MEDIA LIST
V VIDEOS
With Andrew Bumet salely bound and gagged, our regular video reviewer, Ross ‘llow Then' Parsons, returns.
I BROADCAST NEWS (15) 132 mins. ll you've ever wondered what newsreaders say to each
other as the credits roll. this
is the film for you. The dialogue at the Washington newsdesk lairly sizzles away as high-llying producer (Holly ilunter) is
torn between admiration lor
the intelligent newshound Aaron (Albert Brooks) and the dumb but delectable anchonnan Tom (William Hurt). Fast-paced and brilliantly acted romantic comedy. (CBS/Fox, £9.99)
I MARRIED TO THE M08 (15) 104 mins. Director Jonathon Demme tries to keep up to the mark achieved by his last yuppieoin-peril movie, Something Wild, but tails. Tony the Tiger gleelully pursues the wile olan err-Malia colleague (Michelle Pleiller) alter he decides that killing her husband ain't revenge enough. When FBI agent Mathew Modine turns up things start to hot up, or rather don't. The somewhat turgid plot tends to drag the characters down with it. (Virgin, Rental).
I DEAD POETS SOCIETY (PG) 129 mins. Carpe Video - seize the vid. An unusually quick video release, the sign at things to come, tor this impressive and inspiring story 01 the clash between imagination and authority. Robin Williams is outstanding as the messianic unconventional teacher at a staid New England boys'
school who inspires passion
among his charges lorthe lorbidden arts: literature and philosophy. Flt wye did they no hiv teachers like 'at
in Aberdeen in the Eighties?
(Touchstone. Rental).
llSTINGS
FRIDAY 23
I What the Papers Say (BBCZ) 7.15-7.30pm. After last week‘s annual awards. this is the first real outing on the BBC for the country‘s longest-running current affairs TV programme. Presented by Paul Foot. winner of the journalist of the year award.
I Whlcker’s World (BBCl) 8.10-9pm. I Didn 't C hop Their Important Organs is the inviting title of this episode. in which Whicker investigates the brutal world of the Triads. who control most of Hong Kong‘s bars. nightclubs and public transport system by main force.
I Justice Game 2: The Lady From Rome (BBC1)9.30-10.20pm. Denis Lawson returns as Scots lawyer Dominic Rossi in this new three-parter, in which his ambitions to become an advocate have to be put on the back-burner as he gets involved in a robbery case in Glasgow. Matters become more complicated when Francesca Arcalli (Anita Zagaria), with whom he romanced in Italy. seeks his help after a series of mysterious murders. Previewed last issue.
I Arena: Peggy Ramsay (BBCZ) 9.3()—l().30pm. Profile of the play agent, now in her 805. who launched the careers of. among many others, Robert Bolt,John Arden and Joe Orton.
I Roseanne (C4) Ill—10.30pm. The chuckling funbundle returns with a new series. See Preview.
I A Nightmare On Elm Street (Sky Movies) lO—l 1.45pm. Freddy‘s first horrorfest outing sees him pick offa group of teenagers one by one — no mean feat considering he‘s dead. Eventually, one girl comes up with a way of stopping him, at least until the sequel is made. ITootsie(BBCl)10.20pm-12.15am. Dustin Hoffman stars as New York actor Michael Dorsey. whose quest for more regular work lands him the part ofthe middle-aged female lead in a daytime soap. Co-starring Jessica Lange and Bill Murray, this is a tightly-scripted. ifat times asininc. sitcom.
IJaa625(BBC2) 11.20—11.50pm. Many of the recordings of the original series. made between 1964 and 1966. are now lost, but, with laborious re-editing. two series. each of ten programmes, have been compiled. This first series will feature Duke Ellington. Thelonious Monk. Art Blakey and many other great names of jazz. -
I The German Sisters (C4)
11.30pm—l .25am. Jutta Lampe and Barbara Sukowa play the sisters. one a journalist . the other a member of the Red Army Faction. in this film based on real life.
I RoboCop (Sky Movies) 1.30—4am. Original, if at times uneasy mixture of cartoon violence and parodies of advertising, set in a future ‘Old Detroit‘ where, with the crime rate soaring, cyborgs take over the job of law enforcement. Directed by Paul
‘. 3 h. s». 7 . .. .O - -:_ _" V mun. SQ , n»... ._
1 #4 Roseanne Channel 4, Fri 23, 10pm.
