October 11 - October 17, 2009

TV film fare -- week of October 11

The following are capsule reviews of theatrical movies on network and cable television the week of Oct. 11. Please note that televised versions may or may not be edited for language, nudity, violence and sexual situations.

Sunday, Oct. 11, 5-8 p.m. EDT (TCM) "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1969). Any movie with such a plainly mythic title can't be all bad and this one really isn't bad at all. An epic, stately spaghetti Western directed by Sergio Leone, its wispy plot concerns hired killer Henry Fonda's pursuit of outlaw Charles Bronson and widow Claudia Cardinale's land, but it contains a whole encyclopedia of Western cliches and stereotypes that are irresistible for Western buffs. Others may enjoy it as a knowing spoof but one that is overlong and featuring some rather intense violence. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification of the theatrical version was A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating was PG -- parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

Sunday, Oct. 11, 7:30-10 p.m. EDT (AMC) "Rain Man" (1988). A shady Los Angeles car dealer (Tom Cruise) loses the family inheritance to an older brother (Dustin Hoffman) who suffers from irreversible autistic savant syndrome and has been institutionalized most of his life. On a cross-country auto journey, the younger brother drops his plans for a custody battle when he learns to love his brother despite his disability. Under Barry Levinson's direction, the brothers' intense and sometimes comical interaction during the life-affirming journey is wonderful but the rest of the movie is less satisfying and detracts from the character study. Much profanity, a few intense but brief emotionally unhinged outbursts by the autistic protagonist and a fleeting off-camera sex scene. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification of the theatrical version was A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating was R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Monday, Oct. 12, 7:15-9 p.m. EDT (Showtime) "Charlie Bartlett" (2008). Offbeat comic study of a troubled but charismatic teen (Anton Yelchin) who partners with a reformed bully (Tyler Hilton) to set up an informal psychiatric practice and prescription drug dispensary in the boys' room of his high school, thus becoming its most popular student, much to the amazement of his weak-willed mother (Hope Davis) and the chagrin of the inept principal (Robert Downey Jr.) whose daughter (Kat Dennings) he's dating. Director John Poll's often droll feature debut highlights the value of open communication, the dignity of the marginalized and the dangers of narcotics, but its worthy intentions are undercut by a barrage of swear words and some crude humor. Nongraphic premarital sexual activity, brief upper female nudity, frequent coarse language, two profanities, a suicide theme and a gay reference. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification of the theatrical version was L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating was R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Thursday, Oct. 15, 8-10 p.m. EDT (TCM) "Paper Moon" (1973) Entertaining period comedy in which a bumbling con man (Ryan O'Neal) finds himself saddled with a 9-year-old girl (Tatum O'Neal) who proves to be more adept at his profession than he is. Directed by Peter Bogdanovich, there is occasional rough language and adult references. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification of the theatrical version was A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating was PG -- parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

Friday, Oct. 16, 8-9:30 p.m. EDT (TCM) "The Narrow Margin" (1952). Tightly wound thriller takes place aboard a Chicago-to-Los Angeles train carrying a hard-boiled cop (Charles McGraw), the reluctant witness (Marie Windsor) he's escorting back to testify against the mob and some gunmen sent to silence her. Director Richard Fleischer makes the trip a suspenseful one, with plenty of edgy menace, a bit of comic relief and an edge-of-the-seat surprise finish. Threatening situations and stylized violence. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification of the theatrical version was A-II - adults and adolescents. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America.

