Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

[colinr0380]

Quiet again next week, although there are two premieres, both of Japanese films. BBC4's Storyville documentary series shows Black Box Diaries at 10 p.m. on Tuesday 4th; and as jlnight has noted the boxing drama Small, Slow But Steady on Film4 at 1:50 a.m. in the early hours of Thursday 6th (from the director who did a 6 part 'prequel series' Ju-On: Origins for Netflix back in 2020!)

The big news of the week however is that, having reached the end of series 2 of The Mike Tyson Mysteries series, E4's "Adult Swim" slot in the early hours of Friday mornings is turning to the latest Mike Judge production Common Side Effects. The first episode is tucked away at 12:40 a.m. in the early hours of Friday 7th.
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Repeat-wise, not too much. The David Lynch tributes are starting with Film4 showing The Straight Story twice, at 4:10 p.m. on Sunday 2nd and at 11:20 p.m. on Friday 7th.

And BBC4 is showing the 1971 series of Sunset Song again on Wednesday 5th, this time in tribute to the writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon, with "The Land of Lewis Grassic Gibbon: Places of the Sunset" from 1972 showing at 9 p.m., followed by a 2001 profile of the author.

[GaryC]

And BBC4 is showing the 1971 series of Sunset Song again on Wednesday 5th, this time in tribute to the writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon, with "The Land of Lewis Grassic Gibbon: Places of the Sunset" from 1972 showing at 9 p.m., followed by a 2001 profile of the author.

I read Sunset Song around the time of Terence Davies's film and hoped for a DVD release or BBC repeat of the 1971 series (which Davies admired). Neither of those happened then, but at least we did get the repeat in 2022 and I watched it. BBC4 have repeated the 1976 Play for Today, Clay Smeddum and Greenden, based on three of Grassic Gibbon's short stories. I haven't read his two sequels in the Scots Quair trilogy, Cloud Howe and Grey Granite, and no doubt ought to. It would be nice if the BBC repeated their adaptations of those novels (same screenwriter and leading actress as Sunset Song), which as far as I know haven't been shown since their original broadcasts in 1982 and 1983.

Lewis Grassic Gibbon packed a lot into his thirty-three years. He also wrote science fiction as J. Leslie Mitchell, a version of his real name.

[jlnight]

The Hostages (CFF), Sat 8th Feb, Talking Pictures.
A Shot in the Dark, Sat 8th Feb, Sky Arts.
The Entity, Sat 8th Feb, Film4.

Powderkeg, Sun 9th Feb, Talking Pictures.
Shane, Sun 9th Feb, Great Action.
Hussy, Sun 9th Feb, Together TV. (been on London Live)

The Hellbenders, Wed 12th Feb, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)

Stars In Your Eyes, Thu 13th Feb, Talking Pictures.
A Fistful of Dynamite, Thu 13th Feb, Sky Arts. Or...
Crush (2022), Thu 13th Feb, Film4.
Walking and Talking, Thu 13th Feb, Film4.

Doomwatch: The Devil's Sweets + Yellowbacks (1990 BBC TVM), Fri 14th Feb, Talking Pictures. (Cellar Club)
Blue Jean (2022), Fri 14th Feb, BBC2. (+ intro)



BBC4 have been running a trail suggesting Cloud Howe and Grey Granite will join Sunset Song in a repeat run. You get your wish!

[GaryC]

BBC4 have been running a trail suggesting Cloud Howe and Grey Granite will join Sunset Song in a repeat run. You get your wish!

So I hear! I won't have the chance to read the novels before the repeats, but that's on the cards, starting with a reread of Sunset Song.

[colinr0380]

I guess those screenings will begin after next week as it is episodes 1-3 of Sunset Song on Wednesday, so probably episodes 4-6 on Wednesday 12th, then probably the 'new repeats' from the 19th. According to the RadioTimes it is the 90th anniversary of Lewis Grassic Gibbon's death this year (on 7th February), hence this season.

[colinr0380]

Sporty stuff next week. jlnight has noted the titles, but I'll add the trailers.

