Film Four & Film Four +1 26-04-2010

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FilmFour & Film Four +1 18.04.10

Astra 2D at 28:2E 10729 V SYM:22000 FEC 5/6

Film Four SID8335 VPID2312 APID2313 Eng

Film Four +1 SID8330 VPID2332 APID2333 Eng

11:00
Hell and High Water (Film)
Sam Fuller's Cold War thriller stars Richard Widmark as Captain Adam Jones, an ex-WWII submarine commander. Jones is hired by Professor Montel to take him in a refurbished submarine to an Arctic Island where the Reds are planning to start WWIII by dropping a nuclear bomb on Korea which America will be blamed for. Can Taylor and his crew thwart the Commie menace and can he win the heart of Montel's daughter Denise? Such is the virulent anti-communist message of the film that it was banned in France while one British critic called it, "a disgrace and an insult".
Director: Samuel Fuller
Starring: Richard Widmark, Bella Darvi, Victor Francen, Cameron Mitchell, Gene Evans, David Wayne
(Subtitles, 1954, U, 2 Star)

13:00
The Family Man (Film)
Wall Street Banker Jack Campbell has it all: more cash than he can shake a stick at, oodles of power and, above all, his freedom. But on Christmas Eve he challenges an armed robber, then on Christmas Day he wakes up to the life he would have had if he'd stayed with his college girlfriend: two noisy kids, a dead-end job selling tyres, and a people carrier instead of his Ferrari. At first he's horrified... Directed by Brett Ratner. Edited for content.
Director: Brett Ratner
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Téa Leoni, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Piven, Saul Rubinek, Josef Sommer
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2000, 12, 3 Star)

15:25
The Green Berets (Film)
Much reviled at the time, John Wayne and Ray Kellogg's film, in which Wayne stars, lauded the role of the Americans in general and the covert Green Berets in particular in the war in Vietnam, with Wayne as Colonel MIke Kirkby, leading a troop into North Vietnam to kidnap a key Viet Cong official. Viewed now with the benefit of hindsight, it is a fascinating footnote of American cinematic history.
Director: Ray Kellogg, John Wayne
Starring: John Wayne, David Janssen, Jim Hutton, Aldo Ray, Raymond St. Jacques, Bruce Cabot
(1968, PG, 2 Star)

18:20
The Phantom of the Opera (Film)
Joel Schumacher directs this lavish, Oscar-nominated screen version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical, itself based on the classic horror novel by Gaston Leroux. Emmy Rossum plays Christine Daae, a promising soprano who takes singing lessons from the mysterious Phantom of the Opera. He forces the opera's diva to leave with a regime of fear, leaving his protégé to take centre stage, but she falls for the opera's new patron, Viscount Raoul De Chagny, her childhood sweetheart. Enraged, the Phantom, passionately in love with Christine, kidnaps her to his subterranean lair while unleashing death and terror on the opera house's audience and workers. Can Raoul rescue Christine from his clutches before he has his evil way with her? Edited for content.
Director: Joel Schumacher
Starring: Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Miranda Richardson, Minnie Driver, Ciarán Hinds
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2004, 12, 4 Star)

21:00
Domino (Film)
Tony Scott's fast-moving movie starring Keira Knightley is loosely based on the real life story of Domino Harvey, daughter of movie star Laurence. Despite her background, she opts for a career as a bounty hunter and teams up with mentor Ed Moseby and the slightly unhinged Choco to track down and bring in - by any means legal - those wanted by the law.
Director: Tony Scott
Starring: Keira Knightley, Mickey Rourke, Édgar Ramírez, Riz Abbasi, Delroy Lindo, Mo'Nique Imes-Jackson
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described, 2005, 15, 3 Star)

23:25
Happy-Go-Lucky (Film)
Mike Leigh's Oscar-nominated comedy-drama stars Sally Hawkins as Poppy, a perpetually optimistic primary school teacher. After introducing her friends, and setting up Poppy's character, Leigh moves the plot along with the introduction of Scott, Poppy's misanthropic driving instructor, who is her exact opposite. As her lessons progress, in tandem with a tentative romance, the relationship between the pair develops in one of the sharpest comedies of recent years.
Director: Mike Leigh
Starring: Sally Hawkins, Elliot Cowan, Alexis Zegerman, Andrea Riseborough, Sinead Matthews, Kate O'Flynn
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described, 2008, 15, 4 Star)

