The Official Turner Classic Movies (aka TCM) Thread

I grew up on John Waters movies, and Desperate Living is probably his most outre film. It has underpinnings of fantasy and fairy tale.

Btw, I can remember seeing Gumball Rally in the theater.
TCM is the only channel I really watch besides one news program I follow. I have been noticing TCM is working hard to be more inclusionary, leading to some really interesting obscurities showing up. Also, they seem to pick their programming anticipating what is going to be a rough month in the public psyche and pulling out all the stops for those. November is another one like that. Those months they don't schedule any filler material and just go full tilt boogie on feel good classic bingeing.

 

Oof. That's a rough print of Fleshpot they're showing tonight. It had the Something Weird intro. Surprised they didn't get the Vinegar Syndrome transfer.

 

I recorded that and Guru, The Mad Monk.

Quite the lineup tonight. Before those was Eye Of The Devil, The Devil's Bride, and The Wicker Man.

 

DVR'd Eye and Guru, watched The Wicker Man in real time.

 

So......Guru the Mad Monk

A medieval piece clearly filmed in a NYC church in 1970. It was fun trying to spot the anachronisms. My favorite was the electrical conduit in the background while the monks were talking.

 

Eye of the Devil was a really slow and dull movie. Sharon Tate was good in it though, especially the scenes on top of the castle. But 90% of the movie was Deborah Kerr wandering around frantically. And it was the first time I noticed how much David Hemmings resembles Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day.

 

Would you recommend this on DVD? I've been eyeing the Retromedia disc for years...but only because I like the case artwork.

 

No. I'll quote Michael Weldon's Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film: "Sixty-two minutes that only seem like hours"

Wait for the next TCM airing, even if it takes several years. There's better things you can do with an hour of your life.

 

Times Square was pretty much unwatchable. Something was up with the frame rate, so the video stuttered the whole time. It was ok in a static scene, but if there was any movement from the actors or the camera, it was like watching a movie with a strobe light on. Terrible. TCM has to have better quality control than that.

 

I think my liking for Milligan comes from having a background in some of the Cafe Cinno plays that influenced Milligan's style. Andy was the misanthrope's misanthrope, so do not expect a pleasant retro time. This stuff is bleak, full of emotional S n M, and a real look into a homosexual Deuce crawler's personal bleak mindset. It is like Jean Genet being forced to make a Corman film. That said, I always thought the Raffine clothing was underrated and made to "pop" on the big screen, and somehow Milligan always managed to find decent talent, probably due to his ability to know theater as much as grindhouse. He is for grindhouse what Chris Rage was for porn. You arent gonna be comfy n retro, you may think it is awful, but you cannot accuse it of being derivative. It is like someone was trying to be Tennessee Williams, but took a wrong left somewhere....so i wont fully "recommend" it, but if this sounds like your stripe, feel free to buy the whole whip.

 

Did you see the transfer of Christiane F? I mean, if it is digital and maybe settled with the Bowie estate, could there be a new transfer on disc in the future?

 

When the hell did Christiane F air??????

I was looking for it and it wasn't in my listings

 

Right after "Times Square" I think...? I hate to hear about the issues with that one.

 

Rich Kids played after Times Square. I didn't record because I already own the Olive blu-ray.

 

Wow. Tcms earlier listing in Remind Magazine had Christiane F listed after Times Square.

 

That tracks. Rich Kids is far from an "underground" movie. The only thing it has in common with Times Square is actress Trini Alvarado. Christiane F is more thematically connected with Times Square. Guess they didn't have the rights to show it and threw in Rich Kids instead. My listing always had Rich Kids as the follow up though.

 

I gotta start watching more tcm, but I been just getting an attention span back and am doing the halloween I deserved but couldnt focus on, so I am gettin high on my own supply a bit. I have a friend who contacted me who I havent seen in 10 years or so, and lately we both put on tcm for a day and text while it is on both our tvs as we are isolating and live an hour apart.