Thursday November 10
Disaster Movie [M-Net.03.30]
Dreamgirls [e.tv.20.30]
Friday November 11
Café [M-Net.00.05]
PAULIE WITH HALLIE KATE EISENBERG-SISTER OF JESSE
Paulie [e.tv.14.30]
Predator 2 [e.tv.20.30]
GAEL GARCIA BERNAL PLAYS A CHARACTER CALLED ELVIS
The King [e.tv.02.55]
Saturday November 12
Love Happens [M-Net.21.00]
Elizabeth [SABC2.15.30]
Pirates of the Caribbean: At the Worlds End [SABC3.19.30]
NOT MUCH TO SHOUT ABOUT
Shout [SABC3.02.00]
Alvin and the Chipmunks [e.tv.20.00]
Incognito [e.tv.21.55 and 01.55]
Sunday November 13
Fantasia [M-Net.10.00]
I Love You, Man [M-Net.02.35]
Disaster Movie [M-Net.04.20]
Kickboxer 2: The Road Back [SABC1.20.00]
Monday November 14
Zilch
Tuesday November 15
AARON ECKHART
Love Happens [M-Net.00.30]
Café [M-Net.02.50]
Wednesday November 16
Fantasia [M-Net.09.30]
Smokin’ Aces 2 : Assassins Ball [M-Net.03.25]
Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America [e.tv.22.35 and 01.55]
***
JAMES BROWN WITH JUST A TOUCH OF LITTLE RICHARD
Is it raw talent that turns stars into megastars, or does luck, timing and fashion play a huge part too? I couldn’t help musing this point while looking at the actors on show this week. Take Eddie Murphy, who is in the umpteenth rerun of Dreamgirls [e.tv.Thursday.20.30], that splendid musical, set in the heady days of 60s pop supremacy, where Murphy has a wonderful time doing his James Brown impersonation.
EDDIE MURPHY RAW
Give him his due, Murphy is a pretty terrific comedian with a smooth line in slick patter and a sense of energy and timing second to none; he has enjoyed a pretty spicy private life too.
MURPHY IN TOWER HEIST
After his initial success in the 80s,Murphy's career slumped a bit, revived with occasional injections of Klumpy donkeys. Suddenly he is back on top in Tower Heist; a combination of luck and talent, perhaps? On the other hand, a well timed double take never really goes out of fashion.
WAS HE EVER THAT YOUNG?
John Travolta has had at last count, at least three careers. There was a definite lull after the Saturday Night Fever/ Grease frenzy, before the ‘Talking’ series started his second fling.
THE WHITE SUIT WOULD BE A TIGHT FIT TODAY
Before Pulp Fiction came along and set the tone for the rest of his career, Travolta made Shout [SABC3.Saturday.02.00] a truely appalling movie with plot idea that should have worked very well; rock ‘n’ roll as rehab. Even the music, by Randy Edelman, is substandard; Shout gives a painful whimper and then, thankfully, stops.
JEN IN STRIDENT MODE
Jennifer Aniston is greatly loved; the public and even some of the critics so badly want her to win, and, as I’ve said before, she works very hard. Love Happens [M-Net.Saturday.21.00 and Tuesday.0030] is one of her better attempts, helped by Aaron Eckhart and a fairly sassy script.
DORIS-HERE WITH DEAR THELMA RITTER
Yet, somehow; like many of Jen’s stabs at romantic comedy; the finished product doesn’t quite gel. As she’s gotten older, Jen reminds me more and more of Doris Day on a bad afternoon.
JACK
We seem to be living in a pre Christmas rush of reruns, and, as fond as I am of Pirates of the Caribbean [SABC3.Saturday.19.30], twice in one year at primetime is a bit much! But give Johnny Depp his due, he hasn’t put a foot wrong in two decades, even his flops don’t seem to dent his popularity.
THE FACES CHANGE-BUT THE TABLOIDS PREVAIL
Unlike compatriot Jason Patric who was very popular for a while and, like Depp, not a bad actor either. Now, if Jason Patric is remembered at all, it is the man who snatched Julia Roberts from under Kiefer Sutherland’s nose.
PATRIC IN INCOGNITO
Patric stars in Incognito [e.tv.21.55 and 01.55] dating from 1996, an attempt to echo Hitchcock, with both Irene Jacobs and Rod Steiger. The plot wobbles a bit; but skullduggery and romance, set in the art world, does have its moments.
