Here's a rundown of the premiere flightings of movies on M-Net Stars this month:
MONDAY NIGHT PREMIERES
Trail Of The Pink Panther
Monday, 11 December at 19:30
1982 Directed by Blake Edwards. Peter Sellers, David Niven, Joanna Lumley
Peter Sellers, who died in 1980 at the age of 54, “stars” in this 1982 movie, playing the bumbling French detective Jacques Clouseau who disappears while investigating the theft of the fabulous Pink Panther diamond.
Sellers’ starring role was made possible by patching together outtakes and clips from previous Pink Panther movies, and allowing the detective to disappear early on in the movie.
Joanna Lumley plays a reporter who, in an attempt to find out what happened to him, interviews various people from his past.
Bingo
Monday, 17 December at 19:30
1991 Directed by Matthew Robbins. Cindy Williams, David Rasche, Robert J Steinmiller Jr
Bingo's the smartest dog in the world. After escaping from the circus, he saves the life of a boy by jumping on his chest. It’s love at first lick, but as Chuckie’s dad doesn’t like dogs, Bingo has to keep a low profile. After spending the night with a lady friend, Bingo wakes up with a hangover to find Chuckie has gone - the boy and his parents have moved state. Now Bingo has to use all his circus skills (such as barking in Morse code) to track down his new best friend and outwit the humans who are trying to slow him down.
I'll Be Home For Christmas
Monday, 24 December at 19:30
1998 Directed by Arlene Sanford. Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Jessica Biel, Gary Cole
Home Improvement host Jonathan Taylor Thomas makes his big screen debut playing Jake, a cocky 18-year-old college student who would rather spend Christmas on the beach with his girlfriend Allie than with family. But when she goes home to her family and Jake’s dad promises him the family Porsche if he’ll make it home for Christmas, Jake decides the an offer's too good to refuse. As he heads home, he gets involved in a series of misadventures.
Baby Boom
Monday, 31 December at 19:30
1987 Directed by Charles Shyer. Diane Keaton, Sam Shepard, James Spader
JC Wiatt is a Career Woman. She has the power suit, the six figure salary, the upmarket Manhattan apartment and a live-in lover who, like her, doesn’t have time for kids. But all that changes when JC inherits a relative’s baby daughter. JC takes this unexpected development in her stride, knowing that she will soon give up the infant for adoption. But when the time comes, she balks.
She can’t let Baby Elizabeth grow up with just anybody. But JC realises she also can’t keep her career and look after a baby. She’s already lost her live-in lover, who couldn’t cope so she quits her job and moves to the countryside, where she buys a ramshackle farmhouse, befriends the locals - and starts a different career.
TUESDAY NIGHT PREMIERES
Curse Of The Pink PantherTuesday, 11December at 19:30
1983 Directed by Blake Edwards. Ted Wass, David Niven, Robert Wagner
Inspector Jacques Clouseau, France’s greatest detective, has gone missing, and his boss is under pressure to find him. Dreyfus, who never wants to set eyes on his clumsy detective again, instructs the Interpol computer to find the world’s worst detective.
Enter Clifton Sleigh, a bumbling New York cop, who not only has to find Clouseau, but also the Pink Panther diamond, which has an annoying habit of going missing from time to time. This movie, which features a new bumbling detective, was an attempt to resurrect the Pink Panther movie franchise, which effectively died with Peter Sellers’ death in 1980.
Homeward Bound: The Incredible JourneyTuesday, 18 December at 19:30
1993 Directed by Duwayne Dunham. Robert Hays, voices of Michael J Fox, Don Ameche, Sally Field
This live action tailwagger follows the adventures of three animals trying to get back to their human owners who have mysteriously relocated. Michael J Fox, Don Ameche and Sally Field lend their voices to Chance, Shadow and Sassy, two dogs and a cat who undertake an arduous journey through the wilderness to get back home.
Along the way, they keep up a banter, which not only helps them cope with hunger, thirst and wild animals, but also helps them understand each other a little better. Meanwhile, their owners have discovered they are missing, and have launched a frantic search for their beloved pets.
