LISTINGS TELEVISION
VllSerama in our regular round-up oi the rental releases and sell-through suggestions heading tor the shop shelves this fortnight.
Rental
I light And The City ( 15) One of the 32 films Robert De Niro appeared in last year. and frankly not one of the best. He plays a cynical ambulance-chasing lawyer who attempts to humiliate a big-time boxing promoter by organising a fight-night himself. Jessica Lange plays the disillusioned lover with the cash to finance the scam. Tortuous plot and average performances leave this languishing in the ranks of the mediocre. (First Independent)
I Folks (PG) Last year’s most tasteless comedy stars Tom Selleck as a contented yuppie whose ideal life is broken apart by the arrival of his deranged parean Don Ameche and Anne Jackson. They invade his home. break up his marriage and ruin his credit rating. The first. and quite possibly last. attempt to get a few laughs out of Alzheimer’s. (First Independent)
I husbands And Wives (15)Cynica11y rush- released last year to cash in on Woody’s parental and marital traumas. this was a brief flash of comedic light amongst the speccy director's recent batch of Bergmanesque borefests. It’s a study of mid-life crisis amongst affluent Manhattan liberals. The troubled split of friends Judy Davis and Sidney Pollack causes a contented couple to re- examine their own relationship. Mia Farrow emerges. rather unpleasantly. as a broody manipulator, Woody. rather honestly. as a sad neurotic with a Lolita complex. Seasickness tablets are recommended for the shaky hand-held opening tracking shot. (20:20 Vision)
I Cyborg Cop (18) More uptown neurosis and witty dialogue in this ‘thn'lling mix of sci~fi and martial arts-style action'. It‘s a humdrum tale of a power- mad scientist who transforms his victims into half-man. half-robot warriors that will kill on
his command. Look out for Sir John Mills and Donald Sinden in cameo roles (you won‘t spot them but it might keep you awake during the shoddy and interminable action sequences). (Medusa)
I And The Violins Stopped Playing (15) Yup. those ‘true-story’ experts have done it again. with a controversial and timely dramatisation of the plight of the Eastern European gypsies during the Nazi Holocaust. (Odyssey)
I liar, liar (15) (Odyssey)
I A Town Torn Apart (PG) (Odyssey)
Sell-through
I Drunken Angel (PG) (Connoisseur £15.99)
I The lovrer Depths (PG) (Connoisseur £15.99)
I Yoiimbo (PG) (Connoisseur £15.99)
I Pepi, luci, Dom (18) Almodovar. Almodovar and more Almodovar are the order of the day from Tartan this fortnight with four of the madrileno perve’s earlier offerings. that moulded his personal style before the breakthrough success of Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown. Pepi, Luci, Bom explores the vital themes of kitsch. sexual exuberance. penis size and female bonding against a backdrop of the Madrid demi-monde. The other films do much the same with only the characters changing. (Tartan £15.99)
I laiv Di Desire (18) (Tartan £15.99)
I Labyrinth Di Passion (l8) (Tartan £15.99)
I What have I Done To Deserve This? (18) (Tartan £15.99)
I le Cop 2 (15) The sequel to Claude Ziti‘s offbeat police comedy reunites our cynical bent flics Philippe Noiret and Thierry Lhermitte. This time they‘re attempting to go straight. and naturally end up in more trouble than they ever did when they were crooks. (Tartan £15.99)
I Mon Pere Ce ileros (PG) This heavily Rohmer-influenced (aarrgh) light comedy stars Gerard Depardieu as adoring father Andre. taking his adolescent daughter Veronique to the beach for their annual holiday. Unfortunately she has turned into a sex siren overnight and he has to play along with her new persona. Cloying stuff with that peculiar French fondness for lingering. sub-paedophiliac. camera angles. (Tartan £15.99)
I The Survivors: The Fourth Horseman/Genesis (PG) The long-forgotten disaster series from the 70s returns. on the principle that anything vaguely futuristic is avidly lapped up by a huge audience of nerds. The premise here is that 95 per cent of the world's population has been wiped out by a nasty strain of flu virus. and the rest are rebuilding a Brave New World around a basic fondness for flares and ill- advised facial hair. (BBC £10.99)
I The Survivors: Cone Away/Com Dolly (PG) (BBC £10.99)
I Keeping Up Appearances (PG) (BBC £10.99)
I Poldarlt Part 4 (PG) The last instalment of the frighteningly-popular cider 'n' cleavages saga. (BBC £10.99) -
I Acorn Antiques (PG) Victoria Wood's affectionate parody of Crossroads and its ilk. The joke wears a little thin after five or ten minutes. (BBC £10.99)
I Chucklevision (BBC £8.99)
I Doctor Who: Vengeance Dn Varos (PG) (BBC £10.99)
I Match Di The Day: The Entertainers (BBC £10.99)
I Cricketlng legends - Imran Khan (BBC £12.99) 1 I Cider With liosie (PG) (BBC £10.99)
I Playdays: Lizzie Singaiong (BBC £8.99) I For Those About To Book, We Salute You In which old-fashioned heavy metal (courtesy of AC/DC. Metallica. The Black Crowes and Pantera) saves the Russians from the evil old guard and heralds a new era of democracy. (Warner
£10.99)
TELEVISION
A selection oi television highlights,
listed by day, in chronological order. Television listings compiled by Tom Lappin.
