.
Our movie guy, James Finnegan, recommends a few classic old movies and some entertaining moderns ones to watch today on TV…
It is strange to believe that there was a time when a Burt Reynolds film was the bees knees and the cat’s meow, especially when you review Smokey and the Bandit (Saturday 4pm RTE1) and remember that this was the first of a series of three.
Burt plays Bo “Bandit” Darville who with Cledus “Snowman” Snow are illegally transporting four hundred cases of Coors beer from Texarkana to Atlanta.
“Snowman” drives the truck with the beer, while “Bandit” drives a 1977 Pontiac Trans Am to interfere with and distract the chasing law enforcement, as led by Texas County Sheriff Bulford T. Justice (Jackie Gleeson).
Continued below…
.
There is an abundance of action scenes that don’t really advance the plot, such as it is, but which are quite entertaining in their own right. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.
On to more Festive fare with The Grinch (Saturday 6.35pm RTE1), a wonderful animated adaptation of the Dr Seuss classic.
In the magical town of Whoville, a race of human like creatures called Whos are looking forward to celebrating Christmas.
However, a cantankerous, furry green loner, the aforementioned Grinch, hates Christmas. From his cave home just outside Whoville, he hatches a dastardly plan to ruin the Festive Season.
Bennedict Cumberbatch eloquently voices the Grinch, while Pharrell Williams narrates and Rashida Jones is the Whoville resident who attempts to save the day. A wonderful film.
A Quiet Place Part II (Saturday 9pm RTE2) is director/star John Krasinski’s sequel to his original claustrophobic horror.
Following the events from the first film, the Abbott family now face the terrors of the outside world. Forced to venture into the unknown, they quickly realise that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats they must face.
Continued below…
.
Starring Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy, there is more “fighting the monsters” in this film and the addition of Murphy’s character Emmett adds a new component to the mix.
“An unjust law is no law at all” is the oft repeated line from The Great Debaters (Saturday 9.30pm TG4), based on the true story of a professor from a 1930’s all-black college who leads a debate team to compete on equal footing with white colleges, at a time when Jim Crow laws were common and lynch mobs were a fear for African Americans.
Directed and Starring Denzil Washington, Forest Whitaker, Denzel Whitaker (no relation!) and Jumee Smollett, this is film acting of a superior quality.
One of the all time classic film versions of a classic novel is To Kill a Mockingbird (Saturday 11.45pm RTE1).
A lawyer in a backwater Alabama town, Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck in an Academy Award winning performance) risks the anger of his racist neighbours when he defends a black man accused of rape.
Also starring Robert Duvall, in his film debut, Mary Badham and Brock Peters, the film is told through the eyes Jem and Scout, the widowed Atticus’ children. Enjoy!
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
