Films day-by-day
Hotel for Dogs
Film4 HD, 2.45pm/Film4+1, 3.45pm 3Sex OOO Violence OOO Language OOOTwo orphans (Emma Roberts and Jake T Austin) keep the fact that they have
a pet dog secret when Don Cheadle’s nice social worker dumps them with
not-very-nice foster parents (Lisa Kudrow and Kevin Dillon). Then the kids
break into an old hotel and, with the help of Johnny Simmons’ pet-shopworker, start taking in strays. Yes, it’s sentimental, but this shaggy-dog tale is
great for all ages. It’s also full of charm, the hounds are great – and funny, too- and Kudrow and Dillon seem to be enjoying themselves. 2009, U, 100MIN
COMEDY
Shaun of the Dead
Sky Comedy HD, 12.25pm & 8pm 4Sex OOO Violence OOO Language OOOIt may well be a one-joke movie, but director Edgar Wright’s hysterical spoof
of the 1978 horror classic Dawn of the Dead keeps both the gore and the
laughs flowing freely. Relocating the story to north London, it presents a
lovelorn shop assistant (Simon Pegg) and his slovenly flatmate (Nick Frost)with the task of battling an invasion of cannibal zombies. The film – the first
of the trio’s so-called ‘Cornetto Trilogy’ – revels in its sheer goofiness, yet also
has moments that verge on the sublime. 2004, 15, 99MINHORROR COMEDY
Monday 5 August Tuesday 6 August
COMEDY DRAMA
Lucky
Sky Select HD, 6.25pm 4Sex OOO Violence OOO Language OOOIconic character actor Harry Dean
Stanton gets a perfect send-off in this
touching, deadpan comedy drama, one
of his final films before his death in 2017
at the age of 91. The movie does little
more than follow the daily routine of his
character, an ornery, chain-smoking
loner in a small desert town. Yet as he
hangs out with the regulars at the local
diner and bar and contemplates his
mortality, Stanton holds us spellbound
one last time. 2016, 15, 88MINSPY COMEDY
Johnny English
Strikes Again
Sky Premiere HD, 8pm/
Sky Premiere+1, 9pm 3Sex OOO Violence OOO Language OOORowan Atkinson’s bumbling secret
agent returns for his third big-screen
adventure. This time, Johnny,
unexpectedly recalled to active duty,
travels to the French Riviera in a bid to
unmask the villain behind a cyber attack
on the British secret service. The movie
is very much hit-and-miss, but Johnny’s
sublime idiocy raises plenty of smiles.
Also on Wednesday. 2018, PG, 89MINACTION DRAMA
Rise of the Viking
Sky Select HD, 10.15pm 3
Sex OOO Violence OOO Language OOOIn 8th-century northern Europe, pagan
tribes vainly seek to hold on to their old
ways in the face of aggressive expansion
by the Christian Franks, who wield their
religion as a weapon rather than a tool
for peace. However, pagan warrior leader
Redbad (Gijs Naber), once exiled by his
people, strives to stem the tide. Inspired
by a real historical figure, this Dutch
action epic is occasionally prone to
patriotic tub-thumping in the Braveheart
vein. Subtitled. 2018, 15, 154MINALSO ON MONDAY
Knuckleball
Sky Thriller HD, 5.30pm 4
Luca Villacis wishes he’d stayed at home.Speed
Sky Greats HD, 8pm 5
Keanu Reeves keeps the pace high.Drunk on Love
Sky Premiere HD, 10pm 3
One from the heart for Nick Robinson.Katie Says Goodbye
Sky Drama HD, 12m’t 3
Olivia Cooke has San Francisco in mind.The Last Warrior
Sky Select HD, 1am 3
Aleksey Faddeev takes some Russian steps.■ Full listings start on p53
FANTASY COMEDY
Night at the Museum
Film4 HD, 4.30pm/
Film4+1, 5.30pm 4
Sex OOO Violence OOO Language OOOBen Stiller plays a nerdy divorcee who
gets a job as a security guard at New
York’s Museum of Natural History,
unaware that once the sun goes down, a
mysterious Egyptian relic brings all of the
exhibits to life, from the skeletal remains
of a Tyrannosaurus Rex to Genghis
Khan’s Mongol hordes. Some goofy
comic support comes courtesy of Robin
Williams, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais
and Owen Wilson. 2006, PG, 108MINWAR DRAMA
Alone in Berlin
Film4 HD, 9pm/Film4+1, 10pm 3Sex OOO Violence OOO Language OOOPREMIERE Devastated by the death of
their soldier son at the front, working-
class German couple Otto and Anna
Quangel (played by Brendan Gleeson
and Emma Thompson) channel their
grief into a series of postcards
denouncing the Nazi regime, which they
covertly leave in public places around
Berlin. Based on a true story (subject of
Hans Fallada’s 1947 novel), this drama is
tonally uneven but proves gripping and
quietly moving. 2016, 12, 101MINANIMATED FANTASY
Coraline
Sky Animation HD, 9.45pm 4
Sex OOO Violence OOO Language OOODirector Henry Selick brings the
charming, old-style stop-motion
animation techniques he used on The
Nightmare Before Christmas to this
deliciously simple, clever and appealing
children’s fantasy. The style perfectly suits
Neil Gaiman’s scary but sweet story about
a little girl (voiced by Dakota Fanning)
who walks through a secret door and
finds a parallel world with another family
who, it transpires, are not quite as kindly
as they appear. 2009, PG, 100MINALSO ON TUESDAY
The Lego Movie
Sky Animation HD, 4.30pm 4
He’s a chip off the old block.The Incredibles
Sky Disney HD, 6pm 5
You can’t keep a good superhero down.E.T. The Extraterrestrial
Sky Sci-Fi & Horror HD, 7pm 5
Hands across the universe.Phantom Thread
Sky Drama HD, 8pm 5
Does Daniel have designs on Vicky?The Omen
Sky Select HD, 12m’t 5
The Devil’s in the details...■ Full listings start on p63
Nick and Simon had
hoped for a bit more
life from the castEmma and Jake
weren’t used
to being lead
performersFAMIL
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ICE