Movies

Star Of The Month: Claude Rains: Casablanca (1942)

TCM – Friday 23 November, 10:30pm

Humphrey Bogart stars in one of the greatest love stories of all time. He is Rick Blaine, ex-pro Loyalist and owner of Rick’s Cafe in war torn Morocco. Casablanca is a hot bed of corruption and temporary haven for refugees fleeing from the Nazis before escaping to America. The years have not been kind to Bogart who has become cynical having been betrayed in love and war. However, when his beautiful ex-love Ingrid Bergman reappears in his life, this time with husband Paul Henreid, he is forced to make a decision; whether to rekindle the love they once had or to fight the cause and to help them both to freedom.

Superbly directed by Michael Curtiz.

SBO Premiere: Perfect Stranger

Sky Box Office – Friday 23 November, from 8.05pm hourly

How far would you go to keep a secret?

When investigative reporter Rowena Price (Halle Berry) learns that her friend’s murder might be connected to powerful ad executive Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis), she goes undercover with the help of her associate, Miles Hailey (Giovanni Ribisi). Posing as Katherine, a temp at Hill’s agency, and Veronica, a girl Hill flirts with online, Rowena surrounds her prey from all sides, only to discover that she isn’t the only one changing identities. The closer Rowena gets in finding the truth, the more we see how far people will go to protect it.

As she goes undercover to crack the case of her friend’s murder, a woman gets caught up in the world of obsessive love online.

Starring Halle Berry, Bruce Willis, Giovanni Ribisi, Richard Portnow,Gary Dourdan

SBO Premiere: Wild Hogs

Sky Box Office – Friday 23 November, from 7.35pm, hourly

Four guys. 2000 miles. How wild can it get?

Four middle-aged men decide to take a road trip from Cincinnati to the Pacific in order to get away from their lives which are leading them nowhere. Taking their motorcycles, these “Wild Hogs” tear up the road and eventually stop in New Mexico for a drink not knowing that the bar belongs to the “Del Fuegos”, a mean biker gang. When the Del Fuegos steal a bike that belongs to the Wild Hogs, the four men form a plan to steal their bike back.

Starring Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, John Travolta, William H. Macy

In The Heat Of The Night (1967)

MGM – Thursday 22 November, 8.30pm

A small town Mississippi police chief and his new black chief of detectives try to work together despite their contrasting styles and backgrounds, in a racist southern town. Winner of five Oscars – Best Picture, Best Editing (Hal Ashby), Best Actor (Rod Steiger), Best Sound, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. Also received two more Oscar nominations – Best Director, Best Sound Effects. In The Heat Of The Night also picked up two BAFTAs and three Golden Globe awards. Frequently cited as Sidney Poitier’s favourite of all the films he’s made. In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #75 Greatest Movie of All Time.

Director: Norman Jewison (The Hurricane, Moonstruck, …And Justice For All, Rollerball, The Thomas Crown Affair).

Starring: Rod Steiger, Sidney Poitier, Warren Oates, Lee Grant, Beah Richards.

“Marvellous social thriller hasn’t dated one bit – tough, funny, atmospheric, with unbelievable acting and splendid Quincy Jones score.” – Leonard Maltin (4/4 star review)

In The Heat Of The Night (1967)

MGM – Thursday 22 November, 8.30pm

A small town Mississippi police chief and his new black chief of detectives try to work together despite their contrasting styles and backgrounds, in a racist southern town. Winner of five Oscars – Best Picture, Best Editing (Hal Ashby), Best Actor (Rod Steiger), Best Sound, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. Also received two more Oscar nominations – Best Director, Best Sound Effects. In The Heat Of The Night also picked up two BAFTAs and three Golden Globe awards. Frequently cited as Sidney Poitier’s favourite of all the films he’s made. In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #75 Greatest Movie of All Time.

Director: Norman Jewison (The Hurricane, Moonstruck, …And Justice For All, Rollerball, The Thomas Crown Affair).

Starring: Rod Steiger, Sidney Poitier, Warren Oates, Lee Grant, Beah Richards.

“Marvellous social thriller hasn’t dated one bit – tough, funny, atmospheric, with unbelievable acting and splendid Quincy Jones score.” – Leonard Maltin (4/4 star review)

Channel Premiere: Friends With Money

Sky Movies – Thursday 22 November, 8.30pm & 10:30pm SM2

Three well-heeled married women and their single, financially challenged friend negotiate the waters of friendship, relationships, careers and money.

Starring Jennifer Aniston, Catherine Keener, Joan Cusack, Frances McDormand.

Real View: Iconoclasts: Isabella Rossellini & Dean Kamen
Rialto – Thursday 22 November, 8.30pm

Actress/filmmaker Isabella Rossellini and inventor/scientist/entrepreneur Dean Kamen discuss approaches to helping others as they try out innovative devices under development at Kamen’s research labs in New Hampshire. Later, Rossellini tours New York with a seeing-eye dog she is training.

Star Birthdays: Ralph Meeker: Glory Alley (1952)

TCM – Wednesday 21 November, 10:30pm

Steamy New Orleans provides the backdrop for Glory Alley (1952), an atmospheric drama starring Ralph Meeker as Socks Barbarrosa, a prizefighter who inexplicably backs out of a title bout and swears he’ll never box again. The exquisite Leslie Caron plays Angela, a honky-tonk dancer who loves Socks and sticks by him even when he’s branded a coward. As the plot works toward the revelation of the boxer’s secret motivations, the movie is enlivened by the work of jazz musicians, including Louis Armstrong, playing a character called Shadow Johnson. Glory Alley was the first film at MGM in 17 years for Raoul Walsh, a colorful director known for his eye-patch and no-nonsense approach to filmmaking. The movie’s impressive supporting cast is headed by Kurt Kasznar, Gilbert Roland and John McIntire.

World Cinema: Don’t Move
Rialto – Tuesday 20 November, 8.30pm

Timoteo (Sergio Castellitto) is a surgeon. His 16 year old daughter, Angela (Elena Perino) lies in the operating theatre after an accident, between life and death, in the very hospital where he works, under the care of a fellow surgeon. As he waits anxiously, Timoteo relives a secret, strange and haunting extramarital affair that coincided with Angela’s birth, with Italia (Penelope Cruz), a destitute young woman he met by accident. And now it’s as if he wants to confess to Angela and find some redemption in the young girl’s survival.

Directed by leading actor Sergio Castellitto.

Monday Comedy Madness: Brenda Starr (1992)

MGM – Monday 19 November, 8.30pm

A comic strip artist’s creation, a determined female reporter, comes to life and heads to the Amazon jungle to save the world from a mad scientist.

Director: Robert Ellis Miller (The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter).

Starring: Brooke Shields, Timothy Dalton, Diana Scarwid, Tony Peck, Charles Durning, Nestor Serrano.