A double-bill of thrillers and crime films will play every Monday in July on SBS Viceland, each film featuring characters caught in a tight spot - either literally or figuratively, physically or morally (or often, both).
Monday 3 July
Apocalypto
8:30PM, SBS VICELAND
MA15+
United States, 2006
Genre: Drama, Adventure, Action
Language: Maya
Director: Mel Gibson
Starring: Rudy Youngblood, Dalia Hernández, Jonathan Brewer, Morris Birdyellowhead, Carlos Emilio Báez
What's it about?
As the Mayan kingdom faces its decline, the rulers insist the key to prosperity is to build more temples and offer human sacrifices. Jaguar Paw, a young man captured for sacrifice, flees to avoid his fate.
Escape from New York
11;05, SBS VICELAND
M
United States, 1981
Genre: Science Fiction
Language: English
Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Kurt Russell, Adrienne Barbeau, Lee Van Cleef
What's it about?
In a dystopian 1997, Manhattan has been transformed into the New York Maximum Security Penitentiary, where criminals are sent in life sentences. Grabbing a bargaining chip right out of the air, convicts bring down the President's plane in bad old Gotham. Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), a one-eyed lone warrior new to prison life, is coerced into bringing the President and his cargo out of this land of undesirables.
[link title="Robert Rodriguez being considered to direct the 'Escape from New York' reboot" url="node/123331"]
Monday 10 July
Escobar: Paradise Lost
8:30PM, SBS VICELAND
M
Belgium, France, Spain, 2014
Genre: Thriller, Romance
Language: Spanish, English
Director: Andrea Di Stefano
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Josh Hutcherson, Brady Corbet
What's it about?
This gripping thriller looks at the life of the infamous Columbian drug lord in his later years, through the eyes of outsider Nick, a young surfer on a visit to his brother in Colombia. Against an idyllic backdrop of blue lagoons and white beaches, he soon falls madly in love with a beautiful local girl called Maria. Everything seems perfect, until he meets her uncle, one Pablo Escobar.
Blind Man
10:45PM, SBS VICELAND
M
France, 2012
Genre: Action, Thriller
Language: French
Director: Xavier Palud
Starring: Raphaëlle Agogué, Lambert Wilson, Jacques Gamblin
What's it about?
A gruesome double murder takes place in Paris. Detective Lassalle (Jacques Gamblin) initially suspects an ex-boyfriend of one of the victims, but his attention soon turns to Marvik (Lambert Wilson), whose lack of sight is made up for by his enhanced senses and quick reflexes. A cat and mouse game ensues.
Monday 17 July
Oldboy
8:30PM, SBS VICELAND
MA15+
South Korea, 2003
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Language: Korean
Director: Chan-wook Park
Starring: Byeong-ok Kim, Hye-jeong Kang, Ji-tae Yu, Min-Sik Choi
What's it about?
When Oh Dae-su (Min-Sik Choi) is kidnapped he wakes up in a dingy hotel room with only a television. As he watches the news he hears that his wife has been brutally murdered and he has been framed. Oh Dae-su spends 15 years locked up in the room. Upon his release, he sets out to find who imprisoned him and why.
[link title="Oldboy Review" url="node/2808"]
Blue Ruin
10:40PM, SBS VICELAND
MA15+
United States, 2013
Genre: Thriller
Language: English
Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Starring: Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves
What's it about?
When Dwight Evans (Macon Blair), a loner who lives out in his his car near the beach, learns that the man who killed his parents has been released from prison, he sets out to return to his childhood home to take his revenge and kill him. However, his lack of skills in the field gets him deeper and deeper into trouble.
[link title="Why You Should Watch: Blue Ruin" url="node/108662"]
Monday 24 July
Who Am I
8:30PM, SBS VICELAND
M
Germany, 2014
Genre: Thriller
Language: English, German
Director: Baran bo Odar
Starring: Tom Schilling, Elyas M’Barek, Trine Dyrholm, Antoine Monot Jr., Wotan Wilke Möhring
What's it about?
Benjamin, a young German computer whiz, is invited to join a subversive hacker group that wants to be noticed on the world's stage.
The Fourth State
10:25PM, SBS VICELAND
M
Germany, 2012
Genre: Thriller
Language: Russian, English
Director: Dennis Gansel
Starring: Moritz Bleibtreu, Kasia Smutniak, Mark Ivanir, Max Riemelt
What's it about?
Paul Jensen, a German tabloid journalist, moves to Russia and begins work at a gossip magazine in Moscow. Paul’s life is turned upside-down when he meets Katja, a beautiful activist who convinces him to run a politically oriented obituary in the magazine - an act that triggers a series of rapid-fire events in Paul’s life. Left to his own devices and on the run in the merciless Russian metropolis, Paul soon realises that he must face his own past to solve the political conspiracy against him.
Monday 31 July
Angel Heart
8:30PM, SBS VICELAND
MA15+
United States, 1987
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Language: English
Director: Alan Parker
Starring: Charlotte Rampling, Mickey Rourke, Lisa Bonet, Robert De Niro
What's it about?
The down-and-out private detective Harry Angel is ordered, by a mysterious man named Louis Cyphre, to go on a mission to find a missing person. His routine failure soon leads to a bloody spur with himself as Harry Angel goes on a supernatural journey into his soul.
Trader Games
10:35PM, SBS VICELAND
M
France, 2010
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Foreign
Language: French
Director: Fabrice Genestal
Starring: Gilles Lellouche, Vahina Giocante, Charles Berling, Michael Madsen, François Damiens
What's it about?
When hot young trader Erwan realises the work of Cybille, a climate researcher, applies to market fluctuations he takes a risk and begins to apply his theory at his job. But when his superiors don’t allow enough time to test it properly, he takes a huge loss and he is fired. With nothing to lose, and the help of Cybille, he launches his own company and starts to win very big. But how long will his fame and fortune last, before his bubble bursts?
