M-Net

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The movie line-up on M-Net this September, 2008:


I NOW PRONOUCE YOU CHUCK & LARRY
Sunday 7 September at 20:00

2007. Directed by Dennis Dugan. Starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Jessica Biel, Dan Aykroyd, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi

Chuck and Larry are firefighters, best friends - and straight so when Larry, a still-grieving widower, discovers that he has failed to register his two kids as the beneficiaries of his life insurance policy, he asks Chuck to pretend to be his life partner to safeguard his kids’ financial future. Chuck is reluctant, but he owes Larry, so he agrees.

Then a suspicious government official comes snooping around. The worried duo consult a civil rights lawyer, the sexy Alex, who has a gay brother. She encourages them to attend gay parties, and Chuck and Larry are soon heroes in the gay community. Problem is, their old mates in the fire department find them way too hot to handle.


OCEAN’S THIRTEEN
Sunday 14 September at 20:00

2007. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Al Pacino, Andy Garcia, Elliott Gould, Don Cheadle

Debonair Danny Ocean and his merry men return to sow mayhem in Las Vegas as they set out to even the score with a ruthless casino owner. This time the casino boss is Willy Banks (Al Pacino), who’s just doublecrossed their pal Reuben, landing him in hospital with a heart attack.

Danny and his righthand man Rusty assemble a crack team to help them teach Bank a lesson he’ll never forget. They are going to make sure that his new hotel not only gets a poor rating, but that every single punter walks away a winner on opening night.

There’s also the small but sparkling matter of $250 Million worth of diamonds.

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REIGN OVER ME
Sunday 21 September at 20:00

2007. Directed by Mike Binder. Starring Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle, Jada Pinkett Smith, Liv Tyler, Donald Sutherland

A dentist who is struggling to juggle family and career gets a new lease on life when he tries to help an old friend pick up the pieces of his life.

Adam Sandler plays Charlie, a deeply depressed man who is still trying to come to terms with the tragic deaths of his wife and three daughters in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Charlie spends his days driving around Manhattan on a scooter and his nights playing video games.

He refuses to talk about the tragedy and just wants to be left alone but one day, he bumps into an old college friend who senses that Charlie needs a friend and Alan, a dentist who is struggling to cope with the demands of work and home, could do with a friend himself.


SHREK THE THIRD
Sunday 28 September at 20:00

2007. Directed by Chris Miller, Raman Hui. Starring the Voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Rupert Evert, Justin Timberlake, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Eric Idle

When the kingdom of Far, Far Away is left without a king, it’s up to Shrek, Fiona and their fairytale friends to ensure the right ruler is placed on the throne.

Loved-up ogres Shrek and Fiona are dreaming of the day they can return to their beloved swamp, when Shrek’s father-in-law, the frog king of Far, Far Away, croaks. Shrek now has to perform kingly duties such as bestowing knighthoods and christening ships – not something he’s good at – unless he can find the real heir, schoolboy Arthur.

Soon Shrek, accompanied by his ever-bickering pals Donkey and Puss In Boots, set sail to persuade the lad that kinging is his destiny, leaving Fiona in charge of the kingdom. Little do the ogres know that Prince Charming, who is still smarting because his “happily ever after” never materialised, is about to stage a coup.


VOLVER
Monday 1 September at 20:30

2006. Directed by Pedro Almodóvar. Starring Penelope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Duenas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo

Volver centres round six Spanish women, young and old, who are connected by blood, fire and fate. Raimunda and Sole are sisters living in Madrid. Raimunda has a teenage daughter, Paula and is married to layabout Paco.

Every so often, the sisters go home to tend to the graves of their parents, who died in a fire, and to catch up with their senile aunt, Tia Paula, and their aunt’s elderly caregiver, Augustina. Then an unexpected death and an unexpected arrival change everyone’s lives forever.


ZODIAC
Monday 8 September at 20:30

2007. Directed by David Fincher. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr, Anthony Edwards, Chloë Sevigny

In the late 1960s, in the space of just 10 months, a serial killer who dubbed himself Zodiac killed five people in the San Francisco Bay area.

