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6:00 PM HBO
Coraline (2009 USA): Creating a children's film that is just scary enough without being too scary is a tall order, but director Henry Selick pulls it off adeptly with Coraline, his recent Neil Gaiman adaptation. The film depicts the animated adventures of the titular girl (voiced by Dakota Fanning), a feisty youngster who finds her way into a parallel universe where her parents are just ever so much more attentive than they are in the real world. The more time Coraline spends in this other universe, however, the more she begins to realize her Other Parents aren't quite the superstars she thought they were. Beware the button eyes that hypnotize! This delightfully creepy film airs again at 9:00 PM and throughout the month.

Friday 2/05/10

2:00 AM More Max
In God We Tru$t (1980 USA): I've always had a soft spot for comedian Marty Feldman, but let's be honest: the man made some terrible films. This is one of them—perhaps not as bad as misfires such as Every Home Should Have One and Sex with a Smile, but still not even close to Young Frankenstein territory. And, sadly, Feldman bears much of the responsibility for its shortcomings, as he wrote, directed, and stars in In God We Tru$t as Brother Ambrose, an innocent monk despatched by his bankrupt monastery to raise some much needed funds in the big, bad beyond. He falls in with televangelist Armageddon T. Thunderbird (Andy Kaufman), and the results are...mildy amusing at best. The film's rarity (it's not on DVD) and solid cast (also including Severn Darden, Peter Boyle, Louise Lasser, Richard Pryor, and Wilfrid Hyde-White) nudge it into ‘almost watchable' territory, but if you miss it, you won't really have missed anything, if that makes sense.

3:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Address Unknown (1944 USA): Here's one of those little known pictures that occasionally get their day in the sun during TCM's 31 Days of Oscar. Directed by the legendary William Cameron Menzies, the film stars Paul Lukas as Martin Schulz, a German-American art dealer who willingly moves back to the Fatherland during the Nazi years in order to win more business. At first, things go swimmingly for him—but when Jewish friends and associates begin to feel the wrath of the regime, it begins to dawn on Martin that he's made a deal with the devil. Nominated for Best Score and Best Black and White Art Direction, Address Unknown co-stars Carl Esmond, Peter van Eyck, and Frank Reicher.

6:00 AM MGM HD
The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926 USA): If this is accurate, it's quite a coup for MGM HD. Granted, it's no Reincarnation of Peter Proud or Exorcism of Emily Rose, but The Winning of Barbara Worth is an important silent Old West epic starring Ronald Colman, Vilma Banky, and a young Gary Cooper, written by Frances Marion, directed by Henry King, and shot by Gregg Toland. In short, if you have access to HD channels, this is the TiVoPlex Movie of the Week.

9:00 AM HBO Signature
Los Cronocrimenes (2007 ESP): I haven't seen this Spanish science fiction film yet, but it sounds interesting and was well-received on the festival circuit. Karra Elejalde stars as Hector, a regular Joe who finds himself travelling back and forth in time—and creating multiple Hectors as a result. Los Cronocrimenes actually enjoyed a brief US theatrical run in late 2008, and makes its American television premiere this morning.

Saturday 2/06/10

1:30 AM HD NET
Aliens of the Deep (2005 USA): Ever wonder how James Cameron spent his downtime during the years in between Titanic and Avatar? Here's the answer: making a 3-D IMAX documentary about deep-sea life that should look great in HD, even without a mile-high screen in your living room. Cameron's film is, goofy Atlantean coda aside, a memorable visit with some of the strangest and most beautiful creatures that inhabit the deepest depths of Earth's oceans. No sign of any Unobtainium, however.

Monday 2/08/10

10:15 AM Showtime Extreme
Thief (1981 USA): Paced more like a character-driven 1970s feature than a Reagan-era Rambofest, Thief stars James Caan as a safecracker trying to go straight...but only after pulling off a few last jobs to provide himself and his family with some financial security. While the film is far from boring, it relies on lengthy expository segments featuring Caan and Tuesday Weld that open the film up and make it much more than a simple-minded gangster flick, and the droning Tangerine Dream score adds an otherworldly touch to the proceedings. Showtime Extreme is airing a nice letterboxed print this morning, so if you've never seen Thief, now's the time.

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