Badlands, Texas: Series – Starts Thursday 04 August
Day: Thursdays
Time: 20:00
Cast: Ronny Dodson, Ronda Haberer, Michael Kasper, Ty Mitchell, Herman Everett, Doug Blackmon
Along the Mexican border sits the small, tight-knit community of Terlingua, Texas. Its residents have traded today's modern comforts and conveniences for something money can't buy: total freedom.
But the price of freedom proves high when a long night of drinking ends with a brutal killing. The death results in the loss of a respected member of the community, and the gut-wrenching murder trial that follows tears the town apart.
Badlands is a true-crime docu-series that delves into the eccentric world of Terlingua as its citizens struggle to reconcile the killing of a dear friend and fight to hold the town together as it grapples with change. Lonely back roads, dilapidated RVs, smoky bars, the Rio Grande and the vast West Texas landscape all set the stage for this tale of murder, survival, justice and the need for redemption.
The Amazing Race, Season 27: Series – Starts Sunday 07 August
Day: Sunday
Time: 19:35
Host: Phil Keoghan
Eleven new teams begin the journey of a lifetime when "The Amazing Race" kicks off its 27th trip around the world. Two lucky contestants will walk away with a cash prize of at least $1 million in the world’s most incredible reality adventure: The Amazing Race! Teams comprised of two people in an existing relationship (spouses, best friends, parent/child, siblings, etc.) embark upon a journey that takes them around the world, while having to perform mentally and physically challenging tasks. Teams are filmed around the clock as their wits and relationships are pushed to the breaking point. Those who can’t keep up and handle the pressure are eliminated, while the rest race to the finish line with the hope of becoming the winning team in this truly global competition.
Dead Heat: Movie – Friday 05 August
Day: Friday 05 August
Time: 20:00
Cast: Kiefer Sutherland, Anthony LaPaglia, Radha Mitchell, Lothaire Bluteau, Daniel Benzali, Kay Panabaker
A tough Boston cop, Pally LeMarr, forced to retire through ill-health, is unwittingly transformed into a criminal by his brother, Ray, a small-time crook with connections to the mob. When Ray convinces him to join a money-making scheme by purchasing a racehorse with a lucrative payoff potential, Pally ends up with more than he bargained for. Unfortunately for all concerned, the stallion catches the eye of the mob and the lucrative payoff the brothers were counting on now becomes a struggle between life and death...
Eve’s Bayou: Movie – Friday 12 August
Day: Friday 12 August
Time: 20:00
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Meagan Good, Lynn Whitfield, Debbi Morgan, Jake Smollett
A young girl learns some difficult lessons about truth, love, and fidelity in this critically-acclaimed Southern drama.
In early Sixties Louisiana, the charismatic Dr. Louis Batiste (Samuel L. Jackson) seems to have it all: the respect of his community, a beautiful wife (Lynn Whitfield) and 10-year-old daughter Eve (Jurnee Smollett). However, in the course of a party at their house, the doctor's roving eye gets the better of him and the ensuing illicit liaison triggers a series of tragic events. Eve's innocence is shattered as dark family secrets are uncovered and the power of Creole voodoo on the region is revealed.
Final Analysis: Movie – Friday 19 August
Day: Friday 19 August
Time: 20:00
Cast: Richard Gere, Kim Basinger, Uma Thurman, Eric Roberts
Richard Gere, Kim Basinger and Uma Thurman star in this psychological thriller about a psychiatrist who becomes a murder suspect after allowing himself to become more than professionally involved with two emotionally unbalanced sisters. Good and evil, hope and despair, beauty and repulsion are juxtaposed in this movie's complex world.
Gere and Basinger make a credible, if dangerous couple, and Thurman delivers a subtle, understated performance and demonstrates her range and potential.
Arlington Road: Movie – Friday 26 August
Day: Friday 26 August
Time: 20:00
Cast: Tim Robbins, Jeff Bridges, Joan Cusack, Hope Davis, Vivanne Vives
Widowed when his FBI agent wife was killed by a right-wing group, Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges), professor of modern history and an expert on domestic terrorism, becomes obsessed with the culture of these organizations, especially when his new neighbours, Oliver (Tim Robbins) and Cheryl Lang (Joan Cusack), start acting suspiciously. At first the Langs seem like the perfect addition to the neighbourhood. But all is not what it seems. When Faraday's private sleuthing turns up dark secrets from Oliver's past, the mystery deepens and the question looms; is Faraday just consumed by fear and driven by paranoia, or has a lethal conspiracy been born on Arlington Road? Faraday's suspicions about his newfound friends will lead to tragic and irrevocable consequences.
The Least of These: Movie – Friday 02 September
Day: Friday 02 September
Time: 20:00
Cast: Isaiah Washington, Robert Loggia, Jordan Garrett, Andrew Lawrence, Bob Gunton, John Billingsley
An African-American priest unearths evidence of a murder after being transferred to a small Catholic boarding school, and risks everything in order to set things right at the troubled academy. When a respected priest goes missing at Allentide, Father Andre James (Isaiah Washington) returns to the school he attended as a boy as a member of the staff. Now the more Father James learns about the murder, the more he begins to suspect foul play. Later, as the sordid details of the mystery slowly come into focus, the conflicted priest realizes that he'll have to face the secrets of his own past before he can reveal his shocking findings.
SONY CHANNEL airs on DStv (Channel 127).
