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| The Florida Project |
The Florida Project, 1.25am, Film4, Tuesday, May 21
Sean Baker's latest sex-worker comedy, Anora, screens at Cannes this week and this is a chance to catch up with his Oscar-nominated comedy drama about a precocious six-year-old and her mum. The Magic Castle hotel might not hold many tricks up its sleeve for single mum Hallee (Bria Vinaite) but it's an enchanted playground so far as little Moonee (Brooklynn Prince) and her friends are concerned. They run – and skip and frolic – through the film with an infectious energy, while illustrating the unique pressures that exist for families who live in these sorts of circumstances. Young Prince is a natural and it's a treat to see Willem Dafoe in a warmer role for once, as the benevolent Magic Castle manager Bobby trying to nudge the older members of the community into line. A candy-coloured exploration of life on the fringes in America with plenty of heart.
The Gullspång Miracle, 10pm, BBC4, Tuesday, May 21
If you enjoy a good old fact-is-stranger-than-fiction yarn then this quirky Nordic documentary is for you. It tells the bizarre tale of sisters Kari and May who, thanks they say, to a picture, encountered Olaug, a woman who bore a striking resemblance to the sister they had lost to suicide. This is just the start of a journey with the sisters that takes in issues including class, genetics and how belief in a certain truth can be as important as the truth itself. Full of unexpected twists and turns, you can read what the director Maria Fredriksson’s told us about her own roller-coaster ride as she became “a crazy investigator” and performed a difficult balancing act between the various women’s opinions.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army, 9pm, ITV4, Wednesday, May 22
Jennie Kermode writes: In the second instalment of the Hellboy franchise, in which Ron Perlman’s doom-mongering, kitten-loving demonic hero is having relationship problems and running out of patience with his job as a secret service operative, contemporary adventure collides with the faerie world when an elfin prince (Luke Goss) kills his father and tries to lead his people to war against humankind by awaking the titular army. Though there’s little real sense of existential threat from a fairy small army which moves at walking speed, even if it might be unstoppable, there’s plenty of danger and excitement for our heroes as they try to stop the conflict, with Hellboy facing his own mortality, Liz (Selma Blair) taking on board the fact that her boyfriend is destined to destroy the world, and Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) falling in love with the prince’s sister. It’s the visual imagination of the film that really sells it, however, with a feast of new creatures, some decidedly sinister tooth fairies and a stunning sequence with an elemental which hits all the harder because of the devastating extinctions currently being witnessed in our own world.
Spider-Man: Homecoming, 10.40pm, BBC1, Wednesday, May 22
One of the more successful reboots of the Marvel universe, Tom Holland's Spidey is a likeable lad, with this entry in the franchise striking an enjoyable balance between crime-fighting/world-saving element and coming-of-age themes. Director Jon Watts steps up from the rock-bottom budget of Cop Car to CGI Central with the skill of a director (and co-writer) who remembers no matter how much web slinging or exploding is going on, character must come first. Holland, a younger actor than previous incarnations, finds it easier to slip under the skin of the teenager, while the supporting cast all make their mark, with Marisa Tomei, as Peter's Aunt May again reminding the world what a travesty is she doesn't get cast front and centre more often. You can catch Spider-Man: Far From Home on the same channel and same time on Friday.
Do The Right Thing, 12.20am, BBC2, Sunday
The hottest day of the year becomes a cauldron of tension in Spike Lee's classic that has lost none of its power - or, sadly, its relevance - in the years that have passed since 1989. Danny Aielo plays Italian-American Sal, the owner of a pizzeria in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, who has a brace of sons, one racist (John Turturro) and one not (Richard Edson). For all Sal's talk of different communities fitting together, there's an undercurrent there too. An ensemble film, the central beef revolves around the mate of Sal's delivery guy Mookie (played by Lee), Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo Esposito), who starts to campaign for Sal to include pictures of Black stars on Sl's "wall of fame". A shocking incident sees events boil over but Lee isn't interested in easy situations or characters, embracing complexity and holding it up to the blistering sunlight. Things start off easy like Sunday morning and end up very hard to forget.
Shaun The Sheep: Farmageddon, 3.15pm, BBC1, Sunday, May 26, and currently streaming on iPlayer
When it comes to animation that can be enjoyed by the entire family, Aardman's Shaun the Sheep stands out from the flock. His silent-movie style humour means his adventures are easily accessible no matter what age or nationality you are - just one of the reasons his franchise has proved so successful. This time out, Shaun finds himself trying to help an alien who has crash-landed near the farm. It might not be peak Shaun, but there's plenty here to enjoy and, as always for Aardman, the laughter is balanced nicely with some moving emotional moments.
Tenet, 10pm, BBC2, Sunday, May 26
If you’re head has stopped spinning after The Gullspång Miracle earlier in the week, why not make it hurt all over again with Christopher Nolan’s tricksy thriller that boils down to a bloke - named simply the Protagonist (John David Washington) - trying to stop World War III breaking out. The film hinges on time inversion, a neat little trick that sees action flowing backwards, so that bullets can fly backwards into guns and the like. For all its doglegs and pirouettes, this is a spy thriller at heart with the time inversion trick used as much for its stunning visuals in the action scenes as anything else. "Don't try to understand it - just feel it," says someone early on. Good advice. If you can’t get enough of Nolan’s noodling, then stick around for Memento on the same channel immediately afterwards at 12.20am.
This week's short selection is Petite Avarie, directed by Manon Alirol and Léo Hardt.
Petite Avarie from Hardt Leo on Vimeo.
