TCM
Each year Turner Classic Movies airs 31 straight days of Oscar-nominated feature films and shorts. This year they’ve added a nice twist by spotlighting a different decade every day of the week.

“31 Days of Oscar” is the one time of the year in which TCM becomes the only film channel that doesn’t repeat its screening schedule for an entire month. (I don’t think HBO could ever pull that off.) TCM’s programmers broadcast films they’ve never aired before and may never air again, and each one is uncut and commercial free.

If you consider yourself a movie buff or you just want to catch some classic films, I strongly suggest you head over to TCM.com to see what’s on this month. You can set up e-mail reminders for the movies you want to see, and with TiVo you can watch them anytime you desire.

For the week of February 4-9 I strongly recommend the following movies:

Mon 2/4, 10:30 PM EST: Sunrise. A groundbreaking, influential silent film (1927).

Sunrise

Tue 2/5, 12:15 PM: The 400 Blows. Francois Truffaut’s immortal first film (1959), which helped launch the French New Wave.

400 Blows

Tue 2/5, 8 PM: The Best Years of Our Lives. This landmark movie (1946) was one of the first to deal with the effects of war on soldiers returning home. It’s tragic, funny, and will move you to tears.

Best Years

Wed 2/6, 10:30 PM: Rear Window. Still one of the most intense, claustrophobic thrillers ever made (1954). Plus, the way Hitchcock filmed Grace Kelly was simply luminous.

Rear Window

Sat 2/9, 4 AM: Midnight Express. Brad Davis gives a harrowing performance as an American sentenced to a Turkish prison in Alan Parker’s 1978 film, written by a young Oliver Stone.

Midnight Express

Sat 2/9, 8 AM: The Bishop’s Wife. Loretta Young and David Niven are simply wonderful in this 1947 romantic comedy, and Cary Grant delivers one of his best performances. It far outshines The Preacher’s Wife, the 1996 Whitney-and-Denzel remake.

Bishop's Wife

Check back next week for more recommendations. Aloha.

About the Author

Scott Malchus

Scott Malchus is a writer, filmmaker and die hard Cleveland Indians fan. His memoir, “Basement Songs,” is available in paperback and Kindle. He wrote and directed the film “King's Highway." His family is heavily involved in fund raising to find a cure for cystic fibrosis. Scott Malchus is an employee of Cartoon Network and Turner Broadcasting. The opinions expressed on Popdose are his own and do not reflect those of his employer. Email: Malchus@popdose.com. Follow him @MrMalchus

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