Square Eyes

Television Reviews

Movie of the week, A Time for Drunken Horses, SBS, Weds, 10pm:

This tragic, yet unsentimental drama, set in a remote Kurdish village on the Iran-Iraq border, follows five orphaned children heavily burdened with adult responsibilities. Ayoub and his young sister work at a bazaar while caring for their tiny, ill brother. When their smuggler father is killed, Ayoub joins the smugglers, carrying heavy loads on his back through the snowy mountains. Sparse dialogue, rough settings, and intimate views of Kurdish life make this a simply told yet very powerful tale.

Australian Idol: Wildcard, Ten, Sun, 7.30pm:

Lismore's Ngaiire Joseph gets another stab at her 15 minutes, hoping to impress Dicko, Marcia and the red rose prat for a wild card entry into the finals.

The Fast & the Furious, Ten, Mon, 8.30pm:

A nitro joyride for cogheads starring Vin Diesel as an undercover cop. A cops and robbers chase is woven through flimsy excuses for supercharged drag races. Great special effects, a pounding soundtrack and plenty of high speed action drown out subtlety or plot about rival gangs.

John Safran versus God, SBS, Mon, 8.30pm:

Remember the lunatic dweeb from Race Around the World (unbelievably, now seven years ago)? The mischiefmaker is back with an eight-part doco on religion. Of course it's offensive, funny and seat-of-the-pants stuff, with Safran, a Jew, heading to a radical Muslim cleric to see if he can get him to issue a fatwah against Rove McManus.

Olympic Closing ceremony, Prime, Mon, 8.30pm:

For those who enjoy their sleep, this is a far more reasonable time than watching it live at 4.15am.

No Love for Johnnie, ABC, Mon, 1.20am:

Just to prove someone in ABC programming still has a sense of humour, Parliament Question Time is followed by this 1961 drama starring Peter Finch as a 40-something British MP forced to choose between his political career and the woman he loves. It takes a cynical view of politics and when the cabinet team is referred to as `a gang of lawyers and university lecturers', it shows little has changed in 40 years. Stanley Holloway, Donald Pleasance and Billie Whitelaw feature in a great ensemble.

Surprise Wedding, Prime, Thurs, 7.30pm:

Wot a larf! A bloke is quite fond of a gal - next thing he knows, he's on national TV being ambushed into a shotgun wedding in front of a live audience. Even the publicity blurb confesses that "five women attempt to snare their man under false pretences". We look forward to the sequel - No Surprise Divorces.

Eagle & Evans, ABC, Thurs, 9pm:

An Australian sketch-sitcom about two warm-up guys and general dogsbodies on a TV variety show. The keep pitching ideas to the host to no avail, in this mix of social satire, surprising cameos and simply bizarre moments.