FilmFour

[edward]

Film4 Listings for Saturday 28th February


13:00
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, Eugene Levy, Bonnie Hunt, Tom Welling, Piper Perabo, Carmen Electra
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2005, PG, 3 Star)


14:50
The Animal (Film)
Rob Schneider plays Marvin Mange, a wannabe cop who just can't make the grade. Until, injured in a car crash, mad scientist Dr Wilder uses animal parts to save his life. Now, he can run like a cheetah, smell drugs like a sniffer dog, swim like a seal and... er... develop an unhealthy interest in a goat. Schneider, an alumunus from Saturday Night Live, delivers the goods in Luke Greenfield's delicious gross-out comedy. Edited for language.
Director: Luke Greenfield
Starring: Rob Schneider, Colleen Haskell, John C. McGinley, Edward Asner, Michael Caton, Louis Lombardi
(Widescreen, 2001, 12, 2 Star)


16:25
Those Glory Glory Days (Film)
Written by Julie Welch, one of Fleet Street's first woman football writers and directed by Philip Saville, this is Welch's story, opening at her first match. As she's leaving the ground, an Irish voice offers her a lift. It is the immortal Danny Blanchflower and as she gets in the car, so the film goes back to 1961, when Spurs were pursuing the Double and four girls, Julia, Toni, Jailbird and Tub dream of just one thing - tickets to the FA Cup Final.
Director: Philip Saville
Starring: Zoë Nathenson, Sara Sugarman, Cathy Murphy, Liz Campion, Amelia Dipple, Elizabeth Spriggs
(Made For TV, 1983, U, 2 Star)


18:25
I Am Sam (Film)
Oscar-nominated Sean Penn plays Sam Dawson, a cleaner with the mental age of seven. He gets a homeless woman pregnant but she abandons their daughter Lucy. He brings her up but as she grows, her needs outstrip his abilities and Social Services try to separate them. To win her back, Penn manages to persuade hard-nosed lawyer Rita Harrison to take on his case in Jessie Nelson's touching drama. Edited for language.
Director: Jessie Nelson
Starring: Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dakota Fanning, Dianne Wiest, Loretta Devine, Richard Schiff
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2001, 12, 4 Star)


21:00
Along Came A Spider (Film)
World-weary criminal profiler Alex Cross is challenged to a nasty game when a senator's daughter is kidnapped whilst under Secret Service protection. Cross is still bruised from his last assignment and the loss of his partner, but he needs his wits about him ... as this new case is not as it seems.
Director: Lee Tamahori
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Monica Potter, Michael Wincott, Dylan Baker, Mika Boorem, Anton Yelchin
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2001, 15, 3 Star)




22:55
Desu nôto (Film)
Shusuke Kaneko's stylish horror film, based on a popular manga, stars Tatsuya Fujiwara as Light Yagami, an idealistic young law student. He comes into possession of a notebook which, he discovers, has the power to kill anyone whose name is written in its pages. First using it to kill those who have escaped the forces of law and order, power soon goes to his head. Egged on by an angel of death, Ryuk, an apple-crunching CGI monster Tim Burton would envy, he begins killing the innocent. On his trail is the enigmatic L, a web wizard hired by the police to track down Light through the avatar he has set up on a site to goad the authorities. The sequel, Death Note: The Last Name, screens on Film4 next week.
Director: Shusuke Kaneko
Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Asaka Seto, Shigeki Hosokawa, Erika Toda, Shunji Fujimura
(Premiere, Widescreen, Subtitles, Subtitled, In Japanese with English Subtitles, 2006, 12, 4 Star)


01:20
The Entity (Film)
Sidney J Furie's horror/thriller, allegedly based on a true story, stars Barbara Hershey as Carla Moran, a divorced mother who becomes the victim of a violent poltergeist which she claims assaulted and even raped her. Dismissed as a repressive hysteric by psychologists, when two parapsychology investigators succeed in photographing her attacker, the next, dangerous step is to isolate and trap it.
Director: Sidney J. Furie
Starring: Barbara Hershey, Ron Silver, David Labiosa, George Coe, Margaret Blye, Jacqueline Brookes
(Widescreen, 1981, 18, 3 Star)

 

[edward]

Film4 Listings for Sunday 1st March


13:00
The Animal (Film)
Rob Schneider plays Marvin Mange, a wannabe cop who just can't make the grade. Until, injured in a car crash, mad scientist Dr Wilder uses animal parts to save his life. Now, he can run like a cheetah, smell drugs like a sniffer dog, swim like a seal and... er... develop an unhealthy interest in a goat. Schneider, an alumunus from Saturday Night Live, delivers the goods in Luke Greenfield's delicious gross-out comedy. Edited for language.
Director: Luke Greenfield
Starring: Rob Schneider, Colleen Haskell, John C. McGinley, Edward Asner, Michael Caton, Louis Lombardi
(Widescreen, 2001, 12, 2 Star)


14:45
Above Us The Waves (Film)
Action-packed, tense British thriller based on an actual incident in the Second World War, as three midget submarines skippered by Commander Frazer, Sub-Lieut. Duffy and Sub-Lieut. Corbett plan to destroy the Tirpitz, a German battleship holed up in a seemingly impregnable position in a Norwegian fjord.
Director: Ralph L. Thomas
Starring: John Mills, John Gregson, Donald Sinden, James Robertson-Justice, Michael Medwin, James Kenney
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1955, U, 3 Star)


16:40
The Destructors (Film)
An agent in the pay of an Oriental power vying for world supremacy plans to steal a super laser gun that can destroy any target it is aimed at. The Americans try to foil the plan by placing their own spy in the action to beat the master criminal to the weapon.
Director: Francis D. Lyon
Starring: Richard Egan, Patricia Owens, John Ericson, Michael Ansara, Joan Blackman, David Brian
(Widescreen, 1967, PG, 2 Star)


18:40
Batman and Robin (Film)
George Clooney donned the cape for the fourth instalment of the Batman franchise, battling super-villain Mr Freeze and seductive eco-terrorist Poison Ivy. With Freeze planning permanent winter, faithful butler Alfred falling prey to a mysterious illness, and Ivy coming between the caped crusader and Robin, teaming up with Batgirl is the crime-fighting duo's only chance of saving the day... Director Joel Schumacher injects the film with wilder special effects than its predecessors, evoking the franchise's cartoon heritage.
Director: Joel Schumacher
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone, Michael Gough
(Subtitles, 1997, 15, 2 Star)


21:00
The Sum of All Fears (Film)
Ben Affleck stars as CIA agent Jack Ryan in Paul Alden Robinson's adaptation of Tom Clancy's novel. Ryan faces a race against time to track down terrorists who have acquired a nuclear weapon and plan to detonate it at the Super Bowl, implicating the Russians as the perpetrators and triggering a nuclear exchange.
Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Starring: Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell, Ken Jenkins, Liev Schreiber, Bruce McGill
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2002, 12, 3 Star)




23:20
Office Space (Film)
Mike Judge's comedy thriller stars Ron Livingston as Peter Gibbons, who works for Initech Corp and hates his job and his cubicle almost as much as he fears being jobless. But an epiphany with an occupational therapist sees him marked out as management material. Just as he's going for promotion, however, his two friends Michael Bolton and Samir are being downsized. But Michael has developed a software, based on an idea from Superman III, that could make them all rich for life. What could possibly go wrong?
Director: Mike Judge
Starring: Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, David Herman, Ajay Naidu, Diedrich Bader, Stephen Root
(Premiere, Widescreen, 1999, 15, 3 Star)


01:05
The Player (Film)
Robert Altman's satire on Hollywood mores stars Tim Robbins as Griffin Mill, a studio exec who commits the ultimate sin and forgets to call a writer back. Suddenly, threatening faxes and mail start arriving just as his job is under threat from slimy Larry Levy and girlfriend Bonnie Sherow is showing just a tad too much intelligence for the trophy wife he planned. With Greta Scaachi, Richard E Grant and Vincent D'Onofrio.
Director: Robert Altman
Starring: Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Whoopi Goldberg, Peter Gallagher, Brion James
(Subtitles, 1992, 15, 4 Star)

 

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02-03-2009​

13:00
WORLD FOR RANSOM
(1954) Robert Aldrich directs this spy-thriller starring Dan Duryea as a private eye on the trail of a kidnapped nuclear scientist who'll be sold to the highest enemy bidder.

