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Movies & TV

21st Jul 2018

Here are the 11 best movies on the telly today

Rory Cashin

Wow, there are A LOT of great movies on the telly today.

Like, A LOT a lot.

Spoiled for choice.

That is, of course, assuming you aren’t going to the cinema. If you are, then you need to check out the latest episode of The Big Reviewski, where not only do we discuss the new releases, but we also have an exclusive chat with Andrew Scott (Sherlock, Spectre) about his top secret new show:

Now, on with the choices:

SATURDAY 21 JULY

Wreck-It Ralph – BBC One – 6.20pm

John C. Reilly plays an old-school video game character who gets lost in an arcade full of games when he decides he wants to be the hero, instead of the bad guy everyone hates. Underrated.

Kung Fu Panda 2 – RTE One – 7.05pm

The very funny sequel features Gary Oldman as perhaps the greatest animated villain ever (seriously, he’s very scary), and one scene in particular that will have you balling your eyes out. Again, very underrated.

Kingsman: The Secret Service – Channel 4 – 9.00pm

A young Londoner finds out his dad was a member of an elite squad of gentlemen spies and gets drafted by Colin Firth to help save the world. The sequel was pure crap, but the original is still very entertaining. That church sequence? Wowzers.

Gladiator – Film 4 – 9.00pm

“My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.”

There’s Something About Mary – Comedy Central – 9.00pm

We wrote about this movie earlier this week when it turned 20 years old, and it is still very funny.

Natural Born Killers – Dave – 9.00pm

Written by Tarantino and directed by Oliver Stone, this controversial look at how the media portrays criminals sees Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis are two young, attractive serial killers who become tabloid-TV darlings, thanks to a sensationalistic press led by Robert Downey Jr as the pair as they go on a 52 people killing spree.

The Social Network – W – 9.00pm

Fincher’s brilliant (but probably not entirely honest) portrayal of how the social media giant got started. We had to look up what “W” was, though. Apparently, it is the station that used to be called Watch, and it can be found on Virgin (Channel 160) and Sky (Channel 109).

Soldier – Syfy – 9.00pm

Okay, this is a bit of a cheat, because it is routinely called one of the very WORST movies ever made. But if you have any kind of morbid curiosity to see what one of the biggest box office flops of all time looks like, then here you go.

Bridge Of Spies – RTE One – 9.40pm

Spielberg and Hanks reunite for this WWII story, written by The Coen Brothers, as he plays a man sent to Germany as the Berlin Wall is about to go up, to organise the prisoner exchange of a downed US fighter pilot, in exchange for a convicted Russian spy (Mark Rylance).

Pretty Woman – BBC One – 10.20pm

Shut up, its great! Rom-coms are making a comeback!

The Visit – Channel 4 – 11.35pm

The movie that put M. Night Shyamalan back on the map (making $100 million at the box office from a $5 million budget will do that), which sees two young kids going to visit their grandparents in their home in the middle of nowhere, only to find that their kindly old relatives are acting very weird…

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