Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

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domino harvey
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Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1376 Post by domino harvey » Wed Apr 13, 2022 1:53 pm

The RKO Story is filled with great interviews, my favorite being the unforgettable and wholly sincere revelation from Stewart Granger that he and his then-wife Jean Simmons formed a plan to kill Howard Hughes!

jlnight
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Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1377 Post by jlnight » Sun Apr 17, 2022 7:49 am

Rockets in the Dunes (CFF), Sat 23rd Apr, Talking Pictures. (on before)
The Phantom Planet, Sat 23rd Apr, Talking Pictures.
The Flemish Farm, Sat 23rd Apr, Talking Pictures.
Inserts, Sat 23rd Apr, Talking Pictures. (the Moviedrome film that never was!)

Afraid of the Dark, Sun 24th Apr, Talking Pictures. Also Thu 28th Apr.

The Ceremony (1963), Mon 25th Apr, Talking Pictures.

My Favorite Brunette, Tue 26th Apr, Talking Pictures.
A Child is Waiting, Tue 26th Apr, London Live.
AVP: Alien vs Predator, Tue 26th Apr, Great Movies.

The Ox-Bow Incident + Western Union, Wed 27th Apr, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)
Calm with Horses, Wed 27th Apr, Film4. Or...
Searching for Sugar Man, Wed 27th Apr, Sky Arts. (been on BBC4) Or...
A Doll's House (Garland), Wed 27th Apr, Talking Pictures.

Patterns (1956), Thu 28th Apr, Talking Pictures.

The Tomb of Ligeia + The Return of Dracula + The Vampire (1957), Fri 29th Apr, Talking Pictures. (Cellar Club)

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colinr0380
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Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1378 Post by colinr0380 » Wed Apr 20, 2022 11:12 am

Horrifically good next week. BBC3 is proving it was right to return to the airwaves (though I am purposefully ignoring the existence of something titled "FBoy Island" in saying that. I'm assuming the "F" stands for flabby?) by showing another film premiere with 47 Metres: Uncaged at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday 23rd.

On Monday 25th BBC2 has a Storyville documentary Navalny at 9 p.m. whilst BBC4 is showing the first three episodes of the third series of Missions from 10 p.m.

Film4 has a few big films during the week with Calm With Horses at 9 p.m. on Wednesday 27th and Ready or Not at 10:45 p.m. on Friday 29th.

And the Horror channel is showing Open 24 Hours at 10:50 p.m. on Saturday 23rd and Witch Hunt at 12:40 a.m. on Monday 25th.

__

Repeat-wise there is no episode of the The RKO Story beforehand but BBC4 has a double bill of Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House at 9 p.m. followed by The Outlaw at 10:30 p.m. on Thursday 28th. And Film4 is showing The Double at 2 a.m. in the early hours of Monday 25th.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1379 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Apr 20, 2022 11:34 am

colinr0380 wrote:
Wed Apr 20, 2022 11:12 am
Film4 has a few big films during the week with Calm With Horses at 9 p.m. on Wednesday 27th and Ready or Not at 10:45 p.m. on Friday 29th
Ready or Not is like the perfect late Friday night movie to watch after a long week of work - I might even join you guys from the states for round three

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colinr0380
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Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1380 Post by colinr0380 » Wed Apr 20, 2022 2:11 pm

It is showing in a night of horror films too with Zombieland before it at 9 p.m., The Cabin In The Woods straight afterwards and Pledge at 2:25 a.m.! Though if I had been in charge of the Film4 schedules I would have tried to get A Nasty Piece of Work to double bill with Ready or Not!

jlnight
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Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1381 Post by jlnight » Sun Apr 24, 2022 6:12 am

Wings of Mystery (CFF), Sat 30th Apr, Talking Pictures. (on before)
Purple Death From Outer Space (Flash Gordon), Sat 30th Apr, Talking Pictures.
Seven Thieves, Sat 30th Apr, Talking Pictures. Also Fri 6th May.
By the Grace of God, Sat 30th Apr, BBC4.

The Third Secret, Sun 1st May, Talking Pictures. Also Thu 5th May.

Royal Wedding (1951), Mon 2nd May, Talking Pictures.
Blue, White and Perfect, Mon 2nd May, Talking Pictures. Also Fri 13th May.

