SAME PROBLEM AS LAST WEEK; ONLY JUST MANAGED TO POST ANYTHING AT ALL. I'M FRUSTRATED AS HELL; BUT SO IT GOES. REGARDS, K
Thursday March 31
Sherlock Holmes [M-Net.00.30]
Pee Wee’s Big Adventure [SABC3.15.00]
Less than Zero [e.tv.23.10]
Friday April 1 American Dreamz [SABC1.22.00]
The Great Outdoors [SABC3.22.30]
Daffy Duck’s Quackbusters [SABC3.11.30]
Land of the Dead [SABC3.00.30]
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! [e.tv.20.30]
Saturday April 2
Beauty and the Beast [M-Net.19.30]
Sixty Six [SABC3.19.30]
Men Don’t Leave [SABC3.00.30]
The Man with the Golden Gun [e.tv.13.30]
Sunday April 3
It’s Complicated [M-Net.20.05]
TOM AND TOM
Tropic Thunder [M-Net.03.00]
The Apostle [SABC1.22.00]
SPIDEY'
Spider-Man [e.tv.20.00 and 01.05]
Henry V [e.tv.22.25]
Monday April 4
Happy Endings [SABC2.22.00]
Tuesday April 5
My Life in Ruins [M-Net.03.00]
Wed April 6
Beauty and the Beast [M-Net.09.00]
STREEP AND ALEC BALDWIN
It’s Complicated [M-Net.22.30]
After a wait of almost two decades, that elusive cup will remain in someone else’s trophy cabinet for four more years; leaving most of our boys, after almost six grueling weeks of hard played cricket, to rather dejectedly push their baggage through customs.
HE'S A LOT HAPPIER THAN THE REST OF US
Sans Captain Graeme Smith who seems to have discovered the scenic joys of the Emerald Isle… I thought his private business had something to do with negotiating a curry takeaway franchise in Mumbai. Oh well, it’s just a game, I suppose! Back to movies; the school holidays are with us again, and we seem to have a bit of everything; for the moment, variety rules.
MAGIC FROM DISNEY
Beauty and the Beast [M-Net.Saturday.19.30 and Monday.09.00] was the first animated movie to be nominated for a Best Picture Citation in 1991; now, of course, a whole category exists, just for the art of animation.
ASHMAN AND MENKEN
The rather lovely music is by Alan Menken and the theme song, written by Menkin and librettist, Howard Ashman won best song of the year; setting a pace of its own. Like Gigi and Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast has the distinction of becoming a live show after first being a film. Beauty and the Beast is one of the many Disney movies with a special kind of magic and will provide sparkling entertainment for a new generation and a welcome trip down memory lane for the rest of us.
TOBEY
The holidays call for heroes so right on cue up pops Tobey Maguire in his Spidey Suit. Spider-Man [e.tv.Sunday.20.00 and 01.15] is not a bad movie, as ‘arachnidicly enhanced wall climbing goes’, but stick around, next week could bring Spider-man 2, the really topnotch one, with Alfred Molina as the villain; so stay tuned.
SCOTTISH SINGER LULU SANG THE RATHER UNSUCCESSFUL THEME SONG
Just when I’d packed away my James Bond reviewing equipment, e-tv finds The Man with the Golden Gun [e.tv.Saturday.13.30]; this was Roger Moore second outing; he was to get more comfortable with the role as years went by; practice makes perfect, after all, Sir Roger was licensed to kill seven times.
LESLIE NIELSEN AS A YOUNG MAN WITH ANNE FRANCIS IN THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! [e.tv.Friday.20.30] sent everything in sight sky-high; the series revitalized the career of Leslie Nielsen, then in his 60s— remember his wonderfully ironic eyebrows. OJ Simpson, in his brief career as movie star costars, actually he wasn’t a bad actor; after all, a jury swallowed is his acting ability, hook, line and sinker.
DAFFY AND PORKY GET TO GRIPS
Daffy Duck’s Quackbusters [SABC3.Friday.11.30] is fun, with Mel Blanc in fine voice; what I really enjoy are the snippets from the Warner Bros archive of 'quacky' horror movies that keep the continuity at a click.