14:50
THE GUINEA PIG
(1948) Richard Attenborough stars in Roy Boulting's drama as a working class schoolboy who is sent to a public school as an educational experiment. With Robert Flemyng and Sheila Sim.

16:45
SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON
(1964) Bryan Forbes' thriller stars Kim Stanley as a fake medium who, with her husband Richard Attenborough, kidnaps a child to both prove that her powers are genuine and extort the ransom.

19:00
NAPOLEON DYNAMITE
(2004) High-school comedy starring Jon Heder as head nerd from a family of weirdos who gains a new-found respect when he orchestrates a friend's student election campaign.

21:00
THE X-FILES
(1998) David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson star in the feature film of the TV series, caught up in a world wide conspiracy that could change the future of mankind.

23:20
A SCANNER DARKLY
(2006) Richard Linklater's futuristic rotoscoped animation stars Keanu Reeves as a narcotics cop trying to find out the truth behind his undercover operation. Strong language.

01:15
WAKING LIFE
(2001) Richard Linklater's fascinating, dream-like animation features Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy and director Steven Soderbergh. Strong language.

 

[edward]

Film4 Listings for Thursday 5th March


13:00
Tokyo Joe (Film)
Humphrey Bogart plays Joe Barrett, an ex-pilot who returns to the post-war Tokyo he used to bomb to reclaim his pre-war bar, Tokyo Joe's. Refused, he sets up in the air freight business but the necessary permits and licences are controlled by gangster Baron Kimura. And to complicate matters, Bartlett's wife Trina, who he believed killed, has survived the war by making anti-American broadcasts, and, despite re-marrying, has a daughter that is his. When Kimura threatens to expose her unless Bartlett helps him smuggle wanted war criminals to safety, Bartlett must decide between his family and his duty. Stuart Heisler's thriller was the first feature film allowed to be made in post-war Japan and the exteriors clearly show the damage inflicted upon the city.
Director: Stuart Heisler
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Alexander Knox, Florence Marly, Sessue Hayakawa, Jerome Courtland, Gordon Jones
(Black and White, 1949, PG, 3 Star)


14:45
Appointment in London (Film)
Dirk Bogarde stars as Tim Mason, an RAF wing commander under considerable strain after 90 sorties over Germany. He finds solace in his friendship with war widow Eve Canyon, whose affections he wins from American liaison officer Major Mac Baker. Director Philip Leacock brought depth and unobtrusive comment to a subject which, even in 1953, could easily have become hackneyed in lesser hands.
Director: Philip Leacock
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Ian Hunter, Dinah Sheridan, Bryan Forbes, Walter Fitzgerald, Bill Kerr
(Subtitles, 1953, U, 3 Star)


16:40
Prince Valiant (Film)
Veteran director Henry Hathaway's Arthurian adventure is based on the popular newspaper cartoon strip by Hal Foster. Robert Wagner plays the eponymous prince, a Viking invited to join King Arthur's court. But the evil Sir Brack plans to oust the king and then invade Valiant's Scandanavian home and only Valiant can stop him. Janet Leigh and Debra Paget are the respective love interests to both parties and, with much of the film being shot in Britain rather than on a Hollywood back-lot, viewers will enjoy identifying castles and locations that form a backdrop to the rousing action.
Director: Henry Hathaway
Starring: James Mason, Janet Leigh, Robert Wagner, Debra Paget, Sterling Hayden, Victor McLaglen
(Widescreen, 1954, U, 2 Star)


18:40
Silver Streak (Film)
George Caldwell boards the Silver Streak train in Los Angeles, on his way to Chicago. He bumps into Hilly Burns, who reveals she and her boss are on their way to Chicago to expose a group of art forgers. But when Caldwell sees her dead boss being dumped from the train, he finds himself caught up in the plot. When he's also thrown off the train and conveniently arrested on a minor charge, he realises that he is in danger and so is Hilly. He and petty thief Grover Muldoon escape custody and manage to get back on the train. Now all they have to do is catch the murderous gang, led by the suave Roger Devereau, free Hilly and stop the now driverless, runaway train from crashing through Chicago station. Arthur Hiller's comedy thriller paved the way for Stir Crazy and See No Evil, Hear No Evil, which again paired Wilder and Pryor. Edited for content.
Director: Arthur Hiller
Starring: Gene Wilder, Jill Clayburgh, Richard Pryor, Patrick McGoohan, Ned Beatty, Clifton James
(Widescreen, 1976, PG, 3 Star)


21:00
Fire in The Sky (Film)
Robert Lieberman's intriguing science fiction drama is based on an alleged real-life incident. In 1975, six loggers working in the mountains of Arizona, driving home at night, see a red glow in the sky. Approaching it, they discover a UFO hovering in the sky. One of the party, Travis Walton approaches and is sucked up and the craft disappears. Back in town, the five others have some explaining to do, particularly since they are now suspected of concocting the story to cover Walton's murder. But Walton reappears five days later, naked and confused, with a story of abduction and experimentation that is shown in a graphic, terrifying flashback.
Director: Robert Lieberman
Starring: D.B. Sweeney, Robert Patrick, Craig Sheffer, Peter Berg, Henry Thomas, Bradley Gregg
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1993, 15, 3 Star)




23:05
Frequency (Film)
Time-travelling drama. An atmospheric phenomenon enables a New York police officer to communicate with his beloved dead father, a fire fighter and amateur radio enthusiast, across thirty years of time. He manages to warn his father of his own death, but by changing events in history they unwittingly cause a tragedy, and now need to try to alter history again.
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Starring: Dennis Quaid, James Caviezel, Shawn Doyle, Elizabeth Mitchell, Andre Braugher, Noah Emmerich
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described, 2000, 15, 4 Star)


01:30
Teenage Caveman (Film)
Larry Clark directs this remake of Roger Corman's classic AIP Creature Features horror with Andrew Keegan as a post-apocalypse caveman and Tara Subkoff as his girlfriend. Forced out from the tribe after he kills his father, they and their small band of rebels end up in the strangely-preserved penthouse of Richard Hillman and Tiffany Limos, where sex and drugs are freely available; but at a terrible cost...
Director: Larry Clark
Starring: Andrew Keegan, Tara Subkoff, Richard Hillman, Tiffany Limos, Stephen Jasso, Crystal Celeste Grant
(Widescreen, Made For TV, 2001, 18, 2 Star)

 

[edward]

Film4 Listings for Friday 6th March

13:00
The Mudlark (Film)
Despite the urging of Disraeli, Queen Victoria hasn't left Windsor in years... until a street urchin persuades her. On the bank of the Thames, the little scavenger uncovers a medallion bearing the queen's head and gains Her Majesty's favour.
Director: Jean Negulesco
Starring: Irene Dunne, Alec Guinness, Andrea Aureli, Beatrice Campbell, Finlay Currie, Anthony Steel
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1950, U, 4 Star)


14:55
A Kid for Two Farthings (Film)
Adapted from Wolf Mankowitz's novel, Carol Reed's A Kid for Two Farthings is a poetic fable. Set in Petticoat Lane, it focuses on young Joe, who lives with his mother Joanna above a tailor's shop owned by Kandinsky. The tailor explains to Joe that through the legend of the unicorn, everyone's dreams and wishes can come true. When Joe discovers a one-horned goat in the market, he's convinced it's a unicorn and is determined to make the wishes of his hard-working neighbours come true.
Director: Carol Reed
Starring: Celia Johnson, Diana Dors, David Kossoff, Joe Robinson, Jonathan Ashmore, Brenda de Banzie
(Subtitles, 1955, U, 3 Star)


16:40
Sea of Sand (Film)
Second World War action movie, directed by Guy Green, about a dangerous mission by the Long Range Desert Group, led by Captain Williams and Captain Cotton to blow up a vital enemy petrol dump behind German lines in North Africa in 1943. But once they get to their target, they discover it isn't just petrol that's being stored.
Director: Guy Green
Starring: Richard Attenborough, Vincent Ball, Mikey Craig, Andrew Faulds, Barry Foster, Wolf Frees
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1958, PG, 3 Star)