The Oregon Trail + The Outcasts of Poker Flat (1952), Wed 4th May, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)

Life with Father, Thu 5th May, Talking Pictures.
Top Hat + The Gay Divorcee, Thu 5th May, BBC4. (on before)

The Comedy of Terrors + The Monster Club + The Evictors, Fri 6th May, Talking Pictures. (Cellar Club)

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colinr0380
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Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1382 Post by colinr0380 » Wed Apr 27, 2022 11:18 am

Relatively quiet next week, although with a few items of interest that make the week strangely religiously abuse themed. The big film of the week has been noted by jlnight in Francois Ozon's By The Grace of God on BBC4 at 9 p.m. on Saturday 30th whilst Film4 is showing the Olivia Colman-starring Them That Follow at 9 p.m. on Thursday 5th.

The evening of Sunday 1st May on BBC4 is Oscar Wilde themed with a new film of the one-man play starring Toby Stephens and directed by Trevor Nunn at 9 p.m. dealing with Wilde's time in Reading Gaol, Prisoner C33, which is followed at 10:10 p.m. by a repeat of the 2019 film The Importance of Being Oscar. The Ken Burns series on Muhammad Ali reaches its end on BBC2 at 10 p.m. the same evening, although it is following the snooker so expect massive delays as hit the first few episodes of the Missions series on Monday, when the snooker there overran by an hour and forty minutes!

Speaking of which BBC4 is blasting through that third series of Missions with episodes 4, 5, 6 and 7 showing from 10 p.m. on Bank Holiday Monday. The most exciting TV series news of the week however is that BBC2 is showing the second series of The Terror from 9 p.m. on Friday 6th, which is seemingly a entirely new story.

The Horror channel is showing Nicolas Cage film The Humanity Bureau at 9 p.m. on Saturday 30th.

And just when we thought the David DeCoteau/Vivica A. Fox TV movie deluge had passed Channel 5 blindside us with the premiere of Obsessed With My Son (aka The Wrong Tutor) at 2:15 p.m. on Friday 6th! That makes seven premieres of films by the director and actress this year alone!
___
Repeat-wise it is relatively quiet. Film4 is showing Peter Greenaway's Drowning By Numbers again at 1:30 a.m. on Monday 2nd, 45 Years at 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday 3rd, the original 1974 version of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three at 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday 4th, Picnic At Hanging Rock at 12:50 a.m. on Thursday 5th and Racer and the Jailbird at 1:10 a.m. on Friday 6th.

BBC2 is showing Passport To Pimlico at 1 p.m. on Friday 6th.

BBC4 is definitely doing a Thursday night RKO season now as jnlight notes the showings of Top Hat at 9 p.m. followed by The Gay Divorcee at 10:40 p.m. on Thursday 5th which is preceded by the second episode of The RKO Story at 8 p.m. - I also caught a trailer for the season over the weekend which noted that there will be upcoming showings of Citizen Kane and Hitchcock's Suspicion (I would be happy if there was an evening devoted to the Val Lewton pictures. Although even happier if some real rarities from the archive were shown)
___
Radio 4 are showing a ten part, 15 minute series "What Really Happened In The 90s?" with the first five episodes showing each weekday from Monday to Friday at 1:45 p.m., which involves Robert Carlyle looking back on: 1: Cool Britannia, 2: Russia and Gorbachev, 3: Gender (apparently David Beckham wearing a sarong?), 4: the internet and 5: Tech and Crypto-wars between hackers and the US government.

Also there is a drama on Radio 4 at 2:15 p.m. on Thursday 5th called "The Kubrick Test" with the write up in RadioTimes as follows:
RadioTimes wrote:Kerry Shale's dark comedy about his real-life encounter with one of cinema's most influential and mysterious figures, Stanley Kubrick. When, in 1987, a young actor gets an invitation to enter Kubrick's hidden world, he leaps at it. And, of course, gets more than he bargained for.
___
Also apropos of nothing TV seems to be heavily pushing live Mixed Martial Arts coverage on the evening of Friday 6th (maybe because all live sport aside from the BBC cornering the market in Snooker and Women's Football is otherwise on satellite and pay-per-view channels) with BBC3 showing live coverage of a "Bellator" match from Paris at 9 p.m. (with online coverage from 6-11:30 p.m) and at 2 a.m. the same evening Channel 4 showing a live match from the "Professional Fighter's League Season" from Texas.
Last edited by colinr0380 on Wed May 04, 2022 3:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

jlnight
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Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1383 Post by jlnight » Sun May 01, 2022 4:15 am

The Battle of Billy's Pond (CFF), Sat 7th May, Talking Pictures. (on before)
Killers From Space, Sat 7th May, Talking Pictures.
The Street With No Name, Sat 7th May, Talking Pictures. Also Tue 10th May.
The Purple Heart, Sat 7th May, Talking Pictures. Also Thu 12th May.
The Personal History of David Copperfield, Sat 7th May, Channel 4. Or...
Thieves' Highway, Sat 7th May, Talking Pictures. Also Thu 12th May.

