The best films on the box this week
FRIDAY BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM (2002) (ITV, 10.45pm)
GURINDER Chadha’s feelgood comedy is a hugely entertaining tale of a young woman striving to realise her dreams on and off the soccer pitch. Eighteenyear-old Jess Bhamra (Parminder Nagra) is a hardworking Indian girl who dreams of joining her idol David Beckham on the football pitch – but her parents (Anupam Kher, Shaheen Khan) will never accept a football player for a daughter.
SATURDAY IT (2017) (Sky Cinema Premiere, 12pm & 8pm)
IN 1989, seven youngsters are drawn together by mutual beatings at the hands of sadistic teenager Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton). The gang’s leader Bill (Jaeden Lieberher) bears the deepest wounds – his brother Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) was murdered by Pennywise the Clown (Bill Skarsgard) the previous autumn. Bill seeks solace in the company of fellow misfits, but Pennywise intends to divide and conquer by feasting on the children’s fears. A nerve-jangling adaptation of Stephen King’s 1986 novel.
SUNDAY HOLES (2003) (C5, 2.05pm)
STANLEY Yelnats IV (Shia LaBeouf ) is sent to the forbidding “correctional” facility at Camp Green Lake after being wrongly convicted of stealing a star baseball player’s trainers. The wicked camp warden (Sigourney Weaver) forces Stanley to join the other boys digging holes in the desert. Unknown to them, the warden is searching for the treasure of the legendary bandit Kissin’ Kate Barlow (Patricia Arquette). Holes is an enchanting family film which never speaks down to or patronises its target youth audience.
MONDAY TRAINSPOTTING (1996) (Film4, 11.10pm)
DANNY Boyle’s cult drama follows heroin addict Renton (Ewan McGregor) as he attempts to get clean. Fellow junkies Spud (Ewen Bremner) and Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller) offer little encouragement, while his mate Begbie (Robert Carlyle) is prone to random bouts of violence. An exhilarating mix of grit, energy and black humour, with a terrific ensemble cast.
TUESDAY DOUBLE JEOPARDY (1999) (Film4, 10.55pm)
A husband (Bruce Greenwood) fakes his own death so he can run off with the babysitter. He plants evidence to suggest his wife (Ashley Judd) bumped him off, resulting in her serving 10 years for a crime she did not commit. When she is finally released, she breaks her parole to track down her scheming other half – while her grizzled parole officer (Tommy Lee Jones) gives chase. Double Jeopardy is a diverting chase thriller in the style of The Fugitive.
WEDNESDAY PULP FICTION (1994) (5STAR, 11pm)
QUENTIN Tarantino’s ambitious second film sees multiple storylines interweave, introducing us to a brutal Los Angeles milieu of gangster junkies, honest thieves and tender murderers. Mob boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) entrusts hit men Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L Jackson) to collect a stolen briefcase. He also pays ageing boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) to throw his next fight. The fates of these characters collide after Marsellus asks Vincent to entertain his wife Mia (Uma Thurman) in his absence.
THURSDAY WARLOCK (1959) (Film4, 2.40pm)
TENSE Western starring Henry Fonda and Richard Widmark. The citizens of a small town hire a professional gunfighter to protect them from a gang of violent cattlemen. However, when he proves to be just as dangerous as the men he is supposed to be guarding them against, the residents are forced to looks elsewhere for help.