[IMG:L]Keys — Sunday at 10/9c on SoapNet
For its latest “Sunday Night Movie” (perhaps better known as “SNM”), SoapNet plucks the 1994 TV movie Keys from relative obscurity.
Keys continues the network’s theme of airing movies–primarily from the 1990s and of the thriller genre–that often feature today’s stars in yesterday’s movies.
Last Sunday night, the 1993 thriller Deception showcased a pre-famous Viggo Mortensen, a peaking Andie MacDowell, and an on-the-cusp Liam Neeson.
This week’s movie offers a glimpse of Marg Helgenberger and Gary Dourdan well before they became two of the lead actors on one of TV’s biggest hits, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Helgenberger headlines Keys as Maureen, a brilliant forensic pathologist who is called in to solve a bizarre murder that is too much for the police. The movie was directed by John Sacret Young, who himself would go on to TV acclaim as a writer/producer on The West Wing.
But Keys isn’t the only movie airing this weekend featuring today’s big shots before they hit their prime. Below are more such options for those looking to (pre-)star-watch…
[IMG:R]School Ties — Friday at 10/9c on Bravo
Small-time at the time: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck
Big movies since: Good Will Hunting, Saving Private Ryan, Ocean’s trilogy, Bourne trilogy (Damon); Good Will Hunting, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, Daredevil, The Sum of All Fears, Gone Baby Gone (Affleck)
Lowdown: Good Will Hunting might’ve broken Matt and Ben out, but they were acting long before their Oscar winner. Hollywood began to take notice following this 1992 drama, headlined by a then all-the-rage Brendan Fraser.
[IMG:L]Following — Friday at 10:50/9:50c on Sundance
Small-time at the time: Christopher Nolan (director)
Big movies since: Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Prestige
Lowdown: Following was Nolan’s black-and-white debut, a hint at the distortion to come in Memento and the noir-ish feel of his movies thereafter. It’s a must-see for those who were even mildly intrigued by Memento.
[IMG:R]Bend It Like Beckham — Friday at 8:30/7:30c on Oxygen
Small-time at the time: Keira Knightley
Big movies since: Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Pride and Prejudice, Atonement
Lowdown: Knightley got what many consider her big break in this surprise soccer (fine, “football”) hit. The rest, as they say, is…Pirates of the Caribbean!
[IMG:L]High Fidelity — Saturday at 8/7c on E!
Small-time at the time: Jack Black
Big movies since: Shallow Hal, School of Rock, Shark Tale, King Kong
Lowdown: Black fared slightly better (in real life) than his music-geek costar Todd Louiso in this John Cusack-starring cult classic from 2000–although his obscure, quirky supporting roles date all the way back to 1991!
[IMG:R]Peggy Sue Got Married — Saturday at 10/9c on Oxygen
Small-time at the time: Nicolas Cage, Jim Carrey
Big movies since: Leaving Las Vegas, The Rock, Con Air, Face Off, Ghost Rider, National Treasure movies (Cage); Ace Ventura movies, The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, Batman Forever, Liar, Liar, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Bruce Almighty (Carrey)
Lowdown: Two of film’s biggest future megastars in the same movie–who’d have thunk it! It was about eight years after Peggy Sue that both Carrey and Cage (who here was directed by his uncle, Francis Ford Coppola) went from unknowns to top-notch Hollywood commodities.
[IMG:L]X-Men: The Last Stand — Sunday at 8/7c on HBO2
Small-time at the time: Ellen Page
Big movies since: Juno
Lowdown: It was just a short time ago that Page took a small role, as Kitty Pride (aka Shadowcat), in the largest of movies, but it took a large role in a small movie late in ’07 to make the young actress a full-blown star.
