The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 50

16 Thursday 13 August 1987 5-f IlSl hypnotic as the photography and the direction by Richard Fleischer. John Hurt plays the naive, loudmouthed young man who is framed by Christie for the murder of his wife and is wrongly hanged, a case which saw the end of capital punishment in Britain. This was one of nun earuesi screen roies, ana oe is outstanding. A real-life late-night blood-curdler. FRIDAY Aahanti (1979) Adventure, Michael Caine (Channel 9, 8.30pm).

Mosquito Squ (1969) Drama, David 'm (Channel 1 0, 8.30pm). -Man of Iron Polish drama, Jerzy Radziwilc (SBS, 9.30pm). Fanny By Gaslight (1944) Drama-, James Mason, (Channel 10, The Dark Angel (1935) Drama, Fredric March, (Channel 2, 11.35pm). SATURDAY i I Was A Male War Bride (1949) -Comedy. Cary Grant, (Channel Thunder Birds (1942) Drama, Gene Tierney (Channel 10, 10.3Cpm).

My Dearest Son (1985) Italian drama, Ben Gazzara (SBS, 9.30pm). TUESDAY The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) Adventure, Roger Moore (Channel 10, 8.30pm). Teresa Venerdi (1941) Italian comedy, Vittorio de Sica (SBS, 9.30pm). WSDMSSaAY The Star Chamber (1983) Drama, Michael Douglas (Channel 9, 8.30pm).: THURSDAY The Buffoon Greek comedy, Sotiris Moustakas (SBS, 9.30pm). Denotes films claimed by channels to be TV premieres.

SU'jDAY Breathless (1983) Adventure, -Richard Gere (Channel 2, 8.30pm). True Confessions (1981) Drama, Robert De Niro (Channel 7, 8.30pm). National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) Comedy. Chevy Chase (Channel 9, An Officer And A Gentleman (1982) Drama, Richard Gere (Channel 10, 830pm). The Black Cat (1934) Horror, Boris Karloff, (Channel 7, 10.35pm).

MONDAY AH The Right Moves (1983) Drama, Tom Cruise (Channel 10, 8.30pm). Cast-iron history Judging the judges MAN OF IRON (Polish) SBS, 9.30pm. Friday THOSE who endured the unquestionably wormy, if undeniably grinding and lengthy, Man Of Marhl Incr wwk ran cir Hnrtr anil work through this sequel of sorts. It is certainly a rewarding film for those willing to put in an effort in following the tale of a Journalist fMarinn OnnnlnA whn is ranohr Funny chase portrayal of an angry, emotionally withdrawn young man in search of a purpose didn't even rate an Oscar nomination is a mystery. Debra Winger, however, did get a nod, and Louis Gossett Junior picked up a doorstop for his excellent, lovable performance as the cllched tough army sergeant with the heart of gold.

fast, fast living take precedence, he makes the mistake of killing a cop, which dents his glorious two-dimensional character with a disturbing note of conscience. Ultra-fast in places, drenched with symbolism and visually striking. Breathless is a highly charged, highly sexed and highly entertaining fable about a guy who desperately wants to live a myth but finds reality intruding. The moral of the story, however, is left to you, depending on your response to the film's final freeze-frame. Does it come at just the right time, or is it five seconds too early? j- between his obligations to the UB (the Polish KGB), which is blackmailing him, and his sympathies for the growing Solidarity movement The film details the birth of Solidarity with the help of original footage and a special guest appearance by Solidarity superstar Lech Walesa as it follows the continuing struggle for workers' rights by the son of the bricklaying hero in Marble.

The film is some 150 minutes long and needs some attention to be properly appreciated. Cruise on the ball NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION Channel 9, 8.30pm, Sunday fi SURPRISINGLY funny Chevy fA Chase vehicle, worthy of a repeat viewing for those who like their comedy with a decent smattering of satire and slapstick. Chase and his far-from-perfect nuclear family take to the road on hoUday and encounter all manner of mishaps, including bad neighborhoods, intense motorcycle cops and seductive young women. Not a riot, but it is consistent laugh generously spiced with some fine visual gags, like when the camera catches Chase asleep at the wheel. THE STAR CHAMBER Channel 9, 8.30pm, Wednesday.

yNQUESTIONABLY one of the most remarkable American films made in the last 10 years, and also one of the most overlooked and misunderstood. It bravely takes1 the Dirty Harry Charles Bronson formula of dealing with criminals and puts it under a sharply focused moral microscope. It may take a little effort to get into it, but once you do, you'll be hooked. The intriguing premise involves a group of judges who are so frustrated by the legal technicalities that allow criminals to go free that they form their own committee (The Star Chamber) where they re-try cases in the comfort of their lounge-rooms, bring down a verdict and then hire an assassin to carry out the death sentence. While co-writerdirector Peter Hyams makes sure there is enough gunplay and movement to satisfy action fans, he cleverly manipulates the viewer's sympathies and prompts us to question the Justice of what is going on.

