Movies-on-TV: Ken Fox's Picks for the Week of Jan. 21
Tony Jaa in Ong-Bak courtesy Magnolia Pictures
Monday, January 21, at 11 am, 9:30 pm/ET
Standing the Shadows of Motown
| FLX
The Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye and the Four Tops are all household names, but can anyone tell me who actually played the music we now call the Motown Sound? The answer lies in Paul Justman's wonderfully warm tribute to the Funk Brothers, a group of incredibly talented studio musicians who were at the heart of some of the greatest music ever to come out of the U.S.
Tuesday, Jan. 22, 9:45 am, 8 pm/ET
For Your Consideration | HBO2
With awards season now reduced to one big question mark due to the ongoing writers' strike (and that just fine by me), Christopher Guest's dead-on satire about the cast of a micro-indie movie entitled "Home for Purim" who catch Oscar fever makes for the perfect substitute. Catherine O'Hara, you wuz robbed!
Wednesday, Jan. 23, 10:15 pm/ET
The World's Fastest Indian | TMC
Bear with me a moment. I realize Anthony Hopkins is a bigger ham that one my mother served at Christmas, and I know the thought of Sir Tony playing an elderly New Zealander determined to set a new world land-speed record astride his scrappy 1920 v-twin Indian Scout motorcycle doesn't sound like much in the way of entertainment. But trust me: This based-on-a-true-story adventure is both hugely entertaining and quite moving, and Hopkins is undeniably charming.
Thursday, Jan. 24, 6:55 pm/ET
Strange Invaders | IFC
It was barely noticed at the time of its release, but this off-beat sci-fi flick about a college professor (Paul LeMat) who begins to suspect alien invaders have been living among us for decades captures the spirit of those great old '50s drive-in features. How cool is it? It was co-written by Bill Condon (
Gods and Monsters,
Dreamgirls) and if you listen really closely, you can hear R.E.M.'s early chestnut "Gardening at Night" in an early scene.
Friday, Jan. 25, 9 and 10:45 pm/ET
The Descent | TCM
Easily the scariest movie of 2005, and while that may not sound like much of a recommendation at a time when horror movies have hit an all time creative low, let me assure you this British shocker about a group of spelunking women delivers the goods. Claustrophobia, panic, terror and that's before the monsters show up.
Saturday, Jan. 26, 9 pm/ET
Ong-Bak | SPIKE
I'm not much of a martial arts aficionado, but my jaw was on the floor. Rather than being goosed with the usual digital effects and Hong Kong-style wirework, Thailand Tony Jaa's incredible display of the ancient martial art known as Muay Thai is all real and entirely breathtaking What's about? Who cares?
Sunday, Jan. 27, 9:30 pm/ET
Donnie Darko | SUND
Writer-director Richard Kelly's follow-up,
Southland Tales, was a confusing disappointment, but his debut feature still casts a strange spell. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as an unusually troubled suburban high-school student: He's being haunted by a giant, dirty rabbit, and is nearly killed when a jet engine crashes through his bedroom ceiling.
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