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Our movie guy, James Finnegan, says it’s much better week for television films with some excellent stories well delivered with some notable performances to enhance the experience…
A film that gave us a cast of famous faces in dire straits, thereby setting a trend that has continued ever since, The Towering Inferno (Saturday 2.40pm RTE One) is perhaps the classic disaster movie.
There is a fire in the world’s tallest building, and there a whole group of Hollywood A Listers, plus some B and C Listers doomed to perish, stuck on the 135th floor.
The fire is below them, while Fire Chief Michael O’Hallorhan (Steve McQueen) and Architect Doug Roberts (Paul Newman) work to save as many as possible.
Other famous names in the cast include William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Richard Chamberlain, Robert Vaughan and Fred Astaire who won a number of Best Supporting Actor Awards for his performance.
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A more sombre film, in as much as it is based on a true story, is In the Name of the Father (Saturday 9.25pm TG4).
Co-written and directed by Jim Sheridan, four people are falsely convicted of the Guilford pub bombings in 1974. Gerry Conlon (Daniel Day Lewis) is sentenced to life imprisonment.
His father, Giuseppe (Pete Postlethwaite) travels to London, but he too is arrested and imprisoned.
The relationship between the two is the mainstay of the films story, of how both innocent men reframe their relationship in the bleakest of situations.
Another notable performance comes from Emma Thompson as Solicitor Gareth Peirce. Naturally some events are condensed for the sake of the narrative, but this does not take away from the impact of either the performances or the story.
A far lighter offering is Two Mules for Sister Sara (Good Friday 9.00pm TG4), a Clint Eastwood Western that is often unfairly overlooked.
A gun slinging stranger (guess who?) rescues a Nun (Shirley MacLaine) from a gang and is persuaded into escorting her across the Mexican desert.
However, She seems to be different from your usual Nun, especially when it comes to gunplay and colourful language.
Directed by Don Siegal, who worked with Eastwood on many occasion including Dirty Harry and Escape from Alcatraz, there is also a wonderful Ennio Morricone soundtrack to enjoy.
Finally, there is LA Confidential (Good Friday 11.25pm RTE1) a classic film noir set in the seedy world of 1950’s Los Angeles.
Three LAPD detectives investigate multiple homicides, but the evidence trail leads back to corruption within their own police department.
When you add a little sprinkle of Hollywood sparkle, and the emergence of a scandal obsessed media, you have a powerful combination.
A cast including Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, Danny DeVito and Kim Basinger in an Oscar winning performance, give powerful performances that helped set up a number of film careers, and enhance others reputations. This is a modern classic. Enjoy and stay safe!
