Pick of the Day: Satellite

James Rampton
Tuesday 17 August 1999 19:02 EDT
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IN NETWORK (10pm FilmFour), a satire about the corrosive effect of television, Peter Finch gives a coruscating performance - which won the first ever posthumous Oscar - as a washed-up American newscaster. When he is fired, his reaction is to go on live television and threaten to shoot himself. Of course, he is an instant ratings sensation and is hailed as a new Messiah. (Interestingly, Henry Fonda, the first choice for the lead, rejected it as "too hysterical.") In light of the gross-out direction American television has taken since this was made in 1976, Sidney Lumet's devastatingly powerful film (scripted by Paddy Chayefsky) could be seen as highly prescient.

There have been some memorable 007 songs - "Goldfinger" by Shirley Bassey (right) springs to mind. The best are remembered in The Greatest Hits of... the James Bond Movies (6pm VH1).

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