HDTV Movie Premieres: August 27-September 2

The Social Network: Sky Movies, 8.30pm Sunday.

“That’s gotta be some kind of land speed record for talking.” This quote about the yakkety-yak founder of Napster is just as apt for this dynamite, dialogue-driven dramatisation of the controversial rise of Mark Zuckerberg, the infamous face of Facebook. Never have talking heads and algorithms been so riveting. David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Se7en) directs the Oscar-winning screenplay by Aaron Sorkin (TV’s The West Wing); Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake star. (2010)

Transporter 3: TV3, 8.30pm Monday.

The latest in the rowdy Audi franchise breaks as many laws of physics as the hero does his own rules of conduct. Jason Statham buckles up for another exciting but spectacularly stupid spin as the ultra-cool killer courier who usually delivers dangerous goods without deliberation — except when his “cargo” is a young Ukranian woman who’s been abducted to exploit her father’s powerful political connections. There are some great hi-tech twists but the stunts and heroics are so extreme that the movie becomes ludicrous. (2008)

Killers: Sky Movies, 8.30pm Wednesday.

Two newlyweds struggle with trust issues when she belatedly finds out the man of her dreams is a hit man for an international spy agency. Robert Luketic (The Ugly Truth, Monster in Law) directs Ashton Kutcher, Katherine Heigl and Tom Selleck in an action-comedy that critics slaughtered: “A brain-deadening collision of high concept and low standards” (New York Times); “bullets fly and jokes land with a thud” (Variety);  “an ugly, unfunny, nonsensical mess” (The Dominion Post). (2010)

Batman Begins: Sky Movies Greats, 8.30pm Wednesday.

This Dark Knight makeover was kept so quiet that it was developed under a false name – The Imitation Game – and pumped up a puny Machinist (Christian Bale) into the fiercest winged freak terroriser yet. Director/co-writer Christopher Nolan’s bid to reinvigorate the franchise with realism is empowered by a heavyweight cast that includes Tom Wilkinson and Morgan Freeman, a score co-composed by King Kong’s James Newton Howard, and a Gotham City that was designed to resemble “New York on steroids.” (2005)