Your Movie Planner SATURDAY

THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD

(2017) 15 ◆ 9PM, CH4 HHH

This wisecracking action comedy stars Ryan Reynolds as a down-at-heel protection agent hired to escort Samuel L. Jackson’s turncoat hit man to testify at a trial. The sequel, Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, with Salma Hayek taking centre stage, is in cinemas.

STEP BROTHERS

(2008) 15 ◆

9PM, ITV4 HHH

Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are the grown men horrified to find out that they are to become stepsiblings. In this daft comedy, Mary Steenburgen and Richard Jenkins play the boys’ long-suffering parents.

LADY BIRD (2017) 15

◆

10.30PM, BBC1 HHHH

This funny and insightful coming-of-age drama was written and directed by Greta Gerwig, and follows high-school senior Christine (Saoirse Ronan, above, with Beanie Feldstein), who suddenly insists she be called Lady Bird – exasperating her hardworking mother, Marion (Laurie Metcalf).

STRONGER

(2017) 15 ◆

11.05PM, BBC2 HHH

Jake Gyllenhaal (below) stars in a fact-based drama that tells the story of Jeff Bauman, who lost his legs in the Boston Marathon bombings of April 2013. A resoundingly unsentimental triumph-over-adversity tale.

THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS (2001) 15

◆ 11.15PM, ITV HHH

The main series now runs to nine films and counting, but this first instalment got it off to a flying start – mainly thanks to Rob Cohen’s exhilarating road-racing footage. The late Paul Walker and the appropriately named Vin Diesel top a now familiar cast.

MARGUERITE (2015) 15 ◆

12.55AM, BBC2 HHH

Catherine Frot stars in this French-language drama inspired by the career of Florence Foster Jenkins, the American socialite who was dubbed ‘the world’s worst opera singer’. SUNDAY

HAPPY FEET TWO (2011) U n

2PM, ITV HHH

Another life-affirming animated tale with penguins, this follow-up to the 2006 Oscarwinner follows the next generation via Erik (above), son of Mumble and Gloria from the first film. Erik hasn’t yet found his feet when he is separated from his family by an iceberg.

HOME ALONE (1990) PG

●

4.55PM, E4 HHHH

In this classic family comedy, eight-year-old Kevin Mccallister (Macaulay Culkin) – cute as a button, but a bit of a handful – makes a criminal duo regret trying to rob his house when he’s left on his own over Christmas.

OSLO (2021) 15

◆

7.45PM, SKY PREMIERE HHH

PREMIERE This drama tells the remarkable story of the Norwegian couple (played by Andrew Scott, left, and Ruth Wilson) who opened a back channel – without government approval – for talks between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

COLD PURSUIT

(2019) 15 ◆

9PM, CH5 HHH

PREMIERE See The Big Movie (right).

THE COMMUTER (2018) 15

◆

11.15PM, CH5 HHH

More Liam Neeson action (see above), this stars the actor as a commuter whose train ride home is rudely interrupted when he is forced into taking on a deadly mission.

THE REVENANT (2015) 15

◆

11.45PM, ITV4 HHHH

Leonardo Dicaprio stars in this gruelling, intense and satisfying survival adventure. Dicaprio is frontiersman Hugh Glass; left for dead, he fights back, tooth and claw.

THIS IS ENGLAND

(2006) 18 ▲

12 MIDNIGHT, CH4 HHHH This powerful drama helped to launch the careers of Vicky Mcclure and Stephen Graham – not forgetting Thomas Turgoose as Shaun (right), the lad at the film’s centre, whose naive young eyes are witness to violence among his new friends in the Midlands of the 1980s.

MONDAY

PRETTY LITTLE KILLER (2018) PG

●

2.15PM, CH5 HH

The writer of a self-help book gets unwelcome attention when she and her family are targeted by a stalker. Nicky Whelan, Heather Morris and Cory Hart star.

THE BOURNE LEGACY

(2012) 12 ◆

9PM, ITV4 HHH

A sidestep rather than a full reboot, this fourth film in the series sees Jeremy Renner taking over from Matt Damon as a superagent on the run, with Rachel Weisz (below, with Renner) dragged along for the ride. It’s all held together by writer-director Tony Gilroy.