As suddenly as the murders began, they stopped, leaving scores of police, handwriting experts and journalists poring over the encrypted letters the killer had sent to police and newspapers.

This film focuses on four men who developed a decade-long obsession with finding the killer: cartoonist-turned-writer Robert Graysmith, crime reporter Paul Avery; and detectives David Toschi and Bill Armstrong.

The story look at how a cunning man taunted amateurs and professionals alike with his mysterious letters, and the four men whose obsession had far-reaching impacts on their lives.


FIERCE PEOPLE
Monday 15 September at 20:30

2005. Directed by Griffin Dunne. Starring Diane Lane & Anton Yelchin.

Trapped in his mother's Lower East Side apartment, sixteen-year-old Finn wants nothing more than to escape New York and spend the summer in South America studying the Iskanani Indians, or "Fierce People," with the anthropologist father he's never met.

But Finn's dreams are shattered when he is arrested in a desperate effort to help his drug-dependent mother, Liz, who scrapes by working as a masseuse.

Determined to get their lives back on track, Liz moves the two of them into a guest house on the vast country estate of her ex-client, the aging aristocratic billionaire, Ogden C. Osbourne. In Osbourne's close world of privilege and power, Finn and Liz encounter a tribe fiercer and more mysterious than anything they might find in the South American jungle: the super rich.

While Liz battles her substance abuse and struggles to win back her son's love and trust, Finn falls in love with Osbourne's beautiful granddaughter, Maya, befriends her charismatic older brother, Bryce, and even wins the favor of Osbourne himself. But when a shocking act of violence shatters Finn's ascension within the Osbourne clan, the golden promises of this lush world quickly sour. And both Finn and Liz, caught in a harrowing struggle for their dignity, discover that membership always comes at a price.


ALPHA DOG
Saturday 29 September at 20:30

2006. Directed by Nick Cassavetes. Starring Justin Timberlake, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, Anton Yelchin, Shawn Hatosy, Sharon Stone, Bruce Willis

Johnny Truelove, 19, is a drug dealer living the good life in Los Angeles. When one of his clients, Jake, refuses to pay back his debt, Johnny and his pals, Frankie, Elvis and Tiko, kidnap Jake’s younger brother, Zack.

Zack, 15, is delighted to hang out with these cool guys, who introduce him to the delights of booze, drugs and sex. But Johnny is worried about what he’s done. A phone call to his dad’s lawyer makes him realise just how serious kidnapping is, and he begins to wonder just what he’s going to do about young Zack.



SLIPSTREAM
Tuesday 2 September at 23:00

2007. Directed by Anthony Hopkins. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Stella Arroyvae, Lisa Pepper, Christian Slater, John Turturro.

Felix Bonhoeffer is a Hollywood scriptwriter whose latest work, a murder mystery, is being shot in the Mojave desert. When the lead actor and the director go mad, Felix is rushed to the set to do rewrites - and promptly goes a little mad himself.

Characters from his story appear to him, scenes repeat, a car changes colour, and time and space become jumbled. Has he lost the plot, or is there an explanation for all this weirdness?

Hopkins warns viewers not to look too deeply into the movie - it’s a joke on Hollywood, he says. Hopkins struggled to get mainstream studios to make the film, but an unnamed benefactor loaned him the $10 million needed to bring this project to life.


SABAH
Tuesday 9 September at 23:00

2005. Directed by Ruba Nadda. Starring Arsinee Khanjian, Shawn Doyle, Setta Keshishian, Fadia Nadda

Interracial romance about a 40-year-old Muslim spinster who is torn between her traditional family and her love for a Christian man.

Sabah is an attractive Muslim woman who lives in Toronto, Canada, with her traditional family. She spends her days taking care of her widowed mother and keeping the peace between her controlling older brother Majid and her rebellious niece, who wants nothing to do with the arranged marriage lined up for her.

