LOS ANGELES — Turner Classic Movies has enlisted “Ratatouille” and “The Iron Giant” director Brad Bird to program the latest 20-episode season of “The Essentials,” the channel said Wednesday.
Bird’s selections run the gamut of classic film offerings. There are musicals like “Singin’ in the Rain,” “Guys and Dolls” and “The Music Man,” Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger masterpieces “The Red Shoes” and “A Matter of Life and Death,” some Stanley Kubrick fare, including “2001: A Space Odyssey,” epics, comedies, westerns and a few film noirs too.
Bird will help TCM host Ben Mankiewicz introduce each film and offer commentary on Saturdays starting May 2 at 8 p.m. Eastern.
