TELEVISION LISTINGS
Our regular guide to the latest VllS releases hitting your shop shelves round about novv.
Rental
I The last or The Mohicans (15) Michael Mann's lavish adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's epic tale of the Anglo/French colonial wars in America casts Daniel Day-Lewis as hero Hawkeye. Lusth visual but strangely lacking a really involving plot. (Warner)
I or Mice And Men (PG) Steinbeck's novel makes a less-than—scintillating film. casting John Malkovich as a lumbering slow-wilted giant roaming around Depression America with his resourceful sidekick (played by director Gary Sinise). Strong on its depictions of rural farm life, without straying too far into lliilrnns territory. (Warner)
I Bitter Moon ( 18) Roman Polanski's off- colour sexual yarn starring Peter Coyote as a wheelchair-bound novelist entrapping a young Englishman (Hugh (irant) on a cruise and regaling him with his lurid tale ()f perversion and lust. Familiar Polanski territory with little to redeem the baseness of the characters. (Columbia Tristar)
I Sexual Intent ( 18) An erotic thriller that. as at least seventeen members of our staff can confirm. fails to deliver those salacious scenes promised by the cover. Based on the true story of serial seducer John Walsome. a Casanova who. as the sleeve notes salivate. ‘gives his bcsotted victims everything they crave. then takes everything they own —juicing them up. then sucking them dry.‘ Nice. (Medusa)
I Shattered Promises (15) (Odyssey)
I Dream llider (L7) (First Independent)
I llovvards End (PG) The Oscar-winning Forster adaptation is generally regarded as Merchant lly'ory's finest 273 hours to date and earned Emma Thompson a Best Actress statuette for her portrayal of a strong-willed young woman married to
reactionary old duffer Anthony Hopkins. It's a complex family saga with less of the beautifully-shot tedium of previous M/l epics and more concentration on developing fully-rounded characters. (Curzon)
I Thunderheart ( 15) (20:20 Vision)
I Linguini Incident ( 15) (20:20 Vision)
Sell-through
I The Magician ( 18) Th ‘ first instalment in Ingmar Bergman's trilogy looking at questions of faith. continued in ll'inlcr Light and The Silence. Max Von Sydow plays travelling hy'pnotisl and magician Dr \‘oglcr who is humiliated by cynical medical officer Dr Vergerus. Vogler exerts a suitable revenge on the unbeliev ing doctor. (Tartan £15.99)
I Winter Light ( l8) (Tartan £15.99)
I The Silence ( ls) (Tartan £15.99)
I The Seventh Seal ( 15) More knockabout laughs from the cheery Swede in this classic medieval morality tale. Von Sydow plays an idealistic knight returning from the Crusades to find his homeland devastated by plague. He encounters Death and challenges him to a symbolic game of chess (a sequence which you might remember was rather excellently parodied in Bill And Ted's Bogus Journey). A limited edition special presentation box is available including Faber and Faber's illustrated screenplay. (Tartan £15.99)
I Les Valseuses ( l8) (Tartan £15.99)
I Elvira Madigan (18) (Tartan £15.99)
I ltova Adventures in Science: Signs or The Apes, Songs 01 The Wales (C) (First Independent £9.99)
I Hey There It’s Yogi Bear! (C) (First Independent £8.99)
I Yo Yogi! (U) Aaargh. sacrilege! Yogi Bear has been updated for the 905. He. along with his pals. has been relocated to Jelly-stone Mall. where he
speaks excruciating jive talk and hangs out with the L.A.F. Squad. whoever they are. (First Independent £8.99)
I The World or
. Discovery: lied Express
(First Independent £9.99)
I The Naked lunch ( 18) David Cronenberg cuts up rough with William Burroughs' psychedelic fantasy and the result is suitably disjointed but never less than watchable. lnterspersing elements of Burroughs' own life with plenty of drug-induced sexual imagery and surreal narrative. the result is Name and unsettling but memorable. (l’irst Independent £12.99)
I The Collector ( 15) Iiric Rohmer's 1967 ‘moral tale' of the casually promiscuous irlgcmw Haydee (Haydce Politoff) whose habit of ‘collecting' different men annoys her two regular companions (Patrick Bauchau and Daniel
Pommereulle ). (Connoisseur £15.99) I The Marquis or 0 (PG)
(Connoisseur £15.99)
I Pauline At The Beach ( 15) More Rohmer. more lingering shots of under- developed females.
Amanda l.anglet plays 15-
y‘ear-old Pauline. holidaying at the beach and observing the duplicity of adult sexual relationships. (Connoisseur £15.99)
I Six In Paris ( 15) (Connoisseur £15.99)
I Fantazla: The Ultimate nave Collection Fantazia are the largest rave organisers in the UK and this video features live footage of some of last year’s sell-out events. if you're the sort of sad agoraphobic/hardcore rave addict who wants to sit at home and watch lots of other people having a good time on screen. (Creation Entertainments £1 1.99)
TELEVISION .