One day Majid gives Sabah a picture of their late father and a young Sabah frolicking in the ocean. The picture stirs something inside Sabah, and she treats herself to a secret 40th birthday swim at the local pool. There she meets Stephen, a Christian. Soon she’s headlong in love, but the strain of keeping their relationship a secret from her family - especially Majid’s - starts taking its toll.


CARRINGTON
Tuesday 16 September at 23:00

1995. Directed by Christopher Hampton. Emma Thompson, Jonathan Pryce.

Carrington is the true story of the tragic relationship between the English painter Dora Carrington and writer, Lytton Strachey.

Between the First World War and the early 1930s, they experimented with a way of life beyond the conventional standards of their time, a life which broke all the taboos of society, expressing their desire to live as freely and honestly as they could. They acknowledged openly what most of us are aware of but still reluctant to discuss: that a great many differences can exist between spiritual love and physical desire.


SAVE THE LAST DANCE II
Tuesday 23 September at 23:00

2006. Directed by David Petrarca. Starring Izabella Miko, Columbus Short, Jacqueline Bisset

Sara (played by Coyote Ugly’s Izabella Miko) has gained admission to the prestigious Julliard School of Dance in New York City, but her toughest challenge lies ahead. Her teacher demands perfection from her pupils and lacklustre performers are kicked out very quickly.

When Miles, a hunky guest lecturer at the school, rekindles Sara’s love for the freestyle dance moves of the street, Sara is torn. Will this end her dreams of becoming a professional ballerina?


THE MURDER OF PRINCESS DIANA
Tuesday 30 September at 23:00

2007. Directed by John Strickland. Starring Jennifer Morrison, Gregori Derangere, Kevin McNally

Fictional tale about an American reporter who, while investigating the deaths of Diana and Dodi, discovers clues that indicate that Diana was murdered.

Jennifer Morrison (of House fame) plays Red Cross worker Rachel who goes to Paris, where she bumps into an old boyfriend, a French cop, who has been assigned to protect Diana and Dodi.

Rachel, a big Diana fan, ends up being one of the paparazzi at the accident scene. She sees something suspicious and soon she and her ex are investigating a cover-up of Royal proportions.


WIND CHILL (FROSTBITE)
Wednesday 3 September at 21:30

2007. Directed by Gregory Jacobs. Starring Emily Blunt, Ashton Holmes, Martin Donovan, Ned Bellamy

Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada) plays “Girl”, a college student who hitches a lift home on Christmas Eve with “Guy”, a fellow student she barely knows.

As they set off in his old car, she’s prickly, and he’s nervous - not a good combination. To make matters worse, a snowstorm is heading their way.

When he takes a shortcut to avoid the storm, they are sideswiped by another car and end up in a snow drift. With no food and no phone signal, it’s going to be a long night, particularly seeings as they're not alone …


ROBBER BRIDE
Wednesday 10 September at 21:30

2007. Directed by David Evans. Starring Mary-Louise Parker, Amanda Root, Wendy Crewson, Susan Lynch, Shawn Doyle

Margaret Atwood’s tale of a complex woman Zenia, a mysterious woman who is different things to different people.

To Henry, she’s an alluring lover. To Roz, Charis and Tony, she’s their best friend, but a friend who has abused their trust by stealing something, or someone, dear to them.

When Zenia is murdered, there is no shortage of suspects. Insurance investigator John Grismer is tasked with finding Zenia’s killer - that is, if there is indeed a killer. Despite a blood-soaked car and a severed finger, the dead woman’s body is yet to be found.


SILENT HILL
Wednesday 17 September at 21:30

2006. Directed by Christophe Gans. Starring Radha Mitchell, Jodelle Ferland, Sean Bean, Laurie Holden, Alice Krige.

Silent Hill is an abandoned town, sitting on top of a burning coal mine. No-one has lived or worked there for decades, so why is Rose taking her daughter there?

Little Sharon has been dreaming of Silent Hill, and Rose is determined to find out why. Against the wishes of her husband, she sets off, only to have an accident as she’s entering the town. When Rose comes around, Sharon is gone, and a heavy grey fog has descended over everything. Rose immediately goes in search of her daughter - and plunges into a nightmare of monstrous proportions.

