TV MOVIES / THURSDAY 8 – WEDNESDAY 14 SEPT
THURSDAY
SWITCHED ★★ 2020, 104 min, PG13, M-Net, 06:00. Fantasy drama. A bullied teenager’s wish that her archenemy, a social media star, will know what it’s like to be her comes true when they magically switch bodies. Madeleine Byrne.
1,000 TIMES MORE BRUTAL ★★ 2012, 85 min, 16VSNL, e.tv, 00:00. Crime drama. Four friends seek revenge against a gangster. Peter Greene, Arthur Nascarella.
10,000 DAYS ★ 2014, 91 min, 13, e.tv, 01:40. Sci-fi thriller. In a postapocalyptic world, Earth has been plunged into another ice age and the last people struggle to survive. John Schneider.
DARK COUNTRY ★★★ 2009, 88 min, 16, e.tv, 03:20. Horror. Newlyweds driving across the Nevada desert at night accidentally hit a pedestrian and try to get him some help. Thomas Jane. IN THE HEIGHTS ★★★★ 2021, 143 min, PG13, M-Net, 03:40. Musical drama. Based on the stage musical. In one of New York’s predominantly immigrant neighbourhoods, a convenience-store owner saves all his money, hoping for a better life. Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins.
FRIDAY
NORM OF THE NORTH: KING SIZED ADVENTURE ★★ 2019, 90 min, A, M-Net, 06:00. Animated adventure. The third film in the series. A polar bear and his lemming friends must retrieve an ancient Chinese artefact from a greedy archaeologist.
SEE SPOT RUN ★★ 2001, 94 min, PG, e.tv, 14:30. Comedy. A postman adopts a stray dog, unaware that it’s a former FBI drug-sniffing pooch wanted by two hit men. David Arquette.
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES ★★★★ 2011, 105 min, PG13V, e.tv, 22:05 & 02:45. Sci-fi thriller. A drug that helps the brain repair itself is tested on a chimpanzee whose unborn baby becomes superintelligent. James Franco.
CHASING LEPRECHAUNS ★★★ 2012, 90 min, PG, e.tv, 00:15. Comedy. An American fixer is sent to Ireland by a company that wants to build a smelting plant near a small village but can’t because of an ancient law that protects any leprechauns living on the land. Adrian Pasdar, Amy Huberman.
KILLING SEASON ★★ 2013, 91 min, 16, e.tv, 02:00. Action. A reclusive US veteran of the Bosnian War living in an isolated cabin encounters a Serbian tourist in the woods and invites him to stay. Robert De Niro, John Travolta. SPIRIT UNTAMED ★★★ 2021, 88 min, PG, M-Net, 04:20. Animated adventure. In the 1900s an American city girl moves to a small frontier town where she befriends a wild horse.
SATURDAY
STAR TREK BEYOND ★★★★ 2016, 122 min, PG13, SABC2, 15:30. Sci-fi adventure. The third film in the series. After answering a distress call, the crew of a spaceship are lured into a trap that destroys the ship and scatters them across a hostile planet’s surface. John Cho, Simon Pegg.
BIRDS LIKE US ★★★ 2017, 84 min, PG, M-Net, 16:00. Animated fantasy. After refusing to give up her only egg to the raptors that rule her society, a rare bird is banished and must rely on a wise bat and a motley crew for help.
SPY KIDS 2: THE ISLAND OF LOST DREAMS ★★★ 2002, 100 min, PG, e.tv, 16:10. Action adventure. A brother and sister spy duo team up with two older spies to save the world from a mad scientist. Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara.
I AM SAM ★★★ 2001, 132 min, PG13, SABC2, 18:30. Drama. A mentally handicapped man fights for custody of his seven-year-old daughter. Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer.
LATE BLOOMERS ★★★ 2011, 95 min, PG13, SABC3, 19:30. Comedy drama. A long-married couple struggle to adjust to retirement. William Hurt, Isabella Rossellini.
JOHNNY ENGLISH ★★★ 2003, 89 min, PG, e.tv, 20:30 & 03:30. Action comedy. After an attack on MI5, a bumbling British secret agent is the only one who can foil the theft of the UK’s Crown Jewels and save the country from being taken over by a French tycoon. Rowan Atkinson.
THE FIFTH ELEMENT ★★★★ 1997, 126 min, PG13, SABC3, 21:00. Sci-fi adventure. In the future, a taxi driver finds himself at the centre of a cosmic battle between good and evil when he saves a beautiful woman. Bruce Willis.
