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Our movie guy, James Finnegan, on some films on RTE and TG4 today and tonight…
Dennis The Menace (Saturday 1.10 RTE2) is not the version known to most of us from the pages of the Beano comic, but the American cartoon.
Dennis is a well meaning little boy who just can’t stay out of trouble, especially when it comes to his curmudgeon neighbour Mr. Wilson (Walter Matthau).
Be warned, it may give your little ones ideas for the Bank Holiday Weekend.
Superman III (Saturday 2.30pm RTE1) is, as the title suggests, the third in the original series where the Man of Steel comes up against an evil tycoon Ross Webster (Robert Vaughan) and a computer genius Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor).
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There is clash of styles between the slapstick comedy, directed by Richard Lester, and the element of menace and threat of a villain controlling the weather that does not always gel together as one would hope.
However, the performance of Christopher Reeve as both Superman and Clark Kent, is as always, sublime and gets an additional outlet as he battles himself in a well worked part of the film.
Count Dracula and his friends go on a cruise especially for monsters in Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation (Saturday 6.35pm RTE1) in this undemanding animated film.
What Drac (voiced by Adam Sandler) and his friends, who are looking forward to a break from being the hosts for others holidays, don’t realise is that their boat has been commandeered by a monster-hating family.
George Clooney directed and stars in Good Night and Good Luck (Saturday 9.30 TG4) which has resonances with the current cinema hit ‘Oppenheimer’ and indeed the current debate about the importance of ideas and information.
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Journalist Edward R Murrow is already well known for his radio broadcasts from London during the Blitz. Here he, wonderfully played by David Strathairn, takes a stand against Senator McCarthy’s anti-communist witch hunts in the 1950’s.
You know you have been around too long when events you remember turn up on the screen as comedy dramas. Misbehaviour (Saturday 9.55pm RTE1) is set in 1970, and Hollywood star Bob Hope (Greg Kinnear) is set to host the Miss World competition from London.
It is hard to believe today, that this was one of the most watched shows of the year, which perhaps is why the organisers did not take into account the newly formed women’s liberation movement, who plan to disrupt the controversial ceremony.
Starring Keira Knightley, Jessie Buckley, Keeley Hawes, Rhys Ifans, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Lesley Manville, this is funnier than you might imagine.
Another film set in London is cunningly titled, London Has Fallen (Saturday 10.30 RTE2). world leaders have gathered in the city for the funeral of the British Prime Minister.
However, they are unaware that they have been led into a trap by a terrorist leader who plans to assassinate them all and destroy the city.
Only the President of the United States (Aaron Eckhart) and his Secret Service Head (Gerard Butler) can save the day! Disengage your brain and just go with it. Enjoy!
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