Fest ive FILMS
Saturday, December 22 The Shape of Water (2018)
9.45pm Sky Cinema Premiere Inspired by his love of the 1954 creature feature, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Guillermo del Toro has fashioned a stylish, irresistible love story that only he could turn into a modern masterpiece. Written with his self-declared muse, Sally Hawkins, in mind, The Shape of
Water is a story of outsiders. Hawkins plays a mute, lonely cleaner who works the overnight shift at a top secret Government base in 1960’s Baltimore. She does have good friends in the shape of co-worker, Octavia Spencer, and neighbour, Richard Jenkins, but the closest thing to a real soul-mate turns out to be the mysterious amphibian creature being monitored by paranoid army brass (headed by Michael Shannon) and white-coated medics (headed by Michael Stuhlberg). Beautifully shot by Dan Laustsen, The Shape of Water is an enchanting, superbly crafted fairytale. In a year of wonderful performances by female actors (Saoirse, Frances, Margot, Allison), Sally Hawkins is the standout of the bunch. Her subtle, emotionally understated performance is a thing of wonder. Talk a bow, Guillermo.
Garage (2006)
11.55pm RTÉ One
2006 was quite a year for director Lenny Abrahamson. First, he directed that excellent four-part television series Prosperity. Then he delivered a lm drama that wowed Cannes and o ered Pat Shortt the role of his life. Shortt is superb as Josie, a well-meaning innocent who measures out his days working in a rundown garage on the outskirts of a rural town, while his nights are spent being the butt of the jokes in the local pub. When the garage owner hires a youngster (Conor Ryan) to help out, Josie enjoys the companionship, but soon events take a dark turn. Penned by Mark O’halloran, who previously collaborated with the director on the marvellous Adam
Break out the chocolates, flop down on the couch and loosen that belt: it’s time for the best-ever season of Christmas movies on TV. Michael Doherty is your guide
& Paul, Garage is a blue-break drama that perfectly captures smalltown ennui, from the attitude of the bar ies to the image of Josie making his meagre sandwiches. It’s a measure of Shortt’s performance that the echo of Killinaskully and jumbo breakfast rolls are so quickly dispelled once the drama begins.
Sunday, December 23 Mary Magdalene (2018)
5.50pm Sky Cinema Premiere Following their collaboration on the powerful drama Lion (2016), director
Garth Davis and his leading lady, Rooney Mara, are reunited for this biblical yarn, which takes a fresh look at the most oft-maligned, oft-forgotten of Jesus’ followers, Mary Magdalene. Previous portrayals of Mary Magdalene in popular culture, including the stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar and Martin Scorsese’s
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), have concentrated on Magdalene as a ‘fallen woman’. This new drama, billed as ‘the untold story’, portrays her as a smart, independent young woman who leaves behind her life as a second- class citizen after encountering the charismatic
Jesus of Nazareth (Joaquin Phoenix). Familiar incidents in Jesus’ life – the raising of Lazarus, the expulsion of the moneylenders, the Last Supper – all unfold through the eyes of Mara’s thoughtful heroine. This moving, beautifully shot drama is powered by two charismatic central performances, plus a strong supporting cast that includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tahar Rahin and Tchéky Karyo. Listen out for the nal lm score of the late Jóhann Jóhannsson.
Christmas Eve The Lady in the Van (2015)
10.00pm BBC Two This is the remarkable, true story of the relationship between playwright Alan Bennett and the eponymous transient woman who parked temporarily (!) in his driveway for over 15 years. Not for the
rst time, Alex Jennings is pitch-perfect as the Yorkshire playwright, but the character of Mary, the cantankerous, “magni cently ungrateful’’ van woman, is tailor-made for Maggie Smith. “What Maggie does,” director Nicholas Hytner told Movieguide at the time, is bring,
rst of all, her own sense of humour as an actor to a character who has no sense of humour. Maggie is also able to suggest implicitly a kind of ocean of regret, a sense of waste, a life that might have been completely di erent.’’ Hytner shot the movie in the actual house where Bennett used to live in Camden Town; a few doors down from the director, as it happens.
Sing Street (2016)
10.20pm RTÉ 2 Following the success of Once (2007) and Begin Again (2013), writer-director John Carney completed his musical trilogy with
Sing Street, the most autobiographical of his movies to date. Sing Street is the story of Conor Lawlor (Ferdia Walsh-peelo), a young Dublin boy forced to change schools when the economic circumstances of his family take a nosedive.
