FILM PICKS

TODAY

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) (BBC1, 11.30pm)

This labyrinthine drama centres on the deputy to the head of British intelligence who is forced into retirement after an operation ends in disaster. He is later recruited by the government to return to duty and investigate the possibility of a Soviet mole in a high-ranking position in MI6. Gary Oldman gives one of his best performances as John le Carre’s ageing hero George Smiley – the scene where he reflects on an encounter with his arch enemy is a masterclass in acting. The book on which the film was based had previously been turned into a hugely popular TV series starring Alec Guinness in 1979, but this is just as impressive. The cast list reads like a Who’s Who of British acting talent, including Kathy Burke, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt and Benedict Cumberbatch.

TUESDAY

Alita: Battle Angel (2019) (Film4, 9.00pm)

Cyborg Alita (Rosa Salazar in motion capture) awakens with no recollection of her past or recognition of her surroundings. Taken in by a kindly doctor named Ido (Christoph Waltz), she makes a new friend in street-smart Hugo. But when deadly and corrupt forces come for her, Alita discovers she has unique abilities that serve as a clue to her past – and may be the key to saving her new family. This epic sci-fi-adventure, co-written by James Cameron and directed by Robert Rodriguez, was based on the Battle Angel Alita anime comicbook series from the 1990s, and is a fun distraction for a couple of hours.

THURSDAY

Julius Caesar (1953) (BBC4, 10.40pm)

Joseph L Mankiewicz’s adaptation of the Shakespeare play sticks largely to the original text, but still raised eyebrows when it was announced that Marlon Brando, who by 1953 had already gained a reputation for mumbling, would be playing Mark Antony. However, Brando more than holds his own against his more classically trained co-stars – not only did he pick up an Oscar nomination, but John Gielgud was so impressed, he offered to direct him in a production of Hamlet. In ancient Rome, Brutus (James Mason) and Cassius (Gielgud) fear that Julius Caesar (Louis Calhern) is becoming a tyrant and plot to assassinate him, but another politician stands in their way.

FRIDAY

Men (2022) (Film4, 10.45pm)

Emotionally brittle widow Harper Marlowe (Jessie Buckley) is haunted by nightmarish flashbacks to her husband James’s (Paapa Essiedu) grim death. To escape, Harper rents a manor house in the sleepy village of Coston. The bumbling owner, Geoffrey (Rory Kinnear, who plays all the village’s men), politely assures Harper than she won’t need to lock the front door. Events in Coston whirl out of control. Men is a phantasmagorical nightmare that saturates a bloodthirsty battle of the sexes.