01:40
You, the Living (Film)
Roy Andersson's intriguing comedic meditation on sorrow and suffering uses 50 vignettes to present individuals who believe their sorrow is theirs alone and no one else suffers as they do. A psychiatrist asks what is the point of trying to help people; a girl imagines her marriage to a rock star she has never met; a bass drum player dismisses his neighbours who complain when he rehearses. What could be a seemingly never-ending litany of woes is leavened by the occasional surreal circumstances. Andersson, better known for Songs from the Second Floor, places his protagonists in and their resolute self-belief in the individuality of their plight.
Director: Roy Andersson
Starring: Jessika Lundberg, Elisabeth Helander, Björn Englund, Leif Larsson, Olle Olson, Birgitta Persson
(Subtitles, Subtitled, In Swedish with English Subtitles, Widescreen, 2007, 15, 4 Star)

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FilmFour & Film Four +1 19.04.10

Astra 2D at 28:2E 10729 V SYM:22000 FEC 5/6

Film Four SID8335 VPID2312 APID2313 Eng

Film Four +1 SID8330 VPID2332 APID2333 Eng

11:00
Blossoms in the Dust (Film)
Walter Pidgeon and Greer Garson star in this powerful tearjerker about Edna Gladney, who set up a children's orphanage in Texas after losing her husband and child. Greer Garson was Oscar-nominated for her performance.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Starring: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Felix Bressart, Marsha Hunt, Fay Holden, Samuel S. Hinds
(Subtitles, 1941, PG, 3 Star)

13:00
Pickup on South Street (Film)
Pickpocket Skip McCoy accidentally becomes embroiled in a Cold War plot when he steals the wrong handbag. Candy thought she was delivering confidential information for her boss, but the information was in fact government secrets that he, a communist spy, was sending to his masters. Now Candy must track down McCoy while, unknown to her, also becoming a target of the FBI. Made at the height of the Cold War, Sam Fuller's film works both as a tough thriller and as a fascinating insight into America's preoccupation with communism and the Soviet menace.
Director: Samuel Fuller
Starring: Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter, Murvyn Vye, Richard Kiley, Willis Bouchey
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1953, PG, 4 Star)

14:40
Operation Amsterdam (Film)
Fast-moving, fact-based World War II thriller starring Tony Britton as Major Dillon, a British army officer leading a dangerous mission to Amsterdam in 1940 to prevent valuable industrial diamonds falling into the hands of the invading Germans.
Director: Michael McCarthy
Starring: Peter Finch, Eva Bartok, Tony Britton, Alexander Knox, Malcolm Keen, Christopher Rhodes
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1960, U, 2 Star)

16:45
Broken Lance (Film)
Edward Dmytryk's Oscar-winning Western stars Spencer Tracy as Matt Devereaux, a strict disciplinarian who treats his sons Joe, Ben Denny and Mike little better than employees on his ranch. However, when he leads a raid on a copper mine that's destroying his land, it's Joe who takes the blame. But returning home after three years in prison, he finds his father dead and his brothers unwilling to recognise his sacrifice.
Director: Edward Dmytryk
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters
(Subtitles, 1954, U, 3 Star)

18:40
Beaches (Film)
Garry Marshall's drama stars Bette Midler as CC Bloom, a pop star rehearsing for her big Hollywood show. Suddenly, a phone call sees her drop everything and travel post haste to San Francisco and the bedside of her friend Hillary Whitney. And through flashback, her journey is used to tell the story of the undying friendship she and her friend Hillary forged as 12 year olds and maintained through teenage years and into adulthood, through the ups-and-downs of their careers - and even both falling for the same guy John Pierce(John Heard. And as CC makes it to Hillary's side, she must make a choice that will shape her life and career forever. Edited for language.
Director: Garry Marshall
Starring: Bette Midler, Barbara Hershey, John Heard, Spalding Gray, Lainie Kazan, James Read
(Widescreen, 1988, 15, 4 Star)

21:00
Fantastic Four (Film)
Tim Story's action fantasy stars Ioan Gruffudd, Michael Chiklis, Jessica Alba and Chris Evans as Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Sue Storm and Johnny Storm, four astronauts sent to investigate a cosmic radiation storm. Caught by the storm's effects before they can erect safety shields, each of them finds their bodies changed to superhuman effect: Richards becomes the super-elastic Mr Fantastic; Grimm, the super strong Thing; Sue, the Invisible Woman; and Johnny, the Human Torch. At first they revel in their powers to prevent death and disaster, but they are soon drawn into battle with Victor von Doom. He was once the sponsor of their experiments and space exploration, but exposure to the same radiation storm transformed him into Dr Doom, a metallic creature who can manipulate electricity and wants to use his power to destroy the Fantastic Four and rule the world.
Director: Tim Story
Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon, Hamish Linklater
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2005, PG, 3 Star)

