The Weekly Retro Movie Rundown 150
Sky at night! Is it really the weekend so soon?
Like a keen and excitable amateur astronomer heading out into the dark evening, we're fully prepared for a night with the stars. With more gear than we could possible need, we waste no time in setting up our trusty telescope and aiming it at the vast and infinite universe as we begin to peer through the sights and gasp at what awaits us. Like rewatching old movies, we're peering back in time at some of the biggest stars we've ever seen and wonder just what else could be out there, what events have we missed and of course....are we alone?
Have a happy retro weekend!
SATURDAY 6th June
.
Beethoven's 2nd (1993) ITV2 12:30pm-2:15pm (1 hour 45 minutes)
The slobbering St Bernard is now grown up and in love with his beautiful sweetheart Missy. Together they bring a litter of puppies into the world - but have to go on the defensive when Missy's owner, the evil Regina, sets out to steal them for herself. Comedy sequel, starring Charles Grodin, Bonnie Hunt, Chris Penn, Nicholle Tom and Christopher Castle.
Superman (1978) 5USA 12:55pm-3:40pm (2 hours 45 minutes)
A fledgling superhero crash-lands on Earth after evacuation from his home planet and is taken in by an elderly couple who raise him as their own. But with adolescence comes a greater understanding of his superhuman powers, leading to his rebirth as a crusader for justice and defender of the American way of life. Comic-strip adventure, with Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder and Marlon Brando.
Clueless (1995) E4 3:00pm-5:00pm (2 hours)
A rich high-school student uses all her charm and financial clout to boost an awkward new pupil's image, but soon finds she has created a monster - while her own popularity suffers in the process. Comedy inspired by Jane Austen's Emma, starring Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy and Paul Rudd.
The Borrowers (1997) 5* 4:05pm-5:50pm (1 hour 45 minutes)
A family of four-inch-high people living beneath the floorboards of an ordinary human home help the owner's son fight back when a dastardly lawyer plans to demolish the house and make way for a luxury apartment block. Children's fantasy, starring John Goodman, Jim Broadbent, Celia Imrie, Flora Newbigin and Tom Felton.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) ITV2 7:25pm-10:00pm (2 hours 35 minutes)
Scientist Dr Ian Malcolm reluctantly joins a research team on the island where his employer first designed genetically engineered dinosaurs. Meanwhile, a big-game hunter takes the chance to bag the biggest prize of all - a Tyrannosaurus rex. Steven Spielberg's dinosaur adventure sequel, starring Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Pete Postlethwaite and Richard Attenborough.
Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) Sky1 10:00pm-12:30am (2 hours 30 minutes)
New York cop John McClane returns to duty following an explosion at a department store in the city. The perpetrator contacts the police and tells them that unless McClane and an unfortunate bystander who was in the wrong place at the wrong time carry out a series of instructions to the letter, more bombs will be detonated. Action thriller sequel, starring Bruce Willis, Samuel L Jackson and Jeremy Irons.
Fun Fact: The sandwich board that Bruce Willis wore while filming in Harlem was originally blank, rather than text, to ensure no one was offended by the racist message. The text was added with CGI in post-production.
SUNDAY 7th June
.
Explorers (1985) Film4 1:00pm-3:15pm (2 hours 15 minutes)
Three boys build an interplanetary craft and go in search of the source of a signal from outer space. However, the aliens responsible are not what the young astronauts expected them to be. Sci-fi adventure, starring Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, Jason Presson, Dick Miller, James Cromwell, and Robert Picardo in three roles.
Beauty and the Beast (1991) Sky Movies Disney HD 4:20pm-5:50pm (1 hour 30 minutes)
A bookish woman agrees to take her father's place as prisoner of a fearsome monster living in a castle deep in the forest. She gradually grows to see a gentler, more human side to her hideous host, and comes to realise she may be able to break the curse that turned him into a beast in the first place. Disney animated fantasy, with the voices of Paige O'Hara and Robby Benson.
Beauty and the Beast Merchandise
Jurassic Park III (2001) ITV2 4:30pm-6:15pm (1 hour 45 minutes)
Palaeontologist Dr Alan Grant is lured to a dinosaur-infested island by a divorced couple who offer to fund his research, unaware their real motive is to find their missing son - and that the creatures on the island are far more intelligent than anyone suspected. Action adventure sequel, starring Sam Neill, William H Macy, Tea Leoni and Alessandro Nivola.
Predator (1987) Sky Movies Action & Adventure HD 7:10pm-9:00pm (1 hour 50 minutes)
An elite military team on a top-secret mission in the jungles of Central America encounters a merciless alien hunter, which starts to pick the commandos off one by one. Sci-fi thriller, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Bill Duke, Sonny Landham, Jesse Ventura and Shane Black.
The Simpsons Movie (2007) E4 8:00pm-9:45pm (1 hour 45 minutes)
Homer unwittingly pollutes Lake Springfield, so the US government decides to isolate the city underneath a giant dome. The Simpsons manage to escape and plan to start a new life in Alaska - but learn Springfield is about to be destroyed, and return to save their friends. With the voices of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith.
The Shining (1980) Sky Movies Select HD 10:05pm-12:10am (2 hours 5 minutes)
An aspiring writer takes a caretaking job at a remote mountain hotel. It has closed for the winter, and he has been hired to get the place ready for the next season. But evil spirits haunting its corridors destroy his sanity, causing the unhinged author to rampage through the hotel and terrorise his wife and young son. Stanley Kubrick's horror, based on the Stephen King novel, with Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd and Scatman Crothers.
Commando (1985) Sky Movies Action & Adventure HD 11:25pm-1:05am (1 hour 40 minutes)
The daughter of retired special forces officer John Matrix is kidnapped by an old comrade-in-arms, now in league with a deposed former dictator. The tyrant plans to use the girl to force Matrix into assassinating the head of the country he once ruled, but is unprepared for the lengths to which the veteran soldier will go to rescue his child. Action adventure, with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rae Dawn Chong.
Fun Fact: Martial arts expert and fight choreographer Michael M. Vendrell worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger on the film and by the end of production, Vendrell estimated that Schwarzenegger had become a second degree black belt. WOW!
Whatever you're up to this weekend, don't forget the suncream and remember that there's nothing odd about odd socks.
xoxo