Open Water
TV Films
TV Films
by Matt Nippert
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 9
Back to the Future Part III (TV3, 11.30am). Pre-Parkinson’s Michael J Fox is Marty McFly, the man-boy who – no matter the century – never fails to rise to the taunt of “chicken”. A wild-haired Christopher Lloyd reprises his role as the eccentric scientist, while old western clichés and sets are mixed with 1980s pop-culture banter. This franchise lasted far longer than the model of car used by McFly to travel through time – the infamous stainless steel DeLorean – and although this is superior to its product-endorsement-heavy predecessor, the giddy heights of the first in the series aren’t reached here. (1990) 5
Ali (TV1, 8.30pm). Will Smith, in a break from headlining well-paid singing-and-action family-fare (see: Wild Wild West, Men in Black), tries showing his acting chops – and a seriously bulked-up physique – in this Muhammad Ali biopic. Given the scope of the boxer’s life (converting to Islam, refusing to be drafted for the Vietnam War, redefining heavyweight boxing), it was inevitable that some chapters would be glossed over – the movie veers into generic feel-good territory towards the end and neglects real-life struggles with Malcolm X and Don King. Despite the material (for a superb documentary on the famed “Rumble in the Jungle” see When We Were Kings), director Michael Mann manages to deliver only a messy win on points. (2001) 6
Flight 93 (Sky Movies, 8.30pm). Released at the same time as World Trade Center, this relentlessly faithful recreation of the flight that crashed into a field in Pennsylvania comes across as altogether more humane than Oliver Stone’s overwrought paean to patriotism. A cast of unknowns (some play themselves as they were involved on that fateful day) go through the motions of just another Tuesday morning – until a hijacking takes place and reports came in over cellphones that something terrible is going on. Sourced heavily from the 9/11 Commission Final Report, Flight 93 is officially described as “a creative work based on fact” and manages to show horrific reality while somehow still remaining tasteful. Director Paul Greengrass (who did similarly good work with Bloody Sunday) has made a masterclass in docudrama. (2006) 10
Sin City (TV2, 11.00pm). A series of interlocking and ultraviolent noir vignettes directed by pulp aficionado Robert Rodriguez. The stories are adapted from a series of comics by Frank Miller, the man who put graphic back into graphic novel with his reimagining of Batman as a sociopathic vigilante in The Dark Night Returns and the retelling (and subsequent film adaptation) of the battle of Thermopylae in 300. A gritty Bruce Willis and Mickey Rourke have fun being extremely hard-boiled, while Jessica Alba is perfectly cast writhing around a pole. The film is shot stylishly in black and white and primary colours, and Elijah Wood gleefully exorcises any memory of the cherubic Frodo Baggins by playing a bespectacled, cannibalistic serial killer. Dark, nasty, fun. (2005) 8
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 10
Meatballs (C4, 8.30pm). Canada’s answer to Animal House sees Bill Murray play head counsellor at a summer camp for misfits. The usual teen types predominate – the nerdy klutz, the fattie, the Lothario and the Barbies – but Variety thought the film was warmer and less cruel than its inspiration, writing: “Meatballs is without the usual grossness and cynicism of many contemporary comedy pix.” Then again, Meatballs might seem a little tame today – Variety was writing 15 years before the Farrelly brothers began perfecting the use of bodily fluids and humiliation as a comedic artform. (1979) 3
Dead Man Walking (MGM, 8.30pm). A superior, if crusading, take on the death penalty from noted liberal husband and wife duo Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon. Robbins wrote and directed. Sarandon plays a nun trying to help Sean Penn’s death-row killer find salvation. Scorning make-up for this role, she deservedly won the Oscar for best actress, and the wrenching, unflinching ending doesn’t pull any punches. Shawshank Redemption schmaltz this is not. (1995) 9
Outbreak (TV2, 11.25pm). Remember Ebola? Before SARS and avian flu, the disease du jour came from Africa and killed by liquefying internal organs rather than by tame sniffle and hacking cough. For this boilerplate thriller-monster flick, director Wolfgang Peterson tries gamely to latch the fear of new microbes onto a relationship drama between bickering doctors and ex-spouses played by Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo. Despite his efforts (Peterson worked miracles inside a submarine with Das Boot), this film contracts a minor fever of its own and overheats before merely spluttering along. (1995) 4
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 12
Bewitched (TV2, 8.30pm). Worth watching only to see the absurd casting of Nicole Kidman alongside Will Ferrell – which won the Razzie for Worst Screen Couple – and how poorly a fluffy 30-minute TV comedy series adapts to 100 minutes on the big screen. All toil and no bubble spells a film in trouble. (2005) 2
**THURSDAY FEBRUARY 14
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