Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

[colinr0380]

I will just be repeating jlnight's post again this week but will try to add a few trailers. It is really Film4's week with a few really interesting premieres of films that I was not aware of prior to this - Swiss drama The Girl and the Spider is showing at 2 a.m. in the early hours of Wednesday 22nd. The Jamaican film Dancehall Queen is showing at 1:45 a.m. in the early hours of Friday 24th. And then a double bill of UK premieres with Pixie at 9 p.m. followed by Bull at 10:50 p.m. on Friday 24th.

Although the big news is that you may have thought that David DeCoteau would be taking the year off after his year of premieres in 2022, but he still has more to offer with Channel 5 showing 2022's Killer Design showing at 2:15 p.m. on Monday 20th. Apparently Dee Wallace is somewhere in there too according to imdb!
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Repeat-wise, jlnight has noted the big one with Film4's showings of Indicator releases getting to An Unsuitable Job For A Woman, showing at 1:45 a.m. on Monday 20th (I'm still looking for the opportunity to check out Chris Petit's Chinese Boxes some time, or even revisit his much more avant-garde and challenging films like The Falconer again), and Eden is showing at 1:15 a.m. on Thursday 22nd.

So basically 1-2 a.m. in the morning on Film4 every night of next week is the place to look for interesting films! (EDIT: Aside from Saturday, where it looks as if the premiere of Swallow that jlnight mentioned has been dropped for repeats of No One Lives and Brawl in Cell Block 99)

(Also for some reason BBC1 are having a spooky 1987 weekend by showing The Lost Boys on Saturday 18th and The Witches of Eastwick on Sunday 19th around the 11:30 p.m. timeslot. Plus doubling up on Cher by showing Moonstruck again on BBC2 at 10:40 p.m. on Saturday 18th)

[therewillbeblus]

I liked Zürcher's The Strange Little Cat a bit more, but The Girl and the Spider is a great sophomore effort right on par with the first feature

[jlnight]

Military Wives, Sat 25th Feb, Channel 4. Or...
The Macaluso Sisters, Sat 25th Feb, BBC4. Or...
Johnny Handsome, Sat 25th Feb, Legend. Or...
Hammerhead, Sat 25th Feb, Talking Pictures. Also Sun 12th Mar. (been on Great Movies)

Second Time Around, Sun 26th Feb, Talking Pictures. Also Fri 10th Mar.

The Gamma People, Mon 27th Feb, Talking Pictures.

The Godfather, Wed 1st Mar, Film4. (on various channels before)

Bulldog Drummond at Bay, Thu 2nd Mar, Talking Pictures. (Melvyn's Talking Pictures)
The Godfather: Part II, Thu 2nd Mar, Film4.
We Are The Lambeth Boys, Thu 2nd Mar, London Live. (on before)

The Godfather Part III, Fri 3rd Mar, Film4. Or...
Five + The Devil Commands + Jacktown (1962), Fri 3rd Mar, Talking Pictures. (Cellar Club)

[colinr0380]

A couple of big premieres next week. Military Wives is showing on Channel 4 at 9 p.m. on Saturday 25th, which sadly isn't the bodice-ripping Jilly Cooper adaptation that I was hoping for, but appears to be an amalgamation of Full Monty, Calendar Girls and Brassed Off together with the recent reality TV trend for choirs. That unfortunately clashes with BBC4's world cinema premiere of the week with the Italian film The Macaluso Sisters also at 9 p.m, which does not have a disc release at all in the UK as yet.

BBC4's Storyville series is showing Sex on Screen at 10 p.m. on Tuesday 28th, which is a retitling of the Body Parts film interviewing actresses about their feelings doing sex scenes.

