FILM HIGHLIGHTS
MONDAY
THE RUN OF THE COUNTRY TG4, 9.30pm A Garda (Albert Finney) living in a border county with an already tense relationship with his son finds they come under further strain when son Danny falls for Northerner Annagh (Victoria Smurfit). Adapted by Oscarnominated Shane Connaughton from his novel, it was something of a change of pace for director Peter Yates, who was at the helm for the likes of classic Bullit. DON’T SAY A WORD ITV4, 10.50pm Michael Douglas and Brittany Murphy star in this thriller in which a psychiatrist’s daughter is being held to ransom by a ruthless jewel thief. To try to save her, he must get to know a mute girl who is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, and prise a secret number from her that will lead to a precious gem that the thief was cheated out of by his accomplices some 10 years earlier. TYRANNOSAUR Film4 2.05am Actor Paddy Considine’s directorial debut is a gripping if grim drama. Joseph (Peter Mullan) is a man to whom life has not been kind, and he copes with his pain by gambling, drinking and being violent to anyone who crosses his path. His life begins to look up when he falls in love with Christian charity shop owner Hannah (Olivia Colman). But will their attempts at happiness be scuppered by their secrets?
TUESDAY
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ITV2, 8pm Andrew Garfield takes over the role of the webslinger and newspaper photographer in this hasty reboot of the series, following the warmly received and financially successful Sam Riami trilogy. Trying to solve the mystery of his scientist father’s disappearance, Parker sneaks into a lab at the Oscorp facility where he is bitten by a radioactive spider. On the way home, he discovers he is developing spiderlike super powers, and decides to use these powers for good under the guise of Spider-Man. Meanwhile, his father’s former scientist colleague is dabbling with a dangerous scientific formula which regenerates his arm – but at a huge price. COWBOYS & ALIENS RTE2, 9pm Oddball actioner in which an amnesiac gunslinger (Daniel Craig) stumbles into the town of Absolution, and immediately falls foul of Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) who rules the town with a fistful of fear. However, there’s a threat from above when aliens decide to conquer Earth, starting with the Wild West, and the townsfolk suddenly realise that the only person who can help them is the stranger in their midst. WHITE OLEANDER BBC1, 11.20pm Alison Lohman stars as Astrid, a troubled young girl who lives with her free-spirited artist mother Ingrid (Michelle Pfeiffer). After her mother is taken into custody for poisoning her boyfriend using a concoction made from white oleander, Astrid passes through a series of wellmeaning if disastrous foster mothers, before her mother comes back into her life once more with a huge request.
WEDNESDAY
TIME BANDITS Film4, 12.45pm Terry Gilliam’s classic fantasy throws plenty of Monty Pythonesque moments (including a brilliant John Cleese cameo as the most polite Robin Hood
ever) into the tale of young Kevin, who is snatched from his incredibly dull life by a band of time-travelling renegade dwarves. The dwarves are on the run after stealing a map from the supreme being Bonaparte, Agamemnon and other figures show up as well, along with a being so evil he is simply called Evil. There’s also a surprisingly shocking ending when you realise just what has happened to Kevin’s parents — but we won’t spoil that just yet. GROWN UPS 2 RTE1, 9.35pm Three years on from the events of the first movie, Larry (Adam Sandler) decides to move his family back to his hometown, so his children can grow up with the offspring of his friends. But there are old bullies and new bullies to contend with, not to mention psychotic bus drivers, drunk policemen and the mother of all parties being gatecrashed by hundreds of people in fancy dress. Larry discovers that sometimes the insanity you think you had left behind can follow you home. THE FOURTH KIND C4, 12.55am If Steven Spielberg taught us anything, it’s that a close encounter of the third kind is making contact with an alien species. However, there is a fourth kind – abduction – a decidedly less comfortable prospect than his 1977 classic movie. This controversial ‘found footage’ sci-fi thriller purports that disappearances in Nome, Alaska, were as a result of abductions by aliens. Psychologist Abigail Tyler (Milla Jovovich) investigates the phenomena.
ThUrSDAY
THE LONGEST YARD Comedy Central 9pm A remake of a beloved, if not classic Burt Reynolds movie, in which he puts in an appearance as the old-timer coach, Adam Sandler is Paul ‘Wrecking’ Crewe, a washed up American football star who finds himself in prison after a drunken incident. However, he soon finds that he’s the key to a game being organised by a warden between the inmates and prison guards. KEEPING ROSY BBC1, 12am The great English actress Maxine Peake shines as Charlotte, a woman who is completely devoted to her career and to the media agency she has built up. However, instead of receiving a slice of the company, she’s stitched up in the boardroom. Incensed, she returns home, and takes her anger out on her young Polish cleaner Maya, leading to an attempt to redeem herself that only makes things worse.
FrIDAY
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET RTE1, 9.35pm Director Martin Scorsese scored yet another career highlight with Leonardo di Caprio playing Jordan Belfort, a real-life Wall Street trader who made millions through various illegal scams but lost it all when the FBI came calling. Controversial as ever, Scorsese conducts a highpowered comic morality tale, and the film doesn’t flinch from the seductive, party lifestyle that the millions provided for Belfort and his cohorts. Rob Reiner is a hoot as Belfort’s angry father, trying to get his son to tone down the amount spent on strippers. I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER TV3, 9.50pm Jennifer Love Hewitt shot to international fame in this knowing mid-1990s tribute to the 1970s and 1980s glory years of gory slasher movies. Four teenagers accidentally run down and kill a man. They dispose of the body and vow never to talk of the incident again. Indeed, it seems all is forgotten, until a year later, an anonymous note informs the quartet that they won’t go unpunished. Look out for Sarah Michelle Gellar as she took a break from fighting vampires. RED STATE C4, 1.00am Cult movie director Kevin Smith dumps the quirky indie fare, such as Clerks and Chasing Amy, for a stab at the horror movie genre. ‘Red states’ in America are those where they vote Republican. Three teenagers think they are being offered sex with an older woman, but when they arrive they discover that they have been set up to be burned to death as punishment by a hellfire and damnation preacher. When the local sheriff finds out, the incident is reclassified as terrorist. Cue a siege.
SATUrDAY
DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS RTE1, 3.45pm Fondly remembered 1980s comedy in which Steve Martin and Michael Caine play two conmen who clash when they realise that they’re both working the same luxury resort on the French Riviera. They cut a deal that whoever can extort $50,000 from a young woman first gets to stay at the extravagant resort. NOAH RTE2, 9pm One of the more controversial religious-based films of recent times, Russell Crowe plays the man of the Book of Genesis who is asked by God to build a big boat, large enough to hold two of every species of animal. He faces opposition from family, especially son Ham — an outsider who wants the ark — and ridicule. Then it starts to rain heavily... THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY TG4, 10pm Superior political drama, starring a Mel Gibson on the edge of stardom. Journalist Guy is trying to find his feet in Indonesia, but slowly makes contacts, including diplomat Jill (Sigourney Weaver) and dwarf Billy (Linda Hunt, who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the role at the 1983 Academy Awards). But when Jill tells him about a communist revolution in the offing he finds himself in an increasingly dangerous position.