FRIDAY 21
I ND (Scottish) 7—7.30pm. Bryan Burnett and Janice Forsyth report on the Scottish arts events that aren’t too arduous a trip away from their Glasgow HQ.
I The iieal McCoy (BBC2) 9—9.30pm. The ‘sen'ously funny black comedy series‘ continues. with regularsjoined by special guest. boxer Colin McMillan.
I iiideS(BBC1) 9.30—10.20pm. Jill Baker. starring as Patrice in the frankly ludicrous mini-cab drama. is rather miffed to find she is pregnant. Haven’t the producers heard of the menopause?
I Cheers (Channel 4) 9.30—10pm. 'Woody Gets An Election' is the cheeky subtitle for an episode in which the gormless barman stands for a seat on the city council.
I Roseanne (Channel 4) 10—10.30pm. Loretta Lynn makes a surprise visit. just in time for the Landford Daze carnival.
I Clive Anderson Talks Back (Channel 4) 10.30—1 1. 10pm. My otherwise reasonably sane stand-in last issue waxed a tad hyperbolic about the bald one. whose interviewing technique tends towards waiting for pauses in which to insert a barbed one-liner. rather than actually listening to what his guests have to say. Still better than Wogan though.
I The Posse - Armed And Dangerous (Channel 4) 11.10pm-12. 15am. An eight- strong team of young British black performers hit the screen with a batch of sketches. songs and skits. See preview.
I later With .loois Holland (BBC2) 11.15pm—12.05am. The jovial pianist swaps licks of a musical nature with Robert Plant. while Texan folk/country queen Nanci Griffith performs with her Blue Moon Orchestra.
.. .M.
l l‘ 5 ~-
I Movie Nightmares: The Duatermass Experiment (Channel 4) 12.15—1.45am. Classic Hammer sci-fi thriller starring Richard Wordsworth as an astronaut who returns to earth after a space flight and starts to mutate into a lethal monster.
SATURDAY 22
I The House Di Eliott(BBC1) 7.20—8.15pm. Destined to be known forever as The House OfIdior since that French and Saunders sketch. Stella ‘Wooden’ Gonet and Louise ‘Anachronism’ Lombard return in a repeat run of the daft 30s fashion drama.
I The Deiderbeclte Tapes (Channel 4) 9—10.30pm. James Bolam and Barbara Flynn continue their quirky flight from the security forces. taking in Leeds. Amsterdam and Edinburgh on their travels.
I Westbeach (BBC 1) 9.05-9.55pm. The seaside power struggle continues. Alan Cromer (Oliver Cotton) comes up with a recycling scheme that doesn't prove too popular with local refuse collectors.
I Someone To Watch Over Me (Scottish) 9.30—11.15pm. Ridiey Scott’s stylish romantic thriller stars Tom Berenger as a happily married cop falling in love with the glamorous murder witness he is assigned to protect. He struggles to cope with both his obsession and the threat of the psychotic killer.
11.05pm—1am. A woman's journey of self-discovery starring Maria Rojo as a woman in her fortiesjoumeying from Mexico City to Veracruz. finding romance and a new view on life.
SUNDAY 23
I Masterchei(BBC1) 5.35—6.10pm. The snooty food show arrives in Scotland where the contestants include Michael Baxter. a director of the company that makes those pricey tins of soup.
I The llext Big Thing (Channel 4) 5.30—6pm. The fortunes of aspiring rock stars FMB take a turn for the worse when their van breaks down en route to a gig in Lancaster.
I Crime And Punishment: Who Killed Dixon? (BBC2) 8.10—9pm. Through the recollections of serving and retired officers. the last twenty years of police history are examined to trace the decline in the force's public image.
I A Duestion Di Cuiit(BBC1) 9—10.40pm. Cherie Lunghi. Derrick O'Connor and Gillian Barge star in a courtroom whodunnit based on Frances Fyfield’s novel. Lunghi plays Crown Prosecutor Helen West assigned the task of investigating a contract killing. See preview.
I Crime And Punishment: Serplco (BBC2) 10.15pm—12.20am. Al Pacino stars in Sidney Lumet‘s story of an idealistic and unconventional cop whose refusal to participate in petty corruption makes him an outcast in the 82nd Precinct squad.
I lied Empire (Channel 4) 10.55pm—midnight. The monumental history of the Soviet Union continues with an examination of the vicious power struggles that ensued after Stalin’s death.
MONDAY 24
I Peak Practice (Scottish) 8.30—10pm. Kevin Whately escapes Morse to star as a doctor newly-retumed from Africa to the Peak District. His problems with women and patients continue. as a young athlete with a domineering father suffers a mysterious injury on the eve of a big race. I llalted Sport: That’s Entertainment (Channel 4) 9—10pm. The last of the documentary series investigating the multi-million dollar industries that laughably pass for sport in the USA. 1 David Stern is the man who took the daft game of basketball to the top; is there 1 someone who can do the same for the farcical sport of ice hockey aka brawling on skates? J
The List 21 May—3 June 1993 55