Finnegan On Films: Some Films To Watch Over The Bank Holiday Weekend

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Our movie guy, James Finnegan, recommends taking in some shade to watch these movies  over the Bank Holiday Weekend…

If any film could be used as the very definition of a Bank Holiday film, it’s the boys own adventure Ice Station Zebra (Saturday RTE1 3pm).

Directed by John Sturges and based on the Alistair MacLean novel, a Russian spy satellite has crash landed in the Arctic, near a British research station.

James Ferraday (Rock Hudson) is in command of an American atomic submarine, and is sent north to retrieve the satellite in the company of a mysterious British agent, Mr Jones (Patrick McGoohan), Boris Vaslov (Ernest Borgnine) a Russian defector  and a US Marine platoon.

In the claustrophobic atmosphere of a submarine, with acts of sabotage and doubts as to which side these disparate characters are actually on, this is great fun, especially at the final conflict between American and Russian forces on the Arctic ice flow.

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Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (Saturday 6.35pm RTE1) is set three years after the destruction of Jurassic World. Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) return to the Central American island of Isla Nublar to rescue the resident dinosaurs from an impending volcano eruption.

However, during this mission, they uncover a team of mercenaries who have ulterior motives to bring the dinosaurs to the mainland.

Directed by J.A.Bayona and also staring Toby Jones, Rafe Spall, Ted Levine and the unique talent of Jeff Goldblum, this is the fifth in the Jurassic film franchise.

Dirty Dancing (Saturday 9.30pm TG4) is set in a 1960’s vacation resort, where Frances “Baby” Houseman (Jennifer Grey), a naive teenager falls for a dance instructor, Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze).

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He, in turn, teaches her of the importance of self-expression as they prepare to take part in the end of season talent show.

The film is particularly memorable for its soundtrack, particularly “(I’ve had) The Time of My Life” performed by Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley which won the Academy Award for Best original Song, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and the Grammy for Best Duo Pop Performance.

Again, it would not be a Bank Holiday Weekend without a Bond film, and Licence To Kill (Sunday 6pm RTE2) is an underrated addition to the franchise.

While attending his CIA friend Felix Leiter’s wedding, 007 (Timothy Dalton) helps in a secret mission to capture a notorious drug baron Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi).  Unfortunately, Sanchez escapes, leaves Leiter for dead, and kills his bride.

Bond goes rouge to pursue Sanchez forcing M to revoke his licence to kill, and Dalton gives a performance that is perhaps most like the Bond in Ian Fleming’s books and predates the grittier Daniel Craig approach.

Finally, there is La La Land (Monday 9.30pm TG4) where an aspiring actress, Mia (Emma Stone) and a struggling jazz musician, Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) fall in love while trying to realise their respective dreams in Los Angeles.

It won six Academy Awards including Best Director (Damien Chazelle), Best Actress (Emma Stone), Best Score and Best Song, “City of Stars” (Justin Hurwitz). Enjoy!

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