18:45
WarGames (Film)
Matthew Broderick stars in John Badham's thriller as a high school student who uses his computer skills to hack into the college computer to improve his grades. After further developing his skills, he attempts to hack into a video company's site for a preview of their latest game. But he accidentally gets into a military computer that co-ordinates early warning systems and the launch of nuclear weapons. Thinking he has found the game, Broderick starts playing, but the end result could be World War III... Edited for language.
Director: John Badham
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood, Ally Sheedy, Barry Corbin, Juanin Clay
(Subtitles, 1983, PG, 3 Star)


21:00
X-Men: The Last Stand (Film)
In the last of the X-Men movie franchise, directed by Brett Ratner, a mutant named Leech, able to produce an antibody, a cure for all mutants becomes the focus of the X-Men's battle. Billionaire Warren Worthington III, ashamed of his mutant son Warren III, a.k.a. Angel, kidnaps Leech to manufacture the cure and rid the world of mutants. But while Professor Charles Xavier advises negotiation and understanding, Magneto favours using mutant force against Worthington, and caught in the middle is government advisor Dr Hank McCoy a.k.a. Beast. As the mutants, including Wolverine, Storm, Phoenix and Juggernaut take sides, the battle becomes the final stand for the X-Men.
Director: Brett Ratner
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammer
(Editor's Choice, Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described, 2006, 12, 4 Star)




23:05
Dawn of the Dead (Film)
After a plague turns most of humanity into blood-crazed zombies, a small band of survivors find refuge in a shopping mall. But it's only a matter of time before the undead hordes get in. Splattery remake of George A Romero's classic horror satire.
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2004, 18, 4 Star)


01:05
She Creature (Film)
Sebastian Gutierrez's remake of the old AIP horror flick stars Angus Shaw as a carnival huckster working in turn-of-the-century Ireland with his girlfriend Lily the key attraction, a living mermaid. But one night, old salt Captain Woolrich exposes the fraud and he should know; he has a genuine mermaid. Seeing an opportunity to make a fortune, Shaw steals the the mermaid and sets off to America with Lily. Unfortunately, this mermaid is no Miranda or Madison from Splash but a creature that prefers human blood to fish. As the voyage progresses, so the crew gets smaller while Lily starts to form a psychic bond with the mythical creature.
Director: Sebastian Gutierrez
Starring: Rufus Sewell, Carla Gugino, Jim Piddock, Reno Wilson, Mark Aiken, Fintan McKeown
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Made For TV, 2001, 15, 3 Star)

 

[edward]

Film4 Listings for Saturday 7th March


13:00
WarGames (Film)
Matthew Broderick stars in John Badham's thriller as a high school student who uses his computer skills to hack into the college computer to improve his grades. After further developing his skills, he attempts to hack into a video company's site for a preview of their latest game. But he accidentally gets into a military computer that co-ordinates early warning systems and the launch of nuclear weapons. Thinking he has found the game, Broderick starts playing, but the end result could be World War III... Edited for language.
Director: John Badham
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood, Ally Sheedy, Barry Corbin, Juanin Clay
(Subtitles, 1983, PG, 3 Star)


15:15
The Raid (Film)
Based on real events, this film stars Van Heflin as Major Neal Benton, leader of a group of Confederate soldiers who escape from a Union prison in New York and take refuge in Canada. He then comes up with the daring plan of crossing the border to take a small American town, creating a second front and diverting the North's attention from the South. But his spying mission is upset both by his affection for war widow Katy Bishop and the disruptive influence of fellow officer Keating in Hugo Fregonese's fascinating Civil War thriller.
Director: Hugo Fregonese
Starring: Van Heflin, Anne Bancroft, Richard Boone, Lee Marvin, Tommy Rettig, Peter Graves
(Subtitles, 1954, U, 3 Star)


16:55
An Ideal Husband (Film)
Oliver Parker's film, based on Oscar Wilde's play, stars Rupert Everett as Lord Arthur Goring, according to his friends "the idlest man in London", who is only aroused from his torpor by Mabel Chiltern. Meanwhile, Mabel's father, Sir Robert Chiltern, is being blackmailed by Mrs Laura Cheveley to change his opinion on a bill going through Parliament. As betrayal, mistaken identities and romance abound, the delight comes from Wilde's bon mots and a top class supporting cast in a classic comedy of manners.
Director: Alexander Korda
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Minnie Driver, Rupert Everett, Julianne Moore, Jeremy Northam, John Wood
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1999, PG, 3 Star)


18:45
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (Film)
Peter Sellers is again the bumbling Inspector Clouseau, this time the target of his ex-boss, Chief Inspector Dreyfus. Driven mad by Clouseau's antics, he escapes from the asylum, captures a scientist who creates a city-destroying device and blackmails the world with one demand - kill Clouseau! As the finest assassins close in, Clouseau blithely tries to track down Dreyfus, oblivious to one failed assassination attempt after another in a series of classic comic set pieces.
Director: Blake Edwards
Starring: Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Lesley-Anne Down, Burt Kwouk, Colin Blakely, Leonard Rossiter
(1976, PG, 3 Star)


20:50
Watchmen Special (Entertainment)
Director Zack Snyder and stars Jackie Earle Haley and Jeffrey Dean Morgan talk about bringing the cult comic-book to big-screen life.
(Repeat, 2009)




21:00
The X Files (Film)
Rob Bowman's feature film, based on the popular TV series, stars David Duchonovy and Gillian Anderson as special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. The two are in disgrace after failing to stop the bombing of a Federal building in Dallas. But conspiracy theorist Alvin Kurtzwell believes the bodies caught up in the explosion were not only already dead but killed by something agelessly evil. Aided by Cigarette Smoking Man, the duo find themselves caught up in a world wide conspiracy that could change the future of mankind.
Director: Rob Bowman
Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, John Neville, William B. Davis, Martin Landau, Mitch Pileggi
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1998, 15, 3 Star)


23:20
Desu nôto: The Last Name (Film)
In Shusuke Kaneko's sequel to Death Note, Light, the originator of the original death notes, infiltrates the team investigating him to try and pin down the real name of his adversary L and write his name in the book to bring about his death. In a parallel plot, TV cook Misa comes into possession of a second book and, egged on by another angel of death, Rem, starts killing off wrongdoers. Light teams up with her to force L into the open, but he may be cleverer than they think.
Director: Shusuke Kaneko
Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Takeshi Kaga, Shido Nakamura, Erika Toda, Shigeki Hosokawa, Shunji Fujimura
(Premiere, Widescreen, Subtitles, Subtitled, In Japanese with English Subtitles, 2006, 12, 4 Star)


02:05
Earth vs the Spider (Film)
Scott Ziehl's re-make of the AIP B-movie classic. Security guard and comic book-geek Quentin Kemmer injects himself with spider serum from the lab he's protecting, believing it will turn him into the Arachnid Avenger. Well, almost, but unlike Peter Parker, Quentin's story doesn't have a happy ending... With Dan Aykroyd and Theresa Russell.
Director: Scott Ziehl
Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Devon Gummersall, Amelia Heinle, Theresa Russell, Christopher Cousins, Mario Roccuzzo
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Made For TV, 2001, 15, 2 Star)

 

[edward]

Film4 Listings for Sunday 8th March

13:00
Napoleon Dynamite (Film)
Jared Hess's high-school comedy stars Jon Heder as the eponymous Napoleon Dynamite, who is on the lowest rung of the nerd ladder - even his best friend Pedro Sanchez beats him to a date for the high-school dance. But when Pedro asks Napoleon to be his campaign manager for the school election, how can he refuse? Napoleon's home life is equally strange: his brother Kip, whose waking hours are spent online in chat rooms, and his uncle Rico, who is stuck in 1982, are his only relatives. Add in a time-travel machine and cow-judging competitions for a compellingly weird film.
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jon Heder, Jon Gries, Aaron Ruell, Efren Ramirez, Diedrich Bader, Tina Majorino
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2004, PG, 3 Star)


14:45
D.O.A. (Film)
Frank tells police that he has been murdered. Knowing that a slow-acting poison will leave him dead in a week, Frank desperately tries to find his own killer. Innovative film noir, remade in 1988 with Dennis Quaid as the doomed man.
Director: Rudolph Maté
Starring: Edmond O'Brien, Pamela Britton, Luther Adler, Beverly Garland, Lynn Baggett, William Ching
(Black and White, Premiere, 1950, PG, 3 Star)


