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Our movie guy, James Finnegan, on some of the films on TV today to keep you entertained…
It’s always interesting to see a Bank Holiday selection, and to be fair, there are some fine films on offer today.
Ryan’s Daughter (Saturday 2.15pm RTE1) has a particular Kerry resonance and setting.
David Lean’s Oscar winning drama stars Sarah Miles as Rosy, a woman married to a much older schoolmaster, Charles Shaughnessy (Robert Mitchum) in an isolated village on the Dingle Peninsula during the First World War.
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Her marriage is thrown into disarray by her controversial affair with a British Army Officer, Major Doryan (Christopher Jones), a decorated war hero but suffering from leg wounds and shell shock.
When the locals uncover their romance, Rosy is falsely accused of informing on local Republican activities which has serious consequences for many.
Also starring John Mills, Trevor Howard, Leo McKern, with a screenplay by Robert Bolt and a score by Maurice Jarre, this was received harshly by the critics but won two Academy Awards for Mills and Freddie Young’s cinematography.
Set in a world populated by human and cartoon animals Tom and Jerry (Saturday 6.35pm RTE1) a chaotic battle ensues along traditional lines when Jerry Mouse takes refuge in the swanky Royal Gate Hotel which is about to host a high profile wedding.
Kayla (Chloe Grace Moretz) is the young inexperienced wedding planner of the hotel, hires Tom Cat to get rid of Jerry. Tom also clashes with Butch, a typical brutish American Bulldog.
This brings back happy memories of childhood series keeps the classic slapstick, while thankfully avoiding the modern retreat to toilet humour, in this attempted re-launch.
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Not quite as good as the original cartoons, which probably could not be made now due to modern sensitivities.
The Remains Of The Day (Saturday 9.25pm TG4) is a sumptuous period drama acting class of how to portray repressed love and roads not taken. It is perhaps best described as a more formal and serious Downton Abbey.
Directed by James Ivory, it stars Anthony Hopkins as James Stevens, a butler working for a 1930’s aristocratic household who dedicates himself to serving his aristocratic master and Nazi sympathiser.
Duty comes before everything, even repressing his love for housekeeper, Sally Kenton, played by Emma Thompson, who also happens to be in love with him.
Also starring James Fox, Christopher Reeve, Peter Vaughan, Lena Headey and Hugh Grant among others, this was heavily nominated for awards and in a different year would have won far more. It is therefore highly recommended
In Just Mercy (Saturday 9.30 RTE1) real life Civil Rights Defence Attorney Bryan Stevenson (Michael B Jordan) represents poor people, notably African Americans, on Death Row who have not been properly represented, or wrongly condemned, in the Southern United States.
One of his first cases is that of Walter McMillan (Jamie Foxx), sentenced to death in 1987 for the murder of an eighteen year old woman, despite evidence that proves his innocence. Enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend!
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