Movie highlights on
M-Net Stars in November 2008:
MONDAY NIGHT MOVIES
• ROCKETMANMonday 3 November at 19:30
1997 Directed by Stuart Gillard. Starring Harland Williams, Jessica Lundy
Rocketman stars Dumb & Dumber comic Harland Williams as Fred, a brainy but bungling computer expert who is reluctantly selected as the fourth member of a manned mission to Mars.
The other astronauts are a cocky commander, a sexy specialist and a naughty chimp, who will have to endure astro-nut Fred’s flatulence, sock puppet plays and experiments in food painting.
• A NIGHT AT THE ROXBURYMonday 10 November at 19:30
1998 Directed by John Fortenberry. Starring Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan
Saturday Night Live regulars Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan and Molly Shannon star in this comedy about two dim bulb brothers who spend their days working at the family store and trying to avoid the attentions of the girl next door, and their nights trying to pick up hot girls.
They dream of owning their own club - something like the Roxbury, a club so cool even they have never managed to get in. One day, something happens to bring the boys a little closer to their dream.
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ALAN SMITHEE FILM: BURN HOLLYWOOD BURNMonday 17 November at 19:30
1998 Directed by Alan Smithee. Starring Ryan O’Neal, Coolio
A film editor is thrilled when he is asked to direct a new action movie with three of Hollywood’s hottest stars but he soon realises that he is director only in name; the producers are the ones pulling the strings.
In Hollywood, when a director doesn’t like the way his film is going, he can change his name on the credits to Alan Smithee, but this director’s name really is Alan Smithee. So, with the help of two black filmmakers, Smithee steals the only copy of the “monsterpiece” so he can do things his way.
• 48 HOURSMonday 24 November at 19:30
1982 Directed by Walter Hill. Starring Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy
Jack is a jaded cop who wants to catch a ruthless cop killer. Reggie is a womanising convict who may be able to help him. The odd couple have just 48 hours to catch the bad guys before Reggie has to go back to jail. Can Jack last that long before he kills the smooth-talking, smoothly-dressed con himself?
TUESDAY NIGHT MOVIES
• OUT COLDTuesday 4 November at 19:30
2001 Directed by Brendan & Emmett Malloy. Starring Jason London, Lee Majors
Bull Mountain is a ski town in Alaska where skiers, snowboarders and snow bums happily do their thing, which essentially involves sport, drinking and girl-watching.
One day, a rich developer (Lee Majors of Six Million Dollar Man) rolls into town with his fancy car, fancy daughters and fancy plans. He wants to turn Bull Mountain into an upmarket resort for yuppies. Can the guys stop partying long enough to do something about it?
• TOMMY BOYTuesday 11 November at 19:30
1995 Directed by Peter Segal. Starring David Spade, Chris Farley
Chubby, goodnatured Tommy is about to start working in his dad’s car parts factory, when Tom Snr drops down dead just minutes after marrying a beautiful blonde. Unfortunately, the factory’s finances are in a mess, and it will take plenty of sales to keep it open.
Tommy, accompanied by his dad’s cynical right hand man Richard, sets off on a cross-country sales trip to save the company and 300 jobs. Turns out the bumbling Tommy is a natural salesman, but they will have to pull more out of the hat than just sales, as back home, Tommy’s stepmom is up to no good.
• CAPTAIN RONTuesday 18 November at 19:30
1992 Directed by Thom Eberhardt. Starring Kurt Russell, Martin Short
Captain Iron centres round an uptight family man who hires a scruffy character to sail his newly inherited yacht to the mainland. But what was supposed to be an idyllic seafaring holiday for Martin and his family turns into a nightmare when Captain Ron drags them into one dangerous escapade after another.
However, the thing that really irks Martin is that his family have taken to Ron like ducks to water. Martin needs to win back their respect, but how? Then, in the middle of a Pirates of the Caribbean adventure, Martin gets some unexpected help – from Ron.
• ANOTHER 48 HOURSTuesday 25 November at 19:30
1990 Directed by Walter Hill. Starring Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy
It’s been eight years since cop Jack and convict Reggie worked together, and Jack needs Reggie’s help. He’s been stripped of his badge after killing a biker he suspected of being part of a drug cartel, and he needs to find the drug kingpin, a shadowy figure known only as Iceman. But Reggie is stubborn. Jack still owes him a pile of money and wants to know why he didn't visit him in jail. When the Iceman targets Reggie, the boys are forced to work together.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT MOVIES
• BLAME IT ON THE BELLBOYWednesday 5 November at 19:30
1992 Directed by Mark Herman. Starring Dudley Moore, Bryan Brown
Three men book into a hotel in Venice and await their instructions. The one’s an estate agent wanting to buy a property for his boss, the other’s a lecherous married man looking for something on the side, and the third is a hit man. But with names like Orton, Horton and Lawton, the linguistically challenged bellboy mixes them up.
