Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

[jlnight]

In the Park (1915 short), Sat 12th Oct, Talking Pictures.
High Terrace, Sat 12th Oct, Talking Pictures.
A Line in the Sand (2004 TVM), Sat 12th Oct, Talking Pictures. Or...
Darling, Sat 12th Oct, London Live. Or...
Heat (1995), Sat 12th Oct, Legend. (been on Freeview)
Creature From Black Lake, late Sat 12th Oct, Rewind TV.

Poldark (1996 TVM), Sun 13th Oct, Talking Pictures.

Terror (1978), Mon 14th Oct, London Live. (last on TPTV)

The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935), Wed 16th Oct, Talking Pictures.
Airport '77, Wed 16th Oct, Legend. (been on Freeview)

The Duke of Burgundy, late Thu 17th Oct, Film4. (on before)

China 9, Liberty 37, Fri 18th Oct, London Live.
Mutant (1984), Fri 18th Oct, Talking Pictures.
A Case for Handling (short), late Fri 18th Oct, Talking Pictures.


Story of a Love Story screened in a ropey print. It might even have been one that was used for its ITV screenings in the 1980s!

[colinr0380]

Airport '77, Wed 16th Oct, Legend. (been on Freeview)

When I was going through the series of films a few years back one of the things that I forgot to mention was the hilariously undignified position that Brenda Vaccaro is left in slumped over a chair after being knocked out by the gas in this film! That might be the (intentionally) funniest moment in all of the series! I wonder if the "Legend" channel is going to move on and also show The Concorde: Airport '80, which has some of the best (unintentionally?) funny moments! They could screen it as a tribute to Alain Delon!

(And if they were really savvy, they could follow screening all these Airport films up with Starflight One: The Plane That Couldn't Land, which despite being a TV movie works as the unofficial fifth entry in the series, especially as it is directed by Aiport '77 director Jerry Jameson!)
___
Not too much next week. Michael Bay's Ambulance is the big film of the week, showing on Channel 4 at 9 p.m. on Saturday 12th.

BBC2 is showing Mr Malcolm's List at 4:10 p.m. on Sunday 13th, which is the directing feature debut of Emma-Holly Jones that appears to be a follow up of the 2019 short which features almost entirely the same cast, except for Gemma Chan, who only appears in the short.

That's it for premieres on the main freeview channels, but there are two premieres tucked away on the digital satellite channels with Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz in Escobar at 9 p.m. on Wednesday 16th on the "Great Movies" channel; and Antonio Banderas in The Enforcer on the "Legend" channel at 9:45 p.m. on Friday 18th.

A couple of notable documentary series clash together on the evening of Sunday 13th, with BBC2 getting in the Halloween mood by showing the first two (of four total) episodes of Hauntings from 10:20 p.m., which goes up against the much more interesting and disturbing Children of the Cult at 10:15 p.m. on ITV1 (if you want a primer on the Rajneeshpuram cult, there's a Down The Rabbit Hole video on it)
___

Repeat-wise, BBC4 does an evening of programmes in tribute to Maggie Smith on Wednesday 16th, which is the Nothing Like a Dame documentary at 9 p.m., The Lady In The Van at 10:20 p.m. and the "A Bed Among The Lentils" episode of Talking Heads at Midnight.

Film4 appears to be doing a Ben Wheatley season in the later half of the week, with Down Terrace at 11:40 p.m. on Wednesday 16th; Kill List at 11:35 p.m. on Thursday 17th and Sightseers at 1:55 a.m. in the early hours of Saturday 19th. I presume A Field In England and Free Fire will be getting screenings over the following weekend too.

Beyond that, Film4 are also showing Patton: Lust For Glory at 11 a.m. on Friday 18th, which is apparently going to be "edited for language", but will presumably keep the fateful slap scene intact!

[colinr0380]

I have found out why Film4 are showing all the Ben Wheatley films: there is a new zombie-themed Channel 4 series by Wheatley about to air, "Generation Z", with a currently very much alive Robert Lindsay!

