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| Filmed In Supermarionation |
For those who grew up watching Thunderbirds, Stingray or any of Gerry Anderson's puppet adventure shows, this documentary is a real treat. The title is a portmanteau word from "super" "marionette" and "animation" that Gerry created for their work. Featuring extensive interviews with those who knew him, including his wife and collaborator Sylvia - immortalised as the voice of Lady Penelope - Stephen La Rivière tackles Anderson's back catalogue chronologically, offering detail on his lesser known work as well as the big-hitters. Although Anderson died two years before this film was made, he has a strong voice within it, not just in the recollections of others but via a wealth of archive interviews. While anything could happen in the next half hour after you've watched it, chances are you'll find yourself trawling Youtube looking for some old favourites.
Hot Fuzz, 9pm, ITV4, Monday, August 8
This pacy comedy from Edgar Wright continued the impressive form he showed with his debut zombie spoof Shaun Of The Dead - and would ultimately become the second part of what's now known as the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy rounded out by World's End, thanks to a hangover cure gag in this film that resulted in free ice-cream. There's not just laughter but a genuine warmth to this parody of an American buddy cop movie that, like Shaun, finds much of its humour in eccentric Britishness. The film reunites Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as a hot-shot city cop sent to the countryside and his small town sidekick, who find themselves on the trail of a killer. Pegg and Frost spark off one another perfectly as Wright manages to inject just the right level of silliness while maintaining the action adrenaline.
Total Recall, 10.45pm, ITV, Friday, August 12
The idea of having to make do with memories of travel might have seemed quite fantastical back in 1990 when this film was made but it has come sharply into focus for the modern world thanks to various pandemic lockdowns. The concept is something that the hero of Paul Verhoeven's film, Doug Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) buys into courtesy of tech company Rekall Inc. They specialise in implanting false holiday memories but his virtual trip to Mars is anything but restful when things go wrong and Quaid starts to suspect he may not be the person he thought he was. Philip K Dick's mazelike science-fiction blends to potent effect with satire and style in the hands of Verhoeven and Schwarzenegger has rarely been better than he is as Everyman Quaid, in a role that flirts with self-parody without pushing completely over the edge.
Elgar, 10pm, BBC4, Sunday, August 14, then on iPlayer
Ken Russell might have become best known as a director who revelled in excess and liked nothing more than to shock an audience - but this made-for-TV documentary from 1962 is a reminder that he was also a master craftsman, who knew how to bring a story to life. This film, which lovingly charts the life of the composer was made as the 100th episode of arts show Monitor and is also historically notable for being the first the BBC made involving 'recreations' using actors rather than simply following the subject themselves. The film eschews dialogue - possibly a result of the corporation still being nervous about this technique - in favour of letting Elgar's music run richly over it, while narration is provided by Huw Weldon. Beautifully evocative, not just of Elgar's life but of the turn-of-the-century England he inhabited.
120 BPM (Beats Per Minute), 1.10am, Film4, Monday, August 15
Robin Campillo's film about French activist group ACT UP, which, through direct action in the 1980s, aimed to give voice to those marginalised by AIDS and HIV and fought for better treatments. The director shows the personal meeting the political through a romance between Sean (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart) and HIV-negative Nathan (Arnaud Valois). Campillo's film bristles with energy - from the activists meetings where sparks fly to the erotic charge between Sean and Nathan and the sharp sting of grief. The director was a member of ACT UP himself and you can feel the truth of his experience pulsing through the film. Read what Campillo told us about drawing on his own experience, Biscayart's approach to the role.
Memento, Netflix, from Sunday, August 14
Back before Christopher Nolan became a blockbusting household name with the likes of Batman Begins and Inception, he made this twisty psychological thriller starring Guy Pearce (also much less well known at the time) as an insurance agent with short-term memory loss, who is trying to investigate the murder of his wife. Nolan (who co-wrote this with his brother Jonathan) has always been a fan of playing around with time and he does so with audacity here as the story unfolds both in chronological order - marked by the use of black-and-white stock - while also being shown in reverse, in colour, so that its secrets are gradually revealed.
Boy, Amazon Freevee
Amazon has recently expanded its free-to-watch (with adverts) Freevee service with the launch of an app for Android devices. Whether you want to watch a film on your phone is a moot point - go to the cinema if you can, lads! - but its worth checking out the list of free films you can catch on the service, which range from classics like The Bicycle Thieves to modern indies like Short Term 12. Among them is this treat of a film from Taika Waititi - which only secured release in the UK after his success the the Marvel franchise. He also stars as Alamein, a two-bit crook whose son (James Rolleston) idolises his fantasised image of him as an all-conquering hero. The youngster's imagination smacks hard into the reality of the situation when Alamein returns, not to connect with his kids but to try to find some stashed loot. Although this is really a celebration of the rough and tumble of childhood friendship, Waititi also manages to keep a surprising amount of sympathy with Boy's dad, even as his actions become increasingly reprehensible.
That gives me a chance to include Waititi's adorable short Two Cars One Night about a couple of kids who strike up an unexpected friendship. The film would go on to be nominated for the Best Live Short Oscar - where it lost out to British director Andrea Arnold's Wasp - and it also provided a springboard for Boy.
