Those who think you can never go wrong with Jack Nicholson or Meryl Streep (despite The Bucket List and The Devil Wears Prada) can check out Ironweed (10 pm tonight, TCM). If it weren't starting so late on a weeknight, Another Year BEST FILM OF THE WEEK (11.05 pm Tues, Max) would surely have been picked.
Today's best film:
Melancholia (Lars von Trier/ 2011/ Denmark/ Drama-Sci-Fi/ 136 mins/ R for some graphic nudity, sexual content and language) 6.35 pm today and 9 pm Friday Max. Watch this if you liked The Tree of Life, Dogville or We Need to Talk about Kevin. Melancholia is a beautifully made, lovingly shot film taking a serious approach to important philosophical questions-which description by itself is enough to send the average Trinidadian pelting for the Bruce Willis section of his pirate DVD store. Though it gains the "sci-fi" classification through the plot device of the titular blue planet heading for collision with the Earth on the day of the wedding of the lead actress (Kirsten Dunst, very good), this is out-and-out art film drama, and Danish, to boot. Moody, atmospheric, sometimes maddeningly slow-the first word, "Sir," is spoken in the film's tenth minute-it is likely to frustrate far more viewers than it will please but, for the patient cinephile, it is a moving study of depression and the human condition. Recommended with the observation that wine and cheese are never served with onion rings.
Rest of the week:
21 Grams (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu/ 2003/ USA/ Crime-Drama-Thriller/ 103 mins/ Rated PG-13 for some thematic material and brief violent content) 8.15 pm Monday and 6.35 pm Tuesday MaxW. Watch this if you liked Babel, Crash or Amores Perros. The hugely gifted and already massively influential director's second feature, and first film set outside of his native Mexico, 21 Grams takes its title from the alleged immediate weight loss of a cadaver, the supposed weight of the soul leaving the body; it was never going to be a light film, in that context, but it remains impressively depressing. Masterful performances from Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro and a great cast giving life-perhaps bringing death-to a superb script make this a film of great power; but most of that power is likely to be felt in the gut. Not for the romantic comedy, escapist crowd.
Midnight Express (Alan Parker/ 1978/ UK-USA/ Biography-Drama/ 120 min/ R), 10 pm Friday Turner Classic Movies. Watch this if you liked Papillon, The Shawshank Redemption or Carlito's Way. Probably Alan Parker's best film (with apologies to Mississippi Burning and The Commitments), the true story of American student Billy Hayes' stay in a Turkish prison for attempted hashish smuggling is both rough and touching. It contains a hard-to-watch scene even by today's gruesome standards but is top-notch drama. No film has ever used the human heartbeat to better soundtrack effect. BC on TV would never suggest he stole anything but Ben Affleck obviously studied this film very carefully before making the airport sequences of Argo.
Best of the rest:
Mon: Inside Job 7 pm Max; Tues: Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis 9 pm Max; Wed: *Crazy, Stupid Love 9pm HBO; Thurs: Up 9pm HBOC; Fri: The Sting 4.50 pm TCM; Sat: *Rango 7 pm MCty Fam. Scheduled Internet times often vary on the day. *Starred films have been chosen before.Those who think you can never go wrong with Jack Nicholson or Meryl Streep (despite The Bucket List and The Devil Wears Prada) can check out Ironweed (10 pm tonight, TCM). If it weren't starting so late on a weeknight, Another Year BEST FILM OF THE WEEK (11.05 pm Tues, Max) would surely have been picked.
Today's best film:
Melancholia (Lars von Trier/ 2011/ Denmark/ Drama-Sci-Fi/ 136 mins/ R for some graphic nudity, sexual content and language) 6.35 pm today and 9 pm Friday Max. Watch this if you liked The Tree of Life, Dogville or We Need to Talk about Kevin. Melancholia is a beautifully made, lovingly shot film taking a serious approach to important philosophical questions-which description by itself is enough to send the average Trinidadian pelting for the Bruce Willis section of his pirate DVD store. Though it gains the "sci-fi" classification through the plot device of the titular blue planet heading for collision with the Earth on the day of the wedding of the lead actress (Kirsten Dunst, very good), this is out-and-out art film drama, and Danish, to boot. Moody, atmospheric, sometimes maddeningly slow-the first word, "Sir," is spoken in the film's tenth minute-it is likely to frustrate far more viewers than it will please but, for the patient cinephile, it is a moving study of depression and the human condition. Recommended with the observation that wine and cheese are never served with onion rings.
Rest of the week:
21 Grams (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu/ 2003/ USA/ Crime-Drama-Thriller/ 103 mins/ Rated PG-13 for some thematic material and brief violent content) 8.15 pm Monday and 6.35 pm Tuesday MaxW. Watch this if you liked Babel, Crash or Amores Perros. The hugely gifted and already massively influential director's second feature, and first film set outside of his native Mexico, 21 Grams takes its title from the alleged immediate weight loss of a cadaver, the supposed weight of the soul leaving the body; it was never going to be a light film, in that context, but it remains impressively depressing. Masterful performances from Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro and a great cast giving life-perhaps bringing death-to a superb script make this a film of great power; but most of that power is likely to be felt in the gut. Not for the romantic comedy, escapist crowd.
Midnight Express (Alan Parker/ 1978/ UK-USA/ Biography-Drama/ 120 min/ R), 10 pm Friday Turner Classic Movies. Watch this if you liked Papillon, The Shawshank Redemption or Carlito's Way. Probably Alan Parker's best film (with apologies to Mississippi Burning and The Commitments), the true story of American student Billy Hayes' stay in a Turkish prison for attempted hashish smuggling is both rough and touching. It contains a hard-to-watch scene even by today's gruesome standards but is top-notch drama. No film has ever used the human heartbeat to better soundtrack effect. BC on TV would never suggest he stole anything but Ben Affleck obviously studied this film very carefully before making the airport sequences of Argo.
Best of the rest:
Mon: Inside Job 7 pm Max; Tues: Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis 9 pm Max; Wed: *Crazy, Stupid Love 9pm HBO; Thurs: Up 9pm HBOC; Fri: The Sting 4.50 pm TCM; Sat: *Rango 7 pm MCty Fam. Scheduled Internet times often vary on the day. *Starred films have been chosen before.
