Film choice

Raising Helen (2004) SONY MOVIE CHANNEL, 4.40PM ★★★

 Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman) directs Kate Hudson, Joan Cusack, Hayden Panettiere and Helen Mirren in this fluffy, straightforward romcom about a carefree career girl (Hudson) who becomes guardian to her dead sister’s three children, and soon realises that she can’t balance two lives. It’s as corny as it sounds, but proceedings are saved by the solid performances: Cusack in particular gives the script a fair bit of zest.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) E4, 8.00PM ★★★

 Our hero is sickly Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), a diminutive soldier who volunteers for a risky project during the Second World War: he’s transformed into America’s hulking secret weapon, a “super-soldier”, to fight the Nazi-backed Hydra organisation. Joe Johnston’s film is based on the Forties Marvel comics, and though it doesn’t always enthral, the action scenes are terrific fun.

Cowboys & Aliens (2011) FILM4, 9.00PM ★★★★

 Cowboys and aliens – in the same film? Director Jon Favreau would have you believe it’s possible. Set in 1873, this film follows outlaw Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) and rancher Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), who team up with a local woman (Olivia Wilde) to save a group of rural folk who’ve been abducted by aliens. Bizarre, intriguing, and a real spectacle; Favreau had advice from Guillermo del Toro on the aliens’ design.