17 - 23 FEB 2024

Norman Jewison passed away on the 20th January, aged 97. He was one of the newer breed of Hollywood directors (although he was born in Canada and his mother was English) who started out in television: first with the BBC, then in Canada, and finally with the CBS network in the US. He began his film career in light comedies with Tony Curtis and Doris Day, but after replacing Sam Peckinpah on The Cincinnati Kid (1965), he showed quickly – with the brilliant In the Heat of the Night (1967) – that he could direct films with more challenging themes. Later work included The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), Rollerball (1975) and Moonstruck (1987).
The Bafta Awards presentation is on BBC 1 Sunday evening.
FULL TIME (2021) Saturday 17 February 9.00-10.25pm BBC 4    P             
It’s a warm welcome back to quality, if modest, subtitled drama on BBC 4. It is quite an incisive look at modern lifestyles, as single mum Julie works all hours in a Paris hotel, but still hopes to beat a train strike to get to an important job interview.
MOONFALL (2022) Saturday 17 February 9.20-11.55pm Channel 4    P             
Alternatively, you might want to watch something completely bonkers! Halle Berry leads a team of astronauts on a desperate mission to stop the Moon colliding with planet Earth. Yes, really!
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (1973) Sunday 18 February 12 noon-1.40pm BBC 2             
And FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1971) 1.40-4.35pm
BBC 2 presents a double bill of iconic musicals, both directed by Norman Jewison. And there will still be time to make a quick dash and join us for Tori and Lokita!
BENEDICTION (2021) Sunday 18 February 11.00pm-1.10am BBC 2    P             
Terence Davies died in October 2023 and, whilst his films tended to disappoint members, his voice was a distinctive one and will be missed. His last film should appeal more to us, as the subject is the poet Siegfried Sassoon.
THE KID DETECTIVE (2020) Thursday 22 February 9.00-11.00pm Film Four    P             
This is a brave effort to do something different with a gumshoe drama. Adam Brody made a great child detective before his skills deserted him – now in his 30s, can he make a comeback? The student who asks for help is played by Sophie Nélisse who first came to our attention in The Book Thief.
VISITING HOURS (1982) Friday 23 February 9.05-11.20pm TP (Channel 82)             
Why include a slasher movie that has only 2-stars in the Radio Times and a BOMB rating in Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide? Nostalgia, I suppose. I saw it on release – in Louth’s Playhouse cinema on a double bill with Escape from New York, as best I recall. It has a good actress, Lee Grant, as the reporter and Michael Ironside as the stalker plus one William Shatner. And we can always start a small cottage industry discussing films that we might prefer to Aftersun . . .