And Film4 have a good week. Primetime Monday and Tuesday are taken up with a repeat of Happy Death Day on Monday at 11:10 p.m. followed by the premiere of the Run Lola Run of slasher films, Happy Death Day 2U at 9 p.m. on Tuesday 28th. Then Wednesday to Friday as jlnight notes is The Godfather trilogy showing each evening at 9 p.m., though the big news there is that this is building to not just The Godfather III at 9 p.m. on Friday 3rd but the premiere of the re-cut The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone version of the film.
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Repeat-wise Sofia Coppola's remake of The Beguiled is showing on BBC1 at 11:55 p.m. on Saturday 25th, there's more Al Pacino during the week with ITV4 showing Carlito's Way at 11 p.m. also on Saturday 25th, Her Smell is on Film4 at 1 a.m. on Friday 3rd (just after The Godfather Part II), and competing against The Godfather Coda on Friday 3rd there are repeats of The Rock over on ITV1 at 10:45 p.m. or Almodovar's Pain and Glory at 11:55 p.m. on BBC2, followed by the Human Voice short at 1:45 a.m.

[jlnight]

Sierra Baron, Sat 4th Mar, Talking Pictures. Also Tue 7th Mar.
Fear is the Key, Sat 4th Mar, Legend. (on TPTV before)
A Prize of Gold, Sat 4th Mar, Talking Pictures. Also Mon 6th Mar.

Clemency, Sun 5th Mar, BBC2.

Proxima + Amulet, Wed 8th Mar, Film4.
Nutcracker (1982), Wed 8th Mar, London Live. (on before)

Silent Rage + The Damned (1962) + The Intruder (1962), Fri 10th Mar, Talking Pictures. (Cellar Club)

[colinr0380]

Relatively quiet next week on the film front. As jlnight has noted Clemency is showing on BBC2 at 10 p.m. on Sunday 5th, and there is a double bill of premieres on Film4 on the night of Wednesday 8th with Proxima at 9 p.m. followed by Amulet at 11:10 p.m. (that Amulet trailer certainly has the A24 vibes to it!)

Most interesting of all however is that tucked away on the "Great Movies" channel at 1:20 a.m. in the early hours of Wednesday 8th is the very belated premiere of the 2009 anthology film New York, I Love You. We're still waiting on the UK television premiere of 2006's Paris, Je t'aime however!

There are a lot of TV series starting up. BBC4 is starting the sequel series to Paris Police 1900, Paris Police 1905 at 9 p.m. on Saturday 4th. BBC2 is showing the first of a four part series about Bill Cosby at 9 p.m. on Sunday 5th (somewhat awkwardly scheduled just before Clemency!) and at 9 p.m. on Friday 10th is also showing the first of three episodes in a profile of Frida Kahlo.
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Repeat-wise Film4 is showing Earth vs The Flying Saucers at 11 a.m. on Sunday 5th, is repeating Ice Cold In Alex at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday 8th presumably in tribute to the late Sylvia Syms, and also Picnic is re-entering the schedules for the first time in a while showing at 11 a.m. on Thursday 9th. BBC1 has a rare showing of Danny Boyle's adaptation of The Beach at 10:40 p.m. on Tuesday 7th.

And BBC4's Archive Television strand begins showing the six part 1970 series The Six Wives of Henry VIII from 10 p.m. on Wednesday 8th with the first two 90 minute episodes - one each focused respectively on Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn.

[jlnight]

Invisible Invaders, Sat 11th Mar, Talking Pictures.
Blunt (1987, Screen Two), Sat 11th Mar, London Live.
Caught in Time (2020), late Sat 11th Mar, Film4.

Mr Jones (2019), Sun 12th Mar, BBC2.

The Lusty Men, Wed 15th Mar, 5Action.

The Mustang (2019), Thu 16th Mar, Film4.

Fighting Back (1982), Fri 17th Mar, Legend. Or...
Four Lions, Fri 17th Mar, Film4. (on before)

[colinr0380]

I'll be basically repeating jlnight's post again this week. Another relatively sparse week, although what is there is all new to me, so that's exciting. The most interesting looking film of the whole week is the Chinese thriller Caught In Time showing on Film4 at 2 a.m. in the early hours of Sunday 12th. The writer-director of that film was one of the three writers on Johnnie To's 2016 film Three.

At 10 p.m. on Sunday 12th, BBC2 is showing Mr Jones, which isn't the 1993 Mike Figgis film starring a bipolar Richard Gere but instead the 2019 film directed by Agnieszka Holland, which fulfills the week's mandatory Russian-Ukrainian quota for the channel. Then Film4 is showing The Mustang at 10:50 p.m. on Thursday 16th, which confusingly isn't the 2015 German film of the same title or Lean On Pete or The Rider or Calm With Horses or Cry Macho but something else involving horses as a metaphor for taming otherwise unrestrained male urges.

