As we savor days that feel like summer, movies offer opportunities to share experiences together. Here’s what broadcast and cable television stations will play this weekend.
Spartacus
Leave it to the great Kirk Douglas to take us on a tour of ancient Rome in a thinking man’s epic from director Stanley Kubrick. A year after the similar Ben Hur swept the Oscars, this superior film reminds us that big movies can also be smart. And Douglas is magnetic.
Friday, June 3, 4:45 p.m., Turner Classic Movies
Gravity
After winning an Oscar for The Blind Side, many film fans wondered why Sandra Bullock would choose to go to space in this ultimate story of survival. Rarely off camera, the actress sustains our interest in her fight to make her way home. And the visuals amaze.
Friday, June 3, 8 p.m., FXM
The Horse Whisperer
Robert Redford reminds us what a commanding actor he can be – especially when so carefully directed by Oscar winner Redford – in this touching adaptation of the Nicholas Evans novel. Redford hits all the right notes as a man who believes in what people can become.
Saturday, June 4, 12:30 p.m., Sundance
Rebel Without a Cause
The iconic James Dean articulates the rage of a generation in this compelling story of young people who find too much that can confuse, too little that will satisfy. A young Natalie Wood costars in a tragic story of anger, disconnection and potential between generations.
Saturday, June 4, 12 noon, Turner Classic Movies
Dial M For Murder
Before she became Princess of Monaco, actress Grace Kelly won an Oscar (for The Country Girl) and adorned a few films for Alfred Hitchcock. In this mystery – from Frederick Knott’s play – she scores as a young woman who fears the worst from those close to her.
Saturday, June 4, 2 p.m., Turner Classic Movies
Jaws
As we embrace the heat of summer, the sounds of surf remind us what can happen when we visit the beach. This classic from director Steven Spielberg invented the tradition of the summer blockbuster movie. Seaside resorts and movie theaters have never been the same.
Saturday, June 4, 6 p.m.; Sunday, June 5, 11:15 a.m., AMC
Sister Act
Long before she became the hostess of The View on television, Whoopi Goldberg was an Oscar-winning actress who scored in drama – The Color Purple – as well as a comedic role in Ghost before playing a singer on the run from the mob in this delightful comedy.
Saturday, June 4, 6 p.m.; Sunday, June 5, 3 p.m., CMT
The French Connection
The great Gene Hackman became a star when he played New York City cop Popeye Doyle in this story of greed, theft and murder among those who dare to defy the natural order of law. This biting film won an Oscar for Best Picture and ignited Hackman’s career on film.
Saturday, June 4, 8 p.m., Turner Classic Movies
The Thrill of It All
Doris Day delights in one of her most endearing comedies from the 1960s as a traditional housewife who finds herself the darling of television. James Garner is her supportive, yet reluctant, husband in a comedy of wit, heart and substance.
Sunday, June 5, 4 p.m., Turner Classic Movies
My Favorite Year
The great Peter O’Toole scored one of his many Oscar nominations – without ever winning the statue – for this comedy about a movie superstar who tries to endure the realities of live television. O’Toole is funny, sad and touching in a superlative performance.
Sunday, June 5, 6 p.m., Turner Classic Movies
Enjoy the movies!
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