At long last.
The weekend is here. And what better way to kick it off than by letting the stresses of the week fade away as you watch one of these fine films airing on TV tonight.
Below JOE has selected this evening’s best options.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Film Four – 9pm
The first of three prequels to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the movie sees a wonderful Martin Freeman play a younger version of Hobbit Bilbo Baggins. He sets out on an adventure with a group of dwarves to reclaim their mountain home and the gold within it from the fierce dragon Smaug.
Clocking in at nearly three hours in length, An Unexpected Journey is definitely too long. That said, a lot of it is light and fun and anyone just wanting to spend more time in Middle-Earth will have a good time.
Dead Calm – Turner Classic Movies – 9pm
In this nail-biting thriller from the 80s, an Australian couple (Sam Neill and then-newcomer Nicole Kidman) take a sailing trip in the Pacific to forget about a terrible accident.
While on the open sea, they come across a ship with one survivor (Billy Zane) who is not at all that he seems.
Sicario 2: Soldado – Virgin Media One – 9pm
Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin return in this sequel to the excellent thriller Sicario, playing CIA agents who take radical actions to stamp down on drug cartels operating along the US-Mexico border.
While maybe not as strong as the original, great performances, muscular action set-pieces and a dark, labyrinthine plot make this sequel worth seeking out.
Swimming with Men – RTÉ Two – 9.30pm
This British comedy centres on a man (Gavin and Stacey’s Rob Brydon) suffering a mid-life crisis who finds new meaning in his life as part of an all-male, middle-aged, amateur synchronised swimming team.
True Lies – E4 – 10pm
This action-comedy from James Cameron centres on a secret agent (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who has his life turned upside down when he discovers his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) might be having an affair as terrorists smuggle nuclear warheads into the US.
Reportedly the first film to cost $100 million, True Lies’ blend of high-octane action and marital hijinks proves oddly entertaining. That said, the late Bill Paxton steals the show as a hilariously sleazy used-car salesman.
Avengers: Age of Ultron – BBC One – 10.45pm
Did you become as obsessed recently with WandaVision as JOE did? If so, why not revisit the movie where Wanda Maximoff and Vision’s MCU adventures began.
It Follows – Horror Channel – 11.10pm
One of the most terrifying horrors in recent years, teenagers in a Detroit town are pursued by a shape-shifting supernatural entity that follows them everywhere they go.
It Follows has one of those ingenious horror premises in that anytime someone is in the background of a shot, it is stress-inducing.
The Inbetweeners Movie – Channel 4 – 12.10am
Socially troubled teenage friends (“Ooh, Friend!”) Jay, Neil, Simon and Will go on holiday to Crete in this big-screen spin-off of the popular sitcom.
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