Patch Picks: What to Watch on TV this Weekend

Feb. 17–Feb. 19, 2017

Her are a few suggestions for what to watch during the upcoming weekend.

The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008)

Friday, Feb. 17 - IFC - 3:30 p.m.

Keanu Reeves stars as a the alien Klaatu, who has arrived on Earth in the midst of manmade, environmental damage to the planet. The story follows Klaatu as the latter endeavors to eradicate human existence if the people of Earth do not change their ruinous behaviors.

Scott Derrickson's (Sinister, Doctor Strange) The Day The Earth Stood Still is a loose adaptation of the eponymous 1951 film. The production's screenplay, written by David Scarpa, is inspired by Harry Bates's short story, "Farewell to the Master." Despite poor critical reviews, with New York Times writer A.O. Scott commenting on Reeves's performance as "bored and distracted," the film reached the number-one spot in the box offices following its release, generating a worldwide total of $233.1 million against a budget of $80 million.

Shallow Hal (2001)

Saturday, Feb. 18 - MTV - 12:45 p.m.

Derived from a 1613 work by English poet Sir Thomas Overbury, as the old proverb goes, "Beauty is but skin deep." This rings true for the whole of the narrative found in the Farrelly brothers' (Osmosis Jones, There's Something About Mary) Shallow Hal, starring Jack Black as Hal Larson, a superficial man, with a complicated trauma from his childhood, whose fixation on women's physical beauty prevents him seeing their inner beauty.

Shallow Hal combines tongue-in-cheek humor with earnest, humanizing sentiment to make for a film that—in spite of its signature Jack Black slapstick moments or perhaps partly owing to it—conveys a powerful, rooted message of compassion, healing and transformation.

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver

Sunday, Feb. 19 - HBO- 5 p.m.

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver kicked off its fourth season Feb. 12 after bowing into dormancy with its third season finale on Nov. 13, 2016. The show's Feb. 28, 2016 segment on Donald Trump is reportedly the most-watched slice of HBO pie, with a network spokesperson commenting that "[the segment] is a record for any piece of HBO content," according to a CNN article from 2016. Season four opened with a recap on news spanning the Last Week's two-month break. The show received the Producers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television and was nominated for the Dorian Award for TV Current Affairs Show of the Year.

Alien (1979)

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The British-American horror that started it all, Ridley Scott's Alien is the catalyst to a five-film Alien-specific franchise as well as two crossover films with the Predator franchise: Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007). A commercial crew aboard the deep space towing vessel, Nostromo, is homeward-bound before picking up an SOS warning from a distant moon, but the ill-fated crew soon realizes, that it is not alone amid the discovery of an abandoned spaceship. A second installment in the Alien prequel series, Alien: Covenant, is scheduled to be released May 19.

ParaNorman (2012)

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Co-directed by Chris Butler (Corpse Bride, Kubo and the Two Strings) and Sam Fell (The Tale of Despereaux), ParaNorman stars the voices of Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jodelle Ferland, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Tempestt Bledsoe, John Goodman and others. Smit-McPhee voices Norman, a misunderstood boy who takes on ghosts, zombies and grown-ups in order to save the small town of Blithe Hollow, Mass. from a centuries-old curse.

GLAAD (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) nominated ParaNorman as its first-ever, PG-rated film for the GLAAD Media Awards in 2013, this for the film's inclusion of an openly gay character, Mitch. ParaNorman initially drew attention for the revelation in the film's final scenes, making Mitch the first openly gay character in a mainstream, animated film.

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Photo credit: Pixabay