May 10 – May 16
TV film fare -- week of May 10
The following are capsule reviews of theatrical movies on network and cable television the week of May. 3. Please note that televised versions may or may not be edited for language, nudity, violence and sexual situations.
Tuesday, May 12, 11:15 p.m.-1:30 a.m. EDT (TCM) "The Milagro Beanfield War" (1988). Honest but flawed attempt to depict the cultural strength of a poor Hispanic community in the Southwest when it bands together against greedy Anglo land developers. Directed by Robert Redford, the feel-good plot is rendered in broad, melodramatic strokes, saving most of its energies for illustrating the foibles of a large cast of colorful characters, among them Chick Vennera, Christopher Walken, Sonia Braga and John Heard. Some violence, rough language and muted sexual references. 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.
Thursday, May 14, 9 p.m.-midnight EDT (Lifetime) "Love Actually" (2003). Romantic comedy set in London which interweaves 10 stories of love including a newly elected prime minister (Hugh Grant) who falls for his curvaceous secretary (Martine McCutcheon); a recently widowed father (Liam Neeson) left to care for his young stepson; and a comfortably married woman (Emma Thompson) who fears her husband (Alan Rickman) is contemplating an affair. From romantic to puppy love, from love between spouses, friends and families to unrequited love, writer-director Richard Curtis has composed a touching if uneven film that pleases despite familiar cliches and overworked situations. However, unnecessary extended sexual scenes detract from the film's overall drollness. Several scenes of sexual encounters with nudity, a few sexual references and innuendoes, and intermittent rough language with an instance of profanity. 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, May 14, 11:30 p.m.-3 a.m. EDT (TCM) "Giant" (1956). Sentimental but stylish adaptation of Edna Ferber's sprawling family saga of life and love in Texas oil country from the turn of the century to the early 1950s, with Dennis Hopper as the clean-cut, intense son of Texas patriarchs Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson, while James Dean gives his most moving performance as the inarticulate cowhand who strikes it rich. Directed by George Stevens, the plot is less important than its themes of changing times, the generation gap, racial prejudice, the waste of war and marital incompatibility. Over three hours long, children may find it a taxing experience. 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.
Saturday, May 16, 8-11 p.m. EDT (ABC) "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (2005). Fourth film in the series based on J.K. Rowling's fantasy novels, in which Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) competes against students from two rival schools in a perilous wizard's tournament that ends up being sabotaged by the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), who uses it to ensnare Potter. Director Mike Newell continues the darker tone set by 2004's "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," and though this go-round feels a tad long, it still conjures enough movie magic to cast a satisfying spell over audiences. Frightening images, scenes of intense menace and some sexual innuendo. 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.
Saturday, May 16, 8-10 p.m. EDT (HBO) "Get Smart" (2008). Good-natured update of 1960s TV series with secret agent Maxwell Smart (a perfectly cast Steve Carell), alternately bungling and clever, and his partner, Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), dispatched to Russia by their chief (Alan Arkin) to battle the evil KAOS crime syndicate boss (Terence Stamp). Director Peter Segal deftly balances action, comedy and sentiment, with quite a few pearly moments, but though the action sequences are never gory or the comedy gross or mean-spirited, the elements listed below are arguably still strong enough to preclude the youngest viewers. Much comic action violence including killings, light sexual references and innuendo, some crude language and crass expressions, a vulgar gesture and brief rear-male nudity; acceptable for older teens. 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.
Saturday, May 16, 10 p.m.-midnight EDT (Cinemax) "10,000 B.C." (2008). Familiar but only fitfully involving epic taking place at the end of the Ice Age about a young tribal hunter (Steven Strait) pursuing marauding slave raiders who have kidnapped the young woman he loves (Camilla Belle), while fighting predatory birds, saber-toothed tigers and mammoths along the way. Director Roland Emmerich's often silly epic holds few real surprises, and has the sort of cliche-filled script standard for this genre, but the digital effects are quite impressive, especially the bustling pyramid-studded slave colony that brings the hero and his companions to a predictable action-packed climax. Intense but not gory action violence and killings and some pagan mysticism. 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.
TV program notes -- week of May 10
Here are some television program notes for the week of May 10 with their TV Parental Guidelines ratings if available. They have not all been reviewed and therefore are not necessarily recommended by the Office for Film & Broadcasting.
