Atlantic City (Bravo Tuesday at 5 p.m.)...

Atlantic City (Bravo Tuesday at 5 p.m.) Directed by Louis Malle and written by John Guare, this 1980 film is an exquisite romantic fable and an affectionate satire of American pop culture, past and present. With Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon.

Cabeza de Vaca (KCET Wednesday at 9 p.m.) Nicolas Echeverria’s 1991 film is a bold, stunning feat of the imagination that transports us to another world; it is “Dances With Wolves” told without a trace of sentimentality or contrivance--and with a wondrous mysticism. It was inspired by the writings of 16th-Century explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca (Juan Diego), who finds himself enslaved by Native Americans when he is shipwrecked off the coast of Florida. Initially fearing for his life, he eventually masters his captors’ magical healing powers; this grueling, masterful film’s climax evokes the tragic evil of colonialism.