HELLBOY ★★ 2019, 120 min, 16, e.tv, 21:50. Horror thriller. A demon who works for a supernatural policing agency gets caught between the worlds of the supernatural and human as he battles an ancient sorceress bent on revenge. David Harbour, Milla Jovovich.
THE ODD WAY HOME ★★★★ 2013, 87 min, PG13, e.tv, 00:15. Drama. An odd couple go on a road trip across America and find happiness in the unlikeliest of places. Chris Marquette.
LAST CHANCE ★★ 2008, 90 min, PG13, e.tv, 01:50. Sci-fi action. In the future people live underground after the world has been decimated by a virus. Their only hope is to retrieve crystals from a meteorite, but to do so they must make it past the infected. Marius Chivu.
NORM OF THE NORTH: FAMILY VACATION ★ 2020, 90 min, PG, M-Net, 03:05. Animated adventure. The fourth film in the series. When a polar bear king’s crown is stolen, he and his family set out to find it while also working on their relationships. Voices: Andy Toth, Lisa Durupt. MAYA THE BEE 3: THE GOLDEN ORB ★★★ 2021, 88 min, A, M-Net, 04:30. Animated adventure. Two bees must embark on an adventure to safely deliver a golden orb to an ant kingdom.
SUNDAY
SPY KIDS 2: THE ISLAND OF LOST DREAMS ★★★ e.tv, 12:30. See Saturday. EMILY AND THE MAGICAL JOURNEY ★★ 2020, 85 min, PG13, M-Net, 13:00. Fantasy adventure. A girl who’s been neglected while her mother grieves her father’s death finds a mysterious chest that takes her on a magical journey. Tipper Seifert-Cleveland, Harriet Slater.
JOHNNY ENGLISH ★★★ e.tv, 14:30. See Saturday.
ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKQUEL ★★ 2009, 88 min, A, SABC3, 19:30. Fantasy comedy. The now famous trio of singing chipmunks must deal with the pressures of school, being celebrities and a rival female chipmunk group. Jason Lee, Zachary Levi.
THE KING’S MAN ★★★ 2021, 131 min, 16, M-Net, 20:05. Action. A prequel to Kingsman: The Secret Service. In the early 20th century, a secret agency is formed to stand against a mysterious criminal mastermind plotting a war to destroy the British Empire. Ralph Fiennes.
SURVIVOR ★★ 2015, 96 min, 16VL, e.tv, 21:00. Action thriller. After being framed for terrorist attacks, an employee at the US embassy in London tries to stop the real culprit from detonating a bomb in New York. Milla Jovovich.
GOOD PEOPLE ★★ 2014, 16, e.tv, 23:25. Crime thriller. A couple with financial problems find cash in their dead tenant’s flat and decide to take it for themselves. But then the thief who originally stole it turns up. James Franco.
CONTRACT KILLERS ★★ 2014, 90 min, 13SVL, e.tv, 01:05. Action. After being double-crossed, a new government hitman discovers he’s the target of the world’s most dangerous assassin. James Trevena-Brown.
SETUP ★★ 2011, 85 min, 16VL, e.tv, 02:40. Action. A group of friends become involved in a dangerous diamond heist. 50 Cent, Bruce Willis.
MONDAY
LOVE AT SKY GARDENS ★★★ 2021, 84 min, PG, M-Net, 07:00. Romantic comedy. A barista who dreams of designing rooftop gardens teams up with an event planner to create a venue for a high-profile wedding. Jenny Raven.
TUSSEN AS EN HOOP ★★ 2016, 77 min, PG13, SABC2, 22:00. Local drama. A young social worker tries to help a community with deep-seated problems. Charlene Truter.
WATERCOLOR POSTCARDS ★★★ 2013, 115 min, PG13, e.tv, 00:00. Drama. A failed actress returns home to Texas to say goodbye to her terminally ill mother. Bailee Madison. HELLBOY ★★ e.tv, 02:05. See Saturday.
TUESDAY
IN THE HEIGHTS ★★★★ M-Net, 06:00. See Thursday.
RING OF FIRE 2: BLOOD AND STEEL ★★ 1993, 92 min, 16VL, SABC1, 22:30. Action. A martialarts master sets out to rescue his girlfriend who’s been kidnapped by a violent gang. Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Shari Shattuck. For the rest of the week’s movies, please see the TV pages.