The Weekly Retro Movie Rundown 143
Beermats and bottle tops! It's only the bloomin weekend already!
Heading out way to the local beer garden to enjoy some sweet evening sunshine, we'll enter the garden of Eden that soothes our end of week woes with spirits high as we search for the few remaining spots of sunshine to set up base camp for the evening.
We'll reminisce of stories past, get the latest with the dating gossip from the group or perhaps just end up discussing some of the weirdest and most wonderful topics imaginable before heading home and snuggling up on the sofa to catch some of the most retro cinematic wonder that was ever created.
Have a happy retro weekend!
SATURDAY 18th April
King Kong (1976) Film4 1:00pm-3:40pm (2 hours 40 minutes)
Oil prospectors travel to a recently discovered and remote Pacific island, where they encounter a gigantic gorilla. The men manage to capture the huge ape and bring it back to America - but the confused creature is terrified by events and escapes, wreaking havoc in New York. Remake of the classic 1933 fantasy adventure, with Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange and Charles Grodin.
Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001) ITV London 2:40pm-4:30pm (1 hour 50 minutes)
The Australian adventurer heads for the bright lights of LA with his wife and son - but it is not long before they become embroiled in a scheme to smuggle valuable paintings out of the former Yugoslavia. Comedy sequel, starring Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski, Jere Burns, Jonathan Banks and Serge Cockburn.
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) ITV2 3:30pm-5:20pm (1 hour 50 minutes)
Two dim-witted teenagers with dreams of rock stardom seem doomed to fail a school history project, unaware the future of the human race depends on their success. A time traveller is given the job of making sure they pass the test by sending them on a series of adventures in the past. Comedy, starring Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter and George Carlin.
Fun Fact: The phone booth time machine in the film was given away as a contest prize in Nintendo Power magazine, as the magazine was promoting a then-new Bill and Ted game for the NES.
Muppets from Space (1999) GOLD 4:10pm-6:00pm (1 hour 50 minutes)
Gonzo hits the road with pal Rizzo in tow and goes in search of his roots - only to make the amazing discovery that his parents belonged to a race of aliens. He then has to choose whether to board a UFO and return to his family, or stay with the friends he knows and loves. Family comedy, with F Murray Abraham, David Arquette, Ray Liotta, Andie MacDowell and Rob Schneider alongside the puppets.
Apollo 13 (1995) ITV2 6:30pm-9:15pm (2 hours 45 minutes)
Fact-based drama about the ill-fated 1970 Apollo 13 mission to the moon. Crew leader Jim Lovell is faced with a nightmare when the mission suffers an on-board explosion - leaving the team stranded in space with a dwindling oxygen supply while flight controllers and engineers in Houston try to find a way to bring the crew safely back to Earth. With Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Ed Harris and Gary Sinise.
The Fugitive (1993) 5USA 9:00pm-11:40pm (2 hours 40 minutes)
A doctor is convicted of his wife's murder and forced to go on the run to prove his innocence - but his efforts to find the mysterious one-armed man he believes is the real killer are hampered by a tenacious US marshal. Thriller, starring Harrison Ford, an Oscar-winning Tommy Lee Jones, Sela Ward, Julianne Moore and Joe Pantoliano.
Red Heat (1988) ITV London 10:15pm-12:10am (1 hour 55 minutes)
A Russian detective travels to America to oversee the extradition of a Georgian drug baron responsible for supplying cocaine in Moscow. He is teamed up with a hostile Chicago cop, but when their prisoner kills an officer and escapes, they put aside their mutual mistrust to bring him to justice. Action thriller, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Belushi, Peter Boyle, Laurence Fishburne and Ed O'Ross.
SUNDAY 19th April
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When Harry Met Sally (1989) Zing 5:00pm-5:30pm (30 minutes)
A man and a woman with different attitudes to life meet by chance and develop a close and long-lasting friendship. But over time, a mutual sexual attraction begins to develop and threatens to ruin their relationship - raising the question whether men and women can ever really be just friends. Romantic comedy, starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan.
Beetlejuice (1988) 5* 5:05pm-7:00pm (1 hour 55 minutes)
Recently deceased couple Adam and Barbara Maitland enlist the professional services of a hard-boiled veteran ghost to scare away the obnoxious yuppie family who have moved into their former home. Tim Burton's supernatural comedy, starring Michael Keaton, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, Winona Ryder, Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O'Hara.
Pocahontas (1995) Channel 5 5:40pm-7:15pm (1 hour 35 minutes)
A Native American princess falls in love with an English settler, but her father is distrustful of the Europeans - not without just cause, as a cruel governor is prepared to wage war to get his hands on the gold he believes they are hiding. Disney animated drama, with the voices of Irene Bedard, Mel Gibson and Christian Bale.
Jaws (1975) Sky Movies Sci-fi/Horror HD 6:45pm-9:00pm (2 hours 15 minutes)
A New England seaside town's tourist season is turned into a nightmare by a giant killer shark. The local police chief's efforts to protect the public are thwarted by the greedy mayor, forcing him to join forces with a grizzled fisherman and a marine biologist to hunt and kill the monster predator. Steven Spielberg's thriller, starring Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw.
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) Channel 5 7:20pm-9:00pm (1 hour 40 minutes)
An eccentric but brilliant former cop sets himself up to champion the underdog - as a private eye specialising in locating missing animals. The zany detective is called in to find a kidnapped dolphin - the mascot of an American football team - and uncovers a plot involving high-level police corruption. Comedy, starring Jim Carrey, Courteney Cox, Sean Young, Tone Loc and Noble Willingham.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) BBC3 8:10pm-10:00pm (1 hour 50 minutes)
The intrepid archaeologist, with his young sidekick and a nightclub singer in tow, is stranded in India, where he takes on a mission to recover magical sacred stones from the hands of an evil cult engaged in human sacrifice and child slavery. Steven Spielberg's action adventure, starring Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan and Amrish Puri.
Fun Fact #1: The rope bridge used during the final fight scene was actually suspended up a couple of hundred feet across a gorge on location in Sri Lanka. Acrophobic Steven Spielberg would never walk over it, and had to drive a mile and a half to reach the other side. Harrison Ford on the other hand had no such fear, and would run across it at full speed.
Fun Fact #2: D.R. Nanayakkara, cast as the Indian village Shaman, did not speak a word of English. He delivered his lines phonetically by mimicking Steven Spielberg who was prompting him off camera. The pauses in his dialogue were therefore not for dramatic effect, but rather waiting for his next line.
The Mask (1994) Sky Movies Family HD 9:50pm-11:40pm (1 hour 50 minutes)
A timid bank clerk stumbles on an ancient mask, which endows whoever wears it with untold superhuman powers, unbridled self-confidence and an irresistible charm for the ladies. Unfortunately, he earns the enmity of a local gangster for daring to flirt with his girlfriend - and when the crook gets wind of the artefact's existence, he covets the power for himself. Comic-book comedy, with Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz, Peter Riegert and Peter Greene.
Whatever you're up to this weekend, remember to always give a lucky tap and to shut all the windows before you leave the house.
xoxo