Movie choice

THE CRUEL SEA 2.15PM, BBC2

(1953) U ● ★★★★

From a novel by Nicholas Monsarrat and a screenplay by Eric Ambler – who both served in the Second World War – this stirring drama film follows the men of the Royal Navy convoys as they face German U-boats, and nature’s wrath, on the Atlantic. Jack Hawkins and Donald Sinden star.

LOOPER (2012) 15

◆ 9PM, GREAT! MOVIES ★★★★

This energetic science fiction thriller is set in a future where time travel is black-market technology in the hands of gangsters who use it to kill off their enemies. Bruce Willis (right) is one such hit man – a so-called Looper – who is destined for a fateful meeting with his younger self (Joseph Gordon-levitt).

COCKTAIL (1988) 15 ◆ 10PM, CH5 ★★★ Business student Tom Cruise sets out to prove his mettle with a cocktail shaker. The result is far too slick and slippery, its subject too light and frothy to leave much of an impression. Despite this, it was another big hit for Cruise as he continued on the path to superstardom. His mentor is played by Aussie actor Bryan Brown, who you can see in the mystery drama Darby And Joan over on the streaming service Acorn TV.