MOVIE PLANNER
SUNDAY
Into The Woods (2014) PG
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1PM, BBC2 HHH
Film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s musical, which unpicks classic fairytales such as Little Red Riding Hood. Meryl Streep stars as an especially cobwebby witch (above).
Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation (2018) U
n
2.20PM, UTV HHH
PREMIERE The spooky animation returns, with Drac (Adam Sandler) and the family setting off on a sunny cruise for romance, relaxation and a run-in with old foes.
Robin Hood (2018) 12
◆
9PM, CH5 HHH
PREMIERE Taron Egerton follows in the footsteps of Russell Crowe and the rest to play a younger, less beardy incarnation of Robin of Loxley. It’s an origin story of sorts, that doesn’t bring anything new to the table.
Metal Heart (2018) 15 ◆
9.30PM, RTé ONE HHHH
Director Hugh O’Conor’s coming-of-age comedy drama stars Jordanne Jones (above) and Leah McNamara as twin sisters. Their sibling rivalry threatens to come to a head when a new neighbour moves in.
Coyote Waits (2003) PG ● 11.05PM, VIRGIN TWO HHH
Mystery drama, starring Adam Beach and Candice Costello. Two tribal police officers get caught up in a case involving a lost fortune and a mythical coyote on a Navajo reservation.
Molly’s Game (2017) 15 ◆
11.40PM, BBC1 HHH
Jessica Chastain stars as Molly Bloom, the woman who makes money from running high-stakes poker games. Idris Elba is the lawyer trying to untangle her criminal affairs.
MONDAY
Deadly Delusion (2017) PG ●
2.15PM, CH5 HH
Any hopes Julia (Haylie Duff) had of a fresh start, free from the demons of her past, are dashed when, after moving to LA with her boyfriend, she fears she’s losing her mind.
Beneath The Planet Of The Apes (1969) 15 ◆ 2.25PM, FILM4 HHH
The first of numerous sequels to the 1968 apes-inherit-the-Earth original is a serviceable fantasy that recycles elements of the first film, while moving the story on in a logical fashion. Charlton Heston (above, with Linda Harrison) returns as the perplexed human.
The Monster Of Highgate Ponds (1961) U ●
6.35PM, TALKING PICTURES TV HHH From the Children’s Film Foundation archives, this charming little drama follows three London friends who watch in awe and wonder as a giant egg hatches. Luckily, the monster inside is a gentle soul.
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 (2017) 12 ◆ 9PM, RTé2 HHHH
Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and co return for the sci-fi sequel – and they’re joined by the always welcome Kurt Russell, who plays Ego, a man claiming to be Peter Quill’s father.
RoboCop (2014) 12
◆ 9PM, 5STAR HHH Emphasising hardware and fire power, this remake is stony-faced compared to Paul Verhoeven’s enjoyably OTT, funny and violent original. Joel Kinnaman (above) stars as the rebooted Detroit policeman trying to reconnect with his sidelined humanity.
Fences (2016) 12
◆ 9.30PM, TG4 HHHH
Denzel Washington directs and stars in an adaptation of August Wilson’s play about an African-American dad who takes out his frustrations on his son. Viola Davis (above) provides Oscar-winning support.
TUESDAY
The Greatest Show On Earth (1952) U ● 11AM, FILM4 HHHH
Cecil B. DeMille’s name endures for good reason: he made some of the biggest, most flamboyant films ever. This Oscar-winner is no exception, a bombastic blockbuster with Charlton Heston as the ringmaster and James Stewart as Buttons the clown (above).
Body Of Evidence: Darrow & Darrow (2018) PG
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2.15PM, CH5 HHH
Prosecutor Miles and defence attorney Claire join forces when they’re asked to reopen a case, a year after a woman is convicted of her husband’s murder. Can they work together professionally as well as they do personally?
Vertical Limit (2000) 12 ◆
5PM, GREAT! MOVIES HHH
Chris O’Donnell (left), Bill Paxton and Robin Tunney are among a group of climbers all hoping to scale the mighty K2, and lay their mountaineering demons to rest. Expect avalanches, storms and egotistical tension and rivalry aplenty.
The Taking Of Pelham 123 (2009) 15 ◆ 10PM, CH5 HHHH
Remaking Joseph Sargent’s understated 1974 subway hostage caper, starring Walter Matthau, was a tall order, but the dream team of Tony Scott and Denzel Washington succeed. Washington is the train dispatcher dealing with an outrageous ransom demand.
Le Week-End (2013) 15 ◆
1.55AM, FILM4 HHH
Bittersweet comedy starring Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan (above) as a couple who go to Paris in a daunting effort to reignite the spark in their 30-year marriage.
WEDNESDAY
Deadly Double (2018) PG
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2.15PM, CH5 HHH
Twin sisters Jessica and Alessandra (both Jen Lilley) become embroiled in a deadly blackmail plot in this typically flimsy TV movie thriller. One of the twins has a definite dark side.
Legends Of The Fall (1994) 15
◆ 7.30PM, GREAT! MOVIES HHHH Picturesque historical romance, based on Jim Harrison’s 1979 novella. Brad Pitt (above), Aidan Quinn and Henry Thomas are the sons of Anthony Hopkins’s pacifist Montana landowner, who defy their father’s wishes and enlist to fight in the First World War.