[thirtyframesasecond]

I was just wondering what Ben Wheatley had been up to recently - the Rebecca remake was the last I'd heard. Apparently, he directed the sequel to The Meg with Jason Statham???

[jlnight]

The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Sat 19th Oct, Sky Arts.
Drake's Venture (1980 TVM), Sat 19th Oct, Rewind TV.
A Kind of Loving, Sat 19th Oct, London Live. (on before) Or...
Smile (2022), Sat 19th Oct, Channel 4. Or...
The Beasts (2022), Sat 19th Oct, BBC4.

Unfaithful (2002), Sun 20th Oct, Legend. (been on Freeview)
Housebound (2014), Sun 20th Oct, BBC2.

Family Album (short), Mon 21st Oct, Talking Pictures.
Tower of Evil, Mon 21st Oct, London Live. (last on That's TV)

Cyrano de Bergerac (1950), Tue 22nd Oct, London Live.
Fremont (2023), Tue 22nd Oct, Film4.
Thief (1971??), late Tue 22nd Oct, Film4.

The Sting, Wed 23rd Oct, Legend. (been on ITV4)
Call Jane, Wed 23rd Oct, Film4.

EDIT:
The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw, Thu 24th Oct, Film4.

Firestarter (2022), Fri 25th Oct, Film4. Or...
Captain Apache, Fri 25th Oct, London Live. (also on TPTV)



A Field in England, yes (late Sat 19th Oct)
Free Fire, no - In The Earth instead (late Mon 21st Oct)
The Concorde: Airport '79, no - The Sting is this week's Universal title.
The Shepherd of the Hills is on Monday lunchtime on Legend - was this the Indicator newsletter clue for September?

[colinr0380]

A weird one next week with annoyingly all the premieres clashing against each other in the schedules.

On Saturday 19th there is the choice between horror film Smile on Channel 4 at 9:20 p.m. or Spanish thriller The Beasts on BBC4 at 10 p.m. (another film starring the actor from the opening scene of Inglorious Basterds - although the Denis Ménochet film I am most interested in seeing is the new version of White Dog, which is dramatising the Romain Gary and Jean Seberg incident that was used as the basis for the Sam Fuller film)

On Sunday 20th after BBC2 shows the final two episodes of Hauntings from 10 p.m., that is followed by New Zealand horror Housebound at 11:30 p.m. (the first film from the director of the recent M3GAN) - this clashes against another ITV1 premiere with the Chris Pratt sci-fi film The Tomorrow War at 10:15 p.m. (from the director of The Lego Batman Movie!)

On Tuesday 22nd BBC4's Storyville documentary Dogs of War at 10 p.m. clashes up against Film4's premiere of Fremont at 10:55 p.m. (it's got Greg Turkington from On Cinema in it!)

On Wednesday 23rd Film4 is showing abortion rights drama Call Jane at 9 p.m., and on Friday 25th Film4 is showing the 2022 version of Firestarter at 9 p.m. - the screening of Firestarter clashes against BBC2 showing an hour long interview with Al Pacino at 9 p.m. on that channel, snippets of which have been appearing on the news in the last couple of days (I also forgot to note that this coming Friday 18th BBC2's 9 p.m. slot will be showing a new Arena documentary about 1990s MGM/UA owner Giancarlo Parretti, The Man Who Definitely Didn't Steal Hollywood)
___

Repeat-wise jlnight has picked up on the most unexpected film tucked away in next week's schedules as at 2:30 a.m. in the early hours of Wednesday 23rd Film4 for some reason has scheduled the 1971 TV movie Thief, with Richard Crenna, Angie Dickinson and Cameron Mitchell! That's going to be a must-record, and I'd love to see Film4 doing more surprising left-field film screenings like this in the future.

