Your Night In: Every movie on TV tonight rated or slated
Your viewing options include a Clint Eastwood war movie, a Charlize Theron action flick, a cleverly entertaining indie comedy or an addictive Heather Ledger drama. Here’s everything worth watching on TV tonight.
Leigh Paatsch
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ATOMIC BLONDE (MA15+)
***1/2
8.30pm GO!
Throughout this style-conscious, substance-free action pic, Charlize Theron brilliantly blurs the line that separates the alluring from the alarming. The movie is never up to much – a confusing, convoluted story prohibits any sustained interest from viewers – but Theron is all over the need to keep energy levels pulsing as intensely as they can. It is the late 1980s, and with the Berlin Wall about to crumble, British super-spy Lorraine Broughton (Theron) must retrieve a list that will save the lives of many double agents active during the Cold War. While the finer points of this tale are impossible to follow, Theron deploys a cool combo of bewitching beauty, bone-breaking brawn and belittling eye contact that is impossible to resist. Sure, her character casually lifts certain traits from the playbooks of Jason Bourne, John Wick and even James Bond. Nevertheless, the permafrosted composure Theron applies to her performance cannot be found elsewhere. Co-stars James McAvoy, Sofia Boutella.
HEARTBREAK RIDGE (M)
***
8.30pm 7MATE
An underrated entry from the middle period of Clint Eastwood’s exemplary career as a director who just happened to be the star of his own movies. Clint plays Sgt. Thomas Highway, a hard-bitten munitions specialist with anger management issues. While testy ol’ Tom – a veteran Marine who saw action in both Korea and Vietnam – doesn’t seem the right kind of guy to be training the next generation of recruits, both he and his slacker charges will be changing their ways for the better by the time the closing credits roll. A drama that gets you in totally without you ever realising it.
IN A WORLD (M)
***1/2
7.30pm WORLD MOVIES
A cleverly entertaining indie comedy about the voices we hear on movie trailers. The search on for the next announcer who will own the immortal phrase “in a world.” The two busiest vocal talents in the business (Ken Marino and Fred Melamed) think the gig is already theirs. What they don’t see coming is a disorganised young woman (Lake Bell) who just might have what Hollywood is looking for. Just as Bell’s adorably distracted lead performance will be sure to win admirers here, so too will her accomplished writing and direction of In a World. Bell’s sharp instincts fuse the caustic and the cute to often delirious effect.
CANDY (MA15+)
***
11.25PM WORLD MOVIES
A tentative, inconclusive take on what it’s like to be young, in love and on heroin. Promising young artist Abbie Cornish and junkie poet Heath Ledger do the his’n’hers habit thing, hitting an early high before plummeting to a series of shocking lows. Performances are excellent, but won’t mean much unless you too are both hopelessly romantic and hopelessly addicted.
THREE STREAMING OR RENTAL MOVIE PICKS TO GET YOU THROUGH THE EVENING
LAST CHRISTMAS (PG)
***
BINGE, FOXTEL
The Love, Actually is very strong with this one. Overpoweringly so. This, of course, is great news for anyone who wished there were more happy-sad British rom-coms about lovelorn Londoners riding emotional roller-coasters all the way through December. Everyone else should immediately turn around and head in the other direction. Inspired by (and featuring) the songs of the late George Michael, Last Christmas centres on the trials and tribulations of Kate (Emilia Clarke), whose messy life gets suddenly cleaned up by the arrival of mysterious new boyfriend Tom (Henry Golding). You would think that a Little Miss Do-It-Wrong finding her elusive Mister Right would be where the story ends. However, it is really just the start of a long, clanking chain of pithy punchlines, poignant revelations and Christmas cliches that shall haul many willing viewers to a place of misty eyes and goofy smiles. Co-stars Emma Thompson, Michelle Yeoh.
JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL (PG)
***
rent via GOOGLE, ITUNES, YOUTUBE MOVIES
The core premise of this quality sequel has been refreshed just enough to keep Jumanji fans leaning forward and ready for anything. Naturally, there are a new set of player-to-avatar switcheroos to be executed, the standouts of which are Dwayne Johnson subbing for Danny DeVito (very amusing work from The Rock) and Kevin Hart channelling his inner Danny Glover circa Lethal Weapon (uncannily on the money). Co-stars Jack Black and Karen Gillan do not have as much to do as they did before – and the same goes for the younger cast of regulars – but it doesn’t really matter that much. The action-adventure sequences are given more emphasis to build some consistent momentum this time around, and it lends The Next Level a slight edge over its well-regarded predecessor.
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (M)
****
rent via GOOGLE, ITUNES, YOUTUBE MOVIES
A multiple award winner on the global festival circuit in 2019, this fine French period drama is a seductive movie experience. The setting is 18th century Brittany, where a young and evolving artist named Marianne (played by Noémie Merlant) has accepted a lucrative commission to paint the portrait of Heloise (Adele Haenel), a noblewoman’s sheltered daughter. Once a strong mutual attraction takes hold, the necessarily secretive nature of their relationship changes in complex and fascinating ways. Writer-director Céline Sciamma (one of the hottest talents in French cinema right now) captures these subtle, yet potent mood swings with an intensity of feeling that continues to deepen throughout. The pay-off is one of the most unforgettably moving endings to a movie you will see this year.
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