The Herald - The Herald Magazine
THE WEEK’S BEST FILMS
SATURDAY
Maleficent (2014) (BBC1, 6.05pm)
King Henry (Kenneth Cranham) is a greedy monarch, who yearns to expand his kingdom by conquering the forest realm where fairy Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) holds sway. He pledges his crown to any man who can defeat the “winged elf”. Lowly underling Stefan (Sharlto Copley) tricks the fairy and steals her wings, thereby securing the throne. Following his coronation, King Stefan is poisoned by power and greed. Meanwhile, Maleficent bides her time and when the queen gives birth to a daughter, the fairy curses the infant Aurora to prick her finger on her 16th birthday and fall into eternal slumber. Inspired by the 1959 Disney animation Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent is a visually stunning fantasy which reimagines the Brothers Grimm through the eyes of the eponymous villainess.
The Departed (2006) (ITV4, 11pm)
Police officer Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) agrees to infiltrate the inner circle of feared Boston gangster Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). What he doesn’t know is that the mob boss has his own mole – high-flying detective Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), who was put through college by Frank to become his man on the inside. When the cops and the criminals both realise they have a rat in the ranks, Billy and Colin are given the task of rooting them out, but can they do it with giving themselves away in the process? Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning thriller is enough to give remakes a good name – it’s based on the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. Damon and DiCaprio are first-rate, but the real revelation is Mark Wahlberg, who steals scenes from his more feted co-stars as a foul-mouthed cop.
SUNDAY
Hotel Transylvania (2012) (ITV2, 3.20pm)
The eponymous establishment is a five-star resort run by Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler), which is situated far from the eyes of pesky humans in this fun animated comedy. Monsters flock to the hotel for their holidays and Dracula invites some of his favourite guests to celebrate the 118th birthday of his daughter, Mavis (Selena Gomez). A wayward tourist called Jonathan (Adam Samberg) stumbles upon the hotel and Dracula has to hide the human interloper from his guests. Once Jonathan’s true lineage is revealed to all and sundry, he helps to dispel myths about humans and establishes deep bonds of friendship with his fanged, blood-sucking hosts.
Holes (2003) (Channel 5, 2.05pm)
Stanley Yelnats IV (Shia LaBeouf) is sent to the forbidding “correctional” facility at Camp Green Lake after being wrongly convicted of stealing a star baseball player’s trainers. Stanley is placed into the care of the wicked camp warden (Sigourney Weaver), who forces Stanley to join the other boys digging holes in the desert. Unbeknownst to them, the warden and her associates Mr Sir (Jon Voight) and Dr Pendanski (Tim Blake Nelson) are searching for the treasure of the legendary 19th-century bandit, Kissin’ Kate Barlow (Patricia Arquette). Adapted from Louis Sachar’s acclaimed novel, with a screenplay by the author himself, Holes is an enchanting family film which never speaks down to or patronises its target youth audience.
MONDAY
Ronaldo (2015) (ITV4, 8pm)
Born in Madeira in 1985, Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the world’s best footballers, winning numerous accolades with Manchester United and Real Madrid including the FIFA/Ballons d’Or and the UEFA Champions League. In front of goal he is prolific, repeatedly rewriting the record books, but off the pitch, his life has been filled with many ups and downs. BAFTA-winning documentary filmmaker Anthony Wonke is granted unrivalled access to the footballer at home and with his family, interviewing Ronaldo to better understand what drives the sportsman. The film also includes archive footage and other revealing material, which provides a fascinating insight to the footballer’s inspirations and ambitions.
TUESDAY
Double Jeopardy (1999) (Film4, 10.55pm)
A husband (Bruce Greenwood) fakes his own death and plants evidence to suggest that his wife (Ashley Judd) bumped him off as part of an elaborate insurance scam, so that he can run off with the babysitter. The hapless spouse serves 10 years for a crime she did not commit, and when she is finally released, breaks her parole to track down her scheming other half and prove to the world that she was telling the truth all along. Her grizzled parole officer (Tommy Lee Jones) gives chase.
WEDNESDAY
Pulp Fiction (1994) (5STAR, 11pm)
Following his ultra-hip debut Reservoir Dogs, writerdirector Quentin Tarantino delivered an equally confident and more ambitious second film. Multiple storylines interweave as characters from one thread bump into those of another, introducing us to a brutal Los Angeles milieu populated by gangster junkies, honest thieves and tender murderers. Mob boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) entrusts low-rent hit men Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L Jackson) to collect a stolen briefcase. He also pays off ageing boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) to throw his next fight. The fates of these characters collide after Marsellus asks Vincent to entertain his wife Mia (Uma Thurman).
THURSDAY
Warlock (1959) (Film4, 2.40pm)
Not to be confused with the later Richard E GrantJulian Sands movie of the same name, this tense psychological Western stars Henry Fonda and Richard Widmark. A small town hires a professional gunfighter to protect the citizens from a gang of violent cattlemen after it seems no sheriff can survive to protect them. However, when he proves to be just as dangerous as the men he is supposed to be guarding them against, the residents are forced to looks elsewhere for help.
FRIDAY
The Ladykillers (1955) (Film4, 5.15pm)
A criminal mastermind and his motley gang of accomplices rent rooms from an elderly woman to plan their latest heist. The landlady doesn’t suspect a thing – she thinks they are a string quintet – but the gang fear that she still poses a threat to their scheming, and realise they are going to have to kill her. However, bumping her off proves a lot more difficult than they expected. The Ladykillers is an absolute classic that jostles with The Lavender Hill Mob and Kind Hearts and Coronets for the title of the greatest Ealing comedy. The cast, which includes Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers is first-rate, and the script and direction aren’t too shabby either. No wonder the Coen Brothers’ misconceived remake, starring Tom Hanks, failed to live up to it.