MOVIE PLANNER

SUNDAY Jurassic Park (1993) PG

● 2.10PM, UTV HHHH

Michael Crichton’s cautionary sci-fi tale is brought to the screen by Steven Spielberg in spectacular style. Sam Neill (above, with Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello), Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum are scientists having a hell of a time, corralling rampaging dinosaurs.

The Champ (1979) PG

●

3.25PM, RTÉ ONE HHHH

Jon Voight plays a washed-up prizefighter who resolves to get back in the ring in a bid to prove himself to his young son – and the ex-wife who is threatening to take him away. Classic drama, with Faye Dunaway.

Ice Age: Collision Course

(2016) U n 3.45PM, CH4 HHH

Number five in the animated franchise, which, despite Blue Sky Studios closing down, looks set to continue. Prehistoric pals Manny, Diego, Brooke (above) and the rest try to avoid disaster when asteroids threaten Earth. And it’s all the fault of that irritating little squirrel Scrat.

Cinderella (2015) U 3.55PM, BBC1 HHH

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Kenneth Branagh’s extravagant liveaction update of the classic 1950 Disney animation stars Lily James as the putupon heroine, with Bodyguard’s Richard Madden as the smitten prince. Cate Blanchett is, as ever, excellent value as the wicked stepmother.

The Imitation Game

(2014) 12 ◆ HHHH

9PM, RTÉ2

Benedict Cumberbatch skilfully inhabits the lead role in this biopic of Alan Turing, whose work helped defeat the Nazis, but who was condemned for his homosexuality.

A Monster Calls (2016) 12

◆

11.15PM, BBC2 HHH

In this dark fairytale, 13-year-old Conor (Lewis MacDougall) is the dreamer caring for his terminally ill mother. As her health fails and he struggles with the thought of losing her, he is visited by a monster whose stories offer comfort .

MONDAY Bringing Up Baby (1938) U ● 1PM, BBC2 HHHHH

In Howard Hawks’s classic screwball comedy, Katharine Hepburn’s dotty socialite, Susan Vance, is a bold and verbose free spirit. Contrasted with Susan is Cary Grant’s stuffed shirt, David Huxley, a stuttering palaeontologist who’s lost his (back) bone.

Red Sparrow (2018) 15

◆ 9PM, FILM4 HHH

Jennifer Lawrence stars in this thriller as a Russian ballerina (above, with Sergei Polunin) who joins a school for seductress assassins after an injury ends her career. Charlotte Rampling, Joely Richardson and Joel Edgerton are among the supporting cast.

Angels & Demons

(2009) 12

◆ 9.30PM, TG4 HHH

Tom Hanks (right) returns as academic adventurer Robert Langdon in this Da Vinci Code sequel, called in by the Vatican to investigate the abductions of four senior cardinals who could become Pope.

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White And Blonde

9.35PM, RTÉ2 HH

(2003) PG ●

Given the state of recent real-life Senate proceedings, one wonders if anyone would want to be a lawyer in DC – but Reese Witherspoon’s ditzy Elle (below) does just that in this sequel. Amanda (2018) 15 ◆ 1.25AM, FILM4 HHH PREMIERE This gentle French drama follows seven-year-old Amanda, who, after her mother is killed in a terrible mass shooting, is taken in by her feckless twentysomething uncle.

TUESDAY

The Bishop’s Wife (1947) U

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1PM, BBC2 HHHH

There’s a touch of It’s A Wonderful Life to this feel-good comedy, which stars Cary Grant as Dudley, an angel sent to help David Niven’s (above, with Grant) hapless bishop. The clergyman isn’t impressed with Dudley, unlike his wife (Loretta Young) – and who can blame her?

Hailey Dean Mysteries: 2 + 2 = Murder (2018) PG

● 2.15PM, CH5 HHH Absolutely top marks for the title of this daytime thriller, which sounds exactly like it was penned by the writers of The Simpsons. It’s an otherwise routine crime story in which Kellie Martin’s sleuthing therapist learns that the music teacher at her niece’s school has vanished. But do the clues, ahem, add up?

Dances With Wolves

(1990) 12 ◆ 4.40PM, SONY MOVIES HHHHH Oscar-winning revisionist Civil War western starring Kevin Costner, who also directs. Costner plays Union officer John Dunbar, who slowly but surely forms an alliance – and more – with his Sioux neighbours on the western frontier.

Shallow Grave (1994) 18

▲ HHHH

9PM, FILM4

Pitch-black comedy that launched the big-screen career of Danny Boyle, as well as raising the profiles of stars Kerry Fox, Christopher Eccleston and Ewan McGregor. They play flatmates making a grim decision.

John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) HHH

15 ◆ 10PM, 5STAR

While certainly dumber than the first surprisingly good movie, this revenge sequel starring Keanu Reeves still delivers on bullets and action. This time, the taciturn assassin discovers that a large bounty has been put on his life – and someone is going to pay. His new dog, the unnamed pitbull (above, with Reeves), also hangs tight.

WEDNESDAY

Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) U

● 1PM, BBC2 HHH The sort of grand design that would give Kevin McCloud nightmares, the self-build country house dream of Mr and Mrs Blandings (Cary Grant and Myrna Loy) does not go to plan. It’s the third and final time Grant and Loy would sizzle together on screen.

A Killer In My Home

The Sweetest Thing

(2002) 15 ◆ 11.30PM, 5STAR

HHH

(2020) 12 ◆

2.20PM, CH5 HH

PREMIERE A woman’s life falls apart when her husband announces, on his deathbed, that he has a secret family. Six months later, that family are knocking on her door.

Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016) 15 ◆ 9PM, 5STAR HHH

Renee Zellweger reprises her role as the lovably chaotic singleton. After two onenight stands – with Patrick Dempsey’s billionaire (above) and her old flame, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) – Bridget has to establish which of these men put a bun in her oven.

Gangster Squad (2013) 15

◆ HHH

10.30PM, ITV4

Sean Penn stars in this gangster picture as Mickey Cohen, the mob boss who rules Los Angeles in the 1940s. Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin play the cops who risk their lives by standing up to him, while Emma Stone is the woman who is torn between both sides.

This romcom road trip follows Cameron Diaz (right) as she pursues a potential soul mate, with her best friend (Christina Applegate). It’s an odd concoction, with gross-out comedy that won’t have broad appeal, but the girls do have fun.

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (2014)

18 ▲ 1.10AM, CH4 HHH

If the first movie was all style and little substance, this sequel retains just enough of the former to make up for a greater deficit in the latter. Eva Green and Mickey Rourke star.