FilmFour

[Ramzen]

Film4 Listings for Wednesday 21st January

13:00
The Fly (Film)
Kurt Neumann's classic horror film, scripted by best-selling author James Clavell, stars Patricia Owens as Helene Delambre who tells, in flashback, the story that culminates in her bringing down a hydraulic press on the head and arm of her scientist husband Andre. As she tells her brother-in-law Francois and police Inspector Charas of the matter-transference device Andre had invented and the terrible accident that befalls him, the horror mounts, with an ending that is one of cinema's most terrifying climaxes.
Director: Kurt Neumann
Starring: David Hedison, Patricia Owens, Vincent Price, Herbert Marshall, Kathleen Freeman, Betty Lou Gerson
(1958, 15, 3 Star)

14:50
Dragonwyck (Film)
In 1844, New England farm girl Miranda is invited to work as a governess for her distant relative Nicholas Van Ryn at his Dragonwyck estate. Van Ryn persuades Miranda to be his second wife... after murdering his first.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Starring: Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, Vincent Price, Glenn Langan, Anne Revere, Spring Byington
(Black and White, 1946, PG, 3 Star)

16:55
That Riviera Touch (Film)
Film comedy starring Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise as Eric Simpson and Ernest Clerk, caught up in a comic caper set in the south of France. After being inadvertently implicated in a mix-up involving the Royal Family, the accident-prone duo decide to escape to the French Riviera, only to become caught up in a crime sting involving a jewel thief, a band of smugglers, a femme fatale and a surfeit of collapsing corpses.
Director: Cliff Owen
Starring: Eric Morecambe, Ernie Wise, Paul Stassino, Peter Jeffrey, Suzanne Lloyd, Armand Mestral
(Subtitles, 1966, PG, 3 Star)

18:50
Young Sherlock Holmes (Film)
Barry Levinson's family film, scripted by Chris Columbus, stars Nicholas Rowe as Sherlock Holmes and Alan Cox as John Watson who meet up as teenagers at boarding school. Holmes, already exercising his detective skills becomes interested in the seemingly unconnected deaths of prominent men and, thanks to his deductive powers, solves the case before the police can but not before placing himself and Watson in mortal peril. The influence of Steven Spielberg as executive producer can be seen, with scenes that could have appeared in The Goonies or Indiana Jones, but Levinson gives the film its own distinctive style. Nigel Stock plays an eccentric teacher at the school; he played Watson in the 1960s BBC TV series.
Director: Barry Levinson
Starring: Nicholas Rowe, Alan Cox, Sophie Ward, Anthony Higgins, Susan Fleetwood, Freddie Jones
(Widescreen, 1985, PG, 3 Star)

21:00
Cutthroat Island (Film)
Renny Harlin's action adventure is a good old-fashioned return to the days of swashbuckling pirate movies. Geena Davis plays Morgan Adams, whose pirate father bequeaths her one third of a treasure map. Her two uncles have the other two sections while an evil third uncle, Dawg Brown is after the complete map and the treasure. Matthew Modine plays William Shaw, a convict Adams buys at a slave auction to translate the map's Latin and who soon becomes her love interest. The stage is set for storms, sea battles, swordfights and, of course, the discovery of the treasure and the final confrontation.
Director: Renny Harlin
Starring: Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, Frank Langella, Maury Chaykin, Patrick Malahide, Stan Shaw
(Subtitles, 1995, PG, 3 Star)


23:20
The Long Day Closes (Film)
Award-winning director Terence Davies' autobiographical story of 11-year-old Bud growing up in 50s Liverpool. Surrounded by the love of his family and his discovery of cinema, his perfect contentment is eclipsed only by the struggle to adapt to life at a new school. With Majorie Yates, Anthony Watson and Nicholas Lamont.
Director: Terence Davies
Starring: Marjorie Yates, Leigh McCormack, Anthony Watson, Nicholas Lamont, Ayse Owens, Tina Malone
(Subtitles, 1992, PG, 4 Star)

01:00
The Ice Storm (Film)
Ang Lee's BAFTA and Cannes-winning drama follows the stories of two families, Ben and Elena Hood and Jim and Janey Carver and their adolescent children, including Christina Ricci and Elijah Wood. Set in Connecticut in the early '70s, it follows their casual affairs, breakdowns, juvenile sexual experimentation and bad parenting, all of which leads to a dramatic climax of dysfunction during an ice storm that blankets the area with a frozen glaze.
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Henry Czerny, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1997, 15, 4 Star)

 

[Ramzen]

Film4 Listings for Thursday 22nd January



13:00
Carrington V.C. (Film)
Anthony Asquith's vivid and subtle courtroom drama stars David Niven as the eponymous officer desperate for money owed him by the army, and badgered by his neurotic wife Valerie. When WRAC officer Alison Graham goes to Niven's quarters to warn him about a plot to set him up, Carrington finds himself charged with misappropriating army funds, being absent without leave and improperly entertaining a WRAC in his room.
Director: Anthony Asquith
Starring: David Niven, Margaret Leighton, Noelle Middleton, Allan Cuthbertson, Victor Maddern, Raymond Francis
(Black and White, Subtitles, Audio Described, 1954, PG, 3 Star)


15:05
Conspiracy of Hearts (Film)
In 1943 in Italy, Mother Katharine and Sister Mitya are part of a group of nuns helping to smuggle orphaned Jewish children out of an internment camp. Their covert activities are initially aided by the camp commandant, a sympathetic Italian major, but when he is replaced by a Nazi colonel and a lieutenant the nuns find themselves in much more danger.
Director: Ralph L. Thomas
Starring: Lilli Palmer, Sylvia Syms, Yvonne Mitchell, Ronald Lewis, Albert Lieven, Peter Arne
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1960, U, 3 Star)


17:20
The Lost World (Film)
Claude Rains plays Professor Challenger, a scientist-adventurer who is convinced that dinosaurs still roam small corners of the earth. So he puts together an expedition to venture into the depths of the Amazon, where they are beset by all manner of giant animals, cannibals and geological phenomena that leave the increasingly disparate group fighting for their lives as they seek to find a way home. With Michael Rennie and Jill St John. Directed by Irwin Allen from a story by Arthur Conan Doyle.
Starring: Michael Rennie, Jill St. John, David Hedison, Claude Rains, Fernando Lamas
(Subtitles, 1960, 12, 2 Star)


19:15
In and Out (Film)
Frank Oz's stylish comedy-satire stars Kevin Kline as Howard Brackett, a popular high school teacher in the small town of Greenleaf, Indiana, who is engaged to fellow teacher Emily. Then ex-pupil turned film star Cameron Drake mentions him in his Oscar-acceptance speech, inadvertently outing him as gay. Everyone, including Howard, is shocked but, as well as coping with the town's reactions, he must deal with his own feelings. With Debbie Reynolds, Bob Newhart and Tom Selleck. Edited for language.
Director: Frank Oz
Starring: Kevin Kline, Joan Cusack, Tom Selleck, Matt Dillon, Debbie Reynolds, Wilford Brimley
(1997, 12, 3 Star)


21:00
Keeping Mum (Film)
Rowan Atkinson plays the Reverend Walter Goodfellow, vicar of Little Wallop, who spends all his energies on his sermons, which leaves his neglected wife Gloria the opportunity to conduct a somewhat half-hearted affair with her golf pro Lance. But everything changes when the Goodfellows get a new housekeeper, Grace Hawkins who, in her spare time, is a psychopathic serial killer quite happy to rid her employees of anyone causing them problems... Niall Johnson's delicious black comedy sees the four leads play for well-earned laughs, but unsurprisingly it is Maggie Smith who steals the film.
Director: Niall Johnson
Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Maggie Smith, Patrick Swayze, Emilia Fox, Liz Smith
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2005, 15, 3 Star)




