Neil Young tries video with ‘Greendale’
During the course of his musical career, Neil Young has made a name for himself by doing whatever he pleases.
He has abandoned concert tours, released albums his labels found profoundly noncommercial, walked away from book deals and attacked fellow rockers for selling out to Madison Ave.
This mercurial streak explains a lot about “Greendale” (6 p.m. tonight, Sundance), a 2004 film effort that serves as an extended video for an album of the same name.
September marks the 100th birthday of director Michael Powell, one of the most original and visually audacious filmmakers of the 20th century. Turner Classic Movies salutes Powell with a monthlong Sunday-night showcase of his films, beginning with the Scottish drama “The Edge of the World” (8 p.m. Sunday, TCM) and the 1940 spectacle “The Thief of Bagdad” (6:45 p.m.), praised by Leonard Maltin for its “spectacular use of Technicolor.”
With his filmmaking partner, Emeric Pressburger, Powell made some of the most sumptuous Technicolor films of all time, including a dazzling piece of postwar propaganda, the 1947 fantasy “A Matter of Life and Death” (Sept. 18 at 5 p.m.). Released as “Stairway to Heaven” in the United States, this film stars David Niven as an Royal Air Force pilot who misses his date with death and faces a trial in heaven (filmed in black and white) so he can rejoin his beloved (Kim Hunter) on Earth.
Cosmic, corny and simply gorgeous, “Matter” is a masterpiece of set decoration and cinematic imagination. With films like “Black Narcissus” (Sept. 18 at 7 p.m.) and the classic 1948 ballet film “The Red Shoes” (Sept. 25 at 5 p.m.), Powell and his collaborators, including cinematographer Jack Cardiff, set a standard for screen art that has rarely been surpassed. It takes a Michael Powell movie to demonstrate the vast difference between artistry and mere special effects.
The cracked cartoon “Stroker & Hoop” (midnight Sunday, Cartoon Network), featuring a pair of hapless detectives and a computerized car with a mind of its own, joins the “Adult Swim” animated block.
Today’s highlights
U.S. Open tennis coverage (4 p.m., USA) continues.
Julie Chen hosts “Big Brother 6” (8 p.m., CBS).
NASCAR racing (5:30 p.m., NBC).
Pittsburgh hosts Notre Dame in college football action (5 p.m., ABC).
Genetic mutants upset the food chain in the 2004 shocker “Frankenfish” (9 p.m., Sci Fi).
Scheduled on “48 Hours Mystery” (10 p.m., CBS): the murder of tycoon Ted Ammon at his posh Long Island estate.
Sunday’s highlights
Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (7 p.m., CBS): the Army Corps of Engineers’ plans for repairing the levees in New Orleans; shopping for medical care in exotic locales; the generation raised by the baby boomers.
NASCAR racing (5 p.m., NBC).
Morgan Freeman stars in the 2001 thriller “Along Came a Spider” (9 p.m., CBS).
A.J. Cook and Ali Larter star in the 2003 sequel “Final Destination 2” (8 p.m., WB).
Locals compete on “My Kind of Town” (9 p.m., ABC).
Pompey’s plan to outwit Caesar backfires badly on “Rome” (9 p.m., HBO).
Susan gives Mike the boot on “Desperate Housewives” (10 p.m., ABC).
A Russian mobster tops the squad’s list on “Wanted” (10 p.m., TNT).
Cult choice
An elderly man (Richard Farnsworth) rides his tractor from Iowa to Wisconsin to visit his ailing brother in the 1999 drama “The Straight Story” (5 p.m. Sunday, Independent Film Channel), directed by David Lynch.
Tonight’s series
On back-to-back episodes of “Cops” (Fox), hot pursuit (8 p.m.), and hit-and-run (8:30 p.m.) … A magician’s disappearing act proves too efficient on “CSI” (9 p.m., CBS) … John Walsh hosts “America’s Most Wanted” (9 p.m., Fox).
Sunday’s series
An AIDS survivor looks into his partner’s death on “Cold Case” (8 p.m., CBS) … Flanders flees to a town too nice even for him on “The Simpsons” (8 p.m., Fox) … A new home for a hero with five children on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (8 p.m., ABC) … On back-to-back episodes of “Family Guy” (Fox), heroics (8:30 p.m.), and school’s out (9 p.m.) … A misplaced mind on “American Dad” (9:30 p.m., Fox).