Faced with bullies of both the schoolboy and Christian Brother variety, Conor is drawn to the only bright spark of his day, the Clare Grogan-lookalike who stands opposite the school gates each day.
In an attempt to woo said gal (Lucy Boynton), our hero professes to be in a band, a ruse that requires him to round up his motley crew of mates and begin rehearsing; quickly. With the girl as his muse and his stoner brother (Jack Reynor)’s record collection as his inspiration, Conor sets out to change his world.
Sing Street is a feelgood gem (imagine John Hughes had directed The Commitments), which deftly blends the acting skills of a group of seasoned performers with the enthusiasm of some absolute beginners. First among equals is Ferdia Walsh-peelo. An accomplished musician, even at 16, the young star proves equally at home in front of a camera. Also impressive are his young band-mates, while the likes of Aidan Gillen, Maria Doyle Kennedy and, particularly, Jack Reynor, bring all their experience to bear in eye-catching roles. As a musical drama, Sing Street stands on its own two feet, but for those who remember Klipso bars, a-ha videos and the time-honoured ritual of watching Top of the Pops every Thursday (just before Tomorrow’s World), it’s also a nostalgic gem.
The Sea (2013)
12.20am RTÉ 2
John Banville adapts his own Booker Prizewinning novel for this contemplative tale about a retired art historian (Hinds) who, haunted by the recent death of his wife (Cusack), returns to the place where he spent
his childhood summers (a ctionalised Rosslare, according to the author) in search of an anchor in his life. Far from
nding solace, the experience of being in that seaside location rekindles traumatic episodes of his past. Beautifully shot by John Conroy and featuring a haunting score from Andrew Hewitt, The Sea is let down by its lugubrious narrative and the under-use of an impressive ensemble cast (Charlotte Rampling, Rufus Sewell and Bonnie Wright also feature). That said, Ciarán Hinds and the Ifta-winning Sinéad Cusack really deliver the goods.
Christmas Day The Jungle Book (2016)
3.10pm BBC One / 4.30pm RTÉ One There have been a number of screen versions of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book tales over the years, the most famous and popular being the animated musical from 1967. That particular movie, Uncle Walt’s swansong, has become so iconic you would think it impossible for any modern version to scale those heights, particularly one which utilises CGI rendered animals and backdrops. You’d be wrong.
Jon Favreau’s reworking of Mr Kipling’s exceedingly good yarn is a delightful tale in which the live action (Mowgli) and CGI (just about everything else) blend so seamlessly together it’s di cult to see where one starts and the other begins. Indeed the animals on show are so convincing, you start to wonder if the man cub (played by newcomer Neel Sethi) is actually esh and blood or another digital creation of the bo ns.
The story itself is the time-honoured yarn in which a young orphan boy is reared by wolves in the Indian jungle, befriends a bear (Baloo) and a panther (Bagheera), and then has to take on a formidable tiger (Shere Khan) as he gets closer to manhood. In dealing with such familiar characters, casting was always going to be key and Favreau has excelled himself in this regard. While nobody could possibly top George Sanders as Shere
Khan, Idris Elba brings a distinct menace to the role. Elsewhere Bill Murray (Baloo), Scarlett Johansson (Ksa), Ben Kingsley (Bagheera) and Christopher Walken (King Louie) are great value, with Walken’s nod to Brando’s Colonel Kurtz a particular delight. The new movie even manages to nd room for two classic tunes from the 1967 lm, The Bare Necessities and I Wanna Be Like You, while Scarlett Johansson vamps her way through Trust In Me over the closing credits. The Jungle Book is action-packed and technically remarkable, though very little people be warned: you might nd the big tiger and the even bigger snake a tad scary.
