WEDNESDAY

Megachurch Murder Three, 1.05pm Starring Lindsay Hartley. An evangelical preacher’s apparent suicide is questioned by his daughter, who suspects murder. Not reviewed.

The Farewell Sky Premiere, 8.30pm Starring Awkwafina. A wonderful, heartfelt story that follows a young Chinese woman who travels back to China in a bid to connect with her dying grandmother. The Farewell does a great job of balancing the drama of death with a good mix of comedy and incisive writing. ★★★★★

Then the pimp shows up... Better-than-average TV movie. ★★★

Good Will Hunting Bravo, 7.30pm Starring Matt Damon, Robin Williams. Multi-Oscar-winning but sentimental drama which shot writer-actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to fame. Damon is the swaggering caretaker with a criminal past and hidden mathematical genius, while Williams portrays the therapist who takes him under his wing while battling his own problems. Fairly predictable but still a really good film. ★★★★

The Goldfinch Sky Premiere, 8.30pm Starring Ansel Elgort, Finn Wolfhard. The title is taken from a 1654 painting. And both the film and the work of art are linked by an explosion. The film centres on a boy who steals the painting in the aftermath of a terrorist attack on the Metropolitan Museum in New York, which kills his mother. In real life, the artist who painted it was killed when around 90 tonnes of gunpowder blew up in the Dutch city of Delft. Like the painting, the movie is a work of art. Yet while the canvas holds the viewer’s interest, the film’s other-worldiness makes it hard to relate to the characters. ★★

Balls Of Fury

TVNZ Duke, 8.30pm

Starring Dan Fogler, Christopher Walken. A former table tennis prodigy is recruited by the FBI to catch a ping-pong crazy Triad boss in this occasionally funny comedy – although you probably need to really enjoy jokes about bodily functions to fully appreciate it. ★★

Patriots Day Three, 8.30pm Starring Mark Wahlberg, Kevin Bacon. Unflinching look at the Boston Marathon bombing and its aftermath. Director Peter Berg doesn’t shy away from graphic content but it’s never gratuitous and treats both victims and first responders with respect. Central to the story is Sergeant Tommy Saunders, a fictitious cop with a key role in the search for the two bombers. Saunders might be just a little too alpha male to be true but it is a minor quibble about a gripping piece of entertainment. ★★★★

Disturbia M ori TV, 8.30pm Starring Shia LaBeouf. Lightweight thriller aimed at the teen market, with Shia LaBeouf as a student on home detention who uses his downtime to spy on a neighbour. It's great fun, though, and better than many similar movies. ★★★