I Was An Adventuress, Sun 8th May, Talking Pictures. Also Thu 12th May.
The Wayward Bus, Sun 8th May, Talking Pictures.

Fanny (1961), Mon 9th May, London Live.

Too White for Me, Tue 10th May, London Live.

The Channel Islands 1940-1945, Wed 11th May, Talking Pictures.
Two Flags West + Powder River, Wed 11th May, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)

Twisted Nerve, Fri 13th May, London Live. (been on Horror)
The Haunted Palace + The Dark Tower (1987) + Times Square, Fri 13th May, Talking Pictures. (Cellar Club)

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colinr0380
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Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1384 Post by colinr0380 » Wed May 04, 2022 10:50 am

Very quiet next week. As jlnight has noted the only main channel premiere is Armando Ianucci's revisionist take on Dickens in The Personal History of David Copperfield on Channel 4 at 9:20 p.m. on Saturday 7th. This clashes both with the only other film premiere of the week on the Horror channel at 9 p.m., of She Never Died, and BBC4 starting the eighth series of the Swedish crime show Beck, also at 9 p.m.

The Storyville season continues on BBC4 with Your Mum and Dad: A Devastating Truth at 10 p.m. on Tuesday 10th.
__

Lots of repeats though: BBC2 is showing The Other Side of Hope at 12:20 a.m. on Sunday 8th; Sorry To Bother You is on BBC3 at 10 p.m. on Saturday 7th; The Hurt Locker is on BBC2 at 10 p.m. on Sunday 8th; The Keeping Room is on Film4 at 1:25 a.m. on Tuesday 10th; The Acid House is on Film4 at 1:25 a.m. on Wednesday 11th; Scott of the Antarctic is on BBC2 at 1 p.m. on Friday 13th and Shenandoah is on Film4 at 4:45 p.m. on Friday 13th.

BBC4 continues the RKO season on Thursday 12th with the third episode of The RKO Story at 8 p.m. followed by Bringing Up Baby at 9 p.m. and My Favorite Wife at 10:40 p.m. (plus a repeat of the 80 minute 2018 ...Becoming Cary Grant documentary at Midnight)

And seemingly to celebrate BBC2 showing the second series of The Terror, BBC4 is showing the ten episodes of the first series in overnight triple and quadruple bills from Midnight on Saturday 7th through to Monday 9th.

___
Although the big event of the week is not film related as after defecting from the BBC to create with great fanfare the UK's equivalent of Fox News (and then leaving after a fortnight, as detailed in this münecat video) Andrew Neil is apparently now on Channel 4 with his own self-titled 6 p.m. Sunday night show. Will that be enough to spare Channel 4 the wrath of Nadine Dorries? Only time will tell.

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Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1385 Post by colinr0380 » Thu May 05, 2022 5:44 pm

Also Channel 4 are keeping things classy by showing a programme called "Let's Make A Love Scene" on Friday 13th in which according to the RadioTimes "singletons looking for romance recreate famous scenes from Hollywood films. Tonight, beauty therapist Starr appears in scenes inspired by Fifty Shades of Grey, Ghost and The Notebook with cage fighter Alex, chef Ashley and finance worker Nick" :roll:

(I would have suggested instead going for the egg scene from In The Realm of the Senses, the swimming pool scene from Showgirls and the bedroom destroying sex scene between Emma Thompson and Jeff Goldblum from The Tall Guy!)

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Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1386 Post by jlnight » Sat May 07, 2022 7:30 pm

The Great Pony Raid (CFF), Sat 14th May, Talking Pictures. (on before)
Teenagers From Outer Space, Sat 14th May, Talking Pictures.
Wing and A Prayer, Sat 14th May, Talking Pictures. Also Mon 16th May.
This is Spinal Tap, Sat 14th May, BBC2.
The Grateful Dead Movie, late Sat 14th May, Sky Arts. (actually on tomorrow)

The Kid Who Would Be King, Sun 15th May, Channel 4. Or...
The Switch (1963), Sun 15th May, Talking Pictures.
Ordinary Love, Sun 15th May, BBC2.

Night of the Kings, late Mon 16th May, Film4.

This Above All, Tue 17th May, Talking Pictures.

Pony Soldier + The Secret of Convict Lake, Wed 18th May, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)
Disappearance at Clifton Hill, Wed 18th May, Film4. Or...
Fraulein, Wed 18th May, Talking Pictures. Also Wed 25th May.

