Top Films: w/c Saturday, October 29

Top films to watch week beginning Saturday, October 29

Saturday 29/10/22The Lost City (2022) *** (Sky Cinema Premiere, 2.05pm & 8.00pm)Five years after the death of her archaeologist husband, reclusive romance novelist Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) puts the finishing touches to her latest page turner, The Lost City of D. Model Alan Caprison (Channing Tatum), who portrays the hero on book covers, joins Loretta for the promotional whirlwind. Following a disastrous Q&A session, Loretta is kidnapped by two goons of sharp-suited treasure hunter Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe), who believes Loretta’s bonkbuster holds the key to a priceless real-life trinket. While Loretta spars with her captors, Alan recruits human tracker Jack Trainer (Brad Pitt) to help him rescue the author. The Lost City is a rip-roaring action-adventure comedy, which lovingly harks back to the good-humoured escapism of Romancing the Stone.

Singin’ in the Rain (1952) ***** (BBC2, 2.50pm)One of the greatest musicals ever made, Singin’ in the Rain is bursting with catchy songs and general joie de vivre. The dance numbers are superb, but what really gives the movie its edge is the witty script and top-notch performances from the leading trio of Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor. Silent film actor Don Lockwood (Kelly) is one of the biggest names in Hollywood thanks to his on-screen partnership with the glamorous Lina Lamont (a very funny Jean Hagen). However, the duo’s reign over the box office is threatened by the arrival of ‘the talkies’, which threaten to expose his hammy acting and her nails-down-a-blackboard voice. However, aspiring actress Kathy (Reynolds) can carry a tune – which gives his best mate Cosmo (O’Connor) a very bright idea…

The Sixth Sense (1999) ***** (Channel 5, 10.05pm)It’s easy to forget in the wake of its huge success, but The Sixth Sense was an extraordinarily brave feature, resting squarely on the shoulders of an 11-year-old actor. Director M Night Shyamalan’s supernatural thriller opens with a tense five-minute sequence, detailing how Dr Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis in one of his best performances) was attacked in his home by an ex-patient (Donnie Wahlberg) who then turned the gun on himself. Haunted by his apparent failure, a year later Crowe tracks down an eight-year-old boy called Cole Sears (the extraordinary Haley Joel Osment) who bears all the classic tell-tale signs of child abuse. After their first meeting, Crowe senses that there is more to the boy than meets the eye and sets about winning his trust.

Halloween (1978) ***** (Channel 4, 11.35pm)Masked psychopath Michael Myers (Nick Castle) made his debut in John Carpenter’s classic – and hugely influential – 1978 horror. As a young boy, Michael stabs his teenage sister Judith and is promptly dispatched to Smith’s Grove Sanatorium under the care of psychiatrist Dr Samuel Loomis (Donald Pleasence). Fifteen years later, Michael escapes from the facility and heads back to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois, with Loomis in hot pursuit. That night, high school student Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) babysits a boy named Tommy Doyle (Brian Andrews) while her good friend Annie Brackett (Nancy Kyes) babysits at a house across the street. Michael kills Annie and when Laurie discovers the grisly remains of the murder, she flees black to the Doyle house to protect little Tommy from the hulking assailant.

Sunday 30/10/22Beetlejuice (1988) **** (Channel 5, 5.05pm)After Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara Maitland (Geena Davis) are killed in a car crash, they discover they will be stuck haunting their beloved home for the next 125 years. That wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the fact their house has been purchased by an obnoxious real-estate developer (Jeffrey Jones), his sculptor wife (Catherine O’Hara) and goth daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder in a star-making performance). When the Maitlands fail to scare the interlopers away, they turn to ‘bio-exorcist’ Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) for help. Despite the wafer-thin premise, Tim Burton’s supernatural comedy is huge fun. Keaton only appears for 17 minutes in total, but he dominates the movie as the eponymous slobbish spook, and the bouncy Danny Elfman score keeps things ticking over nicely.

Red Rocket (2021) **** (Sky Cinema Premiere, 10.00pm) Premiere.After more than 17 years in Los Angeles, washed-up porn actor Mikey “Saber” Davies (Simon Rex) returns to his hometown in Texas. He lingers on the doorstep of estranged wife Lexi (Bree Elrod) and mother-in-law Lil (Brenda Deiss) until they allow him to sleep on their sofa. A visit to the local doughnut shop introduces Mikey to 17-year-old employee Raylee aka Strawberry (Suzanna Son) and he resolves to woo the teenager away from her boyfriend. Red Rocket is a freewheeling comedy drama, which traverses tricky narrative terrain with scenes of explicit sexual activity and wanton immorality on the part of Rex’s garrulous anti-hero. The script doesn’t let Mikey off gently – transgressions have consequences – but the on-screen relationship between Rex and Son is more sweet than salty.