A selection at television highlights,
listed by day, in chronological order. Television Listings compiled by Tom Lappin.
FRIDAY 23
I Gingerbread Girl (Scottish) 8.30—9pm. Linda (Janet Dibley) finds a boyfriend while working at her new job in the library. but her friends are dubious about her motives.
I The Bill liaii Element (BBC 1)
9.30-“ 10.20pm. The fourth episode of [)ebbie Horslield's comedy drama. The Belclier clan are called in to help with Boyd Tundish's schemes. including organising a ghost hunt at Tundisli Hall. I Cheers (Channel 4) 9.30» 10pm. Lilith tackles Frasier about the exact nature of his relationship with Rebecca. but before she can get an answer her love-crazed. pistol-toting lover intervenes.
I Roseanne (Channel 4) 10—-l0.30pm. Roseanne tries to help her daughter get over a broken heart. while Dan is engaging in ice-related incidents.
I Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Channel 4) 10.30-11.05pm. Clive Anderson introduces the usual batch of show-off Brits and feeble Yanks. including Tony Slattery for the former and Ryan Stiles for the latter.
if”? -' I Robin Williams — Acting Funny (Channel 4) 1105-1 1.35pm. A documentary profile of the American funny man. preceding a Channel 4 season of his films. Terry (iilliam. Robert Altman and Steven Wright are among the interviewees commenting on Williams's
I Metropolis (Channel 4)
1.35pm— 1 . 10am. Cinephile purists beware. Fritz. Lang's 1926 futuristic masterpiece has been 'updated' by Europap-meister Giorgio Moroder and features a hideous soundtrack by the likes of Adam Ant. Pat Benatar. Billy Squier and Jon Anderson.
SATURDAY 24
I The Great Outdoors (BBC 1 ) 7—8.25pm. (Another John Hughes broad family comedy (ie not that funny) starring John Candy as mild-mannered family man Chet Ripley. whose lakeside holiday is ruined by the arrival of his slimy brother-in-law (Dan Aykroyd) and his loathsome family. I Tales or Book ’lt’ lloll: Heartbreak liotel (BBC2) 8.55—9.30pm. The true story behind Elvis Presley's first million- seller. Small—time country musician Tommy Durden wrote the song after reading a newspaper report about a suicide note left in a Miami hotel. and used the single line of the note in the lyric. I Westbeach (BBCl ) 9.15 ~l0.05pm. The drama series written by Tony Marchant set in a seaside town. An Elvis Presley convention hits town. and Alan Cramer (()liver Cotton) goes green with his scheme for a paper recycling plant.
I Cinema Cinema!: The Hairdresser’s Husband (Channel 4) l0.35pm—- 12.05am. A new season of continental films opens with Patrice Leconte's gently voyeuristic tale of a man who fulfils his childhood dream of marrying a hairdresser. A cute but empty overdose of nostalgia.
SUNDAY 25
I Women’s Football (Channel 4) 1.45—2.45pm. Shelley Webb presents highlights of the Women's FA Cup Final from Oxford. plus snippets from recent international games.
I Football ltalia (Channel 4) 2.4575an More histrionics on display from the millionaire stars of Serie A. as Juventus take on Florentina. with liuropean qualifying places at stake.
I Masterchei 1993 (BBC) ) 5.30-6.05pm. l.oyd (irossman hosts another batch of wannabe chefs and their over-elaborate concoctions. today including Welsh Lamb and Barbary Duck.
I The Next Big Thing: Only Rock Can Save Us llovv (Channel 4) 5.30 ()plll. The first part of a real life rock soap opera following the fortunes of aspiring pop stars. The first eight programmes shadow FMB. an indie band from Stoke Newington desperately seeking a record deal. See preview.
I The Nineties: All Your Kisses Are Mine (BBC2) 7.40—8.20pm. The latest in BBC Bristol‘s oral history projects continues with a look at the lot of single women in the first half of the century. After the First World War there was a huge surplus of single women for whom marriage was no longer an option.
I Very Jean Muir (Channel 4) 8 8.30pm. A unique insight into the fashion industry. concentrating on one of Britain's best- known designers. The first programme looks at the creation of a spring collection. See preview.
I llobin Williams Acting Funny: Good Morning Vietnam (Channel 4) 9—] 1.20pm. ()ne of the show-off Yank's liner films. He plays Army DJ Adrian Cronauer. setting out to satirise the ‘morale- boosting' propaganda of the Forces radio. and offending the authorities in the process.
74 The List 23 April—6 May 1993