TV Movie Guide

SATURDAY

The Simpsons Movie Three, 4.05pm Voices Dan Castellaneta, Hank Azaria. Like The Simpsons themselves, this really needs no introduction. Suffice to say, it’s more of the same irreverent humour we’ve come to know and love, and fans of the show will certainly not be disappointed. Hilarious. ★★★★

Thumbelina M ori TV, 7pm Voice Jodi Benson. Animated film about a tiny girl who is saved from the creatures of the woods by a fairy prince. Not reviewed.

Storks TVNZ 2, 7pm

Voices Andy Samberg, Jennifer Aniston. A stork delivery service which used to deliver babies has since evolved into an Amazon-esque postal service. It’s from the same studio that came out with the smash hit Lego Movie and has the same snappy tone and smart one-liners. ★★★★

Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian Three, 7pm Starring Ben Stiller. Just as good as the first film, this second instalment in the franchise has Stiller, now a famous inventor, entering Washington’s famous Smithsonian Institution to rescue his formerly inanimate friends. ★★★

Hey Arnold! The Movie Choice, 7pm Voices Craig Bartlett, Francesca Smith. This feature-length version of the popular cartoon series is surprisingly hip, despite being a minor effort in both content and form by today’s animation standards. That won’t stop the kids from enjoying themselves though. ★★★

Love, Simon Sky Premiere, 8.30pm Starring Nick Robinson. Typical teen romcom about a gay high school student trying to keep his sexuality secret from his parents while simultaneously trying to find out the true identity of the classmate he has fallen for online. Genuinely funny, in a sweet way, and extremely life-affirming. ★★★★

Saving Mr. Banks TVNZ 1, 8.30pm

Starring Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson. Mary Poppins was a much more complex work as a series of stories than the film portrayed them. This is the compelling story of how Walt Disney persuaded a reluctant Poppins’ author P.L. Travers to give him the film rights. ★★★★ Hector And The Search For Happiness Choice, 8.30pm Starring Simon Pegg. Smug, and silly, blokish fantasy in which a psychologist sets off on a world trip as a way of finding a solution to his mid-life crisis. ★★

Mr Turner M ori TV, 8.35pm Starring Timothy Spall, Dorothy Atkinson. J.M.W. Turner is now revered as one of England’s finest painters. But in his day he was a controversial figure, with an eccentric nature and subject to bouts of severe depression. Spall does an excellent job of fleshing out the character, whose last words were, “The Sun is God”. ★★★★

The Equalizer TVNZ 2, 8.40pm

Starring Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas. Instantly bringing to mind the movie Man On Fire, this equally brutal vengeance flick has Denzel Washington again dispensing justice and dishing out retribution left, right and centre as he takes on a crew of violent Russian gangsters. ★★★

Deep Blue Sea Three, 9.05pm Starring Thomas Jane, Samuel L Jackson. Action-filled thriller in which three genetically