And the Legend channel is premiering He Who Dares at 9 p.m. on Saturday 11th, which looks... well, I just don't understand why kidnapping the Prime Minister's daughter wouldn't just end up in a replay of the scenario from that Ruthless People film.

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Repeat-wise, Channel 5 is having a musical weekend with a rare showing of Grease 2 at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday 11th (preceded by a two hour tribute to the late Olivia Newton-John, which is nice if rather belated and makes showing the Newton-John-less Grease sequel rather head-scratching) and My Fair Lady at 1 p.m. on Sunday 12th. BBC2 counters My Fair Lady with a screening of The Third Man at 2:40 p.m. Film4 is continuing its Harryhausen series with It Came From Beneath The Sea at 11 a.m. on Sunday 12th. And as jlnight mentions Film4 is showing Four Lions at 11:35 p.m. on Friday 17th, followed at 1:40 a.m. by a showing of 24 Hour Party People.

It is also strangely a very Michael Caine-centric week on the BBC with BBC2 showing The Ipcress File and Funeral In Berlin on Saturday afternoon (with an episode of the Talking Pictures series relating to the actor in between. The third in the Harry Palmer spy series, Billion Dollar Brain directed by Ken Russell, was actually just shown on Film4 yesterday too), then those films are repeated again on BBC4 from 9 p.m. on Thursday 16th with a one hour 1987 programme "Michael Caine: Acting In Film" programme showing at 8 p.m., which is the one which ends with Caine famously demonstrating his technique for drunk acting in Educating Rita.

And amusingly Film4 are repeating the Humphrey Bogart film The Caine Mutiny at 3:50 p.m. on Wednesday 15th, which was infamously the film that Maurice Micklewhite chose to become his on screen name when he apparently took a call from his agent from a telephone box outside a cinema and just impetuously chose it from the marquee!

(EDIT: I just checked imdb and its Michael Caine's 90th birthday on 14th March, so that's most likely the reason!)

[jlnight]

Three Young Texans, Sat 18th Mar, Talking Pictures.
Soldier Blue, Sat 18th Mar, Legend. Or...
Knock On Any Door, Sat 18th Mar, Talking Pictures. Also late Fri 24th Mar. Or...
The Firm (1989), Sat 18th Mar, London Live.

Grace Quigley (1984), Sun 19th Mar, Talking Pictures. Also Wed 29th Mar. (last seen in 1995)

Walk East On Beacon!, Mon 20th Mar, Talking Pictures.

Dance Little Lady, Tue 21st Mar, Talking Pictures.

Murder by Decree, Wed 22nd Mar, Legend.

Out of Bounds (1986), Thu 23rd Mar, Talking Pictures.

[colinr0380]

Very quiet next week. The only premiere of the entire week is Film4 showing the 2020 'Elite vs Hicks' politically tinged equivalent of Aliens vs Predator where "whoever wins, we lose" horror film The Hunt, which seems like an update of The Most Dangerous Game that takes on elements of The Hunger Games and The Purge and mixes it all together in a blender. That's showing on Friday 24th at 10:50 p.m. in the middle of triple bill of two other iffily vigilante tinged thrillers with A Vigilante and Free Fire.

And that's it for new stuff. Keeping with the vigilante theme of the week ITV4 are showing the original 1970s Death Wish twice during the week. BBC1 has a one hour interview/documentary about Stephen Frears at 10:40 p.m. on Monday 20th (apparently mostly taking place in Vienna on location of his latest film Fedora, which is a biopic about the Billy Wilder film) and the BBC devotes much of the rest of its schedules through the week to repeats of Frears films (Philomena just after the documentary and BBC4 has a double bill of Victoria & Abdul and Florence Foster Jenkins from 9 p.m. on Thursday 23rd).

Beyond that, the only notable rare repeat of the week is Film4's screening of the Randolph Scott western Hangman's Knot at 5:15 p.m. on Friday 24th, the only film directed by Roy Huggins who is better known as a writer, and particularly for creating the original television series of The Fugitive and The Rockford Files.

