Movies - TV-schedule for all movies today
The TV-listing for all movies.
Raintree County | 23.40 - 02.35
MGM's attempt to recapture the success of masterpiece Gone with the Wind failed to meet with much critical or public approval in its day. Such lack of enthusiasm now seems unfair and unwarranted, as this is a stunning, complex epic, dealing with issues and themes way ahead of its time. Magnificently filmed in MGM's Camera 65 (the only other movie to use this unique pin-sharp process was the 1959 version of Ben-Hur), it's superbly cast and benefits from a particularly emotive and evocative vocal from Nat "King" Cole. This is the movie for which Elizabeth Taylor should have got her Oscar, as it contains some of the finest screen work she has ever done. But off screen the drama was even more absorbing, as Taylor saved co-star Montgomery Clift's life after a horrific car accident that resulted in Clift suffering both physical and mental scars. The film's shooting schedule was seriously disrupted: watch closely and you can tell which scenes were shot before and which after the accident. It was a tragedy from which the film, and Clift, never recovered, but the final result still manages to be spectacular and involving.
Montgomery Clift
Prizzi's Honor | 23.45 - 02.00
Director John Huston's penultimate movie sees a return to the type of film noir with which he made his name in the 1940s, sent up here as a black comedy. It's something of a family affair, with his daughter Anjelica in an Oscar-nominated supporting role and her then-partner Jack Nicholson in the Oscar-nominated lead. He plays Charley Partanna, a grizzled Mafia hitman who falls for and marries Kathleen Turner's foxy freelance hitwoman. Their loyalties are tested (he works for the powerful East Coast Prizzi family, led by William Hickey's wizened Don; she, a West Coast operator, does not) and then shattered when each is tasked with bumping off the other. Complex farce ensues under the steady hand of Huston, and it's all irresistibly dark.
Jack Nicholson
28 Days Later | 00.00 - 02.10
Claustrophobic zombie horror by Trainspotting director Danny Boyle. Bike courier Jim wakes up in a London hospital to find the city almost entirely deserted, devastated by a rage-inducing virus, but soon discovers he is not the only survivor.
Cillian Murphy
Slap Shot | 00.00 - 02.10
Paul Newman is reunited with his Butch Cassidy director George Roy Hill for this sharp, satirical look at unethical tactics in professional ice hockey. Fashioned as a series of deliberately crude epithets by scriptwriter Nancy Dowd, the film follows the fortunes of a minor-league team that is encouraged to play dirty to win by ambitious coach Newman. Unfortunately, the relentless violence and profanity that provide the film with its great strength are usually toned down in TV versions, with much of the locker-room language removed.
Paul Newman
Bulundi | 00.00 - 03.00
Social film. A professor is kidnapped by a gang of criminals who hope to use his brains to mastermind their schemes. But the professor bravely stands by his principles.
Raj Kumar
Michael Caine Season:The Jigsaw Man | 00.10 - 02.00
Espionage thriller in which a British Secret Service agent defects to the Russians, but comes back to England for one final mission - to retrieve a vital dossier containing details of Soviet agents in the West. Suspecting that the KGB will kill him as soon as he returns the dossier, he decides to remain in the West under the guise of a Soviet defector.
Michael Caine
Ghost Voyage | 00.30 - 02.10
Science fiction adventure about a mysterious haunted ship from which seven strangers must escape before the spirits contained within it can ravage them.
Antonio Sabato Jr
The Walker | 00.40 - 02.40
Writer/director Paul Schrader is on familiar territory with this atmospheric though underdeveloped society drama. Revisiting themes from his earlier features American Gigolo and Light Sleeper, it stars Woody Harrelson as the titular "walker", Carter Page III - a gay, Washington DC-based charmer, who escorts the wives of the rich and powerful to social events. But when Carter tries to protect one of his inner circle (Kristin Scott Thomas) from scandal following the murder of her lover, his world starts to crumble. The picture's first third is a celebration of superficiality, deliciously capturing the intricacies of privileged life. Schrader's dialogue sparkles with cynical wit, and his cast, including Lauren Bacall and Lily Tomlin, adds essential depth. Harrelson is particularly pitch perfect, nailing his character's camp affectations without resorting to caricature. Unfortunately, the slack narrative can't match the fine performances, dipping its toe in too many genres and losing its direction and emotional impact in the process.
Woody Harrelson
Late Late Movie:One Good Cop | 00.50 - 02.45
Probing drama about a New York City police detective who is left to look after three little girls when his partner, their father, is killed in the line of duty. His meagre cop's salary precludes his supporting the orphaned daughters, yet he is unable to spurn his friend's legacy. The only way he can see of keeping his new family is by surrendering to the corrupt ways of the street.
Michael Keaton
Resurrection Man | 00.50 - 02.40
With the Troubles in Northern Ireland providing a background, this thriller effectively creates an atmosphere of warfare and shows how the situation can affect - and even apparently excuse - the actions of psychopathic killer Stuart Townsend, who leads a gang of Loyalists on a killing spree. Director Marc Evans tends to favour the bloody and the obvious, over defining events and motives, but this is, nonetheless, certainly an engrossing, convincing account of humankind's inhumanity.
Stuart Townsend
Cine Two:Amelie | 01.05 - 03.15
Jean-Pierre Jeunet's award-winning comedy romance about Montmartre waitress Amelie whose mission in life is to ensure people's happiness. But she herself is without love until she glimpses Nino, who is obsessed with collecting photo-booth pictures, and decides to pursue him with clues and messages.
Audrey Tautou
The Descent | 01.10 - 03.05
An all-female caving expedition goes horribly wrong in this brilliantly constructed panic attack from director Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers). Six friends end up in an uncharted subterranean system and encounter a monstrous cannibal race, but desperation, betrayals and imploding relationships prove as fatal to the girls as the flesh-eating threat. From the high-impact opening shock to the poignantly bleak ending, this underground Deliverance is designed to cause maximum stress in anyone remotely claustrophobic, vertiginous or afraid of the dark. Marshall's expert choreography of the creepy "crawler" creatures provides the extra terror, while they provide the full-on skin-slicing gore. As a writer and director he has a keen understanding of what makes the horror genre tick, and overturns the usual conventions with canny wit. Super-scary and vicious, both psychologically and physically, this cleverly produced chill-ride is edgy British horror at its very best.
Shauna Macdonald
The Best of Benny Hill | 01.15 - 02.35
No matter where you stand on the content of Benny Hill's bawdy comedy, there's no escaping the fact that he was one of British television's biggest ever stars. Featuring such familiar characters as Fred Scuttle, this compilation comes from sketches that originally appeared in his Thames series between 1969 and 1972. Regulars such as Bob Todd, Jenny Lee Wright and Henry McGee do their usual selfless stooging, and there's the inevitable "Hill's Angels" chase to Boots Randolph's immortal Yakety Sax theme. The show was axed in 1989, although it remained popular in America, where the great Greta Garbo was reportedly a huge fan.
Benny Hill
The Best of Benny Hill | 01.15 - 02.35
No matter where you stand on the content of Benny Hill's bawdy comedy, there's no escaping the fact that he was one of British television's biggest ever stars. Featuring such familiar characters as Fred Scuttle, this compilation comes from sketches that originally appeared in his Thames series between 1969 and 1972. Regulars such as Bob Todd, Jenny Lee Wright and Henry McGee do their usual selfless stooging, and there's the inevitable "Hill's Angels" chase to Boots Randolph's immortal Yakety Sax theme. The show was axed in 1989, although it remained popular in America, where the great Greta Garbo was reportedly a huge fan.
Benny Hill
The Best of Benny Hill | 01.15 - 02.35
No matter where you stand on the content of Benny Hill's bawdy comedy, there's no escaping the fact that he was one of British television's biggest ever stars. Featuring such familiar characters as Fred Scuttle, this compilation comes from sketches that originally appeared in his Thames series between 1969 and 1972. Regulars such as Bob Todd, Jenny Lee Wright and Henry McGee do their usual selfless stooging, and there's the inevitable "Hill's Angels" chase to Boots Randolph's immortal Yakety Sax theme. The show was axed in 1989, although it remained popular in America, where the great Greta Garbo was reportedly a huge fan.
Benny Hill
The Best of Benny Hill | 01.15 - 02.35
No matter where you stand on the content of Benny Hill's bawdy comedy, there's no escaping the fact that he was one of British television's biggest ever stars. Featuring such familiar characters as Fred Scuttle, this compilation comes from sketches that originally appeared in his Thames series between 1969 and 1972. Regulars such as Bob Todd, Jenny Lee Wright and Henry McGee do their usual selfless stooging, and there's the inevitable "Hill's Angels" chase to Boots Randolph's immortal Yakety Sax theme. The show was axed in 1989, although it remained popular in America, where the great Greta Garbo was reportedly a huge fan.
Benny Hill
The Best of Benny Hill | 01.15 - 02.35
No matter where you stand on the content of Benny Hill's bawdy comedy, there's no escaping the fact that he was one of British television's biggest ever stars. Featuring such familiar characters as Fred Scuttle, this compilation comes from sketches that originally appeared in his Thames series between 1969 and 1972. Regulars such as Bob Todd, Jenny Lee Wright and Henry McGee do their usual selfless stooging, and there's the inevitable "Hill's Angels" chase to Boots Randolph's immortal Yakety Sax theme. The show was axed in 1989, although it remained popular in America, where the great Greta Garbo was reportedly a huge fan.
Benny Hill
The Best of Benny Hill | 01.15 - 02.35
No matter where you stand on the content of Benny Hill's bawdy comedy, there's no escaping the fact that he was one of British television's biggest ever stars. Featuring such familiar characters as Fred Scuttle, this compilation comes from sketches that originally appeared in his Thames series between 1969 and 1972. Regulars such as Bob Todd, Jenny Lee Wright and Henry McGee do their usual selfless stooging, and there's the inevitable "Hill's Angels" chase to Boots Randolph's immortal Yakety Sax theme. The show was axed in 1989, although it remained popular in America, where the great Greta Garbo was reportedly a huge fan.
Benny Hill
The Best of Benny Hill | 01.15 - 02.35
No matter where you stand on the content of Benny Hill's bawdy comedy, there's no escaping the fact that he was one of British television's biggest ever stars. Featuring such familiar characters as Fred Scuttle, this compilation comes from sketches that originally appeared in his Thames series between 1969 and 1972. Regulars such as Bob Todd, Jenny Lee Wright and Henry McGee do their usual selfless stooging, and there's the inevitable "Hill's Angels" chase to Boots Randolph's immortal Yakety Sax theme. The show was axed in 1989, although it remained popular in America, where the great Greta Garbo was reportedly a huge fan.
Benny Hill
The Best of Benny Hill | 01.15 - 02.35
No matter where you stand on the content of Benny Hill's bawdy comedy, there's no escaping the fact that he was one of British television's biggest ever stars. Featuring such familiar characters as Fred Scuttle, this compilation comes from sketches that originally appeared in his Thames series between 1969 and 1972. Regulars such as Bob Todd, Jenny Lee Wright and Henry McGee do their usual selfless stooging, and there's the inevitable "Hill's Angels" chase to Boots Randolph's immortal Yakety Sax theme. The show was axed in 1989, although it remained popular in America, where the great Greta Garbo was reportedly a huge fan.
