Thursday; generally a decent night for the couch.
It’s not quite the weekend and you probably still have work in the morning, so how better than to fight the temptation of the outside world than by staying in and watching a movie?
There’s plenty to choose from on the box tonight – Thursday 23 August – including a recent action classic, a comedy-horror masterpiece and one of the best Bonds of the modern era…
Casino Royale – ITV 4 – 9pm
Daniel Craig’s first outing as 007 and arguably his finest turn in the famous tuxedo.
In rebooting the Bond franchise after the fascinating disaster that was Die Another Day, producers could only go in one direction.
And so it was that Bond became darker, grittier and deadlier. Clearly inspired by the Bourne series, this new 007 favoured close-up scraps with his foes as part of a wider – excellent – story.
Plus, it had a parkour guy at the start. Remember parkour? It was everywhere in the mid-2000s. Throw in a terrific theme from the late Chris Cornell and Craig was off to a flyer.
Clip via MovieSounds
Furious 7 – ITV 2 – 9pm
Just when you think the Fast & Furious series can’t get any more ridiculous, Furious 7 races along.
Granted, Furious 8 – or The Fate of the Furious as it really should have been called here – upped the ante yet again, but 7 might be the pick of the bunch.
You’ve got Jason Statham as a one-man wrecking machine, The Rock flexing out of an arm cast and a really tasteful and affecting farewell for long-term series star Paul Walker.
It’s great.
Ted 2 – Film 4 – 9pm
There’s a law of diminishing returns when it comes to comedy, whether it’s the never-ending death rattle of The Simpsons, the unnecessary return of Arrested Development or sequels in general.
Step forward, Ted 2.
If you’re a fan of the first movie’s foul-mouthed charm and fast-talking anthropomorphic teddy bears in general you’ll be on board, but there’s the nagging sense that the script should have been sharper.
Still, worth a punt if you’re not feeling an action movie.
The Martian – RTÉ 2 – 9.30pm
In which Matt Damon has to “science the shit” out of the galaxy’s worst Home Alone scenario imaginable.
Ridley Scott assembles a quite honestly ridiculous cast – Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Kristin Wiig, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Donald Glover – for this surprisingly upbeat tale of a man stranded on Mars.
It’s Damon’s show, though, as he channels his Good Will Hunting chops to keep you engaged from start to finish.
Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn – SyFy – 10pm
One of the great horrors, and a damned funny one to boot.
Bruce Campbell shines in his most famous role in what is essentially a big budget remake of the original Evil Dead.
As such, Sam Raimi has tons of fun with copious amounts of blood and gore as unlikely hero Ash battles demonic possession and other supernatural entities during one long terrible night in the woods.
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