All I Want For ChristmasTuesday, 25 December at 19:30
1991 Directed by Robert Lieberman. Thora Birch, Leslie Nielsen, Lauren Bacall
It’s Christmas, and Hallie, 7, wants nothing more than her folks to get back together again. But it’s not going to be easy. Her dad is involved in his diner, and her mom’s dating another man. But Santa, and grandma, are on her side. Before long, Hallie and her brother are hatching a plan that involves their parents being alone together, while her mom’s hapless boyfriend is locked up in an ice cream van.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT PREMIERES
Beauty and the BeastWednesday, 05 December at 19:30
Belle is a smart, feisty, beautiful girl who lives happily in her little village with her father and her books. She is amused by the attentions of the dimwitted Gaston, who is convinced he'll make her a marvellous husband. Then Belle's father goes missing.
When she goes looking for him, she finds he has been locked up in a castle inhabited by a huge, fearsome creature. Belle agrees to move into the castle if the Beast will let her father go. But she's no pushover. Although she senses that the Beast is lonely, she's determined not to have anything to do with him until he changes his chauvinist ways. In fact, the castle's other inhabitants, a talking candleholder, teapot and clock, are far more agreeable companions.
But as the days pass, Belle discovers that a real heart beats beneath the formidable fangs and fur of the Beast. This charmer won two Oscars (best song and best music), three Golden Globes and a Grammy.
Son Of The Pink PantherWednesday, 12 December at 19:30
1993 Directed by Blake Edwards. Roberto Benigni, Herbert Lom, Claudia Cardinale
While visiting France, an Asian princess is kidnapped and Commissioner Dreyfus is instructed to find her. He ropes in patrolman Jacques Gambrelli (Roberto Begnini before Life is Beautiful fame), who looks vaguely familiar.
When Dreyfus visits the young cop’s mother, he realises that Jacques is the son of the late great detective Jacques Clouseau. Dreyfus is horrified.
Homeward Bound 2 - Lost In San FranciscoWednesday, 19 December at 19:30
In this sequel to Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, Chance, Shadow and Sassy's owners go on holiday and the threesome find themselves running loose in San Francisco after breaking free from their crates at the airport. The city is a dangerous place, with dog handlers trying to catch them and urban dogs giving them hostile looks, but it’s also an exciting place, where adventure, friendship and even romance can be found.
First KidWednesday, 26 December at 19:30
1996 Directed by David M. Evans. Sinbad, Brock Pierce, Blake Boyd, Robert Guillaume
Sam Simms is a Secret Service agent who has just landed the worst job in the world: protecting the US President’s bratty teenage son Luke. Luke, 13, has already cost one agent his job, and if Sam’s not careful, he’ll be next. But Luke turns out to be not so much a brat as lonely. His parents are forever on the campaign trail, he can’t go anywhere without the paparazzi recording his every move, and he doesn’t have any friends his own age. So Sam takes pity on him. They sneak off from the White House to do things like boxing and dancing, not realising that the boy has an enemy who has vowed to get even with the First Kid.
THURSDAY NIGHT PREMIERES
Naked Gun From The Files Of Police Squad Thursday, 06 December at 19:30
1988 Directed by David Zucker. Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, OJ Simpson
Bumbling detective Frank Drebin creates enormous chaos around him as he fights for truth, justice and the American way. When Drebin’s colleague, Nordberg (OJ Simpson in his pre-notorious days playing a character who, no matter how hurt he gets, always manages to bounce back), is shot while investigating master criminal Ludwig, Drebin discovers that the villain is planning to assassinate the Queen of England during an official visit to the States.
As Drebin leaves one disaster after another in his wake, he falls for Ludwig’s sensuous assistant Jane, who may or may not know something about her boss’s activities.
The Wind In The WillowsThursday, 13 December at 19:30
1996 Directed byTerry Jones. Steve Coogan, Eric Idle, John Cleese, Stephen Fry
Some of Britain’s comic actors put a Monty Python spin on Kenneth Grahame’schildren’s story in this live action adventure. They play Mole, Rat, Badger and Toad, four animals whose gentle way of life in the English countryside is threatened by a pack of fascist weasels.
Wearing suitable Edwardian costumes and just enough make-up to make us buy into the fact that they are descended from moles, rats, badgers and frogs, the actors draw us into a world where animals talk, walk on their hind legs and generally behave like splendid chaps.
The story begins with the weasels destroying Mole’s underground home, who is then forced to go and live with Rat. The two are then caught up with Toad’s obsession for a newfangled invention called the automobile, and while they are away, the weasels take over Toad’s mansion. The friends then have to band together to stop the weasels from turning the countryside into an industrial wasteland, which will mean no more picnics and fine British food.
