TV FILMS of the week
1 GREASE Today, Channel 4, 4.20pm
Following an idyllic holiday romance, 1950s teenagers Danny (John Travolta) and Sandy (Olivia Newton-john, both above), part company, believing they’ll never see each other again. They’re unexpectedly reunited when she enrols at his high school, but picking up where they left off proves difficult, as Danny has been boasting to his mates about his steamy summer fling and is a little too keen to keep his cool reputation. The songs are catchy, Travolta and Newton-john make a very cute couple, and the whole film has so much good-natured energy, it’s impossible not to be swept along.
2 ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN Tomorrow, BBC2, 11.10pm
Made just two years after the events it depicts, Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, left, take the leads as reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. In 1974 the pair unearthed scandal and corruption at the White House which resulted in President Richard Nixon’s infamous resignation. The film works because director Alan J Pakula shot it as an edge-of-your-seat thriller.
3 THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL Monday, Film4, 6.35pm
Sonny (Dev Patel, left) and Muriel (Maggie Smith) travel abroad to seek investment for a second hotel and return to India, mindful that funding is dependent on a review from a secret inspector. Lavinia (Tamsin Greig) and novelist Guy (Richard Gere) arrive and Sonny is convinced that Guy must be the inspector so he ignores Lavinia. It’s an entertaining if predictable sequel.
4 TRUE LIES Tuesday, Channel 5, 10pm
Harry (Arnold Schwarzenegger) spends his days battling terrorism. His bored wife Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis, left with Arnie) decides to spice up her life but gets more than she bargained for when she ends up in the clutches of a gang who have stolen a nuclear weapon. The slender plot is little more than an excuse for a string of action set pieces, but they are so entertaining you won’t care.
5 STAN & OLLIE Wednesday, BBC2, 9pm
This is a handsomely crafted Valentine to a double-act, who earned legions of adoring fans with pratfalls and slapstick. Laurel (Steve Coogan) and Hardy (John C Reilly) demand a better deal from Hal Roach (Danny Huston), who has them under contract, and a subsequent wrangling for a bigger slice of the Hollywood pie creates a fissure in the duo’s relationship.
6 LIKE A BOSS Thursday, Film4, 9pm
Mia Carter (Tiffany Haddish) and Mel Paige (Rose Byrne, left with Haddish) have been best friends since school and run a homemade cosmetics firm. When the business gets into debt, Mel persuades Mia to consider an investment from Claire Luna (Salma Hayek). The pair agree to give Claire a share but once the contract ink is dry, Claire plots to turn Mel and Mia against one another.
7 IRON MAN 3 Friday, BBC1, 10.35pm
Robert Downey Jr returns as Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, left, but we now find him to be a nervy insomniac. He does have Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) on hand to soothe him. It’s not long, though, before their domestic bliss is thwarted by a two-pronged attack. An improvement on Iron Man 2, this enjoyable sequel meets the high standards we’ve come to expect from Marvel.