[jlnight]

Jesus Christ Superstar, Sat 25th Mar, BBC2.
Luzzu, Sat 25th Mar, BBC4. Or...
Tokyo Joe, Sat 25th Mar, Talking Pictures. Also late Mon 27th Mar. Or...
The Grass Arena, Sat 25th Mar, London Live.

The Undercover Man, Sun 26th Mar, Talking Pictures. Also Tue 28th Mar.

I Lived With You, Mon 27th Mar, Talking Pictures.

South of Panama, Wed 29th Mar, Talking Pictures.
Desert Mice, Wed 29th Mar, Talking Pictures.
Swallow (2019), Wed 29th Mar, Film4.

The Lone Wolf Strikes, Thu 30th Mar, Talking Pictures.
The Death of Dick Long, Thu 30th Mar, Film4.

Chopper, Fri 31st Mar, Film4.

[colinr0380]

Not a bad week, and again I will mostly just be repeating jlnight. New film-wise BBC4 is showing the Maltese film Luzzu at 9 p.m. on Saturday 25th. Film4 is showing Swallow at 11:25 p.m. on Wednesday 29th, which I may actually avoid as that specific activity triggers my anxieties even more than pointy objects generally do! (I think it was being a kid growing up with Lego and always being nervous that I would accidentally end up eating a piece! Less for the fear that I may have choked on it but that I would end up not being able to complete my model by being a piece short!)

And Film4 are showing The Death of Dick Long at 11:15 p.m. on Thursday 30th which surprisingly from the look of that trailer isn't directed by either the Coen Brothers or Martin McDonagh! (EDIT: Interesting to note that the introducer to the film emphasised that the film has not had either a cinema or home video release in the UK, so this screening was its UK premiere in any form)
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Repeat-wise the big day is the afternoon of Saturday 25th on BBC2 which for some reason has been designated as a musical one. jlnight has noted the really rare showing of Jesus Christ's Superstore at 2:30 p.m. (the phrase that most readily comes to mind after watching that trailer is "batshit insane". Although I guess I have to be grateful because without it we may never have gotten the truly great satirical take on the rock opera, Tommy), but that is preceded at 1:10 p.m. by a much more interesting film, and one which is just as rarely shown, The Tommy Steele Story (aka Rock Around The World), which is actually a British film although you would be forgiven for not figuring that out from the accents in that trailer. That's the film I am most excited about seeing of the week.

BBC4's archive television strand finishes The Six Wives of Henry VIII this week (nobody tell me how it ends!) and moves onto another monarch with Glenda Jackson playing Elizabeth R. There is a ten minute new interview with Jackson at 10 p.m. on Wednesday 29th followed by the first two (of six) episodes. That clashes against the premiere of Swallow over on Film4 at the same time, so I will not feel too bad about foregoing that film to focus on this instead!

And the best film of the whole week is of course the repeat of Chopper at 11:40 p.m. on Film4 on Friday 31st March (last shown on television in 2014 on the BBC, so it has been a while). In keeping with the phallo-centric titles going on during the second half of the week Channel 4 is also repeating their "My Massive Cock" 'documentary' on Thursday evening at the same time as Film4 is premiering the The Death of Dick Long, which cannot be a mere coincidence. Either way, you stay classy Channel 4!

[jlnight]

Delayed Flight, Sat 1st Apr, Talking Pictures.
So Long, My Son, Sat 1st Apr, BBC4. Or...
Convicted (1950), Sat 1st Apr, Talking Pictures. Also Tue 4th Apr.
Wild Men (2021), late Sat 1st Apr, BBC2.

The Whole Truth, Sun 2nd Apr, Talking Pictures. (on before)

La Haine, Mon 3rd Apr, Film4.

Now Barabbas Was a Robber, Tue 4th Apr, Talking Pictures. Also Wed 12th Apr.

Three Sisters, Wed 5th Apr, London Live. (been on TPTV)
Lynch/Oz, Wed 5th Apr, Film4.

Killing Dad (1989), Thu 6th Apr, London Live. Or...
The Miracle of the Bells, Thu 6th Apr, BBC4.

