounds appealing, especially if some ribs or a trip to Tip Top is part of the plan.
It'll be another hopping night at JunctionView Studios Saturday for the group lowbrow show Cowtipping.
And with all the encouragement of laziness in this week's issue, a few more things to see from home seems appropriate:
Tonight at 1:15 a.m., IFC offers The River's Edge, which popped up in this week's A.V. Club list on movies about the teenage menace. On Sunday night at 9 p.m. the channel airs the original Halloween uncut.
If you can't get your butt in gear for Life of Brian at the Ohio, the Sundance Channel is showing Monty Python's Meaning of Life Friday at midnight.
On Saturday at 8 p.m., Turner Classic Movies presents the Hollywood insider drama for which this blog is named, Vincente Minelli's The Bad and the Beautiful, followed at 10:15 by a great movie about the power of the publicist and the cancerous properties of hype, Sweet Smell of Success.
There's plenty going on this weekend to keep your mind off the fact that our grace period from real seasonal weather will be over. Starting with tonight, I'm definitely heading to The Summit for the Ugly Stick CD release (heard a little of the new, finished disc on WCBE this afternoon and it sounds like a fun show will be had).
Saturday, I'm trying to decide if I'll have enough energy left for Andyland after an opening reception for works by Kirk Richard Smith and the latest gorgeous photo collages by Chas Ray Krider (pictured above), which won an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence award this year, then MadLab Gallery's Video Film Festival. The art opening happens from 6-10 at the Invisible Gallery, 219 King Ave. (there are also gallery hours from 12-5 through Sunday, and next week by appointment) and the Video Film Fest starts at 8 p.m.
On Sunday, there's the opening night film of the Columbus International Film Festival, To Each Her Own at Liquid. But in case all you're up for is some brunch, a couch and a movie on the tube, there's Preston Sturges' The Miracle at Morgan's Creek,, a film that was cut last-minute from CAPA's summer program, showing at 10:15 a.m. on Turner Classic, or you can set your DVR for 8 p.m. this evening and record the latest installment of Elvis Mitchell: Under the Influence, featuring an interview with Edward Norton (the doc he produced on Obama's Presidential campaign just got picked up by HBO, BTW). Also on Sunday, Walk Hard makes an appearance on Starz at 9 p.m., and of course it's never too late to give a little love to the recently canceled (and maybe resurrected) King of the Hill, on Fox at 8:30 p.m. This week's episode has Bobby moved to the low-achievement classes to raise his school's standardized test scores.
