The line-up of movies on
M-Net in October:
SUNDAY NIGHT PREMIERES
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIXSunday 5 October at 20:002007 Directed by David Yates. Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Gary Oldman, Ralph Fiennes, Robbie Coltrane
It’s his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and 15 year-old Harry is a typically rebellious adolescent. He’s in trouble with the Ministry of Magic for using his abilities outside of school and his trusted mentor, Professor Dumbledore has grown distant.
Now there’s yet another new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, with frightening ideas about discipline. Waiting in the shadows as always is the demonic Lord Voldemort, whose very existence the Ministry won’t even acknowledge, leaving Harry and his friends to form a rebel group, Dumbledore's Army.
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LICENSE TO WEDSunday 12 October at 20:002007 Directed by Ken Kwapis. Starring John Krasinski, Robin Williams, Mandy Moore, Christine Taylor
Ben and Sadie are young and in love and engaged to be married but Sadie very much wants to be married in the church of her childhood and the priest there, Reverend Frank, won’t perform the ceremony until the happy couple has passed his patented “foolproof” marriage course.
Couples counselling, bedroom surveillance, and electronic fake babies… happily ever after will be a cinch - if the couple can survive Revered Frank.
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THE BOURNE ULTIMATUMSunday 19 October at 20:002007 Directed by Paul Greengrass. Starring Matt Damon, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn, Scott Glenn, Albert Finney
Amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne has only one objective: to go back to the beginning and find out who he was. Now, in the new chapter of this espionage series, Bourne will hunt down his past in order to find a future. He must travel from Moscow, Paris and London to Tangier and New York City as he continues his quest to find the real Jason Bourne – all the while trying to outmanoeuvre the scores of cops, federal officers and Interpol agents with him in their crosshairs.
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BECAUSE I SAID SO Sunday 26 October at 20:002007 Directed by Michael Lehman. Starring Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore, Gabriel Macht, Tom Everett Scott, Lauren Graham, Piper Perabo
Daphne Wilder is a mother whose love knows no bounds or boundaries. As a single parent she has raised three fantastic girls - clumsy but adorable Milly, stable psychologist Maggie and sexy and irreverent Mae - to become the kind of women any mom would die to have. The only problem is they're about to strangle her.
In order to prevent her youngest, Milly, from making the same romantic mistakes she did, Daphne decides to set her up through internet dating. This kind of well-meant meddling could lead to a happy ending - or to matricide.
MONDAY NIGHT PREMIERES
CATERPILLAR WISHMonday 6 October at 20:302006 Directed by Sandra Sciberras. Starring Victoria Thaine, Susie Porter, Wendy Hughes, Philip Quast, Sandra Sciberras
Victoria Thaine stars as a seventeen-year-old Emily, who lives with her mother, Susan, in a sleepy seaside town. Susan's given up on men. Emily’s friend Stephen has given up on life after the death of his wife and child. And his sister Elizabeth has pretty much given up on marriage since suspecting her husband of cheating. Only Emily believes that they have got it in them to change. And she needs them to.
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THE NIGHT LISTENERMonday 13 October at 20:302006 Directed by Patrick Stettner. Starring Robin Williams, Toni Collette, Sandra Oh, Joe Morton, Rory Culkin
Robin Williams stars as late-night DJ Gabriel Noone who becomes embroiled with the life of a fan, Pete, who has written a memoir about his childhood of horrific abuse. Things take an ominous turn when Noone becomes suspicious when Pete’s caregiver (played by Toni Collette) won’t let him meet the child and he becomes convinced that Pete doesn’t exist and she made him up to get attention.
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ROMULUS, MY FATHERMonday 20 October at 20:302007 Directed by Richard Roxburgh. Starring Eric Bana, Franka Potente, Kodi Smit-McPhee
A coming-of-age story set in rural Australia in the 1960s. Based on Raimond Gaita’s memoirs, it tells of his childhood, being raised by his eccentric Romanian immigrant father in the absence of his mother, who suffers from depression.
For Rai, poverty, bruises and the mysterious ways of adults compete with his longing for a stable home and his own incipient puberty.
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VENUSSaturday 27 October at 20:30Starring Peter O’Toole and Jodie Whittaker
Maurice and Ian are successful but aging actors, close friends whose conversation revolves around theatrical shop talk and the infirmities of septuagenarianism.