BBC4's Storyville documentary season shows 26.2 to Life: Inside the San Quentin Prison Marathon at 10 p.m. on Tuesday 11th. The two premieres of the week are about lesbian high school romances with Crush on Film4 at 9 p.m. on Thursday 13th and Blue Jean at 11 p.m. on Friday 14th (yes, the main character is called "Jean" )
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Repeat-wise, the tributes to David Lynch move from Film4 to the BBC with BBC2 showing a double bill on Sunday 9th of Blue Velvet at 10 p.m. followed by The Elephant Man at 11:55 p.m. - those are then repeated on the DOG-tagged BBC4 on Thursday 13th along with the 1999 Mark Cousins Scene by Scene interview with Lynch showing at 9 p.m.

jlnight has noted that The Entity is showing on Film4 at 11:20 p.m. on Saturday 8th (in a double bill followed by Steven Soderbergh's Unsane at 1:55 a.m.), which has not been on television for a few years. Although the big news in repeats of the week is the showing of Nicole Holofcener's debut feature film Walking and Talking on Film4 at 10:50 p.m. on Thursday 13th, which is its first showing on UK television since its single premiere screening back on 28th December 1998! Which is strange since it is was partly funded by Channel 4 films (hence why it so quickly appeared on television), but perhaps might be explained as occuring during the transition period from Channel 4 showing their films in their "Film on 4" strand, to the entire "Film4" channel being set up in late 1998, which despite being satellite based and subscription only for its first few years sort of put paid to Channel 4 putting out seasons of their films out on their general, not entirely film oriented, channel.

There was a whole run of "Film on 4 Premieres" on Channel 4 in late 1998, of which Walking and Talking was one, but others around that time that have not aired since include the based on a David Mamet play American Buffalo; Irish films Trojan Eddie and Nothing Personal; the ironically titled long forgotten comedy with Robert Lindsay and Rik Mayall Remember Me?; the so obscure that there is nothing on YouTube relating to it UK-South African production Jump The Gun; the UK-Hungarian co-production adapting a Dostoyevsky story The Gambler from director Károly Makk (now more familiar for his films released by Second Run such as Love, Another Way and A Long Weekend in Pest and Buda) and starring Michael Gambon; and Jirí Menzel's 1994 Russian-Czech film The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin! All of which were partially funded through Channel 4 Films.

The only title from that bunch that transferred across to Film4 and received further showings was inevitably the 1996 Nick Hornby adaptation Fever Pitch, whilst most of the other films vanished into varying degrees of obscurity. So fingers crossed that Walking and Talking resurfacing is a good omen for some of the others!

[colinr0380]

Just as a general cultural note: the TV movie currently showing on Channel 5: "Lies and Ex-Wives: Secrets on Maple Street" from 2024 has perhaps the first instance I have seen of Teslas turning up in fictional films, since the main character drives one!

[jlnight]

The Rescue Squad (CFF), Sat 15th Feb, Talking Pictures.
The Return of the Pink Panther, Sat 15th Feb, Sky Arts.
The Way of the Gun, Sat 15th Feb, Legend.
Compartment No 6 (2021), Sat 15th Feb, BBC4.

The Sex Thief, Sun 16th Feb, Together TV. (been on London Live)

Kansas Pacific, Mon 17th Feb, Talking Pictures.

Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer, Wed 19th Feb, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)
Shayda (2023), late Wed 19th Feb, Film4.
While We Watched (2022), late Wed 19th Feb, Channel 4.

Vesper, Thu 20th Feb, Film4. Or...
Enchanted April (Screen Two), Thu 20th Feb, BBC4.

Doomwatch: The Red Sky + The House of the Dead (1978), Fri 21st Feb, Talking Pictures. (Cellar Club) Or...
Red Eye, Fri 21st Feb, Great Movies.
God's Creatures (2022), Fri 21st Feb, BBC2. (+ intro)

[colinr0380]

Well, after a few rather quiet weeks there is a lot of stuff next week, although annoyingly BBC4 and Film4 clash together multiple times throughout. Channel 4 has a double bill of premieres on Saturday 15th with videogame adaptation Uncharted showing at 7:50 p.m. (I see they are doing the cargo plane bit that so enthralled Harrison Ford back in the day, and was itself a setpiece that was sort of knicked from Terminal Velocity!), followed by The Contractor at 10 p.m. - this annoyingly clashes against BBC4 starting Gaelic language crime series An t-Eilean (The Island) with the first two (of six) episodes from 9 p.m., followed by Finnish/Russian/Estonian/German/French/Danish/Belgian co-production (but mainly Finnish) film Compartment No. 6 at 10:45 p.m.

BBC4's Storyville documentary is Argentinian horse-riding film Gaucho Gaucho at 10 p.m. on Tuesday 18th.