23:00
Elektra (Film)
Rob Bowman's fantasy thriller stars Jennifer Garner as Elektra, an assassin tutored by the mysterious martial arts master Stick. Her latest assignment is to keep Mark Miller and his daughter Abby safe from the ninja warriors of the evil Order of the Hand, to whom she once paid allegiance. Now that she is on the side of good, her task is to protect those who can tip the balance between good and evil, but can she overcome her once-fellow assassins?
Director: Rob Bowman
Starring: Jennifer Garner, Goran Visnjic, Kirsten Prout, Will Yun Lee, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Terence Stamp
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described, 2005, 12, 2 Star)

00:50
Brother (Film)
Takeshi Kitano directs and stars as a yakuza forced to flee Tokyo when a gang-war goes wrong. In Los Angeles, he teams up with half-brother Claude Maki and his partner Omar Epps, who run a small drugs operation. Under Takeshi's influence, the operation grows but the Mafia muscle in, demanding their cut and he and his gang have a choice - pay-up or fight.
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Omar Epps, Kuroudo Maki, Masaya Kato, Susumu Terajima, Royale Watkins
(In English/Japanese/Italian/Spanish with English Subtitles, Widescreen, 2000, 18, 3 Star)

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FilmFour & Film Four +1 21.04.10

Astra 2D at 28:2E 10729 V SYM:22000 FEC 5/6

Film Four SID8335 VPID2312 APID2313 Eng

Film Four +1 SID8330 VPID2332 APID2333 Eng

11:00
Blanche Fury (Film)
Victorian melodrama starring Valerie Hobson as Blanche Fuller, a young woman whose arrival as governess on a family estate is the catalyst for betrayal, the revelation of old family secrets and murder. Stewart Granger plays Philip Thorn, the scheming illegitimate son who sees Blanche as his way to reclaim what he believes to be rightfully his. Co-starring Walter Fitzgerald and Michael Gough.
Director: Marc Allégret
Starring: Valerie Hobson, Stewart Granger, Michael Gough, Walter Fitzgerald, Susanne Gibbs, Maurice Denham
(Subtitles, 1948, PG, 3 Star)

12:50
The Good Die Young (Film)
Powerful British film noir starring Laurence Harvey as Miles Ravenscourt, an amoral, psychotic playboy who incites three men who are down on their luck to commit a mail van robbery, which goes badly wrong.
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Starring: Laurence Harvey, Gloria Grahame, Richard Basehart, Joan Collins
(Black and White, Subtitles, Audio Described, 1954, PG, 2 Star)

14:45
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Film)
"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend" is the famous quote from what is considered to be one of John Ford's finest westerns, and it pretty much sums up the film. Greenhorn lawyer Ransom Stoddard sets up in a frontier town where everyone, bar the tough-but-decent Tom Doniphon, fears the brutal bully Liberty Valance. As Stoddard's influence grows and Valance's wanes, a confrontation between the two seems inevitable. And duly it comes, with a result that shocks the town.
Director: John Ford
Starring: John Wayne, James Stewart, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O'Brien, Andy Devine
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1962, PG, 3 Star)

17:15
Niagara (Film)
Gripping film noir thriller starring Marilyn Monroe as Rose Loomis, an amoral young wife conducting a clandestine affair with Patrick. While on holiday at the Falls, their plan to murder her Korean war veteran husband goes disastrously wrong, and an innocent honeymoon couple are dragged into the ensuing violence.
Director: Henry Hathaway
Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters
(Subtitles, 1952, PG, 3 Star)

19:05
Monster-in-Law (Film)
Charlotte 'Charlie' Cantilini lives on Venice Beach, works as a temp and is lucky enough to be engaged to the handsome Dr Kevin Fields. But Fields has the mother from Hell, Viola, a disgraced chat show host just out of rehab who will do anything short of murder to stop her son marrying Charlie. Fonda is wonderfully OTT as the acid-tongued, relationship-destroying harridan but Lopez gives as good as she gets in Robert Luketic's romantic comedy. EDited for language.
Director: Robert Luketic
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Jane Fonda, Michael Vartan, Wanda Sykes, Adam Scott, Monet Mazur
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described, 2005, 12, 3 Star)

21:00
The Abyss (Film)
After Aliens, James Cameron took to the ocean's depths for this sci-fi thriller. Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio star as Bud and Lindsey Brigman, a husband-and-wife team running the rescue rig that's trying to get to a nuclear submarine that's gone down on the lip of one of the world's deepest sea trenches. But when psychotic Navy SEAL commander Lt Hiram Coffey launches a nuclear warhead into the trench, they discover they are not alone.
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Biehn, Leo Burmester, Todd Graff, John Bedford Lloyd
(Editor's Choice, Subtitles, 1989, 15, 4 Star)

