Film choice

Murder on the Orient Express (1974) ITV3, 1.20PM ★★★★

Albert Finney is unrecognisable as the Belgian sleuth, this time on a train with every A-lister there ever was. All the passengers, it seems, bore a hefty grudge towards Richard Widmark’s villain but who actually killed him? The whole caper is as enjoyable as ever, and besides: how often do you get to share a carriage with Sean Connery, Lauren Bacall and Ingrid Bergman?

Mr Popper’s Penguins (2011) CHANNEL 4, 3.00PM ★★★

Jim Carrey returns once again to baffled bemusement in this surreal comedy about a property shark forced to act as a surrogate parent to some penguins, that are a sort-of inheritance from his father. Providing you don’t expect sophistication, this is an enjoyable film sustained by occasional glimpses of brilliance from Carrey. The award-winning Angela Lansbury co-stars.

Atonement (2007) CHANNEL 4, 11.00PM ★★★★★

Joe Wright’s grand vision of Ian McEwan’s novel is everything that his 2005 truncated Pride and Prejudice was not. Atonement benefits from James McAvoy’s subtle performance as the man whose life is wrecked by a girl’s foolish fantasy. The film’s theme is the power of art to atone for our sins: not one for the realists. But it does romance with the same sweeping aplomb as The English Patient.