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7:00 PM Sundance
Angel Heart (1987 USA): Robert De Niro is devilish as all get out in this entertaining if somewhat pretentious Alan Parker-helmed thriller. De Niro plays Louis Cyphre (sneaky anagram alert!), a Harlem-based mystic who hires private dick Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke) to track down a missing person in the bayous of Louisiana. Despite being paid a paltry $5,000, Angel takes the job, but soon finds himself tripping over dead bodies during the course of the search. This is the film that got director Parker into considerable trouble with the MPAA, which didn’t take kindly to a scene in which Rourke and love interest Lisa Bonet are drizzled with blood whilst knocking boots. Look for blues musician Brownie McGhee in a memorable supporting role.

9:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Admirable Crichton (1957 GB): Kenneth More headlines as the title character in this droll, class-conscious British comedy from director Lewis Gilbert. Set during the Edwardian era, the film examines the relationship between butler Crichton and employer Lord Loam (snobby Cecil Parker) after he and the Loam family are left shipwrecked on a South Seas island. The only one capable of accomplishing anything, Crichton soon gains the upper hand, reversing the master/servant relationship in his favor – at least, until romance enters the picture in the form of Lord Loam’s attractive daughter Tweeny (Diane Cilento). Based on a play by Peter Pan man J.M. Barrie, this delightful film features plenty of familiar faces, including Martita Hunt, John Le Mesurier, Eddie Byrne, Miles Malleson, and Sally Ann Howes.

Friday 11/16/12

11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Manitou (1978 USA): This hilariously awful horror flick stars Tony Curtis, of all people, as Harry Erskine, a psychic huckster whose ladylove Karen (Susan Strasberg) reports to the hospital one day with a disturbing growth on her back. No doubt suspecting boils, a nasty insect bite, an inflamed hair follicle, or a good old fashioned Biblical curse, Karen is shocked to learn that she's actually carrying a fetus on her spine - and kindly old Doc Snow (Burgess Meredith) breaks the news that it's no ordinary little bundle of joy. No, it's actually the angry reincarnated spirit of a 400-year-old Native American out for heap big revenge against those who have trespassed against it! So much for the pitter-patter of little feet. An astonishing example of psychotronic film helmed by genre master William Girdler (Three On A Meathook, Asylum of Satan), The Manitou is essential viewing for all fans of truly bad cinema.

Saturday 11/17/12

1:00 AM Fox Movie Channel
That Thing You Do! (USA): This tribute to the garage bands of the 1960s is close to the top of my guilty pleasures list, so I'm sheepishly happy to report its return to television - in wide screen, no less - this early morning. This project was close to the heart of my Oaktown homie Tom Hanks, who wrote, directed and - in a partially successful effort to give his film some box office "oomph" - appears as the manager of The Wonders, a fictional rock band from a small Pennsylvania town. The story is the typical rags-to-riches and back again narrative, this time dressed up with moptops and winklepickers, as our lads defy the odds and end up appearing on national television before it all falls apart. Completely unoriginal, completely predictable, and completely delightful, That Thing You Do! also features a toe-tapping theme tune from Fountains of Wayne bass player Adam Schlesinger.

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