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| The Realm Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival |
Political thrillers don't come much better packaged than this one from Rodrigo Sorogoyen. Spanish A-lister Antonio de la Torre plays Manuel López-Vidal - a corrupt politico whose chickens are about to come home to roost. Beginning with a gripping tracking shot that introduces us to the character as he walks through a restaurant with an intensity that continues through the film. A leaked tape is about to spell trouble for Manuel, just as his big break appears to be coming, setting in motion an intricate game that sees him try to outwit both his party and the law. Hinging on de la Torre's magnetic central performance, which leaves us compromised too, almost wishing for the bad guy to win the day.
The Smallest Show On Earth, 11am, Film4, Monday, November 4
Cinephiles with a yen for old school cinemas will find this Basil Dearden film a treat. Real life couple Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna play Matt and Jean, a newly married pair who discover they have inherited a fleapit cinema, which is in the way of this sort of comedy, struggling to survive. Peppered with the sort of sight gags you might expect from the period, the real selling point here is the star-studded ensemble cast, which features Peter Sellers, Margaret Rutherford and Bernard Miles, not to mention Lesley Phillips and Sid James. It may verge on the twee by modern standards, but it remains a charming and affectionate tribute to small cinemas everywhere.
Hellboy, 9pm, ITV4, Wednesday, November 6
Slime and sorcery are to the fore in this tale of a cat-loving demon who – despite being summoned for the Nazis – is raised by John Hurt's professor to take on the bad guys instead. Director Guillermo del Toro keeps the pace racing along, which is handy because the story is decidedly thin, involving the return of Rasputin and a load of stuff you won't really care about. Surprisingly, that doesn't matter too much with characters this well drawn. Ron Perlman is in his element as Hellboy – Red to his friends – charming, vulnerable and world weary in equal measure, with Rupert Evans executing excellent straight man duties alongside him and David Hyde Pierce providing perfect (uncredited) vocals for Red's friend Abe Sapien ('played' on screen by Doug Jones).
Memento, 11.05pm, Film4, Wednesday, November 6
Back before Christopher Nolan became a blockbusting household name with the likes of Batman Begins and Inception, he made this twisty psychological thriller starring Guy Pearce (also much less well known globally at the time) as an insurance agent with short-term memory loss, who is trying to investigate the murder of his wife. Nolan (who co-wrote this with his brother Jonathan) has always been a fan of playing around with time and he does so with audacity here as the story unfolds both in chronological order - marked by the use of black-and-white stock - while also being shown in reverse, in colour, so that its secrets are gradually revealed.
Airplane!, 12.05am, Channel 4, Saturday, November 9
Jim Abrahams and David Zucker's joke-packed parody of a disaster movie is infinitely quotable - not to mention rewatchable. Even if you've seen it multiple times before the gags only seem to fly higher when you know what's coming, with anticipation of the silliness adding to the fun. Leslie Nielsen always knew how to pitch a sight gag perfectly and Lloyd Bridges, though better known for his more serious roles, deadpans along with aplomb. From the passengers assuming "crash positions" to Bridges, "Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking!" and a flight crew "on instruments" on the flight deck, no joke is too daft for inclusion - and if one doesn't land with you, another one is coming right behind it. I know you're thinking, it's 40 years old and I've seen it 40 times, surely you can't be serious? Yes, yes I am... and don't call me Shirley.
War Horse, 2.35pm, BBC1, Sunday, November 10
If you want someone to tell a sweeping story with finesse then Steven Spielberg is hard to beat and he delivers an enjoyable adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's novel - adapted for the screen by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis. The horse of the title is Joey, who becomes shackled by the cavalry and transported to the First World War battlefields of France as the farmer's son who trained him (Jeremy Irvine) also enlists. A dual tale that, though it comes with the Hollywood gloss you'd expect, also delivers in terms of poignancy.
Sasquatch Sunset , 10pm, Sky Cinema Premiere
We don't include Sky too often in this list, but this little slice of cinematic oddness is too hard to resist. If you find it hard to believe that Jesse Eisenberg can completely lose himself in a character - and I'm the first to accuse him of being samey - then this may well change your opinion. Here he sports an impressive set of prosthetics that render him, as well as co-stars Riley Keogh and Nathan Zellner (who also writes and directs with brother David) unrecognisable. This is a year in the life of the sasquatches as the seasons turn and they go about their business, while increasingly coming under threat. While starting out with a bawdy, often scatalogical humour, this dialogue-free film evolves into a surprisingly poignant reflection of the threat faced by the natural world while still retaining its anarchic sense of humour.