23:05
Funny Games (Film)
Michael Haneke's American re-make of his 1997 German version loses none of the terror or horror in the translation. An all-American family - George, Ann and son Georgie - arrive at their summer cottage for a yachting holiday. Two polite young men, Paul and Peter introduce themselves as neighbours but suddenly and brutally instil a nihilistic, sadistic regime on the family, play mind games and torturing them. Haneke famously makes the audience complicit to events, rewinding events, having Paul and Peter address the audience directly and making the violence happen off screen but having it still horribly audible in this claustrophobic nightmare.
Director: Michael Haneke
Starring: Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet, Devon Gearhart, Boyd Gaines
(Widescreen, 2007, 18, 3 Star)


01:15
Candy (Film)
Heath Ledger plays Dan, a bohemian poet who falls for art student Candy. Both of them fall under the spell of Casper, a master chemist of illegal drugs who supplies them with heroin. As they become more and more hooked, their idyllic lives and love affair spiral downwards into pawnshops, prostitution and withdrawal in Neil Armfield's unflinching drama.
Director: Neil Armfield
Starring: Abbie Cornish, Heath Ledger, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Budge, Roberto Meza-Mont, Tony Martin
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2006, 15, 3 Star)

 

[bu_Ali65]

Film4 Listings for Friday 23rd January



13:00
Innocents in Paris (Film)
Picaresque comedy about the British abroad, following a disparate group of people on a weekend tour of the French capital, which sends up both the visitors and stereotypical observations about foreigners. With Alastair Sim, Ronald Shiner, Margaret Rutherford, Claire Bloom, Claude Dauphin, Laurence Harvey, Jimmy Edwards and James Copeland. Directed by Gordon Perry.
Director: Gordon Parry
Starring: Alastair Sim, Ronald Shiner, Claire Bloom, Margaret Rutherford, Claude Dauphin, Jimmy Edwards
(Black and White, 1953, U, 3 Star)


14:45
Loving You (Film)
Elvis Presley stars in his second film as Deke Rivers, a delivery man discovered by and recruited to join a country and western band. But Deke's road to stardom is complicated by a romantic dilemma involving the band's publicist and singer. Among the many musical highlights are Teddy Bear and Lonesome Cowboy.
Director: Hal Kanter
Starring: Elvis Presley, Lizabeth Scott, Wendell Corey, Dolores Hart, James Gleason, Ralph Dumke
(Subtitles, 1957, PG, 2 Star)


16:45
Penny Serenade (Film)
Oscar-nominee Cary Grant stars as Roger Adams in George Stevens' surprisingly successful mix of tragic drama and humour, also starring Irene Dunne as his wife, Julie. As Julie packs in preparation for their divorce, the song Penny Serenade plays, transporting her back to her first meeting with Roger, their marriage and the tragic loss in birth of their son. Unable to bear children, they adopt an infant daughter, only for her to die just a few years later. Roger, wracked by guilt and loathing, sees no future for their marriage but redemption for both awaits. The script mixes cracking screwball comedy lines with scenes of intense emotion but somehow the disparate elements hang together in this romantic drama.
Director: George Stevens
Starring: Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Beulah Bondi, Edgar Buchanan, Ann Doran, Eva Lee Kuney
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1941, U, 4 Star)


19:05
Just My Luck (Film)
Donald Petrie's romcom stars Lindsay Lohan as Ashley Albright who is probably the luckiest girl in the States - the sun always shines on her, there's always a cab at her call and every scratch card she buys is a winner. Jake Hardin is her polar opposite; if there's dog excrement to tread in, he'll find it. But a chance kiss sees their luck reversed and as Albright struggles with life's travails, Hardin revels in his new good fortune until the miss-matched pair realise that being together is a matter of sharing the good times as well as the bad.
Director: Donald Petrie
Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Chris Pine, Faizon Love, Samaire Armstrong, Bree Turner, Missi Pyle
(Widescreen, 2006, PG, 2 Star)


21:00
Braveheart (Film)
Mel Gibson directs and stars in this Oscar-laden epic as William Wallace, the medieval Scottish patriot spurred into revolt against the English when the love of his life is slaughtered. Leading his army into battles that become a war, his advance into England threatens King Edward I's throne before he is captured and executed, but not before becoming a symbol for a free Scotland. The mix of court intrigue, tender love scenes and stirring battles never flags and Gibson rightly took the Oscar for best picture.
Director: Mel Gibson
Starring: Mel Gibson, James Robinson, Sean Lawlor, Sandy Nelson, James Cosmo, Sean McGinley
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1995, 15, 4 Star)




00:20
Last Days (Film)
Michael Pitt stars in Gus Van Sant's thinly-veiled story of Kurt Cobain's life. Pitt plays the charismatic yet troubled leader of an alternative rock band whose days are spent in his mansion avoiding hangers-on and fans.
Director: Gus Van Sant
Starring: Michael Pitt, Lukas Haas, Asia Argento, Scott Patrick Green, Nicole Vicius, Ricky Jay
(2005, 15, 3 Star)


02:10
Bats (Film)
Something is coming in the night. The dark air fills with the sound of flapping wings and menacing shrieks ... BATS. Escapees from a scientific laboratory, the genetically altered creatures blaze a path of terror through a sleepy Texas town. The only hope of stopping them comes in the shape of a zoologist (Dina Meyer), her assistant (Leon), and the local sheriff (Lou Diamond Phillips).
Director: Louis Morneau
Starring: Lou Diamond Phillips, Dina Meyer, Bob Gunton, Leon, Carlos Jacott, David McConnell
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1999, 15, 2 Star)

 

[Ramzen]

Film4 Listings for Saturday 24th January


13:00
Crocodile Dundee (Film)
"That's not a knife. This is a knife" is among cinema's best known quotes, as the eponymous Mick "Crocodile" Dundee routs a New York mugger in Peter Faiman's Oscar-nominated comedy. Hogan, a national institution Down Under, broke into the big time with this film, playing an Outback crocodile hunter who attracts the attention of American journalist Sue Charlton. After she shares his life and dangers in the bush, she invites him to New York, an environment that's alien to Dundee but one he adapts to with charm and humour as he and Charlton slowly fall in love. Edited for content.
Director: Peter Faiman
Starring: Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski, John Meillon, David Gulpilil, Ritchie Singer, Maggie Blinco
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1986, PG, 4 Star)


14:50
In and Out (Film)
Frank Oz's stylish comedy-satire stars Kevin Kline as Howard Brackett, a popular high school teacher in the small town of Greenleaf, Indiana, who is engaged to fellow teacher Emily. Then ex-pupil turned film star Cameron Drake mentions him in his Oscar-acceptance speech, inadvertently outing him as gay. Everyone, including Howard, is shocked but, as well as coping with the town's reactions, he must deal with his own feelings. With Debbie Reynolds, Bob Newhart and Tom Selleck. Edited for language.
Director: Frank Oz
Starring: Kevin Kline, Joan Cusack, Tom Selleck, Matt Dillon, Debbie Reynolds, Wilford Brimley
(1997, 12, 3 Star)


16:35
The River's Edge (Film)
Allan Dwan was one of the few directors who mastered the art of making B-movies look better than plot or budget allowed. In this thriller, Dwan's final film, Ray Milland plays Nardo Denning, a crook who needs to smuggle his cash into Mexico. His ticket over the border is his ex-girlfriend Margaret who is married to border guard Ben Cameron, but as the trio set out into the mountains and deserts, Cameron uses his knowledge of the territory to outwit the murderous Denning.
Director: Allan Dwan
Starring: Ray Milland, Anthony Quinn, Debra Paget, Harry Carey Jr., Chubby Johnson, Byron Foulger
(Subtitles, 1957, PG, 3 Star)


18:20
The Phantom of the Opera (Film)
Joel Schumacher directs this lavish, Oscar-nominated screen version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical, itself based on the classic horror novel by Gaston Leroux. Emmy Rossum plays Christine Daae, a promising soprano who takes singing lessons from the mysterious Phantom of the Opera. He forces the opera's diva to leave with a regime of fear, leaving his protégé to take centre stage, but she falls for the opera's new patron, Viscount Raoul De Chagny, her childhood sweetheart. Enraged, the Phantom, passionately in love with Christine, kidnaps her to his subterranean lair while unleashing death and terror on the opera house's audience and workers. Can Raoul rescue Christine from his clutches before he has his evil way with her? Edited for content.
Director: Joel Schumacher
Starring: Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Miranda Richardson, Minnie Driver, Ciarán Hinds
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2004, 12, 4 Star)


