TV FILMS OF THE WEEK
1NOTTING
HILL Tonight, ITV, 10.20pm
WRITER Richard Curtis reunited with Four Weddings and a Funeral leading man Hugh Grant for this winning romantic comedy. Grant plays London bookshop owner Will, who has a chance encounter with the biggest movie star in the world, Anna Scott (a perfectly cast Julia Roberts). A spark develops, but can love overcome their very different lifestyles and the pressures of media intrusion? The leads make a great couple, and there’s also scene-stealing support from Rhys Ifans as Will’s flatmate and a bit of Hollywood satire to stop it becoming too similar to Four Weddings – Will’s attempt to navigate a press junket is a highlight.
2FANTASTIC
BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD Tomorrow, ITV, 5.35pm
THE second film in JK Rowling’s prequel series begins with Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) staging a breathless escape from custody. The dark wizard sets in motion his convoluted scheme so magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne, left) joins the fight against him. This film continues to expand and enrich mythologies beyond the years of Harry Potter.
3GHOST
Monday, Channel 5, 10pm
PATRICK SWAYZE stars as Sam, who has the perfect life – until he’s brutally murdered. He decides to hang around in spirit to help his girlfriend Molly (Demi Moore, pictured with Swayze) bring his killer to justice. His mission is made more complicated by the fact that the only person who can hear him is a fake psychic (Whoopi Goldberg).
4LOGAN
Tuesday, Film4, 9pm
LOGAN (Hugh Jackman, left) – aka Wolverine – lives in the desert with an albino tracker called Caliban (Stephen Merchant), who helps him to care for ailing Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart). Out of the blue, Logan is offered $50,000 to drive a mysterious girl to “a place up north”. The child is a vital link to a new generation of mutants. Logan is an explosively violent swansong.
THE little grey cells of Hercule Poirot are rigorously tested in Kenneth Branagh’s handsome reimagining of the snowbound murder mystery. Poirot (Branagh, left) finds himself on the Orient Express with slippery gangster Samuel Ratchett (Johnny Depp), who offers to pay the Belgian to ensure his safety. The detective declines, but then a murderer strikes.