Benny Hill
The Best of Benny Hill | 01.15 - 02.35
No matter where you stand on the content of Benny Hill's bawdy comedy, there's no escaping the fact that he was one of British television's biggest ever stars. Featuring such familiar characters as Fred Scuttle, this compilation comes from sketches that originally appeared in his Thames series between 1969 and 1972. Regulars such as Bob Todd, Jenny Lee Wright and Henry McGee do their usual selfless stooging, and there's the inevitable "Hill's Angels" chase to Boots Randolph's immortal Yakety Sax theme. The show was axed in 1989, although it remained popular in America, where the great Greta Garbo was reportedly a huge fan.
Benny Hill
The Best of Benny Hill | 01.15 - 02.35
No matter where you stand on the content of Benny Hill's bawdy comedy, there's no escaping the fact that he was one of British television's biggest ever stars. Featuring such familiar characters as Fred Scuttle, this compilation comes from sketches that originally appeared in his Thames series between 1969 and 1972. Regulars such as Bob Todd, Jenny Lee Wright and Henry McGee do their usual selfless stooging, and there's the inevitable "Hill's Angels" chase to Boots Randolph's immortal Yakety Sax theme. The show was axed in 1989, although it remained popular in America, where the great Greta Garbo was reportedly a huge fan.
Benny Hill
The Best of Benny Hill | 01.15 - 02.35
No matter where you stand on the content of Benny Hill's bawdy comedy, there's no escaping the fact that he was one of British television's biggest ever stars. Featuring such familiar characters as Fred Scuttle, this compilation comes from sketches that originally appeared in his Thames series between 1969 and 1972. Regulars such as Bob Todd, Jenny Lee Wright and Henry McGee do their usual selfless stooging, and there's the inevitable "Hill's Angels" chase to Boots Randolph's immortal Yakety Sax theme. The show was axed in 1989, although it remained popular in America, where the great Greta Garbo was reportedly a huge fan.
Benny Hill
The Best of Benny Hill | 01.15 - 02.35
No matter where you stand on the content of Benny Hill's bawdy comedy, there's no escaping the fact that he was one of British television's biggest ever stars. Featuring such familiar characters as Fred Scuttle, this compilation comes from sketches that originally appeared in his Thames series between 1969 and 1972. Regulars such as Bob Todd, Jenny Lee Wright and Henry McGee do their usual selfless stooging, and there's the inevitable "Hill's Angels" chase to Boots Randolph's immortal Yakety Sax theme. The show was axed in 1989, although it remained popular in America, where the great Greta Garbo was reportedly a huge fan.
Benny Hill
The Best of Benny Hill | 01.15 - 02.35
No matter where you stand on the content of Benny Hill's bawdy comedy, there's no escaping the fact that he was one of British television's biggest ever stars. Featuring such familiar characters as Fred Scuttle, this compilation comes from sketches that originally appeared in his Thames series between 1969 and 1972. Regulars such as Bob Todd, Jenny Lee Wright and Henry McGee do their usual selfless stooging, and there's the inevitable "Hill's Angels" chase to Boots Randolph's immortal Yakety Sax theme. The show was axed in 1989, although it remained popular in America, where the great Greta Garbo was reportedly a huge fan.
Benny Hill
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner | 01.15 - 03.00
Having already scored successes with Look Back in Anger and A Taste of Honey, director Tony Richardson completed his outstanding "kitchen sink" collection with this stirring tale of the borstal boy who dares to buck the system just as it offers him a lifeline. Tom Courtenay delivers a remarkable debut performance as the embittered delinquent whose talent for running gives governor Michael Redgrave the means to raise the profile of his rundown institution. Masterfully adapted by Alan Sillitoe from his own story and unobtrusively shot by Walter Lassally, this is as powerful and relevant today as it ever was.
Tom Courtenay
The Best of Benny Hill | 01.15 - 02.35
No matter where you stand on the content of Benny Hill's bawdy comedy, there's no escaping the fact that he was one of British television's biggest ever stars. Featuring such familiar characters as Fred Scuttle, this compilation comes from sketches that originally appeared in his Thames series between 1969 and 1972. Regulars such as Bob Todd, Jenny Lee Wright and Henry McGee do their usual selfless stooging, and there's the inevitable "Hill's Angels" chase to Boots Randolph's immortal Yakety Sax theme. The show was axed in 1989, although it remained popular in America, where the great Greta Garbo was reportedly a huge fan.
Benny Hill
The Negotiator | 01.30 - 04.10
Despite being cluttered with clichés from other films, this action drama is still efficiently exciting cinema, thanks to the electrifying chemistry between the leads. Samuel L Jackson and Kevin Spacey play Chicago police negotiators - cops skilled at talking hostage-takers out of the dead ends into which they've put themselves. Jackson, fresh from persuading a madman not to kill his daughter, is accused of stealing from police funds. So he occupies the Internal Affairs headquarters and takes captives to buy himself time to clear his name. It's when Spacey is called in to negotiate with the negotiator that director F Gary Gray's movie really comes alive.
Samuel L Jackson
This Year's Love | 01.35 - 03.30
Writer/director David Kane tries hard to evoke the spirit of mid-1990s "Cool Britannia" zeitgeist in this breezy romantic comedy, set in and around London's trendy Camden Lock and bursting with British stars of the future. However, while Catherine McCormack, Douglas Henshall and Dougray Scott deliver spunky, dynamic performances, the episodic script gives them little to work with. Charting three years in the lives of six London dropouts, the film recalls La Ronde with its constant swapping of sexual partners. Sadly, the plot soon becomes yawningly predictable. Kathy Burke's chirpy "fat bird" and Ian Hart's damaged loner come off best, though Jennifer Ehle beggars belief as a dreadlocked single mother.
Ian Hart
Heaven's Gate | 01.50 - 05.25
This notorious western soared over budget and was so thoroughly trashed by the New York critics that the bankrupted studio, United Artists, withdrew the film and cut it by an hour. Sadly, this is the version usually seen today. While some of director Michael Cimino's ambition still shines through - notably the wondrous photography, the set-piece battle and the roller-skating dance - the story, about a Wyoming range war between cattlemen and persecuted immigrants, makes little sense. (The same story inspired Shane.) The full version, however, is a superb, five-star achievement.
Kris Kristofferson
Night Shift | 02.00 - 03.50
This breezy comedy was intended as a vehicle for director Ron Howard's old Happy Days chum Henry "the Fonz" Winkler, but it's future Batman Michael Keaton that steals the show. Winkler plays the shy mortuary attendant who gets involved in a call-girl operation run from the morgue by sharp-talking Keaton. The broad script by Babaloo Mandel and Lowell Ganz doesn't attempt to milk the black opportunities in the scenario, but the film is still very funny and remarkably free of the earnestness that has marred Howard's subsequent hits. As well as providing a showcase for Keaton's talents, it also gave early exposure to a number of other future stars, including Shelley Long, Kevin Costner and Shannen Doherty.
Henry Winkler
'Til There Was You | 02.00 - 04.00
The woeful miscasting of Jeanne Tripplehorn sabotages this romantic comedy about two people who are destined to meet but who contrive to keep missing each other. Tripplehorn fumbles all her attempts at comedy, which is particularly frustrating in a movie that features TV comedy stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Jennifer Aniston in supporting roles. Dylan McDermott fares better as the man she will one day meet and fall for, but, in true movie style, he's actually on the opposing side of her fight to save her historic home. At least director Scott Winant handles this disappointing effort with a refreshing lack of sentimentality.
Jeanne Tripplehorn
The Descent | 02.10 - 04.05
An all-female caving expedition goes horribly wrong in this brilliantly constructed panic attack from director Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers). Six friends end up in an uncharted subterranean system and encounter a monstrous cannibal race, but desperation, betrayals and imploding relationships prove as fatal to the girls as the flesh-eating threat. From the high-impact opening shock to the poignantly bleak ending, this underground Deliverance is designed to cause maximum stress in anyone remotely claustrophobic, vertiginous or afraid of the dark. Marshall's expert choreography of the creepy "crawler" creatures provides the extra terror, while they provide the full-on skin-slicing gore. As a writer and director he has a keen understanding of what makes the horror genre tick, and overturns the usual conventions with canny wit. Super-scary and vicious, both psychologically and physically, this cleverly produced chill-ride is edgy British horror at its very best.
Shauna Macdonald
Shakes the Clown | 02.10 - 03.50
Stand-up comedian Bobcat Goldthwait exploited the sinister side of the classic circus clown in this bizarre, harsh fantasy - it's set in the mythical town of Palukaville - which he performed as writer, director and star. Goldthwait is the eponymous Shakes, an alcoholic clown and regular barfly. When his boss, the clown dispatcher, is found murdered Shakes is the prime suspect and is forced to go on the run to clear himself. The depiction of a hierarchical clown society is one of the film's strong points, but in the end it's more funny peculiar than funny ha-ha. Robin Williams appears in a cameo role and the film does have an almost masochistic cult status.
Bobcat Goldthwait
Action in the North Atlantic | 02.35 - 05.00
This Second World War flag-waver began as one of many Warner Bros short films designed to salute various aspects of the war effort - this time the merchant marine - but ended up a full-length feature. Humphrey Bogart (immediately after Casablanca) and Raymond Massey play the courageous seamen who sail from the USA to Murmansk in the Soviet Union, dodging German U-boats and bombers all the way. Ruth Gordon, meanwhile, keeps the home fires burning. Bogart and Massey make a convincing pair of heroes and the action sequences are just as impressive as those in Noël Coward and David Lean's earlier In Which We Serve.
Humphrey Bogart
Mean Guns | 02.40 - 04.30
An above average crime thriller, with Highlanderstar Christopher Lambert and rapper Ice-T strutting their lethal stuff through a blood-soaked and slightly surreal plot set in a derelict prison. Ice T is a sinister gangster - check the platinum teeth - who invites scores of criminal associates, including troubled hitman Lambert, to the prison to atone for their sins against the syndicate. They must engage in lethal combat, but three survivors will emerge with $10 million each so that they can retire from crime for ever. Set-bound but stylish, it is one of the better films to be directed by straight-to-video exponent Albert Pyun.
Christopher Lambert
An American Haunting | 02.40 - 04.25
Writer/director Courtney Solomon makes amends for his appalling 2000 debut Dungeons & Dragons with this efficient but predictable supernatural chiller. Based on the legend of the so-called Bell Witch of Tennessee, it sees a wealthy and respected family in early 19th-century America besieged by an aggressive poltergeist. For four years, the spook terrorised the household, singling out John Bell (Donald Sutherland) and his only daughter Betsy (Rachel Hurd-Wood) in increasingly vicious attacks. Every haunting movie from The Exorcist to The Entity is referenced in the disturbing events, to offer a carefully constructed patchwork of fear. However, while individual elements may seem familiar, they're no less effective and hit all the right scary notes thanks to taut direction and a ruthless exploitation of sound and visuals. The acting is also of unusually high quality, with understated performances from Sutherland and his screen wife Sissy Spacek adding depth to a simplistic yet genuinely creepy story.
