EASTER SUNDAY
Battle Of The Year TVNZ 2, 1.50pm
Starring Josh Holloway, Josh Peck. Inane dance flick in which a hip-hop mogul hires a former top basketball coach to help him train a world championship-winning dance crew. ★★
How To Train Your Dragon 2 Three, 7pm Voices Jay Barucel, Gerard Butler. How To Train Your Dragon 2 is almost as good as the excellent first film. Hiccup and his dragon Toothless continue their adventures in this entertaining and award-winning animated movie. ★★★★
Zootopia TVNZ 2, 7pm
Voices Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman. Rightly regarded as one of the best animated films off all time, Zootopia centres on Judy Hoppes, a rabbit who becomes a police officer in a world of anthropomorphic mammals. As well as humour and spectacular animation, the plot is worthy of any crime comedy-drama. ★★★★★
Gambit Choice, 7.30pm Starring Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz. This Coen Brothers rewrite of the 1966 movie Gambit starring Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine didn’t pay off, going straight to DVD in the US. Colin Firth plays an art dealer who is out to con his horrible boss (Alan Rickman), and he enlists the help of rodeo queen PJ Puznowski (Cameron Diaz). ★★
Baywatch Sky Premiere, 8.30pm Starring Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron. It worked as a TV show, thanks to David ‘The Hoff’ Hasselhoff. But that over-the-top camp style translates badly to this movie, which earned lots of awards – including a win in the So Rotten You Loved It category at the Golden Rasberries. ★
45 Years M ori TV, 8.30pm Starring Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtenay. A couple preparing to celebrate their 45th
wedding have to deal with some shocking news. The body of the husband’s former lover, who disappeared on a Swiss mountain 50 years ago, has been found. Beautifully acted by long-time British screen stars Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay. ★★★★
Noah Three, 8.35pm Starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Hopkins. A movie based on the biblical story of Noah’s ark sounds like it should float anyone’s boat but, while the visual effects are certainly stunning, the story tends to bog down a bit on occasion. ★★★
In The Heart Of The Sea TVNZ 1, 8.40pm
Starring Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker. Ron Howard delivers a rousing film about whaling, desperation and human survival – but a heavy reliance on CGI ruins what could have been a cinema classic. That said it is still a solid piece of storytelling about the real-life maritime disaster which inspired Moby-Dick. ★★★
Forrest Gump TVNZ 2, 8.45pm
Starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright. Forrest Gump picked up six Oscars in total, including best director, best visual effects, and best screenplay. And let’s not forget Tom Hanks’ Oscar win, which placed him alongside legendary star Spencer Tracy as one of only two actors to have won the Best Actor award two years running. A one-off, true classic. ★★★★★
Five Flights Up Choice, 9pm Starring Morgan Freeman, Diane Keaton. Nicely paced drama in which a couple are forced to take stock of their lives while wrestling with a common real estate problem – whether to cash in on soaring prices in favour of more suitable accommodation. It is an easy watch, even if some of the flashbacks are a little clumsy. ★★
Everly TVNZ 2, 11.30pm
Starring Selma Hayek, Togo Igawa. A sex slave (Selma Hayek) controlled by a Japanese mob boss escapes and is then caught and tortured by a character called The Sadist. It’s a voyeuristic blend of East and West with a weak plot and excessive graphic, mostly pointless, violence. ★