TV FILMS OF THE WEEK

1

LA LA LAND Tonight, BBC2, 9.20pm

ASPIRING actress Mia (Emma Stone) works as a barista between auditions, which repeatedly end in crushing rejection. On a traffic-jammed Los Angeles freeway, she crosses paths with talented pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), who reveres jazz in its purest form. They meet again at a party in the Hollywood hills, where they share hopes for the future beneath the twinkling stars of the Californian night sky. But can they follow their dreams and keep their artistic integrity without sacrificing their relationship? Gosling and Stone are individually luminous – and electrifying as a double-act in high energy song and dance sequences.

2

RANGO Tomorrow, Channel 4, 2pm

A LONELY chameleon (voiced by Johnny Depp) is stranded in the Mojave Desert, where he meets an iguana called Beans (Isla Fisher). Rango is a rootin’, tootin’ computer-animated adventure peppered with earthy one-liners that should have parents and teenagers chuckling, although it may be a little too dark and quirky for very young kids.

3

FOUR LIONS Monday, Film4, 10.50pm

FOR his debut feature film, Brass Eye creator Chris Morris addresses the thorny subject of terrorism with his trademark scabrous wit. Some audiences will take offence, but Morris’s film accomplishes a simple yet vital feat by disarming the terrorist’s greatest weapon – fear. The director’s long-awaited second film, The Day Shall Come, hits cinemas this week.

4

CRIMSON TIDE Tuesday, ITV4, 10.05pm

A Russian nuclear missile base falls into ultra-nationalist hands, and a US strategic submarine is ordered to prepare for a preemptive strike if the rebels begin fuelling their weapons. Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington are superb as the two Navy officers whose difference of opinion leads to mutiny.

5

JAWS Wednesday, ITV4, 9pm

IT’S 44 years old, but Steven Spielberg’s first blockbuster has lost none of its bite. Roy Scheider heads the cast as Brody, a police chief on New England’s Amity Island whose idyllic existence is turned upside down when a great white shark starts snacking on the locals. It’s a masterpiece of direction. Richard Dreyfuss (pictured with Scheider) also stars.

6

AMERICAN SNIPER Thursday, ITV4, 10pm

CHRIS KYLE (Bradley Cooper, left) enlists in the US Navy and gains a reputation for sharp shooting. Away from the base, Chris meets Taya (Sienna Miller). They marry and she raises their family alone while he fights overseas. Clint Eastwood’s film unfolds from Kyle’s fervently patriotic perspective and the lack of narrative balance might trouble some viewers.

7

MIDNIGHT RUN Friday, Film4, 9pm

BOUNTY hunter Jack Walsh (Robert De Niro, left) is hired to track down mob accountant Jonathan Mardukas (Charles Grodin), who skipped town after helping his boss embezzle millions of dollars. Seeing De Niro playing it for laughs has rather lost its novelty, but when this entertaining comedy thriller was released in 1988, his timing was a genuine revelation.