THAT'S SIDNEY POTHIER'S EAR IN THE FOREGROUND
Rod Steiger had a long and varied career, starting in the 50s, when he played the ill fated Jud in the movie version of Oklahoma! Later, in the 60s, he won an Oscar for In the Heat of the Night and worked steadily until his death in 2002; playing such diverse characters as Napoleon and Al Capone.
WILLIAM HURT WON HIS OSCAR FOR KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN
The King [e.tv.Friday.02.55] stars another Oscar winner; William Hurt, who, over the years, has moved quite smoothly from leading man to classy supporting star. Gael Garcia Bernal costars as Hurt’s wild oat son, who elicits sympathy at first, but his bitter obsession soon becomes both oppressive and destructive. Good acting can’t quite coat this film’s nasty aftertaste.
MICKEY IN 1940
Someone who has endured through many changing tastes and trends is Walt Disney, both the man and his studio. This week the original Fantasia [M-Net.Sunday.10.00 and Wednesday.09.30] is on show. Propel yourself back in time and enjoy a matchless animation classic. The symmetry of music and (especially) mouse remains delightful.
YEAH,YEAH,YEAH!
Alvin and the Chipmunks [e.tv. Saturday.20.00] dates from the mid 60s and revolved around critters and music playing at the wrong speed. Alvin and his pals, Simon and Theodore got a 21st century face lift in 2007, the movie does have fun moments; but even in the 60s, the notion was a one squeak wonder.
IS IT MY IMAGINATION, OR DOES SHE LOOK BORED?
Off with the old… Café [M-Net.Friday.00.05] has that tantalizing concept, are we really real or do we just live in an off beat reality show, where someone behind a consol can change our perceptions with the flick of a switch. To me, a technician playing God is more frightening than zombies and vampires put together. Café released just last year, and starring Jennifer Love Hewitt has a few clever moments that aren’t really sustained.
IT'S ALL A BIT LIKE THAT
With Vampires Suck [M-Net.Thursday.00.30] still around, steel yourselves for another masterpiece from the directing duo of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer; Disaster Movie [M-Net.Thursday.03.30 and Sunday.04.20], which sends up…wait for it… disaster movies. The action is as subtle as the title.
BROMANCE OF THE YEAR
Much better, in the modern trend of buddy bonding is I Love You, Man [M-Net.Sunday.02.35]. Paul Rudd and Jason Segel play bromantic males while Rashida Jones looks on. But, unlike other ‘man to man mating’ this movie is genuinely funny and has a plot that goes somewhere without total reliance on one liners and potty humour.
DANNY GLOVER IN PREDITOR 2
If second helpings are to your taste, Predator 2 [e.tv.Friday.20.30], Kickboxer 2: The Road Back [SABC1.Sunday.20.00] and Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins Ball [M-Net.Wednesday.03.25] all have a second take. Of the three, Predator 2 is, by far, the best of the bunch.
ANN CUSACK WITH SISTERS JOAN AND SUZIE
The birds are back for the spring. Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America [e.tv.22.35 and 01.55], flits around avian flu and stars two people who come from famous acting families, Ann Cusack is the elder sister of John and Joan; while Joely Richardson is the image of her mother Vanessa Redgrave; and a jolly super actress to boot.
VANESSA REDGRAVE WITH DAUGHTERS JOELY AND NATASHA RICHARDSON
If you catch Anonymous, on circuit at the moment, that film about Shakespeare not being a writer at all, you can see Joely and Vanessa play Elizabeth I as a younger and then older woman. They have done this sort of thing before; remember Weatherby where Joely played her mum in flashback.
THE REDGRAVE/RICHARDSON'S AS QEI
Cate Blanchett plays Elizabeth [SABC2.Saturday.15.30] in her first Elizabethan movie, this time shown as a matinee. A little violent for a Saturday afternoon perhaps, but kids these days are tough and pretty immune, even the cartoons are filled with carnage.
THE ONE WITH THE FEATHERS IS PAULIE
My pick, staying with feathered folk, is Paulie [e.tv.Friday.14.30], a really good film made with children in mind but sweet and sentimental enough for this adult. Gina Rowlands stars, but Paulie, the parrot with a past, steals the show.