Your Movie Planner

SATURDAY

BLACK NARCISSUS (1947) U ● 1.15PM, BBC2 HHHHH See Classic Film Choice (right).

SING (2016) U n 2.55PM, CH5 HHH The X Factor, with colourful animated animals. Buster Moon is the hopeful koala (voiced by Matthew Mcconaughey) who stages a talent contest to save his theatre.

SKYSCRAPER (2018) 12 ◆ 9PM, CH4 HHH PREMIERE See The Big Movie (right).

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (2011) 15 ◆ 9.30PM, BBC2 HHHH Excellent adaptation of John le Carre’s 1974 novel, showing as part of tonight’s tribute to the author. Gary Oldman is George Smiley (above), called upon to sniff out a mole in MI6 during the Cold War’s deepest winter.

RUSH HOUR 2 (2001) 12 ◆ 10.55PM, ITV HHH Sequel to the hugely successful martial arts movie with Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, this reignites their chemistry as mismatched detectives on the trail of Triads in Hong Kong.

TERMINATOR GENISYS (2015) 12 ◆ 11PM, CH4 HHH Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as his younger self, thanks to nifty special effects, for a reboot with an alternative timeline. Emilia Clarke stars as a young Sarah Connor.

THE BIG SHORT (2015) 15 ◆ 11.30PM, BBC2 HHHH In this lively comedy drama, Margot Robbie in a bubble bath (above) helps to explain how the 2007-08 financial crash happened. Christian Bale and Brad Pitt also star.

END OF WATCH (2012) 15 ◆ 12.40AM, BBC1 HHH Gritty police drama, shot in shaky-cam style. Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena star as cops, honourable men who aren’t afraid to take risks for a just outcome, but who get dangerously close to a drug cartel.

SUNDAY

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA (2012) U n 1PM, ITV HHHH In this fun animation, Count Dracula (above, with friends) is given a cuddly makeover. He’s a doting father and the owner of a hotel for monsters. After his daughter, Mavis, turns 118, the Count must learn to let her grow up, even if he doesn’t approve of her boyfriend.

A DOG’S PURPOSE (2017) PG ● 1.55PM, CH4 HHH Fluffy four-legged fantasy comedy about a puppy called Bailey, who goes through various reincarnations as he follows his owner, Ethan (played by K.J. Apa and Dennis Quaid), through different stages of his life.

BEAN (1997) PG ● 3.50PM, ITV HHH Rowan Atkinson’s walking catastrophe (left) brings his own brand of mayhem to Hollywood. As he oversees the transfer of a painting, it’s one bump, pratfall and nostril flare after another. A celebration of Bean’s 30 years of TV and movie slapstick is on ITV at 8pm (see Pick Of The Day, page 39).

THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES (2008) PG ● 3.55PM, CH4 HHH Family fantasy adventure in which a spooky old house harbours magical secrets. Freddie Highmore plays twins who, with their mother and sister, inherit the Spiderwick estate from an eccentric aunt. Based on the book series by Holly Black and Tony Diterlizzi.

FLYING BLIND (2012) 15 ◆ 12.10AM, BBC1 HHH Helen Mccrory takes the lead in a film that doesn’t quite do justice to her talents. She plays a brilliant aerospace engineer and lecturer who has an affair with an Algerian student. In this post-9/11 British thriller, doubts and prejudices stalk their relationship.

MAGIC MAGIC (2013) 15 ◆ 2AM, FILM4 HHH Psychological thriller following Alicia (Juno Temple, left), who, while on holiday in Chile, finds herself in an unsettling situation. When Alicia’s cousin leaves, she is left with people she hardly knows, and whose behaviour becomes increasingly threatening.

MONDAY

DRACULA (1931) PG ● 11AM, HORROR HHHH Director Tod Browning gave Bela Lugosi the role of a lifetime in his take on Bram Stoker’s classic, the first sound film to feature the fearsome Count. Lugosi struggled with the typecasting, but it made him a legend. (Freeview 68, Freesat 138, Sky 317, Virgin 149)

SAN DEMETRIO, LONDON (1943) PG ● 6.50PM, TALKING PICTURES TV HHHH Gripping Second World War propaganda drama from Ealing Studios, based on real events. A lifeboat of survivors from a stricken merchant navy oil tanker defy the odds to reboard the vessel and bring her home.

