War and peace are themes in this week’s movies on TV, though we also make room for a robot.
Today
“Clear and Present Danger,” 8 p.m., Bravo. Harrison Ford in the best of the Jack Ryan movies, as his CIA man has his hands full with drugs. Based on Tom Clancy’s book. 1994.
Saturday
“Bad Influence,” 1 p.m., Channel 11. Two strangers meet, and one of them turns out to be a nut. James Spader and Rob Lowe star, under the guidance of “L.A. Confidential” director Curtis Hanson. 1990.
“Blackboards,” 7:05 p.m., Sundance. A dramatic study of traveling teachers in present-day Iran: They roam the countryside with their blackboards on their backs, looking for students. 2002.
“Written on the Wind,” 9 p.m., CBUT. Vibrant melodrama in a Texas oil family, suggestively directed by Douglas Sirk. Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, and Dorothy Malone star. 1956.
Sunday
“Buena Vista Social Club,” 10:30 p.m., Channel 9. Glorious music and fragrant Havana locations make this documentary a keeper. The musicians in the film, most of them elderly, are visibly revived by the new interest in their work. 1999.
Monday
“The Third Man,” 8:15 p.m., Turner Classic Movies. One of the great ones, a look at postwar Vienna and the wide-open black market that thrives there. With Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles. (Preceded by a new documentary about the film.) 1949.
“The Day the Earth Stood Still,” 9 p.m., Fox Movies. Vintage sci-fi, as a spaceship lands and its emissary delivers a message, or warning, on the subject of peace. Awesome robot. 1951.
Tuesday
“Paradise Road,” 9 p.m., Fox Movies. Women in a POW camp during WWII, and an unblinking look at Japanese atrocities committed against prisoners. Strong cast includes Glenn Close, Frances McDormand, and a key early role for Cate Blanchett. 1997.
Wednesday
“All Quiet on the Western Front,” 6:30 a.m., American Movie Classics. As influential as the Erich Maria Remarque novel on which it’s based, this anti-war film has always been considered a classic – and it still holds up. It follows German soldiers as they march enthusiastically off to World War I’s trenches. 1930.
Thursday
“Paths of Glory,” 7 p.m., Turner Classic Movies. Another view of WWI, this one Stanley Kubrick’s caustic look at a trumped-up military trial. Kirk Douglas leads the cast. 1957.
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