Donald Sutherland
Cahill, United States Marshal | 03.00 - 04.45
Director Andrew V McLaglen could always be depended upon to hammer out gruff, good-looking westerns from the most unpromising material. Here he saddles up John Wayne and a skilled supporting cast for a parable on the extent to which modern youth had been corrupted while America was away solving the problems of the world. As a political statement, it's reactionary and naive, but it nonetheless passes muster as a late Wayne vehicle, with the Duke looking every day of his 66 years as the absentee father out to teach villainous George Kennedy a lesson for enticing his teenage sons into crime.
John Wayne
Tube Tales | 03.30 - 05.00
A collection of nine short films set in and around the London Underground. Each tale captures a refreshingly unusual angle on life in an international city. Ranging from witty to erotic, the stories feature a woman who turns the tables on a lecherous man, a drug addict chased through the Underground, a musician fantasising about a woman he has never met, and a couple who think they have got away with a briefcase full of money.
Ray Winstone
Maverick | 03.50 - 06.00
Despite the attention of master scriptwriter William Goldman, this gentle tribute to the hit comedy western TV series missed a golden opportunity for a razor-sharp spoof. There's no doubt the stars had a ball, though, with Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster sparking nicely as the eponymous gambler and the con artist who is more than his match. But it's left to James Garner (who played the original Bret Maverick), saddled with a role that is little more than a clumsy in-joke, to demonstrate what comic acting is really all about. Fans of westerns, both small screen and big screen, should keep an eye out for a multitude of familiar faces around the riverboat poker tables. The eagle-eyed can spot - among others - Doug McClure, who played Trampas in The Virginian, William Smith, who spent two years in Laredo, and Henry Darrow, who played Manolito in The High Chaparral .
Mel Gibson
Krull | 03.50 - 06.00
Engaging without ever being enthralling, this fantasy performed badly at the box office and Columbia saw little return on its $27 million investment. Yet this maligned movie has many moments to enjoy, as Ken Marshall's Prince Colwyn seeks to release princess Lysette Anthony from the clutches of the Beast. The special effects may fall far short of spectacular, but they help create a charming neverland and add considerably to the excitement of the quest. The acting honours go to Bernard Bresslaw as a cyclops and Freddie Jones as a gloomy seer.
Ken Marshall
The Curse of King Tut's Tomb | 04.00 - 06.00
Concluding part of the fantasy adventure in which adventurer Danny Freemont races to uncover the secrets of the life and death of Tutankhamen and find a tablet which will grant its holder omnipotence. His rival in the quest is evil Morgan Sinclair, member of the Hellfire Council.
Casper Van Dien
Secret of the Andes | 04.00 - 06.00
Family comedy about the hunt for an ancient relic with magical powers. An archaeologist finds his expedition running into trouble when locals become hostile. Then his wife arrives with their mischievous daughter, who befriends the village wise man, and they set out to solve the riddle of the Andes.
Nancy Allen
Stormbreaker | 04.30 - 06.15
This adaptation of the first book in Anthony Horowitz's bestselling Alex Rider series is a British action adventure with Hollywood-style bombast. Alex Pettyfer plays teenager Alex Rider who reluctantly turns superspy to avenge the murder of his uncle (Ewan McGregor). Pettyfer makes a suitably good-looking hero, although occasionally clamping his jaw doesn't really convey the bitter tragedy behind Rider's mission. Damian Lewis plays the assassin responsible for his woes, but, sadly, writer Anthony Horowitz (adapting his own novel) pushes him aside in favour of campy arch-villain Mickey Rourke, who has an obligatory Bond-style shark tank - except this one boasts a giant jellyfish. The film has its flaws, but thankfully director Geoffrey Sax ensures it's never dull. There are lots of audacious stunts featuring quirky gadgets, such as acne cream that eats through steel, and there are extra laughs courtesy of Bill Nighy as a deadpan MI6 official. It all adds up to bright and breezy family viewing.
Alex Pettyfer
Emperor of the North | 04.45 - 06.55
This addictively tough action adventure follows a railway guard (Ernest Borgnine) who is proud of the fact that no tramp, especially not Lee Marvin, rides his train for free. Robert Aldrich's direction comes at the viewer like an express train and, typically fusing darkness with wit, creates a symbolic tale of the Depression, even if the drifter in this film is rather absurdly elevated to hero status. The Aldrich express does screech to a halt now and again with rather more chat than action, but there is enough pulsating drama and compelling background detail to keep you glued.
Lee Marvin
Kiss Me Kate | 05.00 - 06.50
This splendid MGM version of Cole Porter's smash-hit Broadway show was originally filmed in 3-D, hence all those shots where Ann Miller and Howard Keel chuck things at the audience, including themselves. Director George Sidney (Show Boat, Scaramouche) is completely comfortable in the world of the theatre, and utilises fabulous, and cleverly disguised, long takes in his filming of Keel as Fred Graham-cum-Petruchio and Kathryn Grayson as difficult diva Lilli Vanessi, alias Shakespeare's tamed shrew Kate. Keel has rarely been better but Miller nearly steals the show with Too Darn Hot, and comic gangsters Keenan Wynn and James Whitmore are wonderful in composer Porter's saucy waltz Brush Up Your Shakespeare. This is a treat, but it just lacks that special magic that makes a screen musical great: still, in the face of such talent, it doesn't really matter.
Kathryn Grayson
One Special Night | 05.25 - 07.05
A simple premise - a man and a woman are stranded in a snowstorm, spend the night learning about each other and form an important friendship - becomes a moving TV movie thanks to the accomplished performances of James Garner (still looking good at 72) and Julie Andrews. Based on Jan Hartman's play A Winter Visitor, it is subtly directed by Roger Young and never descends into the mushiness you might expect from such a plot. The cast is uniformly good, but the real pleasure comes from watching the two veteran leads (appearing together on screen for the first time since the 1982 Blake Edwards film Victor/Victoria) go through their paces.
James Garner
Project ALF | 06.00 - 07.35
Spun off from a 1980s American television series, director Dick Lowry's unassuming sci-fi comedy about an furry orange extraterrestial - ALF stands for Alien Life Form - is amiable family fare. Here the wisecracking ET has close encounters with the military, who have taken him to a top-secret base for analysis; but others at the establishment wish to see him destroyed. Miguel Ferrer, Ed Begley Jr and Martin Sheen are the well known faces in an otherwise unfamiliar cast.
Miguel Ferrer
Little Bigfoot 2: the Journey Home | 06.00 - 07.40
Somebody put their little bigfoot right in it when they suggested making this dismal sequel. Director Art Camacho must shoulder the greatest responsibility, for not only does he display a lamentable lack of subtlety in staging the comic scenes, but he also allows Stephen Furst to get away with a painfully caricatured performance as the divorced father trying to find favour with his kids. Only Melody Clarke as his right-on daughter makes a positive impression, as she and brother Taran Noah Smith try to prevent nasty tycoon Steve Eastin from capturing an abandoned sasquatch cub. Tacky, tatty and eminently missable.
Stephen Furst
The Last Temptation of Christ | 06.00 - 08.45
Ignore all the controversy and see this moving adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis's novel for what it is - a challenging essay on the life of Jesus had he ignored his divine destiny and chosen to pursue human aims instead. Certainly neither blasphemous nor offensive, Martin Scorsese's film re-creates the biblical milieu in a highly evocative manner and the all-star performances are welcome modern reinterpretations of scripture stereotypes. It's slightly too long, and Scorsese does pull some punches in deference to the subject matter, but these are minor criticisms; one should take any opportunity to cut through the contention and reappraise this sincere work.
Willem Dafoe
When a Stranger Calls | 06.15 - 08.00
Fred Walton's 1979 movie about a babysitter terrorised by crank phone calls from inside the house here gets an ill-advised remake, courtesy of Con Air director Simon West. This time it's colourless Camilla Belle who is forced to babysit in a remote lakeside house as punishment for mobile phone misuse. Her terror increases when the deranged caller starts insisting that she check on the children. But suspense and interest hit rock bottom fast as the film cranks up the sound effects while lowering the gore factor to the point where there's no sense of real dread. So it's a relief when the psycho (scarred-for-real Tommy Flanagan, voiced by Lance Henriksen) makes his sudden appearance, because something actually starts happening. A few mildly diverting thrills aren't enough, though, to breathe life into a plot that's been rendered tired - and tame - through countless imitations.
Camilla Belle
Duck Soup | 06.55 - 08.10
The Marx Brothers reached peaks of anarchic brilliance in this comedy masterpiece, which burst upon audiences four years after their primitive feature debut in The Cocoanuts. Groucho, Chico, Harpo and the uncharismatic Zeppo - in his final screen role - are all entangled in a runaway satire that finds Groucho as a Ruritanian leader going to war because he has paid a month's advance rent on the battlefield. What helps make this the funniest of the Marx Brothers pictures - besides the absence of the romantic interludes that dogged later outings - are the exchanges between Groucho and Margaret Dumont's stately matriarch, plus a stunningly surreal mirror sequence.
Groucho Marx
Here Comes the Son | 07.05 - 08.45
Based on a true story, this is a typically sudsy affair which nevertheless gives Scott Bakula (who also executive produces) a break from the sci-fi roles he is usually associated with. He plays a confirmed bachelor who unexpectedly discovers that he's become a father, but nevertheless resolves to bring up the child himself. He then finds himself embroiled in a nasty custody battle with an old flame. Director Paul Schneider and writer Joe Cacaci stick resolutely to the true story template and fans of the genre won't be disappointed.
Scott Bakula
Captain Sindbad | 07.20 - 08.50
With ingenious effects and vigorously directed by Byron Haskin, this is a hugely enjoyable Arabian Nights adventure, despite its dark undertones. Gnarled Mexican veteran Pedro Armendáriz steals the show as the villainous sultan whose indefatigability depends on his heart remaining outside his body! But American lug Guy Williams makes a serviceable hero as he delivers the inanimate Heidi Brühl from Pedro's castle. On a more sombre note, writers Ian McLellan Hunter and Guy Endore had to adopt the pseudonyms Samuel B West and Harry Relis to bypass the Hollywood blacklist.
Guy Williams
Jane Austen's Mafia | 07.35 - 09.05
This Mafia spoof from Jim Abrahams is in the same vein as his earlier hits Airplane! and The Naked Gun, and the jokes are similar, too. That it works at all is only due to convincing performances from Olympia Dukakis, Jay Mohr, Christina Applegate and Lloyd Bridges, who plays a Don Corleone figure training his son (Mohr) to take over the family business. However, there comes a time when he's disposable, so fellow hoods send a temptress to woo Mohr away from his family and girlfriend (Applegate). You might say it's time someone sent up The Godfather; you won't after seeing this.
Jay Mohr
Frank | 07.40 - 09.20
Heartwarming family film. When a stray dog appears at a family's summer home, the father wants to report it to Animal Control. At his children's pleading, he relents, and agrees that they can look after the dog for the rest of the summer, as long as they put him up for adoption when autumn comes. But the dog is to perform a heroic act that will change everyone's lives forever.
Jon Gries
Charge | 08.00 - 08.50
An arena for media projects made by young people aged 16 to 25, featuring short films, documentaries, music videos, and photography. Find out more at www.chargetv.co.uk.
A Sound of Thunder | 08.00 - 10.00
Time-travel thriller based on a short story by acclaimed science fiction writer Ray Bradbury. A group of hunters change the future when their prehistoric dinosaur safari goes awry, leaving the scientists who made their trip possible to try to work out how to prevent the destruction of their futuristic world.
