Mon, Oct 3, 1988
Midnight Run - Robert De Niro brings his acting skills to comedy. He plays a gruff ex-cop and bounty hunter who's paired with straight man Charles Grodin. The two guys, who can't stand each other, are stuck together for the duration of a journey neither of them wants to be on. 18 Again - 92-year-old George Burns plays 81-year-old Jack Watson whose birthday wish to be 18 again is granted when he wakes up in his grandson's body, while his own body remains unconscious in hospital after an accident. 18 Again is one of a number of role-reversal films coming out of Hollywood at the moment, replacing the craze for baby films. The most successful of these is Big, the surprise hit of the summer in America. Tom Brook reports on this trend and interviews Tom Hanks, star of Big.
Mon, Oct 10, 1988
Barry Norman presents his personal review of the week's cinema releases. A Fish Called Wanda (1988) is the film that has made John Cleese a star in America. It's a black comedy directed by Charles Crichton, veteran of the Ealing comedies. Cleese wrote the script and leads the cast which includes Michael Palin, Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis and Maria Aitken. Licence to Kill (1989) - the new James Bond movie is currently in production. Timothy Dalton plays 007 for the second time and is surrounded by the usual bevy of women. Tom Brook visited the set in the Florida Keys. The ageless spy has survived a film career of over a quarter of a century, three actors and countless lady friends. Tom Brook investigates the enduring popularity of a film phenomenon.
Mon, Nov 21, 1988
Bird - Clint Eastwood directs the true story of the late jazz great Charlie Parker. He died at the age of 33. Although acknowledged as a supreme saxophonist, his life off-stage had him constantly wrestling with his demons - drugs, alcohol and a taste for women. Scrooged - This is a modern-day version of A Christmas Carol in which Bill Murray of Ghostbusters fame plays the president of a TV station who exploits the Christmas festivities to boost his ratings.
Tue, Nov 29, 1988
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) - Bob Hoskins shares the screen with an array of cartoon characters in a technically brilliant combination of live action and animation. British animator Richard Williams led the huge team of animators and Robert Zemeckis directs. Apprentice to Murder (1988) - Donald Sutherland stars as a country 'doctor' who practices medieval magic and becomes the object of fascination for a young boy.
Tue, Dec 6, 1988
Willow (1988) is a medieval fantasy with a cast of a baby princess, an evil queen, trolls, fairies, little people, sorcerers and a community of midgets. Jean Marsh plays the wicked queen who makes it her mission to ensure that the baby Princess Elora Danan never ascends to her throne. George Lucas produces and Ron Howard directs. High Spirits (1988) is a supernatural comedy in which Peter O'Toole stars as the seedy owner of a rundown castle in Ireland. He promotes the place as a haunted paradise, attracting much needed cash from American tourists including Steve Guttenberg and Beverley D'Angelo. The result is a ghostly mayhem.
Mon, Dec 12, 1988
Sunset (1988) - Twenties cowboy star Tom Mix and Wyatt Earp are teamed up to solve an actual murder case. Bruce Willis and James Garner star in this fictional pairing of real-life characters. Blake Edwards directs. Like Father Like Son (1987) - The latest in the current spate of role reversal films - Dudley Moore, as a stuffy British surgeon, finds himself in the body of his loud-mouthed teenage son, as a result of taking a dose of brain transference serum.
Tue, Dec 20, 1988
The Michael Jackson film, Moonwalker, opens on Boxing Day and might provide you with your post-Christmas entertainment. Barry Norman reviews it and looks forward to the movies opening in the New Year: including David Cronenberg's latest shocker, Dead Ringers, starring Jeremy Irons; and Young Guns, a western loaded with Brat Packers including Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez and Kiefer Sutherland.
Fri, Dec 30, 1988
A personal choice by Barry Norman. As the year draws to a close, Barry Norman reflects on 1988s outstanding releases and chooses his ten favourite films. The year began with Fatal Attraction (1987) and ends with Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). In between, there were about 250 films, including The Last Emperor (1987), Three Men and a Baby (1987), Wall Street (1987) and A Fish Called Wanda (1988). Which would you choose? He also picks out the corniest moments from the movies, the ones you love to hate; and a look back at the memorable events of the cinematic year.
Tue, Apr 18, 1989
The Tall Guy (1989) - television comedian Mel Smith makes his directorial debut with a comic love story starring Jeff Goldblum, Rowan Atkinson and Emma Thompson. Charlie Chaplin was born in London 100 years ago this week. In honour of the occasion the Museum of the Moving Image is mounting a special exhibition and there are screenings of his masterpiece City Lights (1931), accompanied by a full orchestra playing the score written by Chaplin himself. Film 89 joins the celebration of a cinema genius.
Tue, May 9, 1989
Her Alibi (1989) - Tom Selleck is a best-selling author with writer's block. He stumbles across a beautiful runaway woman, Paulina Porizkova, who is on a charge of murder and, sensing a story that might provide him with his next bestseller, gives her a false alibi. Innocent Victim (1989) - this is based on a psychological thriller written by Ruth Rendell and stars Lauren Bacall as a mentally unstable woman who steals a child in order to replace her dead grandson. Cocoon: The Return (1988) - is the sequel to the senior folks fantasy. Tom Brook reports.
Tue, Jun 20, 1989
Barry Norman presents his review of the week's releases. Married to the Mob: Michelle Pfeiffer tries to escape the mob's clutches, after her husband is murdered by Mafia boss Dean Stockwell. The last programme of this series looks ahead at the films opening in the summer which include Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Woody Allen's Another Woman and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin.