LISTINGS TELEVISION
VilSerama in our regular round-up of the rental releases and sell-through suggestions heading for the shop shelves this fortnight.
Rental
I Malcolm X (15) Swift video release for Spike Lee’s epic biopic of the 60s Black Power guru. Denzel Washington is a suitably charismatic and troubled X in a meticulous telling of the man’s life that only occasionally drifts towards the formulaic. (Guild) I Singles (15) The much- touted ‘grunge movie‘ isn’t really. despite being set in Seattle and featuring the occasional rockin’ interlude courtesy of Pearl Jam and the like. It’s essentially an ensemble comedy following the romantic travails of a bunch of young singles (including a Spinal Tap- ish Matt Dillon and an overly precious Bridget Fonda) that has some cute lines. but lacks sufficiently appealing characters to be at all memorable. (Warner)
I Simple Men (15) Hal Hartley time with all that entails — Pinteresque pauses. surreally banal dialogue. dysfunctional characters — but packed with off-kilter dark humour. Robert Burke and William Sage are the brothers. one a luckless criminal. the other a bookish college student. setting out to track down their fugitive radical father. Aimless in an occasionally appealing Twin Peaks-ish kind of way, notably in the scene where everybody dances to a Sonic Youth track. (Tartan)
I A Few Good Men (15) An overlong courtroom thriller starring Tom Cruise as a cocky tyro military lawyer assigned to defend two Marines on a charge of killing a slacker recruit. Cruise is surprisingly good in the pan. but Jack Nicholson’s bellowing. bristling maninet is ludicrously over-the-top. and Demi Moore as wooden as ever as a by-the-book legal eagle won over by Cruise’s maverick charm. (Columbia Tristar)
1
I A Midnight Clear ( 18) (20:20 Vision)
,«3' i ' is
r o’ ’ 1! '5’ W.
I Sad Inheritance (15) (Odyssey)
I Born Too Soon (15) (Odyssey)
I lllterior Motives ( 18) (First Independent)
I Death Becomes ller (PG) (ClC)
I Homerreciter (PG) (ClC)
I Perfect Family ( 15) (ClC)
I The Public Eye ( 15 ) (ClC)
I Dracula Rising (18) (ClC)
I Wide Sargasso Sea (18) (Polygram)
I Shooting Elizabeth (15) (Medusa)
Sell-through
I Man Bites Dog (18) Controversy a-go-go in the low-budget Belgian mock (or schlock) documentary following the increasingly visceral activities of serial killer Ben (Benoit Poelvoorde) and the bizarre relationship that develops between him and the film
‘ crew. Psychological
insights or sick voyeurism. you pays your
1 money and you has your
argument. Completely uncut for those of you who like your money’s-
. worth gorewise. (Tartan
£15.99)
I Wittgenstein (PG) Derek Jarman’s typically tncksy biopic of the top philosopher emphasises the visuals without under- representing Wittgenstein’s theories and arguments. Engaging and enlightening. it’s one of Jarman’s most
accessible works. (Connoisseur £15.99)
II The Battle Di Algiers
lu&(Mmm£wsm
{I The Omega Man (PG)
7 (Tartan £15.99)
II The Honeymoon Killers
(18) This cult oddity
:started life as a Martin
. Scorsese project. He
*dropped it swiftly. but
replacement director
Leonard Kastle has
crafted an intriguing
noirish tale based on the
true story of a murderous
couple who meet their
‘ victims through the Lonely Hearts columns. (Tartan £15.99)
I Annabelle Partagee
.(18) (Tartan £15.99) I Dr Mabuse - The Gambler (15) (Tartan £15.99) I Through A Class Darkly (15) (Tartan £15.99) I Born Yesterday (U) (Columbia Tristar £9.99) I Delia Smith’s Summer Collection (BBC £16.99) I Doctor Who And The Silurians (PG) (BBC £16.99) I Red Dwarf — Series 1 (PG) Sad sci-fi anally- retentives have been snapping up these sixth- form humour collections by the bucketload. This is the first series. never repeated on TV and thus highly collectable if it’s your bag. (BBC £10.99) I Bottom 2: Digger (15) Cloacal humour from its finest exponents. Richie and Eddie. aka Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson. (BBC
£10.99) I 2.4 Children: leader Di The Pack (PG) The BBC's sadly inadequate
: attempt to clone Roseanne
featuring some offensively bland scripts and excruciating child
actors. (BBC £10.99)
. I Dad’s Army: The Enemy
Within The Gates (PG)
Vastly superior sitcom
fare from the golden age.
when John Beck was still
alive and Private Fraser
I said ‘We‘re all doooooomd’ at regular intervals. (BBC £10.99) I Emma A 1972
adaptation of Jane Austen’s funniest novel. The costumes are more illustrious than the cast
but it’s a reliable dramatisation all the
same. (BBC £19.99) I The Really Wild Dinosaur Video (BBC
‘mmn
I Joshua Jones (BBC
7. £8.99)
‘ I Buclty D’llare (U) (BBC £8.99)
I Adios Eldorado (PG) A few days after the series disappeared into TV oblivion. a 'souvenir’ video is available. possibly worth snapping up if only to add to the contents of your family time capsule and give your baffled descendants a few appalled giggles at the antics of Marcus. Trish and the other culprits. (BBC £ 10.99)
TELEVISION
A selection of television highlights,
listed by day, in chronological order. Television listings compiled by Tom
lappin.
I llangin’ With Mr Cooper (Channel 4) 6—6.30pm. A new comedy series from America starring stand-up comic Mark Curry as hip. Streetwise supply teacher Mark Cooper who just happens to share a house with two top babes (Holly Robinson and Dawnn Lewis).
I Dad’s Army (BBC 1) 7—7.30pm. The Home Guard are called back into action to replace Eldorada. The first show in a repeat run finds them attempting to capture a ram to become the company mascot.
I Parenthood (BBC2) 7—7.45pm. Yuppie comedy cuteness based on the Steve Martin movie. Ed Begley Jnr stars as troubled dad Gil Buckman.
I The First llight Di The Proms (BBC2) 7.30—9.25pm. Music from the annual Albert Hall festival. featuring Andrew Davis and the BBC Symphony Orchestra performing Richard Strauss’s Elekira.
I Stay lucky (Scottish) 9—10pm. Dennis Waterman as Thomas continues the adventures of the wide-boy ex-con with a heart of gold. Tonight he‘s involved in plans to turn a knitting factory into a water refinery.
I Roseanne (Channel 4) 10—10.30pm. Roseanne and Dan are wom'ed that the house they‘ve fixed up won’t sell.
I Dinomania: Moviewatch Special (Channel 4) 10.30—11.05pm. Opening Channel 4‘s neatly-timed weekend of dinosaur-related programming. Johnny Vaughan gets the gen on Jurassic Park . . . I Dinomanla: Dinosaurus (Channel 4) ll.05pm—l2.45am . . . . followed by a distinctly more low-budget dino-movie from the makers of The Blob. A youngster carelessly defrosts a caveman and a brontosaurus on a Caribbean island. Fun and high jinks ensue. See preview.
I Electric Ballroom (Channel 4) 1.50—2.20am. The show from Dublin featuring interviews and performances from Brand New Heavies. House Of Pain and George (‘Don’t Call Me Bill’) Clinton.
SATURDAY 17
I Dlnornania: Dpening Shot (Channel 4) 6.30—7pm. Legendary animator Ray Harryhausen comes out of retirement to reveal how he brought his film creatures to life.
I The House Di EIiott(BBC1) 7.05—8pm. Stella ‘Wooden’ Gonet and Louise ‘Anachronism’ Lombard ‘star’ in a repeat run of the daft 30s fashion drama. Tonight the House Of Idiot faces mounting business problems.
I llope I Die Before I Get Did (BBC2) 9.10—10.10pm. I’ve heard the BBC is skint but this is ridiculous. It‘s a drama filmed entirely on a camcorder. providing a showcase for young acting talent. who play a group of teenagers thrown out of a squat and heading for the Norfolk coast in desperation.
I Cinema Cinema!: La Amiga (Channel 4) 10.35pm—12.35am. Jeanine Meerapfel's drama about Argentina’s ‘missing' citizens and the efforts of the mothers of the disappeared to find their relations. Liv Ullman and Cipe Lincovsky star as two very different women.
SUNDAY 18
I Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories: llellToupee(BBC1) 1.35—2pm. The Jurassic Park man’s Twilight Zone tributes return with the fairly laughable story of a psychotic hairpiece.
I Hypnosis (Channel 4) 5.30—6pm. Techno music and imagery invade the small screen for a presenter-less mix of sound and visuals supplied by some of the country‘s top rave DJs. See preview.
I Dinomania: The Real Jurassic Park (Channel 4) 7—8pm. An Equinox special looking at the practical potential of the experiments suggested by Spielberg‘s blockbuster. If it were possible. should we consider it?
I Frontline (Channel 4) 8.30—9pm. Writer and historian Cora Stephan considers whether Germany's conscript army is in danger of being infiltrated by far-right influences. citing incidents where officers have trained neo-Nazi groups and soldiers have attacked refugees.
I Dinomania: The land That Time Forgot (Channel 4) 9—10.40pm. One of the best- remembered dinosaur kitsch movies. Doug McLure leads the crew of a submarine who end up on a South Atlantic island where huge prehistoric creatures still roam. Crappy British actors scream at regular intervals.
I Resnick: Rough Treatment (BBC 1) 9.05—10.20pm. Tom Wilkinson returns as the Nottingham ’tec with a fondness for jazz and complex sandwiches. Resnick and his team set out to discover the identity of two elusive. well-dressed tea- leaves whose easy-going villainy hits a snag when they break into the house of a TV director with a cocaine habit.
I Over The Rainbow (Scottish) 10.20—10.50pm. Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais’s post-Cmnmiiments comedy drama continues with Finn and Michelle deciding who gets who out of Neil and
Spence.
I A light On The Tyne (BBC2)
8.45—1 1.55pm. A Geordie evening courtesy of BBC2’s special projects department. featuring Off The Wall from Byker in Newcastle. 21 classic episode of Whatever Happened To The Liker Lads and the Michael Caine film Get Carter. See preview.
I Encounters: Dpium Eater (BBC2) 11.55pm—12.55am. Andrew Dallmeyer's play concludes the series. Paul Rhys plays starving Edinburgh writer Thomas De Quincey arguing with his manservant. who probably doesn’t say ‘you‘re off the case Quincey. you're getting too personally involved.’
The List 16—29 July 1993 61