Edward Burns
Iceman | 08.00 - 09.50
Two of Universal's most successful pictures are recalled in this fascinating sci-fi outing. With an opening that echoes Frankenstein and a plotline reminiscent of ET, director Fred Schepisi's film couldn't have much better role models. While its subject matter is hardly new, the approach is refreshingly intelligent. John Lone gives a remarkable performance here as the primitive man rescued from a 40,000-year incarceration in a block of ice, registering fear, bewilderment, trust and curiosity with shifts of expression so subtle they cannot fail to convince. As the scientists monitoring his progress, Timothy Hutton and Lindsay Crouse also underplay to good effect.
Timothy Hutton
Teacher's Pet | 08.10 - 10.15
In this delightful comedy, Clark Gable stars as a crusty, hard-bitten newspaper editor who, instead of lecturing to Doris Day's journalism class, decides to enrol as a pupil. And, of course, his initial disdain of reporters who learn from books is swayed by his attraction to the teacher. Fay and Michael Kanin's screenplay becomes thin by the end, but Gable and Day fill it out with boisterous enthusiasm, possibly realising what upstaging opposition they've got from the great Gig Young, who was Oscar-nominated for his performance as Doris's other beau.
Clark Gable
Tom and Jerry: The Movie | 08.30 - 10.00
Feature-length animated comedy in which the sparring cat-and-mouse duo team up to help an unhappy little girl escape from her cruel guardian. With the voices of Richard Kind, Dana Hill, Henry Gibson and Charlotte Rae.
Amber Frey: Witness for the Prosecution | 08.45 - 10.25
Made-for-TV courtroom thriller based on a real-life US case. An unsuspecting woman discovers her lover is married and finds out he is the prime suspect in his pregnant wife's recent disapperance. Soon she becomes embroiled in the formal police investigation and is used as a key witness in the subsequent murder trial.
Janel Maloney
Smokey and the Bandit III | 08.45 - 10.15
A truly dire entry in what was always a crass comedy series that effectively sees the original stars, Burt Reynolds and Sally Field, jump ship (though Reynolds has a fleeting cameo). Jerry Reed (Burt's sidekick from the first two movies) takes over as the number one bandit, once again setting off on a cross-country trek and once again being pursued by the moronic police force, headed up by Jackie Gleason. Dick Lowry takes over the directorial reins from Hal Needham for this adventure, but he simply throws car crash after car crash at the screen in increasingly desperate fashion. Fortunately, even the public tired of this stupidity and the series came to an end.
Jackie Gleason
Shine On, Harvest Moon | 08.50 - 10.55
Marvellous lively vehicle for sexy and talented "Oomph Girl" Ann Sheridan. She plays Broadway star Nora Bayes in one of those post-Yankee Doodle Dandy Warner Bros biopics that owes little to the truth but manages to include a helluva load of period songs. This one has the bonus of a last reel in glorious Technicolor, incorporating, interestingly, not just the film's finale but all the shots leading up to it. Dennis Morgan is terrific as songwriter Jack Norworth - also Nora's husband - and there are telling contributions from Warners regulars SZ "Cuddles" Sakall and Jack Carson. If you want the sordid truth about the Bayes/Norworth vaudeville-to-Broadway affair, this isn't the place to look, but it's a jolly enjoyable movie nonetheless.
Ann Sheridan
Recess: All Growed Down | 09.00 - 10.00
Animated film version of the popular series from the creators of Rugrats. After TJ and the gang have sat through a boring hygiene talk, they get a long recess and start playing in an abandoned playground. However, they get kidnapped by a bunch of kindergarten tots and must try to convince them to call a long overdue truce.
Den MovieMatilda | 09.00 - 10.30
Family Disney comedy about a boxing promoter who discovers a boxing kangaroo and sets it up for a fight with the world heavyweight champion.
Elliott Gould
Remnants of Everest: The 1996 Tragedy | 09.00 - 11.00
Powerful documentary from experienced mountaineer and filmmaker David Breashears, retelling the tragic story of three teams of climbers trapped on Mount Everest's slopes in May 1996 when a storm of unprecedented intensity took them by surprise.
School Daze | 09.05 - 11.05
In attempting to present campus life as a microcosm of African-American society, Spike Lee succeeds in raising many points without reaching any conclusions in this spirited, if disjointed musical comedy. He wants to discuss political issues, but makes their advocates so dull that, for all their boorish behaviour, the good-time airheads seem much more attractive. Similarly, he attacks the conventions of college life without exploring any alternatives and takes pot shots at sexism, racism and the age and class divides without steadying his aim. A couple of the songs are well staged and Larry (before he became Laurence) Fishburne gives a steady performance, but, overall, this is a disappointing satire.
Larry Fishburne [Laurence Fishburne]
Air Bud: Spikes Back | 09.20 - 10.50
Canine adventure for kids. A schoolgirl heads off to San Diego to catch the Californian sun, but she must tangle with an athletically gifted dog, some dimwitted thieves and a stolen diamond. In between competing in volleyball tournaments, the multi-talented pooch must solve crimes in which he himself is implicated.
Katija Pevec
Lady in the Water | 09.50 - 11.50
Inspired by a bedtime story that director M Night Shyamalan created for his children, this muddled fantasy mystery shows every sign of having been made up as it goes along. Paul Giamatti plays the superintendent of an apartment block who discovers a sea nymph of Asian legend (Bryce Dallas Howard) who has become stranded in the communal swimming pool. He aids her return to the Blue World, encountering a daft array of "mythological" creatures - including scrunts (grass-haired werewolves) and the tartutic (twig monkeys) - along the way. This self-indulgent nonsense includes a film critic tenant (Bob Balaban) who comments on fantasy clichés; an appearance from Shyamalan himself as a philosopher of future importance; and a kid who deciphers ancient codes from cereal packets. Giamatti does his best to hold things together and fans of the director's previous work may find some entertainment in this deeply silly, artificial and hopelessly naive tale.
Paul Giamatti
Recess: All Growed Down | 10.00 - 11.00
Animated film version of the popular series from the creators of Rugrats. After TJ and the gang have sat through a boring hygiene talk, they get a long recess and start playing in an abandoned playground. However, they get kidnapped by a bunch of kindergarten tots and must try to convince them to call a long overdue truce.
Winnie the Pooh's Most Grand Adventure | 10.00 - 11.10
Animated adventure in which Winnie the Pooh and his friends set off to rescue Christopher Robin, who has disappeared. The group believe him to be in danger, but end up lost and scared themselves. However, they soon find out that Christopher Robin has had an adventure of his own.
Fracture | 10.00 - 12.10
Gregory Hoblit's stylish crime thriller opens with Anthony Hopkins's aeronautical engineer shooting his unfaithful wife (Embeth Davidtz). The cat-and-mouse games begin when Hopkins decides to plead not guilty and defend himself in court, pitting his wits against Ryan Gosling's assistant DA, who has a 97 per cent successful prosecution record. This is Gosling's last case before he takes a job in the lucrative private sector and it looks like a formality (there's even a confession), but the twist here is that the arresting officer (Billy Burke) was Davidtz's lover. Hoblit (Primal Fear) is an old hand at this sort of thing, and Hopkins and Gosling spark nicely off each other (just try to ignore Hopkins's inconsistent accent). Also representing Britain in the Anglo-American cast is Rosamund Pike (Die Another Day), who plays a cool-as-ice lawyer grooming Gosling for his new career in company law, and Fiona Shaw as a sharp-tongued, dry-witted judge. There's nothing particularly new here and some of the plot contortions border on the preposterous, but fans of twisting courtroom thrillers will find it an entertaining diversion.
Anthony Hopkins
The Kingdom | 10.00 - 12.00
With a set-up revolving around the devastating bombing of an American facility in Saudi Arabia, The Kingdom undoubtedly has currency. Jamie Foxx stars as Ronald Fleury, the leader of an American team of counter-terrorism experts whose attempt to pursue a secret investigation is hampered by the Saudi authorities. After a promising start, the film soon settles down into the routine clichés of a Hollywood action movie - there are few attempts here to address the complexity of the situation in the Middle East. If you can overlook the crassness of the screenplay, Peter Berg's high-energy direction does deliver some genuinely exciting sequences, and he's well served by a cast that also includes Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper and Jason Bateman.
Jamie Foxx
Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster | 10.00 - 11.30
Animated adventure in which Scooby and the crew travel to Scotland on holiday and find themselves unexpectedly tackling the mystery of the Loch Ness Monster. Featuring the voices of Frank Welker, Casey Kasem and Mindy Cohn.
Samson and Delilah | 10.15 - 12.25
Scooping Oscars for its sets and costumes, this thumping epic prompted veteran American critic Pauline Kael to suggest that Cecil B DeMille considered God to be his co-director. Victor Mature stars as the biblical hero whose strength lies in the length of his hair, while Hedy Lamarr brings a gorgeous woodenness to the role of the Philistine, whose jealousy over Samson's fondness for Angela Lansbury leads to treachery. The fight with the lion is so lousy it's brilliant, while the oily villainy of George Sanders provides the only acting highlight. Mature played Samson's father in the 1984 TV-movie remake.
Victor Mature
A Fish Called Wanda | 10.15 - 12.10
This hilarious tale of criminal incompetence and transatlantic eccentricity is easily John Cleese's finest achievement since Fawlty Towers. He excels as the uptight London barrister who becomes the dupe of scheming American thief Jamie Lee Curtis and her doltishly macho lover, Kevin Kline. But Cleese must share the credit for the film's international success with Charles Crichton, who, as the director of The Lavender Hill Mob, was the perfect choice for this sparkling blend of Ealing and Monty Python. Every piece of verbal or physical humour is a model of timing and restraint, whether it's Cleese's Russian-spouting striptease or the Oscar-winning Kline's merciless persecution of stuttering sidekick Michael Palin. This sparkling comedy also has an underlying darkness that recalls the work of Preston Sturges and Billy Wilder. And praise doesn't come much higher than that.
John Cleese
Bigfoot and the Hendersons | 10.50 - 12.50
This overly sentimental comedy from Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment resembles a watered-down, terrestrial remake of ET. It's a rehash of the old "innocent monster versus savage and uncaring civilisation" tract, in which a Seattle family adopts America's answer to the abominable snowman and suffers the ludicrous consequences while trying to keep it a secret from the neighbours. It's even cosier and cutesier than the Spielberg norm, which is perhaps the reason why it became a short-lived TV sitcom. The saving grace is seven-foot-two-inch actor Kevin Peter Hall (the alien in Predator opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger), who works miracles in Chewbacca drag as Harry the Missing Link, and his endearingly emotive face is the one pure joy to behold in this altogether mushy affair.
John Lithgow
The Black Dahlia | 10.55 - 13.00
This adaptation of James Ellroy's crime novel from Brian De Palma showcases all the director's strengths, as well as some of his faults. Loosely based on an actual unsolved murder case from the 1940s, this stylish movie sees tough-as-teak LA cops Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) and Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) investigating the grisly demise of would-be actress Elizabeth Short. The trail eventually leads to socialite Madeleine Linscott (Hilary Swank), a Short lookalike and member of one of the city's wealthiest families. Meanwhile, Bleichert becomes involved with Blanchard's glamorous wife (played by Scarlett Johansson). The performances are uniformly strong, with Hartnett surprisingly good as the bewildered but basically decent gumshoe. Dante Ferretti's sumptuous production design is atmospherically shot by veteran cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and De Palma delivers his trademark touches - complex camera shots, razor-sharp editing, labyrinthine plotting and deft nods to other film-makers. De Palma's enthusiasm doesn't always extend to the humanity of his characters, but this is still an enjoyable piece of film-making from a director on top form.
