SEVEN FILMS TO SEE THIS WEEK
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 Today, OSN Movies First, 4.20pm
Marvel’s motliest misfits return in the second instalment of the
Guardians of the Galaxy saga, and the 15th film overall in the everexpanding Marvel Cinematic Universe. Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket and Groot return, this time with a consignment of valuable batteries to protect, a shipload of intergalactic pirates on their tail, and Star-Lord’s all powerful father, Ego (played by Kurt Russell), to contend with. As with the first film, GotG 2 takes a break from the usual seriousness of the MCU in favour of comedy, nostalgia and a great soundtrack.
Che: Part Two Tomorrow, Star Movies, 10.45am
The second part of Steven Soderbergh’s epic biography of the Argentinian revolutionary picks up eight years after the victorious Cuban Revolution, where the first movie left off. Che, played by Benicio Del Toro, has grown tired of the daily chores of running an actual government in Cuba and heads to Bolivia in heavy disguise hoping to spread the revolution across Latin America. Various right-wing Latin American governments and the CIA aren’t entirely amenable to his plans, and his revolutionary struggle starts afresh, with well-known and tragic results.
Wuthering Heights Tuesday, OSN Movies Festival, 5.35pm
Classic Hollywood fare in William Wyler’s adaptation of Emily Bronte’s romantic drama. Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon take on the roles of iconic doomed lovers Heathcliff and Cathy in this typically Bronteesque tale of class, forbidden love and barely concealed falsehood of society’s manners. Wyler was traditionally something of an Oscar magnet, picking up multiple awards for films including Ben-Hur and Mrs Miniver. In 1940, he had to be content with a single statue for cinematography for Wuthering
Heights in what many consider to be the greatest Oscars line-up ever – the film’s competition that year included Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Of Mice and Men and Goodbye, Mr Chips.
Frank Wednesday, Star Movies, 12.15pm
A quirky British black comedy from
Room director Lenny Abrahamson, loosely inspired by the life of Chris Sievey, who was better known as papier-mache-head-wearing musician and comic Frank Sidebottom. The similarities pretty much end with the fact Michael Fassbender’s Frank constantly wears a papier-mache head. The movie tells the story of a struggling band, led by Frank, though their attempts to record their album and achieve fame – or eschew it, depending on their mood – largely serves as a backdrop for a surreal look at friendship through the medium of a toiling-rock-band-movie pastiche.
Mustang Thursday, Sundance Channel, 5.15pm
Deniz Gamze Erguven’s debut feature tells the story of five young sisters being raised by their conservative extended family in rural Turkey. Following an innocent encounter with some boys from school, the girls’ grandmother confines them to the house until she can marry off all five against their will, leading to a chain of escape attempts, suicide and conflict. If you’re thinking it all sounds a bit Virgin Suicides, you may have a point, but the film’s Turkish setting adds an extra cultural context to the young girls’ oppression. And a glut of awards, including four Cesars, a Europa Cinemas Award at Cannes and an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, suggest that, derivative or not, Erguven did something right.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Friday, Netflix, streaming from 11.01am
Netflix has been grabbing all the headlines for its original productions recently, but it has also quietly been adding a host of quality archive material to its site. The latest movie to join the streaming giant’s bulging menu is Terry Gilliam’s fantastical The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,
a typically self-indulgent, but equally magical and enchanting, tale of a travelling theatre troupe whose leader, having made a deal with the devil, possesses a magical mirror that allows users to explore the farthest reaches of their imagination. Christopher Plummer stars, while Heath Ledger’s role was shared between Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law after the Australian’s death mid-shoot.
Yallah! Underground Saturday, Sundance Channel, 10.55am
Farid Eslam’s documentary exposes the heart of the Middle East’s thriving, fractured alternative music scene, as we meet musicians such as Lebanon’s Zeid Hamdan, who was locked up by his government in 2011 after the old song, General
Suleiman, was deemed defamatory to then-president Michel Suleiman. Other stars include Jordanian guitarist Mahmoud Radaideh, Egyptian hip-hop group Arabian Knightz and Palestinian visual artist Amer Shomali. Shot guerrillastyle, the rough, hand-held footage captures musicians in their home environments, jamming in front rooms and on balconies.