Get settled in your seats

Sofas, chairs, on the floor – make sure you have a good spot for these cracking movies

BLUE BEETLE (2023) *** (SKY CINEMA PREMIERE, SATURDAY, 12.05PM & 8PM)

An ancient relic of alien biotechnology known as the Scarab chooses 22-year-old Gotham Law graduate Jaime Reyes (Xolo Mariduena) as its symbiotic host. He is transformed into a superhero with an incredible suit of armour. “It’s some kind of world-destroying weapon,” helpfully explains Jenny Kord (Bruna Marquezine), whose Machiavellian aunt Victoria (Susan Sarandon) is a powerful businesswoman determined to acquire the Scarab to realise her vision of a mechanised army. Victoria dispatches cyborg bodyguard Conrad Carapax (Raoul Max Trujillo) to neutralise Jaime and claim the Scarab. Blue Beetle welcomes the first leading Latino superhero to the DC Universe. A romantic subplot is largely superfluous, but the film’s purposely overblown second half is a hoot.

CLUELESS (1995) **** (CHANNEL 4, SUNDAY, 3PM)

Writer-director Amy Heckerling’s classic teen comedy takes the plot of Jane Austen’s Emma and transports it to a 1990s Beverly Hills high school. Rich, spoilt, but essentially well-meaning student Cher (Alicia Silverstone) decides to use her popularity for good by taking an unfashionable new girl (Brittany Murphy) under her wing and finding her a suitable boyfriend. However, when her attempts at matchmaking end in disaster, Cher is forced to face the fact that she might be the one who’s truly clueless. The film inspired a wave of teen updates of classic literature, but few managed it with such effortless charm and wit as Clueless. Much of the credit is due to Heckerling’s endlessly quotable script, but Silverstone should get her fair share of the praise too.

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (2021) ***** (BBC1, MONDAY, 7.45PM) PREMIERE

Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is exposed as Spider-man and he tries (unsuccessfully) to ride out the storm. When the people he loves are penalised for associating with him, Peter entreats master of mystic arts Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell with ancient runes to make the world forget his secret identity. The incantation is botched and fissures in the multiverse allow five of Spider-man’s most fearsome adversaries – Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Electro (Jamie Foxx), Lizard (Rhys Ifans) and Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) – to converge on his refraction of New York City. Spider-man: No Way Home is a thrillingly wild ride that puts the characters – and in turn us – through the emotional wringer to underline the great responsibility that comes with great power.

BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (1989) ***** (FILM4, TUESDAY, 9PM)

Director Oliver Stone’s double-oscar-winning movie, the middle part of his Vietnam-based trilogy which also comprises Platoon and Heaven and Earth. This harrowing drama is based on the true story of Ron Kovic who, as a gung-ho raw recruit, joins the Marines and is sent to Vietnam, where he receives horrific injuries which leave him paralysed from the chest down. Tom Cruise gives a powerful performance in the lead role, charting the fighter’s early patriotism, through his eventual disillusionment to his long physical and mental recovery. It’s not the easiest film to watch, and some may argue Stone can be a bit heavy-handed in making the point about the futility and waste of war. However, this is perhaps one of Cruise’s best turns.

FRESH (2022) **** (FILM4, WEDNESDAY, 9PM) PREMIERE

After her star-making role in TV’S Normal People, Daisy Edgar-jones skirts the darker side of romance in director Mimi Cave’s horror comedy. She plays hopeful romantic Noa, who has almost given up on old-fashioned love after a series of disastrous dates facilitated via smartphone apps. In a supermarket, she meets handsome stranger Steve (Sebastian Stan), who purports to be a plastic surgeon. The spark of attraction is instantaneous and Noa abandons her senses to fall into Steve’s arms. Her best friend Mollie (Jojo T Gibbs) raises concerns about Steve’s complete lack of a social-media presence and as Noa slowly emerges from the fog of lust at first sight, she discovers her new boyfriend’s unusual appetites.

BLAZING SADDLES (1974) **** (BBC4, THURSDAY, 10PM)

Mel Brooks’ classic spoof sees a corrupt businessman (Harvey Korman) hatch a plan to destroy a small town standing in the way of his railroad plans. He orders the murder of the town’s sheriff, and then convinces the government to appoint a black railroad worker (Cleavon Little) to replace him, knowing the closed-minded villagers won’t be happy. But the new sheriff unexpectedly joins forces with an alcoholic ex-gunslinger (Gene Wilder) to fight the railroad and the bad guys. It’s hilarious and at times shockingly un-pc, but the laughs are a mile a minute thanks to the outstanding cast, which also includes Brooks himself and the Oscar-nominated Madeline Kahn. Keep an eye out for the infamous campfire scene – you’ll know why.

DUNKIRK (2017) **** (BBC1, FRIDAY, 10.40PM)

Christopher Nolan’s drama is a stunning mosaic of personal stories of hard-fought triumph and agonising defeat set against the sprawling backdrop of the largest evacuation of allied forces during World War

II. Young British soldier Tommy (Fionn Whitehead) escapes a hail of German bullets and races to the beaches of Dunkirk, where more than 300,000 exhausted men await rescue. On the other side of the Channel, sailor Mr Dawson (Mark Rylance) answers Winston Churchill’s impassioned call for civilian boats to rescue our boys. At sea, he fishes out a shell-shocked soldier (Cillian Murphy) from the hull of an overturned vessel and witnesses a dogfight between German fighter planes and Royal Air Force spitfires piloted by Farrier (Tom Hardy) and Collins (Jack Lowden).