Rocks (2019) **** (Channel 4, 10.15pm) PremiereYoung lives matter in Rocks, a vibrant coming of age story which affirms the dauntless spirit of girlhood through the eyes of a 15-year-old heroine and her resilient friends. The naturalism of performances is one of the film’s many strengths, led by the mesmerising Bukky Bakray. Olushola Joy Omotoso (Bakray) aka Rocks is attuned to the signs of depression that regularly consumes her mother Funke (Layo-Christina Akinlude). Consequently, the teenager is a fierce protector of her impish seven-year-old brother, Emmanuel (D’angelou Osei Kissiedu). When Funke disappears, leaving behind an envelope of cash, Rocks hides the truth from social services and her friends. When the cash runs out, a troubled girl called Roshe (Shaneigha-Monik Greyson) woos Rocks with the promise of exciting new ways to make money.

His House (2020) *** (BBC2, 10.45pm) PremiereBritish writer-director Remi Weekes makes an assured feature debut with a tightly wound horror thriller set in an unnamed English town, which harbours murderous secrets. Bol (Sope Dirisu) and Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) escape war-torn South Sudan in the hope of a stable future far from the conflict. They risk their lives on a perilous night-time boat crossing, which culminates in heartbreak and despair. The couple are taken to a detention centre and are eventually allocated a home to call their own. Bol and Rial slowly transform the rundown and dirty property into a sanctuary. However, the peace and security they crave is supplanted by fear because the refugees are convinced that they are not alone in the house.

Monday 31/10/22The Exorcist (1973) ***** (BBC3, 10.00pm)A 12-year-old girl (Linda Blair) is possessed by a malevolent demonic entity, and her mother (Ellen Burstyn) recruits Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) to stage an exorcism. Aided by the mysterious Jesuit Father Merrin (Max von Sydow), Father Damien must confront not only the supernatural phenomena in front of him, but also his own inadequate faith and displaced guilt over his mother’s recent death. This Oscar-winning adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s bestselling novel is one of the most talked-about and controversial horror movies of all time. Despite being more than 45 years old, the demonstrations of evil still retain their power to startle and nauseate, particularly Linda Blair’s “head-turning” antics as the possessed child.

Ghost Stories (2017) **** (BBC2, 11.15pm)Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman write and direct this impressive big-screen version of their 2010 stage play that offers some genuine spooks and chills. Nyman heads the cast as Professor Philip Goodman, who has gained a reputation as a debunker of psychics and hoax ghost sightings. He has been given a file of three unsolvable cases by his hero and role model Charles Cameron, who has been missing for years. As Goodman goes to work trying to solve what Cameron could not, his perception of what is real and what is his imagination becomes increasingly blurred, until he is brought down to earth with a bump. Martin Freeman and Paul Whitehouse are among the supporting cast, while psychological illusionist Derren Brown, who regularly collaborates with Nyman on his mind-bending stage shows, is among the vocal cast.

Tuesday 01/11/22The Greatest Showman (2017) **** (Film4, 6.55pm)A massive sleeper hit, this musical stars Hugh Jackman as the legendary PT Barnum, a tailor’s son who falls under the spell of the privileged Charity Hallett (Michelle Williams). They live modestly until PT blags a $10,000 bank loan for a museum of living curiosities. The exhibits include bearded-lady Lettie Lutz (Keala Settle), dwarf Charles Stratton (Sam Humphrey) and high-flying trapeze siblings WD and Anne Wheeler (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Zendaya). Sardonic newspaper critic James Gordon Bennett (Paul Sparks) denounces the enterprise as “a primitive circus of humbug”, but the public disagrees, as does investor Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron). The Greatest Showman is a joy-infused blast of pure pleasure that calibrates every swoon of romance and doff of a top hat with masterful precision.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016) *** (Film4, 9.00pm)Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise), a former Major in the Military Police Corps, is living off the grid, embracing a nomadic lifestyle. En route to a face-to-face meeting with his successor, Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), Reacher discovers she has been accused of espionage. When associates of Turner are slain before they can testify, Reacher realises he has stumbled upon a wider conspiracy involving overseas shipments of weaponry. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is a solid, polished and compact thriller that simmers pleasantly thanks to the on-screen chemistry between Cruise and Smulders. The latter rolls up her sleeves to inflict bruises in the accomplished action set pieces while Cruise turns back the years to perform his own death-defying stunts.