Unlike the Dirty Harry Bronson films, the moral battles in the film are more complex than "good guy versus bad guy" and Hyams skilfully gets us to side with one point-of-view, only to turn it on its head. Despite its "heavy" themes, the film moves at an appreciable pace and is blessed with an unusually dedicated cast, including Michael Douglas (who also produced), Hal Holbrook and Yaphet Kotto, who has one of the most compelling black faces around. Wasted stars Daddy on drugs Well worth five stars ALL THE RIGHT MOVES Channel 10, 8.30pm, Monday APPARENTLY there are some towns in America which are so small that they have only two things that give them identity: a key industry and football. Tom Cruise is part of such a town in this modest but stirring film about a kid who wants nothing more than a shot at the outside world. The claustrophobic atmosphere of smalltown America is convincingly portrayed, both dramatically and symbolically.

Cruise is in fine form as the black sheep needs a football scholarship to get into college and avoid spending the rest of his Ufe in the local mill, like his dad. But the crux of the film is the superb performance by Craig Nelson as the football coach, the most powerful man in the town who holds Cruise's future in his hands. TRUE CONFESSIONS Channel 7, 8.30pm, Sunday IMfHAT should have been a I I piece of cinematic dynamite, boasting two great performances from Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall, two of the greatest actors of the day, turns out to be a wet firecracker with no wick. Based on a crimemystery novel by John Gregory Dunne, it is set in the 1940s and involves property developers and money-conscious priests with more on their minds than saving souls. The film is.

a major disappointment and Dunne, as co-screenwriter, must take some of the blame but not as much as UIu Grosbard for his limp direction and the two stars for their uninspired contributions, i There is nothing all that interesting about the film's central mystery, which encompasses a priest who dies while shedding his dog-collar in a brothel and the murder of a prostitute who was divided in two by her killer. Duvall does occasionally shine as the tough, 1940s hard-nosed, hard-talking cop, but De Niro's cool, business-hip priest is thoroughly ordinary. What a waste. MY DEAREST SON (Italian) SBS, 9.30pm, Monday Bf HAT starts out as a sermon I I about the dangers of drug Wi abuse quickly turns into a mildly involving drama about a father-son relationship. A famous wealthy Italian lawyer (Ben Ga-zarra) is shocked to discover his son (Sergio Rubini strgwn, euf on the street while strung "out on heroin.

He practically gives up his legal practice to get his boy off the stuff with his own withdrawal program, but it does little good, especially as his girlfriend (Valeria Golino) is just as keen for it So he adopts a new strategy: rather than getting his son to go "cold he goes "hot turkey" by taking heroin himself! He succeeds in helping shock his son on to the right track but finds his moral resolve can't prevent his own -addiction. While the film occasionally gets mushy, it is generally a frank and realistic portrait of the nastiness of addiction, of dealing with pushers and of thrusting a needle into your vein. Gere in high gear AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN Channel 10, 8.30pm, Sunday THERE'S no hiding the old-fashioned melodrama or the right-wing sentiments of this fairly basic tale of love, lust and emotional manipulation set in an American naval aviation officer training school. But there's also no denying that what could have been indigestible corn is turned into a dramatic dynamo by a cast which gives its all, and then some. The story is so structured that, once the relationships between characters are established, a narra- tlve momentum develops that escalates solidly for some two hours.

Sure, it follows a fairly traditional and predictable pattern, but, boy, is it engrossing! This is still Richard Gere's best film and will probably, remain so, judging by the way his choice of roles since have sort done the S-bend shuffle. How his Chiller killer BREATHLESS Channel 2, 8.30pm, Sunday 10 RILLINGTON PLACE Channel 9, 12.15am, Thursday IITH adrenalin for blood, and living out of Silver Surfer comics while singing Jerry CHILLING account of the infamous Christie murders, with Richard Attenboroueh Lee Lewis songs, Richard Gere steals a car in Las Vegas and heads for his beautiful French girlfriend (Valerie Kaprinsky). Loving his lifestyle, in which fun, fantasy and putting in a spellbinding performance as the deranged, necrophilic kiDer that is every bit as cold and 4 -M WEEK COMMENCING: 13 AUGUST 1987 i LAST WEEKS WEEK ALBUMS CHART SINGLES CHART LAST WEEKS WEEK KySeMnogue Angry Anderson George Michael Parry Boys 4 4 7 9 7 12 isel 3 6 2 3 8 4 6 11 7 16 14 17 10 9 23 13 Mel Kim Icrjhpinn Paul Carrack BobSeger BobSeger GinoVanneK Pet Shop Boys Carol Hitchcock Swing Out Sister 9. 10. 11.

