Monday: The Dick Cavett Show with Woody Allen
The first thing you’ll notice is how young they are; when the show originally aired on October 21st, 1971, Woody Allen was a fit-looking 36-year-old and Dick Cavett was all blonde sideburns and bronzed skin at 35. But beyond the initial shock of their youth is something more stunning and important: the death of the interview. Nowadays, television interviews are taped, edited and little more than distribution vehicles for sound bites. Or worse, they’re just another extension of the marketing campaign for whatever ware the interviewee is hocking. That’s not the case here, where over seventy-five live minutes Mr. Cavett and Mr. Allen ramble on about everything and anything, no matter how inconsequential. It should be no surprise that Mr. Allen is hilarious and quick on his feet; in fact, some of his one-liners actually wind up in Sleeper two years later. [TCM, 1 p.m.]
Tuesday: Se7en
As you get ready for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the third team-up of Brad Pitt and director David Fincher, maybe take some time out to revisit their first pairing. We’re still shocked Mr. Fincher ever got Se7en released at all, especially with that ending. Simply put, you don’t normally see the pretty blonde female lead end up with her head stuffed in a box. Dark, scary and soaked in utter hopelessness, Mr. Fincher’s most complete film is gloriously unrelenting. [Encore Mystery, 8 p.m.]
Wednesday: Christmas at Rockefeller Center
Jane Krakowski rarely gets more than a handful minutes per week on 30 Rock, despite having third billing. Perhaps, then, in an effort to make her contract appear more palpable to the accountants, Ms. Krakowski is being farmed out to other NBC broadcasts. Last week she appeared on Rosie Live; this week she’s helping Al Roker light the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. By New Year’s Eve she could be co-hosting The Today Show. [NBC, 8 p.m.]
Thursday: Oldboy
The geek world was rocked a couple of weeks ago when it was announced that Steven Spielberg would be remaking Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy with Will Smith set to star. While Mr. Smith has since said that the project will focus on the original graphic novel and not the previous film, fans are still upset. We can see why: Oldboy is a decidedly non-Spielbergian venture. Mr. Chan-wook’s film is crazy violent and features a denouement that would make the aforementioned David Fincher cackle with deranged delight. [Sundance, 1:45 a.m.]
Friday: Trading Places
If Trading Places were remade today, it would be a scrubbed clean PG-13 summer blockbuster starring Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. Thank goodness that hasn’t happened… yet. The original Trading Places is a hard-R and a time capsule of 80s nostalgia which reminds everyone that, at one time, Dan Akroyd was hilarious, Eddie Murphy was brilliant and Jamie Lee Curtis was super hot (and, in Trading Places, topless). More than anything else, we love the hodgepodge supporting cast: Denholm Elliot, Paul Gleason, Jim Belushi, Ralph Bellamy and potential United States Senator Al Franken, as an inebriated and dimwitted baggage handler. [Outer Max, 8 p.m.]