Ian in particular is fearful that death is right around the corner, so he agrees to let his niece's daughter Jessie move into his flat to care for him. Jessie, a provincial girl in her early twenties, turns out to be a nightmare for Ian, a hard-drinking, rude, and dismissive twerp. But Maurice sees something else in the girl, a potential for humanity which blossoms under his kindness and gentle guidance.
Something else blossoms, for Maurice, as well: romantic love for a girl fifty years younger.
TUESDAY NIGHT ENCORES
BROKEN BRIDGESTuesday 7 October at 23:302006 Directed by Steven Goldman. Starring Toby Keith, Kelly Preston, Lindsey Haun, Burt Reynolds, Tess Harper, Willie Nelson
Country singer Toby Keith stars as Bo Price, a hard-drinking, washed-up country singer who is shocked into sobriety when he learns that seven young soldiers from his hometown have died in combat.
One of them was his younger brother, and another the brother of his childhood sweetheart, Angela, whom he abandoned sixteen years earlier when she fell pregnant. The time has come for the country singer to face the music as he prepares to meet his teenaged daughter for the first time.
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WILD ABOUT HARRYTuesday 14 October at 23:302000 Directed by Declan Lowney. Starring Brendan Gleeson, Amanda Donohoe, Adrian Dunbar, James Nesbitt, George Wendt
Burly Irish actor Brendan Gleeson, more famous for his tough-guy roles in dramas like Gangs Of New York, tackles light comedy in this rollicking tale of Harry, a famously wild TV chef, who is brutally attacked and wakes up from a coma with no memory of the previous 25 years (forget the Berlin Wall, he's more shocked to discover that Elton John is gay!) With the memories and the enthusiastic youthful sensibilities of his own 18-year-old self, Harry has to piece together the puzzle pieces of his life before his next divorce hearing.
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STEPFATHER OF THE BRIDETuesday 21 October at 23:302006 Directed by Roger Hodgman. Starring Alex Dimitriades, Leon Ford, Lucy Taylor, William McInnes
Skye and Lachlan are in love and getting married. Their parents belong to the generation who married, divorced and married again, or who, in the case of Skye's father, married, divorced, married, divorced and married again but Skye and Lachlan know they're not like that.
They're older than their parents were when they first got married. They're in control of their lives. They believe they're so right for each other, they both decided simultaneously to propose to each other.
What follows is a comedy drama about a modern wedding, where the bride plans an extravagant celebration, the groom can’t believe his luck, the parents and ex-husbands and current wives and girlfriends squabble over who is going to pay for it all, and standing on the side, waiting for disaster to strike, is the groom’s best friend.
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WHAT IF GOD WERE THE SUNTuesday 28 October at 23:302007 Directed by Stephen Tolkin. Starring Lacey Chabert, Gena Rowlands, Sam Trammell, Sarah Rafferty, Klea Scott
Lacey Chabert stars as an E.R. nurse who has lost her faith in life. When she accepts a position home-nursing a dying cancer patient, though, the plucky Mrs Eisenbloom tries her best to get through to a young new friend.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT PREMIERES
APOCALYPTOWednesday 1 October at 22:302006 Directed by Mel Gibson. Starring Rudy Youngblood, Dalia Hernandez, Mayra Serbulo, Gerardo Taracena, Raoul Trujillo
Jaguar Paw and his fellow villagers lead a peaceful life in the forest until a savage, unprovoked attack turns their world upside down.
After hiding his pregnant wife and young son from the invaders, Jaguar Paw joins in the fight, only to be taken prisoner with the rest of the survivors.
Uncertain of what the future holds and taken from his home to a thriving metropolis that might as well be a foreign country, Jaguar Paw has just one goal - to return to his wife and child.
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BENEATHWednesday 8 October at 22:302007 Directed by Degan Merrill. Starring Nora Zehetner, Carly Pope, Brenna O’Brien, Matthew Settle
As a teenager, Chirsty Wescot was the driver in a terrible car accident which left her sister horribly disfigured. Her sister died in the care of her husband while Christy received psychiatric care and at the funeral Christy became convinced that her sister was being buried alive.
Years later Christie returns to her home town and becomes plagued by mysterious blackouts and strange visions of doom, which the locals think is a mental breakdown.
