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Our movie guy, James Finnegan, has a true romantic classic and an underrated Scorcese gem among his choices for today…
Audrey Hepburn gave us one of her most iconic performances in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Saturday 3.35pm RTE1).
She plays Holly Golightly, a happy go lucky cafe society girl who lives in the same apartment block as an aspiring, but struggling, writer Paul (George Peppard).
Both fall for each other, as you would imagine, but as is the norm for these stories, there is misunderstanding, break ups and reconciliation.
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Directed by Blake Edwards, with a wonderful supporting cast including Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, and Martin Balsam, the story is enhanced with a wonderful musical score by Henry Mancini, and the song “Moon River” both of which picked up Academy Awards.
However, I should point out there is a performance by Mickey Rooney who plays a Japanese character in a manner that even back in 1961 was considered inappropriate.
Paddington (Saturday 7pm RTE1) is quite simply a joy to watch. An earthquake in a deepest Peru jungle forces a bear to start a new life in London.
However, he finds life in modern Britain to be very different from the stories told to him by his aunt. Fortunately, Paddington, voiced by Ben Whishaw, finds himself adopted by the Brown family, especially as he has caught the eye of nasty taxidermist Millicent Clyde (Nicole Kidman).
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Staring Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins as the Brown Parents, Julie Walters as their housekeeper and such talents as Imelda Staunton, Michael Gambon, Peter Capaldi and Matt Lucas, who are all obviously having a ball, this is written and directed by Paul King who updates the Michael Bond stories in a wonderfully respectful and nuanced manner.
Steven Soderberg’s remake of the Rat Pack 1960’s Ocean’s Eleven (Saturday 9.50pm RTE2) is an improvement on the original film.
A suave ex convict Danny Ocean (George Clooney) assembles a gang of specialist crooks to pull off a spectacular and daring heist – robbing three of Las Vegas ‘s biggest Casino’s at the same time.
This will also have the additional benefit of annoying and insulting the casino’s owner Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) who is the lover of Ocean’s ex-wife Tess (Julia Roberts).
Also starring Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Eliott Gould, Carl Reiner and Elliot Gould, this was the first of a trilogy and a further all female spinoff.
Martin Scorsese’s underrated romantic period drama The Age of Innocence (Saturday 9.50pm TG4) sees Newland Archer (Daniel Day Lewis), a wealthy 1920’s New York attorney who is engaged to May Welland (Winona Ryder)
Archer finds himself conflicted when he represents Countess Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer), who is ostracised by polite society. He intends to use his standing to restore her damaged reputation.
He struggles to come to terms with his growing feelings towards her, which are further complicated by the fact that May and the Countess are cousins. Enjoy!
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