16:25
The True Story of Jesse James (Film)
Borrowing widely from Nunally Johnson's script for Henry King's 1939 version of the legend, Nicholas Ray's film stars Robert Wagner as the legendary outlaw, with Jeffrey Hunter as his brother Frank. As he did in Rebel without a Cause, Ray portrays James as a rebel rather than a simple outlaw, driven to a life of crime by Northern sympathisers after the Civil War, as the film follows the last 18 years of his life. Edited for Violence.
Director: Nicholas Ray
Starring: Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Hope Lange, Agnes Moorehead, Alan Hale Jr., Alan Baxter
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1956, U, 3 Star)


18:15
Independence Day (Film)
Roland Emmerich's science fiction blockbuster sees aliens reach Earth. And they're clearly hostile: their plan is to suck the planet of all its resources, leave behind a burnt cinder circling the sun, and move on. Planting giant ships above the world's major cities, they unleash destruction on an unprecedented scale. All attempts to fight back are met by hordes of fighter craft until pilot Steven Hiller manages to down one and capture the pilot. In tandem, scientist David Levinson, having worked out their purpose, also works out a way to destroy them but he and Hiller need a spacecraft: which brings them to a secret base near Las Vegas... The child of countless science fiction movies, Independence Day is rollicking, fast-moving fun and even if the fate of what's left of the human race is never in doubt, there's enough tension and action to carry even the most jaundiced viewer along.
Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Bill Pullman, Mary McDonnell, Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsch, Margaret Colin, Will Smith
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1996, 12, 4 Star)


21:00
Batman (Film)
In Tim Burton's dark vision of the Caped Crusader's adventures, Michael Keaton plays the character as a troubled soul, intent on fighting evil but tormented by his inner demons. Jack Nicholson plays The Joker with all the stops out, while Kim Basinger is the slinky reporter who falls for Batman, placing herself in mortal danger.
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle, Billy Dee Williams
(Editor's Choice, Subtitles, 1989, 15, 4 Star)




23:30
Big Trouble in Little China (Film)
John Carpenter takes a rest from the horror genre to direct this enjoyable martial arts romp that's played firmly with its tongue in cheek. Kurt Russell plays Jack Burton, who agrees to pick up a friend's girlfriend from the airport. But when Miao Yin is kidnapped in front of him, Burton finds she's been abducted by sorcerer Lo Pan, the host of the spirit of an ancient Chinese warlord. He wants her for her unique green eyes, rare among Chinese women, to rejuvenate his spirit, and Burton has just hours to track down his lair and free Yin. With nods to the Indiana Jones trilogy, Carpenter enjoys setting up one exciting, exotic set piece after another while Russell wisely reprises the all-action, wise-cracking Snake Plissken from Escape from New York to enjoyable effect.
Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, James Hong, Victor Wong, Kate Burton
(Subtitles, 1986, 15, 4 Star)


01:25
The Day The World Ended (Film)
Another re-make of the old AIP B-movies, this time helmed by Terence Gross, with Nastjassa Kinski as a school therapist in a small town where young Ben McCann seems to possess strange powers and keeps insisting his father is an alien. Meanwhile, a monster is killing off the townsfolk... could there be any truth in the boy's story?
Director: Terence Gross
Starring: Randy Quaid, Bobby Edner, Nastassja Kinski, Harry Groener, Lee de-Broux, Stephen Tobolowsky
(Widescreen, Made For TV, 2001, 15, 2 Star)

 

[bu_Ali65]

&

12-03-2009​

13:00 The Dark Corner
(1946) Lucille Ball, before she turned to comedy, stars in this gripping film noir as a secretary who sets out to prove that her ex-con private eye boss is innocent of murder.

14:55 Sea of Sand
(1958) WWII action movie starring Richard Attenborough, following the Long Range Desert Group's mission to blow up a vital enemy petrol dump behind German lines in North Africa.


16:50 The Mudlark
(1950) In Jean Negulesco's charming film, young Thames mud scavenger Wheeler finds a cameo brooch of Queen Victoria that leads him on a mission to persuade her out of mourning.

18:50 Bogus
(1996) Drama starring Haley Joel Osment as a boy whose mother is killed in a car crash. Adopted by Whoopi Goldberg, he copes by inventing an invisible friend, Bogus (Gerard Depardieu).

21:00 Batman
(1989) Michael Keaton plays the Caped Crusader and Jack Nicholson his enemy, The Joker, in Tim Burton's dark vision of the comic book hero.


23:30 Death Note
(2006) Shusuke Kaneko's manga-based horror in which a law student acquires a notebook into which, if he writes a wrongdoer's name, that person dies.

01:55 Black Widow
(1987) Film noir with Debra Winger as a Justice department agent investigating the deaths of rich old men, all of whom appear to have been married to Theresa Russell.

 

[edward]

Film4 Listings for Friday 20th March


13:00
Queen Bee (Film)
Powerful emotional melodrama, starring Joan Crawford as Eva Phillips, society wife of Avery 'Beauty' Phillips. Eva is a ruthless, domineering Southern woman who seeks to dominate and manipulate everyone around her, with ultimately tragic consequences, as Carol, Beauty's sister, is driven to the edge, while his secretary Jennifer Stewart, who's also his cousin, sets Eva on a course of jealous revenge. Director Ranald MacDougall produces one of Crawford's best bitchy, acid-tongued performances while the rest of the cast play characters who cower beneath her baleful influence.
Director: Ranald MacDougall
Starring: Joan Crawford, Barry Sullivan, Betsy Palmer, John Ireland, Lucy Marlow, William Leslie
(Widescreen, Black and White, 1955, PG, 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
Let's Make Love (Film)
George Cukor's delightful musical romance, one of the top earners of its year, stars Yves Montand as Jean-Marc Clement, a millionaire who, hearing he is to be lampooned in a musical, tries out for a part under an assumed name. And when he meets the sultry Amanda, he immediately accepts the role. But will she love him for himself and not for his money?
Director: George Cukor
Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Yves Montand, Tony Randall, Frankie Vaughan, Wilfrid Hyde-White, David Burns
(Subtitles, 1960, U, 3 Star)


19:10
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)


21:00
Sliding Doors (Film)
Peter Howitt's romcom stars Gwyneth Paltrow as Helen Quilley, a PR executive fired from her job who consequently arrives home early, to find her partner Gerry in bed with Lydia. But in an alternative storyline, where she misses the train that delivered her to that nightmare scenario, she would have arrived home after Lydia had gone. As the film flits between the two plotlines, demonstrating the impact an apparently trivial incident can have on lives, professional success and the charming James Hammerton come into her life in the first, while in the second, her relationship with Gerry drags on, along with dead-end jobs. Eventually, her life reaches a crucial point, but which storyline prevails?
Director: Peter Howitt
Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hannah, John Carroll Lynch, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Zara Turner, Douglas McFerran
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1998, 15, 3 Star)




23:00
Blade II (Film)
Half-human, half-vampire Wesley Snipes returns in this sequel to the blockbuster, this time teaming up with arch-enemy Thomas Kretschmann who needs his help. A mutated race of vampires, the Reapers, are killing both humans and vampires and must be stopped before they gain too much power.
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman, Leonor Varela, Norman Reedus, Thomas Kretschmann
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described, 2002, 18, 3 Star)


01:10
Conquest of The Planet of The Apes (Film)
J Lee Thompson's addition to the Apes... canon is the fourth entry. Set on Earth, apes are now the slaves of humans on the order of Governor Breck. But still hidden is Caesar, the intelligent, talking ape/human of the murdered Cornelius and Zira from Escape from the Planet of the Apes. Keeping his identity secret, it's only when Breck orders the torture and death of his friend Armando that he organises a bloody revolt against the humans with the hope of establishing a world where dumb humans are the slaves of intelligent, talking apes...
Director: J. Lee Thompson
Starring: Roddy McDowall, Don Murray, Natalie Trundy, Hari Rhodes, Severn Darden, Lou Wagner
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1972, 15, 3 Star)

 

[edward]

Film4 Listings for Saturday 21st March


13:00
Carpool (Film)
Arthur Hiller's good natured chase-comedy sees Daniel Miller as an ad-man obsessed with time-keeping. So when his wife is taken ill and he has to run the morning carpool, it's with efficiency - the kids are picked up and, on the way to the school, there's even time to stop to buy donuts. But as he's waiting to pay, there's a hold-up and before he knows it, he and his five charges are being held hostage by Franklin Laszlo, an innocent customer identified as the robber. With the cops in hot pursuit, Miller, Laszlo and the kids set off for freedom and the chance to prove their innocence.
Director: Arthur Hiller
Starring: Tom Arnold, David Paymer, Rhea Perlman, Rod Steiger, Kim Coates, Rachael Leigh Cook
(Widescreen, 1996, PG, 2 Star)


