Pitch Perfect, 2012
Tuesday, 6:05 p.m., HBOSGe
College freshman Beca (Rebel Wilson) is a reluctant a cappella initiate in this comedy about competitive singing, which sees all-girl group The Bellas facing off against the school’s guy group to make it to the nationals. Snappy writing by Kay Cannon and first-rate musical numbers made this one of last year’s best comedies.
The Lincoln Lawyer, 2011
Sunday, 8 p.m., TNT
In this underrated noir, Matthew McConaughey is sleazy LA defense attorney Mick Haller, who mainly operates out of the back of his gas-guzzling sedan. After he’s hired by a rich kid (Ryan Phillippe) who claims he’s been framed for murder, Mick finds himself in unfamiliar moral territory. This role kicked off McConaughey’s career upgrade from rom-com hunk to serious actor, and he does compelling work alongside Marisa Tomei as his ex-wife and William H. Macy as a private investigator.
The Outsiders, 1983
Friday, 3:15 p.m., Sundance
Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s young-adult classic follows sensitive “greaser” teen Ponyboy Curtis (C. Thomas Howell) and his working-class relatives and friends, who are sucked into a violent conflict with their town’s wealthy kids. The movie is an unbelievable who’s who of young actors who grew into A-listers: Check out Tom Cruise, Diane Lane, Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez and Ralph Macchio.
Election, 1999
Saturday, 2:15 p.m., HBOSGe
Matthew Broderick is Jim McAllister, a popular high school teacher who’s slowly taken apart by student Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon, a budding sociopath, when he opposes her ruthless campaign for class president.
A deliciously dark comedy from the early days of director Alexander Payne (“The Descendants”), this is one of the funniest high school movies ever, all the more enjoyable because it features the now-grown star of another teen classic — “Ferris Bueller” — as the Job-like unfortunate at its center.