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| The G |
The G, 9pm, Film4, Tuesday, January 7
Dale Dickey gives this revenge thriller plenty of extra kick as a gran who isn't going to take abuse lying down. When hard-nosed Ann Hunter (Dickey) and her frail husband Chip (Greg Ellwand) are targeted by a legal scam they find themselves locked in a care home under the instruction of a corrupt "guardian" (Bruce Ramsay). Soon Ann is calling on friends from the past and her own steely resolve to exact vengeance, while her granddaughter Emma (Romaine Denis) also starts to dig herself in deep in order to help her gran. Karl R Hearne takes a serious subject and spins it into a taut thriller that makes the most of Dickey's talents. Read what Karl R Hearne told us about the importance of having an older female character in the central role and our chat with Dale Dickey, who said: “You don't find those kinds of roles for women my age that are strong and forceful. It is a very interesting script."
Moulin Rouge, 11.10pm, BBC1, Thursday, January 9
This musical is big and brash but completely beguiling and, like the Spectacular Spectacular that the denizens of the Moulin Rouge are planning to stage, a "gargantuan bedazzlement". The plot, mirrored by the play within the film, involves a wet-behind-the-ears writer Ewan McGregor falling for star courtesan Satine (Nicole Kidman), who in turn is attempting to woo a rich and obnoxious duke (Richard Roxburgh, sporting a fine, twirlable moustache) so that he gives money to the establishment's impresario Zidler (Jim Broadbent). Essentially, it's show time and Luhrman never lets us forget it right from its big blousy introduction to the establishment which features a mash-up of Smells Like Teen Spirit and Lady Marmalade among other things. He finds the sweet spot of sparkle and sleaze so that even though it's incredible on one level, it still feels slightly sweaty and seedy. Hang on to your top hat and enjoy the ride.
Playground, 2.45am, Channel 4, Friday, January 10
The schoolyard is a warzone in Laura Wandel’s bullying drama. Nora (Maya Vanderbeque) is scared on her first day at school and Wandel ensures we go emotionally with her as she says goodbye to her dad at the gates. She, in fact, begins to forge some tentative friendships but soon discovers that her brother Abel (Günter Duret) is not being so lucky. Wandell keeps us with Nora as she faces the unenviable task of trying to work out the right thing to do in the face of pressure to keep silent. Wandel’s gripping drama shows that playground politics are anything but child’s play. Read what Wandel told us about developing the script through workshops with the children.
Bob Dylan: No Direction Home, BBC4, 10.20pm and 12.15am, Friday January 10 into Saturday January 11
Martin Scorsese's two-part superior consideration of the musician's work was made with the blessing of the man himself and some interviews. The result is a fascinating portrait of an artist who has deliberately cultivated his enigmatic status right through his career. There's an element of myth-busting to this documentary that chiefly, though not wholly, focuses on Dylan's rise to fame in the early to mid-Sixties - which may prove frustrating for some. It also features a wealth of archive footage plus interviews with those who know him, including Pete Seeger and Dylan's ex Joan Baez.
Border, 12.55am, Channel 4, Saturday, January 11
Danish-Iranian director Ali Abbasi - whose most recently set his sights on Donald Trump in The Apprentice - adapted this genre-bending film from Let The Right One In author John Ajvide Lindqvist's short story and it shares the same ability of mixing the fantastical with the everyday in a concrete and often disturbing way. The action follows border guard Tina (Eve Melander, giving a hell of a performance beneath a ton of make-up), whose sense of smell makes her an asset when it comes to catching smugglers. A chance encounter with a man called Vore (Eero Milonof, also putting in sterling work) begins to open a world of secrets and the past to Tina. To say too much more would be to spoil the surprising strangeness of Abbasi's off-beat and beautifully shot film. The sort of unusual film the phrase "cult classic" was made for.
West Side Story, 9pm, Channel 4, Saturday January 11
Talk of remakes - particularly when the original is considered by many to be a classic - tends to make people feel twitchy. Steven Spielberg proves it can be done with his incarnation of the Leonard Bernstein classic about star-crossed lovers Tony (Ansel Elgort) and Maria (newcomer Rachel Zegler), which sings out in its own voice. Sinuous and fluid, it may include the original star Rita Moreno but it draws more from the original stage musical than the Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise film. It breathes fierce life into the consideration of immigration, race and gentrification. A vibrant and vivid treat.
Timecrimes, free to stream on Plex.tv
Nacho Vigalondo announced himself as a name to watch with his high-concept sci-fi debut. It centres on everyman Hector (Karra Elejalde) whose day is about to get an awful lot worse. Our hapless hero finds himself accidentally transported back in time and becomes increasingly mired in a web of his own making as he tries to restore the status quo. Blackly comic and twisty, it marks the start of a career that has continued to hold the darker side of masculinity up to the light. He told us at the time he made it: "I think sci-fi is more about high concept rather than high levels of production" - and he makes a virtue of his low budget.
Our short this week is Winnie Cheung's animated Albatross Soup.
