Monday 25th June
11:00
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (Film)
Nominated for five Oscars, Michael Curtiz's lush historical drama stars Bette Davis as Queen Elizabeth I, with Errol Flynn as one of her favourites, the Earl of Essex. She is infatuated with him but is also aware he has designs on her throne. Essex, while not immune to her charms, has a roving eye which encourages Lady Penelope Gray, only for her hopes to be dashed. Donald Crisp plays Francis Bacon, friend to both the Queen and the Earl while among those plotting Essex's downfall are Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Robert Cecil.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Starring: Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Donald Crisp, Alan Hale Jr., Vincent Price
(Subtitles, 1939, U, 3 Star)
13:05
Pony Express (Film)
Jerry Hopper's all-action western stars Charlton Heston as Buffalo Bill Cody, and Forrest Tucker as Wild Bill Hickock, who set up the legendary Pony Express mail route. But when Rance and Evelyn Hastings and stagecoach owner Joe Cooper plot to split California from the union, the two Bills are forced to intervene to save their new business.
Director: Jerry Hopper
Starring: Charlton Heston, Rhonda Fleming, Jan Sterling, Forrest Tucker, Michael Thomas Moore, Porter Hall
(Subtitles, 1953, U, 3 Star)
15:05
Desk Set (Film)
The eighth Spencer Tracy/Katharine Hepburn collaboration, directed by Walter Lang, stars Tracy as Richard Sumner, a computer inventor hired by a TV company to modernise their research library, run by Bunny Watson. He must work in secret, but Bunny and her staff soon cotton on to what's going on and start fearing for their jobs. As Bunny tries to wheedle information from Richard, their relationship blossoms but what will happen when the big day arrives and the machine is turned on?
Director: Walter Lang
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Gig Young, Joan Blondell, Dina Merrill, Sue Randall
(Subtitles, 1957, U, 4 Star)
17:10
20 Million Miles to Earth (Film)
A US army rocketship, returning from an exploratory flight to Venus, crashes into the sea off Sicily and only Colonel Calder survives. A sealed container from the wreck is opened by zoologist Dr Leonardo and his granddaughter Marisa, whereupon a gelatinous mass inside turns into a clawed monster that doubles in size overnight and escapes, with horrific consequences.
Director: Nathan Juran
Starring: William Hopper, Joan Taylor, Frank Puglia, John Zaremba, Thomas Browne Henry, Tito Vuolo
(Subtitles, Black and White, 1957, PG, 3 Star)
18:50
Coco Before Chanel (Film)
Audrey Tautou stars in the title role of Anne Fontaine's biopic of the hugely influential French fashion designer Coco Chanel. Fontaine begins her telling of Gabrielle Chanel's life at the moment she and her sister Adrienne are dropped off, aged around 12 and following their mother's death, at a convent-run orphanage; she continues tracing the Chanel story, as suggested by the title, through to the 1920s, just before Coco becomes the fashion phenomenon she is remembered as today. After their time at the orphanage, the sisters find themselves struggling to make their name as entertainers in a local music hall, where Gabrielle picks up her nickname, Coco.
Director: Anne Fontaine
Starring: Audrey Tautou, Benoît Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola, Marie Gillain, Emmanuelle Devos, Régis Royer
(Editor's Choice, Subtitles, Subtitled, In French with English Subtitles, Edited for Language, Widescreen, 2009, 12, 3 Star)
21:00
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Film)
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie star in Doug Liman's all-action thriller as an apparently typical suburban couple, attending marriage counselling in an attempt to reignite their relationship. What neither of them knows is that the other is a highly skilled assassin; until they each get a call for their next job. Accidentally double-booked, they both discover the truth about their spouse's secret existence and are now in danger, not only from their respective organisations, but also from each other. But it's amazing what the frisson of danger can do for a jaded marriage... As well as becoming an off-screen item during filming, Pitt and Jolie play a believable couple on screen, bickering through the mayhem and looking like they actually had fun making the film.
Director: Doug Liman
Starring: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vince Vaughn, Adam Brody, Kerry Washington, Keith David
(Widescreen, Subtitles, Audio Described, 2005, 15, 3 Star)
23:20
After the Sunset (Film)
Pierce Brosnan plays top jewel thief Max Burdett, with Salma Hayek as his accomplice and moll, Lola Cirillo, in Brett Ratner's smart comedy-caper. Having pulled off the big heist, and embarrassing FBI man Stan Lloyd into the bargain, Burdett and Cirillo retire to the Bahamas. But the arrival of a yacht whose owner also possesses a prize diamond might just tempt them to come out of retirement. However, Lloyd has followed the thieving duo, determined to get his own back.
Director: Brett Ratner
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson, Don Cheadle, Naomie Harris, Chris Penn
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2004, 12, 3 Star)
01:10
Little Fish (Film)
Cate Blanchett plays Tracy Heart, an ex-drug addict looking to go straight running her own video shop in Sydney's Little Saigon district. As well as raising the necessary money, she has to escape the grip of her addicted stepfather Lionel Dawson and his lover, crime boss Brad Thompson, and decide if her ex-boyfriend Jonny really has gone straight or is planning to slip back into a life of dealing. Rowan Woods' film concentrates on Tracy and her struggle to escape her past life, but adds in a gripping subplot, as Jonny tries to make one last big score against dangerous odds.
Director: Rowan Woods
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Sam Neill, Hugo Weaving, Martin Henderson, Noni Hazlehurst, Dustin Nguyen
(Widescreen, Subtitles, 2005, 15, 3 Star)
