Movies have always had a funny relationship with television. Now that “television” means not just broadcast or cable but also streaming the relationship is that much funnier. What’s the point of paying for a film-dedicated channel or streaming service like Turner Classic Movies or the Criterion Channel when pretty much every movie everywhere all at once — including, yes, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” — is available on Amazon Prime?
Well, the answer is curation. Often that’s such a self-important blowhard word (”I think I’ll curate my salad options”). Here, though, it really does apply. It’s precisely because there’s such an immensity of movie choices out there that they need to be narrowed. Narrowing may be the dirty little secret of Netflix’s movie options. They’re so relatively few — compared to all the old TV series and original content available there — that they feel enticingly manageable. The limited selection, movie-wise, may seem like a bug but it’s actually a feature (no pun intended).
TCM faces a particular challenge. With streaming services, a user is still left with a whole lot of options, even when they limit movie choices. Click on the “All Films” box on the Criterion site and 3003 results come up, from “2 or 3 Things I Know About Her” to “Zuckerand!” (no, I’ve never heard of it either). With TCM, it’s one movie per time slot. Take it or leave it. Just like TV in the olden days.
That would seem like taking limited choice way too far. It’s not, though, or it isn’t if the programming is done with care and imagination. This month is organized under the rubric “Summer Under the Stars,” as is traditional in August. Each day is devoted to the movies of a different star. Meryl Streep is Aug. 10. Katharine Hepburn is Aug. 18. Tony Curtis (you know, Jamie Lee’s dad — speaking of “Everything Everywhere All at Once”) is Aug. 31.
Where things get a bit unusual is some of the “stars” who get a date devoted to them: Anita Page (Aug. 12)? Ossie Davis (Aug. 27)? Leo Gorcey (Aug. 29) … Leo Gorcey?
Ah, but this is where curation comes in. Peter Ustinov, who’s Aug. 7, may not be your idea of a star or my idea of a star. “Well-known actor,” “Oscar-winning well-known actor,” or even “multi-hyphenate Oscar-winning well-known actor” is not the same thing as “star.” But look at some of the movies TCM has scheduled that day: “Lola Montès,” at 6 a.m., “Spartacus,” 8 p.m., “Topkapi,” 11:30 p.m.
Those last two won Ustinov best supporting actor Oscars — which category does rather undercut the argument that he qualifies as a full-fledged movie star. But forget the issue of Ustinov’s stardom. Focus on the movies. Better yet, watch them. Or at least watch “Lola Montès.” It’s worth setting your alarm for. Benefit from the curation.
Mark Feeney can be reached at mark.feeney@globe.com.