UNSANE (2018) 15 ◆

9PM, FILM4 HHH

Steven Soderbergh shot this disquieting psychological thriller entirely on an iphone 7 Plus. Claire Foy stars as a troubled woman who is sectioned and, trapped inside a mental health facility, becomes convinced that her plight has been orchestrated by her stalker.

BODY OF WATER (2020) 15

◆

9.05PM, SKY PREMIERE HHH

PREMIERE This sobering British drama stars Sian Brooke (Eurus Holmes in Sherlock) as a woman struggling with anorexia. Returning from treatment, she attempts to reconnect with her mother and daughter (Amanda Burton and Fabienne Piolini-castle). CRANK HHH (2006) 18 ▲ 11.40PM, ITV4

Jason Statham (above) plays a hit man who gets a taste of his own medicine when he’s injected with a poison that will kill him unless he keeps his heart rate up – and no, attaching spark plugs to your nipples is not something you should try at home.

PREMIUM RUSH

(2012) 12 ◆

11.40PM, GREAT! MOVIES HHH

Joseph Gordon-levitt is the New York

City courier whose bicycle doesn’t have brakes in this frantic chase thriller.

Tasked with the usual time-limit delivery, his day goes from fast to deadly in a film that has some dazzling stuntwork.

TUESDAY

ALPHA (2018) 12

◆ 11AM, FILM4 HHH A prehistoric The Call Of The Wild, this adventure is beautifully shot and a fine watch for all the family. The Road and

Let Me In’s Kodi Smit-mcphee (above) is the young man who is separated from his tribe and, left for dead, forms a powerful, life-saving bond with a wounded wolf.

TEMPTING FATE

(2019) PG ●

2.15PM, CH5 HH

Alyssa Milano, of Charmed and Mistresses fame, takes the lead in this adaptation of Jane Green’s bestselling novel. She plays a wife whose life is changed for ever when she has an affair and falls pregnant by her lover.

HITMAN: AGENT 47 (2015) 15

◆

9PM, E4 HHH

A strong cast – led by Rupert Friend, Zachary Quinto and Ciaran Hinds – powers this all-action thriller, which is based on a computer game. Friend (above) is the genetically modified killing machine Agent 47, who has a scientist’s daughter (Hannah Ware) in his sights.

THE A-TEAM (2010) 12

◆

10PM, ITV4 HHH

The hit 1980s TV series gets the big-screen treatment. Liam Neeson is cigar-chomping head honcho Hannibal, getting the gang – Face (Bradley Cooper), B.A. (Quinton Jackson) and Murdock (Sharlto Copley) – back together to clear their sullied names.

A FAREWELL TO ARMS

(1932) PG ● 10.40PM, BBC4 HHHH

This first screen adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s First World War story – released three years after the novel – stars Gary Cooper as the US ambulance driver, with Helen Hayes as the nurse he falls for.

SLAUGHTERHOUSE RULEZ

(2018) 15 ◆ 11.20PM, FILM4 HHH This teen comedy horror benefits from having Simon Pegg and Michael Sheen (right) as the adults in the room. They are the teachers at a boarding school that is under attack from underground beasties.

WEDNESDAY

PSYCHO IN LAW (2017) 12 ◆ 2.15PM, CH5 ★★

After her daughter dies, Joyce (Catherine Dyer) continues to take an unhealthy interest in her son-in-law – and also takes a violent dislike to the new woman in his life.

DANGEROUS MINDS

(1995) 15 ◆

9PM, 5STAR ★★★★

Michelle Pfeiffer (below) might not seem an obvious choice to play a former Marine who goes to teach the kids at a high school in a deprived area of California – but it works. Based on a true story, the film avoids the sentimentality of many inspirational dramas.

RABID (2019) 18 ▲ 9PM, HORROR ★★★

PREMIERE The Soska sisters put their own spin on David Cronenberg’s 1977 horror classic. Laura Vandervoort is the woman undergoing a terrifying yet empowering transformation after experimental surgery. (Freeview 68, Freesat 138, Sky 317, Virgin 149)

DEATH WISH

(1974) 18 ▲ 10PM, ITV4 ★★★

Michael Winner’s brutal thriller stars Charles Bronson (below) as the man setting out for revenge on the criminals who destroyed his family. It made Bronson a force to be reckoned with, and is responsible for a slew of cheap and nasty vigilante thriller copycats. MISERY (1990) 15 ◆ 11.05PM, FILM4 ★★★★★

See Classic Film Choice (right).