21:00
AVP: Alien vs. Predator (Film)
Two of the greatest threats to Mankind are about to meet in battle. The shadowy alien terrors that are Predators face the extra-terrestrial monsters called Aliens, in a long-awaited movie that brings the real stars of two of Hollywood's biggest hit sci-fi series together. An archaeological expedition to Antarctica discovers an ancient Aztec temple, consequently awakening a dormant Queen Alien, who immediately starts breeding again. Meanwhile, five teenage Predators are about to arrive to take part in a coming-of-age ritual involving a fight to the death with the Aliens - neither race is likely to take kindly to any humans that get in the way... The stunning computer graphics and great fight sequences will certainly appeal to any devotees of the two great fantasy creations.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Starring: Sanaa Lathan, Raoul Bova, Lance Henriksen, Ewen Bremner, Colin Salmon, Tommy Flanagan
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described, 2004, 15, 4 Star)




22:45
In the Cut (Film)
Jane Campion's thriller stars Meg Ryan as Frannie Avery, a middle-class teacher in New York who, one night, witnesses a sexual assault that could have been the prelude to a murder by a killer roaming the city. Detective James Malloy arrives to interview her but their relationship soon moves from personal to passionate. But with the killer on the loose and too many suspects close to home, who can she really trust? Edited for content.
Starring: Jennifer Jason-Leigh, Meg Ryan, Micheal Nuccio, Alison Nega, Dominick Aries, Susan Gardner
(2003, 18, 3 Star)


01:00
Personal Services (Film)
Julie Walters stars in Terry Jones's film, inspired by the life of Cynthia Payne, as Christine Painter, a waitress who lets seedy flats to prostitutes and soon realises there's money to be made by organising 'parties' for specific requirements, setting herself up in genteel suburbia until the full force of the law descends. With Alec McGowen, Danny Schiller and Shirley Stelfox.
Director: Terry Jones
Starring: Julie Walters, Shirley Stelfox, Alec McCowen, Danny Schiller, Tim Woodward, Victoria Hardcastle
(1987, 18, 3 Star)

 

[bu_Ali65]

Film4 Listings for Sunday 25th January



13:00
Just My Luck (Film)
Donald Petrie's romcom stars Lindsay Lohan as Ashley Albright who is probably the luckiest girl in the States - the sun always shines on her, there's always a cab at her call and every scratch card she buys is a winner. Jake Hardin is her polar opposite; if there's dog excrement to tread in, he'll find it. But a chance kiss sees their luck reversed and as Albright struggles with life's travails, Hardin revels in his new good fortune until the miss-matched pair realise that being together is a matter of sharing the good times as well as the bad.
Director: Donald Petrie
Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Chris Pine, Faizon Love, Samaire Armstrong, Bree Turner, Missi Pyle
(Widescreen, 2006, PG, 2 Star)


14:55
Anne of the Indies (Film)
Fast-moving, action-packed swashbuckler starring Jean Peters in the title role of a brave buccaneer who falls for Captain Pierre François LaRochelle without realising he has been planted in her crew by the French navy to bring about her capture.
Director: Jacques Tourneur
Starring: Jean Peters, Louis Jourdan, Debra Paget, Herbert Marshall, Thomas Gomez, James Robertson-Justice
(Subtitles, 1951, 12, 3 Star)


16:30
Sands of Iwo Jima (Film)
Sergeant Stryker is a bully whose wife has left him. He takes out his anger on his men, but as the battle for Iwo Jima intensifies they realise that the lessons were valuable. John Wayne earned one of his three Oscar nominations for this tough WWII drama.
Director: Allan Dwan
Starring: John Wayne, John Agar, Adele Mara, Forrest Tucker, Wally Cassell, James Brown
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1949, PG, 4 Star)


18:45
A Room With a View (Film)
Merchant-Ivory's adaptation of E.M. Forster's novel stars Helena Bonham Carter and Maggie Smith who, on holiday in Florence, encounter the uncouth Denholm Elliott and his son Julian Sands. After an unpleasant incident, the two women return to Surrey but when Elliott and Sands turn up as tenants of a nearby house, all sorts of romantic complications ensue.
Director: James Ivory
Starring: Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Denholm Elliott, Julian Sands, Simon Callow, Patrick Godfrey, Judi Dench
(Subtitles, 1985, PG, 4 Star)


21:00
Cutthroat Island (Film)
Renny Harlin's action adventure is a good old-fashioned return to the days of swashbuckling pirate movies. Geena Davis plays Morgan Adams, whose pirate father bequeaths her one third of a treasure map. Her two uncles have the other two sections while an evil third uncle, Dawg Brown is after the complete map and the treasure. Matthew Modine plays William Shaw, a convict Adams buys at a slave auction to translate the map's Latin and who soon becomes her love interest. The stage is set for storms, sea battles, swordfights and, of course, the discovery of the treasure and the final confrontation.
Director: Renny Harlin
Starring: Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, Frank Langella, Maury Chaykin, Patrick Malahide, Stan Shaw
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1995, PG, 3 Star)




23:20
The Ice Storm (Film)
Ang Lee's BAFTA and Cannes-winning drama follows the stories of two families, Ben and Elena Hood and Jim and Janey Carver and their adolescent children, including Christina Ricci and Elijah Wood. Set in Connecticut in the early '70s, it follows their casual affairs, breakdowns, juvenile sexual experimentation and bad parenting, all of which leads to a dramatic climax of dysfunction during an ice storm that blankets the area with a frozen glaze.
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Henry Czerny, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1997, 15, 4 Star)


01:30
Boiler Room (Film)
Competent and energetic thriller which is heavily influenced by 'Wall Street'. When an ambitious young man drops out of college, he finds work in a 'Boiler Room', a hot house of fast-talking, fast living stock salesmen. Initially seduced by the money and lifestyle, he soon becomes troubled by the unusual and aggressive behaviour of his new employers.
Director: Ben Younger
Starring: Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Nia Long, Nicky Katt, Scott Caan, Ron Rifkin
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2000, 15, 3 Star)

 

[bu_Ali65]

&

Monday 26th January 2009

13:00 Dragonwyck
(1946) Gene Tierney stars as a governess who takes a post at Vincent Price's mansion and marries him, only to discover he is both mad and a murderer in this chilling Gothic drama.

15:05 The Bells of ST Mary's
(1945) Bing Crosby plays Father Chuck O'Malley, sent to St Mary's Academy, an inner-city school threatened with closure which is run by the glacial Sister Mary Benedict (Ingrid Bergman).

17:35 LOVE HAPPY
(1949) The Marx Brothers' final feature together stars Harpo as a man who finds some stolen diamonds, Groucho as a private eye, and Chico as a travelling musician caught up in the plot.

19:15 CARRY ON BEHIND
(1975) Archaeologist Kenneth Williams and his pneumatic assistant Elke Sommer, whose command of English leads to many a misunderstanding, help excavate a Roman villa.

21:00 ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13
(2005) John Carpenter's thriller stars Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne as a cop and a con who have to hold off the brutal siege of a lonely police station. Very strong language/violence.


23:05 BAD LIEUTENANT
(1992) Abel Ferrara's film stars Harvey Keitel as an alcoholic junkie cop who finds redemption as he searches for a nun's rapist. Adults only: strong language/sexual violence/drug use.

01:00 KEANE
(2004) Damian Lewis haunts a bus station looking for his daughter. Is he sane or will his relationship with Amy Ryan and her daughter tip him over the edge? Strong language.

