Throng

film of the week: gothika

This week’s top film stars Oscar-winner Halle Berry (‘X-Men’, ‘Monster’s Ball’) as Miranda Grey, a criminal psychiatrist who wakes up to find herself a patient in her own institution. She has been convicted of the murder of her husband Doug (Charles S Dutton, ‘House’, ‘The L Word’) but has only fragmented memories of the crime. As Miranda digs deeper into Doug’s past, she is contacted by the ghost of a child who seems to be trying to send her a message. Haunted by terrifying images, she discovers that the key to her sanity may lie with a fellow inmate, Chloe (Penélope Cruz, ‘Volver’, ‘Vanilla Sky’). Gothika was the American debut of French filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz, who directed the acclaimed ‘La Haine’. The film also stars Robert Downey Jr (‘Zodiac’, ‘Chaplin’).

saturday 27

wild heritage (1958)

Western adventure about two pioneer families who meet up while heading west and proceed to share tragedy and romance. They start a new life on their homesteads, but are soon troubled by a pair of ruthless gunslingers.

Director Charles F Haas
Starring Will Rogers Jr, Maureen O'Sullivan, Rod McKuen

gunfight in abilene (1967)

Sixties crooner Bobby Darin, who also wrote the music for this western, takes to the saddle as a soldier returning from the American Civil War, only to find more unrest and violence in his home town. Leslie Nielsen (‘The Naked Gun’) co-stars in one of his earlier straight roles as the local cattle baron.

Director William Hale
Starring Bobby Darin, Emily Banks, Leslie Nielsen

my dog skip (2000)

Sentimental comedy drama set in 1940s America about a shy lad (Frankie Muniz, ‘Malcolm in the Middle’) and the pet dog who helps him make friends. When a bookish youngster’s only friend is called up for military service, his mother decides to get him a pet. The intelligent terrier gets his owner into all sorts of scrapes and gradually begins to transform the boy’s life. With Kevin Bacon (‘Mystic River’) and Luke Wilson (‘Old School’).

Director Jay Russell
Starring Frankie Muniz, Kevin Bacon, Diane Lane, Luke Wilson

sunday 28

matilda (1996)

Black comedy based on Roald Dahl’s novel about a young girl with magical powers. Matilda’s parents send her to a prison-like boarding school where the fearsome headmistress makes Matilda’s life even more of a misery. There she discovers her magical abilities and sets out to get even with the grown-ups who have mistreated her. Starring Danny DeVito (‘Get Shorty’) and Rhea Perlman (‘Cheers’).

Director Danny DeVito
Starring Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Embeth Davidtz, Mara Wilson

radio (2003)

True-life drama about a high school football coach (Ed Harris) who befriends a mentally challenged man (Cuba Gooding Jr). In 1970s South Carolina, a coach defends a man with learning difficulties from abuse by his players. Forging a friendship that lasts decades, he helps change the shy, retiring man into a beloved member of the community.

Director Michael Tollin
Starring Cuba Gooding Jr, Ed Harris, Riley Smith

the ninth gate (1999)

Supernatural thriller about a sleazy book dealer (Johnny Depp) endeavouring to locate a rare occult work. The dealer is hired by a wealthy bibliophile to locate the two remaining copies of a 17th-century book entitled ‘The Nine Gates to the Kingdom of Shadows’. As he travels from New York to Madrid and Paris, he learns that the book is rumoured to contain the key to conjuring up the Devil. Directed by Oscar-winner Roman Polanski.

Director Roman Polanski
Starring Johnny Depp, Frank Langella, Lena Olin

monday 29

death in the shadows (1998)

Thriller about a man who attempts to discover the truth about his mother’s murder 40 years after his own father was convicted of the crime.

Director Peter Levin
Starring Peter Strauss, Henry Czerny, Lindsay Frost

jane doe: the wrong face (2005)

Former DSA puzzle-solver Cathy Davis (Lea Thompson, ‘Back to the Future’) is called back into undercover work after the wife of a prominent lawyer is kidnapped. But when the nefarious owner of a construction company throws a spanner into the works, Cathy soon finds herself up against one of the most baffling cases of her career.

