TELEVISION LISTINGS
Vle clear the VHS decks tor autumn with a round up oi the video releases heading for the shops in
September.
Rental
I Candyman (l8) Dare you say his name five times? Who cares? Plot- wise it‘s a sub-standard. if overly gory. thriller about an urban myth come to life. Naturally enough our bee-faced monster specialises in hacking up female victims. Scary but insubstantial stuff. (Columbia Tristar)
I Sort Top Hard Shoulder (15) Peter Capaldi‘s easy- going road comedy stars himself and his wife Elaine Collins with support from some thespian mates including Richard Wilson. it’s an undemanding tale of a Glaswegian prodigal son returning home up the motorways and B-roads in search of a scoop of the family ice-cream action. (Columbia Tristar) I Body Di Evidence (18) Madonna and Willem Dafoe's waxy sex romp was laughed out of the cinemas earlier this year and rightly so. Maddie isn't as dreadful as we‘d all like her to be as the raunchy art gallery owner whose elderly n'ch lover ends up stiff in all the wrong places after a rather enthusiastic bout of nipple-clamping. Dafoe is the lawyer assigned to defend her in court. and. in passing. get the hot wax dripped on what football commentators would call the groin area. Laughable stuff mostly. but unfortunately not intentionally so. as the script takes itself woefully seriously. (Guild) I Mr Saturday Hight (15) Billy Crystal directs and stars in a surprisingly old- fashioned movie about a burlesque comedian. Buddy Young. whose craving for fame and applause leads him to neglect and abuse his wife and brother. Following Buddy‘s career over 50 years is a strain on the audience's patience. but the comic routines are sharp enough to make amends. (First Independent)
I Dnce Upon A Time (18) (Screen Entertainment)
(Polygram)
I Stolen Babies (PG) (Odyssey)
I Under Siege (15) (Warner)
I love Crimes (18) (20:20 Vision)
I Babylon 5 (18) (Warner)
I Prison Heat ( 18) (Warner)
I Trespass (18) (CIC) I Cop And A Hall (PG) (ClC)
I Through The Eyes oi A Killer ( 18) (CIC)
I In The Company or Darkness ( 15) (CIC)
I Blood Fist 3 - Forced To Fight ( 18) (CIC)
I lorenzo’s Oil (15 ) (CIC)
I Toys (PG) (Fox)
. I Double Jeopardy ( 18 )
(Fox)
I The Distinguished Gentleman (15) (Buena Vista)
I light Trap (18) (Guild) I The Year Di The Comet (15) (First independent) I Innocent Obsession (18) (Orbit)
Sell-through
I The John Cassavetes Collection: The Killing or A Chinese Bookie, A Woman Under The Iniluence. Opening Night Three classics from the American actor/auteur who pioneered independent cinema in the States. Cassavetes. who died in 1989. invested all his films with a peculiarly personal vision. gently humorous with a concentration of characterisation. (Electric £15.99 each tape).
I lndochine (15 ) Catherine Deneuve stars in a lavishly filmed epic love story directed by Regis Wargnier. She plays a plantation owner in 305 Vietnam who falls in love with French officer Vincent Perez. Unfortunately so does her adopted Vietnamese daughter. The romances are set against the turmoil of a country on the brink of revolution. giving a personal tale a historic sweep. Impressive and involving stuff. (Electric £15.99)
I Medicine Man (PG) (Polygram £12.99)
I Beauty And The Beast (U) Disney’s Oscar- winning fairy-tale hits tape format. with its winning formula of simple story-telling and amusing sub-plots. plus a couple of hummable ditties. (Buena Vista)
I Sleepwalkers (18) (Columbia Tristar £10.99) I Steel Magnolias (PG) (Columbia Tristar £8.99) I The Punisher (18) (Columbia Tristar £8.99) I Willow (PG) (Columbia Tristar £8.99)
I Hellbound (18) (Columbia Tristar £8.99) I Revenge (18) (Columbia Tristar £8.99) I The Bear (PG) (Columbia Tristar £8.99) I See Iio Evil, Hear Ho Evil (15) (Columbia Tristar £8.99)
I Chostbusters 2 (PG) (Columbia Tristar £8.99)
I My Cousin Vinny (15) (Fox £10.99)
I Final Analysis (15) (Warner £10.99)
I Ultimate Teacher ( 15 ) (Manga £8.99)
I Judge (15) (Manga £8.99)
I My Own Private Idaho (18) (Fox £12.99)
I Class Action (15) (Fox £8.99)
I Desperate Hours (15) (Fox £8.99)
I Rampage (18) (Fox £8.99)
I From The Hip (15) (Fox £8.99)
I Jack’s Bank (18) (Fox £8 99
I Ricochet (18) (First independent £10.99)
I An Actor’s Revenge (PG) (Connoisseur £15.99)
I Haired lunch (18) Widescreen format. (First lnde endent £12.99)
I l. 010 (18) (Tartan £15.99)
I The Hairdressers Husband (15) (Tartan £15.99)
I Matador (18) (Tartan £15.99)
I The Adjuster (18) (Tartan £15.99)
I Amityvllle: A Ilevr Generation (18) (Medusa £12.99)
TELEVISION
A selection oi television highlights.
listed by day. In chronological order. Television listings compiled by Tom Lappin.
