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

Aug. 19–21, 2016

Here are a few suggestions for what to watch on the upcoming, post-Independence Day weekend.

Jumanji (1995)

Friday, Aug. 19 - Freeform - 6:15 p.m.

Americans throughout the nation felt a startling sense of heartache when news broke in 2014 that comedian-actor Robin Williams had passed away. Two years later, Williams is remembered through his family and his fans as well as the more than 50 films and 41 shows Williams starred in throughout his nearly 50-year career. Jumanji — which also features Kirsten Dunst, Bonnie Hunt and Jonathan Hyde — was my second encounter with Robin Williams since watching his performance in 1991's Hook.

Director Joe Johnston (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Captain America: The First Avenger) is the proverbial man behind the curtain, and what is ultimately revealed to views is a magical, one-hour-44-minute adventure. Twelve-year-old Alan Moore stumbles upon a buried chest containing a curiously old board game that comes to change his entire life as he knows it. Twenty-six years later, two children and their aunt move into the house that Alan previously inhabited with his mother and father. The film employs a fast-moving plot whose unraveling begins shortly after the siblings' discovery of the same, aforementioned board game: Jumanji.

Mean Girls (2004)

Saturday, Aug. 20 - Comedy Central - 6:35 p.m.

The first time I watched Mean Girls was during a high school diversity class. The next time this film entered my mind was during a college sociology course, and since then, I have developed an appreciation for it specifically within that vein. Mark Waters's Mean Girls is the cinematic quintessence of modern socialization — and that's only part of what makes it so interesting. Additionally, the film's narrative guides the viewer through exemplifications of assimilation, the concept of "the other," ethnocentrism, subculture and social class.

Lindsay Lohan stars as Cady Heron, a new transfer to Illinois's North Shore High School, who, with her American zoologist parents, have returned from a years-long research trip in Africa. Cady, previously home-schooled, finds herself thrown into the lions den that is high school hierarchy, often mentally playing out the juxtaposed versions of her given circumstances throughout the film. Rachel McAdams plays the infamous Regina George, revered with equal parts hate and love, who leads a popular group of girls, called 'The Plastics.' Tina Fey's flair for graceful utilization of sassy witticism — often explicit — in observation of the real world shines through in this comedy.

Limitless (2011)

Sunday, Aug. 21 - TNT - 2:45 p.m.

Limitless is wish fulfillment done right, with just enough realism to help suspend disbelief. The film, based on Alan Glynn's The Dark Fields and directed by Neil Burger (The Illusionist), centers on struggling author Eddie Morra, who finds himself in precarious possession of an experimental "smart drug," called NZT-48, and the perils that unfold around him as a result. The drug proves capable of unlocking the human brain's full potential, giving users enhanced mental facility. The film's frenetic pace does justice to its classification as a thriller, compelling the question, "How will this end?"

Limitless's box office success resulted in a spin-off television series of the same name, airing on CBS, that follows the events that take place after those in the film. I cannot say whether the series substantiates its source material, but if it mirrors the ingenuity of Burger's vision and writer Leslie Dixon's intrepidity, the byproduct is sure to command the attention it seeks.

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