TCM WATCH: SEPTEMBER BRINGS THINGS BACK TO NORMAL

I just had one of those computer horror moments. I was writing this medium-long post about several different things, and instead of doing it in Word and saving along the way, I was typing right into my browser. Browser crashes, post is gone … fuck you Windows.

I can’t reconstruct it right now. Hell, part of it was just me bitching about how I’m in a mood and how the RNC, McCain, Schwarzenegger, the Bush twins and Catherine Breillat (I saw her new film last night, and while I normally would be happy about 60+ minutes of a naked Amira Casar, the rest of the film was too painfully incomprehensible) have forced me to just throw up some links-n-thoughts that wouldn’t take too much conscious thought. But it’s gone, and so is what was left of my addled brain for the day.

So I’m going to do some even easier and once again sing the praises of Turner Classic Movies. The new month means TCM’s “Summer Under the Stars” has ended, but as usual those programmers in Atlanta have done a great job. Starting tonight and every Wednesday for the rest of the month, TCM features one star they left out of last month’s celebration: the great Myrna Loy. For nearly half-a-century, Loy was one of the silver screen’s best and most versatile actresses. TCM has some of her best movies, featuring her memorable pairings with other screen stars like William Powell, Cary Grant and Clark Gable. If you’re not interested in hearing Cheney’s bullshit, you can spend three hours tonight watching The Great Ziegfeld, a mammoth biopic about legendary Broadway producer Flo Ziegfeld. Next Wednesday night, TCM will treat us to all six of The Thin Man films, featuring what became Loy’s most popular character, Nora Charles. On 9/22 is the classic post-WWII drama and multi-Oscar winner The Best Years of Our Lives. The story of three very different vets coming home from the war is definitely a bit dated and even quaint now that we’ve been through Vietnam and films like Born on the Fourth of July and Coming Home, not to mention the current state of things, but it’s still a wonderful movie and well worth your time. All-in-all, they’re showing 45 of Loy’s films this month. You should check them out.

For those of you who like your films a bit more adventurous and artsy, you will not want to miss TCM’s month-long spotlight of innovative Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer. On each Sunday night in September TCM will show some of Dreyer’s most famous masterpieces, starting this weekend with both The Passion of Joan of Arc and Vampyr. This Sunday, TCM also premieres an original documentary about Dreyer — Carl Theodor Dreyer: My Metier. On 9/12, another of Dreyer’s most well-known films, The Crucible-like Day of Wrath will also run. His earlier films, like Joan of Arc take over the great “Silent Sunday Nights” series for the entire month. Basically, this entire series is an education for people interested in film and film history centering on one of the most important foreign directors of the first half of the 20th Century.

And remember when three noted film composers passed away last month? TCM honors them all (but mostly Elmer Bernstein) on Friday with an eight film tribute. Plus, as they do every year, this Labor Day TCM gives us a program in tribute of the concurrent Telluride Film Festival, featuring 12 films which previously appeared at the famous Colorado event.

Among their “Imports” this month is the final film in Roberto Rossellini’s magnificent war trilogy, Germany Year Zero, an absolute must-see late night on 9/10. And if you missed the classic film noir Out of the Past last month, you’ve got another shot at seeing it a week from this Saturday as part of their regular “Darkness After Dawn” series.

That’s just a tiny taste of what’s in store this month. Scanning the full schedule, there’s a lot more that’s worth watching. And if I keep having days like these, I’m going to voluntarily go into a vegetative state simply staring at TCM all day and night. At least that would be interesting.