Bringing Out The Dead + Donovan's Brain + Woman on the Run, Fri 20th May, Talking Pictures. (Cellar Club)

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colinr0380
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Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1387 Post by colinr0380 » Wed May 11, 2022 11:27 am

Pretty interesting next week with films from Ivory Coast/Senegal, Australia and Canada represented. jlnight has noted the big films but I'll add some trailers:

With the Eurovision Song Contest final showing all evening on BBC1 there is a three way clash for the remaining audience of the primetime evening schedule on the night of Saturday 14th (four way with the rare repeat screening of This Is Spinal Tap at 10:40 p.m. on BBC2. Five way if you count the repeat of Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell on BBC3 at 10 p.m. Six-way if you count ITV1 repeating Pretty Woman at 10:30 p.m. And seven-way if you count Channel 5 showing the 1972 Steptoe and Son movie at 10:15 p.m. - bless them, at least they're trying!) with BBC4 continuing to show Swedish drama series Beck at 9 p.m., Channel 4 showing Vin Diesel and Guy Pearce film Bloodshot at 9:20 p.m. and the Horror Channel showing Becky at 9 p.m., with Kevin James, which appears to be the strangest entry yet in the Paul Blart: Mall Cop series!

The big film of the week is Joe Cornish's next film after Attack The Block The Kid Who Would Be King on Channel 4 at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday 15th (which unfortunately looks about a decade too late to tie in with all the Stormbreaker, The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, Percy Jackson, Bridge To Terabihitia style post Harry Potter heavily CGI reliant kid adventure films). At 10 p.m. on Sunday BBC2 is showing the Lesley Manville and Liam Neeson film Ordinary Love (place your bets now on the point at which Manville gets kidnapped and Neeson has to track down the gangsters that did it!)

The most interesting looking film of the week is Night of the Kings showing on Film4 at 1:10 a.m. on Tuesday 17th. Also on Film4 is Disappearance At Clifton Hill at 9 p.m. on Wednesday 18th. And yes that is David Cronenberg in an acting role in the trailer!

The screening to keep an eye on though is that the RadioTimes is listing the Lupita Nyong'o starring zombie horror film Little Monsters. Which looks great but I cannot believe that Film4 will actually be screening it at 2:50 p.m. on the afternoon of Sunday 15th! It also clashes up against The Kid Who Would Be King over on Channel 4 too, so I would not be surprised to see that get removed from the schedules and rescheduled for another, later timeslot!
___
Repeat-wise, BBC2 is showing In Which We Serve at 2:10 p.m. and the Thomas Vinterberg version of Far From The Madding Crowd at 8 p.m. on Saturday 14th and Italian film Piranhas (un-DOG-tagged for the first time) at 1 a.m. on Sunday 15th. ITV4 is showing The Dirty Dozen at 9 p.m. on Sunday 15th. The Graduate is on BBC2 at 11:15 p.m. on Tuesday 17th. And Why Won't You Just Die! is on Film4 at 2 a.m. on Saturday 21st.

BBC4's screening of The RKO Story reaches the fourth episode on Orson Welles at 8 p.m. on Thursday 19th with Citizen Kane at 9 p.m. and The Magnificent Ambersons at 11 p.m. Film4 follows that up by screening The Stranger at 11 a.m. on Friday 20th.

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Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1388 Post by colinr0380 » Wed May 11, 2022 12:15 pm

colinr0380 wrote:
Thu May 05, 2022 5:44 pm
Also Channel 4 are keeping things classy by showing a programme called "Let's Make A Love Scene" on Friday 13th in which according to the RadioTimes "singletons looking for romance recreate famous scenes from Hollywood films. Tonight, beauty therapist Starr appears in scenes inspired by Fifty Shades of Grey, Ghost and The Notebook with cage fighter Alex, chef Ashley and finance worker Nick" :roll:

(I would have suggested instead going for the egg scene from In The Realm of the Senses, the swimming pool scene from Showgirls and the bedroom destroying sex scene between Emma Thompson and Jeff Goldblum from The Tall Guy!)
And the second of two episodes of this show apparently involves:
RadioTimes wrote:Rugby player Lailand stars with three single women in sequences inspired by Mr & Mrs Smith, 9&1/2 Weeks and Out of Sight, before choosing which one to take on a date
So that will likely involve the shoot out sequence between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the once just playfully erotic but now giving off a terrible environmental message involving casual food waste, eating too many calories in one go and leaving a refrigerator door open for far too long blindfolded sex scene from 9 & 1/2 Weeks and having to share a car boot together from the Soderbergh film!

