Film choice

Fences (2016) SKY CINEMA PREMIERE, 5.35PM ★★★★

 Denzel Washington and Viola Davis make for a sensational double act in this adaptation of August Wilson’s prize-winning play about a struggling family in Fifties Pittsburgh. Often seen as a black dramatist’s rejoinder to Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, it tells the story of a baseball player who blames pre-civil-rights-era racism on his failed career.

The Frighteners (1996) SKY CINEMA GREATS, 6.00PM ★★★

 Michael J Fox, in his last major film role, plays Frank Bannister, an architect who becomes psychic following the death of his wife. He uses his abilities to cheat money out of people. But when the spirit of a serial killer starts attacking the living and the dead, Bannister finds a more pressing need for his powers. Peter Jackson’s film is visually impressive, and it boasts some great effects.

Sunshine (2007) SONY MOVIE CHANNEL, 9.00PM ★★★★

 Danny Boyle and Alex Garland

(28 Days Later) collaborate again on this technically brilliant sci-fi thriller. The sun is losing its power and the only way of kick-starting it back into life is to explode a nuclear device within it. If it lacks characterisation, Boyle’s film more than makes up for it with a great adrenalin rush. Cillian Murphy also stars as the physicist who operates the huge device.