DOUBLE IMPACT (1991) 18 ▲ 9PM, PARAMOUNT HHH In this energetic action movie, Jean-claude van Damme works hard playing twins Chad and Alex Wagner (above). Separated as children, the Wagner boys reunite 25 years later and team up to seek revenge against the gang who murdered their parents.

MR BROOKS (2007) 18 ▲ 9PM, SONY MOVIES HHH Kevin Costner stars as a serial killer with a soul (below) in this unusual twist on the crime genre. He’s a successful businessman and family man with an urge to kill, whose inner demon has literally come to life – and is played with creepy relish by William Hurt.

ENTER THE DRAGON (1973) 18 ▲ 11.25PM, ITV4 HHHH Bruce Lee’s best-known film is a triumph. A series of memorable set pieces are built around a solid plot that has Lee’s Shaolin master spying on crimelord Han for the British government, while on Han’s private island.

A MOST WANTED MAN (2014) 15 ◆ 11.45PM, FILM4 HHH Muted drama, based on a John le Carre novel, about the dark art of spying and the toll it takes. An intelligence officer (Philip Seymour Hoffman) hunts for terrorists in Germany, where, post-9/11, the atmosphere is tense.

TUESDAY

THE CROSSWORD MYSTERIES: A PUZZLE TO DIE FOR (2019) PG ● 3.15PM, CH5 HHH PREMIERE Lacey Chabert, who got her break in Party Of Five, is a regular in TV movie mysteries. She fronts this new film series as Tess Harper (above), a crossword writer with a knack for finding clues and solving murders.

THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING (1975) PG ● 4.20PM, FILM4 HHHH John Huston’s classy telling of Rudyard Kipling’s cautionary tale stars Sean Connery and Michael Caine as officers of the British Raj, who allow power to go to their heads while in the remote reaches of Afghanistan.

AFTERMATH (2017) 15 ◆ 9PM, SONY MOVIES HHH Action king Arnold Schwarzenegger (left) greets older age and flexes his dramatic muscles, delivering a moving performance in this heartbreaking drama. He plays a husband and father reeling from grief and striking out when his wife and daughter die in a plane crash.

THE LOSERS (2010) 12 ◆ 11.15PM, ITV4 HHH Based on a comic, this uncomplicated action drama follows a former black-ops team who are out for revenge after being doublecrossed in Bolivia by their commanding officer (a gleefully wicked Jason Patric).

BATTLE: LOS ANGELES (2011) 12 ◆ 11.55PM, 5STAR HHH A pumped-up alien invasion movie that puts brawn above brains, but also finds a heart. Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez are two of the Earthling soldiers facing certain extinction from trigger-happy colonising aliens who are after our water supply.

TRIPLE 9 (2016) 15 ◆ 12.05AM, FILM4 HHH It’s hard to like the lowlifes in this action thriller – hardened criminals and corrupt cops alike – but the cast is an absolute knockout. Kate Winslet takes a walk on the trashy side (left), while Chiwetel Ejiofor, Woody Harrelson and Gal Gadot are all in on the heist.

WEDNESDAY

TOMAHAWK (1951) PG ●

2.15PM, PARAMOUNT ★★

The 1950s saw an improvement in how films depicted Native Americans. There’s some evidence of it in this western, starring Van Heflin as a scout who tries to bring about a lasting peace between settlers and the Sioux – a noble quest, but it isn’t going to be easy…

SUPER 8 (2011) 12

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6.45PM, FILM4 ★★★

When a group of young teenagers capture footage of a train crashing, they stumble on evidence of a scary intruder. Sci-fi master J.J. Abrams writes and directs this thrillfest, full of interesting characters and tension. Kyle Chandler is on worried father duty.

MRS BROWN (1997) PG

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9PM, BBC4 ★★★★

The first of two biographical dramas to star Judi Dench and explore Queen Victoria’s relationships with her favourites – Victoria & Abdul followed in 2017. Billy Connolly (above, with Dench) co-stars as the Queen’s Balmoral attendant, John Brown, a no-nonsense sort.

