Ronan shines in Brooklyn
Belief: The Possession of Janet Moses, 8.30pm, TVNZ1
A hit when it screened at last year’s New Zealand International Film Festival, director David Stubbs’ documentary lifts the veil of secrecy on what became known as ‘‘the Wainuiomata exorcism’’, to reveal the extraordinary true story of how both love and fear could drive a New Zealand family to accidentally kill one of their own. In October 2007, 22-year-old Janet Moses died and a 14-yearold female relation was hospitalised during a makutu lifting. In 2009, nine members of her family, all siblings of her mother or their spouses, were charged in relation to her tragic death. Bobby Fischer Against the World, 8.30pm, Maori TV
Remember when a chess match was world news? And when cities around the world vied to host the world championships and global powers poured all their resources into ensuring their best player ruled supreme? That was only 40 years ago, as this fascinating film shows. As well as looking at the world’s obsession with the ‘‘sport of kings’’, Liz Garbus’ 2011 documentary also delves into the rise and fall of the game’s most eccentric and exciting player. Legends, 9.50pm, Prime
As the second season of this United States action drama opens, Martin Odum (Sean Bean) is a fugitive, hiding out in present day London and wanted by the FBI for a crime he did not commit. ‘‘A Saturday, 8.30pm, Rialto Finally a movie the Catholic Church will want you to see.
After a pummelling in Philomena, the scandal of Spotlight and the just plain wacko antics of Angels and Demons, here’s a film that casts the church and its representatives as having a positive effect.
That’s in the form of the friendly Father Flood (Jim Broadbent), who helps sponsor Eilis Lacey’s (Saoirse Ronan) passage from rural Enniscorthy to the New York borough of the title.
He also offers wise counsel when the ‘‘shopgirl’s’’ homesickness threatens to overwhelm her.
‘‘Homesickness is like any sickness. It makes you wretched, then moves onto someone else.’’
However, Eilis’ spirits are only truly lifted when she encounters Tony (Emory Cohen) at a local dance.
But then, tragedy back on the Emerald Isle forces her to make the return journey across the Atlantic, with no idea of when she might make landfall in Brooklyn again. maddening puzzle. It’s exhausting. But also thrilling .... Somehow, at the end of each episode, the pieces fit together and make sense – only to raise new questions. Fans of spy yarns will lap up every second,’’ wrote
Based on Colm Toibin’s acclaimed 2009 novel, Brooklyn is a charming and compelling drama, anchored by a simply superb performance from Ronan ( The Lovely Bones, Atonement).
Luminous yet under-stated, she perfectly captures the nervousness and slowblossoming of someone getting used to unfamiliar surroundings. – James Croot introduced the world to Sandra Bullock. ‘‘De Bont and his team have turned in a visually sophisticated piece of mayhem that makes the implausible plausible and keeps the thrills coming,’’ wrote the Los Angeles Times’ Kenneth Turan. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, 8.30pm, Maori TV
Okay, so it’s basically a movie that seeks to undo everything that happens in Wrath of Khan, but there’s still plenty of action and another hissable villain in the form of Christopher Lloyd’s Kruge in this 1984 entry. Plus, there’s a brilliant piece of audience misdirection that surely inspired Jonathan Demme’s Silence of the Lambs seven years later.