In this week’s movies on TV, David Lynch takes a puzzling trip to the dark side, while Frank Capra journeys to Shangri-La.
Today
“That’s Entertainment,” 10 p.m., Channel 9. A surprise smash hit when it was released, this movie stitches together a bunch of great (and sometimes just peculiar) musical numbers from the great years of MGM. For a crash course in the glories of Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland et al., it’s a neat thing. 1974.
Saturday
“Mulholland Drive,” 8 p.m., CBUT. David Lynch fashioned this mystifying but compelling drama about an aspiring actress (Naomi Watts) and an amnesiac screen queen (Laura Harring) … at least, that’s what it seems to be about. 2001.
“The Asphalt Jungle,” 8:30 p.m., Turner Classic Movies. One of the great heist movies, coolly directed by John Huston in the underbelly of film noir. Sterling Hayden leads the cast. 1950.
Sunday
“Lost Horizon,” 5 p.m., Turner Classic Movies. Ronald Colman stumbles across a happy valley of eternal life and wisdom, in Frank Capra’s stirring fantasy picture. Sam Jaffe plays the high lama; he excels in a different role of criminal mastermind in “Asphalt Jungle.” 1937.
“The Others,” 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., TNT. A nicely crafted ghost story, with Nicole Kidman in excellent form as a woman whose house seems to be hosting some uninvited guests. 2001.
Monday
“Hush … Hush, Sweet Charlotte,” 9 p.m., Fox Movies. A creepy southern gothic, with Bette Davis stomping around her old mansion and avoiding a rather sordid subject from her past. Joseph Cotten and Olivia de Havilland are among the other old pros in the cast. 1964.
Tuesday
“The Big Trail,” 5 p.m., Fox Movies. One of the cinema’s first experiments in wide-screen movies, this ambitious western also boasted a new leading man, an ex-football player named John Wayne. 1930.
Wednesday
“Touch of Evil,” 6:15 a.m., American Movie Classics. Despite the low budget, the bravura direction by Orson Welles has made this study of crime and corruption in a border town into a classic. Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh co-star with Welles. 1958.
Thursday
“The Designated Mourner,” 7:25 p.m., Sundance. This strange piece (Wallace Shawn wrote it from his play) is a series of monologues, aimed directly at the camera, through which we discern that some totalitarian society has wiped out free speech. It’s a bizarre experience, but the performance by director Mike Nichols, who had not acted in films before, is memorable. 1997.
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