The Greatest Showman (2017)
6.45pm Sky One Hugh Jackman trades razor sharp claws and fuzzy mutton chops for a top hat and tap shoes in this smash-hit, Golden Globe-winning musical about PT Barnum. The great songs (Never Enough, Rewrite the Stars) come thick and fast, with Jackman ably supported by a strong ensemble, including Zendaya, Michelle Williams and Zac Efron. A cracking musical, and you can relive this year’s Toy Show.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
6.50pm RTÉ One
The new trilogy of George Lucas’ Star Wars saga gets o to a brilliant start with fresh new characters, in the shape of Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac and John Boyega, and the return of some old favourites. JJ Abrams is a steady hand at the tiller for a story that o ers more than a nod to the
rst Star Wars yarn in 1977 (JJ is smart enough to avoid those prequels). It’s 30 years after the events of Episode IV but again we’re on a deserted planet with a rebellious orphan (Ridley) in whom the Force is strong. Again she’s battling black clad baddies, in this case Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren. And again we have the presence of beloved characters, including Harrison Ford’s Han Solo, Chewbacca and the late Carrie Fisher’s now General Leia. Watch out for Skellig Michael.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
8.00pm Sky Cinema Premiere
For fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (that’s MCU, of course), this 149-minute monster (the rst of a two-parter!) from the Russo Brothers is what they were waiting for. They’ve sat through 18 of these superhero icks since 2007, some good (Ant-man, Guardians of the Galaxy), some bad (Thor: The Dark World, Iron Man 2 & 3) and some that were just about keeping the engine ticking over (Avengers: Age of Ultron, Guardians of the Galaxy 2). Eventually though, the fans’ patience and need to sit through endless scrolling names to catch those post-credits teasers pays o . All their favourites (and the ones they can’t abide) get a look-in here, as Thanos, the blue rock monster ultra-baddie who was the teaser in so many of those post-credit bits, nally arrives. His plan is simple: collect six magic jewels (or In nity Stones, as they are more portentously called) and use their, er, in nite power to wish half of the trillions of sentient beings in the universe out of existence. Naturally, the MCU superheroes and their pals think it’s a bad idea, although on more than one occasion, the Russos give Thanos a chance to argue for his Malthusian outlook. Perhaps the LA tra c jams make genocide seem nearly reasonable. At the end of lm No.13, Avengers:
Civil War, the Avengers had gone their separate ways. Now, Tony Stark is about to marry Pepper Potts; Vision and the Scarlet Witch are hiding romantically in Scotland; Captain America and Black Widow are ying about in a super-jet, apparently doing each other’s hair, as he’s got a dark beard now and she’s gone blonde. Out in space, the Guardians are up to their usual wisecracking space piracy, with fan favourite Groot now a moody teenager; while Thor and Loki come under attack on the shipful of refugees from Asgard that escaped their sister’s wrath in Thor: Ragnarok (No.17). There are comic meetings and new alliances as Thanos’ population control plan develops, and the scenes jump from Earth to alien planets, spaceships and ashbacks. Despite the running time (150 mins), given the many characters in play, the pace is pretty relentless, but there are enough quieter, slower moments to allow us to draw breath, ready for the next visual onslaught. (Stephen Meyler)
Deadpool (2016)
11.00pm RTÉ 2
Just when people thought Ryan Reynolds was never going to capitalise on the success of The Proposal (2009), particularly following the bomb that was Green Lantern (2013), along came this quirky gem and nally earned the guy his spot on the A-list. At a time when many individual Marvel projects are little more than precursors to those big Avengers bashes, Deadpool is a one-of-a-kind gem. Shot in 48 days on a budget much smaller than anything involving Spider-man or Iron Man, Deadpool tells the origins of one of the most unconventional anti-heroes in the Marvel universe. Smarmy tough guy Wade Wilson (aka Deadpool) was once a US Special Forces soldier. Having been dishonourably discharged from the service, he now wreaks vengeance for cash. When he’s subsequently diagnosed with cancer, it seems his life will be a short one - until he’s o ered an experimental cure. It works, but it also transforms him into a self-healing, virtually indestructible anti-hero.
Allying his new superpowers to a twisted sense of humour (not to mention a passion for Wham), Deadpool takes relish in the pain he can now in ict, and can’t help sharing that relish with the audience through the medium of the fourth wall. It’s a tour de force performance from Reynolds, aided by some imaginative action sequences from rst-time director Tim Miller. By not taking itself too seriously and winking at the audience through every cliché, Deadpool is one of the best Marvel o erings. Morena Baccarin and Gina Corana co-star.
The Beatles: Eight Days A Week (2016)
12.15am Channel 4
Beatles fan Ron Howard uses a combination of found footage and restored footage (in glorious 4K) to chronicle the remarkable journey of the Fab Four, from the Cavern of Liverpool to the arenas of the USA and beyond. Eight Days a Week conveys the magic and the madness of Beatlemania, as crystallised in the group’s iconic concert of August 15, 1965, when 56,000 fans crowded into New York’s Shea Stadium to watch four dots in the far distance play music that could only be piped through the PA system and therefore sounded like a swarm of angry bees. Being an authorised production, Howard gets to talk to Macca and Ringo about those heady days. “By the end, it became quite complicated,” says Paul, “but in the beginning, it was very simple.”the
lm also features contributions from Elvis Costello, Eddie Izzard, Whoopi Goldberg and cultural commentator, Malcolm Gladwell. You won’t nd anything too revelatory about Howard’s a ectionate portrait (though it’s interesting to hear the rest of the band extolling the virtues of Ringo), but this is a must-see for fans of Mersey’s nest.
