The Olympics are on, and it seems like no one really wants to challenge that with any good counter-programming, so this week is slim in the must-see-TV front. So, if you’re like me, and are searching for any viewing alternatives, (never cared much for the games, aside from a slight fascination with gymnastics), you’ll take what you can get.
So how about some movies?
Tonight at 9 P.M., HBO presents the documentary About Face: Supermodels Then and Now, a portrait of beauty, aging, and the fashion industry as seen through the eyes of such famous faces as Jerry Hall, Paulina Porizkova, Isabella Rossellini, Cherly Tiegs, and Beverly Johnson. Basically, all the supermodels you can think of are in this, aside from Janice Dickinson. I guess director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders was going for something…classier?
For the rest of the week, you basically just need to turn it to Turner Classic Movies, and you’re bound to find something worth your time. August is their “Summer Under the Stars” month, in which a classic movie star’s films are featured each day.
Wednesday, August 1st is John Wayne night, and while Westerns and Wayne aren’t my first choice in entertainment, you really can’t go wrong with a double feature of The Searchers, (at 10:15 A.M.), and Rio Bravo, (at 12:15 P.M.). Watch those, and then go watch Taxi Driver and Assault on Precinct 13, and marvel at the similarities.
Myrna Loy is Thursday, August 2nd’s star, and of course, no marathon of her films would be complete without The Thin Man, which you can watch at 8 P.M. I hope the proposed Johnny Depp remake never makes it off the ground, because it’s completely and totally unnecessary, but if it does, I say he wait a few more years and then cast a more age-appropriate Emma Stone as Nora Charles. She’s the only actress I can think of who even comes close to Myrna Loy’s combination of class, wit, and off-beat good looks.
Speaking of incomparable stars, there will never be another Marilyn Monroe, and there will never be an actress who will be able to play her with any justice, so Hollywood, stop trying. And yes, Saturday, August 4th is Marilyn Monroe Day. Basically, all her best, aside from The Misfits, and some of her worst, ::cough:: River of No Return ::cough::, are being shown, but my picks would be the double feature Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at 1:15 P.M., followed by The Seven Year Itch at 3 P.M.
(Some Like It Hot follows at 5 P.M., but am I the only Marilyn fan who finds that one a tad depressing? She seems kind of out of it through the whole thing, (because she was), and knowing Tony Curtis hated having to kiss her, (he equated it to kissing Hitler), just makes it an unpleasant viewing experience…)
If smoking the weed is more your thing, well, there’s something for you on Saturday night as well! Marley, an authorized documentary about reggae legend Bob Marley, airs on VH1 at 9 P.M. Irie irie!
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