TV&Satellite Week 23
Independence Day: Resurgence
Film4 HD, 9pm/Film4+1, 10pm 3
Sex ●●● Violence ●●● Language ●●●
Even more overblown, cheesy and silly than 1996’s alien-invasion movie
Independence Day, Roland Emmerich’s sequel is a combination of
tribute act and reunion tour. Liam Hemsworth’s maverick fighter pilot
takes the role of cocky hero previously filled by Will Smith, and fans will
enjoy the return of such familiar faces as Jeff Goldblum’s computer whiz,
Bill Pullman’s former president and Brent Spiner’s eccentric boffin,
with Maika Monroe as Hemsworth’s love interest.2016, 12, 120MIN
SCI-FI ACTION
Captain Phillips
Sky Select HD, 9.40pm 5
Sex ●●● Violence ●●● Language ●●●Director Paul Greengrass ramps up the tension in this shattering
thriller about the hijacking of the American container ship Maersk
Alabama by Somali pirates in 2009. At the story’s heart are two men
from very different worlds, the ship’s veteran captain (played by Tom
Hanks) and the young Somali leading the four-man pirate crew
(Oscar-nominated Barkhad Abdi), both of them set on a collision
course by the effects of globalisation.2013, 12, 134MINACTION THRILLER
Wednesday 17 July Thursday18 July
CRIME BIOPIC
Catch Me If You Can
Sky Select HD, 7pm 5
Sex ●●● Violence ●●● Language ●●●
Leonardo DiCaprio uses his cherubic
good looks to fine effect as Frank William
Abagnale Jr, a runaway teenager who
passed himself off as an airline pilot,
a surgeon and a state prosecutor in the
1960s, cashing millions of dollars’ worth
of forged cheques in the process. This is
a story that you couldn’t make up and
director Steven Spielberg has crafted a
splendidly entertaining caper movie. Tom
Hanks is compelling as the hangdog FBI
agent on the trail. 2002, 12, 141MIN
COMEDY
Blockers
Sky Comedy HD, 8pm 4
Sex ●●● Violence ●●● Language ●●●
A trio of helicopter parents crash and
burn in this raunchy but good-natured
comedy. Clingy single mother Lisa
(Leslie Mann), over-protective father
Mitchell (John Cena) and easy-going
deadbeat dad Hunter (Ike Barinholtz)
join forces after they discover their three
daughters have made a pact to lose their
virginity on prom night. The directing debut
of Pitch Perfect screenwriter Kay Cannon,
the film’s underlying sweetness stops
things getting too gross. 2018, 15, 100MIN
HORROR
The Stepfather
Horror, 9pm/Horror+1, 10pm 3
Sex ●●● Violence ●●● Language ●●●Dylan Walsh implodes with pent-up rage
as a psycho killer who sets up home
with fatherless families, then slaughters
them when his authority is challenged.
Gossip Girl’s Penn Badgley plays a
rebellious teenager who returns home
fto find his mother Sela Ward is living
with the creepy Walsh and soon senses
all is not well. This chiller remake of a
1987 original is contrived, but it is fairly
well-done and bursts into frenzied
action at the end. 2009, 15, 101MINALSO ON WEDNESDAY
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Sky Action HD, 8pm 4
Han and Chewie become firm friends.
Elysium
Syfy HD, 9pm 4
Matt Damon goes in search of the cure.
The Equalizer
5Star, 9pm 3
Denzel Washington strikes a balance.
Rise of the Viking
Sky Premiere HD, 10.20pm 3
An extended historical action drama.
The Corruptor
TCM HD, 11.10pm 3
Cop Mark Wahlberg sorts out Chinatown.■ Full listings start on p73
COMEDY DRAMA
Tully
Sky Drama HD, 8pm 4
Sex●●●Violence●●●Language●●●Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman, the
writer-director team behind Young Adult,
hook up again with Charlize Theron for a
bracingly honest, achingly funny comedy
drama about motherhood. Theron plays
a desperately frazzled mother of three
who gets a lifeline when night nanny
Tully (Mackenzie Davis) turns up at her
door. A film to make you both laugh and
reflect, Tully has a whip-smart script,
fabulous performances, and will probably
wrong-foot you as well. 2018, 15, 96MINACTION COMEDY
The Man From U.N.C.L.E
Comedy Central HD, 9pm/
Comedy Central+1, 10pm 4
Sex ●●● Violence ●●● Language ●●●Guy Ritchie gives the iconic 1960s TV
series a stylish reboot, delivering a breezy
mix of spy caper and buddy movie. Set
in 1963 against a backdrop of Cold War
suspicion and jet-set cool, the film finds
the TV show’s mismatched espionage
duo – suave CIA operative Napoleon Solo
(Henry Cavill) and scowling KGB agent
Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) – joining
forces to thwart a global gang of nuclear
bomb-wielding baddies. 2015, 12, 116MINHORROR THRILLER
The Last Witch Hunter
Film4 HD, 9pm/Film4+1, 10pm 3
Sex●●●Violence●●●Language●●●A lifelong fan of role-playing game
Dungeons & Dragons, producer-star
Vin Diesel is the driving force behind this
supernatural action fantasy. He plays an
immortal warrior striving to prevent the
resurrection in present-day New York of
the Witch Queen who cursed him with
eternal life back in the Dark Ages. Diesel
gives his role a brawny conviction, while
co-stars Elijah Wood, Rose Leslie and
Michael Caine gamely enter into the
spirit of things. 2015, 12, 106MIN■ Full listings start on p83
ALSO ON THURSDAY
Multiplicity
Sony Movie Channel, 6.35pm 3
Michael Keaton builds for the future.
Playing For Keeps
Film4 HD, 6.55pm 3
Gerard Butler in an amusing romantic farce.
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Sky Sci-Fi & Horror HD, 7pm 3
Mel’s third outing as the Aussie desert warrior.
We’re the Millers
Sky Comedy HD, 9.40pm 3
Jennifer and Jason in a zany road comedy.
Lifechanger
Sky Premiere HD, 10.20pm 3
A shapeshifter stalks the woman he loves.Sailors dreaded
the old warning
‘red sky at night...’Tom was always
good at working
under pressure