Flick Picks: Movies on TV this weekend

By THE PHANTOM OF THE MOVIES

Thursday, April 24th 2008, 4:00 AM

Friday

8:00 p.m. (FX) "Walk the Line" (2005). Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon. A sturdy Phoenix and an Oscar-winning Witherspoon lend soul and charisma to their turns as Johnny Cash and June Carter in James Mangold's solid biopic devoted to the Man in Black's musical rise, pharmaceutical struggles and rocky romance with June.

9:30 (ENC) "L.A. Confidential" (1997). Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe. Suspense specialist Curtis Hanson's screen translation of crime novelist James Ellroy's edgy descent into the 1950s L.A. demimonde rates as superior, intricately plotted pulp fare brought to life by an ace ensemble cast.

11:00 (SHO) "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut" (1999). "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone make a top-drawer transition to the big screen with this brilliantly subversive account of young Cartman and crew's efforts to stop the U.S. from going to war with Canada and Satan from taking over the world. Easily the best animated movie musical of 1999.

Saturday

7:00 p.m. (MMAX) "Trading Places" (1983). Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy. John Landis' clever comedy casts Aykroyd as a yuppie who switches roles with a streetwise Murphy. Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy turn in top work as quarreling billionaire brothers, while Jamie Lee Curtis scores an early opportunity to showcase her comedy talent.

8:00 (SPIKE) "Get Shorty" (1995). John Travolta, Gene Hackman. Miami mob enforcer Travolta catches the movie bug big-time and hooks up with schlock mogul Hackman in Barry Sonnenfeld's hugely entertaining Elmore Leonard-based combo of crime, comedy and Hollywood satire.

8:00 (TCM) "Paper Moon" (1973). Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal. Peter Bogdanovich directs his second-best movie (after "The Last Picture Show"), with real-life father-daughter team Ryan and Tatum excellent as a pair of evangelical con artists and Madeline Kahn equally impressive as Ryan's ditzy paramour.

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