Love old or unusual movies but never know when they're on? Here are several I recommend this week:
The Sting (1973): This is not exactly an obscure movie -- it won the Best Picture Academy Award. But I wouldn't be surprised if it's been a while since you've seen this gem.
George Roy Hill directed the dream team of Paul Newman and Robert Redford in this incredibly stylish, tangled tale of two Chicago lowlifes engineering a stunning long con on the mob. It's full of wonderful actors: Robert Shaw, Harold Gould, Charles Durning, Ray Walston, Eileen Brennan and many more.
The movie also started an enormous popular resurgence in the music of ragtime master Scott Joplin. -- 5:30 a.m. Monday, Cinemax
The Big Chill (1983): Writer-director Lawrence Kasdan roared onto the movie scene in 1983 with this wildly popular ensemble comedy-drama about the pains of moving from frivolous youth to responsible adulthood. And what a cast he assembled!
Kevin Kline, Glenn Close, Mary Kay Place, William Hurt, Meg Tilly, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Berenger and JoBeth Williams all gather for the funeral of their college buddy, Alex. Alex (corpse played by Kevin Costner!) has committed suicide and this tragic event creates moments of epiphany for all of his old friends.
This is a movie that gets better through the years. -- 11 p.m. Tuesday, Turner Classic Movies
Cube (1997): Think of Cube as Saw without the torture porn.
Seven strangers wake up to find themselves imprisoned in a baffling giant cubic maze with seemingly innumerable rooms. How do they escape? Is escape possible? And that's the movie ... .
I hate to tell you much more than that, because it would give away the clever plot. This tight little independent thriller packs a surprising punch in its own very creepy way. -- 7:15 p.m. Friday, Independent Film Channel
Elephant Walk (1954): This steamy, exotic romantic drama takes place in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where tea plantation owner Peter Finch brings his new bride (the ravishing Elizabeth Taylor) to live in splendid, but desperately lonely, isolation.
The only thing to distract her is the handsome plantation manager, Dana Andrews. What's a healthy young girl to do?
If the love triangle and the climate weren't sticky enough, there's the little problem of the cholera epidemic and the fact that the local elephants have a grudge against the plantation. Evidently it's right smack in the middle of an ancient elephant trail.
A recipe for pachyderm trouble? Watch and see! -- 11 p.m. Friday, Turner Classic Movies
Trivia question 255: Henry Mancini's famous instrumental Baby Elephant Walk was written not for the movie Elephant Walk, but for what other film?
Answer to trivia question 253: Bette Midler did a famous impression of Shelley Winters' performance in The Poseidon Adventure.
* Bryan native Ray Ivey is a writer and movie fan in Hollywood, Calif. He would love to hear from you at rayivey@ca.rr.com. His blog is at www.rayivey.com/wordpress.
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