MIKE WARD’S SMALL SCREEN
THEIR FINEST (12) (Download now, DVD and Blu-ray from Monday) DURING the Second World War, the Ministry of Information churned out morale-boosting propaganda films telling tales of British pluck.
Gemma Arterton is Catrin, hired as a screenwriter to give the scripts more female appeal, with Sam Claflin as her writing partner Tom, gradually won over, both work-wise and personally, as they toil on the latest story.
With Bill Nighy on hilarious form as a vain, ageing thespian, this really is lovely stuff – funny, warmly nostalgic but not without its moments of genuine heartstopping drama. RAW (18) (Download, DVD and Blu-ray) BE warned: this is not for the weak of stomach. But if you only a redneck NEXT WEEK: Daniel Craig plays Logan Lucky. safe breaker in caper comedy also star. Channing Tatum and Adam Driver killer is on THE WEEK AFTER: A serial in The Limehouse the loose in Victorian London Golem. Bill Nighy stars. watch one French horror movie this week about a young vegetarian who enrols at vets’ school, gets forced into a sick initiation ceremony and ends up developing an insatiable hunger for raw human flesh, then make sure it’s this one.
Gory as it is (some cinema-goers reportedly fainted, while others needed sick bags), it’s no cheap shocker but a reminder that the best horrors can be stylish, inventive and thought provoking.
Garance Marillier plays student Justine. THE BLEEDER (15) (Download, DVD and Blu-ray from Monday) BOXER Chuck Wepner was the New Jersey heavyweight whose tale inspired the Rocky movies.
This hugely entertaining biopic takes us back to the mid-70s, when Chuck (played here by Liev Schreiber) challenges the champion, Muhammad Ali (Pooch Hall), for the world title. LADY MACBETH (15) (DVD and Blu-ray from Monday) THIS isn’t about the Shakespeare character but about a young woman forced into a loveless marriage in 19th century rural north-east England. To re-assert her independence and break free from the house that’s become her prison, Katherine (Florence Pugh) embarks on a steamy affair with an estate worker. It’s from this point onwards that her darker side begins to take hold. I KNOW WHO YOU ARE (15) (DVD) A TOP criminal lawyer loses his memory, then finds himself accused of murder in this sharp, stylish 10-part Spanish thriller.