Film4 shows Iranian-Australian domestic abuse drama Shayda at 1:35 a.m. in the early hours of Thursday 20th (which unfortunately clashes with the last episode of Cloud Howe over on BBC4)

The film I am most excited about of the week is on Film4 at 9 p.m. on Thursday 20th, Vesper, which is the latest film by Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper, directors of the frustrating but ambitious Vanishing Waves and one of the best segments of the ABCs of Death anthology film (which unfortunately clashes with Enchanted April over on BBC4 at the same time)

And BBC2 is showing Irish domestic abuse drama with Emily Watson God's Creatures (nervy A24-stringed trailer ahoy!) at 11 p.m. on Friday 21st.
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Lots in terms of repeats as well. Quo Vadis, Aida? turns up on BBC2 at 1:25 a.m. in the early hours of Sunday 16th, which is its first un-DOG-tagged television screening.

As mentioned by jlnight and GaryC above, the big event of the week is BBC4 showing 1982's Cloud Howe for the first time in decades on Wednesday 19th. That begins with a new 15 minute introduction by lead actress Vivien Heilbron at 10 p.m. and then all four episodes show back-to-back from 10:15 p.m. to 2:05 a.m.! (Hence the unfortunate overlap with Shayda despite that film's extremely late showing)

The other big thing is the screening (showing as a tribute to Joan Plowright) of Mike Newell's traduced by Quentin Tarantino Enchanted April at 9 p.m. on Thursday 20th, which I do not think has screened for at least three decades! Unfortunately I will have to miss it again, since Vesper is just too enticing a prospect!

The other thing I will have to forsake because of Vesper is the programme that immediately follows Enchanted April on BBC4, which is a showing of the 1974 Omnibus film Cuckoo: A Celebration of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy at 10:40 p.m., which is narrated by Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise! That's showing because it is the 60th anniversary of Stan Laurel's death on Sunday 23rd.

[jlnight]

Joey's No Ass (short), Sat 22nd Feb, Talking Pictures.
The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Sat 22nd Feb, Sky Arts.
The Banshees of Inisherin, Sat 22nd Feb, Channel 4.
Godland (2022), Sat 22nd Feb, BBC4.

Elgar (Monitor), Sun 23rd Feb, BBC4.

Corsage, Mon 24th Feb, Film4.

Saraband for Dead Lovers, Tue 25th Feb, Film4.

The Big Trees (1952), Wed 26th Feb, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)

The Mission (1986), Thu 27th Feb, Film4. Or...
Unlocked (2017), Thu 27th Feb, Legend.

Doomwatch: Train and De-Train + Scream Bloody Murder (1973), Fri 28th Feb, Talking Pictures. (Cellar Club) Or...
Pretty Red Dress, Fri 28th Feb, BBC2. (+ intro)


EDIT: Girl on a Motorcycle replaced The Sex Thief on Together TV last night.

[colinr0380]

jlnight has noted the big films of next week, but I'll add trailers:

The Banshees of Inisherin is showing on Channel 4 at 9:15 p.m. on Saturday 22nd, although this clashes withe premiere of Icelandic period drama Godland at 10:40 p.m. on BBC4.

Another period drama is on Film4 at 11:20 p.m. on Monday 24th, with Corsage.

BBC4's Storyville documentary at 10 p.m. on Tuesday 25th is The Battle for Laikipia, and BBC2's British film season is continuing with seemingly a modern day take on Glen or Glenda? Pretty Red Dress at 11 p.m. on Friday 28th.
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Repeat-wise, the big thing is the first screening in four decades of Grey Granite, the third in the Lewis Grassic Gibbon trilogy. That starts with another new introduction from lead actress Vivien Heilbron at 10 p.m. on Wednesday 26th followed by all three episodes back-to-back from 10:15 p.m.

jlnight has also noted the first screening in over a decade of The Mission on Film4 at 9 p.m. on Thursday 27th. Which makes for an interestingly serendipitous pair up with Godland! That's still most famous for its classic Ennio Morricone score, that was an essential inclusion on every easy listening "Pure Moods"-style compilation album, at least until the theme tune to The Piano pushed it out of the way!

There's a Robert Redford night on BBC4 on Thursday 27th, with a screening of All The President's Men at 10:10 p.m. coming in between a 30 minute interview between Redford and Melvyn Bragg from 1976 at 9:40 p.m., and a 30 minute 1993 Film '93 interview with Redford and Barry Norman at 12:25 a.m. (i.e. around the time Redford was in Indecent Proposal).

Also as jlnight notes, BBC4 is doing a '90th anniversary since Elgar's death' night on Sunday 23rd with a concert followed by a screening of Ken Russell's 1962 Monitor film, Elgar at 10:30 p.m.

