April 14, 2017

10 Films worth watching on Freeview TV this week



War Of The Worlds   Sat   15/4   BBC2 @ 21.45

Steven Spielberg's terrifying version of the H.G. Wells story. Made only 4 years after the 9/11 attacks, all manner of meanings can be read into this story of world wide attacks from otherworldly beings but its best to just sit back and gawp in awe at the horrifying spectacle before you. Tom Cruise rocks it as always but a short vignette with Tim Robbins as a crazed survivor will stick with you for days afterwards.

Dead Ringer   Sat   15/4   TG4 @ 23.25

A lovely slice of late period film noir with Bette Davis as a woman who murders her twin sister and begins to impersonate her. Fierce bang of Hitchcock off that story line eh! Davis is superb in a dual role in this very entertaining and twisty little tale. It's slightly predictable in places but its great fun and not as dark as it's synopsis makes it out to be. Karl Malden and Peter Lawford make for fine support.


Rescue Dawn   Sat   15/4   BBC1 @ 23.45

A US fighter pilot is shot down over Laos during the early years of the Vietnam war and puts his heart and soul into escaping the arms of his captors. Christian Bale gives his all in this tense and fast moving and extremely entertaining true story. Directed by Werner Herzog too and definitely one of his most accessible films but he still manages to cast his unique style over the story. 


East Is East   Sun   16/4   CH4 @ 23.05

The late Om Puri is excellent in this 70's tale of a traditional Pakistani father who comes to resent the fact that his English born children aren't growing up in the ways he expects them too. A funny but at times hard to watch insight into life as an immigrant in England and one that refreshingly doesn't contain the same terrorist or fundamentalist tropes that these films usually do. 

Brother   Mon   17/4   Film4 @ 01.30

A disgraced Japanese yakuza finds himself in Los Angeles and works with his brother and new friends to create a new criminal enterprise. Japanese superstar Takeshi Kitano brings his trademark laconic cool to America and it makes for a highly entertaining film. The tone may seem odd to people not used to Kitano's unique style but the scenes of gentle comedy and horrific bloodshed somehow compliment each other in a perfectly strange way. 

The Great Race   Mon   17/4   RTE2 @ 11.45

Jack Lemmon & Tony Curtis team up once again in this entertaining tale of a car race from New York to Paris. Lemmon and Curtis play arch rival racers determined to beat each other to the finish. Great fun, wacky as hell and guaranteed to make you laugh in that snorty embarrassing way. It's long but happily never ever boring. A super way to start your bank holiday Monday.

The Running Man   Tues   18/4   TCM @ 21.00

It's 2017. America has become a military state with closed borders. Hmmm this sounds familiar. Prisoners are executed on reality tv. Arnie is one such prisoner but he's been wrongly convicted and must fight his way to freedom. A highly entertaining action film full of laughs and good crunch that has become frighteningly prescient in the present day. Arnie is good fun as always and is supported by a solid cast of B movie regulars.

Solaris   Thurs   20/4   Film4 @ 00.40

A man is sent on a mission into deep space to investigate strange happenings on a space station.An almost 3 hour long Russian subtitled sci-fi film from Andrei Tarkovsky isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea but if you are willing to stick with it this is a very rewarding experience. It's a film that will scare you, make you think, reminisce about people from your past & generally do things to your head that most other films won't. Highly recommended.

Weekend At Bernie's   Thurs 20/4   3E @ 21.00

One for the 80's kids here. 2 men have to pretend their dead employer is alive and of course, this leads to all manner of wackiness. The kind of film you think you'll be annoyed by but really you end up loving, this is 100 minutes of utter nostalgia. Ya, its dated ( is there any 80's set film that hasn't?) but its just great fun and the lead duo of Andrew McCarthy & Jonathan Silverman are fierce likeable. Plus Bernie's mustache always make me laugh.

The Birdman Of Alcatraz   TCM   Fri   21/4 @ 15.00

Burt Lancaster had a fantastically long and varied career and this film arguably contains his best performance. This is a prison set tale about a man who for once was actually guilty of his crimes and how he set about bettering himself whilst inside. A sad, claustrophobic, touching and superbly acted film filled with sumptuous black and white photography. Excellent support from Karl Malden & Telly Salavas too.

 




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