Encore, 8:00 p.m. ET
Any time the conversation turns to truly bizarre movie teamings (then again, maybe you have less geeky friends than I do, and your conversations never turn there), this 1969 movie is one of the trump cards to remember. It’s the answer to the question, “What film co-starred Elvis Presley and Mary Tyler Moore?” (Bonus question: “And had Mary Tyler Moore playing a nun?”) Hard as all that is to believe, try this: Elvis played a doctor. And the movie was made only one year before the Dick Van Dyke Show actress reinvented herself as the titular star of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
HBO2, 8:00 p.m. ET
One of the best Memorial Day offerings possible, if you’re looking for a war movie. Since this 1998 Steven Spielberg is on HBO2, it’ll be shown unedited, and uninterrupted, which is key. And while many performances in this harrowing WWII drama are terrific, including that of Tom Hanks, the one to watch today is the title character. He’s played by Matt Damon, who can also be seen on the HBO networks this weekend co-starring as the gay lover of Michael; Douglas’ Liberace on the new
Behind the Candelabra telemovie.
Lifetime, 8:00 p.m. ET
After the excellent job done by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon as Johnny Cash and Jude Carter in the 2005 biopic Walk the Line, I’m not sure why we need another study of June Carter. And while few people, I imagine, are waiting to see Matt Ross as the Man in Black, the sound, as well as the sight, of singer Jewel as June should be worth the tune-in. But if someone tries to Cash in and make another biography of this couple, what titles and theme songs are left? A Boy Named Sue?
Syfy, 8:00 p.m. ET
Want a truly brainless diversion for the holiday? This Syfy movie slipped by me when it premiered last year, starring Michael Madsen, the standout sadist of Reservoir Dogs, as the guy who has to go up against a giant snake with killer teeth – capable of, well, look at the photo. But you have to give props, if not propellers, to a snake that can down a helicopter in midflight. Similarly, you have to salute the folks at Syfy, for recognizing the idiotic purity of combining the names of two killer creatures to make a third. It’s not as easy a hybrid concoction as you might think. What’s possible for a follow-up film? Tarantulasaurus rex?
PBS, 10:00 p.m. ET
This may sound like a Syfy movie, but this new Independent Lens documentary, Detropia, actually tries to capture the city of a Detroit at a particular moment in time – a moment when the beleaguered city may or may not be about to experience a resurgence. It’s by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, the team that made Jesus Camp. Check local listings.