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TURISTASWednesday 15 October at 22:302006 Directed by John Stockwell. Starring Josh Duhamel, Melissa George, Olivia Wilde, Beau Garrett, Desmond Askew
A group of young backpackers check into a remote cabana in Brazil after a tour bus crash leaves them stranded. The discovery of the beautiful and secluded beach gives way to a day in the sun and surf, an afternoon at the bar, and a night of exotic liquors and hot dancing with the locals.
It's everything their vacation is supposed to be, until they wake up face down in the sand the following morning, drugged and robbed, their possessions gone, and the trace of very real danger in the air.
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WRONG TURN IIWednesday 22 October at 22:302007 Directed by Joe Lynch. Starring Henry Rollins, Erica Leerhsen, Texas Battle, Daniella Alonso
A former soldier runs a simulated post-apocalyptic reality show where participants are challenged to survive in a remote West Virginia wasteland. Slowly but surely, however, the contestants realise that they’re not competing for the $100 000 prize - they’re in a fight for their lives against a family of hideously deformed inbred cannibals who plan to ruthlessly butcher them all...
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VACANCYWednesday 29 October at 22:302007 Directed by Nimród Antal. Starring Kate Beckinsale, Luke Wilson, Frank Whaley, Ethan Embry
Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale star as a bickering couple who check into a deserted rural motel when their car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Angry at each other and at their circumstances, they sulkily turn on the TV and gradually they realise that the horrifying snuff movies they’re watching on videotape were filmed in the very same room they’re staying in …and that they’re about to become the next “cast members”!
THURSDAY NIGHT PREMIERES
A PERFECT DAYThursday 2 October at 22:452006 Directed by Peter Levin. Starring Rob Lowe, Francis Conroy, Paget Brewster, Christopher Lloyd
Rob Lowe stars as a dedicated family man who quits his job and decides to write a book, with the support of his devoted wife.
He finds fame and fortune when his book skyrockets to the bestseller list, but his success challenges his relationships with his wife and daughter and it takes a visit from a mysterious stranger telling him he has 40 days to live for him to get his moral bearings back.
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WILDERNESS SURVIVAL FOR GIRLSThursday 9 October at 22:45Directed by Eli Despres, Kim Roberts. Starring Jeanette Brox, Megan Henning, Ali Humiston
Three teenage girls hold a terrifying stranger captive in the wilderness in this disturbing and suspense-filled coming-of-age story.
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SCENES OF A SEXUAL NATUREThursday 16 October at 22:452006 Directed by Ed Blum. Starring Ewan McGregor, Sophie Okonedo, Catherine Tate, Hugh Bonneville, Adrian Lester
An exploration of love and relationships through the intermingled stories of seven couples over one afternoon on London’s Hampstead Heath.
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BEYOND THE ASHESThursday 23 October at 22:452003 Directed by Jim Hershleder. Starring Janeane Garofalo, Giancarlo Esposito, Tony Goldwyn, Jennifer Carpenter
In the wake of 9/11, six New Yorkers struggle to heal their wounds and reach out to one another. These include Janeane Garofalo as Liz, a woman unable to leave her downtown apartment since the terrorist attack; Giancarlo Esposito's street poet, Karl, who attempts to release her from her shell; and Samantha, a bartender keeping many secrets.
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EDMONDThursday 30 October at 22:452005 Directed by Stuart Gordon. Starring William H.Macy, Rebecca Pidgeon, Joe Mantegna, Denise Richards, Julia Stiles, Mena Suvari, Bai Ling, Dulé Hill
After hearing a disturbing fortune teller reading, Edmond, a staid, ordinary salary worker, leaves his wife and descends into the city’s brutal underbelly. Violence, disappointment, and musings entwine as Edmond loses his moorings while believing he's found them. Where does he belong?
FRIDAY NIGHT PREMIERES
CLERKS IIFriday 3 October at 20:302006 Directed by Kevin Smith. Starring Brian O’Halloran, Kevin Smith, Jeff Anderson, Jason Mewes
Ten years after the original Clerks was a sleeper hit, filmmaker Kevin Smith returns to mini-mall clerks Dante Hicks and Randal Graves to find them toiling in the fast-food industry.