14:45
Blanche Fury (Film)
Victorian melodrama starring Valerie Hobson as Blanche Fuller, a young woman whose arrival as governess on a family estate is the catalyst for betrayal, the revelation of old family secrets and murder. Stewart Granger plays Philip Thorn, the scheming illegitimate son who sees Blanche as his way to reclaim what he believes to be rightfully his. Co-starring Walter Fitzgerald and Michael Gough.
Director: Marc Allegret
Starring: Valerie Hobson, Stewart Granger, Michael Gough, Walter Fitzgerald, Susanne Gibbs, Maurice Denham
(Subtitles, 1948, 15, 3 Star)


16:35
The Raid (Film)
Based on real events, this film stars Van Heflin as Major Neal Benton, leader of a group of Confederate soldiers who escape from a Union prison in New York and take refuge in Canada. He then comes up with the daring plan of crossing the border to take a small American town, creating a second front and diverting the North's attention from the South. But his spying mission is upset both by his affection for war widow Katy Bishop and the disruptive influence of fellow officer Keating in Hugo Fregonese's fascinating Civil War thriller.
Director: Hugo Fregonese
Starring: Van Heflin, Anne Bancroft, Richard Boone, Lee Marvin, Tommy Rettig, Peter Graves
(Subtitles, 1954, U, 3 Star)


18:25
K-19: The Widowmaker (Film)
Based on a real-life incident, Kathryn Bigelow's tense film stars Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson as Alexei Vostrikov, the commander of Russia's first nuclear submarine, and Mikhail Polenin, his executive officer, whose first test voyage ends in disaster when the reactor fails. The only hope is for the crew to repair it at the risk of fatal irradiation. But the two men also have very different political agendas, one of which could trigger global conflict rather than maintain the uneasy truce of the Cold War.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Joss Ackland, Sam Spruell, Peter Stebbings, Christian Camargo
(Subtitles, 2002, 12, 3 Star)


21:00
A Knight's Tale (Film)
In the film that made him a box office star, the late Heath Ledger plays Will Thatcher, a lowly squire who replaces his dead master at a tournament, which he wins, before deciding he'll go for the big tournament in London. Along the way, he picks up Geoffrey Chaucer, who helps him further his career and hide his lowly roots. Brian Helgeland's film, with Shannyn Sossamon as the love interest, draws inspiration from MTV as much as it does derring-do, to rollicking good effect. Edited for language and violence.
Director: Brian Helgeland
Starring: Heath Ledger, Rufus Sewell, Shannyn Sossamon, Paul Bettany, Laura Fraser, Mark Addy
(Subtitles, Audio Described, 2001, PG, 3 Star)




23:35
Bug (Film)
William The Exorcist Friedkin's horror film stars Ashley Judd as Agnes, a waitress in a run-down bar who lives in a cheap motel. Into her life comes drifter Peter who, having served in the Gulf war, is obsessed with the idea that he is infected by bugs implanted by the government during medical treatment. She begins to share his paranoia and the pair spiral into a violent conspiracy theory which sees them become violently delusional to the point of extreme self-harm as they battle the bugs they believe are within them. Based on Tracy Letts' play from Chicago's Steppenwolf theatre, this is a visceral, frightening film but one that maintains an empathy for its characters up to the apocalyptic finale.
Director: William Friedkin
Starring: Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Harry Connick Jr., Lynn Collins, Brian F. O'Byrne, Neil Bergeron
(2006, 18, 3 Star)


01:40
LA Antena (Film)
Esteban Sapir's fantasy film is a homage to the era of silent movies but with nods to German expressionism, surrealism and Soviet propaganda posters thrown into the mix. In a futuristic city, the residents have lost their voices to both the omnipotent Mr TV and the nameless corporation that runs the metropolis. Their words instead form as solid blocks, acting as surtitles for the viewer. The only hope of regaining their voices lies with the Voice, a mysterious, ethereal singer, and her eyeless son.
Director: Esteban Sapir
Starring: Alejandro Urdapilleta, Valeria Bertuccelli, Julieta Cardinali, Rafael Ferro, Raúl Hochman, Ricardo Merkin
(Black and White, Widescreen, Subtitles, Subtitled, In Spanish with English Subtitles, 2007, PG, 4 Star)

 

[morpheuss]

Film4 Listings for Sunday 29th March


13:00
The Addams Family (Film)
Visually striking comedy based on the original comic strip. The blissfully ghoulish lives of Gomez and Morticia Addams are thrown into disarray when a scheming siren attempts to pass off her son as Gomez's long-lost brother Fester. Once installed in the family's spooky mansion, mother and son set their minds on stealing the family fortune.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Starring: Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Elizabeth Wilson, Christina Ricci, Judith Malina
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1991, PG, 3 Star)


14:55
School of Rock (Film)
Jack Black stars in Richard Linklater's comedy as Dewey Finn, a slacker rock musician who dreams of the big time. Then his group sack him and his live-in landlady suggests he might actually start paying rent. Bluffing his way into a job as a supply teacher at an expensive private school, he discovers his class have some musical ability. And if he can harness it to the world of rock and enter them in a Battle of the Bands, he will have found a purpose. Black's breakthrough role is supported by the smart acting of the ensemble cast of kids, led by the sassy Miranda Cosgrove, and Joan Cusack as the school head.
Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, Miranda Cosgrove, Maryam Hassan, Joey Gaydos Jr.
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described, 2003, PG, 4 Star)


17:05
Heaven Can Wait (Film)
Warren Beatty plays American footballer Joe Pendelton who's on the brink of Superbowl success - until an over-eager angel takes him to heaven just before his fatal accident. Since his now-dead body has been cremated, it is decreed his spirit must be found another body and the perfect candidate is billionaire Oliver Farnsworth, who's been poisoned by his scheming wife. With the money to fulfil his sporting dream, he buys his old team so he can play in the final game while his new-found altruism sees him help Betty Logan, who's campaigning against his company's destruction of the environment. Will he achieve all his ambitions before his wife realises what's going on and ensures that this time her husband's demise is final? Beatty also co-directed the film with Buck Henry, which was nominated for seven Oscars. Somewhat confusingly, it's based on the 1941 film Here Comes Mr Jordan rather than the 1954 film Heaven Can Wait.
Director: Warren Beatty, Buck Henry
Starring: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, James Mason, Jack Warden, Charles Grodin, Dyan Cannon
(Widescreen, 1978, PG, 3 Star)


19:10
The Man Who Knew Too Little (Film)
Jon Amiel's film nods towards Hitchcock's classic with Bill Murray as Wallace Ritchie, the ingenue spy, innocently involved in a plot to assassinate the world leaders. Caught up in the web-like world of espionage, matters are made even more complex by the complete misunderstanding of innocent conversations. Edited for content.
Director: Jon Amiel
Starring: Bill Murray, Peter Gallagher, Joanne Whalley, Alfred Molina, Richard Wilson, Geraldine James
(1998, 12, 3 Star)


21:00
Mission: Impossible III (Film)
Tom Cruise reprises his role as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, master of disguise and the double bluff. In JJ Abrams' fast-faced thriller, he's up against Owen Davian, who is planning to sell a new deadly weapon's system, code-named the 'Rabbit's Foot' to the highest bidder. Cue a stunning helicopter chase through a wind farm, a parachute drop that leaves Hunt dangling in front of a speeding truck and an unholy finale in the Vatican City, bringing the franchise to a punchy conclusion.
Director: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described, 2006, 12, 3 Star)




23:20
G.I. Jane (Film)
When a female US Senator persuades a Navy representative that there should be full gender integration in the force, he offers the chance for a female officer to undergo elite Navy SEALS training. Lieutenant Jordan O'Neil is the chosen officer but will she last the course and triumph over everyone who expects her to fail?
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Demi Moore, Viggo Mortensen, Anne Bancroft, Jason Beghe, Daniel von Bargen, John Michael Higgins
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1997, 15, 3 Star)


