‘Manticore’ seems filmed for effect
The war in Iraq has continued long enough to seep deep into our pop-culture consciousness.
Now, Operation Enduring Freedom has inspired its very first monster movie.
“Manticore” (9 p.m. tonight, Sci Fi) begins with real news footage of the looting of the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad in April 2003. This sets up a rather bizarre tale of a couple of greedy opportunists who steal a sacred amulet and turn it over to a fanatic researcher who uses it to awaken an avenging dragon sealed in stone since ancient Babylonian days.
While produced in all seriousness, the monster’s emergence should remind most viewers of key scenes from “Ghostbusters.”
“Manticore” mixes news footage with scenes shot on what look like leftover sets from “Indiana Jones” movies. A squad of American soldiers contends with looting, armed insurgents, starving civilians, conflicting orders from faraway commanders and annoying reporters.
But these concerns begin to pale in comparison to the Manticore, a rapacious beast bent on killing “nonbelievers.” Believers in just what, we’re never told.
The film hardly offers any food for thought about the current conflict. But if its producers’ intention was to provide cheesy, gory entertainment in a controversial context, I’d have to say “mission accomplished.”
Meanwhile, back in the real world, the six-part series “American Soldier” (9:30 p.m. tonight, CMT) follows eight National Guard soldiers preparing for their deployment to Iraq.
James Earl Jones brings a quiet dignity to the feel-good drama “The Reading Room” (9 p.m. tonight, Hallmark). A wealthy man, William Campbell (Jones) fulfills his late wife’s dying request that he open a reading room in a gang-ravaged neighborhood.
“The Reading Room” won’t surprise you, but as holiday movies go, it’s much better than most, depending more on its character’s nobility and wisdom than cheap sentiment.
Speaking of cheap sentiment, “Silver Bells” (9 p.m. Sunday, CBS) stars Anne Heche as Catherine, a gorgeous widow who encounters Christopher (Tate Donovan), a hunky Christmas-tree farmer on the streets of Manhattan. Did I mention he was a widower?
But the path to this mistletoe hookup is anything but smooth. Once in New York, Christy’s son, Danny (Michael Mitchell), runs away to pursue his dream of being a photographer.
The film’s city setting is strangely unsettling. In “Bells,” Manhattan is a clean, tidy, gleaming and, above all, friendly metropolis. It’s like the set of a science fiction movie where all the real New Yorkers have been replaced.
On the plus side, Heche looks wonderful here. The camera clearly loves her – perhaps too much. Her many winter costumes and perfectly lighted poses make her seem more like a brittle Christmas ornament than a real human being.
Tonight’s highlights
Julia Roberts stars in the 1999 comedy “Runaway Bride” (8:30 p.m., NBC).
College football action as Stanford hosts Notre Dame (5 p.m., ABC).
The 2005 drama “The Flight That Fought Back” (9 p.m., Discovery) offers a minute-by-minute chronology of terrorism and heroism aboard Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001.
Scheduled on “48 Hours Mystery” (10 p.m., CBS): New evidence in a 30-year-old murder case.
Steve Carell hosts “Saturday Night Live” (11:30 p.m., NBC), featuring musical guest Kanye West.
Sunday’s highlights
Mike Myers provides the voice of a wise-cracking ogre in the 2001 CGI fantasy “Shrek” (7 p.m., NBC).
El Segundo to the rescue on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (8 p.m., ABC).
A trio of interior-decorating atrocities unfold on “America’s Ugliest Bathroom” (8 p.m., TLC), “America’s Ugliest Living Room” (9 p.m.) and “America’s Ugliest Bedroom” (10 p.m.).
The New York Jets host the New Orleans Saints (5:30 p.m., ESPN) live from New Jersey.
A surgery scam may be linked to drug trafficking on “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (9 p.m., NBC).
Carlos submits to the divine on “Desperate Housewives” (9 p.m., ABC).
“Decorating Cents: 100 Holiday Ideas Under $100” (9 p.m., HGTV) offers innovative ways to create magic on a budget.
Lester Holt hosts “The Bermuda Triangle: Startling New Secrets” (9 p.m., Sci Fi). All this only a week after a “Poseidon Adventure” remake. Will we ever leave the 1970s behind?
Pet rescue takes on a whole new meaning on “Hurricane Reunions” (7 and 10 p.m., Animal Planet).
A copycat killer imitates a moldy oldie on “Crossing Jordan” (10 p.m., NBC).
Meredith hears whispers on “Grey’s Anatomy” (10 p.m., ABC).