I scour the skeds so you don't have to, to find the hidden movie gems from all over the channelverse: from the HBO family of channels, Showtime and The Movie Channel, and Turner Classic Movies, which air films uncut and uninterrupted (and sometimes in letterbox). But ya gotta turn to The SciFi Channel once in a while, too, commercials and editing be damned -- there's nothing like geeking out in front of the tube with really bad movies featuring built-in breaks for munchie refills and snark attacks.

(All times are Eastern. Times between midnight and 5:59am actually refer to the previous date. In other words, 2am Saturday really means the overnight twilight zone between Saturday night and Sunday morning. Links in movie titles go to my review. Movies frequently air more than once over the course of the month, so if you miss something mentioned here, search listings for additional showings.)

THURSDAY 10.05

Cinemax 2:50PM: The Road Warrior. From the time before Mel Gibson went off the deep end.

OuterMax 2:00PM: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. The needs of the many, et cetera.

OuterMax 5:45AM: Fire in the Sky. It kinda sucks on the whole, but it has the creepiest, most nightmare-inducing alien-abduction scene ever put on film.

The Movie Channel 7:15AM: Silverado. The new classic Western.

FRIDAY 10.06

TCM 9:30PM: Murders in the Rue Morgue. Bela Lugosi doing what he does best: being weird. In this 1932 flick, he goes the mad scientist route.

TCM 10:45PM: The Devil Bat. Now it's 1940, and Lugosi is futzing around in a mad-scientist way with bats.

TCM 12:00AM: Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde. 1941. Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, and Lana Turner in a genre flick? Cool!

HBO2 11:00AM: The Girl in the Cafe. The first romantic dramedy about international politics. Starring Bill Nighy, everyone's favorite Brit character actor at the moment.

Showtime 9:50AM: Donnie Darko. The new classic of GenX angst and alienation.

SATURDAY 10.07

TCM 4:00PM: Stalag 17. The classic prison-break movie.

HBO2 6:30AM: Big-Top Pee-Wee. Poor Paul Reubens -- he got such a bum rap. Give him some love and watch his fun movie.

OuterMax 6:40PM: Little Shop of Horrors. Feed me, Krelbourne, feed me now!

The Movie Channel 4:35AM: Quiz Show. Trivia geek goes down in flames of infamy.

SUNDAY 10.08

TCM Cute-animal hankiefest!

12:15PM: International Velvet. Horsie!
2:30PM: Benji. Doggie!

TCM Aliens-wanna-kill-us 1950s sciffyfest!

8:15PM: The Day the Earth Stood Still
10:00PM: It Came From Outer Space
3:45AM: The Thing From Another World

HBO2 6:00AM: Battlefield Earth. One of the worst movies ever made, which makes it one of the most fun to watch.

HBOSignature 6:00AM: Body Heat. William Hurt and Kathleen Turner are hot, hot, hot!

The Movie Channel 5:55AM: The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Behold the sponge-man.

SciFi 12:00n: Atomic Train. It's Rob Lowe versus nuclear mushroom clouds in this made-for-TV disaster flick.

MONDAY 10.09

TCM 10:00PM: The Miracle Worker. That deaf, dumb, and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball. No, wait: that's a different movie.

They're in reverse order, but TiVo can deal with that:

HBO 6:45AM: Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey. The excellent sequel to the goofy GenX touchstone.

Cinemax 12:00PM: Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. And the GenX touchstone itself. Whoda guessed Keanu would come to represent a whole generation?

Showtime 2:40AM: The Machinist. Christian Bale at his new creepiest.

TUESDAY 10.10

TCM 10:30PM: Gaslight. Charles Boyer drives Ingrid Bergman crazy in this 1944 flick ....

TCM 12:30 AM: Gaslight. And it's Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynyard in the 1940 original.

HBO2 8:00PM: Serenity. If you missed Joss Whedon's late, lamented SF TV show making it's big-screen debut on the big screen, catch it now: it's brilliant.

WEDNESDAY 10.11

HBO2 8:00PM: Crimimal. Awesome mind-bending indie of recent vintage. Maggie Gyllehaal, etc., star. Check it out.

Showtime 6:50AM: Eight Men Out. John Sayles classic about corruption in the World Series ... a century ago.

The Movie Channel 11:30PM: Better Off Dead. John Cusack early in his reign as king of the GenXers.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
MaryAnn Johanson
author of The Totally Geeky Guide to The Princess Bride
minder of FlickFilosopher.com

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