01:40
La Cienaga (Film)
Lucrecia Martel's debut feature stars Mercedes Moran and Graciela Borges as Tali and Mecha, cousins looking after their children and hopeless husbands as the city is gripped by a stultifying, humid heat wave. Seemingly improvised, the film is, in fact, tightly scripted as the weather becomes a metaphor for Argentina's own torpor and indifference to the growing financial storm.
Director: Lucrecia Martel
Starring: Mercedes Morán, Graciela Borges, Martín Adjemián, Leonora Balcarce, Silvia Baylé, Sofia Bertolotto
(In Spanish With Subtitles, 2001, 12, 4 Star)

 

[morpheuss]

Film4 Listings for Monday 30th March


13:00
Gift Horse (Film)
Compton Bennett's war drama The Gift Horse follows the fortunes of ageing destroyer The Ballantrae and her crew from the time they come together in 1940 until the climactic raid on occupied St Nazaire in 1942. Trevor Howard plays Lt Cmdr Hugh Alginon Fraser, the newly appointed captain, back in service after having left the navy following a court martial.
Director: Compton Bennett
Starring: Trevor Howard, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Sonny Tufts, Bernard Lee, Dora Bryan
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1952, U, 3 Star)


15:00
Victim (Film)
Basil Dearden's classic film stars Dirk Bogarde as a gay barrister who falls victim to blackmailers who are threatening to expose his homosexuality following an affair with a younger man. Bogarde can choose between silence or admission and, in choosing the latter, places an incredible strain on his marriage.
Director: Ringo Lam
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Sylvia Syms, Dennis Price, Anthony Nicholls, Peter Copley, Norman Bird
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1961, 15, 4 Star)


17:00
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (Film)
Otto Preminger's drama, based on a true story, stars Gary Cooper as the eponymous Colonel Billy Mitchell. Mitchell, a WWI flying hero, is convinced America's security lies not with the navy but with a strong, separate air force. The hidebound traditionalists of the navy and army ignore him but, when one of Michell's friends is killed flying an ill-maintained plane, Mitchell's public outbursts leave them no choice but to court-martial him. But what was supposed to be a quiet affair becomes a cause celebre, as Mitchell rallies to his cause such luminaries as Eddie Rickenbacker and Fiorello LaGuardia. The film is fascinating for the glimpses of President Calvin Coolidge and General Pershing pursuing the traditionalist line but more so for Mitchell predicting, in 1925, the possible destruction of the navy by aerial attack, specifically at the Pearl Harbor base...
Director: Otto Preminger
Starring: Gary Cooper, Charles Bickford, Ralph Bellamy, Rod Steiger, Elizabeth Montgomery, Fred Clark
(Subtitles, 1955, U, 3 Star)


19:00
Congo (Film)
Frank Marshall's all-out-action film stars Laura Linney, Dylan Walsh, Tim Curry and Ernie Hudson as a disparate group who embark on a safari into the heart of the Congo. Each has different reasons for setting out into the unknown. But having survived volcanoes and hungry hippo attacks, nothing could have prepared them for the greatest danger: a troop of intelligent killer apes who, as one critic wrote, "...make King Kong look like the Jolly Green Giant". Based on Michael Crichton's bestseller, Marshall's film is great fun, with wonderful cliff-hanging moments and, in Dr Karen Ross, a character who can out-tough Indiana Jones any day. Edited for language and violence.
Director: Frank Marshall
Starring: Laura Linney, Dylan Walsh, Ernie Hudson, Tim Curry, Grant Heslov, Joe Don Baker
(Widescreen, 1995, 12, 2 Star)


21:00
Crash (Film)
Paul Haggis won two Oscars for his major feature debut as director and co-writer. Set in Los Angeles over two days, it is a picaresque, episodic film with a cast of disparate characters whose lives coincide for one reason or another, from racist cop John Ryan who pulls over black TV director Cameron Thayer and his wife Christine, to the simple hassles that Iranian Farad encounters. Haggis shows a city where racism and its manifestations are easily encountered but where those at both the giving and receiving end are not simple ciphers but complex human beings whose intolerance is caused by both their personal and society's problems.
Director: Paul Haggis
Starring: Matt Dillon, Ryan Phillippe, Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Jennifer Esposito, Brendan Fraser
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described, 2004, 15, 4 Star)




23:10
Big Nothing (Film)
Jean-Baptiste Andrea's dark comedy stars Simon Pegg and David Schwimmer as Gus and Charlie, two workers at a call centre that deals with software problems, who come up with the plan to blackmail pillars of society who they find are downloading porn. Unfortunately, their plans soon go awry and the body count rises. As Charlie's policewoman wife Penelope soon gets too close to the truth for comfort, FBI agent Hymes closes in from another angle and Gus' ex-girlfriend Josie also finds herself involved.
Director: Jean-Baptiste Andrea
Starring: David Schwimmer, Simon Pegg, Alice Eve, Jon Polito, Natascha McElhone, Mimi Rogers
(Widescreen, 2006, 15, 3 Star)


00:55
Glue (Film)
Alexis Dos Santos' coming-of-age film stars Nahuel Perez Biscayart as Lucas, an adolescent coming to terms with both his body and his sexuality. As are his best friend Nacho and their mutual pal Andrea. As the trio begin exploring both emotionally and physically their changing desires, Santos paints a moving yet humorous portrait of the pains of growing up in suburban Patagonia.
Director: Alexis Dos Santos
Starring: Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Nahuel Viale, Inés Efron, Verónica Llinás, Héctor Díaz, Florencia Braier
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Subtitled, In Spanish with English Subtitles, 2006, 18, 3 Star)

 

[morpheuss]

Film4 Listings for Tuesday 31st March


13:00
The Mudlark (Film)
Despite the urging of Disraeli, Queen Victoria hasn't left Windsor in years... until a street urchin persuades her. On the bank of the Thames, the little scavenger uncovers a medallion bearing the queen's head and gains Her Majesty's favour.
Director: Jean Negulesco
Starring: Irene Dunne, Alec Guinness, Andrea Aureli, Beatrice Campbell, Finlay Currie, Anthony Steel
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1950, U, 4 Star)


14:55
Fathom (Film)
Raquel Welch stars in this frothy spy comedy as Fathom Harvill, a talented skydiver touring her show through Europe. Recruited by Douglas Campbell, who works for American Intelligence, she must use her skills to locate a missing nuclear weapon component missing in the Med. She accepts the mission but is Campbell all he seems and who can she really trust? Full of fabulous aerial effects with Fathom in her tight jumpsuit, Leslie Martinson's film never takes itself seriously and, to her credit, neither does Welch.
Director: Leslie H. Martinson
Starring: Anthony Franciosa, Raquel Welch, Ronald Fraser, Richard Briers, Greta Chi, Tom Adams
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1967, 12, 3 Star)


16:50
The Tall Men (Film)
Rousing action Western starring Clark Gable as a Civil War veteran who, with his brother Cameron Mitchell, agrees to crooked cattleman Robert Ryan's offer to be trail boss on a massive cattle drive from Texas to Montana.
Director: Raoul Walsh
Starring: Clark Gable, Jane Russell, Robert Ryan, Cameron Mitchell, Juan García, Harry Shannon
(1955, U, 3 Star)


19:10
The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain (Film)
English cartographers Reginald Anson and George Garrad arrive in a Welsh village to determine the status of the local vantage point, but declare it 16 feet too short to be a mountain. Holding an emergency meeting, two traditionally warring villagers - the minister Rev Robert Jones and publican Morgan the Goat - unite and devise a plan: the locals must add 20 feet to the hill/mountain, bucketload by bucketload, while the two Englishmen are otherwise detained, sending for Betty of Cardiff to act as the alluring distraction in Christopher Monger's charming comedy. Edited for language.
Director: Christopher Monger
Starring: Hugh Grant, Tara Fitzgerald, Colm Meaney, Ian McNeice, Ian Hart, Kenneth Griffith
(Subtitles, 1995, PG, 3 Star)


21:00
Fantastic Four (Film)
Tim Story's action fantasy stars Ioan Gruffudd, Michael Chiklis, Jessica Alba and Chris Evans as Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Sue Storm and Johnny Storm, four astronauts sent out to investigate a cosmic radiation storm. Caught by the storm's effects before they can erect safety shields, each of them finds their bodies changed to superhuman effect - Richards becomes the super-elastic Mr Fantastic, Grimm - the super strong Thing, Sue - Invisible Woman, and Johnny - Human Torch. At first revelling in their powers to prevent death and disasters, they find themselves drawn into battle with Victor von Doom. Once the sponsor for their experiments and space exploration, thanks to exposure to the same storm, he is now transformed into Dr Doom, a metallic creature who can manipulate electricity and wants to use his power to destroy the Fantastic Four and rule the world.
Director: Tim Story
Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon, Hamish Linklater
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2005, PG, 3 Star)