 

[edward]

Film4 Listings for Tuesday 27th January



13:00
Innocents in Paris (Film)
Picaresque comedy about the British abroad, following a disparate group of people on a weekend tour of the French capital, which sends up both the visitors and stereotypical observations about foreigners. With Alastair Sim, Ronald Shiner, Margaret Rutherford, Claire Bloom, Claude Dauphin, Laurence Harvey, Jimmy Edwards and James Copeland. Directed by Gordon Perry.
Director: Gordon Parry
Starring: Alastair Sim, Ronald Shiner, Claire Bloom, Margaret Rutherford, Claude Dauphin, Jimmy Edwards
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1953, U, 3 Star)


14:55
That Riviera Touch (Film)
Film comedy starring Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise as Eric Simpson and Ernest Clerk, caught up in a comic caper set in the south of France. After being inadvertently implicated in a mix-up involving the Royal Family, the accident-prone duo decide to escape to the French Riviera, only to become caught up in a crime sting involving a jewel thief, a band of smugglers, a femme fatale and a surfeit of collapsing corpses.
Director: Cliff Owen
Starring: Eric Morecambe, Ernie Wise, Paul Stassino, Peter Jeffrey, Suzanne Lloyd, Armand Mestral
(Subtitles, 1966, PG, 3 Star)


16:50
Bless This House (Film)
Movie spin-off from the popular 70s TV series, starring Sid James as Sid Abbott, the middle-class, middle-aged father who doesn't understand the youth of the day; in particular his own children, Mike and Sally, who both seem keener to attend demos than get a job. Plus, he's also having problems with his new neighbour Ronald Baines. So when Baines' daughter Kate falls for Mike, comic confusions ensue.
Director: Gerald Thomas
Starring: Sid James, Diana Coupland, Sally Geeson, Peter Butterworth, Terry Scott, June Whitfield
(Subtitles, 1972, PG, 3 Star)


18:35
The Parent Trap (Film)
Family comedy about identical twin sisters who are separated at birth when their parents divorce. Years later the girls meet at a summer camp and, despite strikingly different personalities, agree to a scheme to reunite their parents. When camp ends, they change places and start their plan with the first goal to scare off a gold-digger pursuing their father. A new remake of the 1961 favourite staring Hayley Mills.
Director: Nancy Meyers
Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Quaid, Natasha Richardson, Elaine Hendrix, Lisa Ann Walter
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1998, PG, 3 Star)


21:00
Braveheart (Film)
Mel Gibson directs and stars in this Oscar-laden epic as William Wallace, the medieval Scottish patriot spurred into revolt against the English when the love of his life is slaughtered. Leading his army into battles that become a war, his advance into England threatens King Edward I's throne before he is captured and executed, but not before becoming a symbol for a free Scotland. The mix of court intrigue, tender love scenes and stirring battles never flags and Gibson rightly took the Oscar for best picture.
Director: Mel Gibson
Starring: Mel Gibson, James Robinson, Sean Lawlor, Sandy Nelson, James Cosmo, Sean McGinley
(Editor's Choice, Widescreen, Subtitles, 1995, 15, 4 Star)




00:20
Zatôichi (Film)
Takeshi 'Beat' Kitano directs, scripts and stars in this martial arts adventure as Zatôichi, a character well known in Japan through television series and films but rarely seen in the west. Zatôichi is a blind masseur who also happens to be a master swordsman, thanks to his extraordinarily heightened senses. Travelling the country fighting for the weak and oppressed, he joins forces with a young man and woman out to avenge their slaughtered parents, to help them protect a village against a brutal gang led by ronin Hattori. Kitano manages to mix blood-splattering violent stylised fights with genuinely funny moments in this unique samurai movie.
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Tadanobu Asano, Michiyo Ookusu, Gadarukanaru Taka, Daigorô Tachibana, Yuuko Daike
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Subtitled, In Japanese with English Subtitles, 2003, 18, 3 Star)

 

[edward]

Film4 Listings for Wednesday 28th January


13:00
Conspiracy of Hearts (Film)
In 1943 in Italy, Mother Katharine and Sister Mitya are part of a group of nuns helping to smuggle orphaned Jewish children out of an internment camp. Their covert activities are initially aided by the camp commandant, a sympathetic Italian major, but when he is replaced by a Nazi colonel and a lieutenant the nuns find themselves in much more danger.
Director: Ralph L. Thomas
Starring: Lilli Palmer, Sylvia Syms, Yvonne Mitchell, Ronald Lewis, Albert Lieven, Peter Arne
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1960, U, 3 Star)


15:15
Never Love a Stranger (Film)
Robert Stevens' film, based on a Harold Robbins novel, gave Steve McQueen one of his first major roles, although his famous blue eyes are disguised behind horn-rimmed spectacles. But the lead character is Frank Kane. He plays an orphan raised in the Catholic faith but when it is discovered he is Jewish, he is expelled. Angry and disillusioned, he turns to crime and soon becomes New York's top boss but justice awaits. Edited for content.
Director: Robert Stevens
Starring: John Drew Barrymore, Lita Milan, Robert Bray, Steve McQueen, Salem Ludwig, R.G. Armstrong
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1958, 15, 2 Star)


17:10
Retreat, Hell! (Film)
Cult director Joseph H Lewis is at the helm of this major film set during the Korean war. Frank Lovejoy stars as marine battalion commander Steve Corbett. Among his men are Second World War vet Paul Hansen, and rookie Jimmy McDermid. The film follows them as they fight their way to a strategic reservoir and then, faced by overwhelming Chinese reinforcements, have to battle their way back to their own lines.
Director: Joseph H. Lewis
Starring: Frank Lovejoy, Richard Carlson, Anita Louise, Russ Tamblyn, Nedrick Young, Lamont Johnson
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1952, 12, 3 Star)


19:00
The Family Stone (Film)
Thomas Bezucha's wry, sharp comedy/drama looks at a family in upheaval during the Christmas period. Everett Stone brings his fiancee Meredith Morton to his family home for the festive season. Matriarch Sybil Stone doesn't approve of her and leads the family attack on Meredith but cracks start to appear in the family's own relationship and painful, occasionally amusing truths appear.
Director: Thomas Bezucha
Starring: Claire Danes, Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Dermot Mulroney, Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Jessica Parker
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described, 2005, PG, 3 Star)


21:00
Out of Time (Film)
Denzel Washington plays Matt Whitlock, Chief of Police of a small Florida town in Carl Franklin's thriller. He and his wife, Detective Alex Whitlock, are divorcing and he's started an affair with high-school sweetheart Ann Merai Harrison. She's married to the violent Chris Harrison and is suffering from cancer. She has an insurance policy worth $1m, but needs half to pay for treatment now. Whitlock 'borrows' it from recovered drugs money, but then his life gets messy. Two bodies are found in the gutted Harrison household; his wife is heading up the investigation; and the DEA wants to know where the money has gone. Whitlock is now the number-one suspect and has to find the murderer and the missing money while staying one step ahead of his colleagues.
Director: Carl Franklin
Starring: Denzel Washington, Eva Mendes, Sanaa Lathan, Dean Cain, John Billingsley, Robert Baker
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2003, 12, 3 Star)




23:05
Secrets and Lies (Film)
Mike Leigh's FilmFour-funded Palme D'Or-winning tale of love, caring and deep longings. Hortense is a young Black optometrist. Both her adoptive parents have died and she decides to find her birth mother, who turns out to be Cynthia, an unmarried woman who lives in a terraced house with her daughter Roxanne. Hortense tracks Cynthia down and, after a fraught first meeting, a warm mother-daughter relationship begins to develop. Meanwhile, Cynthia's brother Maurice and his childless wife Monica decide to throw a party for Roxanne's 21st. Cynthia asks if she can bring a friend and invites a reluctant Hortense. In a traumatic moment Cynthia reveals the truth, and all hell breaks loose.
Director: Mike Leigh
Starring: Timothy Spall, Phyllis Logan, Brenda Blethyn, Claire Rushbrook, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Elizabeth Berrington
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1996, 15, 4 Star)


01:50
Love and Sex (Film)
Urbane and witty comedy about a magazine writer who, while writing an article about sex, reminisces about her one serious - and most recent - relationship. As she traces their lives from their initial meeting to their inevitable break-up, the young woman begins ****** a string of men and drives her ex-lover insane with jealousy.
Director: Valerie Brieman
Starring: Famke Janssen, Jon Favreau, Noah Emmerich, Ann Magnuson
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2000, 15, 3 Star)

 

[edward]

