TV & Satellite Week – 17 August 2019

Inspired by real events, this powerfully

sober war drama follows the leader of an

all-female battalion of Kurdish fighters as

they seek to free a town in Iraqi Kurdistan

from Islamic State control.

Director Eva Husson strains a little

too hard for effect, but the film’s tension

outweighs its flaws, while Iranian actress

Golshifteh Farahani blazes with controlled

passion in the lead. Subtitled. 2018, 15, 115MIN

A pudgy, insecure 14-year-

old boy goes through a

character-building summer

at a Rhode Island lakeside

resort in 1976 in this

run-of-the-mill coming-of-

age comedy drama, a

disappointing first US film

venture for British director

Jim Loach, son of social-

realist veteran Ken.

Blake Cooper’s self-

pitying hero struggles to

win our admiration and

his trials are too routine to

make the film stand out in

a crowded field of teen

dramedies. 2016, 15, 102MIN

A struggling young black man

(LaKeith Stanfield) begins a dizzying

ascent up the corporate ladder at a

California telemarketing firm after

he discovers his ability to adopt

a ‘white voice’ when he cold calls

prospective clients.

His newfound success enables

him to move out of his uncle’s

garage and begin enjoying the

trappings of wealth, to the dismay

of his performance artist-activist

girlfriend (Tessa Thompson). From

then on things get even more surreal

in this scaldingly funny satire.

The story and the satire do spiral

out of control towards the end, but

until then Stanfield makes an

engagingly befuddled hero,

while Armie Hammer delivers a

hilariously over-the-top turn as

his scheming boss. 2018, 15, 112MIN

Orphaned at birth, a featherbrained

sparrow thinks he’s a stork, but his

adoptive stork parents fly off without

him when it is time to migrate from

Europe to Africa. Undeterred, the

intrepid young bird sets off after them...

This bird-brained animated adventure

will leave ornithologists spitting

feathers, but it is fun enough if you

can bear all the avian puns. 2017, U, 84MIN

WAR DRAMA

Girls of the Sun

Wednesday, Sky Premiere HD, 10.20pm 4

COMEDY DRAMA

American Summer

Monday, Sky Premiere HD,

9.40am & 6.10pm 2

COMEDY DRAMA

Sorry to Bother You

Sunday, Sky Premiere HD,

2pm & 10.20pm 4

ANIMATED ADVENTURE

A Stork’s Journey

Saturday, Sky Premiere HD,

9.50am & 6.20pm 2

HORROR COMEDY

Arizona

Thursday, Sky Premiere HD,

10am & 10.20pm 2

DRAMA

Dark Minds

Tuesday, Sky Premiere HD,

11.10am & 10.20pm 3

This war would

take an eye

for an eye

These aerial

exploits would be

the stork of the town

LaKeith knew

Tessa could be

pretty vocal

herself

It’s 2009, the US housing

boom has turned to bust

and Rosemarie DeWitt’s

estate agent Cassie and

Danny McBride’s heavily

mortgaged homeowner are

struggling to stay afloat.

This satirical horror

comedy throws these

characters together in a

cat-and-mouse intrigue of

escalating violence, but the

film isn’t funny or clever

enough to pull off its cruel

ironies. 2017, 15, 84MIN

In a role that could not be

more different from Star

Tr e k’s Spock, Zachary

Quinto plays a fragile,

mentally troubled young

man whose hang-ups

centre on his TV-star older

brother (Jon Hamm). Can

his new therapist (Jenny

Slate) disentangle truth

from fantasy?

This strenuously offbeat

drama is more than a bit of

a mess, but the three lead

performances hold it

together, despite the iffy

script. 2016, 12, 91MIN

WOR

LD

CINE

MA

STAR RATINGS +++++ Excellent ++++ Very good +++ Good ++Average + Poor