Dante and Randal have managed to maintain, and even hone, their in-your-face attitudes, agile skill with vulgarities and unbridled love of screwing with the customers. But they're also faced with such shocking new prospects as marriage, leaving Jersey and finding real careers.
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THE LAST KISSFriday 10 October at 20:302006 Directed by Tony Goldwyn. Starring Zach Braff, Casey Affleck, Jacinda Barrett, Rachel Bilson, Marley Shelton, Harold Ramis, Blythe Danner
Michael has lived with his girlfriend Jenna for years and he loves her, but the thought of marriage and commitment makes him worry that there won’t be any more surprises in his life. When he meets seductive college student Kim, he is intrigued.
With Kim, Michael not only feels 10 years younger, but also as if anything is possible. Now, he has to decide if pursuing Kim is worth the risk of losing Jenna, and if the life he has planned with Jenna is in fact the life he really wants.
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JET LI’S FEARLESSFriday 17 October at 20:302006 Directed by Ronnie Yu. Starring Jet Li, Nakamura Shidou, Sun Li, Dong Yong, Michelle Yeoh
Jet Li portrays martial arts legend Huo Yuanjia, who became the most famous fighter in all of China at the turn of the 20th Century. Huo faced incredible personal tragedy but ultimately fought his way out of darkness and into history, forever defining the true spirit of martial arts.
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CHARLIE BARTLETTFriday 24 October at 20:302007 Directed by Jon Poll. Starring Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr, Hope Davis, Kat Dennings, Tyler Hilton
Anton Yelchin stars as Charlie Bartlett, a rich kid who gets kicked out of all the best private schools and eventually ends up in public school, where he gets pummelled.
When Charlie discovers that all of his fellow students are secretly in a desperate emotional state, his entrepreneurial spirit takes over. Charlie becomes an underground, not to mention under-aged, shrink, working from the boys’ bathroom.
He listens to the private confessions of his schoolmates, gives advice, and even prescribes pills he’s proffered from his own psychiatric sessions.
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SHOOT ‘EM UPFriday 31 October at 20:302007 Directed by Michael Davis. Starring Clive Owen, Monica Bellucci, Paul Giamatti, Stephen McHatti
Clive Owen stars as Mr Smith, the angriest, most hardboiled man in the world, who finds himself delivering a baby in the middle of a fierce gunfight. When the mother is killed, Smith takes charge, keeping her newborn child safe from a snarling villain. Aided by a prostitute, Smith shoots his way through the big city as he cradles the baby in his arms.
SATURDAY NIGHT PREMIERS
MATTERS OF LIFE & DATINGSaturday 4 October at 21:352008 Directed by Peter Wellington. Starring Ricki Lake, Holly Robinson Peete, Rachael Harris, Nigel Bennett
It's not always easy to look at the light side of breast cancer. But Linda Dackman discovers that there's plenty to laugh about as she tries to re-enter the dizzying dating world post-mastectomy.
Linda's adventures in dating and her intimate and witty insights into appearance, self-image, sex and romance provide an irreverent and unique look at surviving cancer and the ever-elusive quest to find "Mr. Right."
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THE THINGS ABOUT MY FOLKSSaturday 11 October at 20:302005 Directed by Raymond De Felitta. Starring Paul Reiser, Peter Falk, Olympia Dukakis, Elizabeth Perkins
Peter Falk and Paul Reiser star as father and son Ben and Sam who embark on a road trip after Sam’s wife of 47 years Muriel suddenly walks out.
As father and son bond over fishing and campfires, they learn that Muriel is in hospital after suffering blackouts.
Muriel explains to her concerned husband that she left because she couldn’t stand being taken for granted anymore, and Sam vows to change his ways.
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BOB THE BUTLERSaturday 18 October at 20:002005 Directed by Gary Sinyor. Starring Tom Green, Brooke Shields, Genevieve Buechner, Benjamin B. Smith
Tom Green stars as Bob Tree, a bumbling buffoon unable to hold down a job. He picks butling as his next profession after rapidly working his way through all the other “A” and “B” jobs.
Brooke Shields stars as Anne Smythe, a harassed single mom who is frazzled from trying to juggle a job, a neurotic French boyfriend and two bratty adolescent kids.
When she finds out Bob had been to Butling School she assumes she has found exactly the cool, calm and collected professional she needs to help take care of the household. Boy, was she wrong! Mr Belvedere, he ain’t!