MIKE WARD’S SMALL SCREEN
LA LA LAND (12) (Download now, DVD and Blu-ray from Monday) THE movie event of 2016, this fabulously entertaining musical stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling as Mia and Sebastian, a would-be actress and a struggling jazz pianist, pursuing their showbiz dreams in Los Angeles.
With spectacular choreography and infectious songs – not to mention a genuinely touching love story – it really is an absolute joy from start to finish. MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (15) (Download now, DVD and Blu-ray from Monday) CASEY Affleck rightly took the Best Actor Oscar for his deeply affecting performance here as a guy facing up to the demons of his past. Heading back to his coastal home town following the death of his older brother Joe – the figure who had kept the family intact – damaged divorcee Lee Chandler is stunned to learn he’s been made sole guardian to Joe’s teenage son Patrick (Lucas Hedges).
It’s a huge task that forces him to confront issues of family and community that have gone unresolved for far too long. A challenging watch at times but massively rewarding – and not without its lighter moments. ASSASSIN’S CREED (12) (Download now, DVD and Blu-ray
from Monday) THE hit video game franchise comes to life in this ferocious but muddled and over-earnest adventure. Hooked up to the memories of some 15th century Spanish assassin fella, can Michael Fassbender’s Callum Lynch help foil the Templars’ plot for world domination? THIS IS JINSY: SERIES TWO (15) (DVD from Monday) COMEDY-wise, surreal can often just mean slap-worthily self-indulgent. But this Sky Atlantic series, about a fictional island and its oddball inhabitants, serves up some genuine laughs. Guest stars include Greg Davies, David Tennant and Stephen Fry. THE LAST KINGDOM: SEASON TWO (15)
(DVD and Blu-ray) OUR fearless warrior pal Uhtred (Alexander Dreymon) carries on battling for his Northumbrian home turf in the second helping of BBC Two’s gory historical saga.