The List: 20 Aug 1993 (99/108)

LISTINGS TELEVISION

“Some in our regular round-up of the rental releases and sell-through suggestions heading for the shop shelves in August.

Rental

I Broadway Bound (PG) After Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues, Neil Simon's autobiographical whimsy takes a heavier tone in this tale of his parents’ break- up. intermingled with the realisation of his own showbiz ambitions. It‘s a very stagey. wordy affair with scarcely a scene outside his parents‘ chilly house. The one-liners are crisp and poignant but belong in a theatre. (Tartan)

I leap DI Faith (PG) A game of two halves this one. It opens promisingly enough with a touring gospel show led by cynical but brilliant shyster evangelist Steve Martin. who uses hi-tech trickery and old-fashioned emotional blackmail to elicit cash from poor rural communities, convincing them he’s a miracle worker. His preaching stage-show is a comic extravaganza. Sadly he soon meets up with a cute babe and her crippled brother, and somehow a real miracle happens out there in America and the whole ﬁlm takes a sickly lurch into nauseatown. Martin’s on autopilot from here on. (ClC)

I lawnmower Man - Director’s Cut (15) The much-hyped ‘virtual reality' movie turned out to be a laughable schlock thriller about a backward gardener turned into a megalomaniac genius by technology. The director’s cut promises more footage and extra special effects. but can't save the laughable plot and inept 'perfonnances. (First Independent)

I llolra(18) Danny De Vito’s lengthy biopic of the American union leader was greeted with apathy by a British audience who’d never heard of him. (Columbia Tristar)

I llouse Di Cards (15 Nothing to do with David Mamet, this so-so human drama stars Kathleen Turner as recently- widowed architect Ruth Turner, who ﬁnds her daughter behaving strangely. A doctor diagnoses autism and tries to treat her, but Ruth is not convinced and chooses her own methods of getting through to the six-year-old. (First Independent)

‘1.

I llemesis (18) A high- tech futuristic thriller 5 la Total Recall starring Olivier Gruner as Alex, an undercover cop with some

cybernetic additions. He is.

assigned to a far-Eastem island in search of a stolen computer chip. The chief suspect is cyborg Jared, Alex’s former lover. (Columbia Tristar)

I Radio Flyer (PG) (Columbia Tristar)

I Bad Boys ll (18) (Columbia Tristar)

I Jenniler B (15) (ClC) I Kiss And Be Killed (18) (CIC)

I Munchie (PG) (ClC)

I Pet Sematary 2 (18) (CIC)

I Prehysteria (PG) (ClC) I Star Trek: Deep Space lline Vols 5 and 6 (PG) (ClC)

I Sea Wolf (PG) (First Independent)

I Judgment Day: The John list Story (15) (Odyssey)

I Babylon 5 (PG) (Warner)

‘ z . f. 7" "3. I Murderous Attair (15) (Odyssey) I Fatal Proposal (18) (20:20 Vision) I Falaely Accused (PG) (20:20 Vision) I Stephen King‘s The To-ykaoekers (15) (Warner) I Doeseatlng Melts (15) (Buena Vista)

: Sell-through

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I A Bout De Soufﬂe (18) Jean Luc Godard's 1959 directorial debut has been acclaimed as the most important ﬁlm in post-war French cinema. It's a cool detached tribute to the American gangster genre, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg as two lovers on the run from the law in 50s Paris. All jazz. Gitanes and smouldering glances if you like that sort of thing. (Tartan £15.99)

I Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead (15) (First Independent)

I Department S - Volumes 3 and 4 (PG) More kitsch 603 TV drama, from the makers of Jason King and Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased). The Department are a bunch of overdressed detectives (led by the requisite Peter Wyngarde) who are called upon to crack seemingly unsolvable crimes. The agents are as outlandish as the crooks. (ITC £10.99 each)

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I liquid Sky ( 18) The cult American sci-ﬁ shocker from 1986 has established a strong word- of-mouth reputation. The plot loosely concerns a bunch of aliens seeking a euphoria-inducing chemical released during orgasm. They accordineg attach themselves to fashion model Margaret (Anne Carlisle) whose sex life becomes accordingly violent and complicated. The style is very similar to Japanese ‘Manga’ with a nice line in offbeat wit.(Taitan £15.99)

I Dlluler Dllvler(18) (Tanan £15.99)

I I Was Du Mars (18) (Tartan £15.99)

TELEVISION

A selection oi television highlights,

listed by day, in chronological order. Television listings compiled by Tom

lappin.

FRIDAY 20

I I3 (Scottish) 7—7.30pm. Bryan Burnett and Janice Forsyth roam Edinburgh uncovering highlights from the Festival and Fringe.

I Parenthood (BBC2) 7.20—7.45pm. Gil (Ed Begley Jr) and his wife Karen are offered the chance of a quiet anniversary celebration. interrupted by the arrival of his mother.