GEORGE AND A FEW WELL CHOSEN FRIENDS
If horror really is your bag, there’s one of the George A. Romero love affairs with The Living Dead, called, surprise, surprise, Land of the Dead [SABC3.Friday.00.30]. I do wish Georgie would find some fresh material; the haunted, hollow eyed look is getting a little tiresome.
PAUL REUBENS STRANGE PRIVATE LIFE BLIGHTED HIS PEE-WEE PERSONA
Take a look at Tim Burton’s first feature film, the whimsical Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure [SABC3.Thursday.15.00]; on the surface; a boy-man in search of his bicycle; what a radiant start to a brilliant, if erratic career.
THE REUBENS FAMILY IN 1966
Burton's longtime companion, Helena Bonham Carter is terrific in Sixty Six [SABC3.Saturday.19.30.], that year so long ago, when Britain was top of the charts and played Germany in the Cup Final. The movie is British humourous drama, at its best.
BRANAGH AS SHAKESPEARE'S WARRIOR KING
Henry V [e.tv.Sunday.22.25] stars Kenneth Branagh as Shakespeare’s warrior king. Branagh can be overwrought at times, but here he is masterful, bringing fresh poignancy the Bard’s dramatic prose. He is surrounded by the cream of British theatre and film, Derek Jacobi, Robbie Coltrane, Judi Dench and Christian Bale, to mention just a few.
DENNIS QUAID AND HUGH GRANT-DREAMING THE DREAM
American Dreamz [SABC1.Friday.22.00.] reveals a Hugh Grant that is seldom seen. He is grittily splendid as an embittered Simon Cowell type; ably supported by Mandy Moore and Dennis Quaid.This movie, which says serious things about the way we live today, impresses from the first frame until the last.
DUVALL AS A DIFFERENT KIND OF KING
Robert Duvall is always good to watch; in The Apostle he plays a preacher man with a difficult, self induced agenda—and plays him to the hilt. This movie was a labour of love for Duvall and it shows on every level.
REECE AND JUNE
His finely honed support cast includes Miranda Richardson (the British actress not related to any Redgrave), Farrah Fawcett, Billy Bob Thornton and a rare screen appearance by June Carter Cash— yeah— the country singer played by Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line.
SOMETHING TO SMILE ABOUT
Yes, it is a strange combination; Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, in a loosely defined ménage a trois, but It’s Complicated [M-Net.Sunday.20.05 and Wednesday.22.30] works well and the laughs, provided by writer/ director Nancy Meyers are pithy and plentiful. Rita Wilson, at her daffy best, beefs up the bottom of the cast list.
Rita Wilson does similar service in My Life in Ruins [M-Net.Tuesday.03.00] with Nia Vardalos and Richard Dreyfuss. The scenery is breathtaking; not much else is.
TENSION MOUNTS-LISA KUDROW HAS A PROBLEM
Happy Endings [SABC2.Monday.22.00] can’t decide whether it is a drama with funny moments or a comedy with dramatic flair. In the end, neither works that well, despite the input from Maggie Gyllenhaal, Lisa Kudrow and Laura Dern.
THE CUSACKS PHOTOGRAPHED EARLY IN THEIR CAREER
Men Don’t Leave [SABC3.Saturday.00.30] is of the ‘Slice of American Life’ school of movie making. Jessica Lange, who can be very funny, teams well with Kathy Bates and especially Joan Cusack, unfortunately, the finished product is uneven and the tacked on love story makes for heavy going.
BOB
There are three chances to see a really great modern actor this week; Robert Downey shows off his skill and diversity as the spaced out rich kid in Less Than Zero [e.tv.Thursday.23.10] ...
BOB...
the white actor in blackface in Tropic Thunder [M-Net.Sunday.03.00] ...
...AND BOB
and the dissipated Mr. Holmes in Sherlock Holmes [M-Net.Thursday.00.30 and Saturday.00.05]; Downey is probably the most versatile actors working today.
SUPRISINGLY, SHE WENT ON TO HAVE A SUCESSFUL CAREER
The only reason I mention The Great Outdoors [SABC3.Friday.22.30], is that it marked the debut of a great favourite of mine, Annette Bening. The movie, starring Dan Aykroyd and John Candy is horrible.
HELENA BONHAM CARTER AND HER SCREEN SON
My pick is a fine piece of nostalgia from the 60s, Sixty Six [SABC3.Saturday.19.30]