CHAPPAQUIDDICK (2017) 12 ◆

11.15PM, BBC2 ★★★

Jason Clarke stars as Ted Kennedy, the youngest brother of President John F. Kennedy, in a film exploring the incident that

drastically scaled back his political career.

DEVIL’S DUE (2014) 15

◆ 2.20AM, CH4 ★★★

Found-footage horror movie starring Zach Gilford and Allison Miller as newlyweds who conceive after a weird encounter. Morning sickness is soon the least of their worries.

THURSDAY

THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK

(1977) PG ● 11AM, FILM4 ★★★

In the spirit of Richard Lester’s The Three Musketeers, Mike Newell’s adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’s novel stars Richard Chamberlain (above) in dual roles as the masked man and his wicked brother. Jenny Agutter co-stars as the King’s mistress.

MY MOTHER IS A MURDERER

(2020) PG ● 2.15PM, CH5 ★★

New-in-town boutique owner Karina (Bree Williamson) befriends Lena, the mother of an adorable little girl. But Karina starts to notice that Lena is very secretive around her daughter – if, in fact, she really is her daughter.

BRIDESHEAD REVISITED

(2008) 12 ◆ 8PM, BBC4 ★★★ This adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s novel stars Matthew Goode (left) and Ben Whishaw as friends Charles and Sebastian, and compares favourably to the popular 1981 TV series.

The strong cast also includes Hayley Atwell, Emma Thompson and Michael Gambon.

ARCHIVE (2020) 15 ◆

8PM, SKY PREMIERE ★★★

PREMIERE This British sci-fi drama puts heart, soul and fallibility into robotics and artificial intelligence. Theo James stars as the widowed scientist working on a secret project. But when technology becomes too human, it comes with human failings, too.

UNBREAKABLE (2000) 12 ◆

9PM, GREAT! MOVIES ★★★★

Intriguing thriller from M. Night Shyamalan, the first of his so-called Eastrail 177 trilogy. Bruce Willis is a security guard who survives a train crash, and is approached by Samuel L. Jackson’s strange, afflicted man who believes in both gods and monsters.

I CAPTURE THE CASTLE

(2003) PG ●

10.35PM, BBC4 ★★★ This adaptation of Dodie Smith’s 1948 novel stars Rose Byrne as Rose Mortmain and Romola Garai (right) as her sister, Cassandra – the narrator of this idealistic tale of an eccentric family living in a small but decrepit castle.

FRIDAY

A BODY TO DIE FOR (2018) PG ●

2.15PM, CH5 ★★

Katie Jones (Sunny Mabrey) is the plastic surgeon whose perfect life comes under attack by a patient and former medical school classmate hellbent on perfection.

KNIVES OUT

(2019) 12 ◆

8PM, SKY PREMIERE ★★★★

PREMIERE Back-stabbing is the name of the game in this twisty homage to Agatha Christie, starring Daniel Craig as the detective with a Southern drawl. Among the family members suspected of killing Christoper Plummer’s mystery writer is Toni Collette (below).

LOOTED

(2019) 15 ◆

11.05PM, BBC2 ★★★★

PREMIERE Impressive debut feature from director Rene van Pannevis. Charley Palmer Rothwell is small-time thief Rob, who steals cars with his friend Leo (Thomas Turgoose of This Is England fame, see Sunday) while caring for his dying father.

DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (1995)

15 ◆ 11.05PM, ITV ★★★

Bruce Willis returns for a strong sequel as detective John Mcclane, having yet another bad day. This time, it’s all thanks to Jeremy Irons’s playful villain – with Samuel L. Jackson as a capable Mcclane sidekick (below).

WHY DON’T YOU JUST DIE! (2018) 18 ▲ 11.15PM, FILM4 ★★★

PREMIERE The clue is in the title, this Russian horror comedy is very violent – and all about violence. It’s a prolonged, bonecrunching fight scene between cop Andrei and various people out for revenge, intercut with flashbacks that give the characters purpose. NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS (2000) 12 ◆ 12.10AM, CH4 ★★★

The sequel to the 1996 hit sees Eddie Murphy once again stepping into the shoes of scientist Sherman Klump and alter ego Buddy

Love – as well as the entire Klump family.