TV FILMS of the week
1DEEPWATER HORIZON Tonight, Channel 4, 11.40pm
Engineer Mike Williams (Mark
Wahlberg) boards a helicopter to the drilling platform Deepwater
Horizon. Other passengers include Jimmy (Kurt Russell) and third mate Andrea (Gina Rodriguez). Once they land, Jimmy becomes concerned that officials have not carried out sufficient checks to ensure the drill is safe. Soon after, a massive blowout tears through the rig and crew members race against time to lower lifeboats before flames engulf the entire structure. This is an actionpacked thriller, which recreates a harrowing real-life disaster.
2ROMANCING THE STONE Tomorrow, Channel 5, 3.45pm
Joan (Kathleen Turner) is a successful romance novelist but her own life is surprisingly routine. However, she’s unexpectedly thrust into an adventure when her sister is kidnapped in South America. Joan sets off to save her and meets adventurer Jack (Michael Douglas), who is willing to help her – for a price. The leads have sizzling chemistry in this entertaining action adventure.
3SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Monday, Film4, 11.05pm
Jamal (Dev Patel, left), a teenager from the Mumbai slums, is one question away from winning the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? But the authorities refuse to believe that a youngster from such a humble background could succeed without cheating, and subject him to brutal treatment in their search for an explanation. The film is at heart an examination of poverty and love.
4THE POST Tuesday, Film4, 6.45pm
Steven Spielberg’s drama is a handsome dramatisation of the high-profile 1971 legal showdown between President Richard Nixon and the free press. Tom Hanks, left, stars as Ben Bradlee, executive editor of The Washington Post, alongside Meryl Streep as publisher Katharine Graham, who faces a difficult decision over whether to pursue the truth.
5STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Wednesday, Film4, 6.25pm
Starfleet is rocked by a terrorist attack in London masterminded by the mysterious John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch, left). Kirk (Chris Pine), who has been stripped of his captaincy and now serves under his mentor, Rear Admiral Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood), becomes embroiled in the hunt for Harrison. This is an action-packed sequel.
6BRINGING UP BABY Thursday, BBC4, 9pm
Palaeontologist Dr David Huxley’s (Cary Grant) ordered life is thrown into confusion when he meets madcap heiress Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn) and her pet leopard, Baby. Despite flopping at the box office on release, Bringing Up Baby is now rightly regarded as one of the finest screwball comedies ever made. Grant and Hepburn are simply superb.
7BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP Friday, BBC1, 11.35pm
Following a car accident, Christine (Nicole Kidman, left) is diagnosed with anterograde amnesia. Each morning, she wakes in a strange bed next to a man she does not know and creeps into the bathroom where photographs begin to fill in the blanks, letting her know that the man is her husband Ben (Colin Firth). She finds a video that casts doubt on the facts that underpin her fragile existence.