Film4 Listings for Thursday 29th January



13:00
Johnny Come Lately (Film)
James Cagney stars in this Oscar-winning smalltown drama as an ex-reporter turned drifter who arrives in a town where corruption is rife. Jailed for vagrancy, on release he meets up with Vinnie McLeod, editor of the local paper and one of the few honest citizens in town. Together, they set about exposing the corruption, thanks to the revelations of dowager Mary McGovern, a woman with a murky past but an honest heart. Cagney insisted on casting familiar character actors in the main roles and was rewarded with outstanding performances in an undeservedly ignored film.
Director: William K. Howard
Starring: James Cagney, Grace George, Marjorie Main, Marjorie Lord, Hattie McDaniel, Edward McNamara
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1943, U, 3 Star)


14:55
Malta Story (Film)
Brian Desmond Hurst's war movie pays tribute to the people and defenders of the besieged island of Malta in the Second World War, focusing on the pivotal role played by reconnaissance pilot Lt Peter Ross.
Director: Brian Desmond-Hurst
Starring: Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Steel, Muriel Pavlow, Renée Asherson, Hugh Burden
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1953, U, 3 Star)


17:00
The Last Command (Film)
Frank Lloyd's film is one of the eight cinematic versions of the story of the Alamo, where a small group of Texians held out to the last man against the invading Spanish army. This version concentrates on Jim Bowie, who urges a policy of peaceful co-existence with the Mexicans until they become too aggressive, when he joins William B Travis, Davy Crockett and the other defenders at the mission for the fateful 13-day siege.
Director: Frank Lloyd
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Richard Carlson, Arthur Hunnicutt, Ernest Borgnine, J. Carrol Naish
(Subtitles, 1955, U, 2 Star)


19:10
Simply Irresistible (Film)
Mark Tarlov's fantasy romcom stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as Amanda Shelton, the worst cook in the world who's stuck in the kitchen of the restaurant inherited from her mother. Until a magical crab turns her into an inspired cook. Her new-found skills catch first the business eye and stomach of restaurant entrepreneur Tom Bartlett and then, of course, his heart. There's an equally delightful subplot with Patricia Clarkson and Dylan Baker as Tom's co-worker and boss who also fall in love under the spell of Amanda's food in a film that's a wonderfully filling confection of fun. Edited for language.
Director: Mark Tarlov
Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Sean Patrick Flanery, Patricia Clarkson, Dylan Baker, Larry Gilliard Jr., Christopher Durang
(Widescreen, 1999, PG, 2 Star)


21:00
Men of Honor (Film)
Based on a true story, George Tillman Jnr's drama tells the story of Carl Brashear who joins the US Navy and applies for the elite diving school. But this is America of the 50s, where racism is still rife; his white comrades refuse to share barracks with him and the martinet instructor Billy Sunday is equally prejudiced. But Brashear's commitment, courage and determination eventually win Sunday's respect and when Brashear's career comes up against military predjudice, he finds he has an unlikely ally.
Director: George Tillman Jr.
Starring: Robert de Niro, Cuba Gooding Jr., Charlize Theron, Aunjanue Ellis, Hal Holbrook, Michael Rapaport
(Subtitles, 2000, 15, 3 Star)




23:25
Rita, Sue and Bob Too (Film)
A comedy that develops into something darker, Alan Clarke's film stars Siobhan Finneran and Michelle Holmes as Sue and Rita, two teenage friends who babysit for Bob and Michelle. When Michelle goes off sex, Bob starts looking elsewhere...
Director: Alan Clarke
Starring: Michelle Holmes, Siobhan Finneran, George Costigan, Lesley Sharp, Kulvinder Ghir, Willie Ross
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1987, 18, 4 Star)


01:15
The Puffy Chair (Film)
Jay Duplass' debut feature is co-written with brother Mark, who also stars as Josh, a failed musician. He, together with girlfriend Emily and friend Rhett undertake to transport a Lay-Z-Boy recliner from New York to Atlanta as a surprise gift for his father. The ensuing road trip is a meandering yet always charming exploration of their relationships with each other and those they meet in their journey across America.
Director: Jay Duplass
Starring: Mark Duplass, Kathryn Aselton, Rhett Wilkins, Julie Fischer, Larry Duplass, Bari Hyman
(Widescreen, 2005, 15, 3 Star)

 

[bu_Ali65]

&

Friday 30th January 2009

13:00 THE GHOST AND MRS MUIR
(1947) Supernatural comedy starring Rex Harrison as the spirit of a gruff sea captain who haunts widow Gene Tierney, only for her to fall in love with him. Directed by Joseph L Mankiewicz.

15:10 SANDS OF IWO JIMA
(1949) Allan Dwan's classic WWII film stars John Wayne as a tough marine sergeant who is preparing raw recruits for the American attack on the Japanese fortress island of Iwo Jima.

17:20 CARRY ON BEHIND
(1975) Archaeologist Kenneth Williams and his pneumatic assistant Elke Sommer, whose command of English leads to many a misunderstanding, help excavate a Roman villa.

19:05 FREAKY FRIDAY
(1976) Comedy with Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster as mother and teen daughter who are always bickering until one day their mutual wish to be in the other's shoes is granted...

21:00 TRANSPORTER 2
(2005) Jason Statham plays Frank Martin, the Transporter, who sets out to locate and save the son of a government drugs czar kidnapped by a crime boss. Violent scenes/strong language.

22:40 DAVID FINCHER ON BENJAMIN BUTTON
Director David Fincher talks about the making of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, his latest collaboration with Brad Pitt.

22:50 FIGHT CLUB
(1999) Introduced by director David Fincher. Edward Norton and Brad Pitt star in this drama about secret clubs where disenfranchised men fight to escape boredom. Strong language/violence.

01:35 AMELIE
(2001) Oscar-nominated Audrey Tautou stars as a kooky waitress whose mission is to make others happy - but will she ever find love herself? In French/subs.

 

[godsentromer]

Butterfly effect

Just to put my drop in the bucket.. but the butterfly effect is one of my favorite films like ever. I'd so unbelievably recommend it!

 

[bu_Ali65]

&

Saturday 31st January 2009

13:00 THE PARENT TRAP
(1998) Lindsay Lohan plays twins Hallie and Annie, who meet for the first time at camp and realise they've been 'shared' by their divorced parents (Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson).

15:25 HOPPITY GOES TO TOWN
(1941) Charming animation, following the adventures of Hoppity the Grasshopper and the inhabitants of Bugtown as they seek a new haven, safe from the humans' new buildings.

17:00 LOVE HAPPY
(1949) The Marx Brothers' final feature together stars Harpo as a man who finds some stolen diamonds, Groucho as a private eye, and Chico as a travelling musician caught up in the plot.

18:40 A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT
(1992) Director Robert Redford's beautifully shot adaptation of Norman Maclean's tale of growing up in early 1900s Montana, starring Brad Pitt and Craig Sheffer.

21:00 UNDERWORLD
(2003) Kate Beckinsale stars as the leader of a group of vampires who are fighting werewolves led by Michael Sheen. The prize is control of all humans. Strong language/violence.

23:15 UNDERWORLD EVOLUTION
(2006) The battle for supremacy between the vampires and the werewolves chronicled in Underworld continues in this sequel starring Kate Beckinsale. Strong language/violence.

01:20 MIRROR
(1976) From Andrei Tarkovsky, the director of the original Solaris, a lyrical and largely autobiographical meditation on childhood, memory, family and the State. In Russian/subtitles.