HAVEN
Wednesday 24 September at 21:30

2004. Directed by Frank E. Flowers. Orlando Bloom, Stephen Dillane, Bill Paxton

Two shady businessmen flee to the Cayman Islands to avoid federal prosecution but their escape ignites a chain reaction that leads a British native to commit a crime that changes the nation.


THE MESSENGERS
Thursday 4 September at 22:45

2007. Directed by Danny Pang & Oxide Pang. Starring Dylan McDermott, Penelope Ann Miller, Kristen Stewart, John Corbett

A Chicago family moves to the countryside after a personal tragedy, only to find that their new house may be haunted by previous tenants.

Roy and Denise move from Chicagi hoping the move will cure their teenage daughter Jess of her rebelliousness and get little Ben talking again.

Soon Roy, with the help of a hired hand, is sowing sunflower seeds, but Jess is restless. There are far too many crows about, and what is it with all the strange noises in the house? When a frightening encounter in the cellar leaves her with cuts and bruises that her parents suspect are self-inflicted, Jess starts researching the history of the house - and comes across some chilling information.

JUDE
Thursday 11 September at 22:45

Directed by Michael Winterbottom. Starring Christopheer Eccleston, Kate Winslet, Liam Cunningham

Jude is a village stonemason with literary ambitions. When his marriage to Arabella collapses, he goes to the university town of Christminster, where he falls in love with his beautiful and headstrong cousin Sue. Sue marries a university professor, but leaves him for Jude.

Just when the lovers find a place to settle down with their ever-growing brood, their secret is exposed and they are forced to move on. Then the arrival of a child Jude didn't know he had sparks a terrible tragedy.

BOYS
Thursday 18 September at 22:45

1996. Directed by Stacey Cochran. Starring Winona Ryder, Lukas Haas, Skeet Ulrich

High school senior John Baker Jr. is fast approaching the end of a miserable stint at the Sherwood School for Boys. Staring him in the face are his father's footsteps - and an expected path through the corporate jungle he dreads to follow but then a chance encounter with a damsel in distress suddenly and wondrously introduces him to love.

John's life takes on new meaning when he rescues Patty Vare, a sensuous and sophisticated "older woman" who he finds lying on the ground, semi-conscious and bruised after falling from her horse. Though immediately enchanted by Patty's beauty, Baker is similarly captivated by her sense of mystery.

He soon learns that Patty is on the run. But from whom and why remains unknown. Determined nonetheless to shield her from her pursuers, the independent Baker breaks school rules and shelters Patty in his dorm room.

As mutual attraction turns to romance, a door is opened for each of them. For Baker, it reveals a glimpse of what adulthood can be. For Patty, it is a portal back to a time of innocence and purity.

Now, with new hope, Patty realises she must reconcile the dark choices of her recent past. And with Baker's first taste of love may come a second chance they both so desperately need.


GIRL LIKE ME – THE GWEN ARAUJO STORY
Thursday 25 September at 23:00

2007. Directed by Agnieszka Holland. Starring JD Pardo, Mercedes Ruehl, Leela Savasta

The true story of Gwen/Eddie Araujo, a Latino teenager who was murdered at the age of 17 by three boys who were furious to discover that she really was a boy.

Born Edward Aruajo, Eddie changed his name to Gwen and started wearing girl’s dresses and make-up. At first, his mother tried to dissuade him, and even outed him when he started dating a boy, but she eventually accepted the inevitable. But not all people are as accepting, and one night in 2002, three teenage boys discovered Gwen had male genitalia. Shocked, furious and ashamed, they beat her to a pulp, then threw her lifeless body into a makeshift grave.


UNHITCHED
Friday 5 September at 20:30

2006. Directed by Stefan Schwartz. Starring Stuart Townsend, Amy Smart, Seth Green, Simon Callow

Olly (Stuart Townsend) is a London-based writer with writer’s block and self-esteem issues. The first few chapters he wrote after leaving college were considered so brilliant he was given a fat advance and told to write more. When he couldn’t, the publishers took back the money and Olly was forced to find a job and move in with his mate Murray.

