.
Our movie guy, James Finnegan, selects a couple of stone-cold classics, an engaging bio-pic and some spy-spoofery to watch over the Bank Holiday Weekend…
There is usually a fine selection of films to choose from over an Easter Bank Holiday, and this year is no exception. Hope you enjoy this selection.
Heat (RTE2 Saturday 9.00pm) is without doubt a modern classic thriller, with the two protagonists both side of the same coin.
A botched armed robbery results in the death of three security guards. Lt. Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) is determined to catch the gang responsible. The leader of the gang is Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) who wants to pull off one final heist before retirement.
Continued below…
.
Both Hanna and McCauley have more in common than they realise, and there is an intricate game of cat and mouse between the two.
Pacino and De Niro share a scene in Heat.
There is a scene where they meet over a coffee which is a masterclass in film acting, and is, amazingly, the first time these acting giants share a scene together in their long careers.
Written, produced and directed by Michael Mann, this is a great Saturday night crime film.
Some Like it Hot (RTE One Sunday 1.50pm) ironically also starts with gunplay, when two jazz musicians, Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) witness a Mafia mob hit.
They need to get out of town quickly. They disguise themselves as women, becoming ‘Josephine’ and ‘Daphne’, and join an all female band heading to Miami.
The bands vocalist and ukulele player is Sugar Kane played by Marilyn Monroe who is hoping to snare a millionaire in Miami.
Suffice to say both of the guys are attracted to Sugar, but don’t want to give the game away regarding their true identities.
This is a superior comedy directed and produced by Billy Wilder, regularly featuring at or near the top of the best comedies of all time.
Straight after this showing is another one for all the family. Johnny English (RTE One Sunday 4.05pm) is the first of the screen misadventures of a British Secret Service agent, similar to Bond, but without any of the suave sophistication and style.
Johnny, played wonderfully by Rowan Atkinson, is tasked with finding the mysterious villain who has stolen the Crown Jewels. John Malkovich is obviously having a ball chewing the scenery as Pascal Sauvage, and this is just a hoot from start to finish.
First Man (TG4 Monday 9.50pm) is a look at the life of one of someone who visited Tralee in April 1997 and has a monument and a walk named after him in Tralee Town Park.
This is the film of the life of Neil Armstrong, from his early career as a NASA test pilot to his selection as one of those with the “right stuff” to be one of America’s astronauts, and of course, the first man to walk on the moon.
The film also delves into the private life of this quiet unassuming man, showing the family tragedy that changed him. This is a most underrated biographical film and is well worth a watch. Happy Easter, enjoy and stay safe.