Josh Hartnett
Rhapsody | 10.55 - 13.00
Beautiful heiress Elizabeth Taylor is in love with classical violinist Vittorio Gassman, but leaves him - via a broken-hearted suicide attempt when he puts ambition first - for concert pianist John Ericson, who makes her his priority. There's much flitting back and forth between the two men and across Europe, before the final fade. An essentially hollow and old-fashioned romantic soap opera, this is given a cultural gloss by the outpouring of music, notably Ericson's rendition of the Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto (played by Claudio Arrau) and Gassman performing Tchaikowsky's Violin Concerto in D major (played by Michael Rabin). Taylor is good and at her loveliest, and the location photography in Technicolor and CinemaScope is eye-catching. Charles Vidor directs.
Elizabeth Taylor
Stitch! The Movie | 11.00 - 12.00
This is less a sequel to Lilo & Stitch than the pilot for a Disney TV series that had clearly been conceived with Pokemon-style merchandising potential in mind, hence the introduction of the 625 "genetic experiments" that can loosely be described as Stitch's siblings. The emphasis is much less on family values here than on Dr Jumba's gallery of geeks and grotesques, who proceed to cause much chaos around Lilo's Hawaiian home before the villainous Captain Gantu attempts to kidnap them and precipitates a round of interstellar pursuits that are neither funny, exciting nor particularly well animated. The songs aren't exactly inspired, either.
Chris Sanders (2)
Zoey 101: Spring Break-Up | 11.00 - 12.00
Children's comedy. Zoey and the gang go to Logan's beach house for spring break. Chase sends a text message by mistake to Zoey confessing his love for her.
Jamie Lynn Spears
The Page Turner | 11.00 - 12.40
The influence of French master Claude Chabrol hangs heavy over this psychological suspense movie from writer/director Denis Dercourt, making for pleasurably tense and twisted viewing. As a child, butcher's daughter Mélanie Prouvost blows her audition for music school when famous pianist - and one of the judges - Ariane Fouchécourt (Catherine Frot) inadvertently ruins Mélanie's concentration. Ten years later, the adult Mélanie (played by Déborah François) gets a job first at the law firm of Ariane's husband, then at their home as an au pair and finally as the now-neurotic Ariane's page turner at concerts. Revenge is clearly the ruthless young woman's goal. There's something quintessentially French about the film's ambiguous attitude towards haute bourgeoisie culture, as it revels in the trappings of wealth and good taste even as the rich characters are made to suffer. But beneath the elegance this is a low-key but genuinely gripping thriller.
Catherine Frot
The Kingdom | 11.00 - 13.00
With a set-up revolving around the devastating bombing of an American facility in Saudi Arabia, The Kingdom undoubtedly has currency. Jamie Foxx stars as Ronald Fleury, the leader of an American team of counter-terrorism experts whose attempt to pursue a secret investigation is hampered by the Saudi authorities. After a promising start, the film soon settles down into the routine clichés of a Hollywood action movie - there are few attempts here to address the complexity of the situation in the Middle East. If you can overlook the crassness of the screenplay, Peter Berg's high-energy direction does deliver some genuinely exciting sequences, and he's well served by a cast that also includes Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper and Jason Bateman.
Jamie Foxx
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III | 11.05 - 12.45
A second sequel, but, by this stage, a largely irrelevant one, as the equally irritating Power Rangers had overtaken the Pizza-loving reptiles in the children's popularity stakes. Writer/director Stuart Gillard tries to inject some life into the project by including some tongue-in-cheek scenes in 17th-century Japan, but it quickly degenerates into half-hearted cartoonish action. Stuart Wilson and Elias Koteas are the best known names in the cast and manage to keep a reasonably straight face through it all.
Elias Koteas
The Man from Colorado | 11.15 - 13.10
Before he adopted a crew cut for The Blackboard Jungle and went Method, Glenn Ford was a useful, though seldom more than mildly interesting, leading man. Except here, where, unusually, he portrays a sadistic military tyrant appointed as judge to govern Colorado. Ford's unstable character is confronted by a likeable hero in the shape of the pre-Sunset Blvd William Holden. The story by Borden Chase - he was author and co-screenwriter of Howard Hawks's Red River - can be read as an allegory of the brutalising effect the Second World War had on its returning veterans, and the insinuations are clearly there if you look for them.
Glenn Ford
Target Earth | 11.50 - 13.30
Extraterrestrials are up to their usual tricks in this made-for-TV sci-fi adventure. When a man goes insane and a little girl is kidnapped, a small-town Illinois cop realises something is terribly wrong. Soon, he finds himself battling insidious aliens who have implanted devices to control the minds of humans, from local citizens to government agents. Writer Michael Vickerman and director Peter Markle have taken every 1950s space-invader cliché and fed them into a blender, producing this silly, banal, painting-by-numbers tale. The competent cast deserve better than this but, ultimately, it's the viewer who is caught in the crosshairs.
Christopher Meloni
Den MovieBarbie: The Island Princess | 11.55 - 13.20
CGI animated musical fairytale. Rosella is raised on an island by several friendly animals before being rescued by a prince.
Stitch! The Movie | 12.00 - 13.00
This is less a sequel to Lilo & Stitch than the pilot for a Disney TV series that had clearly been conceived with Pokemon-style merchandising potential in mind, hence the introduction of the 625 "genetic experiments" that can loosely be described as Stitch's siblings. The emphasis is much less on family values here than on Dr Jumba's gallery of geeks and grotesques, who proceed to cause much chaos around Lilo's Hawaiian home before the villainous Captain Gantu attempts to kidnap them and precipitates a round of interstellar pursuits that are neither funny, exciting nor particularly well animated. The songs aren't exactly inspired, either.
Chris Sanders (2)
The Morrison Murders | 12.00 - 14.00
Whereas so many TV movies based on actual events are presented with almost tabloid sensationalism, this admirably restrained tale of murder and sinister secrets shows how a true-life story can provide compelling entertainment instead of melodramatic excess. John Corbett and Jonathan Scarfe work well together as the siblings whose pursuit of the cold-blooded killer of their parents and younger brother results in a shocking revelation and a unique police operation. Tautly directed by Chris Thomson, this disturbing film succeeds because as much trouble was spent on defining the characters as was expended on delineating the plot.
John Corbett
Zoey 101: Spring Break-Up | 12.00 - 13.00
Children's comedy. Zoey and the gang go to Logan's beach house for spring break. Chase sends a text message by mistake to Zoey confessing his love for her.
Jamie Lynn Spears
Flyboys | 12.00 - 14.25
James Franco stars in this First World War tale that's loosely based on the true story of the Lafayette Escadrille, a fighter squadron made up of American men helping the French cause before the US joined the conflict. Franco (Harry in the Spider-Man franchise) plays Blaine Rawlings, who leaves Texas for France when his family lose their ranch. He's one of a band of disparate Americans, all with varying reasons for risking their lives in the air. But the plot is merely an excuse to cram a bunch of cute kids into cockpits and send them rat-a-tat-tatting away into the wild blue yonder. On the ground, the film stalls somewhat, with clichéd characters and corny dialogue. But in the air it soars - the dogfights between aircraft held together by string and prayer are some of the best ever seen on screen. Flyboys is great fun, and an action epic in the old-fashioned sense.
James Franco
One Eight Seven | 12.10 - 14.25
Samuel L Jackson's typically intense performance is the sole merit of this over-directed, uninvolving school drama from Waterworld's Kevin Reynolds. Jackson plays a New York teacher, physically and psychologically scarred after a vicious knife assault by a student, who transfers to a new school in Los Angeles to rebuild his life, only to find equally violent conditions. Showing the nasty flip side of the Michelle Pfeiffer vehicle Dangerous Minds, this is shot in a distracting MTV style. Jackson's sincere performance is wasted on such clichéd, one-dimensional fare and the movie's climactic descent into full-on melodrama provokes giggles rather than shudders.
Samuel L Jackson
Smokey and the Bandit III | 12.10 - 13.40
A truly dire entry in what was always a crass comedy series that effectively sees the original stars, Burt Reynolds and Sally Field, jump ship (though Reynolds has a fleeting cameo). Jerry Reed (Burt's sidekick from the first two movies) takes over as the number one bandit, once again setting off on a cross-country trek and once again being pursued by the moronic police force, headed up by Jackie Gleason. Dick Lowry takes over the directorial reins from Hal Needham for this adventure, but he simply throws car crash after car crash at the screen in increasingly desperate fashion. Fortunately, even the public tired of this stupidity and the series came to an end.
Jackie Gleason
The Lady Eve | 12.25 - 14.00
This wonderfully witty masterpiece was written and directed by the inimitable Preston Sturges. The plot gives a couple of near career-best roles to two of Hollywood's finest, who are perfectly cast here. Henry Fonda plays a wealthy young man obsessed by snakes, who lays himself wide open to the schemes of professional con artist Charles Coburn and his daughter, Barbara Stanwyck. Fonda's buddy, William Demarest, intervenes, but Stanwyck, undeterred, later reappears in disguise at Fonda's palatial manse and tries again. Naturally, the slick, assured sexual opportunist falls for the gauche brewer's son who has spent a year up the Amazon, resulting in a witty, sparkling combination of romance and screwball comedy that is still unequalled. There was a 1956 remake with Mitzi Gaynor called The Birds and the Bees, but it didn't come within spitting distance of this great original.
Barbara Stanwyck
The Fountain | 12.40 - 14.20
You wait years for a film about ancient Mayans and then, like proverbial buses, two movies come along at once. Like Mel Gibson's Apocalypto, The Fountain is one of the most original and extraordinary films of recent times - though a story that features not only ancient Mayans but also a bald man living on a little planet inside a snow globe with just a tree for company is bound to attract accusations of pretentiousness as well as claims of genius. This third feature from director Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream) stars Hugh Jackman as a man on a thousand-year odyssey to save his beloved (Rachel Weisz, in multiple roles). In the 16th century, Jackman plays a conquistador searching for the fountain of youth in the Mayan Empire in order to save the Spanish queen from destruction. In modern-day America, Jackman seeks a cure for the cancer that's killing his wife, and in the 26th century he sits like Buddha beneath his cosmic tree, trying to figure out what it all means. Some of the audience may be doing the same, but those who stick with the movie will be rewarded with a profoundly rich experience about the meaning of life, death, love and immortality. The performances and music brilliantly complement Aronofsky's philosophical musings in one of the most haunting, perplexing and visually stunning films since Stanley Kubrick's 2001: a Space Odyssey.
Hugh Jackman
Wild Hogs | 12.45 - 14.30
The combined comic talents of John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence and William H Macy deserve rather better than this mediocre road movie, which was probably much more fun to make than it is to watch. Travolta and company play middle-aged "weekend" bikers who hit the road on their Harley-Davidsons (nicknamed "hogs") in a desperate bid to recapture their lost youth. But instead they fall foul of rabid Ray Liotta and his badass biker gang. Wild Hogs has its chucklesome moments, and the four stars are unquestionably a class act. But the film consistently underachieves, opting for dumbed-down crassness when it had the potential to be altogether sharper and wittier.