Other than that BBC2 is showing All About Eve at 3:10 p.m. on Saturday 19th. BBC4's 'archive television' strand on Wednesday 23rd (clashing against Call Jane over on Film4) is a tribute to writer Peter McDougall with an introduction from McDougall at 10 p.m. followed by two of his 1970s Play For Today productions: 1976's The Elephant's Graveyard (with Billy Connolly) and 1979's Just a Boy's Game (directed by The Long Good Friday's John Mackenzie)

(Also "That's Memories", after turning into "That's 3" re-branded again today in a far too early move to "That's Christmas" and started running wall-to-wall Christmas music throughout the day, replacing the 60s tunes that were there previously! Though its not all bad - we've have been getting repeats of Baywatch from the very first episodes (love the one that tried to do a tense action sequence set around a water slide! Though we are still as yet a few seasons away from Pamela Anderson first hoving into view) and as I am typing this post they are just beginning a run through of the 1980s The New Statesman from the first episode, the series which starred Rik Mayall as mercenary Conservative MP Alan B'Stard!)

[jlnight]

Frankie and Johnny (1966), Sat 26th Oct, Sky Arts. (last on London Live)
Soldier Blue, Sat 26th Oct, London Live. (last on Legend) Or...
Moonage Daydream, Sat 26th Oct, Channel 4. Or...
The Innocents (2021), Sat 26th Oct, Film4.

Malcolm X (1992), Sun 27th Oct, BBC2. Or...
Memoria, late Sun 27th Oct, Channel 4.

Venom (1971), Mon 28th Oct, London Live. Or...
Fresh (2022), Mon 28th Oct, Film4.

Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Wed 30th Oct, Legend.

Jude (1996), Thu 31st Oct, BBC4.
Enys Men, Thu 31st Oct, Film4.

She's My Darling (Darby and Joan), Fri 1st Nov, Talking Pictures.
Times Square, Fri 1st Nov, London Live. (last on TPTV)
Mesmerized (1986), late Fri 1st Nov, Rewind TV.
Bashful Ballerina (short), late Fri 1st Nov, Talking Pictures.


Rewind TV have the following films on Thu 31st Oct: The Bat (1959), Little Shop of Horrors (1960), Carnival of Souls, The Brain That Wouldn't Die, The Monster Club, Night of the Living Dead (1968), The House on Haunted Hill and Drive-In Massacre, most of which have been on TPTV. No idea why!!!


EDIT: That's TV 3 displayed their Christmas credentials last night with a screening of the original Miracle on 34th Street. Tonight they have It's a Wonderful Life, then the rest of the week contains Babes in Toyland (1934), White Christmas and Holiday Inn. Now you'll see what I mean about the short-notice, unannounced nature of this network's scheduling. It's difficult to keep track of and recommend.

[colinr0380]

Lots of things next week. On Saturday 26th Channel 4 show the fourth(!) Hotel Transylvania film Transformia at 4:30 p.m., and David Bowie documentary Moonage Daydream at 10:10 p.m., which unfortunately clashes with the premiere on Film4 of The Innocents at 11:10 p.m. (showing in a dystopian double bill with High-Rise)

Ben Wheatley's zombie series (and stealth promotion of assisted dying ) Generation Z starts on Channel 4 at 9 p.m. on Sunday 27th with the second episode at 9 p.m. on Monday 28th. (Although given that there has just been a spate of Carbon Monoxide poisonings in a care home in the news today, I would not be surprised if it affects the showing of this series). Repeats of Wheatley's films of High-Rise are showing on Film4 on Saturday evening and Free Fire on Sunday evening.

The most exciting film of the week is a rare showing of a film by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, the Tilda Swinton starring Memoria, showing on Channel 4 at 12:30 a.m. in the early hours of Monday 28th.

BBC4's Storyville documentary of the week is Eternal You at 10 p.m. on Tuesday 29th. (I don't have to worry about this as I've pledged my likeness to Alan Resnick post-death. He seems to know all about this stuff! Although he does keep calling me up every month asking me if I'm "ready to ascend into digital bliss" yet, which is a bit concerning When I say that I'm not yet ready all I hear is a deep sigh and a click of the dial tone, but I know I'm still subscribed as the Direct Debit goes out the day afterwards.)

