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5:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
Chang (1927 USA): No, this is not a documentary about Chang and Eng, the world-famous Siamese twins and Confederate sympathizers...but it is a documentary (of sorts) filmed in the jungles of Siam (Thailand). Directed by the Kings of Kong, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack, Chang is a dramatic re-telling of the adventures of real-life tribesman Kru, with particular focus on his encounter with a baby elephant—and all the other elephants that have a vested interest in said baby’s safety. A remarkable technical achievement, the film was nominated for an Oscar in a category that only existed for a single year: Best Picture, Unique and Artistic Production. Chang may no longer look like a documentary, but unique and artistic it most definitely is.

10:00 PM Flix
The Others (2001 USA): I’m not a big Nicole Kidman fan, but even I like this above average tale of the supernatural, now airing on Flix in widescreen. Directed by Alejandro Amenabar (The Sea Inside) and set during World War II, the film features Kidman as Grace Stewart, a woman waiting for her husband to return home from his tour of duty. Grace’s living conditions are not the best: her two children are photo-sensitive, and as a result she is forced to live sequestered in near darkness within her island mansion. In order to help maintain the household under such trying conditions, she hires a trio of servants...but the newcomers bring some unwelcome surprises with them. Though the film features a gimmicky "surprise ending," it’s still one of the better spook shows of recent memory, and will appeal to fans of films like The Uninvited (1944) and The Innocents (1961).

Thursday 2/17/11

2:45 AM Starz
The Secret in Their Eyes (2009 ARG): 2010’s Best Foreign Film Academy Award winner makes its American television debut in the wee, wee hours of this Thursday morning. Ricardo Darin (Nine Queens) headlines as Benjamin, a retired investigator rekindling a long dormant relationship with Irene (Soledad Villamel). Irene is now a judge, but 25 years earlier she was a lawyer — and Benjamin a court clerk — involved in a particularly nasty case involving rape and murder. Benjamin now plans to write a novel about the case, with the central thesis being that the men imprisoned for the crime were not guilty, and that politics may have played a role in their conviction — but in order to do so, he must reopen old wounds and reconnect with Irene. Directed by the previously unheralded Juan José Campanella, The Secret in Their Eyes was not supposed to win last year’s Oscar tilt — which was considered a two-way horse race between Un Prophete and The White Ribbon — but apparently split the lane and scooped the gong. It’s a solid, unflashy, and resolutely old-fashioned character study, which may explain its appeal to Academy voters. Also airs at 5:45 AM.

Friday 2/18/11

1:15 AM Turner Classic Movies
Do the Right Thing (1988 USA): A long, hot summer in racially charged New York City is examined in this Spike Lee joint — the film that enabled him to break out of the indie straitjacket after his successful freshman effort, She’s Gotta Have It. Do the Right Thing built on that success, and still plays pretty well despite all the hi-top fades and campy Daisy Age garb in evidence. Lee headlines his own film as Mookie, a minimum-wage employee at a Bed-Stuy pizzeria operated by crotchety racist Sal (Danny Aiello). Mookie is definitely of the "go along to get along" school, but violent events on a scorching hot day force him to reassess his position. For once, Lee isn’t terrible in front of the camera, and a terrific supporting cast — including Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, John Turturro, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Roger Guenver Smith, Bill Nunn, Samuel L. Jackson, Rosie Perez, and even Martin Lawrence — plus a terrific hip-hop soundtrack make this essential viewing.

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