Your Movie Planner

SUNDAY Patrick

(2018) PG ● 1.30PM, CH4 ★★★

PREMIERE Puppy love, or the lack of it, is one of the mishaps that befall unluckyin-love teacher Sarah (Beattie Edmondson, above) in this cute comedy. She inherits Patrick, her grandmother’s pug, when her granny passes, and struggles to cope with his funny ways. Can the cutie-pup help her to find love?

Thoroughly Modern Millie

(1967) PG ● 2.40PM, RTÉ ONE ★★★

Not Julie Andrews’ best-known musical, but director George Roy Hill’s tale of the 1920s New York social scene features some classic Tin Pan Alley numbers such as Jazz Baby.

The Water Horse: Legend Of The Deep

(2007) PG ●

3.05PM, RTÉ2 ★★★★

Alex Etel and Emily Watson (below) head the cast of this Highlands-set family fantasy adventure based on the novel by Dick King-Smith (Babe).

In The Earth

(2021) 15 ◆

8PM, SKY PREMIERE ★★★★ PREMIERE British horror about scientists researching a symbiotic natural substance in a remote forest in Wales. A typically unique and well-executed idea from writer-director Ben Wheatley, starring Ellora Torchia, Joel Fry, Reece Shearsmith and Hayley Squires.

Hail, Caesar! (2016) 12 ◆ 1.25AM, CH4

★★★★ The Coen brothers’ wry satire of Hollywood’s 1950s golden age features memorable set pieces inspired by popular films. Josh Brolin is the studio fixer getting in a tangle, with Tilda Swinton as twin gossip columnists Thora and Thessaly (above).

MONDAY Seminole (1953) PG

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12.20PM, 5ACTION ★★★

Western starring Rock Hudson as the army officer sent to Fort King in Florida, where he clashes with the Fort’s major over his attitudes to the Native American Seminole tribe, led by chief Osceola (Anthony Quinn).

Gone Girl: The Disappearance Of Jennifer (2020) 12

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2.20PM, CH5 ★★★

PREMIERE Ripped-from-the-headlines drama about the 2019 disappearance of Jennifer Dulos (Annabeth Gish). When her estranged husband got involved in the investigation, events brought to mind Gillian Flynn’s fictional book and movie, Gone Girl.

Master And Commander:

The Far Side Of The World (2003) 12

6.20PM, FILM4

◆ ★★★★

Peter Weir’s period blockbuster isn’t entirely faithful to the content of Patrick O’Brian’s historical novels, but the spirit is there. The result is a ripping Boy’s Own adventure, with Russell Crowe in the lead (above).

Salt (2010) 12

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9.30PM, TG4 ★★★★

Action thriller from director Phillip Noyce (Clear And Present Danger) that stretches credulity, perhaps, but provides polished thrills aplenty as it follows CIA agent Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie, below). Accused of being an assassin, Salt goes on the run and sets about proving her innocence – and averting World War Three.

Cold In July (2014) 15

◆ 11.05PM, GREAT! MOVIES

★★★★ Texas-set thriller, starring Michael C. Hall (Dexter) as Richard, a husband and dad who shoots dead an intruder in his home – a shocking event that opens up a dark rabbit hole for a desperate Richard to tumble into. Don Johnson and Sam Shepard co-star.

TUESDAY

Set Up By My Lover (2021) PG

● 2.15PM, CH5

★★★

Camille Stopps plays a woman whose life is turned into a living nightmare when she becomes the prime suspect in the murder of her boss. Of course, she didn’t do it — which means she must have been set up.

Watermelon (2003) 12

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9PM, VIRGIN THREE ★★★

Dublin woman Anna Friel (above) is left holding the baby in London when her boyfriend discovers the child he thought was his is someone else’s. She returns to Ireland to her family, in this comedy drama based on Marian Keyes’ book.

Kong: Skull Island (2017) 12

◆ 9.35PM, RTE2 ★★★★

A secret mission to a mysterious island descends into chaos when the wildlife proves far from welcoming. Tom Hiddleston and Samuel L Jackson star in this bombastic action adventure.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) 12 11.05PM, FILM4

◆ ★★★★

A stand-alone superhero caper charting the back story of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine (above). As it turned out, Wolverine’s swan song in 2017’s Logan (Friday, 11.20pm, Film4) is way more interesting than his origin story.

Secret In Their Eyes (2015) 15

◆ 11.15PM, 5STAR ★★★

This remake of the Oscar-winning Argentinian thriller is relocated from Buenos Aires to LA. A bleak story unfolds over many years, with Nicole Kidman (above), Chiwetel Ejiofor and Julia Roberts as the investigators deeply entangled in a terrible crime.

WEDNESDAY The Stranger (1946) PG

● 2.50PM, FILM4 ★★★

Not a masterpiece like Citizen Kane, but this Orson Welles noir effectively saved his career after he struggled with the box office and his reputation for being difficult. Welles plays a Nazi war criminal in hiding, who is pursued by Edward G. Robinson’s steadfast agent.

Armageddon (1998) 12

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9PM, ITV4 ★★★★

Another actioner in which Americans save the world in slow motion. Overblown but fun, it stars Ben Affleck as one of the oil riggers heading into space to try to stop an asteroid from crashing into Earth. Liv Tyler (above, with Affleck) and Bruce Willis also star.

Survivor (2015) PG ● 9PM, GREAT! MOVIES ★★★ Pierce Brosnan is precision hit man the ‘Watchmaker’ in this spy thriller. On his trail is Milla Jovovich’s US federal agent (above), who will stop at nothing to get her man.

French Connection II (1975) 18

▲ 9.05PM, TALKING PICTURES TV ★★★★

The cat-and-mouse chase continues as Gene Hackman returns as Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle. Picking up druglord Charnier’s trail in France, Doyle must overcome cultural differences and something far, far worse if he is to finally catch his nemesis (Fernando Rey).

Circle Of Friends (1995) 15

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9.05PM, VIRGIN THREE ★★★

Minnie Driver and Chris O’Donnell star in a drama, based on Maeve Binchy’s novel, about a naive rural Irish woman and her lifelong friends at university in 1950s Dublin.

A Bigger Splash (2015) 15

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1.55AM, CH4 ★★★★

Sun-drenched drama with a playful tone that starts with its lead character (Tilda Swinton) unable to speak. She’s a rock star resting her voice after surgery, whose plans for rest and recuperation on an idyllic Italian island go awry.

THURSDAY

Vice Versa (1988) PG

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4.30PM, GREAT! MOVIES ★★★ Eclipsed by Tom Hanks’s Big, this similarly themed body-swap comedy stars Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage (above) as the father and son who swap lives — and gain an insight into how the other one lives.

The King’s Speech

(2010) 12 ◆ 9PM, BBC4 ★★★★ Director Tom Hooper’s drama about how King George VI (played by an Oscar-winning Colin Firth, left) overcame his speech impediment. The story was written by David Seidler, who himself suffered with a stammer as a child. Helena Bonham Carter and

Geoffrey Rush also star.

Venom (2018) 15

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9PM, FILM4 ★★★

In this Marvel superhero adventure, Tom Hardy is journalist Eddie Brock, who gets fused with an alien life form. Venom, as this slithery, fanged symbiote is known, wants to wipe out the human race, and turns Brock into a Jekyll and Hyde — part thoughtful, caring human, part violent, extra-terrestrial monster.

It’s Not Yet Dark

(2016) PG ●

9.05PM, VIRGIN THREE ★★★★

Colin Farrell narrates this moving and ultimately optimistic documentary from Frankie Fenton. Fenton celebrates fellow film director Simon Fitzmaurice, who made the award-winning indie hit My Name Is Emily — his only feature — in 2015, despite having been paralysed with motor neurone disease while writing it.

Kiss The Girls

(1997) 18 ▲ 10PM, 5STAR ★★★ Morgan Freeman is forensic psychologist Alex Cross (right) in this no-nonsense adaptation of James Patterson’s novel — the second of his Cross novels, but the first to be filmed. Ashley Judd is the woman who escapes a killer, and might be able to help Cross to solve a deeply personal case.

FRIDAY

Old (2021) 15

8PM, SKY PREMIERE

PREMIERE In this thriller from The Sixth Sense director M. Night Shyamalan, a group of holidaymakers have a hellish time on what, at first, seems like an idyllic beach, away from the usual crowds. Gael Garcia Bernal, Nolan River and Vicky Krieps star. ◆ ★★★

21 Jump Street

(2012) 15 ◆

9PM, ITV2 ★★★

A revival of the hit 1980s US TV drama that made a star of Johnny Depp, this stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum (below) as the mismatched goofy duo — fresh out of police academy — who go back to school and undercover to catch drug dealers in the act.

Sex And The City 2 (2010) 15 ◆

9.50PM, RTE2 ★★

An ill-advised sequel to the spin-off to the hit series finds lifestyle writer Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and her pals in Abu Dhabi on a luxury holiday beset with disasters. Kim Cattrall is still good, though.

Moonstruck (1987) PG ●

11.15PM, RTé ONE ★★★★

Cher won an Oscar for her role as Loretta Castorini, a widow who agrees to marry an older man — only to fall in love with his younger brother. Nicolas Cage, Olympia Dukakis and Danny Aiello also star.

Game Night (2018) 15 ◆

11.25PM, BBC1 ★★★★

This dark comedy stars Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams as a supercompetitive couple who unwittingly enrol in a high-stakes and potentially deadly interactive role-playing game. Smokey And The Bandit (1977) PG ● 1AM, RTé2 ★★★★

Hugely entertaining chase movie with trucker Burt Reynolds (above) attempting to evade pompous sheriff Jackie Gleason on a cross-country booze run. Sally Field also stars.

SATURDAY

Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (2017) 12 ◆ 6.45PM, CH4 ★★★★

In this enjoyable reboot, four teens are transported into an old, jungle-themed video game, and transformed into Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart and Jack Black (above).

Ghostbusters

(2016) 12 ◆

9PM, RTé2 ★★★

Another fun reboot, this time starring Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones as the group of paranormal investigators trying to get to the bottom of spooky events in New York.

Ocean’s Twelve (2004) (12) ◆ 10.40PM, UTV ★★

The team reassemble to steal some more dosh in this follow-up to 2001’s hit remake — which is basically more of the same, only with a little less flair. Andy Garcia (above) demands his money back, leading the gang in pursuit of valuable antiques and European thieves.

Adam & Paul (2004) (15)

◆ 11.05PM, RTé2 ★★★

Two drug addicts spend the day wandering the streets of Dublin, hoping to scrape together the cash to feed their habit. Comedy drama, starring Mark O’Halloran and Tom Murphy (above).

A Time To Kill (1996) 15

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11.45PM, BBC1 ★★★★

Matthew McConaughey stars in director Joel Schumacher’s courtroom drama as a lawyer who agrees to represent a man (Samuel L Jackson) accused of killing the racist thugs who raped his young daughter.