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| Sweet Country, screening on Thursday |
Welcome to this week's Stay-At-Home Seven. It's getting to that time of year when channel directors expect more people to be staying indoors o they really start to compete when it comes to films, giving you some great titles to choose from. If you're looking for more inspiration, our recent Streaming Spotlight focuses on cinema's most remarkable young heroines, plus you can read last week's Stay-At-Home Seven here.
Skate Kitchen, Film4, Monday at 11pm
Camille (Rachelle Vinburg) lives in the suburbs on the nice side of town, but she's itching for something more. The girls in the inner city skate park live very different lives, with drugs and fighting and music and shoplifting, courting danger on and off their boards, living in the moment. Naturally Camille's mother doesn't want her to associate with them. When Camille gets involved with a boy from a rival gang - the ex of one of her new skating sisters - tensions rise even higher. Crystal Moselle's film is raw and urgent. Laughter comes as easily as violence. Camille is just figuring out what she wants to do with her life, but she knows what makes her feel alive. Read our full review.
Airplane!, Comedy Central, Tuesday at 9pm
Once voted the funniest film in existence by the Eye For Film team, Jim Abrahams and David Zucker's comedy classic works better if you remember the disaster movies of the Seventies but has plenty of laughs for viewers of all ages, with its puns, its slapstick, its innuendo and its wonderful deadpan delivery. When food poisoning threatens the lives of passengers and knocks out both the pilots on a major airliner, it's up to a plucky stewardess, her traumatised ex-boyfriend and an inflatable co-pilot to save the day. The star of the show is Leslie Nielsen, who delivers some unforgettable one liners as the doctor prototype for The Naked Gun's Frank Drebin. Read our full review.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Film4, Wednesday
Her daughter was murdered. The police haven't found the killer. Mildred (Frances McDormand) doesn't think they're trying hard enough, and she's going to make sure everybody knows that, even if that means pasting her complains on giant billboards on the main road into town. She's the archetype of a 'difficult woman' and no less awesome for it, weighed down by grief but relentless in her desire to see justice done. With sterling support from Woody Harrelson as the sheriff with a tragic secret, Sam Rockwell as a racist police officer with very little brain and Peter Dinklage as a lovelorn suitor, this is a powerful drama with comedic undertones that couldn't get much darker. Read our full review.
Sweet Country, Film4, Thursday at 9pm
A rare glimpse of Australian frontier life through the eyes of an indigenous director, this 1920s-set southern western follows Sam Neill's stubborn preacher as his unwillingness to tolerate racism leads him to take desperate measures and go on the run across the scorching salt flats of the Northern territory. As a posse is hastily rounded up to set out in pursuit, it's debatable whether the men or the sun will get to him first. There's no hint of comfort and no room for sentimentality as nature proves every bit as ruthless as the white colonialists who imagine they can tame a country which is far beyond their understanding. Read our full review.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Sky Cinema, Friday
If you need a little light in your life as the nights close it, you won't find many things more warm and optimistic than Marielle Heller's tribute to American kids' TV stalwart Mr Rogers. Focusing on his friendship with journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) and featuring a great turn from Wendy Makkena, it provides the perfect role for Tom Hanks, and it's difficult to imagine anyone else who could have slipped so easily into the shoes of the remarkable presenter. If you'd like to see what your little ones think of the original TV show Mr Rogers' Neighborhood, you can find numerous episodes on YouTube. Read our full review.
Jackie Brown, Dave, Saturday at 9pm
A strong contender for Quentin Tarantino's best film, this gritty Elmore Leonard adaptation delivers high stakes drama with real panache. Black, middle aged and caught using her work as an air hostess for some small time smuggling, Pam Grier's title character makes a deal with the police and a second deal with bail bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster), who just might be able to help her pull off the scam of a lifetime. Samuel L Jackson is the criminal kingpin she plans to double cross, while Robert De Niro, Michael Keaton and Bridget Fonda round out the cast. With nothing scaring her as much as losing the small gains she's made in life, Jackie plays it as cool as the soundtrack. Read our full review.
Detroit, BBC2, Sunday at 10pm
One hot night in 1967, Detroit rebelled. A police raid on a club was the final straw and soon there were pitched battles taking place in the streets. With this as her backdrop, Kathryn Bigelow takes us inside a motel where police believe a sniper is hiding. Racism and panic prove a deadly combination as the cope terrorise the inhabitants in an attempt to extract information. John Boyega plays a security guard desperately trying to defuse the situation as it spirals out of control. Bigelow adopts a dry, observant approach, as if filming a documentary, which makes the bursts of violence all the more shocking, and the tension never lets up. Read our full review.