Bronco Billy, Fri 7th Apr, 5Action.
The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady, Fri 7th Apr, Talking Pictures.
An Eye for an Eye (1981), Fri 7th Apr, Legend.

[colinr0380]

Really good for new films next week in the run up to Easter. The big film of the week is BBC4 showing So Long, My Son at 9 p.m. on Saturday 1st, which is the first film by Wang Xiaoshuai to turn up on UK television (aside I think from the old BBC Knowledge channel showing Beijing Bicycle the early 2000s, which I am discounting due to my part of the country not being able to access the digital channels at the time). (EDIT: It's not, as The Days aired on BBC2 in 1996 ) That got a disc release a couple of years ago by Artificial Eye, but on DVD only. That clashes against the premiere of The Doorman at 11:25 p.m. on Film4 (EDIT: The Doorman turned out to be a recent film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, of Versus fame, whose style is evident from the opening scene of people fighting in a forested area!)

Channel 5 is showing Godzilla: King of the Monsters at 9 p.m. on Sunday 2nd, which is the other in the double bill of 'teen girls ruin the world through their environmental activism' films along with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom from around the same time. I'm not sure about how well that dark and moody version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" in the trailer works!

On Monday 3rd at 11:15 p.m. (clashing against the repeat of La Haine on Film4) BBC2 is showing the Irish film Herself, from the director of Mamma Mia! I would make a somewhat tasteless joke about wondering which ABBA songs are going to underscore the domestic abuse scenes in this film, but then that caused me to remember that Portishead got there first by doing that dark and moody version of SOS for a certain scene of High-Rise.

As jlnight has noted Film4 are showing Lynch/Oz at 11:35 p.m. on Wednesday 5th. Mulholland Drive is being repeated at 11:15 p.m. on Thursday 6th as well. Although I would argue that connecting the Wizard of Oz with Lynch isn't really as big a revelation as that documentary appears to be making it out to be. After all Wild At Heart is an entire re-envisioning of that film through a wonky Lynchian lens, down to being a musical! So it may have been better if Film4 had repeated Wild at Heart instead for the first time in years (although maybe they cannot now due to that extremely violent opening scene?) to complement whatever thesis is going on in the documentary. Though I'm not complaining too much as Mulholland Drive is the much better film!
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So that's it for new stuff. In terms of repeats the big one is a surprisingly rare repeat showing of Children of Men on BBC2 at 10 p.m. on Sunday 2nd (clashing against Godzilla: KotM like the other big kaiju of the evening), which may have been off the schedules for years because of being too harrowingly relevant to any number of topics in the news. Watch out for Darling Buds of May actress Pam Ferris getting marched off to be executed by German Shepherd wielding guards! Its the other notable adaptation of a P.D. James novel to film after the recently aired An Unsuitable Job For A Woman, and of course in its episodic structure based around getting relay-raced from one significant-but-expendable supporting character to the next and just in terms of its general subject matter it pretty much served as the zombie-less template for The Last of Us.

The Ghost and Mrs Muir enters Film4's classic film rotation, screening at 11 a.m. on Sunday 2nd and 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday 5th. And as jlnight notes, Film4 is showing La Haine at 11:10 p.m. on Monday 3rd, maybe to join in with the current Paris riots (for an old school Moviedrome double bill, try watching it in a double bill with the repeat of the 1983 remake of Scarface, showing on ITV4 at 11 p.m. on Saturday 1st!)

[jlnight]

Front Line Kids, Sat 8th Apr, Talking Pictures.
Deepstar Six, Sat 8th Apr, Legend. Or...
Gilda, Sat 8th Apr, Talking Pictures. Also Fri 14th Apr.
Sex and Chocolate (BBC TVM), Sat 8th Apr, London Live.

The Ten Commandments (1956), Sun 9th Apr, Channel 5.
Eternal Beauty, Sun 9th Apr, BBC2.

The Tales of Hoffman, Mon 10th Apr, London Live.
Brother (2000), late Mon 10th Apr, Film4. (on before)

The Lone Wolf Takes a Chance, Thu 13th Apr, Talking Pictures.
The Burnt Orange Heresy, Thu 13th Apr, Film4. Or...
A Day at the Beach (1970), Thu 13th Apr, London Live.