Mark Jenkins' follow up to Bait (and one which had its making of process heavily detailed through regular diaries by Jenkins on BBC Radio 4's much missed Film Programme) Enys Men is on Film4 on Thursday 31st at 11:15 p.m.
___
Repeat-wise, the big one is BBC2 showing Spike Lee's Malcolm X at 10 p.m. on Sunday 27th, which may be the first time it has shown on UK television since its premiere on Channel 4 back in 1996! Francis Ford Coppola's Bram's Stoker's Dracula jumps from Channel 4/Film4 across to BBC1 for its first uninterrupted advert free screening at 10:40 p.m. on Tuesday 29th

BBC4 is doing a Thomas Hardy season mid-week, with on Wednesday a rare showing of an episode of the Melvyn Bragg "The Lively Arts" series, with 1978 drama-documentary Thomas Hardy: A Haunted Man at 9 p.m.; a reading of Hardy poems by Richard Pasco at 9:55 p.m., then Gemma Arterton introducing at 10 p.m. a screening of the 2008 Tess of the D'Urbervilles series that she starred in which follows at 10:15 p.m. - Then on Thursday 31st Christopher Eccleston introduces at 9 p.m. a very rare showing of Michael Winterbottom's film of Jude at 9:20 p.m., which like Malcolm X has not been on UK television for more than a decade and never in the correct widescreen format, so fingers crossed for that one! That's followed by a 1996 episode of Bookmark at 11:15 p.m. with Griff Rhys Jones exploring the Dorset locations of Jude The Obscure.

The evening of 31st has a lot of horror films for Halloween. Clashing against Jude is a screening of the original The Omen on BBC2 at 11 p.m. and the 2017 Tom Cruise The Mummy at 10:45 p.m. on ITV1. ITV4 has a double bill of Van Helsing and the 2004 Hellboy from 9 p.m. And Film4 has a good run of horror films throughout the day with It Came From Beneath The Sea at 3:20 p.m; Dead of Night at 5 p.m., the 2022 Scream at 9 p.m., the above mentioned Enys Men at 11:15 p.m. and a repeat of Bertrand Mandico's After Blue at 1:15 a.m.

The Lighthouse gets a repeat on Channel 4 at 1 a.m. in the early hours of Saturday 2nd. And The Man From Laramie shows on Film4 at 4:45 p.m. on Friday 1st.

[jlnight]

Memoria has been rescheduled for the following week.

Thief (1971) was a very uncharacteristic choice for Film4. It seemed to baffle the continuity announcer who claimed it starred "Richard Cranston"! It's better suited to TPTV or one of Channel 5's spin-offs.

[colinr0380]

Thank goodness it wasn't though, as I don't have access to those channels on Freeview!

And as noted by jlnight above, Laurel and Hardy's Babes in Toyland is on at 11 p.m. tonight on "That's Christmas!"

[jlnight]

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (ep 1), Fri 1st Nov, Rewind TV.

Teenage Monster (1957), Sat 2nd Nov, Talking Pictures. Or...
Hawaii (1966), Sat 2nd Nov, Sky Arts.
A Minute to Pray, A Second to Die (Dead or Alive), Sat 2nd Nov, London Live.
Memoria, late Sat 2nd Nov, Channel 4. Or...
Someone Behind the Door (1971), late Sat 2nd Nov, Rewind TV.

The Deep Blue Sea (1955), Sun 3rd Nov, Talking Pictures.
Family Business, Sun 3rd Nov, Legend.
Border Cop (1979), late Sun 3rd Nov, Rewind TV.

Lady of Burlesque, Wed 6th Nov, Rewind TV. Or...
Showdown (1973), Wed 6th Nov, Legend.
Dark Places (1973), Wed 6th Nov, London Live.

David and Goliath (1960), Thu 7th Nov, Rewind TV.

Pancho Villa (1972??), Fri 8th Nov, Rewind TV.
A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die, Fri 8th Nov, London Live. (been on Legend)

[colinr0380]

In a way it is good that Memoria was postponed to 1:30 a.m. in the early hours of Sunday 3rd, because that lets it stand out as the only big film premiere of the week. Other than that there are a couple of Christmas-themed TV movies on Channel 5, as they get out of the thriller rotation and into the relentless Christmas film rotation (does Catch Me If You Claus even count as a pun title?), and BBC4's Storyville documentary of the week at 10 p.m. on Tuesday 5th is the post-US withdrawal from Afghanistan film Hollywoodgate.