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Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1389 Post by colinr0380 » Sat May 14, 2022 5:13 pm

OK, I think that I am going to back the Serbian entry in this year's Eurovision (a timely piece about government registration, religious control of healthcare and the proper way to wash one's hands?) as the one I want to win! It feels weirdly similarly choreographed to the notorious Polish milkmaids entry from 2014 but tonally at the opposite extreme with lots of priests sultrily swinging their towels around! :D

(It helps that their song was pretty good but either way of course we all know that Ukraine are going to win! But good luck for holding next year's ceremony there! EDIT: I forgot that many of the countries normally vote for Russia, so even with Russia banned this year they may not want to antagonise them)

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Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1390 Post by colinr0380 » Sun May 15, 2022 11:00 am

colinr0380 wrote:
Wed May 11, 2022 11:27 am
The screening to keep an eye on though is that the RadioTimes is listing the Lupita Nyong'o starring zombie horror film Little Monsters. Which looks great but I cannot believe that Film4 will actually be screening it at 2:50 p.m. on the afternoon of Sunday 15th! It also clashes up against The Kid Who Would Be King over on Channel 4 too, so I would not be surprised to see that get removed from the schedules and rescheduled for another, later timeslot!
I suspected that this would be the case due to the similar titles and the greater suitability for the Sunday afternoon timeslot but Film4 are instead showing the 1989 Little Monsters film with Fred Savage. Which is good in itself because I do not remember that having been shown on television for a very long time.

(And The Kid Who Would Be King appears to have been unceremoniously cancelled on Channel 4 to make way for French rugby)

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Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1391 Post by jlnight » Sun May 15, 2022 11:31 am

Mr Horatio Knibbles (CFF), Sat 21st May, Talking Pictures. (on before)
Woman in the Dark (1934), Sat 21st May, Talking Pictures.
Fixed Bayonets!, Sat 21st May, Talking Pictures. Also Thu 26th May. (been on Film4)
The Changeling (1979), Sat 21st May, Horror.

The Long Hot Summer (1958), Sun 22nd May, Great Movies Classic.
Horror Express, Sun 22nd May, BBC4. (A Candle for the Devil repeated on TPTV, late Tues)

The King and Four Queens, Mon 23rd May, London Live.
The Bigamist, Mon 23rd May, Talking Pictures.

Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson + Zane Grey Theatre: Man Unforgiving, Wed 25th May, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)
The Great Steam Fair, late Wed 25th May, Talking Pictures.

EDIT
Mutiny (1952), Fri 27th May, Talking Pictures.
Nico, 1988, Fri 27th May, London Live. (been on Film4)
Crucible of Horror (The Corpse) + The Many Faces of Christopher Lee + The Devil Rides Out, Fri 27th May, Talking Pictures. (Cellar Club)

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Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1392 Post by colinr0380 » Wed May 18, 2022 10:42 am

Very quiet next week, with the only premieres being Zombieland: Double Tap on Channel 4 at 9 p.m. on Saturday 21st and Channel 4 attempting to show The Kid Who Would Be King again at 2:10 p.m. on Sunday 22nd. Also Channel 5 is gearing up for the upcoming Queen's 70th Jubilee celebrations with The Queen's Corgi, which appears to include bang up to the minute jokes about Trump, at 3:20 p.m. on Saturday 21st.
___
Repeat-wise the 1949 Whiskey Galore! is showing on BBC2 at 1:40 p.m. on Saturday 21st. Film4 is showing The Killing of a Sacred Deer at 1:10 a.m. on Sunday 22nd. The screening of the wonderfully creepy Horror Express on BBC4 at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday 22nd is apparently to celebrate the centenary of Christopher Lee's birth, with an associated Talking Pictures collection of BBC interviews at 9:30 p.m. and a repeat of the 2000 episode of the dramatised series in which Christopher Lee read a ghost story for Christmas with The Ash Tree at 10 p.m. (that's not on YouTube but Number 13 is) and The Handmaiden is showing on Film4 at 1 a.m. on Wednesday 25th.

Following showing Up The Junction a little while back BBC4 is showing Ken Loach's Cathy Come Home at 10 p.m. on Wednesday 25th followed by the 2015 BFI conversation between Loan and Cillian Murphy at 11:20 p.m.

BBC4's RKO season reaches episode 5, Dark Victory, at 8 p.m. on Thursday 26th followed by Hitchcock's Suspicion at 9 p.m. and Otto Preminger's Angel Face at 10:35 p.m.

And whilst there are no premieres next week on the Horror channel jlnight has noted that they are showing the great George C. Scott starring ghost film The Changeling at 9 p.m. on Saturday 21st, as well as The Void featuring the late Kenneth Welsh at 10:50 p.m. on Thursday 26th.

