PICKOFPAYTV AND MOVIES

NEW! THE HOLIDAY MOVIES THAT MADE US

(Season 1) HHH Behind-thescenes tales of how The Nightmare Before Christmas (Disney+) and Elf (Sky/now TV from December 8) had surprisingly rocky paths to the silver screen. From Tuesday.

MOVIE JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND

(2012) PG HHH Before the Jumanji sequels, Dwayne Johnson starred in this similarly rip-roaring Jules Verne adventure. Don’t miss the elephants in the credits at the end. From Tuesday.

NEW! SELENA: THE SERIES

(Part 1) HHH In 1997, Jennifer Lopez starred in Selena, about the wildly successful US singer Selena Quintanillaperez, who was gunned down aged 23. Netflix’s soaring drama is a longer treatment of Selena’s life, starting with her sweet early years and starring Christian Serratos

(right). From Friday.

MOVIE MANK

l(2020) 12 HHHHH David Fincher’s prestige picture stars Gary Oldman as the alcoholic writer who warred with Orson Welles on Citizen Kane. Expect an incredible cast, a homage to the past and awards in this film’s future. From Friday.

uAMAZON PRIME DRAMA PAN AM

(All 14 episodes) HHH Glossy, light-hearted drama set in the glory days of air travel, starring Christina Ricci as a flight attendant working on board the sophisticated new Clipper plane.

DRAMA

(Seasons 1-4) HHHH This sci-fi epic about a divided solar system is one of those sprawling shows you need time to absorb, and has an huge cast that includes Jared Harris. It was cancelled on US TV before Amazon picked it up. Season five is due on December 16.

MOVIE THE EXPANSE MY DAD’S CHRISTMAS DATE

(2020) PG HHH Unusual mix of chirpy romcom and grief drama, this festive offering stars Jeremy Piven as a widower in need of a connection with his daughter – while she tries to keep him out of her business by setting him up on dates. Piven, once a byword for edgy on-screen energy, looks like he can’t quite believe where he’s ended up, but there’s enough charm here to keep this going. From Friday.

MOVIE

lLIFE OF PI

(2012) PG HHHH Ang Lee’s spectacular, Oscar-winning take on Yann Martel’s ‘unfilmable’ novel. Suraj Sharma stars as the young man stuck on a boat with a tiger. From tomorrow.

Mega Blissmas, an animated festive special with Captain Underpants, arrives on Netflix on Friday l

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SKY / NOW TV LAST CHANCE BIG LOVE

(All five seasons) HHHH This HBO drama tells a family story in an unusual setting – a polygamous home. Bill Paxton stars, with

Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe

Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin as his wives. Until Monday.

COMEDY CODE 404

(Season 1)

HHH Daniel Mays and

Stephen Graham play the duo at the centre of this sweary buddycop comedy, the twist being that Mays’s idiotic detective dies an dis brought back to life with top technology – but is still an idiot. Series two is on the way.

DISNEY+

(2020) 12 u HHHH s Particularly

BEST OF THE REST NEW! EARTH AT NIGHT IN COLOUR

(Apple TV+) HHHH Some seriously whizz-bang cameras allow us to see ‘the night as clear as day’ in this mesmerising new wildlife series (left), footage from which spans six continents. From Friday.

EXPEDITION TO THE

(discovery+) HHH The new series continue to roll onto Discovery’s on demand service. Along with this serious Arctic expedition, there’s the similar Impossible Row and the almost entirely unserious Dodgeball Thunderdome. All from Tuesday.

PAY MOVIES ETERNAL BEAUTY

(2019) 15 (BT TV Store, Sky Store, Virgin) HHHH Bold dark comedy from writer-director Craig Roberts, with an extraordinary performance from Sally Hawkins as a woman looking for ways to alleviate her schizophrenia.

CORDELIA NEW! EDGE

(2019) 15 (Amazon, Apple TV, itunes) HHH The traumatised Cordelia lives a half life with her very different twin in this quietly creepy London thriller, which uses sound sparingly, and to great effect. One day, she meets a cellist who helps her, but can he be trusted? Both from Monday.

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