Tim Allen
Charlotte's Web | 12.50 - 14.35
Author EB White's classic animal fable gets the full Babe treatment in this warm, live-action family fantasy. Gently introducing younger viewers to the natural cycle of life, it explores how a clever spider called Charlotte (tenderly voiced by Julia Roberts) ingeniously uses her web-spinning talents to save a small pig from the chop. While originally filmed as an animated feature in 1973, here the tale combines genuine critters and CGI effects, with delightful visual results. Like Charlotte herself, piglet Wilbur is so endearing that you can understand farmer's daughter Fern (a likeable Dakota Fanning) begging for the runty porker's life - though sadly the other crass creatures that inhabit Wilbur's barnyard home don't share this charm. Voiced by the likes of Robert Redford and Steve Buscemi, their tone-lowering flatulence and constant wisecracking dilute the story's central magic, making the finale less poignant than it should have been.
Julia Roberts
Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch | 13.00 - 14.05
Animated sequel. Stitch, the intelligent but psychotic product of an illegal experiment, discovers that his molecules were not fully charged when he was created and begins to malfunction.
Dakota Fanning
Where the Sidewalk Ends | 13.00 - 14.45
This superb, moody example of 20th Century-Fox film noir is a clearly plotted thriller, impeccably directed by the great Otto Preminger which creates a nightmare world of guilt and corruption. Brutal cop Dana Andrews tries to hide the callous fact that, while searching for a murderer, he himself has killed Craig Stevens. The beautiful Gene Tierney is excellent in an enigmatic role as Stevens's estranged wife - a part that manages to keep her acting limitations well concealed - and watch for Neville Brand's particularly chilling portrayal of a homosexual criminal in some censor-circumventing scenes well ahead of their time. Journalist Ben Hecht had a hand in the brilliant screenplay (there's a lot of dialogue for this type of movie), an adaptation of William L Stuart's Night Cry. Movie buffs and fashion aficionados should keep an eye out for a cameo from Tierney's then-husband Oleg Cassini, who designed the movie's costumes with Charles LeMaire.
Dana Andrews
Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Framing | 13.00 - 15.00
Feature-length legal drama. Perry Mason investigates when a deceased artist apparently comes back to life, shocking the avid collectors of his work.
Raymond Burr
Tristan + Isolde | 13.00 - 15.10
James Franco and Sophia Myles are the star-crossed lovers prepared to risk everything for their forbidden romance in director Kevin Reynolds's unassuming take on the tragic Celtic myth. A Dark Ages predecessor to Romeo and Juliet, it sees an Irish princess and an English warrior brought together by fate after she saves his life during a time of intense conflict between their respective nations. But when Tristan later wins Isolde's hand for his lord and surrogate father (a poignantly dignified Rufus Sewell), the duo are unable to sever their relationship. Shot using a murky palette and with the legend's magical elements replaced by unadorned realism, the film has a restrained feel, even in its fierce battle sequences. With little visual imagination or overall vitality, it's down to the central stars to carry the drama. Unfortunately, while Myles beautifully captures her character's emotional dilemma, wooden Franco fails, effectively robbing their pairing of its crucial passion.
James Franco
Flyboys | 13.00 - 15.25
James Franco stars in this First World War tale that's loosely based on the true story of the Lafayette Escadrille, a fighter squadron made up of American men helping the French cause before the US joined the conflict. Franco (Harry in the Spider-Man franchise) plays Blaine Rawlings, who leaves Texas for France when his family lose their ranch. He's one of a band of disparate Americans, all with varying reasons for risking their lives in the air. But the plot is merely an excuse to cram a bunch of cute kids into cockpits and send them rat-a-tat-tatting away into the wild blue yonder. On the ground, the film stalls somewhat, with clichéd characters and corny dialogue. But in the air it soars - the dogfights between aircraft held together by string and prayer are some of the best ever seen on screen. Flyboys is great fun, and an action epic in the old-fashioned sense.
James Franco
Precious Bane | 13.00 - 15.00
Period drama. A young woman in 19th-century Shropshire falls foul of her family's ambitions and the superstitions of the local community, but meets a man who may see her differently.
Janet McTeer
Andromeda Strain Part 2 | 13.30 - 15.05
Concluding part of the sci-fi thriller about a deadly extra-terrestrial virus, brought to Earth by a falling satellite, which kills almost everyone affected by it. A team of scientists is enlisted to find a cure before the entire population is wiped out.
Benjamin Bratt
Back to the Future | 13.40 - 15.40
This irresistible combination of dazzling effects and sly comedy propelled Michael J Fox to stardom and Robert Zemeckis to the front rank of Hollywood directors. And time has not robbed it of any of its vitality. Fox plays the young student who travels back in time to the 1950s and acts as matchmaker for his future parents, who are showing no sign of falling in love. It's beautifully played by the cast (honourable mentions to Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover), and makes the most of an ingenious script from Bob Gale and Zemeckis that finds time to poke fun at 50s icons and lifestyles between the bouts of time travelling. Zemeckis's direction is equally adroit and he never lets the effects swamp the film.
Michael J Fox
Charge | 14.00 - 14.50
An arena for media projects made by young people aged 16 to 25, featuring short films, documentaries, music videos, and photography. Find out more at www.chargetv.co.uk.
Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch | 14.00 - 15.05
Animated sequel. Stitch, the intelligent but psychotic product of an illegal experiment, discovers that his molecules were not fully charged when he was created and begins to malfunction.
Dakota Fanning
Where the Sidewalk Ends | 14.00 - 15.45
This superb, moody example of 20th Century-Fox film noir is a clearly plotted thriller, impeccably directed by the great Otto Preminger which creates a nightmare world of guilt and corruption. Brutal cop Dana Andrews tries to hide the callous fact that, while searching for a murderer, he himself has killed Craig Stevens. The beautiful Gene Tierney is excellent in an enigmatic role as Stevens's estranged wife - a part that manages to keep her acting limitations well concealed - and watch for Neville Brand's particularly chilling portrayal of a homosexual criminal in some censor-circumventing scenes well ahead of their time. Journalist Ben Hecht had a hand in the brilliant screenplay (there's a lot of dialogue for this type of movie), an adaptation of William L Stuart's Night Cry. Movie buffs and fashion aficionados should keep an eye out for a cameo from Tierney's then-husband Oleg Cassini, who designed the movie's costumes with Charles LeMaire.
Dana Andrews
Father Goose | 14.00 - 16.00
Cary Grant stars as a boozy beach bum caught up in Second World War heroics involving a gaggle of schoolgirls and their teacher, Leslie Caron, in this comedy drama. Grant is terrific, as ever, and his air of discomfort certainly helps the plot, but you have to wonder if a comedy about the Japanese invasion of the Pacific is actually a good idea. The Hollywood Academy thought so, and writers Peter Stone and Frank Tarloff won an Oscar for their screenplay. Also along for the ride are gruff Trevor Howard and, somewhat surprisingly in an acting role, the British grandfather of rock 'n' roll television, Oh Boy!'s Jack Good.
Cary Grant
Cyrano de Bergerac | 14.20 - 16.45
An exceptional performance by Gérard Depardieu lights up this sumptuous adaptation of Edmond Rostand's classic play from director Jean-Paul Rappeneau. He thoroughly deserved his best actor prize at Cannes for the passion, wit and finesse he displays here as the noted swordsman and poet, whose search for happiness is hindered by his exceptionally large nose. Also worthy of mention are cinematographer Pierre Lhomme, art director Ezio Frigerio and Michèle Burke, who made the magnificent proboscis. Novelist Anthony Burgess supplied the English translation, brilliantly utilising the original's lyrical verse and treating audiences to subtitles of exquisite poetry. Nominated for five Oscars, including best foreign language film, it won only one - for Franca Squarciapino's costume design.
Gérard Depardieu
When a Stranger Calls | 14.25 - 16.10
Fred Walton's 1979 movie about a babysitter terrorised by crank phone calls from inside the house here gets an ill-advised remake, courtesy of Con Air director Simon West. This time it's colourless Camilla Belle who is forced to babysit in a remote lakeside house as punishment for mobile phone misuse. Her terror increases when the deranged caller starts insisting that she check on the children. But suspense and interest hit rock bottom fast as the film cranks up the sound effects while lowering the gore factor to the point where there's no sense of real dread. So it's a relief when the psycho (scarred-for-real Tommy Flanagan, voiced by Lance Henriksen) makes his sudden appearance, because something actually starts happening. A few mildly diverting thrills aren't enough, though, to breathe life into a plot that's been rendered tired - and tame - through countless imitations.
Camilla Belle
Pride & Prejudice | 14.25 - 16.20
Romantic comedy offering a modern take on Jane Austen's classic novel. A dedicated student's desire not to be married until after she graduates is tested by the advances of a charismatic playboy and the aloof overtures of a businessman.
Kam Heskin
My Best Friend's Wedding | 14.30 - 16.20
This sparkling comedy proved to be a career-resurrecting movie for Julia Roberts, and for once she plays someone who may not get the guy. When she hears her best friend and former lover (Dermot Mulroney) is getting married to Cameron Diaz, Roberts realises she wants to be more than just friends after all. What makes this film - from Muriel's Wedding director PJ Hogan - work so well is that it's not just "The Julia Roberts Show". While she does the bumbling, adorable routine she's best at, the stunning Diaz and superb Rupert Everett (as Roberts's gay friend and accomplice) battle it out for best supporting performance (and both win). You'll cry with laughter when you watch Everett serenade Roberts (in a crowded restaurant) with I Say a Little Prayer. Terrific stuff.
Julia Roberts
Frank | 14.35 - 16.15
Heartwarming family film. When a stray dog appears at a family's summer home, the father wants to report it to Animal Control. At his children's pleading, he relents, and agrees that they can look after the dog for the rest of the summer, as long as they put him up for adoption when autumn comes. But the dog is to perform a heroic act that will change everyone's lives forever.
Jon Gries
The Lady Vanishes | 14.45 - 16.45
This pointless but watchable remake of the much-loved Hitchcock classic of 1938 is slicker than the original - gone are the amateur model shots - but totally lacks its charm, and has none of the atmosphere of impending war that gave the original so much power. As before, Miss Froy (Angela Lansbury in high-camp mode) goes missing on a train, leaving hapless Elliott Gould and Cybill Shepherd trying to find her. It doesn't help that the two miscast stars are ruthlessly upstaged by lovable old coves Arthur Lowe and Ian Carmichael in the Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne roles of cricket-mad Charters and Caldicott. A typical case of aiming for an American audience and running out of steam in mid-Atlantic.
Elliott Gould
Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo | 15.00 - 16.40
This third entry in Disney's series about the VW Beetle with a mind of its own is rather predictable, though still entertaining. Here, Herbie is reunited with driver Dean Jones (from the original Love Bug movie) and falls for a powder-blue Lancia (driven by Julie Sommars) during the Paris-Monte Carlo rally. Putting a headstrong intelligence under the bonnet of a car has been a winning formula over the years for the studio, but there are only a few touches here that rise above the mechanical.