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Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1393 Post by colinr0380 » Thu May 19, 2022 3:39 pm

I think that I may need to see the film again at some point to do a post of it that makes a bit more sense, but for now my attempt at a pithy Letterboxd-style review of Disappearance at Clifton Hill is:

Imagine if that initial premise behind the creation of Videodrome, the what if ideas of whether having the ability to conjure up images of sex and violence at your fingertips and muse upon them for extended periods could actually have an effect on real life behaviour, had the S&M elements swapped out and replaced by the premise of someone so open to manipulation by the current fad for true crime podcasts that it becomes so overwhelming that they try and insert themselves into the narrative. It is kind of brilliant to have the ambiguously motivated, UFO-restaurant owning kooky podcast creator (and equivalent of the Brian O'Blivion or Barry Convex figure?) prodding our main character with the evidence he has dredged up relating to a historical crime to finish his job for him
SpoilerShow
(and then who rather self-aggrandisingly takes the majority of the credit for having been 'the person keeping the crime in the public eye until the killer was finally brought to justice after our long campaign' in his podcast at the end)
be played by David Cronenberg!

To go into the film in a bit more detail (spoilers follow), I particularly like that the main character Abby eventually is revealed to be the ultimate flawed protagonist with a disastrous personal life and is not particularly good at being able to follow through on many of the roles she tries to take on, which contrasts interestingly against her view of the people she suspects of committing a heinous crime who have managed to successfully keep their involvement under wraps for decades and remain respectable and much beloved public figures to boot. Abby's wish to take on different personas but difficulty in maintaining them plausibly is perhaps best encapsulated very early on in the self-contained scene of picking up a guy in the bar, taking him back to a seedy motel room for sex and then acting too 'worldly' and forward in the bedroom that immediately makes him suspicious that he is being tricked somehow, to the extent that he storms out and leaves her alone in the room. Which we then find out is in the motel that she owns, having inherited it from her mother.

Especially once she starts investigating the historical crime, amped up by her hazy memories, the podcast and various unrelated issues in her own life (such as a feud with the wealthy man she suspects of the crime who is also trying to buy out the motel from her in order to demolish it) she begins to seemingly relish in taking on different roles, such as that of an investigative reporter interviewing the podcaster and poring over documents on the library microfiche and websites on the library computer; or by calling up a suspect and pretending to be someone from a casino in order to provide them with a room in her motel to provide a chance to investigate it whilst that person is away; or telling a person she finds chained up that she is a police officer and is there to free them (but then kind of forgets about them for an extended period of time); and so on. Eventually as the conspiracy widens out (and the videos on the television screen begin talking to her Videodrome-style) she even confronts another couple of people whom she suspects being involved in actually committing the crime face to face in a diner where she is acting like a potential blackmailer, yet is only wanting to find out 'the truth' of the situation, but which of course because she is dealing with a couple of skilled magicians ends up having whatever truth if any there was all being obscured in smoke and mirrors! And there is the sense that maybe this is all less about solving a crime but about finding a purpose to her life that proves that her extreme behaviours were in service of a justifiable goal (especially proving this to her somewhat disappointed and disillusioned sister: there is a wonderful moment near the end of the pair watching the news report of the suspect getting arrested and put into a cop car that cuts from the sister's surprised look to our main character's somewhat self satisfied smile as if to say: "I told you!" Which may be Abby's most supreme moment of happiness in her entire life)

Its a fascinating but quite convoluted film in that sense, where the initially simple idea of revenging a crime and achieving justice gets so muddied by the main character's flaws, and the seeming way that she is so credulous about the ever enlarging circle of conspiracy which leaves her subject to manipulations by many of the other people she meets, that it becomes about a person trying to sublimate their general and wide-ranging anxieties into some mystery that they think if they can solve may somehow fix everything wrong in their world as a whole. But which can never really do that. In that sense it makes me think a bit of Lucrecia Martel's The Headless Woman also.