 

[edward]

Film4 Listings for Sunday 1st February



13:00
The Beverly Hillbillies (Film)
Based on the classic TV series, Jim Varney heads up the Clampett family as Jed, who finds oil on his Arkansas farm. Deciding that his daughter Elly May needs to become a 'lady', the family move to Beverly Hills, where their boondock ways are forgiven on account of their wealth. But when widower Jed decides to re-marry, there's no shortage of candidates, as Jed's scheming bank manager Milburn Drysdale and his assistant, Miss Hathaway, try to make sure their own chosen candidate is selected. Penelope Spheeris's film, following her success with Wayne's World, continues in the same comic vein, and fans of the TV series should look out for a cameo role from Buddy Ebson, the original Jed Clampett.
Director: Penelope Spheeris
Starring: Jim Varney, Diedrich Bader, Erika Eleniak, Cloris Leachman, Lily Tomlin, Lea Thompson
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1993, PG, 2 Star)


14:45
Bless This House (Film)
Movie spin-off from the popular 70s TV series, starring Sid James as Sid Abbott, the middle-class, middle-aged father who doesn't understand the youth of the day; in particular his own children, Mike and Sally, who both seem keener to attend demos than get a job. Plus, he's also having problems with his new neighbour Ronald Baines. So when Baines' daughter Kate falls for Mike, comic confusions ensue.
Director: Gerald Thomas
Starring: Sid James, Diana Coupland, Sally Geeson, Peter Butterworth, Terry Scott, June Whitfield
(Subtitles, 1972, PG, 3 Star)


16:30
The Bells of St Mary's (Film)
After the success of Going My Way, Bing Crosby returned as Father Chuck O'Malley in Leo McCarey's nine-Oscar-nominated drama. This time he's sent to St Mary's Academy, an inner-city school run by the glacial Sister Mary Benedict. The school is under threat from the freeholder, who wants to tear it down for a car park, but O'Malley convinces him of the error of his ways. Along the way, O'Malley and the Sister learn to respect each other as they help the pupils and their parents with their problems, and the film ends with a very individual take on the traditional Nativity play.
Director: Leo McCarey
Starring: Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman, Henry Travers, William Gargan, Ruth Donnelly, Joan Carroll
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1945, U, 4 Star)


19:00
The Family Stone (Film)
Thomas Bezucha's wry, sharp comedy/drama looks at a family in upheaval during the Christmas period. Everett Stone brings his fiancee Meredith Morton to his family home for the festive season. Matriarch Sybil Stone doesn't approve of her and leads the family attack on Meredith but cracks start to appear in the family's own relationship and painful, occasionally amusing truths appear.
Director: Thomas Bezucha
Starring: Claire Danes, Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Dermot Mulroney, Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Jessica Parker
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described, 2005, PG, 3 Star)


21:00
Assault on Precinct 13 (Film)
A bus carrying druglord Bishop is diverted to Detroit's Precinct 13 during a storm. When the undermanned station is attacked by armed heavies, Sgt Roenick must rely on Bishop and the other prisoners to keep the invaders out. Remake of John Carpenter's 1976 thriller.
Director: Jean-François Richet
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne, Gabriel Byrne, Maria Bello, Drea de Matteo, John Leguizamo
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2005, 15, 3 Star)




23:05
Scream 3 (Film)
The last instalment in the Scream trilogy is set in Hollywood, where Stab 3 is being shot, with Gale Weathers and Dwight Riley on set as advisors to Jennifer Jolie. Unfortunately, a killer decides to off the cast in the order of the screenplay and only "Sid" Prescott, now in hiding until the killer tracks her down, can solve the riddle.
Director: Wes Craven
Starring: David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Patrick Dempsey, Parker Posey, Scott Foley
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1999, 18, 4 Star)


01:20
Love and Sex (Film)
Urbane and witty comedy about a magazine writer who, while writing an article about sex, reminisces about her one serious - and most recent - relationship. As she traces their lives from their initial meeting to their inevitable break-up, the young woman begins ****** a string of men and drives her ex-lover insane with jealousy.
Director: Valerie Brieman
Starring: Famke Janssen, Jon Favreau, Noah Emmerich, Ann Magnuson
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2000, 15, 3 Star)

 

[edward]

Film4 Listings for Monday 2nd February



13:00
Never Love a Stranger (Film)
Robert Stevens' film, based on a Harold Robbins novel, gave Steve McQueen one of his first major roles, although his famous blue eyes are disguised behind horn-rimmed spectacles. But the lead character is Frank Kane. He plays an orphan raised in the Catholic faith but when it is discovered he is Jewish, he is expelled. Angry and disillusioned, he turns to crime and soon becomes New York's top boss but justice awaits. Edited for content.
Director: Robert Stevens
Starring: John Drew Barrymore, Lita Milan, Robert Bray, Steve McQueen, Salem Ludwig, R.G. Armstrong
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1958, 15, 2 Star)


14:50
American Guerilla in The Philippines (Film)
Fritz Lang made five war movies in his long career, four during or just after World War II and this one, released as America was about to embark on the Korean War. Based on a true story, it stars Tyrone Power as Ensign Chuck Palmer, the leader of a group of US servicemen left stranded in the Philippines in 1942 when General MacArthur withdrew from the Japanese invasion. Teaming up with the local resistance, he and his group, including buddy Jim Mitchell, evade the occupying forces and set up a makeshift radio station to bolster morale. Despite the wartime setting, Palmer still finds time for romance with Jeanne Martinez, the widow of a local resistance hero.
Director: Fritz Lang
Starring: Tyrone Power, Micheline Presle, Tom Ewell, Robert Patten, Tommy Cook, Juan Torena
(Subtitles, 1950, 15, 3 Star)


17:00
The Grass is Greener (Film)
Stanley Donen's film is a romantic comedy that plays on America's view of the British aristocracy. Cary Grant plays Earl Vincent Rhyall, Deborah Kerr his wife Lady Hilary. In order to maintain their crumbling stately home, they reluctantly open it to coach parties of American tourists, one of whom, Charles Delacro, falls for the lady of the manor who, feeling neglected, begins to return his advances. In order to win her back, the Earl has to call on the services of his old flame, Hattie Durant and his very laconic, very English butler Sellers.
Director: Stanley Donen
Starring: Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons, Moray Watson
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1960, U, 2 Star)


19:05
David Fincher on Benjamin Button (Entertainment)
Director David Fincher talks about the creative decisions and technical challenges that were part of the making of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, his latest collaboration with Brad Pitt.


19:10
Cheaper By The Dozen 2 (Film)
Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt return as Tom and Kate Baker, parents to 12 kids, in Adam Shankman's sequel to the comedy hit. The kids are now older, and getting ready to leave home, so Tom arranges a final family holiday in rural Wisconsin. Unfortunately, also at the campsite are his rival Jimmy Murtaugh, his trophy wife Sarina and their eight offspring. But despite the two men trying to outdo each other, the two sets of kids become friends, with Sarah Baker and Eliot Murtaugh touching as the two teenagers experiencing first love.
Director: Adam Shankman
Starring: Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Alyson Stoner, Forrest Landis, Morgan York, Liliana Mumy
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2005, PG, 2 Star)




21:00
Out of Time (Film)
Denzel Washington plays Matt Whitlock, Chief of Police of a small Florida town in Carl Franklin's thriller. He and his wife, Detective Alex Whitlock, are divorcing and he's started an affair with high-school sweetheart Ann Merai Harrison. She's married to the violent Chris Harrison and is suffering from cancer. She has an insurance policy worth $1m, but needs half to pay for treatment now. Whitlock 'borrows' it from recovered drugs money, but then his life gets messy. Two bodies are found in the gutted Harrison household; his wife is heading up the investigation; and the DEA wants to know where the money has gone. Whitlock is now the number-one suspect and has to find the murderer and the missing money while staying one step ahead of his colleagues.
Director: Carl Franklin
Starring: Denzel Washington, Eva Mendes, Sanaa Lathan, Dean Cain, John Billingsley, Robert Baker
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2003, 12, 3 Star)


23:05
Alien: Resurrection (Film)
Two hundred years after her death in a furnace of molten lead, Lt Ellen Ripley is revived as a potent human/alien clone in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's ghoulish and gory continuation of the Alien chronicle. Megalomaniac doctors have cloned the Lieutenant as part of their project to revitalise the extinct alien species for government use, but their efforts lead to inevitable death and destruction.
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder, Dominique Pinon, Ron Perlman, Gary Dourdan, Michael Wincott
(1997, 18, 3 Star)