In terms of other repeats Channel 5 is doing a tribute to Eric Sykes on Sunday 23rd, with a documentary about Sykes at 3:55 p.m. followed by a screening of The Plank at 5:25 p.m.; the Scorsese version of Gangs of New York shows on Film4 at 12:10 a.m. in the early hours of Monday 24th; Enchanted April is getting a quick repeat showing on BBC4 at 12:50 a.m. in the early hours of Tuesday 25th (although annoyingly it clashes with Cosage over on Film4!); Nomadland is on Film4 at 6:50 p.m. on Monday 24th and the 2021 remake of Nightmare Alley is showing at 9 p.m. on Friday 28th.

[jlnight]

Talking Feet, Sat 1st Mar, Talking Pictures.
Revenge of the Pink Panther, Sat 1st Mar, Sky Arts.
The Westerner (1940), Sat 1st Mar, Great Action.
The Sex Thief, Sat 1st Mar, Together TV.

Pop Goes the Easel (Monitor), Mon 3rd Mar, BBC4.

Ghost Town Law, Wed 5th Mar, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)

Nocebo, late Thu 6th Mar, Great Movies.

The Infernal Machine, Fri 7th Mar, Film4. Or...
Doomwatch: The Battery People + The Devil's Hand (1960), Fri 7th Mar, Talking Pictures. (Cellar Club) Or...
Aisha (2022), Fri 7th Mar, BBC2. (+ intro)

[colinr0380]

Quite a lot of weirdly politically tinged stuff next week, but we'll go through it anyway.

Idris Elba turns up in Beast on Channel 4 at 9 p.m. on Sunday 2nd. That's directed by Baltasar Komakur. More interesting is Film4 is repeating Komakur's directed, written and starring 2016 Icelandic film The Oath at 1:45 a.m. in the early hours of Thursday 6th.

BBC4's Storyville documentary of the week is a Croatian attempt to meld a medical crisis with a feelgood slice of life piece with The Covid Queue at Pavillion 6 at 10 p.m. on Tuesday 4th, which is immediately followed by Channel 4 showing Palestinian film No Other Land, filmed in 2019 when Palestinians still (just about) existed.

Unfortunately the two premieres clash together on Friday 7th, with Film4 showing The Infernal Machine with Guy Pearce at 9 p.m. running ten minutes into the Nigerian asylum seeker in Ireland fim Aisha at 11 p.m. on BBC2.

The television itself is where the big stuff is next week with Tom Hanks subbing in for David Attenborough with the first episode (of ten total) of The Americas showing on BBC1 at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday 2nd. Later that same evening on BBC1 Anjelica Huston turns up in the first episode (of three total) of Agatha Christie adaptation Towards Zero at 9 p.m. (which revealed to me that there was a 2007 French adaptation with Danielle Darrieux in the Huston part!)

And ITV1 has the first episode (of four total) of the story of the last woman to be hanged in Britain, A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story at 9 p.m. on Wednesday 5th. Which is of course the subject that has been tackled a number of times in cinema from Diana Dors in Yield To The Night, to the specific Ruth Ellis-related adaptation of Miranda Richardson in Dance With A Stranger.

And as jlnight notes the "Great Movies" digital channel surprisingly has a couple of horror film premieres tucked away, with the most interesting film(s) of the week: House of Darkness starring Justin Long and directed by Neil LaBute(!!) at 9 p.m. on Tuesday 4th (expect gender clashes ahoy!); and Irish-Phillipines(!) co-production Nocebo at Midnight in the early hours of Friday 7th, which stars Eva Green and was drected by Lorcan Finnegan just after that film Vivarium.
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Repeat-wise, as jlnight has noted BBC4 are showing another Ken Russell Monitor film with Pop Goes The Easel at 11 p.m. on Monday 3rd. The 'archive television' strand is showing the 1978 "Play of the Week" Fairies at 11 p.m. on Wednesday 3rd, which looks to be an early take on the same "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle vs fanciful little girls with newfangled camera equipment" story that later was used as the basis for Fairy Tale: A True Story.

[jlnight]

Nope, Sat 8th Mar, Channel 4. Or...
Queenpins, Sat 8th Mar, Film4. Or...
Cool It Carol!, Sat 8th Mar, Together TV. (been on London Live)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Wed 12th Mar, Legend. Or...
The Belle Starr Story, Wed 12th Mar, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)

Doomwatch: You Killed Toby Wren + Assault (1970), Fri 14th Mar, Talking Pictures. (Cellar Club) Or...
Medusa Deluxe, Fri 14th Mar, BBC2. (+ intro)

[colinr0380]

Relatively quiet next week. There's a big nope to Nope premiering on Channel 4 which is instead starting airing the Jessica Biel starring series Candy: A Death In Texas instead, with the first two (of five total) episodes showing at 9 p.m. on Saturday 8th (nervy A24-style strings ahoy!).