Saturday, Oct. 17, 8-10 p.m. EDT (HBO) "Slumdog Millionaire" (2008). Vibrant drama in which a Indian slum dweller (Dev Patel), suspected of cheating on a television quiz show, explains to a police inspector (Irrfan Khan) how his life experiences growing up with his brother (Madhur Mittal) and his loving pursuit of a childhood friend (Freida Pinto) enabled him to answer the acerbic program host's (Anil Kapoor) questions. Director Danny Boyle's sweeping panorama of Third World life, adapted from Vikas Swarup's novel "Q & A," though harrowing at times, is ultimately hopeful, stressing the dignity of the underprivileged and the primacy of spiritual over material values. Beating and torture, fleeting rear nudity, crime and prostitution themes, underage drinking, brief scatological humor and occasional rough and crude language. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification of the theatrical version was A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating was R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Saturday, Oct. 17, 10 p.m.-midnight EDT (Cinemax) "Mamma Mia!" (2008). Lively and colorful adaptation of the popular stage musical, utilizing the songs of Abba, about a bride-to-be (Amanda Seyfried) who invites her mother's (marvelous Meryl Streep) three lovers from two decades earlier (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard) to her wedding in Greece after discovering that one of them may be her father. Original theater director Phyllida Lloyd has skillfully adapted the show, and the stars handle their songs with aplomb, but though joyful, humane and life-affirming with little visually offensive, a strong caution must be raised about the underlying "anything-goes-for-love" message and several other problematic elements. Overall freewheeling morality, light sexual references and innuendo, casual treatment of marriage, divorce and nonmarital relations, some vulgar gestures, brief rear-nudity sight gag, an anti-Catholic remark and a few crass words. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification of the theatrical version was L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating was PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

TV program notes -- week of Oct. 11

 Here are some television program notes for the week of Oct.11 with their TV Parental Guidelines ratings if available. They have not been reviewed and therefore are not necessarily recommended by the Office for Film & Broadcasting.

Sunday, Oct. 11, 8:30-9 p.m. EDT (Fox) "The Cleveland Show." This new animated comedy, created by Seth MacFarlane as a spinoff of his series "Family Guy," finds soft-spoken, generally unflappable Cleveland Brown (voice of Mike Henry) relocated from Rhode Island to Virginia and newly remarried. In this episode, titled "The One About Friends," Cleveland encourages his bored, socially isolated son Cleveland Jr. (voice of Kevin Michael Richardson) to befriend Ernie (voice of Glenn Howerton), the son of their redneck-type neighbor Lester (also voiced by Richardson). But once the two lads bond, Ernie starts showing up for dinner at the Browns' every night and eventually -- much to Cleveland's annoyance -- moves in with them. A modicum of genial humor, as in a scene where Cleveland dances his way through a shoe-shopping expedition to the strains of a disco song, is lost amid an excess of sexually themed jokes ranging from double entendres to a slapstick bit in which an animal attaches itself to Cleveland's crotch.
 
Sunday, Oct. 11, 9-11 p.m. EDT (History) "JFK: 3 Shots That Changed America." The first episode of a two-part special that uses rarely seen and heard footage to document the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the nearly 50 years of speculation and controversy about it that have followed. The archival material comes from a range of sources including eyewitness home movies, Dallas police dispatch radio recordings and raw news footage. Concludes Monday, Oct. 12, 8-10 p.m. EDT.

Monday, Oct. 12, 8-9 p.m. EDT (PBS) "Hubble's Amazing Rescue." In spring 2009, NASA sent a shuttle crew to service the Hubble Space Telescope for the last time. From training to launch, this "Nova" presentation follows the inside story of the mission and the extraordinary challenges faced by the rescue crew. (TV-PG -- parental guidance suggested)

Monday, Oct. 12, 9-11 p.m. EDT (PBS) "Latin Music USA." This two-part special traces the rise of American music forged from Latin roots and the influence of Latin music on jazz, hip-hop, rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll, as well as on American culture as a whole. The first hour, "Bridges," chronicles the emergence of Latin jazz and the explosion of the mambo and the cha-cha as they swept the U.S., and looks at how Latin music infiltrated rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll through the 1960s. "The Salsa Revolution" explores how Puerto Ricans and other Latinos in New York reinvented the "son cubano" and the "plena" from Puerto Rico by adding elements from soul and jazz to create salsa, which became a defining rhythm for Latinos the world over. Actor Jimmy Smits narrates. (TV-PG -- parental guidance suggested)

Thursday, Oct. 15, 10-11 p.m. EDT (PBS) "Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique." Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas searches for the inspirations behind Berlioz's music, from his roots in the French Alps to the theater in Paris where his Symphonie Fantastique premiered. Part of the series "Keeping Score." (TV-G -- general audience)