Life starts looking up when James, an old college friend of both, invites Olly to be best man at his wedding. At the engagement party, Olly falls hard for Sarah, not realising that she’s the bride-to-be. When he does find out, he backs off, but the mischievous Murray, who never did like James, decides to take matters into his own hands.


POENA IS KONING
Friday 12 September at 20:30

2007. Directed by Willie Esterhuizen. Starring Robbie Wessels, Gerhard Odendaal, Perlé Van Schalkwyk, Liz Meiring, Wim Botes, Liandi Grobler

Two buddies decide that they cannot leave school as virgins. Unfortunately, they embark on this quest during the final matric exam, which causes a major distraction from their studies and has dire consequences.

Juffrou Muller, one of the teachers in the school comes to their aid, but all the two want to do is to jump their teacher, who is both flattered and quite in favour of the idea. One of them then gets arrested for indecent exposure, having to complete his matric exams in handcuffs. He later pursues his dream to become a pop star with his band, trying their luck internationally, with surprising results.

BREACH
Friday 19 September at 20:30

2007. Directed by Billy Ray. Starring Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe, Laura Linney, Dennis Haysbert, Kathleen Quinlan

FBI agent Eric O’Neill isn’t happy about the fact that he only gets the dull jobs, and he’s not particularly happy when his superior, Kate Burroughs, assigns him to an IT department headed up by veteran agent Robert Hanssen.

O’Neill’s assignment is to spy on Hanssen, who is suspected of sexual deviancy but the more O’Neill gets to know the older man, the more he likes him. Hanssen is a devout churchgoer who is devoted to his wife and kids. What’s more, they share frustrations about bureaucracy, red tape and a lack of information-sharing in the agency.

Then Burroughs drops a bombshell on the young agent: Hanssen has been selling secrets to the Russians for years, but they need proof. Will O’Neill help them to bring down the biggest mole in the FBI’s history?

LUCKY YOU
Friday 26 September at 20:30

2007. Directed by Curtis Hanson . Starring Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, Robert Duvall, Debra Messing, Charles Martin Smith

Huck is a talented but obsessed poker player who doesn’t know when to stop, with the result that he’s always broke. His personal life isn’t much better.

He has a long-standing feud with his father, an English professor turned professional gambler, and his relationships tend to be one-night stands.

Enter Billie, a pretty lounge singer whose sunny outlook on life makes Huck think of something other than poker. But not for long. The World Series of Poker is coming up, and his father, who has won the series twice, will be there.

Huck will do anything to be there too, but even if he manages to raise the $10 000 stake, will he know when to hold, and when to fold?


ARE WE DONE YET?
Saturday 6 September at 21:00

2007. Directed by Steve Carr. Starring Ice Cube, Nia Long, John C McGinley, Aleisha Allen, Philip Bolden

A city slicker moves to the countryside with his ever-growing brood to turn a fixer-upper into a dream home. How was he to know that a multi-tasker would make this a nightmare?

Everything and anything goes wrong for Nick, who’s decided to move his new family – heavily pregnant Suzanne and her two kids – to a bigger house in the countryside. The house needs a little work, but he thinks: how hard can it be?

Very, very hard, as Nick is about to discover. The wiring needs replacing, the plumbing’s shot, and various forms of wildlife have taken residence in the rafters.

Enter Chuck, a man with many talents. One minute he’s a builder; next minute a building inspector. He may even know something about delivering babies.


THE SIMPSONS MOVIE
Saturday 13 September at 20:00

2007. Directed by David Silverman. Starring the Voices of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Harrry Shearer, Hank Azaria

Homer Simpson is a guy who regularly lands himself in hot water, but this time he’s gone too far. He’s dumped his pet pig’s waste in the local lake, and now the water is so polluted that whoever or whatever comes into contact with it either dies or wants to die.

President Arnold Schwarzenegger rashly decides to place the town under quarantine, which makes the townspeople so angry they turn on Homer with pitchforks and torches.

Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie are forced to flee to Alaska, where they learn of an even bigger threat facing their hometown.

THE PINK PANTHER (2006)
Saturday 20 September at 20:00

2006. Directed by Shawn Levy. Starring Steve Martin, Kevin Kline

Somebody has murdered the coach of the French national soccer team in front of a huge crowd and his girlfriend - and stolen his ring, containing the huge Pink panther diamond. Chief Inspector Dreyfus, who is desperate to win the prestigious Medal of Honour, decides to appoint an inept cop to distract the press so that he can find the culprit and bask in the glory that will surely follow.

THE LAST MIMZY
Saturday 27 September at 20:30

2007. Directed by Bob Shaye. Starring Rhiannon Leigh Wryn, Chris O'Neil, Timothy Hutton, Joely Richardson, Michael Clarke Duncan

When 10-year-old Noah and his younger sister Emma discover a box of mysterious objects on the beach, they take it home and hide it from their parents. They don’t know what to make of most of the objects, but Emma takes an instant liking to Mimzy, a stuffed rabbit she claims “talks” to her. Then the kids start developing super powers.

They find they can read minds, levitate, and move objects around. At first, they use their newfound abilities to impress and terrorise their pals, but as their mental abilities increase, they realise that the box of objects is a cry for help from the future.

Question is, will their parents, teachers and the FBI allow them to fulfil their mission and save mankind?


BROKEN
Saturday 6 September at 22:35

2006. Directed by Alan White. Starring Heather Graham, Jeremy Sisto, Chad Cunningham, Jake Busey, Linda Hamilton

Broken focuses on one young woman’s dark night of the soul, in which she reflects on her life and the people who have crossed her path since arriving in Los Angeles.

There's the movie producer who suggested she make a porn movie; a madam who invited her to become a hooker; and Will, her handsome, volatile and possessive boyfriend who introduced her to the dubious charms of heroin.

As Hope ponders the mess that is her life, she wonders if she’ll ever live up to her name, or whether she’ll just be another statistic in this most treacherous of cities.


THE LAST RUN
Saturday 13 September at 21:35

2004. Directed by Jonathan Segal. Starring Fred Savage, Amy Adams, Steven Pasquale, Erinn Bartlett

Steven, 28, has everything going for him: good looks, good prospects and a good-looking model for a girlfriend. So when he learns that Chloe has cheated on him, he's shattered.

His best friend Jack, who has a cynical view on relationships, tells Steven to bed as many women as he can. Steven isn’t convinced. He’ll try being a material boy. The right clothes, car and bling should help him get over his heartache. Right? Wrong. So a desperate Steven decides to follow Jack’s advice, not realising what he’s letting himself in for.

A TIME TO KILL
Saturday 20 September at 21:35

1996. Directed by Joel Schumacher. Starring Matthew McConaughy, Sandra Bullock

A young, attractive and highly-skilled attorney is faced with the toughest case of his life, one that on many occasions may also threaten it. In the southern Mississippi town of Clanton, the K.K.K. is active and the tension is high when the black majority is angered at the rape and beating of a black man's 10-year-old daughter.

Against Jake's advice, the distraught father takes revenge, gunning down the two criminals in the local courthouse. Racial hatred heightens with the suspense and conflict threatens to break out regardless of the verdict. Jake must decide, along with his new, eager assistant whether he and his family can run the risk of defending the man.


ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA
Saturday 27 September at 22:05

1984. Directed by Sergio Leone. Starring Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Treat Williams, Tuesday Weld, Burt Young

Sergio Leone’s atmospheric gangster epic about two friends who, over a 50 year span in New York City, discover the dark side of the American Dream.

The story of two turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants, Noodles and Max, trying to make their mark in 20th century New York City. Over the years, their friendship turns to rivalry, then bitterness as the one becomes consumed by guilt over a perceived betrayal.

Sergio Leone, who died of a heart attack in 1989, pays homage to an early America where violence and greed overtook the hopes and dreams of new immigrants.

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*Premieres = on for the first time, Encores = return for a second run.

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