LassieThursday, 20 December at 19:30
1994 Directed by Daniel Petrie. Thomas Guiry, Helen Slater, Jon Tenney
Matt is a teenage boy whose father and new stepmother recently moved from the city to a run-down farm in Virginia. Matt makes no secret of the fact that he hates his new life. While his younger sister, Jennifer, loves watching old Lassie movies on TV, the boy prefers to mope in his room, listening to pop music. One day, a collie adopts them, and Jennifer names him Lassie. Soon Lassie is encouraging Matt to spend more time outdoors, bond with his new stepmother and make friends with the locals
My Stepmother Is An AlienThursday, 27 December at 19:30
1988 Directed by Richard Benjamin. Kim Basinger, Dan Aykroyd, Jon Lovitz, Alyson Hannigan
Kim Basinger plays an alien female who arrives on Earth to get a certain scientist to do her planet a favour. To do this, she must seduce him, not easy when she has only had eight minutes to learn human behaviour. The scientist, a love-starved single dad, has no idea she’s an alien, and is entranced by her eccentric ways. His daughter, though is not fooled, especially when her new stepmom starts serving up 50 course breakfasts.
FRIDAY NIGHT PREMIERES
Naked Gun 2 & 1/2Friday, 07 December at 19:30
1991 Directed by David Zucker. Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, OJ Simpson
Bumbling detective Frank Drebin is a guest of honour at the White House. The distinguished guest list includes Nelson Mandela, his then wife Winnie and Barbara Bush. When the President makes an important announcement regarding the future of alternative energy in America, Drebin misses it because he’s way too busy causing his usual chaos.
The next day, while investigating an explosion at a research institute, he bumps into an old flame, the lovely Jane, and learns that her boyfriend, a scientist, was at the White House dinner the previous night.
What fiendish plot will Drebin uncover as he sets out to woo his old girlfriend? And will poor Barbara Bush ever recover from the indignity of being tossed over a balcony?
Honey I Shrunk The KidsFriday, 14 December at 19:30
1989 Directed byJoe Johnston. Rick Moranis, Marcia Strassman, Matt Frewer
A scientist spends so much time tinkering in his attic that he neglects his wife and two children. One day, the kids - followed by the annoying kids of the neighbours - venture into dad’s lab, and accidentally switch on his latest invention, a shrinking machine. The next moment, the four kids are the size of ants, and end up in the backyard, which is now a fearsome jungle where blades of grass are trees and insects are dinosaurs. As the kids battle for survival, they find themselves getting to know each other on a micro level. Meanwhile, dad has realised what’s happened, and now he has to find the kids without trampling on them
101 DalmationsFriday 21 December at 19:30
1996 Directed by Stephen Herek. Glenn Close, Jeff Daniels, Joely Richardson, Hugh Laurie
Two Dalmatians, Pongo and Perdy, play matchmaker for their respective owners.
PhenomenonFriday, 28 December at 19:30
1996 Directed by Jon Turteltaub. John Travolta, Kyra Sedgwick, Forest Whitaker, Robert Duvall
John Travolta plays George Malley, an ordinary, likeable, not too bright mechanic who lives in a small town where he hangs out with his two friends and admires a pretty single mum mostly from afar. One night, George sees a light in the sky and passes out. The next morning, he’s different. He suddenly has a voracious appetite for books and knowledge, and it’s not long before his mates realise that their pal is a genius.
People who once loved spending time with him, now start avoiding him. The only people who can’t get enough of him are the media and the FBI, who want to conduct experiments on him. When George eventually figures out what’s happened to him, he must work out what to do with the rest of his life.
SATURDAY NIGHT PREMIERES
Naked Gun 33 1/3Saturday, 08 December at 19:30
1994 Directed by Peter Segal. Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, OJ Simpson
Lt Frank Drebin has retired and is playing house husband while the lovely Jane goes out to work. But there are only so many cup cakes a man can bake, so when he’s called out of retirement to find out what two terrorists – one of them in jail -- are up to, he’s delighted. Drebin breaks into jail, then breaks out again with terrorist #1, Rocco.
Rocco tells him that terrorist # 2, Papshmir (read: Pap Smear), plans to set off a bomb at the Academy Awards. Drebin then has to get to the Oscars, find the bomb and save the day - and the lovely Jane, who has been taken hostage.
