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THIS week’s films cover a variety of genres and are all excellent examples of their type.
We come to the eighth and final chapter of the ever popular series with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two (Saturday 6.35pm RTE One).
This is truly a magical epic finale. Harry, Ron and Hermione are in a desperate race against time to destroy the Horcruxes.
Meanwhile, teachers and students have combined forces to defend Hogwarts against Lord Voldermort and his evil hoards of Death Eaters.
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Directed by David Yates, and with a stunning soundtrack by Alexandre Desplait, this film is one of the most popular and highest grossing films in movie history. It truly deserves all the accolades it received.
There is a strong argument to be made that Skyfall (Saturday 9pm RTÉ2) is the best Bond film of them all. It certainly is a high point in the Daniel Craig era, with a portrayal of Bond as near to the original novels as has been seen for quite a while.
MI6 have lost a hard drive containing names of undercover agents that are being selectively released. 007 has gone off the grid.
However, an attack on MI6 Headquarters begins to suggest there is a more personal motive in these actions, with M (Judi Dench) as the prime target.
With spectacular action scenes, as one would expect from a Bond film, there are also excellent performances from Craig, Dench and especially Javier Bardem as the villain of the piece, Raoul Silva, the best Bond Baddie in a long time.
Together with excellent support from Ben Whishaw, Naomi Harris and Ralph Fiennes, there is also an Oscar winning theme song from Adele.
All in all, well worth another watch.
1984 (Saturday 9.20pm TG4) is a throughly faithful adaptation of the George Orwell book of the same title and released in, well, 1984.
It is a frightening realistic portrait of a totalitarian dystopian society, where human feelings and emotions are a crime.
John Hurt plays Winston Smith, whose job is to literally rewrite the “official record” to reflect current dogma.
Richard Burton, in what turned out to be his last role, plays the cynical and weary O’Brien to perfection.
Half A Sixpence (Sunday 1.10pm RTE One) is the total opposite in terms of tone and colour.
Draper’s clerk Arthur Kipps (Tommy Steele) has unexpectedly come into a significant inheritance allowing him to move into high society.
Unfortunately, he forgets his old friends with this change in status, and he finds out the hard way that money does not nessessarily bring happiness.
This is an old fashioned musical but none the worst for that. Directed by George Sidney who also directed the old Hollywood Musicals ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ and ‘Kiss Me Kate’, this does exactly what you expect.
Finally, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Friday 9.05pm TG4) is the Sergio Leone masterpiece starting Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallace and Lee Van Cleef as three on the trail of Confederate gold in the last days of the Civil War.
There are double and triple crosses, meaningful squinty stares and an iconic soundtrack from Ennio Morricone. Enjoy and stay safe!
