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

Oct. 21–23, 2016

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

Addams Family Values (1993)

Friday, Oct. 21 - Freeform - 6:10 p.m.

I was still in elementary school when I was, per happenstance, introduced to Addams Family Values. It is in this film, a sequel to 1991's The Addams Family, that the personalities of America's most unwholesome family sparkle—like the eyes of the creature creeping out past the threshold of one's closet. Addams Family Values follows Morticia (Anjelica Huston), Gomez (Raúl Juliá), Wednesday (Christina Ricci), Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd) and Grandmama (Carol Kane) as they welcome the arrival of a baby boy, an anomaly for the older two of the brood. This is further complicated when it appears there is more to the siblings' new nanny, Debbie (Joan Cusack), than meets the eye. Directed by Paul Rudnick, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction, and James Charisma of Playboy included the film on a list of "15 Sequels That Are Way Better Than The Originals."

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Saturday, Oct. 22 - VH1 12:30 p.m.

Ferris Bueller might have been a few years before my time, but that did not diminish my appreciation for its teen wish-fulfillment grandeur. Starring Matthew Broderick as the titular character alongside Bueller's classmates and partners-in-crime, Sloane (Mia Sara) and Cameron (Alan Ruck), Ferris Bueller's Day Off is the story of a Chicagoan high school slacker who plays hooky, regularly breaking the fourth wall to explain certain techniques and inner thoughts surrounding the craft of his staycation.

Directed by John Hughes (Sixteen Candles, Weird Science), the film became one of the top-grossing films of its year, generating $70.1 million over a $5.8 million budget.

Real Time with Bill Maher

Sunday, Oct. 23- HBO - 1:45 p.m.

Comedian and political satirist Bill Maher keeps it "real" on Real Time with Bill Maher, featuring a panel of guest experts that include journalists, professors and politicians, with the occasional actor or musician, on his weekly, one-hour program. Guests also sometimes appear via satellite, such as WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange in August 2016. Real Time originally aired in 2003, with high-definition formatting changes in 2008.

Maher interviews an important figure for his introductory segment before sitting down with panelists for an extensive debate on current issues. Following a comedy skit that satirizes current news items, Maher interviews another figure via satellite or in studio before finishing with "New Rules," which serves as a humorous editorial on popular culture and American politics. Larry King once referred to Real Time as "one of the best shows on television."

Marvel's Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Cox Communications On Demand

Those who have been following the cinematic development and intrinsic storylines of the Marvel universe since the 2008 release of Ironman or from the 2012 release of The Avengers might have predicted, at least in part, the events that unfold in Marvel's Civil War. The world premier of the film's trailer in 2015 confirmed that things would be coming to a proverbial head as seemingly inevitable events turn heroes against each other, compelling audiences to wonder who the real heroes are.

The film employs an all-star cast of faces seen in previous productions—Chris Evans as Captain America, Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Don Cheadle as Rhodes, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlett Witch, among others—and new ones: Chadwick Boseman (42, Get on Up) as Black Panther and Tom Holland as the first teenaged Spider-Man.

Civil War grossed $408.1 million in North America and $745.2 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $1.153 billion. It is currently the highest-grossing film of 2016 as well as the fourth highest-grossing superhero film of all time.

Hardcore Henry (2016)

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I did not know what to expect when I sat down to watch Hardcore Henry, a Russian-American sci-fi-action film written and directed by Ilya Naishuller. However, when I was introduced to its premise via a trailer that was released a mere couple of months before the film's release, I was made instantly curious through the appearance of Neill Blomkamp regular Sharlto Copley and the film's first-person cinematography.

A man awakens in a tank of water set inside a laboratory. A scientist, named Estelle, greets him and tells him his name is Henry, that she is his wife and that he has been revived from an accident that has left him mute and amnesiac. What happens from there is up to the viewer to discover, but for what it is worth, Max Nicholson of IGN described the film as "a recipe for non-stop, ludicrous fun."

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