Sunday, May 10, 8-10 p.m. EDT (History) "Angels & Demons Decoded." This promotional special for the upcoming movie based on Dan Brown's "Angels & Demons" is said to feature interviews with symbologists, art historians, religious scholars, scientists and other experts who promise to unravel the "mysteries" regarding two centuries-old secret societies -- the Illuminati and the Assassins -- who plot to destroy the Vatican in the 2000 thriller.
Sunday, May 10, 9-10 p.m. EDT (National Geographic) "Extreme Animals." As part of the "In the Womb" series, this Mother's Day program uses four-dimensional scans and computer animation to follow the challenging gestation process of four species: lemon sharks, emperor penguins, red kangaroos and parasitic wasps.
Sunday, May 10, 9-10:30 p.m. EDT (PBS) "Wallander." Irish actor Kenneth Branagh, who co-produced this series, gives a vivid performance as "the Norse Morse," Inspector Kurt Wallander, the scruffy Swedish sleuth created by author Henning Mankell. In three whodunits, Mankell pits his melancholy hero against the creeping malaise affecting contemporary Sweden, where permissiveness and the collapse of the welfare state are slowly undermining the spirit of law and order. In the first well-made intelligent drama, "Sidetracked," an unknown young woman sets herself on fire in a field, leading to a search for her identity. Could her suicide be connected to a string of ax murders that are felling members of Swedish high society? A presentation of "Masterpiece Mystery!" hosted by Alan Cumming, it concludes May 17 and 31, 9-10:30 p.m. EDT (TV-14 -- parents strongly cautioned).
Tuesday, May 12, 9-10 p.m. EDT (PBS) "The Madoff Affair." The "Frontline" series explores the story behind the world's first truly global Ponzi scheme -- a deception that lasted longer, reached wider and cut deeper than any business scandal in history.
Saturday, May 16, 10-11 p.m. EDT (Animal Planet) "Beverly Hills Groomer." The first two episodes of a 12-part miniseries profiling successful dog groomer Artist Knox, who recently won Animal Planet's Groomer of the Year contest, as he tries to establish a new business in Los Angeles' most luxurious neighborhood (TV-PG -- parental guidance suggested).
TV REVIEW
Michelangelo Revealed
In 1999, art historian Antonio Forcellino began restoration work on one of Renaissance man Michelangelo Buonarroti's most famous statues, the figure of Moses on the tomb of the "warrior pope," Julius II (1443-1513), in Rome's Church of St. Peter in Chains. As he labored, Forcellino noticed a number of anomalies in the work, and in some of the tomb's other sculptures.
The startling theory about the artist's secret religious views that Forcellino eventually developed to account for these oddities is detailed in his biography, published in an English translation in Britain earlier this year as "Michelangelo: A Turbulent Life," and forthcoming in the U.S. with the subtitle "A Restless Life."
His hypothesis also provides the basis for the thought-provoking "Secrets of the Dead" program "Michelangelo Revealed," which premieres on PBS stations Wednesday, May 13, 8-9 p.m. EDT (check local listings).
As Forcellino explains in filmmaker Fabrizio Ruggirello's documentary -- which appealingly captures both Rome's artistic treasures and its beautiful cityscape -- he believes Michelangelo was a member of an informal group of church reform advocates known as the Spirituali. This circle included two powerful cardinals, Italian Ercole Gonzaga and Englishman Reginald Pole, as well as poet Vittoria Colonna, the scion of one of Rome's most august families.
Widespread ecclesiastical corruption had already contributed to the start of the Protestant Reformation and many faithful Catholics were demanding an end to such abuses. But the script contends that the Spirituali went further, agreeing with Luther's view of justification by faith alone and downplaying the role of the clergy and the sacraments in favor of direct personal enlightenment.
The first half of the 16th century was a complex era religiously, and the film occasionally paints it with overly broad strokes, as when it equates the sale of indulgences with the sale of forgiveness. That may have been a widespread perception at the time, but it was an erroneous one nonetheless, since indulgences presuppose that sins have already been confessed and absolved.
As for the Spirituali, their ideas may have been controversial, but were not as yet necessarily heretical, since the Council of Trent -- at which both Cardinals Pole and Gonzaga served as papal legates -- did not definitively articulate the Catholic understanding of justification, in contrast to Luther's teaching, until 1547.
While Forcellino's more sensational claims -- essentially identifying Michelangelo as a secret Protestant and a hidden enemy of the church his art served so effectively -- need to be carefully weighed, there are genuine insights into the launch of the movement that would eventually become the Counter-Reformation.