12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

17. -sr Fatback Trade in your old LP vinyl records on CD's and Get $3.00 ott the CD's of your choice at VIDEO UPDATE. Prices on CD's start at $14.99 12 13 15 11 1. SLIPPER WHEN WET BonJovi 1 23 2. ELTON JOHN UVEM AUSTRALIA WITH THE MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA EltonJohn 3 4 3.

CflOWDED HOUSE Crowded House 2 41 4. FJJM. 5 9 5. WHISPERING JACK JohnFamham 6 41 6. WMTNEY Whitney Houston 4 9 7.

BAD AMMALS Heart 9 3 8. THE BIG CULL Soundtrack 10 4 9. NOSEWORKS Noiieworta 7 8 10. SOUTUDE STANWNG Suzanne Vega 12 6 11. THE JOSHUA TREE U2 8 22 12.

KISS ME. KISS ME. KISS ME The Cunt 11 7 13. SO Peter Gabriel 16 28 14. STRONG PERSUADER Robert Cray Band 17 16 18.

FAMOUS BLUE RAMCOAT Jennifer Warms 28 2 16. BODY AND SOUL Jenny Morris 23 3 17. BEVERLY HUS COP Soundtrack 14 5 18. TANGO THE MGHT Fleetwood Mac IS 16 19. GRACELAND Paul Simon 13 43 20.

CROSSROADS Soundtrack 24 3 21. RADIO RogerWatara 21 3 22. IT'S BETTER TO TRAVEL Swing Out Sister 20 6 23. MOUTH TO MOUTH Meittal As Ailything 29 2 24. GIRLS.

GIRLS. GIRLS Motley Crue 18 7 26. MEN AND WOMEN SimptyRed 22 21 26. BREAKFAST CLUB Braakttst CU 19 8 27. NO FROTECnON StarsNp 1 28.

PHANTOM OF THE OFERA Original Cast 27 14 29. UVEM THE CITY OF LIGHTS SrnpleMMs 25 10 30. WHPLASHSMLE Bay Idol (Tie entry) 22 LOCOMOTION SUDDENLY I WANT YOUR SEX HE'S GONNA STEP ON YOU AGAIN ALONE RESPECTABLE -CRAZY WHEN YOU WALK THE ROOM SHAKEDOWN OLD TIME ROCK ROLL WU) HORSES ITS A SIN GET READY- BREAKOUT WHO'S THAT GRL BUS STOP I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY (WHO LOVES ME) RIGHT ON TRACK HE'S JUST NO GOOD FOR YOU REET PETITE SALLY FRIDAY ON MY MMO -NOTHING'S GONNA STOP US NOW SEVEN WONDERS -WANTED DEAD OR AUVE WHY CANT I BE YOU -LIVING DAYLIGHTS -TAKE ME BACK -CALUNG YOUR NAME SLICE OF HEAVEN NOTHING'S GONNA STOP ME NOW GIRLS. GIRLS, GIRLS I JUST CAN'T STOP LOVING YOU UJKA LIVING MA BOX LOVE AND DEVOTION SWEET SIXTEEN YOU I KNOW FALL OF ROME SOMETHING SO STRONG 3 11 5 5 24 18 21 27 Whitney Houston BrsakfastOub Mental As Anythwig Jackie Wison Carmel Gary Moore Starahip Fleetwood Mac BonJovi The Cur 19 15 35 2 A-Ha 18. 19.

20. 21. 22. 23. 24.

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30. 31- 32. .33. 34. 35.

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22 20 38 25 36 -26 23 32 12 9 2 12 2 15 6 3 1 1 i DsveOobbvn Samantha Fox Motley Crue Michael Jackson 28 7 REALLY DO HAVE THE CD'S AND MOVIES YOU WANT, WHEN YOU WANT THEM. HAWTHORN: 88 BurwrodBd; KEW: 2 Cbtham Road MITCHAM: 520 Whitehoisc Rd; PRAHRAN: 242 C3apel Street Suzanne Vega Living in A Box Michael Bow By Idol Jonny Mont eJaWTMS Rsyns Crowdod nouw 30 13 31 10 1 1 34 8 -J FVU796.