FILM HIGHLIGHTS
SUNDAY
PADDINGTON (2014) Film4, 1pm Family adventure, starring Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins (below right), Julie Walters and the voice of Ben Whishaw. A polite-yet-bumbling bear travels from his home in deepest, darkest Peru to London, where he meets the sweet Brown family. They agree to take him in, but his antics see him come to the attention of a scorned museum taxidermist, who will go to great lengths to add him to her collection. Nicole Kidman is also among the cast.
THE SMURFS 2 (2013) ITV2, 3.40pm Family adventure, starring Neil Patrick Harris and Hank Azaria. The little blue creatures jump back into the thick of it when the evil wizard Gargamel abducts Smurfette. He looks to use her in his evil scheme to transform his latest creation, horrid little creatures called The Naughties, into Smurfs of his very own.
THE GREEN MILE (1999) TV3, 9pm Frank Darabont’s gripping adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, starring Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse and Bonnie Hunt. Paul Edgecomb is the head guard on a prison’s Death Row. He finds his professional duties called into question when he encounters an unusual inmate, John Coffey. Although accused of the murder of two children, Coffey has unbelievable abilities, and as he gets to know the inmate, Edgecomb begins to suspect that Coffey isn’t guilty of the crime.
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (2011) Channel 4, 11pm Drama, starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy and Mark Strong. During the height of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is pulled out of his semi-retirement when the head of British Intelligence, Control, grows concerned that there is a Russian mole high in their organisation. His mission sees him untangle a complex web of lies and deceit, one wove over many years of missions and double-crosses.
MONDAY
THE BONE COLLECTOR (1999) Sky One, 9pm Crime drama, starring Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, Queen Latifah and Michael Rooker. A sadistic killer is running wild in New York. Quadriplegic ex-cop Lincoln Rhyme is pulled back to his work as a result, and paired with an unwilling partner to see if they can take the villain down. However, time is against them.
LETHAL WEAPON 2 (1989) ITV4, 9pm Richard Donner’s action-packed sequel, starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover and Joe Pesci. Cop partners Riggs and Murtaugh find their latest assignment taking them head to head with a corrupt South African official who is using his diplomatic immunity to get away with nefarious criminal activity.
CRIMINAL (2016) TG4, 9.30pm Action, starring Kevin Costner, Ryan Reynolds, Gary Oldman and Gal Gadot. CIA operative Bill Pope is on the hunt for a dangerous hacker. However, he is ambushed and killed on the mission. Acting quickly, his colleagues carry out an experimental procedure that transplants Pope’s memories, secrets, and skills into a deathrow inmate who they send after those responsible for his death.
TUESDAY
SPEED (1994) Film4, 9pm Classic action, starring Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper and Sandra Bullock. Bomber Howard Payne has his latest terror plot backfire, so instead he decides to strap an elaborate explosive device to a bus in Los Angeles. If the vehicle should drop below 50mph then it will explode, killing all on board. It is up to rookie cop Jack Traven to get onto the speeding bus and find a way to stop Payne’s scheme.
UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS (2009) E4, 10pm Action-packed prequel, starring Rhona Mitra, Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy. In the Dark Ages, an elite race of vampires rule over a slave race of werewolves, the Lycans. However, one such creature, Lucian, falls for Sonja, the daughter of the vampire leader, Viktor. Their forbidden love sets a series of events in motion that will change the history of both species forever.
WEDNESDAY
SCHOOL OF ROCK (2003) 3e, 4pm Family comedy, starring Jack Black and Joan Cusack. Dewey is kicked out of his band right before they take part in a huge battle of the bands competition. In need of money, he bluffs his way into a teaching job at a strict private school. It is there that he discovers that the children in his class are talented musicians, something he plans to use to help him win the competition.
THE BANK JOB (2008) 3e, 9pm Crime drama, starring Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows and Stephen Campbell Moore. Terry Leather signs up to a crew who are going to hit a bank on London’s lavish Baker Street. However, they soon discover that the vault contains more than just money, and there are those who will stop at nothing to keep their secret hidden.
ALL OF MY HEART (2015) TG4, 11.30pm Romantic comedy, starring Lacey Chabert, Brennan Elliott and Edward Asner. Caterer Jenny Fintley can’t believe her luck when she finds out that she has inherited a country home. The only catch is that she has to co-inhabit it with a Wall Street trader. Although they initially don’t get along, they realise that they must work together if they are to restore the property.
WANDERLUST (2012) Channel 4, 1.30am Rom-com, with Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd and Malin Akerman. A once-successful New York couple are hit by a number of career and financial hurdles, resulting in them being out of work and with little money. Weighing up their options, they take up a relative’s offer of work. However, along the way a chance encounter with a hippie community makes them re-evaluate what they want, and they decide to stay with the group to sample the lifestyle.
THURSDAY
THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (1974) ITV4, 9pm Classic espionage action, starring Roger Moore and Christopher Lee. As he works on his latest mission, secret agent James Bond discovers that he has become the latest target of notorious hitman Francisco Scaramanga, and 007 will have to try every trick in his book if he is to come out on top.
HOMEFRONT (2013) 3e, 9pm Drama, starring Jason Statham, James Franco and Winona Ryder. A troubled former DEA agent decides to move himself and his daughter to a quiet small town to escape his past. But it isn’t long until a series of events sees him clash with a dangerous drug dealer.
FRIDAY
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (2010) Film4, 2.30pm Animation, with the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera and Jonah Hill. Hapless young Viking Hiccup finds it hard to follow in his father’s footsteps as a revered dragonslayer. However, everything changes when, instead of killing one of the creatures, Hiccup manages to befriend it. Keeping his new companion a secret, he soon learns that everything that his people think they know about dragons is completely wrong.
THE BOURNE SUPREMACY (2004) RTE2, 9.30pm Paul Greengrass’s action sequel, starring Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Julia Stiles and Karl Urban. The higly-skilled Jason Bourne finds himself dropped back in the cross hairs when a CIA op goes wrong, and he is framed for it. Returning to his old life as a proficient assassin, he goes about correcting the wrong that was made against him.
SATURDAY
RIO 2 (2014) Film4, 2.35pm Animated sequel, with the voices of Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway. The birds Blu, Jewel and their kids find themselves travelling from Rio to the Amazon, where Blu gets caught up in a rivalry with a feathery foe.
ALIEN: RESURRECTION (1997) E4, 9pm Sci-fi horror, starring Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder. Ellen Ripley is cloned by a team of scientists who hope to turn the Xenomorph race into a weapon. However, the merciless creatures escape, plunging the space station into chaos. It is up to Ripley to find a way to stop them.