The Da Vinci Code (2006) 12 ◆ 9.35PM, RTé ONE HHH
Ron Howard brought Dan Brown’s best-selling thriller to the screen, starring Tom Hanks (above) as the respected academic who is framed for the murder of a French historian.
Patriots Day (2016) 15 ◆ 10PM, CH4 HHH
On April, 15, 2013, two bombs detonated among the crowds that had gathered at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. This film dramatises that awful moment, its build-up and its aftermath. Mark Wahlberg stars as fictional cop Tommy Saunders.
Stonehearst Asylum
(2014) 15 ◆ 2.20AM, CH4 HHH Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The System Of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether, this mystery is set at an unorthodox Victorian asylum. Jim Sturgess, Ben Kingsley and Kate Beckinsale (above) star.
THURSDAY
Dream Killer (2019) PG
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2.15PM, CH5 ★★
Mia (Taylor Castro, above) is the talented 17-year-old dreaming of becoming a singing sensation. But when her producer is murdered and she becomes prime suspect, Mia and her mother must fight hard to prove her innocence.
I Spy (2002) 12
u 5PM, GREAT! MOVIES ★★★ Eddie Murphy (left) and Owen Wilson are perfectly mismatched in this comedy update of the 1960s TV series — the original starred Robert Culp and Bill Cosby. Famke Janssen gives them a run for their money as the grown-up in the room, but the film sank at the box office.
The Vanishing (2019) 15
u
9PM, FILM4 ★★★★
PREMIERE Tense and enthralling thriller, inspired by a real-life mystery that transpired at the Flannan Isles lighthouse in the Outer Hebrides in 1900. Gerard Butler, Peter Mullan and Connor
Swindells are the lighthouse keepers starting a lonely, windswept shift on the island, and making a chilling discovery.
Total Recall (2012) 12 u 11.10PM, FILM4 ★★★| The second of two remakes of Paul Verhoeven movies this week (see RoboCop, Monday, left), this stars Colin Farrell as the ordinary Joe who is really anything but, with Kate Beckinsale as the woman (right) who isn’t his wife.
Murder In The Mirror (2000) 15
u 12.05AM, VIRGIN ONE ★★
Uninspired thriller, starring Jane Seymour as Mary, a psychiatrist who becomes the prime suspect when her husband is murdered, not least because an eyewitness identified her. As the police gather more evidence, she conducts her own investigation, and realises her husband may have been leading a double life.
FRIDAY
The Rock (1996) 15
u
9PM, 5STAR ★★★★
Solid actioner starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage. Rogue Marines capture Alcatraz Island, taking tourists hostage. Both Connery and Cage play characters crucial to the rescue mission — Connery is the only prisoner ever to have escaped the island, with Cage as a chemical weapons expert.
The Client (1994) 15 u 9.30PM, RTé2 ★★★★ Courtroom thriller, based on the novel by John Grisham. A boy (Brad Renfro) with information about a politician’s disappearance hires a lawyer (Susan Sarandon, above) to ensure his own safety from the Mafia.
Mission: Impossible _ Fallout (2018) 12 u
9.35PM, RTé ONE ★★★★
Tom Cruise is back in action for the sixth film in the franchise. This time, Ethan Hunt and the IMF team are joining forces with a CIA assassin to try to foil a group of terrorists.
Out Of Sight (1998) 15
u
10.35PM, BBC1 ★★★★
Jennifer Lopez and George Clooney (below) almost burn a hole in the screen in this sizzling take on Elmore Leonard’s story – as a cop and the criminal on the run from her.
Amy (2015) 15
u
11.05PM, CH4 ★★★★
Asif Kapadia’s Oscar- and Bafta-winning film is an emotional portrait of Amy Winehouse — a talented woman who could not conquer her demons. Through archive footage, including personal audio and video recordings, her voice and music are all the more haunting.
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) 15 u 1.30AM, CH4 ★★★★
A once magnificent hotel in central Europe is the setting for a series of tall and wild tales. Ralph Fiennes and Tilda Swinton (left) are part of an impressive ensemble cast.
SATURDAY
That’s Entertainment! III (1994) U ● 1.10PM, RTé ONE ★★★★
Film studio MGM had enough musical highlights in its archive to easily make a third compilation movie, but this time there are also some previously unseen clips.
Invictus
(2009) 12 u
9.35PM, RTé2 ★★★★
Clint Eastwood’s drama stars Morgan Freeman as South African President Nelson Mandela, who sees the Rugby World Cup as a way to unite his divided nation. Matt Damon (above) co-stars.
Collateral (2004) 15 u 10.55PM, UTV★★★★
Michael Mann’s neo-noir gives Tom Cruise (above) one of his few bad guy roles. He’s a hit man who acquires the services of Jamie Foxx’s cab driver for an LA night of moonlit murder.
Weird Science (1985) (15)
u
11.15PM, TG4 ★★★
Two teenagers use their computer to design the perfect woman, but are shocked when she comes to life. Comedy, starring Kelly LeBrock and Anthony Michael Hall (above).
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga (2020) 12
u
12AM, RTé ONE ★★★
The music contest gets an affectionate spoof in the form of this comedy starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams as an Icelandic musical duo.