TV Movie Guide
Grease Bravo, 2.20pm Starring John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John. Most people have seen it before, but it’s hard not to enthuse about this exuberant, if kitchy, musical set in the 50s, made in the 70s, and remastered for its 20th-year anniversary. Set in a high school populated by patently over-aged students, it’s fun to observe Danny’s macho-posturing with the guys in the T-bird gang while marvelling at how slim John Travolta was in his youth, and finally appreciate the singing talents of Olivia Newton-John. Enjoyable with harmless sass. ★★★★
Pete’s Dragon TVNZ 2, 5.05pm
Starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Oakes Fegley. Heart-warming Disney live action 2016 remake of the 1977 animated movie about an orphaned boy who is looked after by a friendly dragon after his parents are killed in a road accident. Sharply packaged, well acted and one for the whole family. ★★★★
Shrek 2 Three, 7pm Voices Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz. Stacked with famous voices, this comedy sequel adds to the contemporary send-ups and humour from the first film. Shrek gets to meet his royal in-laws, who are unaware that both their daughter and son-in-law are ogres. ★★★★
Zeus And Roxanne M ori TV, 7pm Starring Steve Guttenberg, Kathleen Quinlan. Nice family comedy about a dog who strikes up a friendship with a dolphin, wrapped with a romantic twist between two humans. ★★
Mr & Mrs Smith TVNZ 2, 8.30pm
Starring Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie. Known as the film that sparked their infamous affair, this action-comedy doesn’t sizzle quite as much as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s love life, but it is an extremely slick and entertaining affair, with plenty of bullets, explosions and eye candy adding to the two stars’ obvious chemistry as they play a middle-class husband and wife who both have a secret – they are assassins working for competing organisations. ★★★
JoJo Rabbit Sky Premiere, 8.30pm Starring Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie. Director, co producer, screenwriter and a main character. This is Taika Waititi in full control and, boy, what a movie. A caveat: it is billed as a comedy-drama, but at times is unnerving. After all, it’s about the Nazis in the dying embers of the Third Reich. Somewhat controversially, Waititi plays Hitler as the buffoonish imaginary friend of a boy who wants to fit in – and that means joining the Hitler Youth. Not to be missed, but just remember – the laughs come at a price. ★★★★★
Fatal Attraction TVNZ Duke, 8.30pm Starring Glenn Close, Michael Douglas. Much loved by movie-goers for Close’s rabid performance and psychoanalysts as a case study, Fatal Attraction has been copied but never bettered since it came out 30 years ago. Close is Alex Forrest, who terrorises a married man, Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas), when he dumps her after a weekend fling. Close is on record as saying married men still
credit her with saving them from themselves. ★★★★★
The Trip To Spain M ori TV, 8.30pm Starring Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon. Fans of the first two Trip movies might find this third helping of culinary adventure from Brydon and Coogan hard to swallow. It’s the same old format with gastronomic delights, picture-postcard scenery, cheeky adventures and competitive celebrity mimicry. Hilarious if you haven’t followed them through the Lake District and Italy, but just a bit same old, same old if you have. ★★★
Fury Three, 8.45pm Starring Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman. Gritty war film about a US tank crew fighting Nazis during the final phase of World War ll. It’s a fine film, depicting war as it should be depicted – a bloody, hellish thing that dehumanises even the good guys. Pitt excels as the pragmatic but ruthless commander of the M4 Sherman tank nicknamed Fury, while Logan Lerman presents a more human face as a clerk typist mistakenly drafted into Fury’s crew and who finds it hard to accept the casual brutality of his situation. ★★★★★
Money Monster TVNZ 2, 11pm
Starring George Clooney, Julia Roberts. Financial thriller that tries to do what Too Big To Fail, The Big Short and Margin Call have done so well in the past – explore the greed and circumstances that crippled the world during 2008’s Global Financial Crisis. There’s nothing really new in this story of a TV host held hostage by a disgruntled viewer, but it’s a well-acted, intelligent piece of cinema and surprisingly funny at times. ★★★
Darkest Hour Three, 11.20pm Starring Gary Oldman, Lily James. Oldman is a revelation as Churchill, eclipsing John Lithgow (The Crown) and even Robert Hardy’s definitive portrayals on TV. Just how close Britain came to capitulating to Germany is driven home here. Kristin Scott Thomas effortlessly carries the part of his wife Clementine, but the inclusion of Lily James as his working-class assistant needlessly muddies the water. ★★★★
Black Mass TVNZ 2, 1am (Sunday)
Starring Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch. Depp plays gangster James ‘Whitey’ Bulger in this real-life story of Boston’s deadly Winter Hill Gang. The intriguing casting of Benedict Cumberbatch as his brother, a prominent Massachusetts politician, doesn’t work. Mess rather than mass, as one critic called it yet there’s too much talent on show here for it be a real flop. ★★★