[colinr0380]

Relatively quiet over Easter and the week following. jlnight has noted the biggest films. Eternal Beauty is showing at 10 p.m. on Easter Sunday and Film4 is showing The Burnt Orange Heresy at 9 p.m. on Thursday 13th, with Mick Jagger and Donald Sutherland! (Film4 did miss a trick in not taking the opportunity of double billing that premiere with a repeat of the last Mick Jagger film role, 2001's The Man From Elysian Fields, which last aired on the channel over a decade ago).

BBC4's world cinema premieres halt for a while as they begin the third series of the Danish crime drama Those Who Kill with the first two episodes (of eight) of Lost: Those Who Kill at 9 p.m. on Saturday 8th (which was only first shown in Denmark in January, so its pretty new).

And the Legend channel is showing Every Last One Of Them at 10:55 p.m. on Friday 14th. With Michael Madsen and Richard Dreyfuss!
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Repeat-wise, BBC2 is showing Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid at 2:40 p.m. on Saturday 8th, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is showing on BBC1 at 5:35 p.m. (taken back from Channel 5, who have been screening it more recently, although the RadioTimes still classes it as the "PG" version rather than the "12" rated version recently put out by Arrow), BBC1 is also showing Blade Runner 2049 at 11:20 p.m. on Easter Sunday, and BBC2 is showing The Graduate at 9:45 p.m. on Bank Holiday Monday. BBC2 also has an Ealing double bill on Easter Monday of The Lavender Hill Mob at 10 a.m. followed by Passport To Pimlico at 11:20 a.m. (which may be to tie in with the current Border Guard strike going on)

As jlnight notes, Film4 is repeating Takeshi Kitano's US-set film Brother at 1:15 a.m. in the early hours of Tuesday 11th. The most exciting classic film they are showing during the week though is Anne of the Indies at 2:45 p.m. on Friday 14th (from Cat People, I Walked With A Zombie, The Leopard Man director Jacques Tourner!). I wonder if that is what Cutthroat Island was remaking?

[jlnight]

The Killer Shrews, Sat 15th Apr, Talking Pictures.
Tight Spot, Sat 15th Apr, Talking Pictures. Also Sun 23rd Apr. Or...
All Things Bright and Beautiful (BBC Screen Two), Sat 15th Apr, London Live. Or...
Rose: A Love Story, Sat 15th Apr, Film4.

The Night Holds Terror, Mon 17th Apr, Talking Pictures. Also Wed 26th Apr.

No Place for Jennifer, Tue 18th Apr, London Live.
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Tue 18th Apr, Sky Arts. (been on the BBC years ago)

The Six Men, Wed 19th Apr, Talking Pictures.
Billy the Kid vs Dracula, Wed 19th Apr, Legend.

Lone Wolf Keeps a Date, Thu 20th Apr, Talking Pictures.
The Steal (1995), Thu 20th Apr, London Live.

Rhino (2021), Fri 21st Apr, Film4.

[colinr0380]

Very quiet next week. jlnight has noted the two premieres occurring on FIlm4 with the horror film Rose: A Love Story at 11:15 p.m. on Saturday 15th and at the other end of the week the Ukrainian crime film Rhino at 11:50 p.m. on Friday 21st (which unfortunately has a trailer containing music that I cannot forget iconically scored a roller-skating lady in a 90s tampon commercial that rather undermined the macho toughness going on otherwise! Which I guess wasn't the intended effect)

Although the film that really caught my interest is in amongst Channel 5's afternoon TV movie roster. Twelve Desperate Hours showing at 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday 18th looks a relatively standard TV movie thriller from its trailer but stars Samantha Mathis (from 1995's Broken Arrow by John Woo!) and perhaps even more notably is the first feature directed by Bound, Showgirls and Demonlover actress Gina Gershon!
____
BBC4's archive television strand is beginning a repeat of the Michael Palin and Terry Jones series Ripping Yarns with the first two (of six) parts from 10:30 p.m. on Saturday 15th and beginning to repeat the 1998 Irish series Amongst Women with the first two (of four) parts showing from 10 p.m. on Wednesday 19th.

