Here come the brides
HOPELESS romantics should be well pleased with Pearl's movie choice this weekend. The station is showing the comedy/romance Father of the Bride - twice.
Tonight, it's the 1991 remake (Pearl 9.30pm, Original Running Time 101 mins) starring Steve Martin and Diane Keaton and tomorrow just after midnight, the real treat - the 1950 original with Spencer Tracy and Liz Taylor at her most beautiful.
The story's the same: Daddy's only daughter suddenly announces that she's engaged to be married, and while everyone else eagerly starts planning the wedding, doting Daddy is cut up that his little girl's all grown up - not to mention flabbergasted at theexpense of it all.
Spencer Tracy was faultless in the original, perfectly balancing the sentiment with the bleaker undercurrents of a middle-aged man overcome with jealousy and fears about getting old.
Steve Martin, too, is his usual entertaining self, but he is hindered by an unnaturally wholesome script. What worked well in 1950, is frequently too saccharine for the 1990s.
Newcomer Kimberley Williams makes a notable debut in the Liz Taylor role of the daughter, but Diane Keaton as the mother (Joan Bennett in the original) is badly miscast. Still, Martin is always worth watching and here he gets the best lines and delivers them well - just don't expect any surprises.
A word of warning about tomorrow's movie: this is the computer colourised version, so turn down the colour tone on the TV.
CHINA is accused of being one of the world's worst abusers of human rights in Laogai: Inside China's Gulag (Pearl, 5.40pm), a documentary made by Yorkshire Television about the mainland's brutal prison system.
The Laogai gulag homes 2,000 camps holding up to half a million political prisoners who work in coal mines, salt mines or on farms. This film was made by Harry Wu, who was sent to Laogai in 1960 for criticising the Communist Party, and recently returned to China in disguise to infiltrate the camps and video the evidence.
There are also interviews with several other former prisoners including Wang Waxin who unfurled a flag to commemorate the dead in the Tiananmen massacre.
WORLD's primetime movie, Arabian Adventure (9.30pm, ORT 98 mins) should appeal particularly to younger viewers, though there are certainly enough star cameos to keep adults interested, too.
The colourful story has all the vital ingredients for an adventure: occultism, a magic mirror, a wicked sorcerer, flying carpets and, of course, a handsome prince and beautiful princess.
Among those joining the fun are Christopher Lee, Milo O'Shea, Oliver Tobias, Peter Cushing and Mickey Rooney.
STAR rounds off its THINK! campaign for AIDS awareness with In A New Light 93 (STAR Plus, 9.30pm), in which a host of celebrities from film, TV, music, sport and government explain what they are doing to combat the disease.
Arsenio Hall (Coming To America ) and singer Paula Abdul (who's also the subject of today's MTV Rockumentary at 8pm) host the show which includes contributions from Lily Tomlin, Cindy Crawford, Luke Perry and Carol Burnett. Long-time AIDS campaigner Liz Taylor will make a special appearance.
BRITAIN's Queen of soul, Lisa Stansfield takes to the stage tonight in Lisa Live at Wembley (Pearl, 12.10am). She'll be singing songs from her top-selling albums Affection and Real Love as well as some new material and a touch of Cole Porter.
