Stars shine in ‘Lost in Translation’
One of my favorite movies of last year lands on cable tonight.
“Lost in Translation,” airing at 9 on Starz, is a lot like the chill-out music that dots its soundtrack. Not much happens, and yet a lot happens.
Scarlett Johansson plays a young woman stuck in a Tokyo hotel while her photographer husband is on assignment. Bill Murray is a fading U.S. movie star staying there while slumming in ads for a Japanese whiskey.
She feels neglected, and he’s disappointed in himself and his career. But neither of them quite says that out loud, and the predictable affair doesn’t happen.
They just sit at the bar and joke, watch TV together and, memorably, hit a karaoke bar. But by the end, director Sophia Coppola has made something fragile and romantic happen. Johansson is terrific, and Murray is better than that.
Highlights
Reality TV, CBS tonight at 8: A repeat “Amazing Race 5” followed at 9 by a new “Big Brother 5.” At 10 there’s a repeat of “CSI: Miami.”
“The Replacements” (2000), NBC tonight at 8: Gene Hackman becomes the coach and Keanu Reeves the star when the regular players on the Washington Sentinels football team go on strike.
“Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” NBC tonight at 10: A married couple of twisted shrinks are murder suspects. Repeat.
“MAD TV,” Fox tonight at 11: Elisha Cuthbert and Vanessa Williams guest.
“Saturday Night Live,” NBC tonight at 11:30: Kelly Ripa and musical guest Outkast.
“60 Minutes,” CBS Sunday at 7.
“King of the Hill,” Fox Sunday at 7: Hank re-enacts the Alamo for Bobby and his buds. Repeat.
“Dateline,” NBC Sunday at 7: Two hours.
“Malcolm in the Middle,” Fox Sunday at 7:30: Hal and Lois kick Reese out of the house, and Malcolm decides he has to show them it’s wrong. Repeat.
“The Simpsons,” Fox Sunday at 8: Marge tells the kids some historical tales that feature very Simpsonlike figures. Repeat.
“Cold Case,” CBS Sunday at 8: Awakened from a coma, a woman can’t remember her daughter’s murder. Repeat.
“Arrested Development,” Fox Sunday at 8:30: Medical marijuana as a cure for vertigo. Uh-huh. A repeat.
“Simple Life 2,” Fox Sunday at 9: Repeat finds the girls in Louisiana. Followed by a repeat of “Quintuplets.”
“Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” NBC Sunday at 9: Sleepwalking and other weirdness complicate the case of a multiple shooting. Repeat.
“Mystery!” KSPS Sunday at 8: We like the sound of this installment of “Foyle’s War II.” It’s called “The Funk Hole.”
“Personally Yours,” CBS Sunday at 9: Valerie Bertinelli stars in a standard Sunday night CBS weepie about the children of a divorced couple plotting to bring them back together. From 2000.
“Crossing Jordan,” NBC Sunday at 10: A writer working on a vampire novel is found dead. You can guess the rest, right? A repeat.
Family Fare
“X Games,” ESPN tonight at 6 and ABC Sunday at 6: Two hours of awesome bike stunts, rad skateboard moves and the like. From Los Angeles, of course.
“Tiger Cruise,” Disney Channel tonight at 8: On Sept. 11, 2001, Maddie Dolan (Hayden Panettiere) is visiting her dad (Bill Pullman) on the aircraft carrier he commands. The events ultimately change her feelings about his job.
The family film debuted earlier this week.
Cable Cast
“Seabiscuit” (2003), HBO tonight at 8: Tobey Maguire is Red Pollard, the jockey who must ride the underdog horse to victory, with help from Seabiscuit’s trainer (Chris Cooper) and owner (Jeff Bridges). Fine acting and a beautiful period production make this crowd-pleaser work, although at times it may be a little too crowd pleasing.
“Man in the Mirror,” VH1 tonight and Sunday at 9: Repeats of the latest Michael Jackson biopic, which debuted Friday.
Baseball, ESPN Sunday at 5: Chicago Cubs at San Francisco Giants.
“Six Feet Under,” HBO Sunday at 9. This week’s episode finds Nate and Brenda taking little Maya on a train ride that may take a wrong turn.
David, still traumatized from his ordeal with the hitchhiker, tries to “sex-orcise his demons,” and Federico starts sleeping on the job. Plus the whole Claire and Edie thing takes another step forward.
Oh, and George sets foot in Ruth’s garden — a really bad idea.
“American Candidate,” SHOW Sunday at 9: Speeches on the war on terror are followed by polling to determine a front-runner.
“The 4400,” USA Sunday at 9: Tom’s son is taken into custody.
“Entourage,” HBO Sunday at 10: Vince decides to celebrate his movie opening with a group date and tries to ramp things up with young pop singer Justine.
“The Dead Zone,” USA Sunday at 10: Robert Iler, aka A.J. Soprano, guests in an episode that finds Johnny trying to prevent a Columbine-style school shooting.
“Da Ali G Show,” HBO Sunday at 10:30: Animal-rights discussion and a visit with Christie Whitman.