On yet another good Sunday for film choice, BC on TV had to apply its own guidelines about programming frequency strictly to allow a perverse first pick that was not as good as the two other Sunday picks and several others left out entirely, including a strong, gritty Aussie crime flick (Animal Kingdom, 7 pm HBOC), a thoroughly captivating historical drama The Other Boleyn Girl, 6 pm MaxW) and an Antonio Banderas documentary vehicle he drives away into personal triumph (And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself, 1.30 pm Max). The week's best bets include several former picks and Best Films of the Week (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, 5.10 pm tomorrow TCM, Eastern Promises, 5.15 pm Thursday, Max, Unforgiven, 5.45 pm Friday and 6 am Saturday TCM and Drive, 10 pm Saturday MCH). If BC on TV could be sure Movie City Classics would be screening a new digital print in hi-def, what would have become the Best Film of the Week would have kept you awake until way past midnight Thursday (Lawrence of Arabia, 10 pm).
Today's first-chosen film:
Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner/ 1987/ USA/ Action-Crime-Thriller/ 110 mins/ R), 3.40 pm Turner Classic Movies. Watch this if you liked 48 HRS, First Blood or Die Hard. Though the inferior sequels–and there were several of them, and even one would have been too many–do a lot to make you forget it, there was enough in the original to make it a top-notch action/ crime/ buddy film. The young Mel Gibson, more closely associated with his Mad Max character than with the mad meltdowns and raging public anti-Semitism his older self made famous, is actually quite good in the role of the emotionally fraught young policeman, and Danny Glover is even better. For the Mel Gibson diehard fans, of whom there must be some, sequels two, three and four follow head-to-tail, and, whether you consider that divine or diabolical programming, it was the factor that pushed what is essentially a superior second-grade movie into first selection place ahead of vastly superior competition today.
Today:
The Shining (Stanley Kubrick/ 1980/ UK-USA/ Horror/ 146 mins/ R) 8 am today Turner Classic Movies BEST FILM OF THE WEEK. Watch this if you liked A Nightmare on Elm Street, Jaws or Don't Look Now. Stanley Kubrick's interpretation of Stephen King's best book about the man descending into madness at the haunted hotel is far better than the travesty King himself perpetrated 17 years later. Filled with scares of all kinds–creepy-under-the-skin/ set-your-heart-racing/ jump-out-of-your-seat–and, as lagniappe, Jack Nicholson's greatest performance. BC on TV's favourite horror, with real chilling scenes that get to and stay with you instead of the modern special effects bloodbaths that are forgotten even as they're watched.
To Live and Die in LA (William Friedkin/ 1985/ USA/ Crime-Action-Thriller/ 116 mins/ Rated R) 10 pm tonight Movie City Classics. Watch this if you liked The French Connection, Carlito's Way or Wonderland. A bleak revenge thriller featuring dark, unhappy characters, a great soundtrack–Wang Chung's Dance Hall Days never sounded so good–a car chase to rival the one Friedkin himself did in The French Connection and one of the great endings in cinema. Not for the easily depressed, but great for most other grown-ups. As strong as it is bleak.
Best of the rest: Mon: The Accused, 10 pm TCM; Tues: The Searchers, 4.35pm TCM; Wed: Spirited Away, 5.45 pm Max; Thurs: Maria Full of Grace, 9 pm MaxW; Fri: Looper, 5 pm HBOC; Sat: The Sweeney, 10 pm MCA.
*Starred films have been chosen in the last three months. Scheduled Internet times often vary on the day, particularly around month-end.