23:45
LA Antena (Film)
Esteban Sapir's fantasy film is a homage to the era of silent movies but with nods to German expressionism, surrealism and Soviet propaganda posters thrown into the mix. In a futuristic city, the residents have lost their voices to both the omnipotent Mr TV and the nameless corporation that runs the metropolis. Their words instead form as solid blocks, acting as surtitles for the viewer. The only hope of regaining their voices lies with the Voice, a mysterious, ethereal singer, and her eyeless son.
Director: Esteban Sapir
Starring: Valeria Bertuccelli, Alejandro Urdapilleta, Julieta Cardinali, Rafael Ferro, Florencia Raggi, Sol Moreno
(Black and White, Widescreen, Subtitles, Subtitled, In Spanish with English Subtitles, 2007, PG, 4 Star)

01:50
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (Film)
Jill Sprecher's film follows a group New Yorkers - eternal optimist Alan Arkin, his pessimistic colleague John Turturro, hot-shot lawyer Matthew McConaughey, idealistic cleaning woman Clea DuVall, the cynical Tia Texada and the betrayed Amy Irving - whose lives are revealed, via a series of vignettes, to unexpectedly entwine.
Director: Jill Sprecher
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, David Connolly, Joseph Siravo, A.D. Miles, Sig Libowitz, James Yaegashi
(Widescreen, 2001, 15, 4 Star)

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FilmFour & Film Four +1 22.04.10

Astra 2D at 28:2E 10729 V SYM:22000 FEC 5/6

Film Four SID8335 VPID2312 APID2313 Eng

Film Four +1 SID8330 VPID2332 APID2333 Eng

11:00
The Diary of a Chambermaid (Film)
Something of an oddity, French director Jean Renoir uses an all-Anglo cast for this sex drama. Paulette Goddard plays Celestine, a saucy servant who disrupts the Parisian household she joins. Both the head of the household, Captain Lanlaire and his son Georges fall for her, as does their neighbour Captain Mauger. But lovesick valet Joseph harbours a deep, secret desire for her: a desire so passionate he is willing to kill to gain her affection.
Director: Jean Renoir
Starring: Paulette Goddard, Burgess Meredith, Hurd Hatfield, Francis Lederer, Judith Anderson, Florence Bates
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1946, 12, 3 Star)

13:00
Whirlpool (Film)
Gene Tierney plays Ann Sutton, a kleptomaniac "rescued" by hypnotist and fortune teller David Korvo when she is caught stealing. But he plans to use her as the dupe in his plan to murder his former mistress, Theresa Randolph, letting her take all the blame. Only a suspicious policeman and Sutton's psychiatrist husband William stand between her and the gallows in Otto Preminger's taut thriller.
Director: Otto Preminger
Starring: Gene Tierney, Richard Conte, José Ferrer, Charles Bickford, Barbara O'Neil, Eduard Franz
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1949, 12, 3 Star)

14:50
Moulin Rouge (Film)
Jose Ferrer stars in John Huston's visually exquisite biopic of Toulouse-Lautrec as the crippled painter whose work perfectly captured the spirit of bohemian Paris in the naughty 1890s. The film overdoses on artistic licence in its romanticised portrayal of the artist as embittered loner, tormented by his doomed relationships with prostitute Marie Charlet and sympathetic model Myriamme. But it also evokes the period's lusty, can-can hedonism and absinthe-sodden despair with exuberant, painterly beauty.
Director: John Huston
Starring: José Ferrer, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Suzanne Flon, Claude Nollier
(1952, PG, 3 Star)

17:10
The Last Wagon (Film)
Delmer Daves's fascinating western stars Richard Widmark in one of his most underrated roles. He plays Todd, the orphaned son of white settlers bought up by Comanches. When his wife and children are killed by three brothers, he exacts appropriate revenge. Caught and charged with murder, he's sent by wagon train to face justice. But when the train is attacked by Apaches, he is the only male adult not to be killed and has to escort a rag-tag band of survivors to safety while the lawmen set off in pursuit of their quarry.
Director: Delmer Daves
Starring: Richard Widmark, Felicia Farr, Susan Kohner, Tommy Rettig, Stephanie Denise Griffin, Ray Stricklyn
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1956, 12, 3 Star)

19:05
Picture Perfect (Film)
Lively romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston as Kate Mosley, an ambitious advertising designer whose life takes a complicated turn when she fakes her engagement to wedding photographer Nick in order to get a promotion. Also starring Kevin Bacon and Olympia Dukakis, and directed by Glenn Gordon Caron. Edited for language.
Director: Glenn Gordon Caron
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Jay Mohr, Kevin Bacon, Olympia Dukakis, Illeana Douglas, Kevin Dunn
(Subtitles, 1997, 12, 3 Star)