St Stephen’s Day High Society (1956)
7.15am RTÉ One
This musical adaptation of The Philadelphia Story boasts a cracking cast and a terri c score from Cole Porter. Grace Kelly, in her last movie as a commoner, takes on the Katharine Hepburn role as the heiress whose impending second wedding is thrown into disarray by the arrival of former husband Bing Crosby. The relationship between the two leads, allegedly not con ned to the screen, was rst-rate, while Frank Sinatra and Celeste Holm are stand-outs in support. Among the musical highlights are Frank and Bing joining forces on Well, Did You Evah? and Bing and Grace performing the millionselling ballad, True Love. Incidentally, watch out for the Gibraltar-like engagement ring which Kelly sports on her nger throughout the lm: that ain’t no prop.
The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
Noon Virgin Media Two
Michael Powell’s superb Arabian Nights fantasy carried the tag-line ‘The Wonder Picture of All Time’ and didn’t fall too far short of its billing. Beautifully shot in Technicolor, the lm pits good little ‘un Sabu against nasty Ja ar, the latter played with undisguised relish by Conrad Veidt. Check out those special e ects. They may seem tame by the standards of today’s digital world, but in
1940 giant Genies and ying carpets were an absolute revelation.
Saving Mr Banks (2015)
2.30pm BBC Two
You wouldn’t think while watching the ladlefuls of sugar go down that Mary Poppins had such a fraught gestation, but in real life, Walt Disney had to ght a major psychological battle of wills in order to bring the story of this magical nanny to the big screen. Uncle Walt eventually got his way (obviously) but not before PL Travers, the author of his favourite children’s novel, put him and his studio through the ringer. Saving Mr Banks is the charming tale of how this game of chess between a Hollywood giant (Tom Hanks) and a prim and proper Englishwoman (Emma Thompson) played out, and why the classic tale had such a personal resonance for the writer. That aspect of the story unfolds in a separate narrative that focuses on her relationship as a young girl with her alcoholic dad, played by Colin Farrell, giving one of his strongest performances. With both Hanks and Thompson also at the top of their games, plus a delightful screenplay from Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith, Saving Mr Banks is a feelgood lm that will have everyone wanting to y a kite by its close.
Cinderella (2015)
3.55pm RTÉ One
Kenneth Branagh’s modern interpretation of the classic fairytale stars Lily James (who originally auditioned to play an ugly step-sister) in the title role and Game of Thrones alumnus Richard Madden as her prince charming. Beautifully shot by Haris Zambarloukos, Cinderella features strong performances from the two handsome leads well-supported by Cate Blanchett, Stellan Skarsgård, Derek Jacobi and Helena Bonham Carter. The little princesses in your life will love it.
Rampage (2018)
8.00pm Sky Cinema Premiere Movies based on video games don’t have a glittering reputation (Warcraft, anyone?) but director Brad Peyton has assembled a cast and a group of writers capable of delivering a big, fun, blockbuster movie. Rampage is one of those throwback monster yarns in which evil corporate types conduct rogue gene experiments that result in ordinary animals taking on mutant forms. Unfortunately for mankind, the animals in question are a gorilla, a wolf and a crocodile: not creatures you would wish to see enlarged or enraged. What the world needs is a musclebound hero and a level-headed scientist to save the day: luckily Dwayne Johnson and Naomie Harris are on hand. While there are issues with the storyline (beyond it all being hokum) and some issues with the CGI, this is a movie that does exactly what it says on the tin. Dwayne Johnson’s combination of biceps and deadpan humour is put to good use, while the rest of the cast, including Harris,
Je rey Dean Morgan and scenerychewing Malin Akerman, don’t make the mistake of taking themselves too seriously. Leave your brain at reception, but take the popcorn.
Ready Player One (2018)
9.50pm Sky Cinema Premiere Based on Ernest Cline’s cult novel about a futuristic world where people spend most of their time in a virtual reality, Ready Player One appears to be a movie aimed squarely at 14-year-old boys. But don’t despair. Spielberg is too smart a storyteller to limit his audience to one demographic. In fact, the USP of Ready Player One is the lm’s ability to channel one generation’s store of pop culture references into another generation’s storyline.
