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Our movie guy, James Finnegan, picks some movies to watch on the box on Saturday night…
One of my favourite comedy franchises, featuring one of my favourite comedy characters is on show this weekend.
The Pink Panther (Saturday 3.40 RTE1) is actually a large diamond with a specific internal flaw that resembles a leaping pink panther.
Inept Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) is on the trail of the mysterious and notorious Jewel Thief known as the Phantom, and he knows that this diamond would be irresistible to his quarry.
Clouseau’s wife Simone (Capucine) is having an affair with Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven), who is the Phantom, and is also making a rich living acting as a fence for the Phantom right under the nose of her husband.
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Add in Lytton’s nephew George (Robert Wagner), Princess Dala (Claudia Cardinale), the owner of the diamond, this is a wonderful comedy farce, written and directed by Blake Edwards and with the most memorable theme by Henry Mancini.
When I saw Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (Saturday 6.35pm RTE1) I was concerned, as I could not even remember Journey 1.
It turns out I do, as this is the sequel to a version of ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ starring Brendan Fraser, and loosely based on the Jules Verne book ‘The Mysterious Island’.
It is one of those wonderfully over exaggerated adventures that you would do well to just go for the ride without seeking too much logic in the screenplay.
Sean has received a coded message from his long missing grandfather Alexander Anderson (Michael Caine).
Sean’s Stepfather, Hank (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson), in an effort to bond with the lad, offers to help break the code, which in turn leads the two on a adventure to find the aforementioned Mysterious Island.
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It would be wrong to give too many details away, other than if you ever wanted to see a film with pygmy elephants, giant bees and the Rock playing the ukulele, this is your lucky day.
Now that we have said goodbye to Daniel Craig’s version of James Bond, we can reassess Quantum of Solace (Saturday 9.35pm RTE2), the second in his series of films.
007 is on a personal mission of vengeance as he pursues the mysterious criminal organisation Quantum, that seems to be led by a supposed green technology mogul Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), who in turn is trying to arrange a coup in Bolivia.
Directed by Marc Forster, and also starring Olga Kurylenko, Jeffrey Wright and Judi Dench, this is a different type of Bond film.
Love And Other Drugs (Saturday 9.40pm TG4) is a romantic film that can’t quite make up its mind whether it is a comedy or a drama, but there is an excellent chemistry between the two leads that is very watchable.
Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a pharmaceutical sales rep with an eye for the ladies. He meets Maggie (Anne Hathaway) who suffers from early onset Parkinson’s disease, and is even less interested in commitment than he is, until he finds himself falling for her. Enjoy and stay safe!