21:00
Aeon Flux (Film)
Karyn Kusama's sci-fi thriller is set in the 25th century, when, following the outbreak of a killer virus, the remnants of humanity live in the city of Bregna, ruled by Trevor Goodchild. But his draconian rule is threatened by a bunch of rebels led by Handler who orders Aeon Flux to kill Goodchild. Aeon also has a personal reason to kill him, since he ordered the death of her sister Una, but when she breaks into his inner sanctum, she discovers awful truths about their joint pasts and why the population of the city is so stable and so healthy.
Director: Karyn Kusama
Starring: Charlize Theron, Marton Csokas, Jonny Lee Miller, Sophie Okonedo, Frances McDormand, Pete Postlethwaite
(Premiere, Widescreen, Subtitles, 2005, 15, 3 Star)

22:45
Ghosts of Mars (Film)
Mars in the near future and tough cop Natasha Henstridge returns to base, after a mission to capture the planet's most notorious criminal. Her debriefing leads the film into flashback, as the viewer sees her and her team enter a remote colony only to find that something has transformed the colonists into blood-crazed monsters in John Carpenter's chilling sci-fi/horror.
Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube, Jason Statham, Clea DuVall, Pam Grier, Joanna Cassidy
(Subtitles, 2001, 15, 3 Star)

00:40
Storytelling (Film)
Todd Solondz's film tells two separate stories. In Fiction, Selma Blair ignores her disabled boyfriend's writing talents to pursue creative-writing professor Robert Wisdom, while Nonfiction sees would-be filmmaker Paul Giamatti shoot a documentary about his friend Mark Webber's life while behind the camera, Giamatti's family is falling apart. Fascinating and challenging, this is a dark look at relationships and family.
Director: Todd Solondz
Starring: Selma Blair, Leo Fitzpatrick, Robert Wisdom, Maria Thayer, Angela Goethals, Devorah Rose
(Widescreen, 2001, 18, 3 Star)

02:20
Hullaballoo Over Ginger and Bonnie's Pictures (Film)
Merchant/Ivory's film sees art collectors Lady Gee and Clark Haven up against rivals Sri Narain and Bonnie in the race to lay their hands on a fabulous set of Indian minatures hidden in the palace of bemused Maharajah Georgie.
Director: James Ivory
Starring: Peggy Ashcroft, Larry Pine, Saeed Jaffrey, Victor Banerjee, Aparna Sen, Jane Booker
(Premiere, 1978, PG, 3 Star)

[^^COMPASS^^]

FilmFour & Film Four +1 23.04.10

Astra 2D at 28:2E 10729 V SYM:22000 FEC 5/6

Film Four SID8335 VPID2312 APID2313 Eng

Film Four +1 SID8330 VPID2332 APID2333 Eng

11:00
Intrigue (Film)
Embittered by his wrongful discharge from the air force, an ex-pilot finds himself in Shanghai where he unwittingly becomes involved with the same villainous black marketeers responsible for framing him.
Director: Edwin L. Marin
Starring: George Raft, June Havoc, Helena Carter, Tom Tully, Marvin Miller, Dan Seymour
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1947, PG, 3 Star)

12:45
Appointment in London (Film)
Dirk Bogarde stars as Tim Mason, an RAF wing commander under considerable strain after 90 sorties over Germany. He finds solace in his friendship with war widow Eve Canyon, whose affections he wins from American liaison officer Major Mac Baker. Director Philip Leacock brought depth and unobtrusive comment to a subject which, even in 1953, could easily have become hackneyed in lesser hands.
Director: Philip Leacock
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Ian Hunter, Dinah Sheridan, Bryan Forbes, Walter Fitzgerald, Bill Kerr
(Subtitles, 1953, U, 3 Star)

14:35
The Black Swan (Film)
With the pardon of notorious pirate Henry Morgan by the English King, Caribbean pirates are offered amnesty if they give up their lawless ways. As governor of Jamaica, Morgan picks Captain Jamie Waring to round up the renegade captain Billy Leech. Beautiful Margaret Denby complicates matters for Waring, as her scorn for him is matched only by his love for her. When ship follows ship to the bottom of the ocean at the hands of Leech, Waring takes to the sea to track him down, shanghaiing Margaret to prevent her marriage to an English nobleman.
Director: Henry King
Starring: Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara, Laird Cregar, Thomas Mitchell, George Sanders, Anthony Quinn
(Subtitles, 1942, PG, 4 Star)

