A week of entertaining films on TV
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, September 2, 2004
We begin and end the week’s movies on TV with real people interacting with cartoon characters. Is that synchronicity, or just synchronized?
Today
“Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., Disney. A landmark technical achievement, as private eye Bob Hoskins enters the world of animated figures, led by a (rather charmless) cartoon rabbit. 1988.
“Radio Days,” 10 p.m., Channel 9. A warm comedy by Woody Allen (without him onscreen), looking back to a childhood in Queens. The Woody surrogate character is played by Seth Green, who stars in the current “Without a Paddle.” 1987.
Saturday
“The English Patient,” 8 p.m., KTWB. The prestige production and best picture winner of its year, this thoughtful WWII piece has strong performances from Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas and Juliette Binoche. 1996.
“Igby Goes Down,” 9 p.m., Sundance. An underrated (and dark) comedy about the messed-up children of rich folk, with Kieran Culkin and Claire Danes turning in fine performances. 2002.
Sunday
“The Passion of Joan of Arc,” 9 p.m., Turner Classic Movies. One of the most famous silent films, this throbbingly intense telling of the trial of the maid of Orleans is a spiritually charged affair. Made by the Danish director Carl-Theodor Dreyer. 1928.
Monday
“The Big Heat,” 3:30 p.m., American Movie Classics. A revenge melodrama with the film noir impact of a pot of hot coffee thrown in your face, with director Fritz Lang (“Metropolis”) putting Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame and Lee Marvin through the wringer. 1953.
Tuesday
“Lonelyhearts,” 3:15 p.m., Turner Classic Movies. A strange adaptation of Nathaneal West’s classic novel “Miss Lonelyhearts,” with Montgomery Clift as a newspaper writer assigned to cover the advice-to-the-lovelorn column, and getting in over his head. 1958.
Wednesday
“All About Eve,” 11 p.m., Fox Movies. One of the great showbiz movies, chock-full of witty dialogue and livewire performances – led by Bette Davis, in top form. Also terrific is George Sanders as one of those critics everybody hates. 1950.
Thursday
“Resident Evil,” 9 p.m., Sci-fi. Funny how when a sequel comes out, the original film invariably finds itself on the TV schedule. Look for “Resident Evil: Apocalypse” next week, and in the meantime here’s Milla Jovovich in the first one. 2002.
“Anchors Aweigh,” 9 p.m., Turner Classic Movies. A splashy musical that puts Navy boys Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra on leave. A highlight is Kelly’s pas de deux with an animated Jerry the mouse, ingeniously worked out 40 years before “Roger Rabbit.” 1945.