It appears that the rich heir lording it around town whom everyone seems has general issues with goes to prison, his reputation ruined, but the seeming accomplices manage to get away with it (or have the clout with their beloved public personas to not face charges), and then we get to the wonderful final scene (there are a number of really great, tense conversational confrontation scenes in this film, which is where it really shines) where:
SpoilerShow
Abby in her new job as a hotel clerk in a more generic, but cleaner, motel that she doesn't own meets a very shady man checking in and heavily implying that he may have been the actual killer returning to the area for the first time in decades, especially when he points to the picture of the jailed and disgraced man on the front page of the local paper and states that they should believe that guy when he says that he is innocent. He leaves and then we get that wonderful shot of Abby smiling to herself before the cut to the credits. Is she smiling because whether he did the specific crime or not, she still got revenge on the man she wanted to bring down? Or that she has found another way of continuing on her true crime story beyond its natural end point? Does that rather too obviously shifty guy (even with an eye patch! And paying cash for the room!) really exist or potentially may just be a figure entirely conjured up by Abby to keep her otherwise mundane life interesting and mysterious, full of intrigue and sexy twists?
Hopefully the above shows why I may need to watch the film again a few more times to get my own head around its twists and turns! But I think that I like it enough to want to revisit it again at some point. Also, whilst I have not been the biggest fan of David Cronenberg's previous acting roles, he is surprisingly really good here and there seems to be a mischievous twinkle in his eye, as befits a nefarious podcaster!

jlnight
Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2013 10:49 am

Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1394 Post by jlnight » Sat May 21, 2022 6:19 pm

Hunted in Holland (CFF), Sat 28th May, Talking Pictures. (on before)
The Seven-Ups, Sat 28th May, Talking Pictures. Also Thu 2nd Jun.

The Seventh Commandment, Sun 29th May, Talking Pictures.
Cause for Alarm, Sun 29th May, Talking Pictures. Also Wed 1st Jun.

The Art of Racing in the Rain, Mon 30th May, Film4.

A Kiss Before Dying (1956), Tue 31st May, London Live.

The Proud Rebel + Colorado Sundown, Wed 1st Jun, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)

Prisoners of the Tower (short), Thu 2nd Jun, Talking Pictures.
Adventure in the Hopfields, Thu 2nd Jun, London Live. (been on TPTV)
The Royal Tenenbaums, Thu 2nd Jun, Great Movies. Or...
Cat People (1942) + I Walked with a Zombie, Thu 2nd Jun, BBC4.
Buddies (1985), late Thu 2nd Jun, Film4. (been on Channel 4 in 1986 and 1990)

The Darjeeling Limited, Fri 3rd Jun, Great Movies. Or...
Nutcracker (1982), Fri 3rd Jun, London Live. (on before) Or...
Prince of Darkness + Six Inches Tall (Attack of the Puppet People) + Dementia 13, Fri 3rd Jun, Talking Pictures. (Cellar Club)

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1395 Post by therewillbeblus » Sat May 21, 2022 6:32 pm

A Kiss Before Dying is some essential Tuesday night viewing

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1396 Post by colinr0380 » Sat May 21, 2022 7:05 pm

Great to see that Buddies is getting shown decades after its last airing!

I forgot to mention in the previous write up that BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Drama slot at 2:15 p.m. on Monday 23rd has a new play by Peter Strickland called Jason's Mates:
RadioTimes wrote:Cult film auteur Peter Strickland's satire of corruption in local politics explores the events of a mayoral election in the style of a 1970s children's programme. The incumbent mayor of the prestigious and picturesque town of Ramsonlea has siphoned off public money to benefit his friends and family, while the local hospitals and schools are left to fall into ruin.
And the cast includes Toby Jones!

There is also a letter in this weeks' RadioTimes' "Feedback" section from Sheldon Hall a "Reader in Film & Television, Department of Humanities, Sheffield Hallam University" about the RKO situation:
...Back in 1979, the BBC acquired - supposedly in perpetuity - the UK TV rights to the entire RKO library of 740 features. Are these still owned by the BBC? Only about half the films have ever been broadcast, the better-known ones many times, and some still turn up on iPlayer. But it would be good to see some of the more obscure titles taken out of the vaults for an airing.
To which the reply is:
A BBC spokesperson tells RT: "We already have a number of RKO titles on iPlayer and are currently in the process of making even more RKO films available for audiences to enjoy. However, while we do have the rights in perpetuity, unfortunately some of the material is not of sufficient picture quality to broadcast so it won't be possible to air every title".
Which probably explains why they had to contextualise a lot of the RKO films shown in that Keith Richards night as coming from VHS tapes! And without fully acknowledging it the BBC spokesperson probably validates Jonathan S's comment about "the BBC's leaky roof" back on the first page of this thread!

roadshower
Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2022 4:41 pm

Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1397 Post by roadshower » Sun May 22, 2022 3:31 pm

I very much doubt that the allegedly inadequate picture quality of many of the RKO films has anything to do with a leaky roof twenty-plus years ago. The BBC long ago disposed of its 35mm material to the BFI National Archive. More likely is that they have very few HD masters to hand and no longer have the film elements to rescan, even if those old prints were up to the task. I would also hazard a guess that the reason why 300 or so titles have never been broadcast is because the BBC has never had materials on them in any format to begin with. Just an educated guess, but if I find out more I will let you know!

