TV FILMS of the week
1 HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2 Today, ITV, 4pm
The great and the good of the monster world gather at Hotel
Transylvania for the wedding of vampire Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez) and her mortal beau Jonathan (Andy Samberg). Soon after, Mavis falls pregnant and gives birth to a son, Dennis (Asher Blinkoff). The couple considers moving to California to raise the child among other humans. Mavis’ proud father Dracula (Adam Sandler) is devastated – he believes that any heir to the bloodline should be raised in Transylvania, surrounded by other monsters. Hotel Transylvania 2 is a jaunty computer-animated family comedy.
2 DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE Tomorrow, Channel 5, 11.05pm
In this action sequel, loose-cannon cop John McClane (Bruce Willis, left) returns to duty following an explosion at a New York City department store. The perpetrator contacts the police and tells them that unless McClane and a bystander, carry out a series of instructions, more bombs will be detonated across the city.
3 THE GHOST AND MRS MUIR Tuesday, Talking Pictures TV, 3.55pm
In this witty fantasy, an independent young widow (Gene Tierney, left) hopes to escape her uptight in-laws by moving into a seaside cottage. Her new home has a sitting tenant however – the ghost of a deceased sea captain (Rex Harrison). He tries to scare her away, but then comes up with a plan and asks her to write his memoirs.
4 THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH Wednesday, ITV4, 8pm
James Bond (Pierce Brosnan, left) is assigned to protect Elektra King (Sophie Marceau), the daughter of a murdered oil tycoon who inherited her father’s fortune, and rights to $6tn worth of oil deposits. As Turkey, Russia and Iran each try to get their hands on her assets, Bond finds himself trying to stop all-out war and save the world.
5 TOP HAT Thursday, BBC4, 9pm
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’ fourth film together is their best, thanks to a frothy script and iconic dance scenes. Dancer Jerry Travers (Astaire) meets model Dale Tremont (Rogers) in a London hotel. For him, it’s love at first sight,but a case of mistaken identity leads her to believe that Jerry is her best friend’s husband.
6 BEAUTIFUL BOY Friday, BBC1, 11.45pm
Magazine writer David Sheff (Steve Carell), suspects his son Nic (Timothee Chalamet, left with Carell) is in the grip of drug addiction and persuades his boy to attend Ohlhoff Recovery Centre. When the teenager goes AWOL, David applies his journalistic mind to learning everything about drugs and their treatment.
7 THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD Saturday, Channel 4, 9.15pm
This reinvention of Charles Dickens’ indomitable literary hero, sees a young David Copperfield dispatched to London into the care of landlord Mr Micawber (Peter Capaldi). As David comes of age (now played by Dev Patel, left), he heads off to boarding school. In time, he is taken under the wing of lawyer Mr Wickfield (Benedict Wong).