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Our movie guy, James Finnegan, says there is a lot of sequels to enjoy on RTE and TG4 today…
In an early festive offering, Arthur Christmas (Saturday 6.35 RTE1) is a charming animation film that is well worth a family viewing.
Santa’s gift delivery operation has become a hi-tech operation, as all parents reading this will appreciate. However, the more complicated the system, the more things that can go wrong.
When a little girl is accidently missed out, Santa’s youngest son Arthur (James McEvoy), with the aid of Gransanta (Bill Nighy) and Bryony Shelfey (Ashley Jensen), brings the old family sleigh out of retirement to deliver the present in the old fashioned way. Unfortunately, their enthusiasm is not always matched with their abilities.
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With additional voices supplied by Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton and a host of famous British acting talent, this was directed and co written by Sarah Smith in partnership with Peter Baynham and is great fun.
In Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Saturday 9.25pm TG4), Lawrence Jamison (Michael Caine) is a professional conman who makes his living by seducing and swindling wealthy women on the French Riviera.
However, his profitable lifestyle is put under threat with the arrival of a rather brash and vulgar American, Freddie Benson (Steve Martin) who is looking for a piece of the action.
The pair make a deal. Whoever fails in tricking a glamorous heiress (Glenne Headly) out her fortune will have to leave town.
This is a remake of an earlier film “Bedtime Story” with David Niven and Marlon Brando, and was remade recently as ‘The Hustle’ with Rebel Wilson and Anne Hathaway, but this is by far the best version and is directed by Frank Oz.
In the third film of this series, Bridget Jones’s Baby (Saturday 9.30pm RTE1) Bridget (Renee Zellweger) is firmly embracing single life.
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However, she finds herself pregnant after a couple of one night stands, with just one slight problem – is the father her old flame Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) or the American dating Guru Jack Quant (Patrick Dempsey)?
Also starring Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Neil Pearson and Emma Thompson, who also helped on the screenplay along with Helen Fielding and Dan Mazer and directed by Sharon Maguire, the band from the first film have got back together and have been augmented by fresh talents which makes this one of the better RomComs.
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde (Saturday 9.30pm RTE2) sees the return of Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) who qualifies as a lawyer and heads straight to Washington DC with the aim of persuading Congress to stop testing cosmetics on animals.
Also starring Sally Field, Bob Newhart, Bruce McGill, Luke Wilson, Jennifer Coolidge and Regina King, this does not quite have the same impact as the first film, but if you enjoyed that, you will know what to expect. Enjoy!
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