Right, lingers on the buzzers. first round starter for ten. Which of the many videos coming out this month are worth watching out tor?
95 mins. Joe Paris (Burt Reynolds) is a tough cop with a tough temper in a tough situation - as the ultra-deep-bass voice-over would have it. In fact. he‘sa drunk who is arrested lor the murder oi ‘some low-lite crook'. Theresa Russell is the small-time lawyer lighting his case and eventually lalling for his moustachioed charm. Di course. the lormula-plot ol ‘tough cop in a jam helped by pretty girl with a conscience' is as old as a Bob Monkhouse script. Still. it's easy enough to follow il you like old Bertie and his 'tash. (Warner Home Video. Rental).
I BLUE VELVET (18) 115 mins. ‘What’s been going on earthen?‘ Ponders young Jellrey (Kyle AlacLachlan) when he comes across a severed ‘shell-like' near Lumberton USA. In true boy-detective manner. he lugs it down to the cops. yet. they seem unwilling to look into it. However. as he probes deeper. he uncovers the darker-side of small-town lite and with it a particularly verbose psycho (Denis Hopper). Director David Lynch's dramatic blend ol B-movie detection and brutal sex make this side-swipe at complacent visions ol society peculiarly memorable. (CBS/Fox £9.99).
Yesl At last! Warner Home Video are releasing the ‘greats' at British comedy. A veritable pantheon ol ageing comics star in this collection which includes Holiday on the Buses. Up Pompeii (produced by Red Sherrin!) and Till Death us do Part. The ‘Silly Moo’. the ‘Scouse Bit’ and ‘ooerl don't lancy yours much'- they're all there. What more could you ask tor? So it anyone you dislike has a birthday coming up now’s your chance. All released on 16 Feb. (Warner Home Video. £9.99)
I BLACKADDER Two more
episodes ol the vile
Elizabethan’s adventures,
verylunny indeed. are released by the Beeb-The Foretelling and the Queen of Spain's Beard. (BBC Video. £7.99)
MEDIA L151
I PHYSICAL EVIDENCE (18)
I course 0 THE eox I
both lunnierthan something
LISTINGS WEEK DNE
FRIDAY 9
I Public Eye: Targeting the Generals (BBC2) 8—8.30pm. Originally scheduled for broadcast on 2 Feb. an investigation into the covert policing of football hooligans. in particular the successful ‘Operation Growth‘ and the aptly-named ‘Operation Own Goal‘.
I Survival: The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Scottish) 8—9pm. A land of contrasts. Mauritania. Inland the Sahara. on the coast two million wading birds. which migrate there each year. And then there‘s the nomadic fishermen. whom we see
catching enough fish to last them months. 7
with the co-operation of dolphins.
I Walkie Talkie (C4) 8.30—9pm. Muriel Gray wanders with Norman (‘Upwardly Mobile’) Tebbit as Mag‘s former right hand man picks his way along hisfavourite walk. in Epping Forest. Watch out. Norm! Mu don‘t take no crap!
I Cheers (C4) 99.30pm. The second instalment of the story opening the cult comedy‘s new series. Millionaire Robin Colcord (played by British actor Roger Rees) has snatched Rebecca out of Sam‘s arms — a relationship that lasted seconds— and plans to whisk her off for a weekend. I Arena: Roberto Rossellini (BBC2) 9.30-1().3()pm. Rossellini revolutionised international cinema by working on the streets of Rome with non-professionals. His influence is stamped all over European film-making. but how did he get pushed out to the margins in later life?
I Wall SltBBl (Sky Movies) 1(lpm—12.()5am. Michael Douglas is Gordon Gekko. the slimcball kingof ruthless dealing. and he won an Oscar for It.
I One Hour With Jonathan Ross (C4) 10.30—11.30pm. Back again. in the old Last Resort timeslot.
I Death in Venice (BBC2)
11.20pm—l .30am. The jury’s still out over this famous I97] Dirk Bogarde film. directed by Luchino Visconti. Is the pace stately or funereal. the film a stunning cinematic experience or a bowdlerisation of Thomas Mann‘s novella?
I Calling the Shots (C4)
11.30pm— 12.55am. Women Call the Shots. a season of films celebrating the achievements of women in film-making, commences on Wed 14 with Desert Hearts. In this prefatory documentary. directors like Susan Seidelman. Penelope Spheeris and Euzhan Paley (whose A Dry White Season has just been released) talk about their experiences behind the camera.
SATURDAY 10
I Oceanography (BBC2) 1.30—2.2(lpm. An eight-part series is introduced by a montage of clips from past and present. with glimpses of the future.
I Scottish Eye (C4) 6.30-7pm. In a programme originally scheduled for 3 Feb. Scottish Eye investigates the secrecy. harsh management and low morale of Scottish hospitals. Is the Government deliberately provoking a crisis to get its free market policies accepted more quickly?
