HDTV Movie Premieres: September 24-30
Eat Pray Love: Sky Movies, 8.30pm Sunday.
It’s never too late to change your life and find happiness – so don’t waste what’s left of it on postcard piffle like this, unless you’re a masochist who thrives on rambling travelogues about narcissists at a crossroads. Glee creator Ryan Murphy directs Julia Roberts, Billy Crudup, James Franco and Javier Bardem in his own adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-seller. (2010)
Mission: Impossible: Sky Movies Greats, 8.30pm Sunday.
IMF purists may self-destruct but lovers of tightly crafted, action-packed escapism will have no trouble accepting this Tom Cruise re-make as the best Mission yet. The twists and deceits keep you hooked if a tad confused but three supremely suspenseful setpieces dwarf everything else. Brain De Palma directs; Jon Voight, Emmanuel Beart, Jean Reno, Kristin Scott Thomas and Ving Rhames co-star. (1996)
Revolution: TV3, 11.20pm Sunday.
Screenwriter/producer Ed Redlich (Without a Trace, Shark) described this two-hour pilot for a TV series that never eventuated as “re-envisioning the American Revolution 200 years in the future”. Peter Fonda and Bill Campbell (Once and Again, The 4400) head a largely obscure cast in a Battlestar Galactica wannabe directed by that show’s producer, Michael Rymer. (2009)
The Tuxedo: TV3, 8.30pm Monday.
Threadbare Jackie Chan romp about a chauffeur who turns into a super secret agent when he dons his boss’ hi-tech tux. Yes, the premise is that stupid. And no, it’s not more fun that it sounds. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jason Isaacs (Brotherhood) and Debi Mazar (Entourage) co-star in a screenplay by Michael Leeson (The Cosby Show) and Michael J Wilson (Ice Age). (2002)
Piranha: Sky Movies, 8.30pm Monday.
Toothless satire or tawdry horror? This small-fry Jaws knock-off is even more exploitative than the 1978 ‘original’. Mutant piranha invade a beach resort where spring break students are swimming in a sea of booze and debauchery while nearby a porno film is being shot. Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes) directs Elisabeth Shue, Steven R McQueen and Christopher Lloyd star. (2010)
Kinky Boots: Sky Movies Greats, 8.30pm Monday.
This broad comedy about a down-at-heel Northamptonshire shoe factory that gambles on making thigh-high, red patent leather boots with whips for transvestites kicks off with terrific finesse but trips up by forsaking shop-floor character for feelgood fantasy. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Joel Edgerton and Sarah-Jane Potts star; Julian Jarrold (Becoming Jane, Brideshead Revisited) directs. (2005)
Our Family Wedding: Sky Movies, 8.30pm Wednesday.
Most critics said “I don’t” to this culture-clash comedy about a Latino woman whose pending wedding to a black man causes family ructions on both sides. Said the New York Times: “Offers plenty that’s old, borrowed and blue; it’s the something new that’s missing.” Forest Whitaker (Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour), America Ferrera (Ugly Betty) and Regina King (24) star. (2010)
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