’5‘ I ' .5; «ea. .Wan
Verhoeven, and starring Peter Weller in the title role . a cross between Dirty Harry and Judge Dredd who nonetheless succeeds in being considerably more violent than either.
SATURDAY 24
I Starrnan (BBCl ) 7 .05—9pm. John Carpenter's sentimental but endearing adult fairy tale, in which Jeff Bridges in the title role comes down to Earth and takes the form of Karen Allen‘s dead husband. I Peeping Tom (BBCZ) 9.20—1 1pm. The Michael Powell season continues with this acclaimed and influential analysis of the role of films and film-makers. Carl Bohm stars as a young man whose interest in photography has a more sinister side to it: he likes to kill women, and film them as they die. Filmed in sickly shades, it’sa disturbing work, but worth persevering with. Martin Scorsese‘s favourite film.
I Rambo 3 (Sky Movies) 10-1 1.45pm. Sly Stallone turns up in Afghanistan to rescue his best friend, and ends up taking on the whole Soviet army. Absurd isn‘t the word for it, but the pacing is sufficient to keep the attention of anyone able to suspend their disbelief.
I The Small Back Room (BBCZ) llpm—12.45am. Michael Powell again. This one‘s set in wartime Britain, where a new type of bomb the Germans have is taking its toll on both the military and civilian population. David Farrar stars as the research scientist called in to find out how the bomb works. but he has a few problems of his own to contend with too. I Frankenstein (C4) 12.05—1.25am (Greenwich Mean Time -— the clocks go forward tonight). The 1931 original, directed by James Whale, with the inimitable Boris Karloff as the monster. I The Ghoul (C4) 1.25-2.55 (Greenwich Mean Time). Karloff stars as Professor Morlant , who thinks that ‘the eternal light‘, stolen from an Egyptian tomb, will give him immortality.
SUNDAY 25 _
I Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less (BBC1)7.15—8.05pm. With Edward Asner starring as suspicious American millionaire Harvey Metcalfe (are there any who aren't suspicious?) , this four-part adaptation of Jeffrey Archer‘s magnum opus may not be quite so bad as the author‘s reputation would lead one to believe. Co-starring Ed Begley junior and Jenny Agutter, the series begins with Metcalfe hiring David Kesler (Nicolas Colicos) to run his oil company's new London office, confident that Kesler is mean enough to manipulate others, but dumb enough to be manipulated in turn by Metcalfe himself.
I Frantic (Sky Movies) 8— 10pm. Polanski‘s modern film noir, set in Paris, stars Harrison Ford as an American doctor whose wife has been kidnapped. Trying to get her back involves him in a plot with grave consequences for the
future of the world itself. The sets are superb. but the whole is only a partial success, and wasn‘t enough to revive
Polanski‘s flagging reputation.
“2...... '9
‘ ‘ " I nesunnrco (15) 94
ks
mins. David Thewliss stars as a soldier who turns up in the Falklands weeks alter being pronounced missing presumed dead. Returning to his Lancashire village on sick leave, he receives a hero's welcome, but tabloid-tired rumours ol cowardice begin to circulate, making rehabilitation impossible. Worse awaits him back at the barracks, where his fellow soldiers exorcise their own lear ol conllict on him, eventually subjecting him to a harrowing trial. Martin Allen's script is unwiser eked out with lots ol lootage ol the lad walking around looking miserable, and its potential to coniure atmosphere is thus diluted. Nonetheless, the moronic )ingoism which possessed Britain alter Dur Boys Sent Galtieri Packing is recaptured uncomlortably well. (Castle, rental)
(15) 121 mins. Tama Janowitz's collection at stories locuses on the ‘artier than thou' attitude oi middle-class New York. An unusual choice lor director James ‘glossy Forster adaptations' Ivory. though he handles the book’s sleaziness and tart dialogue well. Most ellective isthe portrayal ol tense shyness which besets Abby (played by Janowitz hersell). Boho sleaze a go go. (RCA/Columbia, Rental)
TOP TEN BENTED VIDEOS IN CENTRAL SCOTLAND
1. Lethal Weapon 2.
2. Dead Poets Society. 3. Fly 2.
4. Major League.
5. Karate Kid 3.
6. Cyborg.
7. Married To The Mob. 8. Three Fugitives.
9. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. 10.Jack's Back. Courtesy olAzad Video.
The List 23 March — 5 April 1990 73