FOTV – Saturday 0704 to Friday 1304

[sw12expat]

Just a few films you may find of interest (rated * to ****)

Saturday 0704
***½ JUNO (US 2007) C14, 2205-2400; Ellen Page, Jennifer Garner,
Michael Cera.
** THE LOVED ONES (Australian 2009) C15, 0030-0210; Xavier Samuel,
Robin McLeavy, Victoria Thaine; Exactly the sort of gory horror you'd
expect to see at an xploitation festival. RM and her father kidnap and
torture XS when he won't take her to the school dance. Well, we aren't
talking Brian De Palma here, but the violence (mostly directed at XS)
is nicely interspersed with a credible storyline and some sadistic
humour.

Sunday 0804
***½ LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (UK 1962) C5, 1305-1715; Peter O'Toole, Omar
Sharif, Anthony Quayle, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Quinn, Alec Guinness;
Presumably C5 are showing the restored (217 minute) version of David
Lean's biography of T.E. Lawrence – but who knows? The film doesn't
really work on TV anyway – not with 8 (9?) breaks!
**½ STRICTLY BALLROOM (Australian 1992) C9, 2100-2230; Paul Mercurio,
Tara Morice, Bill Hunter, Pat Thomson.
*** 21 GRAMS (US 2003) C4, 0100-0300 (C13, 0200-0400); Sean Penn,
Naomi Watts, Benicio del Toro, Melissa Leo, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Clea
Duvall; The lives of an ex-con(BDT), a housewife(NW), and a
professor(SP) are inextricably linked through a fatal road accident.
Director Alejandro González Iñárritu's 'follow-up' to "Amores Perros"
has a similarly-sounding synopsis, but is a more accomplished movie
featuring tiny but vital moments of rare real thought from the
characters and the director. Powerful, if fragmentary, stuff.

Monday 0904
***½ BEN HUR (US 1959) C4, 1100-1510 (C13, 1200-1610); Charlton
Heston, Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins, Hugh Griffith.
*** GREGORY'S GIRL (UK 1980) C2EWS, 2400-0130; Gordon John Sinclair,
Claire Grogan, Dee Hepburn.
**½ LA FAUTE A FIDEL / Blame It On Fidel (French/Italian 2007) C2EWS,
0130-0300; Julie Depardieu, Nina Kervel, Stefano Accorsi; In 1970, a
Parisian family are politicised when the husband's sister moves in
with them after her anti-Franco husband has been murdered in Spain.
Directed by Costa-Gavras' daughter Julie.

Tuesday 1004
***½ THE THIRD MAN (UK 1949) C15, 1310-1515; Joseph Cotton, Alida
Valli, Trevor Howard, Orson Welles.
*** FOUR LIONS (UK 2010) C15, 2100-2305; Nigel Lindsay, Riz Ahmed,
Arsher Ali, Kayvan Novak, Adeel Akhtar,

Wednesday 1104
** BEYOND THE POLE (UK 2009) C19, 0055-0230 (C25, 0200♦-0330); Stephen
Mangan, Rhys Thomas, Rosie Cavaliero, Mark Benton; Mock-documentary
about activists SM and RT aiming to be the first carbon-neutral,
vegetarian, organic pair to reach the North Pole.
**½ LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (US 2005) C15, 0140-0340; Toni Collette, Greg
Kinnear, Abigail Breslin, Alan Alda.

Friday 1304
**½ THE EDGE OF THE WORLD (UK 1937) C15, 1100-1230; John Laurie,
Finlay Currie, Niall MacGinnis; JL (Dad's Army's "Private Fraser")
stars in director Michael Powell's based-on-a-true-story description
of people on the Shetland isle of Foula deserting their homes for the
mainland.
*** THE CONVERSATION (US 1974) C15, 2350-0200; Gene Hackman, John
Cazale, Frederic Forrest, Allen Garfield, Teri Garr.

♦C25 begins broadcasting at 0200.