FRIDAY 10
I Class Action (Channel 4) 8—8.30pm. The investigative education series begins a new run with a behind-the-scenes look at the GCSE exams.
I Bird Dri A \Vlre(BBC1)9.30—11.15pm. Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn star in John Badham's comedy thriller. She plays a lawyer who encounters a man whom she believes is her former fiance. supposedly killed in a plane crash 15 years earlier. She saves his life in a shoot-out and they find themselves on the run from crooks and the FBI. A feeble plot is partly redeemed by some sharp dialogue.
I Cheers (Channel 4) 9.30—10pm. Frasier’s colleague Dr Ludlow falls in love with Carla. and. more pertinently, gets her pregnant.
I Horses (Channel 4) 10—10.30pm. Annie is off on holiday and chooses scatter- brained Julie as her replacement.
I Paul Merton - The Series (Channel 4) 10.30—11.05pm. Paul advises that you watch indoors if it‘s wet weather. Tonight he starts off in the Yukon and wends his way down to Eastboume. What does it all mean?
I The Rose (Channel 4) ll.05pm—l.35am. Oscar nominee Bette Midler stars in her movie debut as a burned-out rock star heading towards a breakdown. With Frederick Forrest. Alan Bates and Harry Dean Stanton.
I Dr Terror’s Vault Di Horror (BBC 1) 11.15pm—2. 10am. A new season of moderately crappy horror films starts with a double bill. Vamp stars Grace Jones as an exotic dancer with a grisly sideline. and The Mask OfSaian is a daft piece of schlock about a 17th century witch brought back to life when a drop of blood falls on her remains.
I Feed (BBC2) ll.55pm—l2.35am. An intriguing behind-the-scenes look at the American Presidential Primary in New Hampshire in 1992, using the uncensored footage of candidates preparing to be interviewed. recorded during the satellite link test period. Comic and revealing glimpses of the private faces behind public figures.
SATURDAY 11
I The Times Vlorld Chess Championship
(Channel 4) 4-5.05pm. Live coverage of the opening moves in game three between Nigel Short and Gary Kasparov. Regular updates throughout the evening.
I Kenneth Baker’s Memoirs - Maggie’s Minister (BBC2) 6.50—7.30pm. The slug- like one turns TV presenter to line up a batch of Thatcher's former ministers who offer their impressions of working under her. The first programme features Kenneth Clarke. Chris Patten and Cecil Parkinson. I Back To The Future Part II (BBC 1) 7-8.45pm. Michael Fox and Christopher Lloyd star in a so-so sequel to the time- travelling blockbuster. Marty (Fox) heads off into the future in order to rescue his son from a crime to be committed by the offspring of the eternal bully Biff.
I Die Hard (Scottish) 9-11.25pm. Bruce Willis stars in John McTiernan's gung-ho action thriller as an off-duty cop who single-handedly sets out to rescue his wife and other hostages from a gang of crooks. Ludicrous stuff but plenty of action for mindless violence buffs. True fanatics can tune in on Thursday for Die Hard II.
I A Taste Di Honey (BBC2) 12.10—2am. ‘l dreamt about you last night. Fell out of bed twice.‘ Smiths fans will have fun spotting all the lyrical steals from Tony Richardson's enchanting adaptation of Shelagh Delaney‘s play. Rita Tushingham plays sixteen-year-old Jo finding romance and pregnancy with a black sailor. She is comforted by a young gay man Geoffrey. but the message is that it‘s very definitely grim oop north. Dora Bryan nearly steals the show as the flighty mother.
SUNDAY 12
I Football Italia (Channel 4) 2.45—5pm. James Richardson hosts a live game from Serie A.
I Concerto! (Channel 4) 8—9pm. Dudley Moore and Michael Tilson Thomas of the LSO introduce Aaron Copland‘s Clarinet Concerto. and profile clarinettist Richard Stoltzmann. I Hollywood UK: Making It In london (BBC2) 8.10—9. 10pm. Director Richard Lester looks back at the 60s. the heyday of British film. with contributions from Frederick Raphael. Rita Tushingham. Julie Christie. Dirk Bogarde and Michael Caine. I Birds Di a Feather (BBCi) 8.20—8.50pm. Sharon blows up the kitchen. and the sisters are forced to move in with Dorien while repairs are carried out. I D Milligan (BBC2) 9—9.30pm. Spike Milligan‘s Q series of the 70s and 80s was a bizarre mixture of the surreal and the self-consciously zany. This is a collection of sketches drawn from the archives. I Screen One: A Foreign Field (BBCl) 9.05— 10.35pm. An international cast of elderly luvvies — Alec Guinness. Lauren Bacall. Jeanne Moreau. Leo McKem and Geraldine Chaplin — is assembled for a nostalgic comedy about a group of British and American War veterans returning to the scene of the Normandy landings. it‘s written by Roy Clarke of last OfThe The Summer Wine fame. so expect lots of lengthy philosophical musing. I The South Bank Show (Scottish) 10.30—11.30pm. A profile of film director Sidney Pollack. whose new film The Firm opens imminently. starring Tom Cruise. I Billy llar (BBC2) 10.45pm—12.25am. Tom Courtenay stars in the film adaptation of Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall’s tale of a Northern dreamer with a less-than-romantic job in an undertaker's office. Directed by John Schlesinger.
88 The List 10—23 September 1993