01:10
Amélie (Film)
Jean-Pierre Jeunet's award-winning, Oscar-nominated comedy-romance stars the entrancing Audrey Tatou as the eponymous Amelie, a waitress in a Montmartre café whose mission in life is to ensure people's happiness. But she herself is without love until she glimpses Nino, whose hobby is collecting discarded photo-booth pictures. She pursues him with clues and messages, he pursues her and true love prevails in this fairy-tale filled with beautiful images and wonderful moments.
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Yolande Moreau, Artus de Penguern, Urbain Cancelier
(Subtitles, Subtitled, In French with English Subtitles, 2001, 15, 4 Star)

 

[edward]

Film4 Listings for Tuesday 3rd February



13:00
Retreat, Hell! (Film)
Cult director Joseph H Lewis is at the helm of this major film set during the Korean war. Frank Lovejoy stars as marine battalion commander Steve Corbett. Among his men are Second World War vet Paul Hansen, and rookie Jimmy McDermid. The film follows them as they fight their way to a strategic reservoir and then, faced by overwhelming Chinese reinforcements, have to battle their way back to their own lines.
Director: Joseph H. Lewis
Starring: Frank Lovejoy, Richard Carlson, Anita Louise, Russ Tamblyn, Nedrick Young, Lamont Johnson
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1952, 12, 3 Star)


14:50
The Ghost and Mrs Muir (Film)
Widowed Anna Muir swaps her bickering in-laws for a haunted old mansion by the sea. The resident ghost, an old sea captain, terrifies her. But she stands up to him, earns his trust and, eventually, his help in dealing with smoothie suitor Miles.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Starring: Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, George Sanders, Edna Best, Vanessa Brown, Anna Lee
(Black and White, Subtitles, Audio Described, 1947, U, 4 Star)


16:55
The Last Command (Film)
Frank Lloyd's film is one of the eight cinematic versions of the story of the Alamo, where a small group of Texians held out to the last man against the invading Spanish army. This version concentrates on Jim Bowie, who urges a policy of peaceful co-existence with the Mexicans until they become too aggressive, when he joins William B Travis, Davy Crockett and the other defenders at the mission for the fateful 13-day siege.
Director: Frank Lloyd
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Richard Carlson, Arthur Hunnicutt, Ernest Borgnine, J. Carrol Naish
(Subtitles, 1955, U, 2 Star)


19:05
The Beverly Hillbillies (Film)
Based on the classic TV series, Jim Varney heads up the Clampett family as Jed, who finds oil on his Arkansas farm. Deciding that his daughter Elly May needs to become a 'lady', the family move to Beverly Hills, where their boondock ways are forgiven on account of their wealth. But when widower Jed decides to re-marry, there's no shortage of candidates, as Jed's scheming bank manager Milburn Drysdale and his assistant, Miss Hathaway, try to make sure their own chosen candidate is selected. Penelope Spheeris's film, following her success with Wayne's World, continues in the same comic vein, and fans of the TV series should look out for a cameo role from Buddy Ebson, the original Jed Clampett.
Director: Penelope Spheeris
Starring: Jim Varney, Diedrich Bader, Erika Eleniak, Cloris Leachman, Lily Tomlin, Lea Thompson
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1993, PG, 2 Star)


20:50
David Fincher on Benjamin Button (Entertainment)
Director David Fincher talks about the creative decisions and technical challenges that were part of the making of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, his latest collaboration with Brad Pitt.
(Repeat)




21:00
Transporter 2 (Film)
Frank Martin is back as the Transporter, who'll take anything anywhere, no questions asked, for the right money. This time, he's earning what should be easy money guarding the son of government drugs czar Billings. But when the boy is kidnapped by drugs lord Gianni, Martin takes it as a professional slur and sets out to find the boy and the baddies in Louis Leterrier's all-action film co-written by Luc Besson.
Director: Louis Leterrier
Starring: Jason Statham, Alessandro Gassman, Amber Valletta, Kate Nauta, Matthew Modine, Jason Flemyng
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2005, 15, 3 Star)


22:45
Sideways (Film)
In Alexander Payne's bittersweet comedy, two buddies, Miles and Jack, embark on Jack's stag week, a tasting trip around California's wine country, with oenophile Miles leading the way. Miles may be a wine expert but he's also a bitter divorcee, depressed and in love with a waitress, Maya, whose presence always leaves him tongue-tied. Jack is a faded actor who can't quite resign himself to marriage when there are still obtainable women in the world, married or not, and when he meets Stephanie at a tasting, he swears Miles to secrecy about the wedding. And so the foursome continue their trip... Alexander Payne's Oscar and BAFTA-winning road trip is a classic of friendship and crisis, with four outstanding leads.
Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden-Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh, Marylouise Burke, Jessica Hecht
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described, 2004, 15, 3 Star)


01:10
Old Joy (Film)
Director/writer Kelly Reichardt's film is a deceptively gentle drama about a friendship renewed. Kurt and Mark, two friends who have lost touch, decide to re-kindle their relationship with a weekend trek through Oregon's mountains. They talk, with Mark concerned about imminent fatherhood while Kurt is more meditative, but will their bond be re-forged by the end of the journey?
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Starring: Daniel London, Will Oldham, Tanya Smith, Robin Rosenberg, Keri Moran, Autumn Campbell
(Widescreen, 2006, 15, 3 Star)

 

[edward]

Film4 Listings for Wednesday 4th February



13:00
Rage at Dawn (Film)
Tim Whelan's western is loosely based on the true-life exploits of the infamous Reno Brothers gang, led by Frank. The film opens with a planned bank raid going wrong; in revenge, the gang find and kill the private detective who set the ambush. Undeterred, the agency send their finest man, James Barlow, to Indiana where, posing as a train robber, he infiltrates the gang. But can he outwit the Reno Brothers as well as keeping his identity secret from the townsfolk, who are all in the pocket of the brothers but also all in dread of them?
Director: Tim Whelan
Starring: Randolph Scott, Forrest Tucker, Mala Powers, J. Carrol Naish, Edgar Buchanan, Myron Healey
(Subtitles, 1955, PG, 2 Star)


14:45
Johnny Come Lately (Film)
James Cagney stars in this Oscar-winning smalltown drama as an ex-reporter turned drifter who arrives in a town where corruption is rife. Jailed for vagrancy, on release he meets up with Vinnie McLeod, editor of the local paper and one of the few honest citizens in town. Together, they set about exposing the corruption, thanks to the revelations of dowager Mary McGovern, a woman with a murky past but an honest heart. Cagney insisted on casting familiar character actors in the main roles and was rewarded with outstanding performances in an undeservedly ignored film.
Director: William K. Howard
Starring: James Cagney, Grace George, Marjorie Main, Marjorie Lord, Hattie McDaniel, Edward McNamara
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1943, U, 3 Star)


16:40
Malta Story (Film)
Brian Desmond Hurst's war movie pays tribute to the people and defenders of the besieged island of Malta in the Second World War, focusing on the pivotal role played by reconnaissance pilot Lt Peter Ross.
Director: Brian Desmond-Hurst
Starring: Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Steel, Muriel Pavlow, Renée Asherson, Hugh Burden
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1953, U, 3 Star)


18:45
David Fincher on Benjamin Button (Entertainment)
Director David Fincher talks about the creative decisions and technical challenges that were part of the making of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, his latest collaboration with Brad Pitt.
(Repeat)


18:55
Never Been Kissed (Film)
Romantic comedy where a former high-school nerd (now a reporter), gets a second chance when she goes under cover to research her story on cool teens.
Director: Raja Gosnell
Starring: Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, Michael Vartan, Molly Shannon, Leelee Sobieski, Jeremy Jordan
(Widescreen, 1999, PG, 2 Star)




21:00
Men of Honor (Film)
Based on a true story, George Tillman Jnr's drama tells the story of Carl Brashear who joins the US Navy and applies for the elite diving school. But this is America of the 50s, where racism is still rife; his white comrades refuse to share barracks with him and the martinet instructor Billy Sunday is equally prejudiced. But Brashear's commitment, courage and determination eventually win Sunday's respect and when Brashear's career comes up against military predjudice, he finds he has an unlikely ally.
Director: George Tillman Jr.
Starring: Robert de Niro, Cuba Gooding Jr., Charlize Theron, Aunjanue Ellis, Hal Holbrook, Michael Rapaport
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2000, 15, 3 Star)


