Film choice

It Came from Beneath the Sea (1954, b/w)

FILM4, 12.50PM ★★★

 Now that giant monster B movies are seemingly back in fashion (Sharknado et al), it seems only right to take in a few of the original classics. This one ticks all the boxes: a creature from the deep (this time an enormous octopus) is driven from its marine trench home and turned radioactive by hydrogen bomb testing, before wreaking havoc on, among other things, the Golden Gate Bridge. Die Hard (1988) E4, 9.00PM ★★★★★

 The Die Hard series has become so silly that’s it’s easy to forget what a brilliant and suspenseful film it was, breaking new ground in the action movie genre. It follows maverick New York police officer John Mcclane (a charismatic Bruce Willis), the working-class hero who is in the wrong place at the wrong time when terrorists, led by Alan Rickman, storm a Christmas party in an office tower block and take its guests hostage. Big Trouble in Little China (1986) HORROR CHANNEL, 10.50PM ★★★

 This zany action adventure stars Kurt Russell as a truck driver trying to retrieve his friend’s fiancée from the clutches of kidnappers. Bizarrely, their leader is the ghost of a 3,000-year-old Chinese warlordcum-sorcerer who counters Russell’s zippy quips with his own enjoyably naff effects. This silly genre-bender succeeds because of its sheer joie de vivre. Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun and James Hong also star.