MEDIA LIST
ofjazz. Eastwood bravely chose to make the music the centrepiece of this biopic and critics responded by calling Birdthe first great jazz movie.
EDNESDAY 11
I The Kon-Tiki Man (BBCl )7.40—8.05pm. A 10-part series on the life ofNorwegian explorer Thor lleyerdal. for which he returned to the remote parts of the world that made his name. The series opens with the 20-year-old Heyerdal formulating his theories on the migration ofthe Polynesians while he spends a year with his wife on the Pacific island ofFatu lliva. I RearWindow (C4) 9. 15—10pm. Not the Hitchcock classic. but a new series of international arts and culture programmes assembled by 'l‘ariq Ali and made by the team that brought us The Bandung File. The series starts with a look at the oft-neglected l970s through the eyesof Hanif Kureishi. writer of My Beautiful Laundrette. Sammy and Rosie Get Laid and the new book The Buddha ofSuhurbia I A Very Peculiar Practice ( BBCZ) 9.25—10. 15pm. Welcome repeat showing for the first series ofthe comedy by BAFTA award-winning writer Andrew Davies. Peter Davison as Dr Stephen Daker arrives fresh and raring to go at the Lowlands‘ University medical unit — but disillusionment quickly sets in.
I Inside Story: Return to Hiroshima ( BBC 1) 9.35—10.25pm. Five members of the 509th Composite Air Group USAAF return to Hiroshima 45 years after their group dropped the first atom bomb on the city. They are unsure of what reception they can expect. but are driven back to face up to the past.
I When the Wind Blows (C4) 10—1 1 .40pm. Television premiere for Raymond Briggs' animated feature. based on his powerful cartoon book about the consequences of nuclear war.
I Great Noises That Fill the Air(C4) 12.25-12.55am. A programme on the Bow Gamelan Ensemble. who build their instruments from scrap metal and incorporate fire. noise. spectacle and performance into their shows.
THURSDAY 12
I 40 Minutes: Mac in the USSR ( BBCZ) 9.30—10. l0pm. The McDonalds hamburger joint in Moscow is the biggest in the world. serving over 20.000 people per day. The 40 Minutes burger gang were there in the lead-up to its grandopening. IThe Final Frame ((‘4)9.3o—l 1.15pm. Receiving its Film on 4 premiere isthis thriller. in which Graham ‘Suggs' McPherson (of Madness) is murdered on stage at an Animal Rights benefit. and the young film-maker who caught the incident on video has to flee for his life. As well as being Suggs' first acting role. the film also features Zoot Money as a record label boss— his 200th film role.
I Mistero Bult0(BB(‘1)10.1(Hu4tlpm. Part two of the televised version of Dario Fo's satirical mystery plays. Robbie Coltrane plays it all himself.
I The Funny Farm (Scottish) 10.35—11.05pm. Stu Who‘.’ presents comedy from Llna McLean and Parrot and music from Better Backwards.
I Animation on 4 (C4) 12.55— 1 .40am. Two films by the Czech surrealist animatorJan Svankmajer. who created the creepy and wonderful Alice. shown on C4 at Christmas. The Coffin Factory. an early film with hints of his puppetry background of the Black Theatre. and Virile Games. a more recent piece of plasticine animation on the subject of football violence. Also tonight: Binky and Boo. a sample of ‘British Grotesque‘ about two variety performers and their experiences in the last war.
FRIDAY 13
I The Embassy World Professional Snooker LChampionship (BBCZ) 1 l .30am-12.20pm.
l.35—3. 15pm. This is the title that has eluded Stephen Hendry all this time. and he's facing stiff competition. like last year's winner Steve Davis and runner-up John Parrott. The winner of this 17-day tournament will pocket £120.000.
I Dumbo (Scottish) 3.55—5. 10pm. Don't knock this one until you‘ve seen it —or even just the awesomely weird pink elephants sequence. One of the most outstanding Disney films.
I Kylie — 0n the Go (Sky One) 7-8pm. Kylie Minogue sings her greatest hits on her first concert tours ofJapan and Britain. Backstage scenes too. which could be a revelation. though it‘s doubtful. I Simone Well — Utopian Pessimist (C4) 8—9pm. Jane Lapotaire plays the French philosopher. whose position progressed from anarcho-syndicalism to Christian mysticism. in this drama-documentary. intercut with interviews and sequences filmed in the many places she called home until her death in Kent in 1943.
I Arena: Dear America ( BBCZ) 9.25—10.50pm. Award-winning documentary structured around letters written by American soldiers in Vietnam and read by actors like Robert De Niro. Martin Sheen. Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn. with home movies taken by troops. Basically. as much as possible has been told from the point of view of the men who fought.
I Jazz625(BBC2)10.50—11.20pm. Archive footage ofThelonious Monk in April 1965.
SATURDAY 14
I You've Been Framed (Scottish)
6. l0—6.40pm. The latest string toJeremy Beadle‘s bow: showing home movies sent in by viewers that went (‘hilariously') wrong.
I The Power of Football ( Eurosport) 9—10.30pm. The official film ofthe 1978 World Cup in Argentina. which was originally suppressed by FlFA as a criticism ofthe then-ruling military junta. I Nothing Like a Royal Show(Scottish)
9—1 1pm. A new variety show beginsthis week. Cast includes Hale and Pace. Julian Clary. Jimmy Somerville and the cast of Buddy.
I Sing Spirituals (C4) 10—1 1.30pm. A suitably Easterly concert. with Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman. recorded at Carnegie Hall last month.
I Stir Crazy (Scottish) 12. 15-2.2()am. Much-maligned. highly enjoyable vehicle for the comedy talents of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. Watch for Wilder trying to emulate Pryor's streetwise badass self when they first enter the cells.