[jlnight]

Hudson's Bay, Sat 22nd Apr, Talking Pictures. Also Mon 24th Apr.
Human Desire, Sat 22nd Apr, Talking Pictures. Also Mon 24th Apr.
An Affair in Mind (BBC TVM), Sat 22nd Apr, London Live.

The Whistlers (2019), late Mon 24th Apr, Film4.

Love in High Gear, early Tue 25th Apr, Talking Pictures.

Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter, Wed 26th Apr, Legend.

Sweat (2020), late Thu 27th Apr, Channel 4.

Zappa, late Fri 28th Apr, BBC4. (on before)

[reaky]

A pity TPTV seem to have curtailed their run of Warren William Lone Wolf films.

[colinr0380]

Really good next week. jlnight has noted the big premieres of the week. Corneliu Porumboiu's most recent film The Whistlers showing on Film4 at 1:15 a.m. in the early hours of Tuesday 25th, which looks like it fits in well with his run of crime thrillers and his theme of communication, especially the way that language defines insiders or outsiders to hyper-specific gangs of people. I am trying to recall if any Porumboiu film has appeared on UK television before this.

And the other big film is the Polish drama Sweat showing on Channel 4 at 1:50 a.m. in the early hours of Friday 28th. jlnight has also noticed that tucked away without fanfare on BBC4 at Midnight on Friday 28th April is a screening of Zappa, directed by Alex Winter (aka Bill from Bill & Ted!), although it is coming after live snooker, so expect the start time to change or the screening to be cancelled altogether. Also on BBC4, their Storyville documentary strand is showing Nelly and Nadine at 10 p.m. on Tuesday 25th.

And if that is all too high brow, Channel 4 is showing Good Boys (NSFW) at 9:20 p.m. on Saturday 22nd.
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Repeat-wise BBC4 is tripling up on their archive television strand by in addition to continuing Ripping Yarns on Saturday evening and finishing off Amongst Women on Wednesday night, showing the first part of the 1999 David Copperfield with a pre-Harry Potter Daniel Radcliffe at 10 p.m. on Sunday 23rd.

Film4 is repeating The Fits at 12:50 a.m. on Wednesday 26th (which is the first showing on that channel after previous airings on BBC2) and Sam Raimi's Darkman is showng at 9 p.m. on Friday 28th. The original Liam Neeson revenge film and probably something which had more than a little influence on Face/Off too. It was also the subject of one of Alex Cox's more sniffy rants on its television premiere on Moviedrome back in the day. One of the more bizarre things in this film is that Jenny Agutter turns up for one single scene as a doctor post-Neeson getting burnt to a crisp, which I would assume was a quick cameo appearance for the American Werewolf In London actress to match the cameo appearance of John Landis. But also around the same time Agutter was in a similarly tiny and completely ineffectual role in Child's Play 2 as one of the foster parents to the main character who gets unceremoniously killed by Chucky (and she doesn't even get a fun death scene compared to Grace Zabriske's 'death by photocopier' in the same film!), so I guess this was her short "US horror bit part" phase before she became the UK's favourite (fictional) nun in Call The Midwife.

[jlnight]

Narrow Margin (1990), Sat 29th Apr, Legend. Or...
Johnny O'Clock, Sat 29th Apr, Talking Pictures. Or...
Milner (BBC TVM), Sat 29th Apr, London Live.

The Terrornauts, Sun 30th Apr, Legend. (been on TPTV)

Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1954), Mon 1st May, Talking Pictures. Also Sat 6th May. (been on Freeview before)
Swinging UK (short), Mon 1st May, Talking Pictures. Also Tue 2nd May.
The Road Dance (2021), Mon 1st May, BBC2.

Attica (2021), Tue 2nd May, BBC4.

Rebel Dread (2022), Wed 3rd May, London Live.
I'm Your Man (2021), Wed 3rd May, Film4.

The Ghost of Rashmon Hall (Night Comes Too Soon), Fri 5th May, Talking Pictures. Also Thu 11th May.