16:15
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (Film)
Newspaper publisher Lord Rawnsley puts up a £10,000 prize for the winner of a flight from London to Paris and soon his daughter Patricia, her would-be husband Richard, his rival for her hand and a motley collection of aviators are gathered, ready for the race to begin. Among them is Prussian Gert Frobe, Italian Albert Sordi and French playboy Jean-Pierre Cassell. And, of course, the requisite villain Sir Percy Ware-Armitage, aided by his put-upon servant Courtney. Although the gags are flagged, the cast are all game for the fun.
Director: Ken Annakin
Starring: Stuart Whitman, Sarah Miles, James Fox, Alberto Sordi, Robert Morley, Gert Fröbe
(Widescreen, 1965, U, 3 Star)

18:50
Holy Man (Film)
In Stephen Herek's comedy drama Jeff Goldblum plays Ricky Hayman, head of a failing shopping cable channel recently acquired by McBainbridge, who gives him just two weeks to turn it around. To help him, McBainbridge appoints Ivy League graduate Kate Newell - but nothing they do increases viewing figures or sales. But following a freeway accident, they encounter 'G', an enigmatic holy man, who changes not just the channel but their lives with his wisdom and insight. EDited for content.
Director: Stephen Herek
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Jeff Goldblum, Kelly Preston, Robert Loggia, Jon Cryer, Eric McCormack
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1998, PG, 2 Star)

21:00
Fantastic Four (Film)
Tim Story's action fantasy stars Ioan Gruffudd, Michael Chiklis, Jessica Alba and Chris Evans as Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Sue Storm and Johnny Storm, four astronauts sent to investigate a cosmic radiation storm. Caught by the storm's effects before they can erect safety shields, each of them finds their bodies changed to superhuman effect: Richards becomes the super-elastic Mr Fantastic; Grimm, the super strong Thing; Sue, the Invisible Woman; and Johnny, the Human Torch. At first they revel in their powers to prevent death and disaster, but they are soon drawn into battle with Victor von Doom. He was once the sponsor of their experiments and space exploration, but exposure to the same radiation storm transformed him into Dr Doom, a metallic creature who can manipulate electricity and wants to use his power to destroy the Fantastic Four and rule the world.
Director: Tim Story
Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon, Hamish Linklater
(Editor's Choice, Widescreen, Subtitles, 2005, PG, 3 Star)

23:00
Jason X (Film)
In the 25th century, a group of archaeologists discover two cryogenically frozen figures on a desolate Earth. One is scientist Rowan and the other is Jason Voorhees, aka Jason from Friday the 13th. And when the bodies are revived on the archaeologists' spaceship, Rowan has to convince an unbelieving crew that they've also revived a serial killer with almost supernatural powers. Jim Isaac's continuation of the franchise, the tenth film featuring Jason, rises above other sequels with witty dialogue, some inventive deaths and an engaging turn from Lisa Ryder as an android with attitude.
Director: James Isaac
Starring: Kane Hodder, Lexa Doig, Chuck Campbell, Lisa Ryder, Peter Mensah, Melyssa Ade
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2001, 18, 2 Star)

00:45
Solaris (Film)
Andrei Tarkovsky's science fiction epic in which scientist Kris Kelvin is sent to investigate the fate of a space station orbiting the mysterious planet Solaris, where all but three of the 85 crew are dead and the survivors cannot or will not explain what has happened.
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Starring: Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, Jüri Järvet, Vladislav Dvorzhetsky, Nikolai Grinko, Anatoli Solonitsyn
(In Russian with Subtitles, 1972, PG, 4 Star)

[^^COMPASS^^]

FilmFour & Film Four +1 25.04.10

Astra 2D at 28:2E 10729 V SYM:22000 FEC 5/6

Film Four SID8335 VPID2312 APID2313 Eng

Film Four +1 SID8330 VPID2332 APID2333 Eng

11:00
The Good Die Young (Film)
Powerful British film noir starring Laurence Harvey as Miles Ravenscourt, an amoral, psychotic playboy who incites three men who are down on their luck to commit a mail van robbery, which goes badly wrong.
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Starring: Laurence Harvey, Gloria Grahame, Richard Basehart, Joan Collins
(Black and White, Subtitles, Audio Described, 1954, PG, 2 Star)

13:00
Holy Man (Film)
In Stephen Herek's comedy drama Jeff Goldblum plays Ricky Hayman, head of a failing shopping cable channel recently acquired by McBainbridge, who gives him just two weeks to turn it around. To help him, McBainbridge appoints Ivy League graduate Kate Newell - but nothing they do increases viewing figures or sales. But following a freeway accident, they encounter 'G', an enigmatic holy man, who changes not just the channel but their lives with his wisdom and insight. Edited for content.
Director: Stephen Herek
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Jeff Goldblum, Kelly Preston, Robert Loggia, Jon Cryer, Eric McCormack
(Widescreen, 1998, PG, 2 Star)