23:00
Nurse Betty (Film)
Comic thriller about a Kansas City waitress who becomes delusional when she sees her abusive husband murdered. Suffering from shock, she sets off for LA in search of the fictional hospital from her favourite TV soap and the handsome doctor who stars in it, unaware that her husband's very real killers are on her trail, and that the boot of her car is packed with the drugs her husband hoped to sell to his killers.
Director: Neil LaBute
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Renée Zellweger, Chris Rock, Greg Kinnear, Aaron Eckhart
(2000, 18, 3 Star)


01:10
The Seventh Seal (Film)
In the Films to See Before You Die strand, Peter Kaye introduces one of cinema's seminal films. It is so revered it has been lovingly parodied time and again yet Ingmar Bergman's masterpiece passes the test of time. A knight and his squire, returning home from the Crusades through a plague-ridden land, meet Death who engages the knight in a chess game as the pair debate the mysteries of life, faith and death itself.
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Starring: Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe, Max von Sydow, Bibi Andersson, Inga Gill
(In Swedish With Subtitles, Black and White, 1957, PG, 4 Star)

 

[bu_Ali65]

&

01.04.2009​

13:00 THE LONG MEMORY
(1952) John Mills stars in this gripping thriller as an ex-con seeking revenge after serving 12 years for a murder he didn't commit.

14:50 THE WRONG ARM OF THE LAW
(1962) Peter Sellers stars as the manager of a fashion boutique, a cover for his real job as the boss of a gang of inefficient villains. With Lionel Jeffries and Nanette Newman.

16:40 THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN
(1960) Jack Hawkins plays an embittered army officer who, after being forced out of service, recruits seven dodgy colleagues to pull off a daring bank job.

19:00 THE BAD NEWS BEARS
(1976) Michael Ritchie's vulgar cult sports comedy stars Walter Matthau as the curmudgeonly Morris Buttermaker, hired to coach a little league baseball team of no-hopers.

21:00 MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND
(2006) Luke Wilson lives to regret dumping his needy girlfriend (Uma Thurman) because her alter-ego is superhero G-Girl and she is going to use her powers to make his life a living hell.

22:55 FESTIVAL
(2005) British Connections. Daniela Nardini and Stephen Mangan star in Annie Griffin's comedy-drama set at the Edinburgh Fringe. Very strong language/sex scenes.

01:00 SWINGERS
(1996) Doug Liman's take on the ****** game offers a cooler than cool trawl through the dives, lives and parties of Hollywood wannabes (Jon Favreau, Vincent Vaughn). Strong language.

 

[bu_Ali65]

&

02.04.2009​

13:00 SAILOR BEWARE!
(1956) Classic British farce with Peggy Mount as the formidable mother of delightful Shirley Eaton, scaring the life out of her daughter's naval fiancé (Ronald Lewis).

14:40 A KID FOR TWO FARTHINGS
(1955) Carol Reed's charming film stars Jonathan Ashmore as a young, impressionable boy who mistakes a one-horned goat for a unicorn in London's colourful Petticoat Lane.

16:25 A WALK IN THE CLOUDS
(1995) Drama in which Keanu Reeves plays a soldier returning home after WWII who poses as the husband of a pregnant, unmarried young woman to keep her out of trouble with her family.

18:25 K19: THE WIDOWMAKER
(2002) Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson star as feuding commanders aboard a stricken Russian nuclear submarine where one false move could trigger WWIII.

21:00 FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL
(1994) Hugh Grant and Andie McDowell star in this smash hit movie as the couple who only meet at weddings and funerals. Contains strong language from the start.

23:15 DIARY OF THE DEAD
(2007) George Romero's fifth excursion into zombie land stars Josh Close as a student filmmaker, who finds himself shooting the goriest TV reality show ever. Strong language.

01:10 THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
(1998) Three student filmmakers head deep into desolate woodlands in search of the legendary Blair Witch only to discover the meaning of true horror. Strong language.

 

[morpheuss]

3/4/09


13:00 VICTIM
(1961) Basil Dearden's film stars Dirk Bogarde as a married, but secretly gay, barrister who risks his reputation to track down blackmailers who are targetting his fellow gays.

15:00 INNOCENTS IN PARIS
(1953) Picaresque comedy about the British abroad that sends up both the British and foreigners. With Alastair Sim, Ronald Shiner, Margaret Rutherford and Claire Bloom.

16:45 THE GIFT HORSE
(1952) Trevor Howard captains an ancient US warship gifted to the British navy, which is chosen to lead the raid on St Nazaire in 1942. With Richard Attenborough.

18:50 TIMELINE
Donner's

21:00 MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III
(2006) Tom Cruise stars as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, master of disguise and the double bluff. He's up against Philip Seymour Hoffman, who is planning to sell a deadly weapon. Violent scenes.

23:20 BIG NOTHING
(2006) Simon Pegg and David Schwimmer star as computer helpdeskers who decide to blackmail those accessing porn, but as the body count rises, their plans go awry. Violence/strong language.

01:05 LA CIENAGA
(2000) Two cousins look after their children and hopeless husbands as their Argentinian city is gripped by a stultifying heatwave in Lucrecia Martel's allegory of the country's decline.

 

[morpheuss]

&

04.04.2009​

13:00 TIMELINE
(2003) Richard Donner's time-travel film in which a group of archaeology students travel back to 14th-century France to rescue their professor (Billy Connolly) from war and plague.

15:10 ONCE UPON A TIME
(1944) A modern fairy-tale, starring Cary Grant as a broke Broadway producer who finds salvation in young Ted Donaldson's dancing caterpillar and love with Ted's older sister (Janet Blair).

16:55 THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN
(1960) Jack Hawkins plays an embittered army officer who, after being forced out of service, recruits seven dodgy colleagues to pull off a daring bank job.

19:10 THE ENGLISHMAN WHO WENT UP
...a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995) Christopher Monger's comedy stars Hugh Grant and Ian McNeice as surveyors sent to a Welsh village to decide if a hill is really a mountain.

21:00 RESIDENT EVIL
(2002) Milla Jovovich leads a team of commandos into a secret bunker controlled by a rogue computer, where the staff have become the living dead in this violent horror. Strong language.

22:55 THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
(1998) Saturday Night Shocks. Three student filmmakers head deep into desolate woodlands in search of the legendary Blair Witch only to discover the meaning of true horror. Strong language.

00:35 GLUE
(2006) Alexis Dos Santos' film stars Nahuel Perez Biscayart as an adolescent coming to terms with his body and his sexuality. Very strong language/sexual scenes/drug use.

 

[bu_Ali65]

&

05.04.2009​

13:00 VICTIM
(1961) Basil Dearden's film stars Dirk Bogarde as a married, but secretly gay, barrister who risks his reputation to track down blackmailers who are targetting his fellow gays.

15:00 INNOCENTS IN PARIS
(1953) Picaresque comedy about the British abroad that sends up both the British and foreigners. With Alastair Sim, Ronald Shiner, Margaret Rutherford and Claire Bloom.

16:45 THE GIFT HORSE
(1952) Trevor Howard captains an ancient US warship gifted to the British navy, which is chosen to lead the raid on St Nazaire in 1942. With Richard Attenborough.

18:50 TIMELINE
(2003) Richard Donner's time-travel film in which a group of archaeology students travel back to 14th-century France to rescue their professor (Billy Connolly) from war and plague.

21:00 MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III
(2006) Tom Cruise stars as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, master of disguise and the double bluff. He's up against Philip Seymour Hoffman, who is planning to sell a deadly weapon. Violent scenes.

23:20 BIG NOTHING
(2006) Simon Pegg and David Schwimmer star as computer helpdeskers who decide to blackmail those accessing porn, but as the body count rises, their plans go awry. Violence/strong language.

01:05 LA CIENAGA
(2000) Two cousins look after their children and hopeless husbands as their Argentinian city is gripped by a stultifying heatwave in Lucrecia Martel's allegory of the country's decline.