Wednesday 02/11/22The Personal History of David Copperfield (2020) ***** (Film4, 9.00pm)Writer-director Armando Iannucci realises great expectations with his madcap take on Charles Dickens’ indomitable literary hero. The Personal History of David Copperfield breathlessly abridges the mid-19th century serial and novel to focus on the quixotic and colourful characters. A galaxy of stars in the British acting firmament sparkle in small yet perfectly formed roles including a delightfully bonkers Tilda Swinton as Betsey Trotwood and Peter Capaldi as lovable rapscallion Mr Micawber. The setting may be pungently Victorian but the tone is unmistakably modern from the hero’s knowing narration to nudge-nudge wink-wink flashes of directorial brio that bookmark each chapter. Dev Patel plays the likeable comic foil in the midst of madness, who is slowly educated in the whims of his fellow man.

This Is England (2006) ***** (Film4, 11.20pm)Eighties-set drama about Shaun, a 12-year-old boy left feeling lonely and directionless by the death of his father during the Falklands War. So, when the leader of a local group of skinheads takes him under his wing, the lad is delighted to have a new identity as well as friends. However, problems begin when a racist former gang member is released from prison and tries to steer the group in a more violent, right-wing direction. This is arguably director Shane Meadow’s best film to date, partly because, despite its 1980s setting, it still has interesting things to say about the state of the nation in general and racism in particular. He also coaxes great performances out of the entire cast, and Thomas Turgoose in particular was a real find. Stephen Graham, Jo Hartley, Andrew Shim, Vicky McClure and Joe Gilgun co-star.

Thursday 03/11/22Monster (2003) **** (Film4, 9.00pm)Charlize Theron cast aside her glamorous image to give an Oscar-winning performance as real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the downbeat Monster. The film follows Aileen as she tries to make a new life with her lover Selby (Christina Ricci) but shows how she is unable to escape prostitution. When one client turns violent, she kills him in self-defence, but before long she doesn’t need a reason to murder the men who visit her. As you would expect, director Patty Jenkins’ grim, unrelenting drama is not an easy watch. However, Monster is worth seeing for Theron’s astonishing performance alone.

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) **** (BBC4, 9.00pm)Best friends Tish Rivers (KiKi Layne) and Fonny Hunt (Stephan James) fall in love in 1970s Harlem. One day, Tish endures unwelcome advances from another man and Fonny angrily intervenes. A passing police officer, Bell (Ed Skrein), threatens to arrest Fonny but the owner of a nearby grocery store vouches for the couple. Soon after, a woman (Emily Rios) accuses Fonny of rape and officer Bell’s damning testimony seals his fate. As Fonny awaits trial in prison, Tish confirms she is pregnant to her parents (Regina King, Colman Domingo) and vows to prove her man’s innocence. If Beale Street Could Talk is a sublime adaptation of the novel penned by James Baldwin, which charts a love story against a turbulent backdrop of racial injustice, and features an Oscar-winning supporting performance from King.

Friday 04/11/22Booksmart (2019) **** (BBC3, 9.30pm)High school student Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and best friend Molly (Beanie Feldstein) have studiously forsaken partying to achieve their academic dreams. As graduation looms, Amy is destined for Columbia while Molly has been accepted into Yale. The gal pals are gob-smacked to learn that lazy peers have also secured places at coveted Ivy League institutions. It’s a bitter pill to swallow: Amy and Molly have needlessly missed out on extra-curricular lessons in drunken bonding. The over-achievers resolve to make amends on the night before Molly delivers her valedictorian speech. Booksmart is a raucous rites-of-passage comedy, which pens an unapologetically forthright and tender valentine to the glorious final hours of carefree abandon before adulthood comes a-knocking.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008) **** (BBC2, 11.35pm)Set in Germany during the Second World War, this drama follows young Bruno (Asa Butterfield) as he leaves Berlin and moves to Poland after his Nazi official father (David Thewlis) is put in charge of concentration camp. As the youngster has been led to believe his dad is working on a farm, he sees no harm in exploring the woods around the camp, and even strikes up a friendship with a Jewish boy (Jack Scanlon) he chats to through the fence. But for just how long can Bruno remain innocent of the camp’s true, horrifying purpose? The subject matter is incredibly bleak and the final act of director Mark Herman’s well-crafted film sets in motion a chain of events that must, inevitably, culminate in tragedy.