Honey I Blew Up The KidsSaturday, 15 December at 19:30
1992 Directed by Randal Kleiser. Rick Moranis, Marcia Strassman, Daniel & Joshua Shalikar
The scientist of Honey, I Shrunk The Kids is back, this time working on a machine that will make things like fruit and veggies bigger. (The shrinking machine is safely packed away in a warehouse where it can’t do any harm.) One day, while trying out his invention on his son’s soft toy, the baby gets zapped as well. Soon both baby and bunny are huge, creating major problems for mom, dad and community. Baby Godzilla will have to be brought down to size, and soon, because electricity accelerates his growth spurt.
Angels In The OutfieldSaturday, 22 December at 19:30
1994 Directed by William Dear. Danny Glover, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Christopher Lloyd, Tony Danza
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock from the Sun) plays Roger, a young boy in a foster home who desperately wants to be part of a family again. When he asks his father, who hasn’t been the same his wife died, when they’ll be together again, his dad answers, “When the California Angels win the pennant.” Next thing, young Roger is praying for a miracle.
Blank CheckSaturday, 29 December at 19:30
1994 Directed by Rupert Wainwright. Brian Bonsall, Karen Duffy, Miguel Ferrer, James Rebhorn
Preston Waters is a wise-beyond-his-years 11-year-old boy who would love to impress the girls. One day, a man rushes out of a bank and accidentally runs over Preston’s bike. The man, who uses the bank to launder his illicit money, hurriedly writes Preston a blank cheque, and leaves. Preston fills in an amount of one million dollars, and cashes it. From then on, it’s spend, spend, spend (some of it on the pretty bank teller, on whom he’s developed a crush) – until the money launderer comes looking for his loot.
SUNDAY NIGHT PREMIERES
Love Is All There IsSunday, 09 December at 19:30
1996 Directed by Joseph Bologna and Renée Taylor. Angelina Jolie, Lainie Kazan, Paul Sorvino, Barbara Carrera
Two New York-based Italian families, the down-to-earth Cappamezzas and the snooty Malacicis, can’t stand one another. Both in the restaurant business, albeit very different ones, they have been trying to run each other out of town for years. When the son of one family and the daughter of the other are cast in a production of Romeo and Juliet, the parents are annoyed, but this is nothing compared to what they say and do when the two fall in love for real.
SylvesterSunday, 16 December at 19:30
1985 Directed by Tim Hunter. Richard Farnsworth, Melissa Gilbert, Michael Schoeffling
Charlie is 16-year-old orphan who is raising her two younger brothers on her own after the death of their parents. To earn money, she works on a horse ranch owned by the cranky but likeable John Foster. One day, she spots a new horse on the ranch, and senses something special about him. Naming him Sylvester Stallone, she starts training him for the National Equestrian Trials. Could he surprise them all and pull a Rocky on them? But in between training sessions, Charlie has bigger things to worry about, like finding a home for herself and her two brothers so the family won’t be split up.
3 Ninjas: High Noon At Mega Mountain Sunday, 23 December at 19:30
1998 Directed by Sean McNamara. Hulk Hogan, Loni Anderson, Jim Varney, Victor Wong
Junior ninjas Rocky, Colt and Tum Tum and their computer whiz pal Amanda head for the Mega Mountain theme park for a day of fun in the sun. But this day will be like no other, because the evil Medusa is plotting a takeover of the park in exchange for a huge ransom. When she and her band of mercenaries shut off the power, everything comes to a stop - including a roller-coaster with hundreds of passengers, who are now upside down and have to cling for their lives. There is chaos, and it’s up to the trio, their gal pal and an ageing movie action star to save the day.
Little TreasureSunday, 30 December at 19:30
1985 Directed by Alan Sharp. Margot Kidder, Ted Danson, Burt Lancaster
Margot Kidder (Lois Lane in 1978’s Superman) plays Margot, a stripper who goes to Mexico to look up her long-lost father. She arrives just as he’s about to die, but before he breathes his last, he tells her about a hidden treasure buried somewhere in Mexico. Margot teams up with the handsome Eugene to help her look for the treasure, and soon they are stripping and bartending on weekdays and treasure-hunting on weekends. But as the weeks pass and they keep on coming up empty-handed, they begin to question his deathbed confession - could the old man have meant something else altogether?
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