Director Armand Mastroianni
Starring Lea Thompson, Joe Penny, William R Moses

universal soldier 2: brothers in arms (1998)

Sequel to the futuristic military adventure. A soldier battles to expose a ruthless government programme to smuggle diamonds using men trained to be ruthless killing machines.

Director Jeff Woolnough
Starring Matt Battaglia, Chandra West, Andrew Jackson

tuesday 30

more sex and the single mom (2005)

Romantic comedy. A divorced lawyer (Gail O’Grady, ‘NYPD Blue’) tries to raise her three-yearold son while dealing with her teenage daughter’s desires for a photographer. Events come to a head when the lawyer’s old flame returns, unaware that he fathered her son.

Director Don McBrearty
Starring Gail O’Grady, Grant Show, Chelsea Hobbs

back to you and me (2005)

Romantic drama. A dedicated doctor with little time for romance attends her high-school reunion and reacquaints herself with the childhood sweetheart she left behind.

Director David S Cass Sr
Starring Lisa Hartman, Rue McClanahan, Dale Midkiff

wednesday 31

still crazy like a fox (1986)

Crime caper about a father-and-son duo of private detectives who are on holiday in England when they are falsely accused of murdering an eminent duke. When the pair fail to prove their innocence, they go on the run through the English countryside. Featuring one of the last screen appearances of ex-Python Graham Chapman.

Director Paul Krasny
Starring Jack Warden, John Rubinstein, Penny Peyser, Graham Chapman

murder in greenwich (2002)

Fact-based thriller about a disgraced ex-policeman (Christopher Meloni, ‘Law & Order: SVU’) who investigates the 1975 murder of a 15-year-old girl in Greenwich, Connecticut. 25 years later, the prime suspect in the case –the girl’s teenage neighbour, who was able to evade arrest due to his wellconnected family –is reinvestigated by the cop and the detective originally assigned the case. Co-starring Robert Forster (‘Jackie Brown’) and Maggie Grace (‘Lost’).

Director Tom McLoughlin
Starring Christopher Meloni, Robert Forster, Maggie Grace

gothika (2003)

Horror mystery. Following a car accident, a criminal psychiatrist (Halle Berry) wakes up in the asylum where she works with no memory of the violent murder she is accused of committing. Subject to visions of a ghostly young girl, she begins to piece together the mystery of what happened to her. With Robert Downey Jr and Penélope Cruz.

Director Mathieu Kassovitz
Starring Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jr, Penélope Cruz

thursday 1

neil simon’s london suite (1996)

Witty comedy revolving around the stories of four different American couples staying at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. Based on Neil Simon’s hit Broadway play, and starring former ‘Seinfeld’ alumni Julia LouisDreyfus and Michael Richards, alongside ‘Frasier’ star Kelsey Grammer.

Director Jay Sandrich
Starring Kelsey Grammer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards

falling in love with the girl next door (2006)

Comedy. Bridget and Betsy (Patty Duke and Shelley Long), two middle-aged neighbours, have engaged in a not-so-friendly rivalry for years. But they must try to put their differences aside when their children fall in love and plan to marry.

Director Armand Mastroianni
Starring Patrick Duffy, Patty Duke, Shelley Long

friday 2

two against time (2002)

Drama about a mother and a teenage daughter whose taut relationship is radically transformed when they are both diagnosed with cancer. The discovery forces the pair to reassess the problems that have developed between them.

Director David Anspaugh
Starring Marlo Thomas, Ellen Muth, Peter Friedman

what i did for love (2006)

Romance following a city lawyer as he meets his girlfriend’s parents for the first time on their country ranch. Despite being eager to make a good impression, he finds rural life more difficult than he imagined, especially as his girlfriend’s former sweetheart appears to be trying to win her back.

Director Mark Griffiths
Starring Jonny Acker, Sean Andrews, Jeremy London