June 16, 2018

10 films worth watching on TV this week

Love, Rosie   Sat   16/6   TG4 @ 21.30

Rosie and Alex were destined to be be together forever, but bad decisions and distance conspire to keep them apart. At times mawkish and cheesy and predictable, this drama is saved by a couple of excellent performances from Lily Collins and Jaime Winstone, with funny turns from Lorcan Cranitch and Ger Ryan adding to proceedings too. Warm, very watchable stuff.

Stalingrad   Sat   16/6   RTE2 @ 23.30

The almost 7 month long battle of Stalingrad was a defining moment of WW2 and the film is the story of 5 Russian soldiers who played their part in it. A fantastic looking war film that looks at the effects of urban warfare on both an epic and intimate scale. It's slightly melodramatic in places but it's hard not to get swept up in the sheer madness of it all. Tough going in places so be warned.

Sorcerer   Sun   17/6   Film4 @ 01.05

The roads and jungles of South America are a dangerous place as a group of men hired to drive a highly unstable and explosive shipment are about to find out. William Friedkin's remake of 1953's Wages Of Fear is a masterpiece that has thankfully been rediscovered lately. A sickeningly tense and gripping thriller that will pin you to your chair. Roy Scheider in the lead role is on fire

Source Code   Sun   17/6   ITV4 @ 22.00

A man wakes up in someone elses body on a train and finds out he has eight minutes to find a bomber on board before disaster strikes. Duncan Jones' 2011 sci-fi thriller is, after an initially confusing opening, great craic. It's silly but if you go with it you'll have a good time watching a well written and well crafted film led by a fine performance from Jake Gyllenhal. Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright & Michelle Monaghan all make their own mark too.

Lucy   Mon   18/6   Film4 @ 21.00

While muling a new and mysterious drug shipment inside her stomach, a woman undergoes a drastic transformation when it leaks into her blood stream. Luc Besson directs Scarlet Johansson in this mad film that has a final 10 minutes which has to be seen to be believed. You'll either love it or hate it but you definitely haven't seen anything like it before. Johansson is solid as always and Morgan Freeman & Min-Sik Choi are always fun.

Hamburger Hill   Mon   18/6   TG4 @ 21.30

American soldiers fight the ultimate battle of attrition in their attempts to take a strategic hill in the bloodiest era of the Vietnam war. This is one tough, grisly film that makes Platoon look like Bosco. It's a realistic look at the idiocy and pointlessness of war that lets us get to know it's wide eyed and baby faced soldiers before mincing them in front of our eyes. Courtney B. Vance, Don Cheadle and Dylan McDermott stand out in a large ensemble cast.

Quatermass And The Pit   Tues   19/6   The Horror Channel @ 22.55

No list is complete without a dash of Hammer Horror so here you go. During renovation work on the London underground a mysterious vehicle is discovered with ancient remains nearby. Scientist are mystified by the discovery and things start getting weirder. This nearly 60 year old film is still an unsettling watch. Buckets of atmosphere and a nice slow burn story reveal help. Andrew Keir & Hammer regular Barbara Shelley are great leads.

Momentum   Wed   20/6   Film4 @ 21.00

A thief is pulled back into the life for one last job. Predictably things do not go to plan and she finds herself running for her life. This got some pretty awful reviews on it's initial release but I found it a good laugh, a silly bit of entertainingly forgettable fluff. Olga Kurylenko is a grand lead and the always reliable James Purefoy has a whale of a time as the nasty bad guy on her trail.

Case 39   Thurs   21/6   CH4 @ 00.50

A social worker gets personally involved in a case of a young girl and quickly finds out things are rather different to what she expected. Renee Zellweger headlines this fine thriller/horror that relies on a creepy atmosphere for it's scares rather than cheap jump moments. An unusual film for Zellweger who built her career on lighter fare but she does well here and gets solid back up from Bradley Cooper and the brilliant Ian McShane.

Dr Strangelove...   Fri   22/6   TCM @ 15.45

A masterpiece of insanity and chaos. Brigadier General Ripper has lost the plot and declared war on Russia behind the back of president. Can the members of the government war room stop a full scale nuclear war? Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film is both fantastically bonkers and a terrifying look at the darkness in the hearts of men. The cast is sublime too. Peter Sellers, Sterling Hayden, George C. Scott & Slim Pickens are all on fire.








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