[colinr0380]

Quite a lot of interesting things over next week. The big film of the Bank Holiday weekend is on Film4 with the premiere of South Korean film Special Delivery at 1:35 a.m. in the early hours of Sunday 30th, starring Park So-dam, one of the stars of Parasite, trying to muscle in on Jason Statham's Transporter territory.

At the complete other end of the spectrum from the pseudo-profound man and canine weepies of A Dog's Purposeful Journey, Marley & Me, Art of Racing In The Rain and the Call of the Wild remake, Channel 4 is showing the utterly, gloriously dumb looking family film Think Like A Dog at 1:25 p.m. on Sunday 30th. (I don't think that will be able to compete against the double bill of Gremlins 2 and Beetle Juice going on over on Channel 5 at the same time!)

And BBC2 is showing the only film of note on Bank Holiday Monday itself with The Road Dance at 11 p.m., although this is showing after the live snooker final, so expect it to be delayed considerably or even knocked off of the schedule altogether.

Lots of things clash together on the evening of Tuesday 2nd with the Chris Hemsworth film 12 Strong at 9 p.m. on Film4 going up against the first episode of the Fatal Attraction television series remake at 10 p.m. on Channel 5 (which as with all of these Paramount+ tie-ins is going to be the only episode shown on the channel, but it is followed by a repeat of the original film at 11 p.m.). Although as jlnight notes, the most interesting film that overrides both is Attica showing in BBC4's Storyville series at 10 p.m.

Another busy evening on Wednesday 3rd, as BBC4's archive television strand shows the Michael Palin written 1987 TV film East of Ipswich at 10 p.m., whilst Film4 shows the German sci-fi film I'm Your Man at 11:15 p.m. (This would have been a great opportunity to have double-billed it with the thematically similar Susan Seidelman film Making Mr. Right, which has not been shown on UK television for 28 years! I have long held a suspicion that Andrew Nicol stole the final twist of Making Mr. Right to use in Gattaca later on! And yes, I have added that piece of baseless speculation purely to capitalise on the opportunity to have been able to mention Attica and Gattaca in one single post!)

And the Legend channel is showing the western War on the Range (which is a UK retitling of the film from its "Echoes of War" US release title) at 9 p.m. on Thursday 4th.

[jlnight]

The Leather Boys, Sat 6th May, Talking Pictures. (on before?)

The Witches (1966), Sun 7th May, Legend. (on before) Or...
The Russian Soldier (BBC TVM), Sun 7th May, London Live.

UK Swings Again (short), Mon 8th May, Talking Pictures. Also Sun 14th May.
Jack's Back (1988), late Mon 8th May, Legend. Or...
The Alleys (2022), late Mon 8th May, Film4.

Black Book (2006), Tue 9th May, Film4. (on before)

Here to be Heard: The Story of the Slits, Wed 10th May, London Live. Or...
The Lost Language of Cranes (BBC TVM), Wed 10th May, BBC4.
Heat and Dust (1983), Wed 10th May, Film4.

Tender Loving Care (BBC TVM), Thu 11th May, London Live.

Everything: The Real Thing Story, Fri 12th May, BBC4. (on before)

[colinr0380]

Really interesting next week. The big film is the mandatory Ukrainian-Crimean film of the week Homeward on BBC4 at 9 p.m. on Saturday 6th. Film4 has two premieres on this impromptu Coronation Bank Holiday weekend with The War With Grandpa (with its absurdly over qualified starry cast) at 2:50 p.m. on Monday 8th, followed by at the complete other end of the tonal spectrum the Jordanian film The Alleys showing at 1:45 a.m. in the early hours of Tuesday 9th.

BBC4's Storyville documentary series continues with Blue Bag Life at 10 p.m. on Tuesday 9th. BBC4's archive television strand continues at 10 p.m. on Wednesday 10th with a real curio: the 1991 drama The Lost Language of Cranes starring Brian Cox and with an astonishing sounding cast including Eileen Atkins, Cathy Tyson and the director John Schlesinger in an acting role. According to that Wikipedia link that is out on DVD in the US but has never been released on any video format in the UK. Unfortunately that screening clashes with the most interesting (and rare) repeat of the week with the Merchant Ivory production Heat and Dust showing at 11:20 p.m. on Film4.