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A Spielberg classic is the highlight of Saturday’s films on RTE/TG4 says our movie guy, James Finnegan…
I am often asked what the worst film I have ever seen is, and the one that always comes to mind is ‘Pokémon: The First Movie’.
It was an hour and half of my life that I will never get back, with the inherent threat that there was more to come, and here is some of it.
Pokémon Detective Pikachu (Saturday 7pm RTE1) is a mixture of live action and CGI, with Ryan Reynolds starring as the voice and facial motion capture of Pikachu.
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Student Tim Goodman (Justice Smith) sets out to find his missing detective father – which seems to be a regular reoccurrence in these Saturday family films – aided by a wise cracking talking Pikachu which his father used to own.
With the help of reporter Lucy Stevens (Kathryn Newton) and her Psyduck (another Pokémon), they attempt to track him down. This also stars Ken Watanabe, Bill Nighy and Rita Ora.
Thankfully, we have the original summer blockbuster in Jaws (Saturday 9.15pm RTE2) where a simple tuba has never sounded more menacing.
Director Stephen Spielberg’s water breaking creature feature finds a great white shark threatening a New England seaside’s town tourist season, much to the financial concerns of the local mayor.
It’s behind you!…Chief Brody about to have a near miss.
The local police chief, Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), in an attempt to protect the public, especially those in the water, is forced to work with a marine biologist, Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and a professional shark hunter and grizzled sea-dog, Quint (Robert Shaw) to hunt down and destroy the shark, even without a bigger boat!
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Speaking of getting your teeth into a role, Gary Oldman takes on a character that has been portrayed more than most in cinema in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Saturday 9.25pm TG4)
Vlad the Impaler is a fifteenth century Transylvanian knight who becomes a vampire after the death of his beloved wife Elisabeta.
Centuries later, Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) travels to Dracula’s castle on business, but a picture of his fiancée Mina (Winona Ryder) shows her to be the very image of Elisabeta, so Dracula heads to England leaving Harker as an appetiser for his vampire brides.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Anthony Hopkins as Professor Van Helsing, Richard E Grant, Cary Elwes, Tom Waits, Sadie Frost and Monica Bellucci this is a very stylish version of the story.
The Killing Fields (Saturday 11.45pm RTE One) is an Oscar-winning true story drama with, sadly, modern day resonances.
Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterson) is a US journalist reporting on the activities of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia during the 1970’s.
He forms a close bond with his local guide, Dith Pran (Haing S. Ngor who, like his character, survived terms in Cambodian prison camps himself), little realising their work is bring his new friend into increasing danger.
Ngor was the first actor of Asian descent to win an Oscar. Directed by Roland Joffe, this film also stars John Malkovich and Craig T. Nelson. Enjoy!
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