The movie is set in 2045. We quickly learn that reality is a bummer, especially for Wade Watts (Sheridan), a workingclass teenager from Ohio who, in common with just about everybody else, spends all of his time living his life as an Avatar in a virtual world known as OASIS. This fantasy land has been created by a tech genius named James Halliday (Mark Rylance, channelling his inner Crispin Glover). When Halliday dies, he leaves three keys hidden in this virtual world, the nder of which will obtain control over the whole shooting gallery. Wade and his smart gamer friends are on the quest, but so too is corporate nasty Ben Mendelsohn. This is just the sort of young hero versus adult baddie scenario on which Spielberg thrives. Beautifully shot by the director’s regular DP, Janusz Kaminski, Ready Player One is a fast-paced adventure ride, powered by an 80s soundtrack (Van Halen, Twisted Sister, A-HA, etc) and featuring strong performances from its mostly young cast. (Watch out for our gal, Susan Lynch). Even if you’re not a devotee of pop culture, you’ll nd yourself gleefully lapping up references from King Kong to The Breakfast Club to Monty Python’s holy hand grenade of Antioch. Not to mention a glorious homage to Stanley Kubrick. OK, it’s about 20 minutes too long and occasionally the audience su ers a sensory overload, but Ready Player One is one to savour.
Thursday, December 27 Anthropoid (2016)
9.30pm RTÉ One
Operation Anthropoid was the name given to the Allied mission to assassinate SS General Reinhard Heydrich during WWII. Third in command after Hitler and Himmler, Heydrich was the principal architect of the Final Solution and the ruthless commander in occupied Czechoslovakia. One of two movies about this operation released about the same time (the other co-starred Jack Reynor and Jack O’connell), Anthropoid chronicles two remarkably brave soldiers, Czech Jan Kubiš and Slovak Josef Gabčík, who were charged with the task of assassinating Heydrich in broad daylight. Cillian Murphy and Jamie Dornan play the men in question, and the Irish quotient is augmented by the presence of Sean Mahon (late of Red Rock and more recently Eastenders) as a local Prague contact. In truth, the daring nature of the operation doesn’t quite translate to the screen, but the dénouement in the crypt of a Prague church is as thrilling as it is violent.
Argo (2012)
10.30pm RTÉ 2
As a director, Ben A eck scored a winner with his debut Gone Baby Gone (2007) and passed the dreaded sophomore test with The Town (2010). But he really hit his straps with lm No.3 which scooped the Best Picture Oscar that year.
One of those scenarios you wouldn’t believe for a moment were it not actually true, Argo tells the story of CIA operative Tony Mendez (A eck) who was sent in to extract six Americans hiding out in the Canadian embassy during the Iranian hostage crisis of 1980. With time running out and the Revolutionary Guard likely to ush out his countrymen, Mendez o ered the ‘best bad idea we’ve got’, which was to claim that the six were in fact a Canadian lm crew scouting locations in Tehran for a sci- epic called Argo.
To ensure this plan had any chance of success, Mendez teamed up with a bona de Hollywood make-up artist and producer (here played by John Goodman and Alan Arkin) so anybody checking its validity would nd a real footprint. What followed is the stu of comic books as Mendez ew into Iran with six fake passports, scripts and storyboards and walked out with the Argo lm-makers in tow.
While A eck took reasonable licence with the story for dramatic purposes (they didn’t slink through the airport as shown here, but walked out as if they owned the place), he delivered a compelling drama which channels the best of those ’70s-type thrillers (The Parallax View, All The President’s Men,
etc.) and still nds time for comic relief.
A Date For Mad Mary (2016)
Noon, Virgin Media One
Darren Thornton’s debut feature is a triumph. Adapted from Yasmine Akram’s play, Ten Dates With Mad
Mary, previously directed on stage by Thornton, the movie stars Séana Kerslake as a Drogheda tearaway who we rst meet as she is nishing her sentence following an assault conviction. Her release comes just in time for her BFF Charlene’s wedding, but Mary quickly realises that Charlene (Ifta-winning Charleigh Bailey) has moved on and wants to leave her harddrinking, anti-social past behind. And that means leaving Mary behind, too. The title of the movie refers to Mary’s attempt to nd a plus one for the
wedding, but this is no pat, Richard
Curtis style rom-com. It’s a rich, multilayered study of a young woman seeking to nd herself and her place in society. In the title role, Kerslake is a revelation. There’s nothing one-dimensional about Mary, and Kerslake manages to convey every facet of her character, from the cider-drinking loud-mouth, to the sad youngster who misses her best friend, to the lonely young woman who wonders if she will ever nd her own soulmate. Beautifully shot by Ole Bratt Birkeland (American Animals), A Date for Mad Mary tackles some heavy themes but it’s always leavened by the genuinely funny script of Thornton and his brother, Colin. Anybody who saw the director’s excellent short, Frankie (2007), knows that he has a command of working-class argot to match any Roddy Doyle lm.