Sheldon Hall

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colinr0380
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Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1398 Post by colinr0380 » Sun May 22, 2022 5:22 pm

Thanks for the reply (and apologies for forcing you to reveal your secret identity!), and I'm sure a lot of us would find it interesting if you did find out any more about the subject! I don't know if it would be better or worse than a leaky roof to think that they just handed all the old prints over. Despite being in black and white, I'm sure that they could have helped fill the schedules in a cost effective manner - that triple bill of premieres of RKO films back in 2013 was perhaps the biggest highlight of BBC2's programming in that entire decade!

(And as much as I love Cat People and I Walked With A Zombie, and they represent the horror films Lewton is most known for, the real coup would maybe have been showing some further films such as Robert Wises' Mademoiselle Fifi and Mark Robson's Youth Runs Wild, since they are the rarer titles)

roadshower
Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2022 4:41 pm

Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1399 Post by roadshower » Sun May 22, 2022 6:17 pm

Re that 2013 triple bill: yes, there was a flurry of rare RKO premieres around that time, probably the last when that library was given a decent workout.

I'm sure the BBC would have made tape transfers of all their film materials before donating the prints to the BFI, as everything is shown from files these days and there is no call for actual 35mm prints. The transfers are just probably not of HD standard. Most HD masters are taken from pre-print material (negatives, fine-grain positives, etc) rather than projection prints, which tend to pick up wear and tear. I used to know one of the technicians who worked on them but we have lost touch in recent years, otherwise I could find out that way. But I have plans for further research, so watch this space!

Jonathan S
Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2008 3:31 am
Location: Somerset, England

Re: Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

#1400 Post by Jonathan S » Mon May 23, 2022 9:15 am

colinr0380 wrote:
Sun May 22, 2022 5:22 pm
...the real coup would maybe have been showing some further films such as Robert Wises' Mademoiselle Fifi and Mark Robson's Youth Runs Wild, since they are the rarer titles)
Those Lewton titles were each broadcast by the BBC one-time only, in 1982 and 1993 respectively. I recorded both and recall Mademoiselle Fifi was notably soft (16mm source?) and televised under the alternate UK (?) title The Silent Bell, also in the Radio Times listing. I'm not sure if I still have the tape as I replaced it with a French DVD which is not much better but uses the original title. I recently caught up with Christian-Jaque's 1945 Boule de suif which, at around 105 mins (much longer than the imdb running time), for me plays like a bloated remake of Lewton's more compact film, following his lead of combining two Maupassant stories.

All I know about the BBC's allegedly "leaky" film library roof was quoted in the New Scientist article, of which I must have a cutting somewhere. I do recall that at some point - late 1990s? - the BBC seemed to switch to video masters of the RKO films which looked as if they'd been digitally cleaned-up but also often had a softer, smearier, greyer appearance (perhaps suggesting standards conversion in some cases) than the rougher but sharper physical prints which had previously been televised. Of course, the difference wasn't as noticeable on small CRT sets, especially when played back on domestic VHS tapes. But it was also around this point that the range of RKO films aired by the BBC contracted sharply; many previously broadcast titles I'd taped in the '80s were no longer shown but several dozen of the most popular were endlessly repeated (at least until the surprise season in 2013). This may have been due to technical issues or a decision based on ratings. Around 2000 Channel 4 also stopped showing the more obscure pre-1950s films.

I remember this "video look" when the complete version of The Body Snatcher was broadcast compared to the heavily BBFC-censored copy which had played in the 1980s. I wondered if the BBC obtained the uncensored version from the US rightsholder. There was of course also the exciting 1994 Lost and Found season, during which The Ghost Ship finally turned up on the BBC. I don't know if lack of good materials or the famous plagiarism case against RKO had prevented a previous broadcast; it had definitely been available for purchase (complete) on Super 8 since the 1970s - I bought a print - and I think 16mm rental too, though Joel E. Siegel called it "virtually a lost film" in his 1972 book on Lewton.

I don't know about RKO titles but my understanding is that when film prints were broadcast 16mm was often used, as suggested here by a friend of Philip Jenkinson recalling "Warner Brothers offered him their entire UK-housed stockpile of 16mm prints after their TV license deal expired rather than pay to ship them back to Burbank".

Some of the above is mere speculation and memory by an interested spectator and I'd be delighted for my theories to be corrected - or confirmed - by the professionals involved! (I've no idea what's used today by the BBC for their RKO titles as I haven't had a licence for several years.)
Last edited by Jonathan S on Mon May 23, 2022 11:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

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