Film Planner Big movies on the small screen
Saturday June 5
★★★★
The Town (2010) 9.15pm RTÉ2
Director and star Ben Affleck returned to his Boston stomping ground for this fine yarn about a gang of local criminals whose liberty is compromised by Affleck’s relationship with one of their bank hostages (Rebecca Hall), and the doggedness of the FBI agent (Jon Hamm) on their trail. ★★★★
Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001) 9.40pm RTÉ One
This is the original of the franchise with Renée Zellweger in terrific form as the heroine of Helen Fielding’s seminal diaries; a chocolate-munching, Chardonnay slugging singleton involved with two men, neither of whom may turn out to be Mr Right. ★★★★
Shakespeare in Love (1998) 9.50pm TG4
Gwyneth Paltrow delivers yet another perfect English accent and scoops an Oscar for this clever romp from the pen of Tom Stoppard. Joseph Fiennes is excellent as the bard struggling both with writer’s block and his passion for wannabe actress Paltrow.
Sunday June 6
★★★
Escape To Victory (1981) 2.05pm RTÉ2
John Huston’s POW drama about a football match between the Nazis and their Allied prisoners is sheer hokum, but there’s something strangely compelling about a film which combines the talents of Michael Caine, Pelé, Max Von Sydow and Bobby Moore. ★★★★
Finding Dory (2016) 3.05pm BBC One
This follow-up story to Finding Nemo (2003) takes forgetful Dory on her own journey of self-realisation as she goes in search of her parents, with the help of Marlin, Nemo, an Octopus called Hank (Ed O’neill), and a pair of whales, voiced by Ty Burrell and Kaitlin Olson. ★★★
Tale of Tales (2015) 1.55am Channel 4
Salma Hayek, John C Reilly and Vincent Cassel topline director Matteo Garrone (Gomorrah)’s darkly comic portmanteau of adult fairy tales. It begins with a king and queen (Reilly and Hayek) desperate to have a child and prepared to accept even the most unlikely offers of help.
Monday June 7
★★★★
Great Expectations (1946) 7.30am Virgin Media One
“Mice have gnawed at it and sharper teeth than the teeth of mice have gnawed at me.” David Lean’s magnificent adaptation of the classic novel remains the finest ever example of Dickens on screen. Alec Guinness and John Mills topline. ★★★
The American (2006) 9.30pm TG4
Anton Corbjin’s slow-burning, existential drama follows the fortunes of an assassin (George Clooney) who is patiently waiting for one last major assignment. Violante Placido co-stars in a movie that’s beautifully shot on location in Italy and Sweden. ★★★★
Yesterday (2019) 9.30pm RTÉ One
Danny Boyle’s cranking high-concept film poses the question: what happens when a struggling musician wakes up one day and realises that the rest of the world has suddenly become unaware of the Beatles? Busker Himesh Patel is about to find out.
Tuesday June 8
★★★
The Cross of Lorraine (1943) 11.35am TCM
Tay Garnett’s POW drama boasts a superb cast including Gene Kelly as the French firebrand Victor, Hume Cronyn as a collaborationist, and Peter Lorre (himself a refugee) as a sadistic Nazi. ★★★
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) 9.00pm Film 4
Award-winning director Luc Besson delivers a $200 million cinematic adaptation of the cult French graphic novel, Valerian and Laureline. Cara Delevingne and Dane Dehaan co-star. ★★★★
The Duellists (1977) 12.05am Sky Cinema Greats
Ridley Scott’s feature debut is set during the Napoleonic Wars and costars Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel as French officers whose long-running (and pig-headed) feud spans years, Albert Finney, Diane Quick and Edward Fox co-star.
Wednesday June 9
★★★★
The Shape of Water (2019) 9.00pm Film 4
Inspired by his love of the 1954 creature feature, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Guillermo del Toro has fashioned a stylish, irresistible love story between a mute cleaner (Sally Hawkins) and an amphibian creature (Doug Jones), that only he could turn into a modern masterpiece. ★★★★
JFK (1991) 9.35pm Sky Cinema Drama
Based on the memoirs of New Orleans DA Jim Garrison, Oliver Stone’s drama is a fascinating mix of fact, ction and conjecture. The strong cast includes Kevin Costner (as Garrison), Tommy Lee Jones, Sissy Spacek and Gary Oldman, as Lee Harvey Oswald. ★★★
Run All Night (2015) 11.00pm TCM
Liam Neeson plays an ageing Irishamerican hitman who, while protecting his own estranged son (Joel Kinnaman), kills the son (Boyd Holbrook) of his long-time pal, ageing Irish-american Ed Harris. Loyalties and history are put to one side as Harris sets his entire mob on the trail of the two men.
Thursday June 10
★★★★
Two Rode Together (1961) 2.40pm Film 4
Martin Scorsese cites this John Ford western as a formative in uence on his career. James Stewart and Richard Widmark are the two riders in question, heading to Comanche territory to negotiate the release of some white captives. ★★★★
Greed (2020) 7.45pm Sky Cinema Comedy
Steve Coogan takes on the role of obnoxious plutocrat Sir Richard Mccreadie. In the hope of repairing his image following a damaging public enquiry, he decides to throw a lavish, star-studded 60th birthday party in Greece. Bad idea. ★★★★
A Town Like Alice (1956) 9.00pm BBC Four
In this powerful, real-life yarn, Virginia Mckenna nds herself on a forced march when the Japanese sweep through Malaya in 1941. Filmed on location in Australia, the lm secured BAFTA awards for Mckenna and co-star Peter Finch.
Friday June 11
★★★★
The Killing (1956) 2.35pm Film 4
Sterling Hayden stars in Stanley Kubrick’s early noir drama as an excon who gathers together a team to carry out a $2 million heist at a local racetrack. The brilliant supporting cast includes Timothy Carey, Coleen Gray and Elisha Cook Jr, perfectly cast as a cuckold. ★★★★
Hail, Caesar! (2009) 11.15pm RTÉ One
This Coen Brothers comedy follows the fortunes of studio xer Josh Brolin as he attempts to negotiate the safe (and media-unnoticed) return of star actor George Clooney who has been kidnapped and held for ransom. Alden Ehrenreich and Ralph Fiennes co-star. ★★★★
The Phantom Thread (2017) 11.20pm BBC Two
Daniel Day-lewis is in typically superb form as Reynolds Woodcock, an obsessive couturier in 1950s London. He is aided by his uncompromising sister, Cyril, (Lesley Manville), a woman who appears to have sacri ced her own dreams in order to support her sibling.