TV FILMS of the week
1 LOVE & MERCY Tonight, BBC2, 11.20pm
In the 1980s, Beach Boys songwriter Brian Wilson (John
Cusack) meets car dealer Melinda Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks). A nervous first date exposes Wilson’s mental fragility, and while Melinda is not deterred by his quirks, she is angered when Brian’s personal physician tries to terminate the relationship, so she sets out to expose the controlling medic. Intercut with this romance, stylised flashbacks usher in the 1960s when Brian (now played by Paul Dano) reacts to the release of The Beatles’ Revolver by planning to write the greatest album ever made. But the voices in his head are growing louder...
2 THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND Tomorrow, BBC2, 10pm
Story based on a memoir by William Kamkwamba. Trywell Kamkwamba (Chiwetel Ejiofor, left) is a farmer in Malawi, who is struggling to provide for his family, including son William (Maxwell Simba, pictured with Ejiofor). With their village ravaged by famine, William builds a wind turbine to power the buildings and irrigate the parched land.
3 MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS Monday, Film4, 9pm
In this reimagining of the Agatha Christie novel, moustachioed sleuth Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh, left) finds himself on the Orient Express in a cabin next to slippery gangster Samuel Ratchett (Johnny Depp), who offers to pay the Belgian to ensure his safety. The detective declines, but then a murderer strikes.
4 SCREAM Tuesday, 5STAR, 11.05pm
Assorted high-school students are systematically stalked and murdered by a masked figure in this horror comedy. What gives it a twist is that both the killer and the prey are well-versed in horror movie clichés. Meanwhile, one of the teenagers (Neve Campbell, left) notices a link between the deaths and her mother’s murder one year earlier.
5 THE TERMINATOR Wednesday, 5STAR, 9pm
Arnold Schwarzenegger (left) stars as a violent cyborg who is sent from the future to kill waitress Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), the woman destined to give birth to the saviour of the human race in the future. Fortunately, a brave soldier (Michael Biehn) is also sent back in time to protect her. A sci-fi classic.
6 JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT Thursday, Film4, 9pm
Kenneth Branagh directs the fifth movie in the Jack Ryan franchise. Chris Pine follows in the footsteps of Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck as the CIA analyst who uncovers a Russian plot to crash the US economy. Branagh plays the sinister Viktor Cherevin, with Keira Knightley and Kevin Costner among the supporting cast.
7 LA LA LAND Friday, BBC1, 11.35pm
In this valentine to the golden age of Hollywood musicals, aspiring actress Mia (Emma Stone) crosses paths with pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling, pictured with Stone). At a party in the Hollywood hills they share their hopes. But can they follow their dreams and keep their artistic integrity without sacrificing their relationship?