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2:30 PM Fox Movie Channel
The Incident (1967 USA): One of the first films to capture and exploit the overwhelming fear of crime that would define the city of New York throughout the 1970s and early ‘80s, The Incident stars Tony Musante and a young Martin Sheen as two toughs who take over a subway car and terrorize the passengers. Directed by Bronx native Larry Peerce, who started his career with the flawed but fascinating racial drama One Potato, Two Potato, this is a somewhat dated but still powerful film with an interesting supporting cast, including Beau Bridges, Ruby Dee, Jack Gilford, Thelma Ritter, Brock Peters, and, ah, Ed McMahon. Brilliantly shot in stark black-and-white by Gerald Hirschfeld (Fail-Safe), The Incident remains a riveting and gut-wrenching experience, and is still maddeningly MIA on DVD.

5:00 PM HBO2
Earth Made of Glass (2010 USA): History happens in a hurry, and we tend not to learn the truth — if the truth is ever really knowable — until years after the fact. Right now we’re being sold a war in Libya as a necessary means to prevent a bloodthirsty dictator from killing his own people, but how much of that is the truth and how much hyperbole on the part of the business and power elite eager to get their hands on Libyan oil? If we’re lucky, we’ll find out what’s really going down five, ten, or a hundred years from now. As for Earth Made of Glass, it’s a fascinating reappraisal of the Rwandan genocide of 1994 — a historic moment no one anticipated, and almost everyone responded to inadequately. The film focuses on both the individual search for justice — as personfied by a man named Jean Pierre Sagahutu, whose father was murdered in the slaughter — and the national desire for healing, represented by Rwandan President Paul Kagame. In equal parts troubling and uplifting, Earth Made of Glass is a truly outstanding example of documentary filmmaking. Also airs at 8:00 PM.

Thursday 4/7/11

2:35 AM Encore Action
Tekwar (1994 USA): Until roughly 30 seconds before writing this I didn’t know that, in addition to being an acclaimed actor and corporate spokesperson, William Shatner was also a film director and a novelist. (Turns out Captain Kirk also directed one of those Star Trek movies, a fact I had completely forgotten, as well as ten episodes of T. J. Hooker.) Not only did Shatner direct Tekwar, he also penned the source material, the first of a series of stories he wrote about a futuristic drug war. So, is Tekwar (the film) any good? Well, I seem to recall it not being as bad as you might imagine, even considering the two biggest names in the cast are Shatner himself and Lady Sugar Walls herself, Sheena Easton. If memory serves, it’s a pretty standard example of "bleak future" filmmaking, but far from the worst the genre has to offer.

1:40 PM Flix
Bad Jim (1989 USA): Two reasons to watch this otherwise mediocre western: an interesting cast, and some decent widescreen cinematography (yes, Bad Jim is making its letterboxed television debut this afternoon). This was the first (and to date, last) film appearance of one John Clark Gable, the sheltered offspring of you-know-who and actress and one-time Spreckels sugar matriarch Kay Williams. Gable plays John Coleman, a cowpuncher who decides ranch life is a little too quiet for his taste, and — after acquiring the late Billy the Kid’s horse from shady Virgilio (Pepe Serna) — takes up a life of crime with buddies B.D. (James Brolin) and July (Richard Roundtree). Though not a Cannon Films production, Menahem Golan served as the film’s executive producer, no doubt anticipating rich rewards from his association with a Gable. Success, however, was not forthcoming, as John Clark rode off into the sunset after deciding show biz was not for him. Also on hand: Ty Hardin, Rory Calhoun, and Harry Carey, Jr.

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