The Herald - The Herald Magazine
THIS WEEK’S BEST FILMS
power of self-healing. Reborn as Deadpool, Wade sets out to wreak revenge on Ajax and his underlings.
The Big Chill (1983) (Sony Movies Classic, 11.10pm)
A group of seven former college friends gather for a weekend reunion at a posh South Carolina winter house after the funeral of a friend who, years before, had been tipped for greatness. They reminisce about what might have been and consider what the future holds. Although slightly dated, it’s a rare chance to see some of Hollywood’s biggest names – including Glenn Close, Tom Berenger, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt and Kevin Kline – before they were famous.
WEDNESDAY
Gallipoli (1981) (Film4, 4.20pm)
Two Australians – one an idealistic champion sprinter (Mark Lee), the other a world-weary drifter (Mel Gibson) – sign up to serve in the First World War out of a sense of patriotic duty and a longing for adventure. They undergo basic training in
Egypt, but it’s only when they arrive on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey, where they will be taking part in a pivotal battle, that they begin to understand the true horrors of life in the trenches.
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) (Film4, 9pm)
Twelve years have passed since the ALZ-113 virus ravaged the globe. Caesar (Andy Serkis), his wife Cornelia (Judy Greer) and their sons are living in exile in the woods with the rest of the apes. Under the cover of darkness, Colonel McCullough (Woody Harrelson) and his sharpshooting soldiers stage an assault on the ape stronghold and kill most of Caesar’s family. The grief-stricken leader orders the survivors to flee in
possible for their residents. Luckily, they had help from Paul O’Grady, who due to his own underlying health conditions, was also preparing to go into self-isolation. First though, he joined the staff onsite to learn about their plans. As this one-hour special shows, despite already having five dogs at home, Paul didn’t take too much persuading to foster another one - in fact, his biggest challenge was resisting the urge to take them all. But would he be equally tempted when he made a rare trip to see Battersea’s cats?
Celebrity MasterChef (BBC1, 9pm)
Actress Felicity Montagu, musician Lady Leshurr, travel presenter Amar Latif, and TV
comedy, it far surpasses anything that came after. Hollywood A-listers Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton and especially Better Midler have immense fun as the trio of vengeful women.
Logan Lucky (2017) (ITV4, 9pm)
Construction worker Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum), a one-time star footballer waylaid by injury, loses his job on the same day he learns that his ex-wife Bobbie Jo (Katie Holmes) intends to relocate to Lynchburg with her new beau.
have a stark choice to make - the popular crowd-pleaser George McGovern or the trail blazing African-American Shirley Chisholm, who is determined to fight against a traditional white male preserve. Drama about the political movement to pass the Equal Rights Amendment in the US.
THURSDAY
Stephen Lawrence: Has Britain Changed? (STV, 8pm)
On April 22, 1993, black British teenager Stephen Lawrence was murdered in a racially motivated attack. The aftermath hit the headlines and sparked discussions on institutional racism. Now, after the death of
Jimmy channels his frustration into planning a heist with his one-armed brother Clyde. Their target: is the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina. The brothers visit convicted safe cracker Joe Bang and promise to spring him out of jail for the day to access the racetrack vault.
FRIDAY
Love Actually (2003) (C5, 10pm)
Richard Curtis’s directorial debut creates a tableau of modern-day London life in which people fall in and out of love to a smoochy soundtrack in the run-up to Christmas. The film stitches together ten separate stories of love, longing, camaraderie and failed relationships, among them Hugh Grant as a bachelor PM falling head over heels for a tea lady played by Martine McCutcheon. Ebbing and flowing between the various interlinked storylines, building up the characters as they edge towards a crossroads in their lives, Love Actually delivers tear-jerking pathos and one-liners.
20th Century Women (2016) (BBC2, 11.20pm)
Bohemian mum Dorothea Fields (Annette Bening) and her teenage son Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) share a ramshackle home in Santa Barbara with New Wave photographer Abbie Porter and handyman William, who is slowly renovating the property. This madcap menagerie of misfits is completed by 17-year-old waif Julie, the object of Jamie’s hormone-driven affections, who refuses to entertain his clumsy fumbles. Meanwhile, Dorothea grows concerned that she can’t provide for her son’s emotional needs and entreats Abbie and Julie to help her shepherd Jamie across the rubicon to adulthood. 20th Century Women is a compelling family portrait.
George Floyd and the global protests that followed it, Lawrence is, understandably, back in our minds. As a result, Rageh Omaar and Anushka Asthana are hosting a live debate in an effort to discover if, 27 years on, his tragic death has had a lasting impact on racial equality in the UK. It’s followed immediately afterwards at 9pm by another chance to see writer-director Paul Greengrass’s moving drama about the case, The Murder of Stephen Lawrence, in which Hugh Quarshie and Marianne Jean-Baptiste play his parents, Neville and Doreen.
The Supervet: Noel Fitzpatrick (C4, 8pm)
There are those who think that it would be