Dean Jones
Stranger at the Door | 15.00 - 17.00
Psychological thriller about a married couple whose lives are destroyed when a man arrives at their house unexpectedly and claims to be the child that the wife gave up years earlier.
Linda Purl
Winnie the Pooh's Most Grand Adventure | 15.00 - 16.15
Animated adventure in which Winnie the Pooh and his friends set off to rescue Christopher Robin, who has disappeared. The group believe him to be in danger, but end up lost and scared themselves. However, they soon find out that Christopher Robin has had an adventure of his own.
Jason and the Argonauts | 15.00 - 17.00
First instalment of a two-part adaptation of the classic Greek myth. An adventurer sets sail on a perilous journey in search of the magical Golden Fleece, which will restore his father's throne to its rightful owner. Along the way, Jason and his followers encounter a multitude of monsters.
Jason London
Young Bess | 15.00 - 17.00
Hollywood journeyman George Sidney did an admirable job in preventing this historical drama from toppling over into an unintentional laugh fest. With characters endlessly explaining (in a welter of thous and dosts) who they are to people they've known all their lives, the story of Elizabeth I's relationship with Thomas Seymour is told with a disregard for fact that ultimately becomes endearing. Twenty years after scooping a best actor Oscar for The Private Life of Henry VIII, Charles Laughton puts in an amusing cameo before leaving us in the overwrought presence of Jean Simmons as the future queen and Stewart Granger as the tragic Seymour. A bygone age, indeed.
Jean Simmons
Blade Runner: the Final Cut | 15.05 - 17.10
After the original release in 1982 and the director's cut in 1992, this definitive version of Ridley Scott's dystopian masterpiece finally allows his ambitious themes about the meaning of life in an ailing society to shine through. It's still a fantastic melding of film noir and sci-fi, in which grumpy hitman Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) tracks down illegal replicants infiltrating humanity. But his character is now fleshed-out as a flawed antihero, troubled by doubts over his own identity - fears that are later confirmed by the expanded unicorn dream sequence. With the restored footage mainly culled from the original work print, some dodgy special effects corrected, the voiceover removed, and the "happy ending" made bleaker, Scott's visionary thriller makes the acid rain/neon-drenched Los Angeles of 2019 a far colder, more violent and depressing place.
Harrison Ford
The Other Sister | 15.10 - 17.25
It needs a sure and delicate touch to use a mental disability as a dramatic device; otherwise, it's a tasteless gimmick to move the plot along. Sadly, despite a fine performance from Juliette Lewis, this would-be weepie is both clumsy and manipulative. Carla Tate (Lewis) is a rich San Francisco teenager fresh out of a mental institution who wants to be a vet's assistant; despite the approval of Dad (Tom Skerritt), however, she has to fight her mother (Diane Keaton) every step of the way. Things get worse when Carla falls for another simple-minded soul (Giovanni Ribisi). There's a good story here, but it's buried under a load of cute and unconvincing dialogue. Keaton might have helped by making her role less hysterical, but she seems to prefer twitchy mannerisms to acting.
Diane Keaton
Pride & Prejudice | 15.25 - 17.20
Romantic comedy offering a modern take on Jane Austen's classic novel. A dedicated student's desire not to be married until after she graduates is tested by the advances of a charismatic playboy and the aloof overtures of a businessman.
Kam Heskin
A Fish Called Wanda | 15.40 - 17.35
This hilarious tale of criminal incompetence and transatlantic eccentricity is easily John Cleese's finest achievement since Fawlty Towers. He excels as the uptight London barrister who becomes the dupe of scheming American thief Jamie Lee Curtis and her doltishly macho lover, Kevin Kline. But Cleese must share the credit for the film's international success with Charles Crichton, who, as the director of The Lavender Hill Mob, was the perfect choice for this sparkling blend of Ealing and Monty Python. Every piece of verbal or physical humour is a model of timing and restraint, whether it's Cleese's Russian-spouting striptease or the Oscar-winning Kline's merciless persecution of stuttering sidekick Michael Palin. This sparkling comedy also has an underlying darkness that recalls the work of Preston Sturges and Billy Wilder. And praise doesn't come much higher than that.
John Cleese
The Lady Vanishes | 15.45 - 17.45
This pointless but watchable remake of the much-loved Hitchcock classic of 1938 is slicker than the original - gone are the amateur model shots - but totally lacks its charm, and has none of the atmosphere of impending war that gave the original so much power. As before, Miss Froy (Angela Lansbury in high-camp mode) goes missing on a train, leaving hapless Elliott Gould and Cybill Shepherd trying to find her. It doesn't help that the two miscast stars are ruthlessly upstaged by lovable old coves Arthur Lowe and Ian Carmichael in the Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne roles of cricket-mad Charters and Caldicott. A typical case of aiming for an American audience and running out of steam in mid-Atlantic.
Elliott Gould
Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo | 16.00 - 17.40
This third entry in Disney's series about the VW Beetle with a mind of its own is rather predictable, though still entertaining. Here, Herbie is reunited with driver Dean Jones (from the original Love Bug movie) and falls for a powder-blue Lancia (driven by Julie Sommars) during the Paris-Monte Carlo rally. Putting a headstrong intelligence under the bonnet of a car has been a winning formula over the years for the studio, but there are only a few touches here that rise above the mechanical.
Dean Jones
Phantom of the Opera | 16.00 - 17.35
Claude Rains plays the Phantom in this remake of the lavish silent film of 1925 that starred Lon Chaney in the title role. However, those expecting a horror movie will be disappointed from the outset when Nelson Eddy's name appears in the opening credits. That's a bit like making Dracula with Max Bygraves, but at least Eddy's long-standing screen partner Jeanette MacDonald doesn't further ruin the film's credentials by joining him in the B-side musical numbers. Rains wears the mask and suffers as Eddy and his co-star Susanna Foster sing Lullaby of the Bells. Music director Edward Ward "remixes" Tchaikovsky and Chopin, while Fritz Leiber plays Franz Liszt and loses. Nevertheless, director Arthur Lubin's film won Oscars for its cinematography and art direction, with nominations for its score and sound.
Nelson Eddy
Tom and Jerry: The Movie | 16.00 - 17.30
Feature-length animated comedy in which the sparring cat-and-mouse duo team up to help an unhappy little girl escape from her cruel guardian. With the voices of Richard Kind, Dana Hill, Henry Gibson and Charlotte Rae.
Bigfoot and the Hendersons | 16.15 - 18.15
This overly sentimental comedy from Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment resembles a watered-down, terrestrial remake of ET. It's a rehash of the old "innocent monster versus savage and uncaring civilisation" tract, in which a Seattle family adopts America's answer to the abominable snowman and suffers the ludicrous consequences while trying to keep it a secret from the neighbours. It's even cosier and cutesier than the Spielberg norm, which is perhaps the reason why it became a short-lived TV sitcom. The saving grace is seven-foot-two-inch actor Kevin Peter Hall (the alien in Predator opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger), who works miracles in Chewbacca drag as Harry the Missing Link, and his endearingly emotive face is the one pure joy to behold in this altogether mushy affair.
John Lithgow
Because I Said So | 16.20 - 18.05
This cheesy chick flick certainly adheres to the formula of quintessential romantic comedy - romantic order emerging eventually out of non-romantic chaos - but it's over-played and not very funny. Diane Keaton stars as a meddlesome mother who is determined that her unwed youngest daughter (Mandy Moore) should not make the same marital mistake she did. Accordingly, she vets potential suitors via an ad on the internet. But her bid to play Cupid turns awry. Relative newcomer Moore tries to play even her weakest lines with conviction, but it's really old hand Keaton's film and she milks it for the little it's worth.
Diane Keaton
Firehouse Dog | 16.20 - 18.20
Talented pets and fearless firefighters are both Hollywood staples, and this action comedy brings elements from both genres together in one child-friendly package. Canine action-movie star "Rexxx" falls from a plane and lands (literally) in the middle of a blaze. He's rescued by small-town fire chief Connor Fahey (Bruce Greenwood), who gives his stroppy son Shane (Josh Hutcherson) the task of finding the pooch's real owner. Attitude soon gives way to admiration, however, as Shane realises the dog has genuine stunt skills - but it's not long before Hollywood wants its star performer back. With subplots about arson and father/son bonding, this is corny but competent entertainment for younger viewers.
Josh Hutcherson
The Bourne Ultimatum | 16.40 - 18.50
In the third film based on author Robert Ludlum's bestsellers, former CIA agent Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) hits the ground running - and from then on the pace never slackens. The subtle and simple script is dazzling, as Bourne zips through stunning global locations to discover the truth about his past and take revenge on those responsible for his brainwashed plight. Damon has really made the role of the troubled assassin his own, and returning director Paul Greengrass employs the same hand-held camera technique he used in The Bourne Supremacy to add immediacy and up-close-and-personal thrills to the terrific stunts. With flashbacks to both previous episodes, and stars Joan Allen and Julia Stiles returning to marvellous effect, this instalment is essentially one long chase that never loses its grip or credibility. Nothing is overplayed, from the scary surveillance tracking methods to the high-level corruption, making this a superbly crafted masterclass in intelligent action film-making.
Matt Damon
Picnic at Hanging Rock | 16.45 - 18.55
On St Valentine's Day in 1900 a party of schoolgirls enjoys a day at Hanging Rock, a local beauty spot. But something odd is at work: clocks stop at midday and three girls vanish. Dingo dogs, extraterrestrials, kidnappers or what? In this psychological take on the mystery, director Peter Weir leaves clues hanging in the air like a glistening spider's web, hears celestial choirs and thrumming insects - he hasn't the foggiest, but he adores ambiguity, mysticism and metaphor. It's a very sexy picture, which stares an enigma straight in the eye and, in the process, proved to the world that the new Australian cinema was capable of making films other than those that featured gnarled and drunken sheep-shearers. There are fine performances from Rachel Roberts, Helen Morse and Dominic Guard, which, with the outstanding location work, add up to a decidedly class act.
Rachel Roberts (1)
L'Enfant | 16.45 - 18.25
Brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne won their second Palme d'Or for this uncompromising but consistently compassionate study of the depths to which people can be driven by poverty and despair. Twenty-year-old Bruno (Jérémie Renier) wheels and deals in all manner of illicit goods with his schoolboy gang. While his teenage girlfriend Sonia (Déborah François) is in hospital he sublets their flat, and he later sells their newborn baby, Jimmy, to traffickers. Recalling Robert Bresson in both tone and style, this pared-down drama refuses to demonise Bruno's actions - it's an old standby of humanist cinema that everyone has their reasons. The Dardennes make life on the margins of Liège appear so hopeless that Renier's actions do seem more misguidedly well-intentioned than wilfully criminal or avaricious. Complete with an intense chase sequence and a touchingly optimistic finale, it confirms the brothers as masters of edgy poetic realism.
Jérémie Renier [Jérémie Rénier]
Recess: All Growed Down | 17.00 - 18.00
Animated film version of the popular series from the creators of Rugrats. After TJ and the gang have sat through a boring hygiene talk, they get a long recess and start playing in an abandoned playground. However, they get kidnapped by a bunch of kindergarten tots and must try to convince them to call a long overdue truce.
