7 TV FILMS OF THE WEEK
1 JURASSIC PARK Today, ITV2, 6.25pm
STEVEN SPIELBERG’S monster blockbuster sees a group of scientists (including Sam Neill and Laura Dern) being given a sneak preview of a safari park set up on a remote island by an eccentric tycoon (Richard Attenborough). The creatures on display are genetically engineered dinosaurs and it isn’t long before the prehistoric beasts escape their cages and the visitors become prey for a multitude of carnivorous critters. On release in 1993, this was one of the greatest shows on earth. It still packs a punch in 2020, not least because of great effects, action scenes and Jeff Goldblum’s performance as a swaggering ‘chaotician’.
2 ANTHROPOID Tomorrow, Film4, 10.50pm
SECOND World War drama. Jozef Gabcik (Cillian Murphy, pictured) and Jan Kubis (Jamie Dornan) parachute into Czechoslovakia to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich (Detlef Bothe), an architect of the Holocaust. While they prepare, Jozef and Jan seek lodgings and begin relationships with two friends (Charlotte Le Bon, Anna Geislerova) who are unaware of their murderous motive.
3 PALE RIDER Tuesday, ITV4, 9pm
POOR prospectors are terrorised by the henchmen of a local businessman who wants to drive them out of the area. In desperation, a terrified girl prays for help and her wish is granted when a mysterious preacher (Clint Eastwood, pictured, who also directs) arrives. But this is no ordinary man of the cloth. Instead, he’s a skilled gunman whose expertise proves handy.
4 PHILADELPHIA Wednesday, Sony Movies Classic, 6.40pm
MOVING drama. Tom Hanks stars as razor-sharp lawyer Andrew Beckett, pictured, who’s fired from a prestigious firm after contracting HIV. He’s keen to sue for wrongful dismissal, and turns to down-atheel lawyer Joe (Denzel Washington) for help. The latter isn’t exactly sympathetic to Andy’s plight, but agrees to defend him – and learns one or two lessons about prejudice along the way.
5 THE DAM BUSTERS Thursday, Film4, 11am
SECOND World War movie staring Richard Todd as Wing Commander Guy Gibson, a skilled pilot ordered to assemble a crack squadron of fliers for a top-secret mission. After weeks of training, they will drop a new explosive designed to destroy three German dams. Michael Redgrave, pictured, is on fine form as Barnes Wallis, the man who created the bouncing bomb at the heart of the story.
6 THE HANGOVER Friday, ITV2, 9pm
BAWDY buddy comedy. Two days before he walks down the aisle, Doug (Justin Bartha) heads for a stag weekend in Las Vegas with pals Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu (Ed Helms) and future brother-inlaw Alan (Zach Galifianakis, pictured). Hours of heavy drinking ensue and in the morning, Phil, Stu and Alan wake with no memory of the night before and no sign of the groom-to-be.
7 A QUIET PLACE Saturday, Channel 4, 9pm
HORROR thriller. Dad Lee Abbott (John Krasinski), his wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt, pictured) and their three children live in fear of sightless otherworldly creatures, which hunt by sound. The Abbotts communicate via sign language, but soon tragedy strikes. More than a year later, Evelyn is heavily pregnant, and a newborn baby’s cries could draw the hunters to their provision-stocked hiding place.