Film choice

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016)

SKY CINEMA SUPERHEROES, 5.50PM ★★★

 Tim Burton’s Edwardian fairy tale, based on the first Miss Peregrine book by Ransom Riggs – feels oddly conventional. Adapted by Jane Goldman (Kick-ass), it’s a tale of an insular Florida lad, Jake Portman (Asa Butterfield), who finds a magical orphanage in Ireland that figured in tales spun by his grandfather (Terence Stamp). Eva Green and Samuel L Jackson are among excellent cast.

Mars Attacks! (1996) ITV4, 10.50PM ★★★★

 It may not be director Tim Burton’s best film but this surreal sci-fi comedy is still fun. The glitzy cast, including Jack Nicholson, Pierce Brosnan, Glenn Close and Sarah Jessica Parker, put on their best camp performances to fight seemingly peaceful Martians, who in fact want to destroy Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal all in the name of a good time. It’s a loving parody of Fifties’ sciencefiction cinema.

Runaway Train (1985) MOVIES4MEN, 10.50PM ★★★

 Jon Voight and Eric Roberts (both Oscar-nominated) star as a pair of convicts, whose dash for freedom from an Alaskan prison takes an unexpected turn when they find themselves on an out-of-control train. The officers on their heels are caught between stopping it and reclaiming the criminals. It’s all a bit ridiculous, but Voight brings an appealing manic energy to a fun premise. Rebecca De Mornay co-stars.