BBC4's Storyville documentary of the week is Falun Gong film Eternal Spring: The Heist of China's Airwaves showing on BBC4 at 10 p.m. on Tuesday 11th.

Vengeance shows on Film4 at 9 p.m. on Wednesday 12th. And as jlnight noted, BBC2's British film season continues with Medusa Deluxe at 11 p.m. on Friday 14th (I wonder how it would work in a double bill with Michele Soavi's slasher movie Stagefright?). It seems to be a recurring trend that each one of these BBC2 seasons has to contain one film released on Blu-ray by Mubi (previously Cow, Limbo, Aftersun and Close), and Medusa Deluxe takes that slot this time around. So we should expect Passages and/or How To Have Sex to turn up next time around!
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Repeat-wise, not too much. BBC4's 'archive television' screening is a 1981 version of An Inspector Calls starring Nigel Davenport (from Phase IV!), showing at 11 p.m. on Wednesday 12th, which clashes in the schedule with the premiere of Vengeance on Film4.

[jlnight]

Kiss Me, Stupid, Sat 15th Mar, Sky Arts. (a Moviedrome film that never was)

The French Connection + The Conversation, Sun 16th Mar, BBC2.

The Stranger Wore a Gun, Wed 19th Mar, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)
Four Days (1951), Wed 19th Mar, Talking Pictures.
French Connection II, Wed 19th Mar, Great Action.

The Man From Yesterday (1949), Thu 20th Mar, Talking Pictures.
The Big Switch, Thu 20th Mar, Together TV. (been on That's TV 3) Or...
Raging Grace (2023), Thu 20th Mar, Film4.

Strange Voyage (1946), Fri 21st Mar, Talking Pictures.
Doomwatch: Invasion + The Driller Killer, Fri 21st Mar, Talking Pictures. (Cellar Club) Or...
Sweet Sue, Fri 21st Mar, BBC2. (+ intro)



Nope was in the early schedules, but then again so was Last Night in Soho earlier this year.

[colinr0380]

The George Clooney and Julia Roberts film Ticket To Paradise is the big premiere of the week, showing on Channel 4 at 9 p.m. on Saturday 15th.

The Storyville documentary of the week is Whirlybird: Live Above L.A. on BBC4 at 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday 18th. The same evening Channel 4 is showing Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson at 9 p.m.

Two British films end off the week with Raging Grace on Film4 at 11:20 p.m. on Thursday 20th, and BBC2's British film season continuing with Sweet Sue at 11:15 p.m. on Friday 21st, which if wasn't immediately apparent from the trailer, with its very Alison Steadman-esque main character, is directed by the son of Mike Leigh!
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In terms of repeats, the big event of the week is on BBC4 on Sunday 16th which devotes five hours to repeats of episodes of the Face to Face interview series from 9 p.m. That begins with a new interview with producer of the series, David Herman at 9 p.m. followed by episodes relating to Paul Eddington, Tony Hancock (from 1960), Joan Baez, Jeremy Isaacs, Martin Luther King (from 1961), Maya Angelou (from 1994), Dame Edit Sitwell and Carl Jung (! from 1959)

Film-wise, as jlnight has noted BBC2 is showing a Gene Hackman double bill on Sunday 16th with The French Connection at 10 p.m. followed by The Conversation at 11:40 p.m. - that gets repeated on the DOG-tagged BBC4 on Thursday 20th also from 9 p.m., and then is followed at 12:30 a.m. with a repeat of the 2000 Mark Kermode documentary on The French Connection, The Ploughkeepsie Shuffle.

Bone Tomahawk shows on Film4 at 11 p.m. on Saturday 15th, and Hear My Song shows on Film4 at 11:15 p.m. on Tuesday 18th.

[jlnight]

One Fine Morning (2022), Sat 22nd Mar, BBC4.

Between Heaven and Hell (1956), Sun 23rd Mar, Great Action.

Flying Tigers, Wed 26th Mar, Legend. Or...
The Desperate Mission (1969), Wed 26th Mar, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)
Banel & Adama, late Wed 26th Mar, Film4.

Farewell My Lovely (1945), Thu 27th Mar, BBC4. (been on Freeview) Or...
The Jigsaw Man, Thu 27th Mar, Legend.

Doomwatch: The Islanders + One Dark Night (1982), Fri 28th Mar, Talking Pictures. (Cellar Club)