Monday: Jurassic Park
We happened to catch Jurassic Park last week and we’re happy to report that the film holds up. Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the best-selling Michael Crichton novel has it all: Scares, laughs, action, thrills, awe-inspiring moments, crazy special effects, red herrings and Jeff Goldblum, strutting around like he’s a geek version of John Wayne. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a summer blockbuster! [HBO Family, 8:15 p.m.]
Tuesday: Desperate Hours
Watching Mickey Rourke’s devastating turn in The Wrestler, we couldn’t help but notice how simply exhausted the man seemed. It was as if the weight of a lifetime came crashing down on him all at once; the performance wasn’t so much acting as it was lived. With Desperate Hours, the opposite is true: Mr. Rourke is a live wire of manic and dangerous energy, an unstoppable force unconcerned with anything that the future might hold. The film, a remake of the Humphrey Bogart non-classic, has plenty of flaws—notably Lindsay Crouse’s Southern accent—but Mr. Rourke’s committed performance isn’t one of them. [Encore Mystery, 4 a.m.]
Wednesday: Lost
Things to keep in mind as we head into the two-hour season-five finale of Lost: Once pragmatic leader Jack (our beloved Matthew Fox, unfortunately pushed to the sidelines over the course of the past season) is planning on detonating a hydrogen bomb in 1977 to ensure that everything we’ve seen happen over the course of the series never does. Meanwhile, in the present day (or do we call it the future?), John Locke (Terry O’Quinn, full of purpose) is on a pilgrimage to kill the may-or-may-not-be-real mystic known as Jacob, an entity he’s been obsessing over for three seasons. There’s also something lying in the shadow of the statue. Or so we’ve been told. Lost, as always, is mandatory viewing. But this season, with its confusing leaps of time travel and logic, has been frustrating us from the start. The answers have been plentiful (in the finale, expect to find out more about the Numbers), but we’re starting to get a little bit tired of the questions. [ABC, 9 p.m.]
Thursday: 30 Rock
Is it possible for a television show to be too good? If so, 30 Rock definitely fits into that category. Each week, Tina Fey’s still-fledgling baby—despite being considered a “hit,” 30 Rock draws in only around six million viewers per episode—is so perfectly executed from top to bottom that we’ve begun to take it for granted. The season-three finale—featuring guest stars Clay Aiken, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Mary J. Blige and Alan Alda—is sure to be loaded with more laughs per capita than any other sitcom on television. We only hope that when it’s over, we don’t just shrug it off. [NBC, 9:30 p.m.]
Friday: Ghost World
If we were forced to make a list of our 20 favorite movies of all time, there is a very good chance Ghost World would find its way on there. Terry Zwigoff’s adaptation of Daniel Clowes’ graphic novel—Mr. Clowes also wrote the taut script—is, simply, caustic brilliance. Consider the cast: Scarlett Johansson, never better, in one of those early roles that pointed her in the direction of “indie darling”; Steve Buscemi, shy and touching, as a reclusive loser who is resigned to his social standing; and Thora Birch, playing just about the biggest pill we’ve ever seen (and that’s a compliment). After spending the week dealing with unctuous co-workers and sweaty commutes, sit back on Friday night and wallow in Ghost World’s bitterness. You won’t be sorry. [HDNet, 4:30 p.m.]