I Hearts oi Fire (Sky Movies) 8—9.40pm. Bob Dylan and Rupert Everett make pilloeks of themselves in Richard Marquand‘s inauspicious swan song. Even Dylan freaks will find it hard going.
I The Loneliest Mountain (C4) 8—9pm. In December 1987. six mountaineers left Sydney with the intention ofconquering the unclimbed Mount Minto in the Antarctic. This programme details the trials they had to endure before they even
got to the 16.000-foot monolith. and those
thereafter. ITalking Takes Two (C4) 9—10pm. lnthe
final 4-P1ay. Ronnie is an over-the-hill
ventriloquist with a teddy-boy doll which has been with him for 30 years. To jazz up his act he introduces a new dummy - a pink fluffy kangaroo. Reality and fantasy quickly become confused.
I Border Warfare (C4) 10—1 1pm. John McGrath and Wildcat‘s spectacular Tramway show from last year. filmed and split into three parts to be shown over the next three Saturdays. Starting with the entrance of Humanity into a primeval Scotland. the action progresses to take in. in McGrath‘s words. ‘a thousand years of invasion. suppression. massacre. pillage. attempted annihilation. betrayal and treachery — in other words. of Scotland‘s relations with England.‘ Now. the new McGrath/Wildcat production . John Brown '3 Body. is to be filmed f0! future C4 transmission.
I Rome, Dpen City( BBCZ)
1 1.25pm—12. 15am. The first in a series of Roberto Rossellini films was made in 1945 and. based partly on real events. tells the story of a Communist resistance leader hunted down by the Gestapo. Fellini collaborated on the screenplay.
SUNDAY 11
I Spice (C4) 9.25—10am. A new series of 12 programmes. this is not. as might be supposed. a counterpart to World of Herbs. but a pot pourri of arts from the East. The first programme features director Satyajit Ray. designer Parveen Sheikh. pianist Adnan Sami and dancer Renu Bassi.
I On the Record (BBCI) 1-2pm. A live discussion on the need for constitutional reform. and how far democracy needs to be reshaped if it is genuinely to reflect the wishes of the electorate.
I Kat'a Kahanova (C4) 2-3.50pm. This week‘s Opera on 4 comes from the quillof J anacek. and was performed at Glyndebourne with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and young American soprano Nancy Gustafson in the title role. Sung in Czech with English subtitles.
I Silence to Silence (C4) 3.55-5.25pm. Over the next four nights is a short season to commemorate the life and work of the late Samuel Beckett. Tonight‘s offering is a documentary. tracing his life in Dublin and France through his prose. plays and poetry. Billie Whitelaw. J ack McGrowan and Patrick Magee. all actors closely identified with his work. appear in selected extracts.
I The Struggle tor Salmon (C4) 7-8pm. Rivalry is brewing on the great Scottish salmon-fishing rivers between anglers and netsmen. The netsmen believe that tradition is on their side . but the anglers claim the support of the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Trust. Fragile Earth probably isn‘t too happy with either of them.
I Crult‘s1990(BBC2)7.15—8.05pm. Sick-o! See what ludicrous shapes frustrated topiarists have sculpted their
I WALL STREET (15) 132
VIDEOS
mins. Guilt triumphs over gilt-edged in Oliver Stones' requiem toryuppies. Having made it to the top ol the rental chart last year, it is released on sell-through on 15 February. Charlie Sheen plays the Wall Street whiz-kid cutting a swathe through a supporting cast of red braces. But. has he got what it takes to become another Gordon ‘ruthless bastard' Gekko? That is, the ability to rape and pillage on the Stock Exchange without batting an eyelid? Or will sell-respect and integrity win the day? An unashamedly moral tale lot the ‘me' generation. though frankly, who really gives a toss about an overpaid young financier eventually choosing to do the right thing? (CBS/Fox £9.99).
I A PRAYER FOR THE DYIHB (15) 103 mins. Bob 'Dskins as a priest? Mickey Rourke as an IRA gunman? Uninspired casting though an entertaining enough thriller. in which Rourke decides to hang up his Armalite. Unlortunater his passport to freedom involves a gangland killing witnessed by our Bob (blimey)! A thought- provoking lilm which hardly deserved its reputation as an unmitigated lallure. (Vestron Video. £9.99)
I THE BURBS (PG) 97 mins. Committed suburbanite Ray Petersen (Tom Hanks) and his buddies become obsessed with the activities oi their new neighbours. the mysterious Klopeks. whom they hound mercilessly. Dante’s ollbeat anti-racist satire is spoiled by overactlng and underwriting, but Ranks’ ability with slim material is undeniable. and lends the movie a certain light-hearted charm. Released tor rental 16 February. (Clc, Rental).
68 The List 9 - 22 February 1990