Top films to watch on TV this week
WEDNESDAY
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) (Film4, 9.00pm)
Twelve years have passed since the ALZ-113 virus ravaged the globe. Caesar (Andy Serkis), his wife Cornelia (Judy Greer) and their sons are living in exile in the woods with the rest of the apes. Under the cover of darkness, Colonel McCullough ( Woody Harrelson) and his sharp-shooting soldiers stage an assault on the ape stronghold and kill most of Caesar’s family. The grief-stricken leader orders the survivors to flee in search of a new home while he exacts revenge on the Colonel. War for the Planet of the Apes is a fitting conclusion to the rebooted sci-fi franchise, orchestrating a cataclysmic showdown between the last remnants of mankind and genetically enhanced primates. Serkis delivers a tour-de-force portrayal of a leader gnarled by the desire for revenge.
THURSDAY
Logan Lucky (2017) (ITV4, 9.00pm)
Construction worker Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum), a one-time star footballer waylaid by injury, loses his job on the same day he learns that his ex-wife Bobbie Jo (Katie Holmes) intends to relocate to Lynchburg with her new beau. Jimmy channels his frustration into planning a heist with his one-armed brother Clyde (Adam Driver). Their target: is the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina. The brothers visit convicted safe cracker Joe Bang (Daniel Craig) and promise to spring him out of jail for the day to access the racetrack vault. Steven Soderbergh’s entertaining crime caper makes up for a lack of plausibility with quirky characters, slick set pieces and generous belly laughs.
FRIDAY
20th Century Women (2016) (BBC2, 11.20pm)
Bohemian mum Dorothea Fields (Annette Bening) and her teenage son Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) share a ramshackle home in Santa Barbara with New Wave photographer Abbie Porter (Greta Gerwig) and handyman William (Billy Crudup), who is slowly renovating the property. This madcap menagerie of misfits is completed by 17-year-old waif Julie (Elle Fanning), the object of Jamie’s hormone-driven affections, who refuses to entertain his clumsy fumbles. Meanwhile, Dorothea grows concerned that she can’t provide for her son’s emotional needs and entreats Abbie and Julie to help her shepherd Jamie across the rubicon to adulthood. Anchored by Bening’s tourde-force theatrics, 20th Century Women is a compelling family portrait daubed in a similar style to writer-director Mike Mills’ previous picture, Beginners.
SATURDAY
From Russia with Love (1963) (ITV, 9.00pm)
Super-smooth spy James Bond falls foul of the mysterious and sinister organisation Spectre, as he sets out on his latest mission. This time, he’s out to steal a top-secret decoding machine, but his efforts are thwarted by a series of wouldbe assassins. This much-imitated but never bettered second big-screen outing for 007 has gone on to become a classic, thanks to a superb plot, Sean Connery’s seductive performance and the delicious, almost invisible villain Blofeld - and that’s before we even get to Lotte Lenya and her spike-toed shoes. Trivia fans may be interested to know that this was chosen as the second 007 Bond film thanks to President John F Kennedy, who listed the book among his top 10 favourite novels of all time. It turned out to be the last film he ever watched, during a screening at the White House two days before his death in 1963.
SUNDAY
The Festival (2018) (Channel 4, 9.00pm)
When graduation day arrives, university student Nick (Joe Thomas) has big plans for him and his girlfriend Caitlin (Kara Tointon). He sees them moving into a flat together. She, on the other hand, suggests that they should break up. In despair at this unexpected turn of events, Nick goes into meltdown - so best mate Shane (Hammed Animashaun) suggests the perfect antidote: three days away at an epic music festival. Cue a mad weekend of drinking, dancing under the influence, slippery mud and getting trapped in portaloos - not to mention bumping into Caitlin, again and again. Premiere of this comedy directed by The Inbetweeners co-creator Iain Morris, co-starring Theo Barklem-Biggs and Jemaine Clement.
MONDAY
Macbeth (2015) (Film4, 11.10pm)
The ‘Scottish play’ bares its teeth and draws blood in Australian director Justin Kurzel’s muscular and unflinching adaptation that accentuates the carnage as the doomed title character is undone by paternal grief and naked ambition. Macbeth (Michael Fassbender) and Lady Macbeth (Marion Cotillard) are inconsolable at the loss of their beloved son. On the battlefields, the Thane encounters a quartet of prophetic hags (Lynn Kennedy, Seylan Baxter, Kayla Fallon, Amber Rissmann), who foretell his rise through the ranks and eventful coronation at the expense of King Duncan (David Thewlis). Fassbender delivers a mesmerising lead performance of snarling intensity that overwhelms everyone else on screen, not least Cotillard, who doesn’t always seem comfortable with Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter.