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

Dec. 9–11 , 2016

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

The Village (2004)

Friday, Dec. 9 - FXM - 3 p.m.

M. Night Shyamalan directs a psychological thriller that takes audiences into the dubiously insulated Pennsylvania community Covington, whose residents live in fear of nameless creatures inhabiting the surrounding woods. Harking back to Shyamalan's previous films (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs), The Village uses the director's signature use of a twist ending, with a winding storyline to keep viewers guessing until the final few moments of the film.

The Village employs an all-star cast of Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World, Lady in the Water, Spider-Man 3), Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver. The film received mixed reviews regarding the plausibility and payoff of its finale, but it is a denouement that serves not to satisfy Hollywood predictability; instead, the story that Shyamalan tells is one of open-ended possibility, provoking curiosity.

The Exorcist (1973)

Saturday, Dec. 10 - BBC - 2:30 p.m.

Linda Blair stars as preteen Regan MacNeil at the heart of the film that started it all. The film, adapted by William Peter Blatty from his 1971 novel of the same name, with inspiration for the novel stemming from the 1949 exorcism of Roland Doe. The Exorcist tells the tale of Regan's demonic possession as Regan's mother, Chris (Ellen Burstyn), attempts to take back her daughter through an exorcism conducted by two priests (Max von Sydow, Jason Miller).

The film's success resulted in three sequels—Exorcist II: The Heretic and The Exorcist III, with a third production released straight to DVD—as well as a television series that premiered in September, and to date, the film has grossed a worldwide total of $441,071,011.

Zombieland (2009)

Sunday, Dec. 11 - IFC - 1 p.m.

Zombieland puts a spin on the zombie genre with a storyline that centers on four survivors, unwittingly in each other's company, making their way through the zombie apocalypse following the outbreak of a mutated strain of mad cow disease. Woody Harrelson stars as violent zombie-killer Tallahassee, Jesse Eisenberg as college student Columbus and Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin as sisters Wichita and Little Rock, who are on a path to an amusement park that is supposedly free of zombies. A running gag throughout the film surrounds a set of 49 rules for survival, which include cardio, first and foremost; the "double tap;" "beware of bathrooms;" the buddy system and "don't be a hero."

Snowden (2016)

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Directed by Oliver Stone (Platoon, Wall Street), Snowden is a biographical film based on the books The Snowden Files by Luke Harding and Time of the Octopus by Anatoly Kucherena, with a cast that includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the titular character, Edward Snowden, as well as Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Tom Wilkinson and Scott Eastwood.

American computer professional, former CIA employee and former contractor for the U.S. government Edward Snowden gained notoriety in 2013 for his unauthorized leaking of classified information from the NSA. His disclosures revealed global surveillance programs, many of which were run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance with cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments.

The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Gordon-Levitt's performance generated critical praise.

The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

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The Secret Life of Pets is every pet owner's dream, a film that tickles the fantasies and curiosities of doting "fur parents" who, while away from home, contemplate their pets' goings-on. Directed by Chris Renaud, whose most notable work is the Despicable Me franchise, The Secret Life of Pets employs the voices of Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family), Kevin Hart, Ellie Kemper (The Office, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Bobby Moynihan, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Hannibal Buress (Broad City), Jenny Slate (Parks and Recreation), Steve Coogan and Albert Brooks. The film grossed $874 million worldwide upon its release in July, becoming the highest-grossing, original, animated film not produced by Disney or Pixar.

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