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MIAMI RHAPSODYWednesday 12 November at 19:30
1995 Directed by David Frankel. Starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Antonio Banderas
Gwyn is a chatty copywriter who is trying to make sense of love, life and everything. As she talks to her gynae, family and friends, she reveals that she's just broken off her engagement to a zookeeper - not because he’s awful, but because her family members are.
Mom, dad, brother and sister are all having affairs, making Gwyn question marriage as an institution.
• GOOD BURGERWednesday 19 November at 19:30
1997 Directed by Brian Robbins. Starring Kel Mitchell, Sinbad
Two goofy teenage boys who work in a small burger bar are dismayed when a giant fast food chain opens right across the street. Mondo is not only bigger, but they make bigger burgers. It seems impossible for The Good Burger to compete. Then Ed comes up with a delicious sauce that keeps the customers coming in - a recipe the Mondo boss is determined to steal.
• HARLEM NIGHTSWednesday 26 November at 19:30
1989 Directed by Eddie Murphy. Starring Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor
The story kicks off in 1918, when a young street kid saves storekeeper Sugar Ray from a thug. Two decades later, Sugar is running a profitable nightclub and the grown-up Quick is his righthand man. But trouble comes knocking in the shape of a ruthless white mobster, who wants a cut of the profits in exchange for “protection”. The boys will have to come up with a clever sting to put this bad guy out of business.
THURSDAY NIGHT MOVIES
• DEAD MAN ON CAMPUSThursday 6 November at 19:30
1998 Directed by Alan Cohn. Starring Tom Everett Scott, Poppy Montgomery
When honours student Josh starts hanging out with party animal Cooper, all thoughts of studying fly out the window. Their marks plummet, and the slackers are going to be kicked out of college for sure.
The college has a policy that says if your roommate commits suicide, you get straight A’s as a sympathy gesture. Soon the boys are looking for a messed up roommate they can push over the edge.
• DOWN TO EARTHThursday 13 November at 19:30
2001 Directed by Chris & Paul Weitz. Starring Chris Rock, Regina King
Down to Earth starts when Lance, a messenger who dreams of becoming a stand-up comic, is knocked off his bike and whisked off to heaven. Someone's made a mistake though so Lance’s soul is zapped into the body of newly dead multimillionaire Charles Wellington.
Lance can now see himself as he really is, but everyone else sees him as Wellington, a grumpy old white man. Fortunately for Lance, he still has his sense of humour, and he starts shaking things up.
• RENAISSANCE MANThursday 20 November at 19:30
1994 Directed by Penny Marshall. Starring Danny DeVito, Gregory Hines
Bill, an adman who was fired for losing his firm a big contract, lands a job teaching thinking skills to eight lacklustre Army recruits. Things don’t look good. He knows nothing about teaching, the drill sergeant despises him, and the recruits couldn’t give a toss. That is, until Bill starts reading from Hamlet.
• COMING TO AMERICAThursday 27 November at 19:30
1988 Directed by John Landis. Starring Eddie Murphy, James Earl Jones
From the day he was born, African prince Akeem has never had to lift a finger. Scores of servants were always ready to obey his every command. But he turns his back on all this pampering to go look for a bride in America. He will seek his queen in Queens. As it happens, Lisa is the daughter of a New York hamburger king and already has a boyfriend. Determined to win her heart Akeem decides he'll mop floors to be near the woman he loves.
FRIDAY NIGHT MOVIES
• ACE VENTURAFriday 7 November at 19:30
1994 Directed by Tom Shadyac. Starring Jim Carrey, Sean Young
The Superbowl is just two weeks away when the Miami Dolphins’ mascot, a dolphin named Snowflake, disappears from its tank. The pretty PRO calls on Ace Ventura, pet detective extraordinaire, to find the mammal and restore the Dolphins’ morale. But just as Ventura starts investigating the case, the team’s star quarterback disappears.
• FATHERHOODFriday 14 November at 19:30
1993 Directed by Darrell James Roodt. Starring Patrick Swayze, Halle Berry
A smalltime thief kidnaps his kids - a teenage girl and her younger brother - from the dodgy foster home where they have been placed. As the oddball family heads for New Orleans, they are pursued by several characters who want to stop the maverick dad.
• THE LAST DRAGONFriday 21 November at 19:30
1985 Directed by Michael Schultz. Starring Taimak, Vanity, Faith Prince
The Last Dragon centres round a gentle martial arts expert, Leroy Green, who has one more level to master before he glows like a light. While protecting a damsel in distress - a pretty video jockey who refuses to play a gangster’s music video - he tangles with a musclebound kung fu expert, Sho’Nuff, who also wants to attain the mysterious glow.
• VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYNFriday 28 November at 19:30
1995 Directed by Wes Craven. Starring Eddie Murphy, Angela Bassett
When a Caribbean ship crashes into Brooklyn Harbour with 18 corpses on board, it’s up to detective Rita Veder and her partner Justice to figure out what’s going on.