SUNDAY 15
I M. Hulot's Holiday (C4) 2—3.55pm. The most fondly-remembered Jacques Tati film. made in 1952. The clumsy. well-meaning Tati goes on vacation to a provincial seaside resort.
I The Hillsborough Memorial Service
(BBCl) 2.45—3.30pm. Broadcast from Anfield Stadium.
I Big (Sky Movies) 8—10pm. Tom Hanks in his Oscar-nominated performance as a 13-year-old boy who finds himself in a 30-year-old body after an experience with a carnival wishing machine.
I Salaam Bombay! (C4)
10.05pm-12. 10am. Ten-year-old Krishna is abandoned by the circus he works for and has to cope in the streets surrounded by drug dealers. madmen. prostitutes. traffic and thousands more children like himself. Director Mira Nair‘s film was nominated for a 1989 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
MONDAY 16
I Saturday Night Fever(BBC1) 5.45—7.30pm. So fond are our memories of the film that launched John Travolta. and ofthe soundtrack. that it‘s easy to forget what a dog this film is. even for kitsch buffs. Probably the best reason for watching it again (and we all will) isto laugh and wonder at what we thought was so marvelous in 1977.
I A Tribute to Nelson Mandela ( BBCZ) 5.45—7.30pm. From Wembley Stadium. and reputed to be the very last gig of Simple Minds. Could it be true'.’ Perhaps Jim will make the big announcement on stage to set our minds at rest. Or Minds to rest. Sorry.
IJagged Edge (BBC1)9.2()—1 1.05pm. Jeff Bridges and Glenn Close star in Richard Marquand‘s 1985 whodunnit. which really does keep up the suspense all the way through.
I The Family (C4) ll—l 1 .30pm. Three films from Russia in the Women Call the Shots season. commencing with a short Georgian black comedy about a day in the life of Keti. a young student trying to finish her dissertation in the face ofeonstant interruptions from her many relatives.
TUESDAY 17
I Gallipoli (Scottish) 11.10pm— I am. Patchy. but ultimately worth watching. Australian answer to Chariots ofFire. the main protagonists being two sprinters whose rivalry takes them not only to the Olympics but to the war zone ofGallipoli.
WEDNESDAY 18
I RearWindow(C4)9.15—1tipm. ‘Dogma and Dreams in South Africa': Rear Window talks to Andre Brink and Don Matera in South Africa about whether the country can build a national culture embracing both black and while. In the studio in London. Njabula Ndebele. Alby Sachs. Heim Willcmee and Loretta Ngoobt).
I Inside Story(BBC1)9.35—1().25pm. Researchers are now saying that Britain's worst nuclear accident. at Windscale in 1957. was a lot more serious than anyone let on at the time.
THURSDAY 19
I Tomorrow's World (BBCl ) fir—8.30pm. A Chunnel special. from the Dovercontrol room and the cutting face. looking at some ofthe worrieslrabies. fire. general safety) involved in the project.
I40 Minutes (BBC2)9.30—10. l0pm. ‘Killer Bimbos on Fleet Street‘.
I A Month in the Country((‘4)
9.30—1 l .20pm. Two traumatised survivors of World War i. played by Kenneth Branagh and Colin Firth. meet in a Yorkshire village in 1920. Firth has come to restore a mural. Branagh toexcavate the land around the church. A sensitive. accomplished film which. while having airs of pretention. is nonetheless a treat.
I The Mission (BBCI) l(lpm—12.05am. Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons are the opponents who come to realise they have much in common. and the Amazonian jungle is the stunning background fortheir revelations.
IWILT(15) 93 mins. The tawdrytale of Grill Rhys Jones' mild mannered Tech' College teacher who gets caught up in aTom Sharpe novel. err. gets caught up in a murderhunt. His robust friend Mel plays the copper hot on his heels. inthis occasionally amusing farce. Still it's much more enjoyableto look at than the ill-fated Morons From Outer Space. but then so are most people's holiday snaps. (Guild Rental). I MAKING MISTER RIGHT (15)95 mins. Susan Seidelman'slollow-upto Desperately Seeking . . . is an attempt atsomething wackier. “People promoter' Frankie Stone (Sally Magnuson) is hired by socially gauche robot-designer Dr Peters (John Malkovich) to popularise his latest creation. Ulysses (also Malkovich). before he goes off on a seven-yearspace mission. Instead she leads him astray and. afterhis sex-circuits are awakened byherflatmate.lallslor him. Ms Magnusontries hard to match Madonna lor kookiness. but is not aided by the hackneyed storyline. or by Floyd Byars' seriously nail script. with its duff laugh-lines and its puerile visual humour (this contraceptive cap routine will have 'em rolling in the aisles. ha. ha). Not surprising. really. thatthis 5 movie barely received a I cinema release. (RCA. £9.99) I KARATE KID PART III (PG) 111 mins. Remember. do not use these giftsfor violence- nor apparently for entertainment. Uninspiring choplest. in which the youngster(Ralph Macchio) leaves his master (Noriyuki Morita) presumably to chop around a bit. Once again. thelight scenes are the highlights. (RCA/Columbia. Rental).
'i .,.. g 4 I BIG (PG)104mins. Despite the title.
12-year-old Josh (David Moscow) is only a wee thing and fails to hit it off with the belle ofthe school. However. it's all change when he discovers an ancient lairground wishing machine and consequently receives an influx of hormonesthatwould make even Ben Johnson gasp. Delinitelythe pick ofthe Body-Swap movies of '89 chiefly because of Hanks' appealing characterisation of a small kid in a grown
ups world. (CIC. £9.99)
The List (I 1‘) April [90059