Also Tuesday 5th involves BBC1, ITV and Channel 4 all focusing the entirety of their overnight channel coverage on the US election, so they are obviously expecting something to occur during that time. Though only Channel 4 (partnering with CNN) are apparently going to have Brian Cox, Caitlyn Jenner, Boris Johnson and Stormy Daniels as guests. Which might be in the running for most unerotic dinner party guestlist ever!
___
Repeat-wise, not too much, though Film4 is cheekily repeating the 1949 All The King's Men at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday 5th to tie in with the American election! BBC4's Thomas Hardy season concludes the repeat of the 2008 Tess of the D'Urbervilles series from 10 p.m. on Wednesdsay 6th, preceeded by a 1992 programme Thomas Hardy's Dorset narrated by Michael Hordern at 9 p.m. - Michael Hordern briefly returns at 10:40 p.m. on Thursday 7th with a repeat of a 1987 five minute programme "Five to Eleven" in which he reads two poems by Hardy.

(And I presume it is just a scheduling coincidence but Film4 is showing the 1967 Far From The Madding Crowd at 1 p.m. on Friday 8th)

[jlnight]

First Spaceship on Venus (1960), Sat 9th Nov, Talking Pictures.
Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of Four (1987 TVM), Sat 9th Nov, Talking Pictures. Or...
Silver Bears, Sat 9th Nov, London Live. (been on TPTV) Or...
Father Stu, Sat 9th Nov, Channel 4. Or...
Paris 13th District (2021), Sat 9th Nov, BBC4. Or...
Warlock (1989), Sat 9th Nov, Film4.

Deliverance, Sun 10th Nov, BBC2.

A Matter of Murder (1949), Mon 11th Nov, Talking Pictures.

What's Love Got to Do with It? (2022), Tue 12th Nov, BBC1.

Jungle Book (1942), Wed 13th Nov, London Live.
Prince Valiant (1997), Wed 13th Nov, Legend.
Followers (2021), Wed 13th Nov, London Live.

No Looking Back (2021), late Thu 14th Nov, Film4.

Orders to Kill (1958), Fri 15th Nov, London Live.
His Private Secretary (1933), late Fri 15th Nov, Rewind TV.

[colinr0380]

Other than that there are a couple of Christmas-themed TV movies on Channel 5, as they get out of the thriller rotation and into the relentless Christmas film rotation (does Catch Me If You Claus even count as a pun title?)

If we needed to know what "Catch Me If You Claus" was alluding to, the film begins with a desultory thirty second sleigh-themed chase title sequence in the same art style at the titles for the Spielberg "Catch Me If You Can" film.

Lots of stuff next week, though annoyingly as usual things all clash together. The big clash is on Saturday 9th when the premiere of Mark Whalberg film Father Stu on Channel 4 at 10 p.m. (I remember when this mawkish down-home religiosity kind of thing starred Gerard Butler and was called Machine Gun Preacher) runs up against BBC4 showing Jacques Audiard's adaptation of cartoonist Adrian Tomine's work Paris, 13th District at 10:30 p.m., both of which clash into an extremely rare showing on Film4 of the Richard E. Grant and Julian Sands (the original battling wizards pre-Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee! Though its just as obviously something being brought out to tie in with the success of Highlander) horror Warlock at 11:30 p.m. from Friday the 13th producer (and director of Part II) Steve Miner. I was actually thinking of this just a couple of weeks ago as that third volume of the Trailer Trauma compilation set "80s Horrorthon", which going through the entire decade in horror trailers year-by-year in alphabetical order ends with Warlock as its final trailer! I wonder if Film4 will move on to the sequel Warlock: The Armageddon, next week - that has shown around four times on UK television but only on ITV so far. That one is directed by Anthony Hickox the year after Hellraiser III - hence also why Paula Marshall appears in both films too - and you can see just from that trailer that there is already a turn into Sands' character becoming a bit of a mischievously ironic prankster character with Pinhead (or even an anticipation of Leprechaun or Wishmaster to come) style catchphrases for his victims.

