Saturday Night Premiere (Sky Movies Premier)

Member Name: dave27

Product:	Sky Movies Premier
Date:	18/08/01 (151 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great films, No extra cost

Disadvantages: You have to wait until they've been on Box Office

Terrestrial television ... do you actually remember it? It was a minor craze in its day, when it attracted crowds of literally hundreds with its stunted little offering. Apparently, so the wizened old men of the North still mutter into their broth of a Winter's evening, there were four 'proper' channels plus a mysterious fifth channel that always seemed to be set in a snowstorm or heavy mist and was designed for particularly discerning and rare tastes. It came in as a development for the curious, and was only seen by a few hardy souls who could bear the ignominy of being amongst the sacred few who had the pleasure of something known mysteriously as 'GOOD RECEPTION'.

I don't know any of this from my own personal experience, however, but am relying on the guttural mouthings of Mrs D, WHO KNOWS ABOUT SUCH THINGS from her underprivileged and backwards childhood.

Well, I'm glad to say that for the dave27 clan, such things are a thing of a dim and distant past when petrol cost two quid for something called colloquially 'a gallon'. These past four hundred years, we have revelled in the teachings of the Evil Son of Saran, the fiend known as Roo-Pett Merrdok, and have taken on his Holy Grail, Sky Television, a legendary treasure indeed.

Okay, enough of the dave27 introductory b****cks. Let's get down to the matter at hand.

Sky Premier does exactly what it says on the tin, it is Sky TV's Premier film channel and features an absolutely unrivalled selection of top class films, and is the most wonderful way of spending a Saturday night, although it's pretty damn fine the rest of the week as well.

When you get Sky, however, the standard £29.99 a month package (soon to go up to £34.99, so be warned) is never enough for some and every Saturday night I get the interminable whine of the dave27-ettes: "We want a Sky Box Office," to which the standard reply is "I don't t
hink so, young man," on "No chance, Fatty," depending on whether Leeds have lost or not.

Homespun philosophy time - If I'm paying that much a month for the Sky package anyway, I don't see why I should pay any more to see a film which is soon going to migrate across to Sky Premier. I didn't get where I am today without being a seasoned tight git, you know. It may only be three quid, right, but look after the pennies and you've got about as much as you get via Spedia Net for a full month, is what I always say. I know it's boring when you're supposed to be talking about the football, but a catchphrase is a catchphrase after all and must be used at every opportunity if it is to catch on.

Anyway, the fare on Sky Premier is of such a high quality and is so relatively up to date that I really don't see the benefit of getting two or three weeks ahead of the trend. This Saturday, just for example, you get My Favo(u)rite Martian (starring Christopher Lloyd and Jeff Daniels) at 5.40, The Talented Mr Ripley (a supposedly vivid and murderous classic starring Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law) at 8 and Brad Pitt in the critically acclaimed (but disliked by Mrs D) Fight Club at 10.20. Now, you'd be quite a mean little individual to see that as anything but an exceptionally good evening's viewing, especially when the alternative is the Saturday Night Lottery programme with Philip Scofield.

The Sky Box Office alternatives include Gone In Sixty Seconds and X-Men, which are extremely good films, but give it another month or two and they'll be on Sky Premier anyway and I can wait.

In recent weeks, the Sky Premier on Saturday has included Sleepy Hollow, American Beauty and Angela's Ashes, all of which have been the subject of my reviews on this very site. If you want any more details about the quality of the sort of offering you get on Sky Premier, then check out my very big and w
onderful reviews of those excellent films, I can imagine it's going to continue to provide excellent material for future ops as well.

In many ways, a night down the pub is more attractive than a night with Sky Premier, but it's more expensive, will make you ill and leave you wondering exactly how you got that burn on your hand.

Sky Premier will not get you drunk or see you copped off, but is certainly a fine alternative to such hedonistic chaos. You also get the admirable Claire Grogan providing wonderful previews in the hour preceding the Saturday night eight o'clock showcase offering, so I'm starting to reconsider what I said about hedonism. Get in a crate of Special Brew and you could well get all your worldly desires satisfied by a little piece of Sky Premier magic.

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