MYSTIC PIZZA (1988) 15

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9PM, 5STAR ★★★

Annabeth Gish, Lily Taylor and Julia Roberts are the fun-loving trio (below) who work at a pizza parlour in a quiet coastal town. This sentimental yet endearing coming-of-age drama also features Matt Damon in his debut.

USED CARS (1980) 15

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9PM, SONY MOVIES CLASSIC ★★★

Black comedy in which sibling rivalry plays out on the forecourts of two car dealerships. Jack Warden plays rival twin brothers, while Kurt Russell is the salesman caught in the crossfire. SECRET IN THEIR EYES (2015) 15

◆ 11.10PM, 5STAR ★★★

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

THURSDAY

GHOST IN THE SHELL (2017) 12

◆ 9PM, E4 ★★★

In this US remake of a cult Japanese animation, Scarlett Johansson stars as hightech guinea pig Major Mira Killian (above). A human consciousness housed in a robotic body, Killian is about to have her identity and version of the truth tested to destruction.

SHOOTER (2007) 15 ◆ 9PM, FILM4 ★★★ Mark Wahlberg is a disillusioned war veteran who is coaxed back into action, and finds himself unwittingly involved in a government conspiracy. Betrayed and forced to go on the run, he is determined to find the truth, and punish those who have double-crossed him.

GLADIATOR (2000)

15 ◆ 10PM, CH5 ★★★★★

Ridley Scott brought the sword-andsandals epic back to life in spectacular fashion. Russell Crowe won an Oscar for his portrayal of Roman officer Maximus (above), who fights his way back from betrayal and humiliation to gladiatorial glory in Rome’s Colosseum.

WHISKY GALORE! (1949) U

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10PM, BBC4 ★★★★

Another Ealing comedy about plucky Brits – here, the islanders of the Outer Hebrides – defying the Establishment. With wartime rationing restricting their whisky intake, a run-aground freighter offers an opportunity that the islanders do not hesitate to grasp.

THE SILENT PARTNER (1978) 18 s

10PM, TALKING PICTURES TV ★★★

Elliott Gould stars in this smart, satisfying thriller as a Toronto bank teller who grabs a chance to make a mint when he notices that Santa Claus (Christopher Plummer) is casing the joint. It was written by Curtis Hanson, who directed Oscar-winner LA Confidential.

THE TWO FACES OF JANUARY (2014)

12 ◆ 1.50AM, CH4 ★★★★

Despite its sunny Greek setting, this Patricia Highsmith adaptation is typically cool. Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst take the lead as a shady couple (right).

FRIDAY

LOST HORIZON (1973) U

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2.20PM, TALKING PICTURES TV ★★★ Fantasy musical remake of Frank Capra’s 1937 classic. Peter Finch and Michael York are the travellers finding their way to Shangri-la, a Himalayan paradise cut off from the world.

FANTASTIC FOUR (2015) 12

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7.05PM, FILM4 ★★★

This reboot of yet another Marvel movie franchise, from the mid-2000s, didn’t have legs. Jamie Bell, Kate Mara, Miles Teller and Black Panther’s Michael B. Jordan are the quartet of accidental superheroes in search of a better movie. Toby Kebbell plays the villain.

BLITHE SPIRIT (2020) 12

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8PM, SKY PREMIERE ★★★

PREMIERE This new adaptation of Noel Coward’s 1941 play stars Dan Stevens as Charles Condomine (above), the man sharing his home with two wives – one alive (Isla Fisher), one dead (Leslie Mann). Judi Dench has great fun as the medium, Madame Arcati.

HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS

(2013) 15 ◆ 9PM, 5STAR ★★★ Supernatural action fantasy, inspired by the Grimm brothers’ fairytales and starring Gemma Arterton and Jeremy Renner as the bounty hunter siblings who take on a coven of witches in the deep, dark woods.

THE WOMAN IN BLACK (2012) 12

◆ 10.50PM, 5STAR ★★★

English ghost story, sturdily adapted from author Susan Hill’s bestseller. In his first postharry Potter role, Daniel Radcliffe (above, with Janet Mcteer) tops the cast as a haunted man finding ghosts in a small coastal village and its smoky marshes.

YOUNG ADULT (2011) 15

◆ 11.30PM, BBC1 ★★★

In this black comedy drama, Charlize Theron plays a chaotic, alcoholic writer returning to her childhood home with a very misguided plan.