15:10
My Darling Clementine (Film)
A bona fide classic,directed byJohn Ford, and without doubt the best film about Wyatt Earp and the gunfight at the OK Corral. Henry Fonda plays Tombstone's marshal who, with the help of Victor Mature's Doc Holliday, tracks down the clan who killed his brother. Full of meaning and perfectly framed imagery, this is the western at its best, mesmerising and mythical.
Director: John Ford
Starring: Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, Victor Mature, Cathy Downs, Walter Brennan, Tim Holt
(Black and White, Subtitles, Audio Described, 1946, U, 5 Star)

17:05
A Walk in the Clouds (Film)
Alfonso Arau's delight of a romantic film, made after Like Water for Chocolate, opens with Paul Sutton returning home after World War II to a wife he married the day before he left. Discovering they have nothing in common, he leaves for home by bus. Among the passengers is Victoria Aragón, who is afraid to go home to her family's vineyards because she is pregnant and unmarried. Paul suggests they pretend to be a married couple, to conceal her situation. When they arrive at her home, her father Alberto and his wife María are stern and suspicious, as is patriarch Don Pedro, but as the days stretch into weeks, Paul falls for Victoria, her family and their way of life... Edited for content.
Director: Alfonso Arau
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Anthony Quinn, Giancarlo Giannini, Angélica Aragón, Evangelina Elizondo
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1995, PG, 3 Star)

19:10
Son of the Mask (Film)
The magical mask goes missing once again in Lawrence Guterman's sequel to The Mask. After cartoonist Tim Avery's dog finds it in a stream, Tim lands a big account, only to lose it, and his job, when he loses the mask. It's found by his infant son Alvey who is so familiar with TV cartoons, he's not amazed by his new toy. But it's not only his dad who wants it back; the Norse god of mischief Loki needs to find it before his dad Odin realises it's missing... Edited for language.
Director: Lawrence Guterman
Starring: Jamie Kennedy, Alan Cumming, Liam Falconer, Ryan Falconer, Traylor Howard, Steven Wright
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2005, PG, 1 Star)

21:00
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Film)
In Tim Story's sequel to the foursome's first adventure the superheroes are suffering from very human problems. The Thing finds it hard to believe Alicia wants him for himself rather than out of pity, Mr Fantastic and Invisible Woman are having second thoughts about their wedding, and Human Torch is having relationship problems of his own. But when mysterious huge craters start appearing around the world, the authorities call on the Four's help. They are being caused by the other-worldly Silver Surfer, precursor of the planet-destroying Galactus. Can the Four stop him in time as well as preventing Victor von Doom from stealing the Surfer's secrets for his own evil ends?
Director: Tim Story
Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon, Kerry Washington
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2007, PG, 3 Star)

22:45
The Abyss (Film)
After Aliens, James Cameron took to the ocean's depths for this sci-fi thriller. Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio star as Bud and Lindsey Brigman, a husband-and-wife team running the rescue rig that's trying to get to a nuclear submarine that's gone down on the lip of one of the world's deepest sea trenches. But when psychotic Navy SEAL commander Lt Hiram Coffey launches a nuclear warhead into the trench, they discover they are not alone.
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Biehn, Leo Burmester, Todd Graff, John Bedford Lloyd
(Subtitles, 1989, 15, 4 Star)

01:30
El Perro (Film)
Carlos Sorin's gentle drama is set in Patagonia where Juan 'Coco' Villegas ekes out a living selling handmade knives. Then he's given Bombón, a game dog of questionable beauty but certifiable breeding. As man and mastiff hit the canine competition circuit, so Villegas, under the tutelage of his manager Walter Donado broadens his horizons in all directions. Comparisons to Best in Show are not unfair but this is very much a South American take on the theme with, of course, all plaudits going to the magnificent Bombón.
Director: Carlos Sorin
Starring: Juan Villegas, Walter Donado, Gregorio, Rosa Valsecchi, Mariela Díaz, Sabino Morales
(In Spanish with Subtitles, Widescreen, 2004, 15, 4 Star)

[^^COMPASS^^]

FilmFour & Film Four +1 26.04.10

Astra 2D at 28:2E 10729 V SYM:22000 FEC 5/6

Film Four SID8335 VPID2312 APID2313 Eng

Film Four +1 SID8330 VPID2332 APID2333 Eng

11:00
A Letter to Three Wives (Film)
Witty Oscar winning comedy-drama about three friends who all receive a letter from another friend. This letter informs them that she is about to leave town with one of their husbands: but which one?
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Starring: Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern, Kirk Douglas, Paul Douglas, Jeffrey Lynn, Barbara Lawrence
(Black and White, Subtitles, 1949, U, 4 Star)