The corpses are drained of blood, there’s an empty coffin in the cargo hold, and someone saw a giant wolf speeding off from the scene. As Rita investigates the mystery, she is romanced by a suave foreigner who knows something crucial about her family history.
SATURDAY NIGHT MOVIES
• KINGPINSaturday 1 November at 19:30
1996 Directed by Peter & Bobby Farrelly. Starring Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid
Back in 1979, Roy was a promising bowler, until he lost his hand in a horrific accident. Now he wears a rubber hand over his hook and hustles for a living. But life starts looking up when he meets Ishmael, a young Amish man who can roll a ball with the best of them.
Soon manager and protégé are on their way to Reno to take part in a $1 million tournament, which attracts the best bowlers in the world. Along the way, they pick up sexy Claudia, whose boyfriend just happens to be a gangster.
• ACE VENTURA IISaturday 8 November at 19:30
1995 Directed by Steve Oedekerk. Starring Jim Carrey, Ian McNeice
After failing to save the life of a raccoon, depressed pet detective Ace Ventura joins a Tibetan monastery, aiming to spend the rest of his days in creature-free solitude. Fortunately for the monks’ sanity, Ventura is hired to find a sacred bat belonging to two African tribes.
Soon the eccentric detective is causing mayhem in the fictional country of Nibia, not least of which is flirting with a betrothed African princess.
• SIX DEGREES OF SEPERATIONSaturday 15 November at 19:30
1993 Directed by Fred Schepisi. Starring Will Smith, Donald Sutherland
Wealthy art dealers Ouisa and Flan are entertaining a South African art collector in their New York apartment when a wounded young man (Will Smith in one of his first serious roles) rushes in.
He explains that he’s the son of renowned actor Sidney Poitier, and that he knows their children from university. Paul is credible and charming, and they invite him to stay the night. However, they gradually start to realise that Paul is not all he claims to be.
• THE GOLDEN CHILDFriday 22 November at 19:30
1986 Directed by Michael Ritchie. Starring Eddie Murphy, Charlotte Lewis
Eddie Murphy plays a wisecracking social worker who battles hell’s angels to protect a very special child. The action moves from Tibet and a brutal kidnapping to Los Angeles and involves a mysterious beauty, a sacred bird, a magical dagger, and a woman who is half reptile.
• TIN MENFriday 29 November at 19:30
1987 Directed by Barry Levinson. Starring Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito
When two Cadillacs collide in a parking lot, it causes instant enmity between the owners, who sell aluminium panels for a living. From that point on, “BB” Babowsky and Ernest Tilley try to outdo each other in everything.
SUNDAY NIGHT MOVIES
• BIG BULLYSunday 2 November at 19:30
1996 Directed by Steve Miner. Starring Rick Moranis, Tom Arnold
David, a writer with a troubled young son, gets a job teaching creative writing at his old school. There his son starts picking on a smaller boy, who just happens to be the son of Roscoe, the boy who bullied David all those years ago. Before you can say the three R’s, Roscoe is bullying David all over again. What will it take to teach these grown-ups to finally grow up?
• HOUSE ARRESTSunday 9 November at 19:30
1996 Directed by Harry Winer. Starring Kyle Howard, Russel Harper
On the day of their 18th wedding anniversary, Janet and Ned announce to their kids that they’re separating. Grover and Stacy are upset. They don’t want their family to split up, so they lock their parents in the basement and order them to start talking. But word gets out, and soon the neighbourhood kids are bringing their warring parents around to join the grounded couple in the basement.
• POOTIE TANGSunday 16 November at 19:30
2001 Directed by Louis CK. Starring Lance Crouther, J.B Smoove
Pootie Tang is a cool ghetto brother who, despite speaking a nonsense language, is loved by women and children alike. The secret to his success is his magical jewel-studded belt, which his daddy gave him on his deathbed. The belt gives Pootie powers which help him fight the evil Lecter Corporation, which sells cigarettes, booze, drugs and fast food to kids. But then disaster strikes: someone steals Pootie’s belt.
• TRADING PLACESSunday 23 November at 19:30
1983 Directed by John Landis. Starring Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy
A street hustler and a rich stockbroker are forced to swap lives when two extremely wealthy old men decide to play God. Over the course of a few days, Winthorpe loses his reputation, his job and his home, all of which are given to Valentine.
Each man then has to adjust to his new life. When the one discovers that they were part of an experiment, he tells the other – and they plan a sweet and suitable revenge.
• BLACK KNIGHTFriday 30 November at 19:30
2001 Directed by Gil Junger. Starring Martin Lawrence, Tom Wilkinson
Jamal Walker is working as a cleaner in a medieval amusement park when he sees something shiny in the moat. He bends down to pick it up, bumps his head. Suddenly he's in 14th century England, saving the lives of noble knights and fair damsels and teaching them a move or two on the dance floor.