I Cheers (Channel 4) 9.30—10pm. Sam’s ‘innocent ﬂirtation’ with an attractive customer proves trickier than he had anticipated.

I llurses (Channel 4) 10—10.30pm. Sandy’s in a really bad mood while Jack and Hank try to cash in on the delirious babblings of a businessman patient.

I lied City (Channel 4) 11.05pm—12.05am. An hour of innovative music presented by Caitlin Moran and Johnny Vaughan.

I Edinburgh lights (BBC2) 11.15—11.55pm. Kirsty Wark presents a proﬁle of leading composer James MacMillan. He talks frankly about his childhood in an Ayrshire mining community. and his views on making classical music accessible without losing its challenge.

SATURDAY 21

I Grandstand (BBCI) 10.50am-5. 15pm. Steve Rider and Des Lynam host coverage of the World Athletics Championships.

I The Best Di Cutting Edge: Casualties (Channel 4) 8—9pm. Thirty-six hours in the casualty department of Hackney’s Homerton Hospital, dealing with everything from alcoholics to stabbing victims.

I Vic lleeves’s Big light Out On Tour (Channel 4) 9—10.05pm. Vic and Bob seem about as fashionable as Ninja Turtles nowadays but devoted stick- watchers can catch this repeated show from Newcastle City Hall.

I Spender (BBCI) 9.40—10.35pm. Our Geordie hero meets ex-boxer Mal Balmer (Maurice Roéves) who has fallen on hard times and is taking part in illegal bare- knuckle ﬁghts.

I Teenage Diaries: Wet Dreams (BBC2) 9.55-10.45pm. Seventeen—year-old Gabe is a top surfer, who is given the chance to compete against professionals for the ﬁrst time in a competition in South Africa.

I Marilyn And Me (Scottish) 10.35pm—12.25am. A suitably salacious TV ﬁlm adaptation of journalist Robert Slatzer’s alleged affair with and secret marriage to Marilyn Monroe.

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0 I Cinema, Diaemal: Europa (Channel 4) 10.35pm—12.40am. Lars von Trier directs a surreal thriller starring Jean-Marc Barr as a naive American who becomes caught up in intrigue and danger in post-war Germany.

SUNDAY 22

I Hypnosis (Channel 4) 5.30—6pm. The trancey. dancey rave series offers more sound and vision in a daft. crusty. Cockney hippy sort of style. Guests include Icelandic chanteuse Bjork and New Age ravers The Beloved.

I Concerto! (Channel 4) 8—9pm. Dudley Moore and Michael Tilson Thomas of the LSO present pianist Alicia De Larrocha's interpretaion of Beethoven's First Piano Concerto.

I Hairspray (Channel 4) 9— 10.40pm. John Waters‘s excellent broad satire on life in Baltimore in 1962. Ricki Lake stars as a lovable tubster who becomes the star of a TV dance show. Debbie Harry and Divine play rival mothers.

I Over The Rainbow (Scottish) 10.05—10.35pm. Neil‘s probation ofﬁcer pays him a visit in the pub to make sure he's going straight.

I The South Bank Show (Scottish) 10.35pm—l 1.35am. Melvyn Bragg presents a proﬁle of the life and career of Norman Wisdom. Ever get the feeling this postmodernist celebration of popular culture has gone a touch too far?

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I Summer‘s Dot: Feed Them To The Cannibals (Channel 4) 10.40—11.45pm. A ﬁlm ofthe Sydney Lesbian and Gay Mardi Gras. the largest and most spectacular gay carnival in the world.

I Moviedrome: The Big Combo (BBC2) l2.05—l.35am. Alex Cox introduces Joseph Lewis’s ﬁlm noir from 1955. A cop attempting to break an organised crime syndicate receives unexpected help from the gangster‘s girlfriend Susan.

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I Travellets’ Tales: Into The land or Dz (Channel 4) 9—10pm. A repeat of Howard Jacobson’s travelogue. wandering from the calm beaches of Southern Australia to the more hazardous waters of Beagle Bay in the north.

I Frank Stabbs Promotes (Scottish) 9—10pm. Frank (Timothy Spall) ventures into the literary world in the ﬁnal episode of the series, but discovers that his client is an unpredictable ex-con who has taken a fancy to Dawn.

I I’ll Fly Away (Channel 4) 10—10.55pm. The 50s American drama continues. Lilly (Regine Taylor) helps John Morgan cope with his mother’s hospitalisation.

I Edinburgh lights (BBC2) 11.15-11.55pm. Kirsty Wark hosts another magazine round-up of Edinburgh events, including Neil Bartlett's Night After Night, and American tenor Robert Hampson.

The List 20—26 August I993 97

The List: 20 Aug 1993 (Issue 208)