What to Watch on TV this Weekend: Chloe's Guide

Oct. 7–9 , 2016

Her are afew suggestions for what to watch on the upcoming weekend.

A Knight's Tale (2001)

Friday, Oct. 7 - MAX - 1:10 p.m.

I watched this film before I knew who Heath Ledger―now an iconic, household name virtually synonymous with Batman's Joker―was or would become. A Knight's Tale, the medieval adventure-comedy from director Brian Helgeland (42, Legend), stars Ledger as William Thatcher, a young and charismatic squire, alongside Shannyn Sossamon (The Rules of Attraction, Sinister 2) as noblewoman Jocelyn, Paul Bettany and Alan Tudyk as Thatcher's confidants and Rufus Sewell as antagonist Count Adhemar. The anachronistic tale follows Thatcher, a penniless squire, who poses as a knight in the world of medieval jousting. The film's title is a nod to Chaucer's The Knight's Tale in his Canterbury Tales.

Helgeland's A Knight's Tale, for which he also wrote the screenplay, generated $117,487,473 in the box office with a budget of $65 million, totaling a worldwide $117,487,473. It employs modern references and a classic rock soundtrack, with songs from Queen, Eric Clapton, AC/DC, David Bowie and others.

Beetlejuice (1988)

Saturday, Oct. 8 - MAX- 9:45 a.m.

Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetle―

"Shh. Don't even say his name. You don't want his help," pragmatic, post-mortem counselor Juno cautions the newly deceased Maitlands, played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin. But Betelgeuse, phonetically deciphered as Beetlejuice over the course of the plot, nevertheless helps the other characters of the film whether they need him or not. I remember sitting in front of the television at my grandmother's house, strangely fascinated by the high-spirited mischief of Beetlejuice animated series reruns before I had been introduced to the silver-screen spook that started it all. The film, directed by Tim Burton, stars Michael Keaton as the titular ghost with the most, with Winona Ryder playing nihilistic teenager Lydia Deetz.

The film's score was written and arranged by Tim Burton collaborator Danny Elfman and features original recordings performed by Harry Belafonte ("Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)," "The Banana Boat Song"), with additional recordings present in the film ("Man Smart, Woman Smarter," "Sweetheart from Venezuela"), but otherwise absent from the soundtrack. The composition spent six weeks on the Billboard 200 chart the year the film was released. Beetlejuice grossed $8,030,897 during its opening weekend and eventually garnered $73,707,461 in North America. It was the 10th-highest-grossing film of 1988.

Presidential Debate #2

Sunday, Oct. 9- CNN - 9 p.m.

The first presidential debate, moderated by NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt, took place Monday, Sept. 26 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., setting a viewership record of an estimated 84 million viewers. Ratings surpassed the previous record of 80.6 million, held by the Carter-Reagen debate of 1980, as well as the first debate between Obama and McCain in 2008, which brought in 52.4 million viewers.

A CNN poll showed 62 percent of voters thought Hillary Clinton had the better performance over her opponent, Donald Trump, with 27 percent of the vote in favor of Trump. A Politico/Morning Consult poll also gave Clinton the win with 49 percent to 26 percent. However, a CNBC poll resulted in 67 for Trump versus 33 percent for Clinton, with a Washington Times poll also reporting a Trump win of 66 to 26.

The second presidential debate will be moderated by CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, but there will be one more toward the tail end of October, preceding a final countdown of fewer than two weeks before Election Day on Nov. 8. It is tenable that the most informed voter understands the devices and limitations of both parties, with debates offering insight to the intentions of the individual that will be the next Leader of the Free World.

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

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Enthusiasts of the X-Men franchise, those who have followed the ever-evolving storyline since its inception in 2000, were, no doubt, watering at the proverbial mouths when the first X-Men: Apocalypse trailer was released in 2015. I was among this vast pool of devotees, and on one cool, summer evening, I purchased a ticket to see it.

X-Men: Apocalypse features an all-star cast both in story and in company: Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Oscar Isaac, Evan Peters, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne, Sophie Turner, Olivia Munn and others. Directed by Bryan Singer and inspired by the X-Factor storyline Fall of the Mutants and Ultimate X-Men's Apocalypse, the film follows the events that transpire after the ancient mutant En Sabah Nur awakens in 1983, planning to extinguish modern civilization. X-Men: Apogcalypse grossed $155.4 million in North America and $388.1 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $543.6 million and is the third-highest-grossing film in the X-Men series.

Central Intelligence (2016)

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I watched this film on an accidental whim; during a family trip to the movie theater, my parents, sister and I discovered that the films we had intended to see were sold out, and Central Intelligence was the one we collectively settled upon, much to our initial chagrin. However, as it turned out, Central Intelligence was much less the campy buddy flick that I had expected it to be; rather, it was a production of dual rhythms, alternately charismatically laid-back and hyperactive, the on-screen dynamic between the main characters, played by Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, more impactful than the action.

Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber (We're the Millers), the film grossed $215 million worldwide against its $50 million budget. It also gained a critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes that, "Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson make for well-matched comic foils, helping Central Intelligence overcome a script that coasts on their considerable chemistry."

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