Les Misérables (2012)
Midnight, Channel 4
Cameron Mackintosh spent more than 20 years attempting to bring his smashhit stage musical Les Mis to the big screen and it was well worth the wait. Fresh from his Oscar-winning success with The King’s Speech, Tom Hooper was the perfect director for such an ambitious project. Hooper’s decision to shoot the musical sequences live, as opposed to auto-tuning them in the studio, ensured that only the most musically talented A-listers managed to make the grade. Thus, Hugh Jackman brings his Broadway clout to bear in the role of Valjean; while rocker Russell Crowe (Javert) and musical theatre a cionado Anne Hathaway (Fantine) all get to showcase their particular vocal talents.
As a story, Les Misérables has everything you would want from a screen drama – revenge, love, compassion, heroism, redemption – not to mention all possible shades of the human condition. It’s a vast canvas but Hooper is up to the task, brilliantly blending sweeping, CGI set-piece sequences with intimate close-ups of the protagonists as they deliver song after song from Claude-michel Schönberg’s soaring score. On the acting front, Jackman is as good as you would expect in the role, even managing to deliver the showstopping Bring Him Home, while the man who provided the signature version of that number (our guy Colm Wilkinson), is nearby in the role of the bishop. Oscar-winning Anne Hathaway su ered for her art in terms of weight and hair loss, to play Fantine; and her performance and her vocals are truly outstanding. But the revelation of the piece is Eddie Redmayne as Marius. In a movie of many musical peaks, the Londoner’s rendition of Empty Chairs at Empty Tables is the stand-out.
Saturday, December 29 The BFG (2016)
6.30pm RTÉ One / 10.45am BBC One, December 30
Talk about a high bar. Steven Spielberg channelling Roald Dahl; a script (her
nal one) written by Melissa (ET) Mathison; and a cast headed up by Oscar-winning Mark Rylance. It was always going to be a big ask, but Spielberg just about managed to pull it o . The story begins with our orphaned heroine, Sophie (Ruby Barnhill), inadvertently catching a glimpse of the eponymous creature as he galumphs about the nocturnal streets of London. Cue a brilliant sequence in which the big fellow reaches in through the window, plucks the terri ed youngster from her bed and whisks her away to Giant Country. Luckily for Sophie, her giant is not the
esh-eating type but a big, friendly, snozzcumber-eating runt, as lonely in his world as she is in hers. They develop a moving friendship which bene ts both, not least when Sophie enlists the help of Queen Elizabeth (Penelope Wilton) to defeat the nasty giants of his homeland. On the positive side, the digital bo ns have done wonders to create a performance-capture giant with Rylance’s expressive features. Young Ruby is also terri c, and there’s great fun to be had from the pair as they gobblefunk around with Dahl’s invented language. On the down side, the story sags in the second act, and it does lack that bit of magic. It also lacks the darkness of Dahl. Spielberg has deliberately toned down the man-eating cannybulls, while the
BFG’S observations to Sophie about humanity’s follies are almost all absent, too. Pass the snozzcumber.
Philomena (2013)
9.00pm BBC Two
Steve Coogan temporarily parked
Alan Partridge to emerge as a triple threat – writer, producer, actor – for this powerful, true-life drama. Coogan delivers the nest performance of his career in the role of the slightly cynical hack called upon to assist an Irish nurse in her search for the son who was taken away from her by nuns almost 50 years before. In lesser hands, this could have been a clichéd transformative movie: thanks to Coogan, the brilliant Judi Dench and a strong supporting cast, Philomena is a moving gem.
Shooting For Socrates (2014)
Midnight, RTÉ 2 Written and directed by James Erskine, this entertaining tale is adapted from Marie Jones’ stage play. The story is set in Belfast in 1985 and1986 but is less interested in matters political than it is in the upcoming World Cup clash between Billy Bingham’s Northern Ireland and the mighty Brazil, captained by the eponymous mid eld great. The story unfolds through various eyes, including the players, the manager (John Hannah as Bingham), the media (Conleth Hill steals the show as Jackie Fullerton) and a footy mad father-son combo, played by Richard Dormer and Art Parkinson.
