June 29 – July 5, 2008
The following are capsule reviews of theatrical movies on network and cable television the week of June 29. Please note that televised versions may or may not be edited for language, nudity, violence and sexual situations.
Sunday, June 29, 7-10 p.m. EDT (Fox) "The Lost World: Jurassic Park 2" (1997). Uninspired sequel to the 1993 blockbuster again pits a scientific team (notably Jeff Goldblum and Julianne Moore), as well as a rival group of armed mercenaries, against a rampaging colony of genetically re-created dinosaurs who are now thriving on another remote tropical isle. Director Steven Spielberg delivers the expected jolts of terror with special-effects wizardry, but the cardboard characters and formula narrative make the movie less than involving. Several violent deaths and much intense menace. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification of the theatrical version was A-II -- adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating was PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
Sunday, June 29, 8-10 p.m. EDT (TCM) "Harvey" (1950). Amusing adaptation of the Mary Chase play about affable imbiber Elwood P. Dowd (James Stewart), whose drinking companion is an invisible 6-foot rabbit. This leads to some zany mix-ups when Elwood's slightly dotty sister (Josephine Hull) tries to have her brother committed. Directed by Henry Koster, the stagy but amiable comedy centers on Stewart's winning performance as the good-natured eccentric, with much goofy byplay from a fine supporting cast, especially the incomparable Hull, Cecil Kellaway as the bemused asylum director and Jesse White as a bemused attendant. Comic inebriation. 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.
Monday, June 30, 8 p.m.-midnight EDT (TCM) "Ben-Hur" (1959). Director William Wyler's classic Hollywood epic follows the Jewish prince of the title (Charlton Heston) after he's betrayed by his boyhood Roman friend (Stephen Boyd) and subjected to much misery until finally he achieves retribution for all his suffering. The narrative's conventional melodrama is transformed by the grand scale of its spectacle, especially the chariot race, and by the stirring performances of its principals who manage to overcome the story's cliches and stereotypes. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification of the theatrical version was A-I -- general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating was G -- general audiences. All ages admitted.
Friday, July 4, 7:30-9 p.m. EDT (Showtime) "The TV Set" (2007). Lightly amusing behind-the-scenes story of a writer (David Duchovny) whose pilot for a network comedy-drama, inspired by his brother's suicide, is gradually watered down by the iron-fisted, velvet-gloved network president (Sigourney Weaver) with the empathetic but weak-willed British production head (Ioan Gruffudd) reluctant to intervene, and an erratic leading man (Fran Kranz) causing further headaches. Writer-director Jake Kasdan's perceptive satire on the television industry shows the lengths to which an artist is forced to compromise his vision. Contains repeated use of the f-word in a satiric context to show the vacuity of the superficial characters, other crude words and expressions, and mild profanity. 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, July 5, 8-10 p.m. EDT (ABC) "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" (2004). Fun but formulaic adolescent soap opera about an eccentric 16-year-old (Lindsay Lohan) transplanted by her single mom from New York City to suburban New Jersey where she becomes easy prey for her new high school's reigning queen of mean (Megan Fox). Directed by Sara Sugarman, the film probes the perils of pubescence with charm and warmth, touching on questions of conformity, peer approval, and maintaining one's self-identity, and at times is laced with a kids-know-better-than-parents bias, but overall imparts a positive message about dreaming boldly and believing in oneself. Thematic elements and brief, mildly crass expressions. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification of the theatrical version was A-II -- adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating was PG -- parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
Saturday, July 5, 9-11 p.m. EDT (Lifetime) "In America" (2003). Inspiring, largely autobiographical tale of grieving Irish parents (Paddy Considine and Samantha Morton) who arrive impoverished in 1980s' New York City with two little daughters (Sarah Bolger and Emma Bolger) whose friendship with a volatile African-American artist (Djimon Hounsou) helps the troubled family survive. Co-writer and director Jim Sheridan elicits superb performances and beautifully conveys themes of loss, human dignity, love and redemption in this immigrant experience story. A shadowy married sexual encounter with momentary nudity, fleeting violence and drug references, minimal profanity and an instance of rough language. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification of the theatrical version was A-III -- adults. 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 June 29
Here are some television program notes for the week of June 29 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, June 29, 9-11 p.m. EDT (Discovery) "In the Shadow of the Moon." A documentary that reassembles former Apollo crew members to reminisce about their exploits.
Monday, June 30, 9-10 p.m. EDT (PBS) "History Detectives." America's gumshoes are back for a sixth season of the series to prove once again that an object found in an attic or backyard might be anything but ordinary. In this episode the objects are the diary of a World War II pilot; an 1856 book purported to be the memoirs of a New York woman married to a Mormon elder; and an 1853 weapon called a Napoleon said to be shot by Annie Oakley (TV-G -- general audience).
