There are miracles afoot: Chickens talk and Clint Eastwood sings in this week’s movies on TV.
Today
“Paint Your Wagon,” 9 p.m., Hallmark. A big-scale flop musical that’s more fun than its reputation. The gold rush brings ne’er-do-wells to the west, led by those great singing stars Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood. 1969.
Saturday
“Being There,” 1:30 p.m., KTWB. Peter Sellers gives a performance distilled down to its essence in this wry political comedy about a nonentity who ascends the ladder of influence. 1979.
“The Lady From Shanghai,” 7:15 p.m., Turner Classic Movies. Orson Welles took a slice of pulp fiction and directed it into a skyrocketing exercise in film style – and maybe a withering comment on his experiences in Hollywood and his marriage at the time. Welles stars with wife Rita Hayworth. 1948.
“Chicken Run,” 8 p.m., Channel 5. The delightful stop-motion techniques of Britain’s Aardman Animation come home to roost in this wacky comedy (with sinister overtones) about chickens plotting a breakout from a farm. Similarities to “The Great Escape” are entirely intentional. 2000.
Sunday
“Safety Last,” 9 p.m., Turner Classic Movies. The bespectacled silent-movie comedian Harold Lloyd had his most enduring success with this comedy, which climaxes in a gravity-defying sequence involving Lloyd hanging from the face of a skyscraper clock. 1923.
Monday
“Prizzi’s Honor,” 2:15 p.m., American Movie Classics. John Huston directed his daughter Anjelica to an Oscar in this droll mob comedy (in 1948 he’d directed his father Walter to an Oscar). Jack Nicholson stars. 1985.
Tuesday
“Groundhog Day,” 8 p.m., Encore. Bill Murray, memorably living through the same February 2nd over and over again. 1993.
Wednesday
“Mostly Martha,” 7 p.m., Sundance. A sweet German comedy about a fussy chef (the appealing Martina Gedeck) who must accommodate her young niece into her life. 2001.
“The Day of the Jackal,” 8 p.m., Turner Classic Movies. One of the predecessors of the new “The Bourne Supremacy,” Fred Zinnemann’s ice-cold suspense picture tracks the progress of an assassin (Edward Fox) plotting to kill Charles de Gaulle. 1973.
Thursday
“Pitch Black,” 10:30 a.m., USA. The precursor to Vin Diesel’s “Chronicles of Riddick,” this nifty sci-fi tale has a smaller scale and a more satisfying plot. 2000.
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