Sunday, December 30 A Star is Born (1937)
12.45pm TG4
Not one of the musical remakes starring Garland, Babs or Gaga, but William Wellman’s original rags-to-riches-torags Hollywood drama. Janet Gaynor is excellent as the ingénue who becomes a major star, in direct contrast to her alcoholic husband Fredric March, whose own acting career is in freefall (“his work is beginning to interfere with his drinking”). Both leads are in ne form and the superb colour photography was honoured with a special Academy Award.
In the Heart of the Sea (2015)
9.30pm RTÉ 2
You can almost smell the salt water and taste the weevily biscuits in Ron Howard’s ne maritime yarn about the real whaling ship that inspired Melville’s Moby Dick. Chris Hemsworth is the main man but Irish actors Brendan Gleeson, Cillian Murphy and Michelle Fairley all shine.
The Woman in Black (2012)
12.05am Channel 4 This top-notch adaptation of Susan Hill’s chilling ghost story nds Daniel Radcli e in good form as the young lawyer who travels to a remote village
to settle an estate that is wrapped in mystery, suspense and things that go bump in the night.
New Year’s Eve Goodfellas (1990)
12.30am RTÉ One
Martin Scorsese’s dazzling gangster yarn, written by the director in collaboration with Nicolas Pileggi, follows the fortunes of small-time hood Harry Hill (Ray Liotta), whose star rises within the mob hierarchy until the day he decides to talk to the FBI. In addition to dealing with power struggles within the Mob, Scorsese also looks at the way being ‘connected’ a ects the relationships between the mobsters and their wives and among the gangsters themselves, particularly when one falls out of favour. In telling his story, Scorsese calls upon his regular stars, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci; the latter scooped an Oscar for his incendiary performance. Goodfellas is brilliantly shot (check out that famous steadicam track at the nightclub) and superbly acted. De Niro is excellent; Lorraine Bracco is striking as the mob wife who feels ostracised from her husband; and Joe Pesci simply burns a hole in the screen. Goodfellas set a record for its use of 246 expletives, most of which were uttered by Pesci. There are many lessons which can be learned from this movie. Never mess with the mob; never trust an outsider and, most importantly, never, ever, tell Joe Pesci to go home and get his shinebox.
Grabbers (2012)
2.20am RTÉ 2
The horror-comedy genre is a particularly tricky one to pull o .
For every Evil Dead or American Werewolf in London, there are multiple examples of movies that crash and burn. Jon Wright’s Grabbers is a noteworthy addition to the genre and an entertaining creature feature in its own right. The story takes place in a sleepy Irish shing village which nds itself playing unwitting host to an invasion of alien sea creature thingies. The only line of defence against these aquatic nasties comprises two Gardaí – chirpy, boozy Richard Coyle and bright-eyed newbie Ruth Bradley (romantic sub-plot alert) – plus eccentric local scientist Russell Tovey. Grabbers is a beautifully shot (take a bow, Trevor Forrest) crowd-pleaser which echoes such movies as Tremors, Gremlins and Alien, while adding its own bonkers subtwist involving the repelling power of alcohol.
New Year’s Day Tomorrowland (2015)
3.25pm RTÉ One
Disillusioned by the number of dystopian dramas on screen, one of the most original writers in Hollywood, Damon Lindfelof (Lost), teamed up with one of the brightest directors, Brad Bird (The Incredibles), to o er a utopian vision of the future. Walt Disney’s Tomorrowland theme park is the inspiration for this yarn in which a bright teenager (Britt Robertson) hooks up with a former boy genius (George Clooney) in the hope of saving the planet.
This enjoyable story o ers some moments of magic, but in truth, Tomorrowland could have done with more moments of wonder and awe to justify its 130-minute running time. It opens well and ends well, but the narrative journey between the two is less inspirational than expected. On the acting front, both George and Under The Dome’s Britt Robertson deliver the goods, but the real star of the show is 12-year-old Ra ey Cassidy, later to appear in The Killing of a Sacred Deer. The Mancunian actress provides the real wonder on screen in a beautifully observed performance as a futuristic recruiter
of bright minds.
Inside Out (2015)
5.00pm BBC One
Not only is this Pixar gem a delightful coming-of-age tale about the emotions experienced by a young girl; it’s also a hugely important drama that will encourage conversations between young people and their parents about minding one’s mental health.