13:05
The Iron Petticoat (Film)
Katharine Hepburn plays a humourless Russian, Captain Vinka Kovelenko, who defects from her home country. Major Chuck Lockwood is assigned to show her the bright lights of London while she tries to convince him of the superiority of communism. Naturally, the two opposites fall in love but then must contend with the KGB, who are not happy with the idea of one of their officers running around free in London in this comedy.
Director: Ralph L. Thomas
Starring: Bob Hope, Katharine Hepburn, Noelle Middleton, James Robertson-Justice, Robert Helpmann, David Kossoff
(Subtitles, 1956, PG, 3 Star)

14:55
The Last Wagon (Film)
Delmer Daves's fascinating western stars Richard Widmark in one of his most underrated roles. He plays Todd, the orphaned son of white settlers bought up by Comanches. When his wife and children are killed by three brothers, he exacts appropriate revenge. Caught and charged with murder, he's sent by wagon train to face justice. But when the train is attacked by Apaches, he is the only male adult not to be killed and has to escort a rag-tag band of survivors to safety while the lawmen set off in pursuit of their quarry.
Director: Delmer Daves
Starring: Richard Widmark, Felicia Farr, Susan Kohner, Tommy Rettig, Stephanie Denise Griffin, Ray Stricklyn
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 1956, 12, 3 Star)

16:55
Murder She Said (Film)
Margaret Rutherford stars in George Pollock's whodunit as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, who happens to witness a murder taking place on a train passing her window. Of course, the police can find no evidence of crime or a body and suggest she imagined it. Stung into action, her investigations lead her to an old mansion lorded over by Akenthorpe. Finding engagement as a maid and helped by her companion Mr Stringer, she sets about solving the crime.
Director: George Pollock
Starring: Margaret Rutherford, Arthur Kennedy, Muriel Pavlow, James Robertson-Justice, Thorley Walters, Charles 'Bud' Tingwell
(Black and White, Widescreen, Subtitles, 1961, U, 3 Star)

18:40
Freedom Writers (Film)
Hilary Swank stars as Erin Gruwell in Richard LaGravenese's drama, based on a true-life story. Gruwell is a fresh-faced teacher at a tough inner city school in Long Beach, California, armed with lesson plans and reading lists. Finding her students more interested in recent gang shootings than poetry, she refuses to give up on them, teaching instead books and writings that relate to their real lives. Imelda Staunton plays Margaret Campbell, her draconian head of department, with Patrick Dempsey as Erin's long suffering husband. Edited for language.
Director: Richard LaGravenese
Starring: Hilary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton, April L. Hernandez, Mario
(Widescreen, 2007, 12, 4 Star)

21:00
X-Men (Film)
Adaptation of the long-running Marvel comic book series. As mutations in humans become more widespread, a US senator attempts to pass legislation that would effectively criminalise their existence. Two very different factions of mutants stand in his way: one open to peaceful coexistence, the other openly hostile.
Director: Bryan Singer
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2000, 12, 4 Star)

23:00
Aeon Flux (Film)
Karyn Kusama's sci-fi thriller is set in the 25th century, when, following the outbreak of a killer virus, the remnants of humanity live in the city of Bregna, ruled by Trevor Goodchild. But his draconian rule is threatened by a bunch of rebels led by Handler who orders Aeon Flux to kill Goodchild. Aeon also has a personal reason to kill him, since he ordered the death of her sister Una, but when she breaks into his inner sanctum, she discovers awful truths about their joint pasts and why the population of the city is so stable and so healthy.
Director: Karyn Kusama
Starring: Charlize Theron, Marton Csokas, Jonny Lee Miller, Sophie Okonedo, Frances McDormand, Pete Postlethwaite
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2005, 15, 3 Star)

00:45
Kontroll (Film)
This Hungarian black comedy centres on a group of ticket inspectors on the Budapest underground. The system runs on an 'honour' system, with the inspectors, led by Sándor Csányi, meant to check people have tickets. But frankly, they don't care so long as they reach their quota of catches and in addition, there's a hooded killer haunting the system, pushing passengers under trains which is disrupting their work. And there's the bear that's become trapped in the system... Nimród Antal's debut feature veers from the surreal to the comic but is always accessible.
Director: Nimród Antal
Starring: Sándor Csányi, Zoltán Mucsi, Csaba Pindroch, Sándor Badár, Zsolt Nagy, Bence Mátyási
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Subtitled, In Hungarian with English Subtitles, 2003, 15, 4 Star)