23:25
Secretary (Film)
Maggie Gyllenhaal plays a shy woman recently discharged from a mental institution into the care of her dysfunctional family. Searching for work, she takes a lowly clerical job with dour, demanding attorney E. Edward Grey. He's critical of her mistakes, and one day, verbal abuse crosses to physical, as he spanks her. But she seems to thrive on his treatment and a reciprocal relationship begins until Grey, finding she enjoys the humiliation, fires her. Bereft, and with her boyfriend Peter unable to fulfil her desires, she plans to win back Grey's affections. Steven Shainberg's film could have been crudely exploitative but thanks to the delicacy of his treatment, the subtlety of the two central performances, plus a leavening of humour, this is a story of unconventional love but love for all that.
Director: Steven Shainberg
Starring: James Spader, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jeremy Davies, Lesley Ann Warren, Stephen McHattie, Patrick Bauchau
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2002, 18, 3 Star)


01:35
Live Flesh (Film)
An original, funny and intimate tragicomedy from Pedro Almodovar, the master of bizarre characterisations, Live Flesh stars Liberto Ribal as Víctor Plaza, a highly-sexed 20-year-old infatuated with drug addict Elena. After Víctor gets into her apartment, he is jailed for shooting a cop but, on his release, the weird web of wonderful characters meet up once again and all their destinies finally come together.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Javier Bardem, Francesca Neri, Liberto Rabal, Ángela Molina, José Sancho, Penélope Cruz
(In Spanish With Subtitles, 1997, 18, 3 Star)

 

[bu_Ali65]

&

Thursday 5th February 2009

13:00 AMERICAN GUERILLA IN THE
...Philippines (1950) Fritz Lang's film stars Tyrone Power as the leader of a group of US servicemen left stranded in the Philippines who leads the resistance to the Japanese invaders.

5:05 DAVID FINCHER ON BENJAMIN BUTTON
Director David Fincher talks about the making of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, his latest collaboration with Brad Pitt.

15:10 THAT RIVIERA TOUCH
(1966) Morecambe and Wise star in this comic caper as they hit the Riviera, only to get caught up with a jewel thief, femme fatale Alexandra Bastedo and a surfeit of corpses.

17:15 VIVA MAX!
(1969) General Maximilian Rodrigues de Santos (Peter Ustinov) assembles a ragtag 'army' and seizes back the Alamo, much to the dismay of the American government in this comedy.

19:05 FREAKY FRIDAY
(1976) Comedy with Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster as mother and teen daughter who are always bickering until one day their mutual wish to be in the other's shoes is granted...

21:00 MONSTER-IN-LAW
(2005) Comedy in which Jennifer Lopez meets the man of her dreams, the handsome Michael Vartan, but his mother (Jane Fonda) is hell bent against the match and sets about to destroy it.

22:55 DAVID FINCHER ON BENJAMIN BUTTON
Director David Fincher talks about the making of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, his latest collaboration with Brad Pitt.

23:00 FIGHT CLUB
(1999) Introduced by director David Fincher. Edward Norton and Brad Pitt star in this drama about secret clubs where disenfranchised men fight to escape boredom. Strong language/violence.

01:45 CRIES AND WHISPERS
(1972) Ingmar Bergman's film stars Liv Ullmann and Ingrid Thulman as the sisters of dying Harriet Andersson who confront their fears and secrets. In Swedish/subs. Scenes of self harm.

 

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Listings for Film Four on Friday, February 6 2009


06:00 Film4 Preview Find out what's on Film4 this month, with over 100 great films screening, from the best of British to Hollywood's finest films.


13:00 Blanche Fury Film (1947) Victorian melodrama with Valerie Hobson as a woman whose arrival on a family estate is the catalyst for betrayal and murder. Stewart Granger co-stars as the villain of the piece.


14:50 Hoppity Goes to Town Film (1941) Charming animation, following the adventures of Hoppity the Grasshopper and the inhabitants of Bugtown as they seek a new haven, safe from the humans' new buildings.


16:25 The Grass Is Greener Film (1960) Cary Grant plays Earl Vincent Rhyall, Deborah Kerr his wife Lady Hilary. They own a British crumbling pile open for tourists, and one of them (Robert Mitchum) falls for Hilary...


18:30 A River Runs Through It Film (1992) Director Robert Redford's beautifully shot adaptation of Norman Maclean's tale of growing up in early 1900s Montana, starring Brad Pitt and Craig Sheffer.


20:50 David Fincher on Benjamin Button Director David Fincher talks about the making of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, his latest collaboration with Brad Pitt.


21:00 Underworld Film (2003) Kate Beckinsale stars as the leader of a group of vampires who are fighting werewolves led by Michael Sheen. The prize is control of all humans. Strong language/violence.


23:15 Underworld Evolution Film (2006) The battle for supremacy between the vampires and the werewolves chronicled in Underworld continues in this sequel starring Kate Beckinsale. Strong language/violence.

 

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Friday 6 February 2009​

13:00
Blanche Fury
(1947) Victorian melodrama with Valerie Hobson as a woman whose arrival on a family estate is the catalyst for betrayal and murder. Stewart Granger co-stars as the villain of the piece.
General Movie

14:50
Hoppity Goes to Town
(1941) Charming animation, following the adventures of Hoppity the Grasshopper and the inhabitants of Bugtown as they seek a new haven, safe from the humans' new buildings.
Animated Movie

16:25
The Grass Is Greener
(1960) Cary Grant plays Earl Vincent Rhyall, Deborah Kerr his wife Lady Hilary. They own a British crumbling pile open for tourists, and one of them (Robert Mitchum) falls for Hilary...
Comedy

18:30
A River Runs Through It
(1992) Director Robert Redford's beautifully shot adaptation of Norman Maclean's tale of growing up in early 1900s Montana, starring Brad Pitt and Craig Sheffer.
General Movie

20:50
David Fincher on Benjamin Button Film
Director David Fincher talks about the making of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, his latest collaboration with Brad Pitt.

21:00
Underworld
(2003) Kate Beckinsale stars as the leader of a group of vampires who are fighting werewolves led by Michael Sheen. The prize is control of all humans.
Strong language/violence Detective

23:15
Underworld: Evolution
(2006) The battle for supremacy between the vampires and the werewolves chronicled in Underworld continues in this sequel starring Kate Beckinsale.
Strong language/violence Horror

01:20
Bullitt
(1968) Steve McQueen, in his most iconic, role plays San Francisco cop Bullitt, on the trail of political corruption in the film which features the most famous car chase in cinema history.
Detective

 

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Saturday 7 February 2009​

13:00
The Honeymooners
(2005) John Schultz's comedy stars Cedric the Entertainer and Mike Epps as blue collar workers who dream of making a killing through get-rich-quick schemes.
Comedy

14:45
Rage at Dawn
((1955) Western with Randolph Scott as a private detective who infiltrates the notorious Reno Brothers gang in an attempt to outwit them and the corrupt townsfolk who are on their side?
Western

16:30
Bus Stop
(1956) Marilyn Monroe turns in one of her best performances as a saloon singer who captures the heart of cowboy Don Murray in Joshua Logan's
Romantic, Comedy, General Movie

18:20
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
...the Third Kind. (1977) Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) witnesses UFO activity and becomes obsessed with finding out the truth in Steven Spielberg's classic movie
Science Fiction

21:00
Forrest Gump
(1994) Oscar winner Tom Hanks stars as the simple Gump, present at the world's great events, from Watergate to Vietnam, without ever quite realising it...
Contains offensive language, General Movie

23:40
Alien Resurrection
(1997) Saturday Night Shocks. Centuries after her death, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is brought back to life by scientists to resurrect the alien inside her.
Violence/strong language, Science Fiction

01:45
Zatôichi
(2003) Takeshi 'Beat' Kitano directs and stars in this martial arts adventure as Zatôichi, a blind master swordsman who travels the country fighting for the oppressed.
Violent scenes, Detective