While most movies unfold through the eyes of their central character, Inside Out unfolds within the head (literally) of its protagonist. Riley is a young girl whose behaviour is micromanaged by ve principal emotions – Joy, Anger, Disgust, Fear and Sadness. At a key point in this 11-year-old’s life (her family has just uprooted to the big city), two of these emotions, Joy and Sadness, go missing in Riley’s psyche while searching for her core memories. The stage is set for a raceagainst-time story, particularly with so many emotional challenges facing
the young girl, not least the fact that puberty is looming on the horizon. When it comes to tapping into our emotions, few are as adept as Pixar legend Pete Docter whose writing credits (Up, Wall-e, Monsters Inc) are among the very best that the studio has to o er. With Inside Out, he has come up with a brilliant premise for a movie, one which people of a certain age will remember from The Numskulls cartoon strip in The Beano. Docter and his team have eshed out these core emotions with striking visuals and a
ne voice cast (notably Amy Poehler as Joy and Phyllis Smith as Sadness). In short, this is a delightful, sumptuous and important piece of lm-making.
Notorious: The Conor Mcgregor Story (2017)
9.30pm RTÉ 2
Whatever opinion you hold of MMA or UFC, Notorious is a fascinating documentary, chronicling a story of triumph over adversity that has to be seen to be believed. Not even the lamest Rocky sequel would get away with a storyline about a young working-class guy from Dublin, surrounded by nal-demand bills, who one day will become one of the best-known and wealthiest sportsmen his country has ever produced. But so it goes with Conor Mcgregor. Unlike other rags-to-riches documentaries, where cameras appear during the riches while talking heads ll in the story of the rags, Gavin Fitzgerald’s cameras have been trained on the fast-talking Dubliner from the moment he decided to enter the Octagon.
“My dream is to be number one” he declares from the outset. “I’ll have more money than I know what to do with.” How he achieved both of those goals is a remarkable story of blood, sweat and jeers. Throughout, Mcgregor talks the talk but he also puts in the hard yards with a relentlessly punishing training schedule. Notorious also shows us the team around the man, including trainers, fellow ghters and family members, notably his partner, Dee, the woman who remains in the Dubliner’s corner, metaphorically speaking, through thick and thin.
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
10.00pm Virgin Media One Say what you like about Tom Cruise but the guy knows how to top-line a blockbuster action movie. In this case, it’s a cracking sci- yarn about an inexperienced ghter thrown head
rst into a war against the aliens: over and over again. Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton and our man Brendan Gleeson provide solid support.
Wednesday, January 2 The Princess Bride (1987)
1.35pm RTÉ 2 / 12.15pm Channel 4, January 3
Based on the hugely popular novel from the late William Goldman, Rob Reiner’s cult favourite is a delightful fairytale involving giants, princesses, dashing swordsmen and happy ever afters.
The note-perfect cast includes Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Billy Crystal, André the Giant and Mandy Patinkin, who (regularly!) gets to deliver the immortal line: ‘Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.’ As you wish.
Friday, January 4 Funny Girl (1968)
1.15pm TG4
William Wyler’s rousing, musical biopic of Ziegfeld folly Fanny Brice made a megastar of a young Brooklyn singer by the name of Barbra Streisand. The production numbers are rst-rate and the songs by Harold Arlen and Bob Merrill, including the showstoppers, People,
Don’t Rain On My Parade and My Man, are terri c, but this is all about Babs from start to nish. She dominates the screen in every scene and thoroughly deserved the Best Actress Oscar (which she shared that year with Katharine Hepburn) which immediately established her as a legend in the making. At one point in the lm, Streisand delivers the number, I’m The Greatest Star. She’ll get no argument from me.
Creed (2015)
9.35pm RTÉ One
Director Ryan Coogler casts his Fruitvale Station star Michael B. Jordan in the role of Apollo Creed’s son; a troubled youth who wants to follow in his late father’s footsteps but is equally determined to make it in the boxing ring on his own terms. With this in mind, he takes a trip to Philly to look up former champ Rocky Balboa, who is still making ends meet in (Yo!) Adrian’s Restaurant.
As with the Star Wars reboot, Creed cleverly threads elements of the original story into the new movie to create a brand new storyline with echoes of the glorious past. This young Creed is now e ectively the Rocky character, Rocky himself has turned into Mickey the trainer, and there are excellent supporting players in the form of Creed’s new gal pal, Tessa Thompson, and his mother, Phylicia Rashad. Though Sly didn’t have a hand in the screenplay this time, Coogler and his writers have been clever with their use of the key Rocky tropes, including the climbing of those famous steps and Bill Conti’s legendary theme. Michael B Jordan returned to cinemas in November with Creed II.