 

[edward]

Film4 Listings for Monday 6th April


13:00
Sailor Beware! (Film)
Peggy Mount raises the decibel levels of this durable British farce, playing Emma Hornett, the formidable mother of delightful Shirley, scaring the daylights out of her daughter's naval fiancé Albert Tufnell. Sailor Beware! benefits from an abundance of music hall mirth, and a supporting cast that includes Gordon Jackson, Thora Hird and Cyril Smith.
Director: Gordon Parry
Starring: Peggy Mount, Cyril Smith, Shirley Eaton, Ronald Lewis, Esma Cannon, Joy Webster
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1957, U, 3 Star)


14:40
The Mudlark (Film)
Despite the urging of Disraeli, Queen Victoria hasn't left Windsor in years... until a street urchin persuades her. On the bank of the Thames, the little scavenger uncovers a medallion bearing the queen's head and gains Her Majesty's favour.
Director: Jean Negulesco
Starring: Irene Dunne, Alec Guinness, Andrea Aureli, Beatrice Campbell, Finlay Currie, Anthony Steel
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1950, U, 4 Star)


16:35
In Custody (Film)
The feature film directorial debut of Ismail Merchant sees his adaptation of Anita Desai's poignant tale about a poet past his best. Deven is a teacher who has been commissioned to interview legendary Urdu poet, Nur, whom he has idolised for years. However, when Deven arrives for the interview, he discovers a broken man surrounded by hangers on and pulled in two different directions by his two wives.
Director: Ismail Merchant
Starring: Shashi Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Om Puri
(In Urdu and Hindi With English Subtitles, 1993, 15, 3 Star)


19:00
Bad News Bears (Film)
Michael Ritchie's cult sports comedy stars Walter Matthau as the curmudgeonly Morris Buttermaker, hired to coach a little league baseball team of no-hopers. The team, comprised of underprivileged kids playing in a league of WASP aspiration, are joined by ringer Amanda Whurlitzer and finally, under Buttermaker's alcohol-fuelled tutelage, get ready to win a game at last.
Director: Michael Ritchie
Starring: Walter Matthau, Chris Barnes, Tatum O'Neal, Ben Piazza, Vic Morrow, Erin Blunt
(Widescreen, 1976, PG, 3 Star)


21:00
My Super Ex-Girlfriend (Film)
Uma Thurman plays dowdy Jenny Johnson, who falls in love with Matt Saunders when they happen to meet on the subway. But when he finds her a little too possessive he dumps her, a decision he soon regrets. Because Jenny Johnson has an alter-ego: superhero G-Girl; and, as Saunders soon finds out in Ivan Reitman's comedy, hell hath no fury like a woman with super powers scorned.
Director: Ivan Reitman
Starring: Uma Thurman, Luke Wilson, Anna Faris, Rainn Wilson, Eddie Izzard, Stelio Savante
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described, 2006, 15, 3 Star)




22:55
Asylum (Film)
David Mackenzie's 60s-set drama stars Natasha Richardson as Stella Raphael, whose psychiatrist husband Max has been appointed as head of a maximum security hospital. Stuck in a loveless marriage and bored, she begins to take an active interest in one of the patients, Edgar Stark, which develops into a physical relationship. But what she doesn't realise is that Stark is dangerously insane and both he and Stella are being manipulated by the devious Dr Peter Cleave, bitter at being overlooked for the top job and eager for revenge.
Director: David Mackenzie
Starring: Natasha Richardson, Hugh Bonneville, Gus Lewis, Ian McKellen, Joss Ackland, Wanda Ventham
(Widescreen, 2005, 15, 3 Star)


00:50
A Lesson in Love (Film)
One of Ingmar Bergman's lighter films, Gunnar Björnstrand plays an eminent gynaecologist who embarks on an affair with a patient. In revenge, his wife Eva Dahlbeck leaves for Copenhagen and an ex-lover but when Björnstrand's affair ends, he sets off in pursuit of Dahlbeck, determined to win her back despite the attentions of her lover.
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Starring: Eva Dahlbeck, Gunnar Björnstrand, Yvonne Lombard, Harriet Andersson, Åke Grönberg, Olof Winnerstrand
(In Swedish With Subtitles, 1954, PG, 3 Star)

 

[edward]

Film4 Listings for Tuesday 7th April


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)


14:45
A Kid for Two Farthings (Film)
Adapted from Wolf Mankowitz's novel, Carol Reed's A Kid for Two Farthings is a poetic fable. Set in Petticoat Lane, it focuses on young Joe, who lives with his mother Joanna above a tailor's shop owned by Kandinsky. The tailor explains to Joe that through the legend of the unicorn, everyone's dreams and wishes can come true. When Joe discovers a one-horned goat in the market, he's convinced it's a unicorn and is determined to make the wishes of his hard-working neighbours come true.
Director: Carol Reed
Starring: Celia Johnson, Diana Dors, David Kossoff, Joe Robinson, Jonathan Ashmore, Brenda de Banzie
(Subtitles, 1955, U, 3 Star)


16:30
The Wrong Arm of the Law (Film)
Peter Sellers stars as Pearly Gates, the manager of a West End fashion boutique: a cover for his real job as boss of a gang of inefficient villains. Angered by the arrival of a crew of Australian crooks, they join forces with Scotland Yard in an attempt to undermine the men from down under in Cliff Owen's caper comedy.
Director: Cliff Owen
Starring: Peter Sellers, Lionel Jeffries, Bernard Cribbins, Davy Kaye, Nanette Newman, Bill Kerr
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1963, U, 4 Star)


18:25
K-19: The Widowmaker (Film)
Based on a real-life incident, Kathryn Bigelow's tense film stars Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson as Alexei Vostrikov, the commander of Russia's first nuclear submarine, and Mikhail Polenin, his executive officer, whose first test voyage ends in disaster when the reactor fails. The only hope is for the crew to repair it at the risk of fatal irradiation. But the two men also have very different political agendas, one of which could trigger global conflict rather than maintain the uneasy truce of the Cold War.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Joss Ackland, Sam Spruell, Peter Stebbings, Christian Camargo
(Subtitles, 2002, 12, 3 Star)


21:00
Boat Trip (Film)
Jerry Robinson is upset, having been dumped by his girl, but things look up when his best friend Nick books them on a singles cruise where they're bound to score. Unfortunately for them, cruise has a double meaning: it's for single gay men, as they discover once the liner has left port. In between avoiding the attentions of the passengers, particularly an ageing Lothario played by Roger Moore, things look up when they meet the ship's dance instructor and with the rescue of the shipwrecked all-female Swedish sun-tanning team! Mort Nathan's film is broad in its humour and neatly leavened by the inventive use of apposite songs including Maneater and, of course, Y.M.C.A.
Director: Mort Nathan
Starring: Cuba Gooding Jr., Horatio Sanz, Roselyn Sanchez, Vivica A. Fox, Maurice Godin, Roger Moore
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2002, 15, 2 Star)




22:50
Once upon a Time in the West (Film)
Sergio Leone's epic spaghetti western is set in a boom town made big by the arrival of the railway. Claudia Cardinale plays Jill McBain, a widow with a past who owns some of the valuable land, with Gabriele Ferzetti as Morton, a land-grabbing railroad owner. Into the mix is thrown Cheyenne, who has designs on Jill, Harmonica, a mysterious taciturn gunslinger, and Frank, a cold-blooded gun for hire working for Cheyenne. From its iconic, wordless ten minute opening at the railway station to the explosive denouement and shoot-out, this is a stunning, original film that stands alongside the great westerns of Howard Hawks and John Ford.
Director: Sergio Leone
Starring: Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards Sr., Charles Bronson, Gabriele Ferzetti, Paolo Stoppa
(Widescreen, 1968, 15, 5 Star)


02:00
Dog Eat Dog (Film)
Four likely lads want to make it big on the club scene but their decks are in the pawn shop. They decide to kidnap a rich woman's prize pooch but instead steal the beloved hound of the local Mr Big and find themselves in big trouble. Moody Shoaibi's debut feature, which also cameos Alan Davies, Melanie Blatt and Ricky Gervais, is a fast-moving thriller drama with a light touch of comedy and a genuine feeling of camaraderie among the four leads.
Director: Moody Shoaibi
Starring: Mark Tonderai, Nathan Constance, David Oyelowo, Crunski, Alan Davies, Melanie Blatt
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2001, 18, 2 Star)