After a hiatus much longer than I intended, the Film on TV column is active again over on Row Three. I’m not going to cross-post this and the DVD Triage column as much as I used to. Instead, I’ll just post notices over here when I post something over there, maybe with a highlight or two. So here are my top five recommendations for films playing on TV next week. All times are EST.

North by Northwest

Monday, Feb 13 at 5:30pm on TCM
Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant) gets mistaken for George Kaplan and pulled into an elaborate web of espionage in one of Hitchcock’s most enjoyable and funniest thrillers. So many great scenes it’s impossible to list them all.
1959 USA. Director: Alfred Hitchcock. Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Martin Landau.

Z

Monday, Feb 13 at 8:00pm on TCM
Extremely solid political thriller following the true story of the overthrow of Greece’s democratic government. Equal parts historically accurate political document and detective thriller as the magistrate tries to uncover the conspiracy behind a liberal politician’s assassination, the whole thing is riveting.
1969 France/Algeria. Director: Costa-Gavros. Starring: Yves Montand, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Irene Papas.

Top Hat

Tuesday, Feb 14 at 8:00pm on TCM
For me, Top Hat and Swing Time battle it out for the top Astaire-Rogers film constantly, with the one I’ve seen more recently usually taking the crown. Mistaken identity follows mistaken identity here, as Ginger thinks Fred is her best friend’s husband, causing her a lot of consternation when Fred starts romancing her. That’s far from the end of it all, though. Also has the most definitive collection of Astaire-Rogers supporting actors.
1935 USA. Director: Mark Sandrich. Starring: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton, Helen Broderick, Erik Rhodes, Eric Blore.

Sunshine

Wednesday Feb 15 at 6:00am on IFC
I think this film, like many of Danny Boyle’s, falls to pieces in the third act. Still, the set-up and middle are right up there with the best sci-fi I’ve ever seen – a sci-fi of ideas and existential contemplation – so I still give it a hearty recommendation.
2007 UK. Director: Danny Boyle. Starring: Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, Michelle Yeoh, Mark Strong.
(repeats at 1:45pm)

They Were Expendable

Wednesday, Feb 15 at 3:15pm on TCM
There are films that don’t seem to be all that while you’re watching them – no particularly powerful scenes, not a particularly moving plot, characters that are developed but don’t jump out at you – and yet by the time you reach the end, you’re somehow struck with what a great movie you’ve seen. This film was like that for me – it’s mostly a lot of vignettes from a U-boat squadron led by John Wayne, the only one who thought the U-boat could be useful in combat. But it all adds up to something much more.
1945 USA. Director: John Ford. Starring: John Wayne, Robert Montgomery, Donna Reed, Jack Holt, Ward Bond.