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3 hours ago
5
Pick of the week
Weapons
Amy Madigan won an Oscar for her startling turn as Aunt Gladys in Zach Cregger’s genre-flipping creepfest, but don’t hold your breath waiting for her to appear. After an entire class of 17 elementary school kids (save one) vanish overnight, we first follow the overlapping stories of those caught up in the aftermath – from teacher Justine (Julia Garner) and Josh Brolin’s grieving parent Archer to cop Paul (Alden Ehrenreich) and sole remaining pupil Alex (Cary Christopher). It’s a seductive jigsaw puzzle, which examines how the loss of a child can descend into rage and recrimination – but it’s not until the malevolent Madigan turns up that the final, gruesome piece is put in place. Friday 10 April, 9pm, Sky Cinema Premiere
Flavia
Adapted from the first of 11 (and counting) children’s novels by Alan Bradley, this 50s-set mystery nestles comfortably between Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie. Molly Belle Wright plays Flavia De Luce, a precocious 11-year-old amateur chemist who turns sleuth when a dead body appears in her garden and her widowed father, Havilland (Martin Freeman), is accused of murder. Spies, science and stamp collecting all figure in a girls’ own Home Counties adventure that rattles along rather spiffingly.
Saturday 4 April, 7.10am, 12.45pm, 3.35am, Sky Cinema Premiere
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Yeah, baby! James Bond spoofs have been tried countless times, but none have been as consistently hilarious as Jay Roach’s 1997 comedy. It has its cake and eats it by freezing its borderline sexist 60s British spy (Mike Myers, who also wrote it) and defrosting him in the present day, when women are empowered and an obsession with sexual freedom is old hat. It’s a steep learning curve for Austin but one filled with silly puns, delightful sight gags and a cracking Blofeld-like master criminal in Dr Evil.
Saturday 4 April, 9pm, Comedy Central
The Outfit
Graham Moore’s clever crime drama may be set in 1956 Chicago but it relies on British talent for its impact. Mark Rylance stars as London-born bespoke tailor Leonard, with a hint of Michael Caine in his accent and a precision to his acting that fits his character’s trade perfectly. Johnny Flynn is local mobster Francis, who joins his boss’s hair-trigger son Richie (Dylan O’Brien) and Leonard’s secretary Mable (Zoey Deutch) at the shop after hours as a gang war develops and a rat needs to be ferreted out. Multiple satisfying twists ensue.
Saturday 4 April, 10.50pm, BBC One
Master Gardener
Joel Edgerton is a superb actor who often expresses little but always suggests hidden depths (see also Train Dreams). In Paul Schrader’s carefully cultivated tale he plays Narvel, the head gardener on the estate of the patrician Norma (Sigourney Weaver). He has a history of violence he’s trying to keep in the past but when Norma’s errant grand-niece Maya (Quintessa Swindell) is made his apprentice his finely balanced life begins to unravel.
Saturday 4 April, 11.30pm, Great! Action
Being There
When his Washington DC employer dies, live-in gardener Chance (Peter Sellers) – who has never set foot outside the grounds and gets his limited knowledge of the world entirely from TV – is thrown out on to the streets. But in Hal Ashby’s sly satire, this innocent abroad is taken in by Eve Rand (Shirley MacLaine), the wife of rich, dying businessman Benjamin (Melvyn Douglas). They mistake his simple talk of plants and seasons for brilliant economic metaphors, and Chance’s public profile and undeserved reputation rocket. Sharp but sweet, the film is centred on a fantastically restrained performance by Sellers.
Sunday 5 April, 11.50pm, BBC Two
Sexy Beast
With hindsight, it’s obvious that a gangster thriller from Jonathan Glazer (Under the Skin, The Zone of Interest) would not be cut from the usual cloth. So for his tense debut feature, we get a heist movie where the act itself is almost an afterthought. The main thrust of the piece is watching retired criminal Gal (a star-making turn from Ray Winstone) receive a visit at his Costa del Crime villa from Ben Kingsley’s supremely chilling Don, who wants him for a job and most definitely won’t take no for an answer. An exquisitely sweaty tale with an eye for a surreal image.
Wednesday 8 April, 10.45pm, Film4