Wounded Heart | 17.00 - 19.00
Writer/producer Ron McGee works up an impressive lather of soapy clichés in this ranch-set drama, in which men are men and women fall in love with them against a backdrop of stunning scenery. Wall Street trader Paula Devicq returns home to care for her estranged ranch-owning father (Stuart Whitman) and gradually falls under the spell of the beautiful landscape and rugged ranch-hand Jon Hensley. If you're a fan of Mills and Boon, you'll probably love this; if not, avoid.
Paula Devicq
The Doctor's Dilemma | 17.00 - 18.45
Anthony Asquith was something of an expert at bringing celebrated stage plays to the screen, yet he fails to breathe life into this fast-fading satire on the foibles of Harley Street. Self-obsessed artist Dirk Bogarde improves the worse his tuberculosis becomes, but Leslie Caron never captures the stubborn devotion that inspires her fight to save him, while Alastair Sim, Robert Morley and Felix Aylmer are equally disappointing as her medical adversaries. George Bernard Shaw's comedy might have been scalpel-sharp back in 1903, but the foundation of the National Health Service rather blunted its edge.
Leslie Caron
Iceman | 17.10 - 19.00
Two of Universal's most successful pictures are recalled in this fascinating sci-fi outing. With an opening that echoes Frankenstein and a plotline reminiscent of ET, director Fred Schepisi's film couldn't have much better role models. While its subject matter is hardly new, the approach is refreshingly intelligent. John Lone gives a remarkable performance here as the primitive man rescued from a 40,000-year incarceration in a block of ice, registering fear, bewilderment, trust and curiosity with shifts of expression so subtle they cannot fail to convince. As the scientists monitoring his progress, Timothy Hutton and Lindsay Crouse also underplay to good effect.
Timothy Hutton
Firehouse Dog | 17.20 - 19.20
Talented pets and fearless firefighters are both Hollywood staples, and this action comedy brings elements from both genres together in one child-friendly package. Canine action-movie star "Rexxx" falls from a plane and lands (literally) in the middle of a blaze. He's rescued by small-town fire chief Connor Fahey (Bruce Greenwood), who gives his stroppy son Shane (Josh Hutcherson) the task of finding the pooch's real owner. Attitude soon gives way to admiration, however, as Shane realises the dog has genuine stunt skills - but it's not long before Hollywood wants its star performer back. With subplots about arson and father/son bonding, this is corny but competent entertainment for younger viewers.
Josh Hutcherson
California | 17.35 - 19.20
A routine Gold Rush western, with Ray Milland drinking too much (didn't The Lost Weekend teach him anything?) and Barbara Stanwyck shuffling stacked decks as the woman with a history. Directed by Mia's dad, John Farrow, in his customary no-nonsense manner, it breezes along nicely without seeming to get anywhere, though the banter between the stars does hold the interest. Paramount lavished bright-as-a-button Technicolor on it, as well as a couple of songs mimed by Stanwyck and a good supporting cast: Barry Fitzgerald, George Coulouris, Albert Dekker and Anthony Quinn, who was offered $5,000 for a week's work and stubbornly held out for $15,000.
Ray Milland
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves | 17.35 - 20.00
Buckles are truly swashed and derring-do effectively done in this 12th-century adventure, which simply sets out to entertain handsomely and does so with a great deal of dash, flash and panache. Kevin Costner is more "Indiana Hood" than the Locksley lad of yore and Alan Rickman is a joy to behold as the panto-styled Sheriff of Nottingham, while Morgan Freeman's cultured Moor - Robin's early saviour - is a commanding, though unlikely, medieval presence. But it's director Kevin Reynolds who deserves the most praise for disguising such overfamiliar events with imaginative staging and a constantly roving camera, and turning in such an enjoyable popcorn epic. And, yes, this is the film where Bryan Adams sings (Everything I Do) I Do It for You during the final credits.
Kevin Costner
Picnic at Hanging Rock | 17.45 - 19.55
On St Valentine's Day in 1900 a party of schoolgirls enjoys a day at Hanging Rock, a local beauty spot. But something odd is at work: clocks stop at midday and three girls vanish. Dingo dogs, extraterrestrials, kidnappers or what? In this psychological take on the mystery, director Peter Weir leaves clues hanging in the air like a glistening spider's web, hears celestial choirs and thrumming insects - he hasn't the foggiest, but he adores ambiguity, mysticism and metaphor. It's a very sexy picture, which stares an enigma straight in the eye and, in the process, proved to the world that the new Australian cinema was capable of making films other than those that featured gnarled and drunken sheep-shearers. There are fine performances from Rachel Roberts, Helen Morse and Dominic Guard, which, with the outstanding location work, add up to a decidedly class act.
Rachel Roberts (1)
Idlewild | 17.55 - 20.00
André Benjamin and Antwan A Patton - better known as André 3000 and Big Boi of urban-music duo OutKast - star in this feature debut from writer/director Bryan Barber, the man behind many of their hit promos. Set in the 1930s, the action revolves around the employees of Church, the swingingest speakeasy in Georgia. Cocky Rooster (Patton) manages the joint and occasionally sings on stage, while his shy best friend Percival (Benjamin) plays the piano. As Rooster wrestles with gangsters (their leader played by the typically charismatic Terrence Howard), Percival falls for a stunning chanteuse (Paula Patton). The dance numbers, rendered through dazzling editing, are pretty spectacular, but the acting's patchy and some viewers may bridle at the film's unabashed sexism. Possibly the first movie musical (in the classic sense, with characters communicating in song) to use hip hop, this is something of a folly, if a consistently compelling one.
André Benjamin
Recess: All Growed Down | 18.00 - 19.00
Animated film version of the popular series from the creators of Rugrats. After TJ and the gang have sat through a boring hygiene talk, they get a long recess and start playing in an abandoned playground. However, they get kidnapped by a bunch of kindergarten tots and must try to convince them to call a long overdue truce.
The Object of My Affection | 18.05 - 20.00
Jennifer Aniston again tried to escape her Friends persona in this uneven romantic comedy directed, rather surprisingly, by The Madness of King George's Nicholas Hytner. When Aniston finds out she's pregnant by her oafish ex-boyfriend, she asks her gay friend Paul Rudd to help her bring up the child. As expected, she falls in love with him, but the resulting mess it makes of both their lives is sad rather than romantically humorous, while the ending is contrived and unbelievable. It's well meaning, with some nice performances by co-stars Alan Alda and Nigel Hawthorne, but ultimately unsatisfying.
Jennifer Aniston
Charlotte's Web | 18.15 - 20.00
Author EB White's classic animal fable gets the full Babe treatment in this warm, live-action family fantasy. Gently introducing younger viewers to the natural cycle of life, it explores how a clever spider called Charlotte (tenderly voiced by Julia Roberts) ingeniously uses her web-spinning talents to save a small pig from the chop. While originally filmed as an animated feature in 1973, here the tale combines genuine critters and CGI effects, with delightful visual results. Like Charlotte herself, piglet Wilbur is so endearing that you can understand farmer's daughter Fern (a likeable Dakota Fanning) begging for the runty porker's life - though sadly the other crass creatures that inhabit Wilbur's barnyard home don't share this charm. Voiced by the likes of Robert Redford and Steve Buscemi, their tone-lowering flatulence and constant wisecracking dilute the story's central magic, making the finale less poignant than it should have been.
Julia Roberts
Happily N'Ever After | 18.20 - 20.00
Once upon a time, animated movies treated fairy tale classics with respect. Then came Shrek with its polished CGI visuals and hilariously irreverent revamp of fairy-tale lore. Two Shrek sequels and Hoodwinked later, this bandwagon-jumping outing offers more of the same with an ironic take on Cinderella. Sigourney Weaver voices the wicked stepmother who keeps Ella (Sarah Michelle Gellar) from marrying the preening Prince Humperdink (Patrick Warburton) by taking over the Department of Fairy Tale Land Security. There she can alter fairy-tale endings so nobody lives happily ever after. Hot on her heels is Rick (Freddie Prinze Jr), a kitchen boy at the palace and Ella's true love. Bland vocal performances and derivative jokes won't entertain youngsters accustomed to more refined CGI fare. The funniest moments come courtesy of the supporting characters - biker witches flying motorised broomsticks; gangster wolves -yet even they can't hide the fact that this fairy tale lacks sparkle.
Sigourney Weaver
Remnants of Everest: The 1996 Tragedy | 18.25 - 20.20
Powerful documentary from experienced mountaineer and filmmaker David Breashears, retelling the tragic story of three teams of climbers trapped on Mount Everest's slopes in May 1996 when a storm of unprecedented intensity took them by surprise.
The Journey | 18.45 - 21.00
Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr - who co-starred in The King and I - are reunited in this political drama about people trying to escape the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. Brynner is a Soviet officer, while Kerr plays an Englishwoman trying to smuggle dissident Jason Robards over the border into Austria. The original script was set in China, but the location was changed to Hungary to give the film some topical relevance. Alas, the dramatic impact remains negligible.
Deborah Kerr
Fracture | 18.50 - 21.00
Gregory Hoblit's stylish crime thriller opens with Anthony Hopkins's aeronautical engineer shooting his unfaithful wife (Embeth Davidtz). The cat-and-mouse games begin when Hopkins decides to plead not guilty and defend himself in court, pitting his wits against Ryan Gosling's assistant DA, who has a 97 per cent successful prosecution record. This is Gosling's last case before he takes a job in the lucrative private sector and it looks like a formality (there's even a confession), but the twist here is that the arresting officer (Billy Burke) was Davidtz's lover. Hoblit (Primal Fear) is an old hand at this sort of thing, and Hopkins and Gosling spark nicely off each other (just try to ignore Hopkins's inconsistent accent). Also representing Britain in the Anglo-American cast is Rosamund Pike (Die Another Day), who plays a cool-as-ice lawyer grooming Gosling for his new career in company law, and Fiona Shaw as a sharp-tongued, dry-witted judge. There's nothing particularly new here and some of the plot contortions border on the preposterous, but fans of twisting courtroom thrillers will find it an entertaining diversion.
Anthony Hopkins
Gallipoli | 18.55 - 21.00
Although its ultimate location is the Dardanelles front during the First World War, this landmark in the emergence of Australian cinema steers between overt pacifism and Anzac pride to focus on the spirit of competition and camaraderie that underpins the national character. Peter Weir refuses to shirk the issue of imperial troops fighting European battles and admirably conveys the chaos and waste of warfare by pointedly contrasting the warren-like trenches with the sunlit acres of the opening scenes. But his interest clearly lies in the specific response to the situation of zealous sprinter Mark Lee and his cynical buddy, Mel Gibson.
Mel Gibson
Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade | 19.00 - 20.00
Animated film version of the popular series from the creators of Rugrats. It's the new school year and the gang discover some unwelcome changes - no pizza, no playground and no lockers. To make matters worse, their new teacher is the cantankerous Miss Finster.
The Lady Eve | 19.20 - 21.00
This wonderfully witty masterpiece was written and directed by the inimitable Preston Sturges. The plot gives a couple of near career-best roles to two of Hollywood's finest, who are perfectly cast here. Henry Fonda plays a wealthy young man obsessed by snakes, who lays himself wide open to the schemes of professional con artist Charles Coburn and his daughter, Barbara Stanwyck. Fonda's buddy, William Demarest, intervenes, but Stanwyck, undeterred, later reappears in disguise at Fonda's palatial manse and tries again. Naturally, the slick, assured sexual