14 January 2003 14:31
Choice;Films
TOMORROW NEVER DIES (1997). ITV1, 8pm
The second outing for Pierce Brosnan (right, with Desmond Llewelyn) as Bond, directed by Roger Spottiswoode, is a
decidely mixed bag. Among its weak points are Jonathan Pryce's implausible villain, a deranged media baron bent on
world news domination, and some increasingly brazen product placement. But on the plus side is the Hong Kong action star
Michelle Yeoh as Bond's high-kicking foil and a globe-trotting plot that ranges from Russia to Germany to China.
According to Bond folklore, this instalment was originally titled Tomorrow Never Lies but changed due to an uncorrected
spelling error in an early script draft. (119 min)
CHINATOWN (1974)
Sky Movies Cinema, 8pm
A masterful piece of movie alchemy that consistently ranks near the top of film critic polls, Chinatown marked the
director Roman Polanski's glittering Hollywood debut and Jack Nicholson's ascent to superstar status.
Nicholson (far right, with Faye Dunaway) plays the laconic detective Jake Gittes in an exquisitely shot sun-kissed noir
tale of adultery, incest and political intrigue set in Thirties Los Angeles. Robert Towne's multilayered
Oscar-winning screenplay was inspired by the water and power scandals that shaped turn-of-the-century California -
especially those involving William Mullholland, who gave his name to Hollywood's famous Mullholland Drive, where
Nicholson lives to this day. (131 min)
SECONDS (1966, b/w)
FilmFour, 8pm
Rock Hudson stars as a man who learns to be careful what he wishes for in John Frankenheimer's disturbing,
beautifully shot science fiction fable about the perennial quest for happiness and eternal youth. A middle-aged banker
(John Randolph) is offered the chance of a new life inside a new body (Hudson) by a secret organisation on the strict
condition that he severs all ties with his past. But this born-again bohemian paradise comes with a bitter price,
culminating in a jarringly dark final twist. (100 min)
ANY GIVEN SUNDAY (1999)
Sky Premier, 11.30pm
Oliver Stone employs his arsenal of operatic tricks to make sure that this sprawling, pumped-up expose of big-league
American football deserves our attention. Al Pacino finally finds a suitable outlet for his steam-belching histrionics
as the coach of a Miami team battling mercenary owners, corrupt medics, rebellious players and boozy hangers-on. The
cast explodes with star names (Cameron Diaz, Charlton Heston, Dennis Quaid, James Woods, Ann-Margret) and the action
reeks of testosterone, but Stone delivers the goods. (160 min)
B. MONKEY (1998)
ITV1, 11.55pm; Not Scotland
Michael Radford followed up his much-loved Oscar-winner Il Postino (1995) with this bold but flawed romantic thriller
set in contemporary London. Asia Argento, recently seen in XXX (2002), plays a jewel thief torn between her fogeyish
schoolteacher boyfriend (Jared Harris) and the wild, druggy lifestyle of her former partners in crime (Rupert Everett
and Jonathan Rhys Meyers). Based on a novel by the prolific king of television drama adaptations, Andrew Davies, B.
Monkey is ultimately less than the sum of its notable parts, but still an interesting failure. (94 min)
[UKIR [UK & Ireland Intelligence Wire]] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