(Whilst looking into Warlock: The Armageddon, I had sadly missed JamesF's post about Hickox passing back in 2023, so was saddened to find that out)

Back to next week's listings - the other multiple channel pile-up of notable films occurs on Tuesday 12th as two premieres clash together. What's Love Got To Do With It? (which annoyingly now means there are two films that share the same title, along with the 1993 Tina Turner biopic starring Angela Bassett) shows on BBC1 at 10:40 p.m. That's directed by Shekhar Kapur, which is a name I have not heard much of since his debut with Bandit Queen in 1994 and Cate Blanchett starrer Elizabeth a couple of years after that. I remember quite liking his 2002 take on The Four Feathers with Heath Ledger, but it was also very low key and couldn't really compete with the 1939 Zoltan Korda version, so that (and Elizabeth: The Golden Age) appeared to bring the curtain down on the big films for a while. Interesting to see him making a comeback! That goes up against Storyville's documentary of the week, Queendom on BBC4 at 10 p.m. Those films go up against repeats of Road To Perdition on ITV1 at 10:45 p.m. and Film4 showing Mike Leigh's Naked at 11:15 p.m. as a tribute to the late DP Dick Pope.

And then on Friday 15th at 11 p.m. BBC2 is showing Sarah Polley's film Women Talking.
____

Repeat-wise, there are a couple of really interesting things beyond Warlock, as BBC2 shows Deliverance on UK TV for the first time since January 2012(!) at 10 p.m. on Sunday 10th.

BBC4 continues its Thomas Hardy season on Wednesday 13th with two 1989 programmes: Hardy's Wessex: The Early Years at 9 p.m. and Hardy's Wessex: The Later Years at 9:30 p.m., before the highlight of the whole week with the first three episodes of the 1973 series Wessex Tales from 10 p.m., which is a series adaptating Hardy's short stories and features Billie Whitelaw, Esmond Knight (from A Canterbury Tale and later in Lars von Trier's The Element of Crime!) and John Hurt amongst the cast. The third episode is adapted by Dennis Potter! (and episode 5 which is presumably going to be showing the week after, is directed by Mike Newell!)

Then on Thursday 14th Far From The Madding Crowd is inescapable, with Film4 showing the 1967 film again at 11 a.m. whilst BBC4 shows the 2015 Thomas Vinterberg film at 9:15 p.m, preceeded with a new interview with the screenwriter of that version David Nicholls at 9 p.m.

[colinr0380]

Film4 trailed before Warlock last night that the premiere of The Black Phone is coming on 21st November.

[jlnight]

Brideless Groom (short), Fri 15th Nov, Rewind TV.

12 to The Moon, Sat 16th Nov, Talking Pictures. Or...
Appointment with Death (1988), Sat 16th Nov, Sky Arts.
Bond Street, Sat 16th Nov, London Live. (been on TPTV) Or...
The Cassandra Crossing, Sat 16th Nov, Talking Pictures. (on before) Or...
No Bears (2022), Sat 16th Nov, BBC4. Or...
Q&A, Sat 16th Nov, Legend.

Ordeal by Innocence (1985), Sun 17th Nov, Sky Arts. Or...
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, Sun 17th Nov, BBC2. Or...
Nineteen Eighty Four (1954 TVM), Sun 17th Nov, BBC4.
The Day Shall Come, late Sun 17th Nov, Channel 4.

Disorder In The Court (short), Mon 18th Nov, Rewind TV.

Sing a Song of Six Pants (short), Tue 19th Nov, Rewind TV.
Fire Will Come (2019), late Tue 19th Nov, Film4.

The Sundowners, Wed 20th Nov, London Live.
The Restless Breed, Wed 20th Nov, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)
The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here!, Wed 20th Nov, London Live.

Malice in the Palace (short), Thu 21st Nov, Rewind TV.

Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers (1936, ep1) Fri 22nd Nov, Rewind TV.
Guns of Darkness, Fri 22nd Nov, London Live. (been on TPTV)
West of Hot Dog (short), late Fri 22nd Nov, Rewind TV.