Monday, June 30, 9-10:30 p.m. EDT (HBO) "Ganja Queen." A documentary look at the case of Schapelle Corby, a young Australian woman facing a possible death sentence in Indonesia for possession of marijuana, a charge she adamantly denies. Written, produced and directed by award-winning journalist Janine Hoskins.
Tuesday, July 1, 9-10 p.m. EDT (PBS) "Heart of Darfur." The "Wide Angle" series season premiere presents an account of what is happening in the Sudanese region of Darfur, a situation the U.N. secretary-general has called "the largest humanitarian crisis in the world." Aaron Brown hosts.
Tuesday, July 1, 10-11:30 p.m. EDT (PBS) "Election Day." This "P.O.V." program combines 12 stories -- shot simultaneously on Election Day, November 2, 2004 -- into an entertaining, inspiring and sometimes unsettling tapestry of citizens determined to make their votes count (TV-PG -- parental guidance suggested).
Wednesday, July 2, 10-11 p.m. EDT (EWTN) "Life and Legacy of Mother Catherine." The story of Mother Catherine Aurelia Caouette, the foundress of the first cloistered contemplative community of religious women in Canada.
Friday, July 4, 8-9:30 p.m. EDT (PBS) "A Capitol Fourth (2008)." America's biggest birthday party airs live from the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol, with Huey Lewis and the News, "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks and the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor Erich Kunzel. Hosted by actor Jimmy Smits; other performers include rock 'n' roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis, Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell, singer Hayley Westenra and soprano Harolyn Blackwell. (TV-G -- general audience).
Friday, July 4, 9-10 p.m. EDT (NBC) "Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular 2008." A celebration of the nation's 232nd birthday with performances by vocalists Natasha Bedingfield and Kenny Chesney, "American Idol's" recording artist/actress Katharine McPhee, and pop singer Jordin Sparks. The live broadcast is hosted by Natalie Morales and Tiki Barber.
Friday, July 4, 10-11 p.m. EDT (CBS) "Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular (2008)." A fireworks and music special celebrating the Fourth of July, featuring the legendary Boston Pops, broadcast live from the Charles River Esplanade with Craig Ferguson as host.
Saturday, July 5, 8-10 p.m. EDT (EWTN) "Maria Goretti." Martina Pinto stars in this rendition of the life of the saint, who gave up her life at age 11 rather than surrender her purity to the lustful advances of an attacker.
TV REVIEW
The War of the World
Conventional wisdom holds that the Second World War and the Cold War were struggles through which Western democracies overcame first fascist and then communist totalitarianism, thus securing the victory of liberal values and free-market economies.
"The War of the World," a three-part documentary series airing Mondays June 30, July 7 and July 14, 10-11 p.m. EDT each night on PBS stations (check local listings), challenges these assumptions.
Host Niall Ferguson, a Harvard University history professor, fellow at Oxford and Stanford universities, and author of 2006's "The War of the World: History's Age of Hatred," presents a provocative revisionist interpretation of the major conflicts of the 20th century, humanity's bloodiest epoch.
Beginning with the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, he argues that the massive destruction predicted in H.G. Wells' 1898 science-fiction novel, "The War of the Worlds," was realized during the many ethnically and racially motivated battles of the following 95 years, with the single significant difference that the perpetrators were humans, not invading aliens.
For Ferguson, seemingly disparate events such as the Russian Revolution and civil war, Japan's 1931 invasion of China and the democracies' failed strategy of appeasing Nazi Germany were, in fact, episodes in a single ongoing combat.
Far from a triumph for the West, he argues, this "global 'Hundred Years' War'" has resulted in the resurgence of the East, as Asia has successfully thrown off the widespread European colonial control that once prevailed there.
In the initial episode reviewed, Ferguson points to trends we may regard as novel and contemporary, but that are really much older. Thus, Gavrilo Princip, whose 1914 assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand sparked the First World War, acted as part of a team of suicide terrorists, while the ethnic cleansing that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s had close precedents in post-World War I Turkey's mistreatment of religious minorities.
Along with archival footage, some vintage photographs are dramatically superimposed against modern-day backgrounds.
One need not agree with Ferguson's more controversial points -- press materials indicate that in the second episode he, at least to some extent, equates the actions of the Allies in World War II with those of the Axis nations -- to find this a briskly paced and informative look at the violent lessons of the last century.
The series, a production of Blakeway Productions in association with New York's Thirteen/WNET, is rated TV-PG/V -- parental guidance suggested; moderate violence.