Your Night In: Every movie on TV tonight rated and slated
Robin Williams’ portrayal of an obsessive photo lab technician is disturbing in One Hour Photo, claustrophobia grips when Jude Law plays a submarine captain in Black Sea, and Keira Knightley stars in fluffy costume drama The Duchess. Leigh Paatsch rates all the offerings on the small screen tonight.
Leigh Paatsch
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THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK
**1/2
8:30 PM GO!
Slapdash, slyly enjoyable sequel to the 2000 sci-fi sleeper hit Pitch Black. Vin Diesel is an intergalactic freedom fighter waging a one-mar war against a wacky bunch of warrior slave-traders. Storyline has severe coherence problems, but an arresting production design showcases an innovative collection of rugged CGI backdrops for Riddick’s running battles. A giant guilty pleasure for the so-bad-it’s-good crowd includes several references to a mysterious unseen world known as “the Under-verse.” Which is probably where underpants come from, I guess?
ONE HOUR PHOTO
****
8:30 PM VICE LAND
Following his great work as a shadowy killer in the great 2001 drama Insomnia, Robin Williams applied another coat of black paint to his dark side for this disturbing portrait of modern-day alienation. Williams’ performance is a master class in restraint, chronicling every eerie detail of the meltdown of an obsessive photo-lab processor. Not a pretty picture, but you won’t be able to take your eyes off it. Co-stars Connie Nielsen and Michael Vartan.
BLACK SEA
***
10:15 PM VICE LAND
Set any old thriller inside a submarine, and it isn’t long before the claustrophobia comes flooding in. Under the expert direction of Kevin MacDonald (Last King of Scotland), we plunge the depths of dread at all-too-close quarters within a creaky old Russian rust-bucket. The captain of this vessel is Robinson (Jude Law), an embittered seaman who assembles a dodgy crew to retrieve a stash of gold from a Nazi U-boat rumoured to be sitting on the bottom of the Black Sea. While the movie does waste some hard-earned unease by cutting away to flashbacks on dry land every so often, the deep distrust festering among Robinson and his crew keeps the viewer’s nerves on a razor-sharp edge when it really counts.
THE DUCHESS
7:30 PM WORLD MOVIES
The subject of this lavish, yet lightweight hybrid of biopic and costume drama is Georgiana Spencer, the great-great-great-great-aunt of Diana Spencer, the late Princess of Wales. Like her distant relative, Georgiana (Keira Knightley) was a young hottie who wed an older, colder blueblood (Ralph Fiennes) and paid dearly for her mistake. A frothy concoction simmering at the same moderate temperature as Natalie Portman’s thematically similar The Other Boleyn Girl, but still capable of bubbling-up some fun here and there.
THE IRON LADY
***
9:35 PM WORLD MOVIES
The life, times and tirades of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. All that this rather timid portrait of an unequivocally divisive figure offers is yet another chance to marvel at the supreme acting skill of Meryl Streep. Not a single aspect of Thatcher’s formidably complex persona is missed by Streep. While Meryl’s physical impression of the British PM in her blue-bloused prime is bang on the money, it is the way in which she captures Thatcher’s unshakeable inner certainty that really pays off in the film’s favour. And as for Streep’s handling of the Thatcher voice — an imperiously emphatic instrument that makes small talk about the weather sound like a defiant address to the United Nations — the likeness is so exact it is intimidating. Co-stars Jim Broadbent.
THREE MOVIES FOR STREAMING OR RENTAL
THE CALL OF THE WILD (PG)
***
RENT VIA FOXTEL STORE, GOOGLE, APPLE TV, YOUTUBE
Yet another family-friendly dog movie that intends to play go-fetch with your emotions. At least this one has a reputable pedigree, being a refreshingly faithful adaptation of Jack London’s timeless Alaskan adventure novel The Call of the Wild. Our four-pawed hero who will follow his fate all the way from the sunny climes of California to the snow-white frontiers of the Yukon goes by the name of Buck. This clever, clumsy and lovingly loyal St Bernard and Scotch Shepherd mix is destined to become the best of friends with a grouchy, but kind old prospector (played by a grouchy, but kind old Harrison Ford). But not before Buck is dog-napped by poachers, appointed head of a sled team running along a dangerous mail route, becomes mortal enemies with a gold-obsessed psycho, and falls in love with the best-lookin’ she-wolf this side of the North Pole. While this stuff can get mighty sappy when it wants — the computer effects boosting Buck’s performance can look a little strange — there is no denying how much fun it can be without trying all that hard.
THE MAFIA ONLY KILLS IN SUMMER (M)
***
SBS ON DEMAND
The director, co-writer, narrator and star of this unorthodox, yet crowd-pleasing Italian comedy is a gentleman popularly known in his homeland as Pif (real name: Pierfrancesco Diliberto). Until now a top-rating TV host you could liken to a lightweight Jon Stewart (at least back when he was doing The Daily Show), Pif dips a toe in cinematic waters for the first time. Doesn’t do a bad job, either, particularly due to the entertaining, yet slightly dangerous subject matter handled here. Pif’s principal focus is the mayhem generated by the Mafia in Sicily between 1970 and the late 1990s, as seen through the eyes of an aspiring journalist. After a slow start, some lively performances and shock developments keep attention levels high.
MAPPLETHORPE: LOOK AT THE PICTURES (MA15+)
***
AMAZON, STAN
This HBO doco on the life, times and legacy of the late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe works just fine as an entry-level overview of the subject. The picture that emerges is that of an ambitious, mercurial and resolutely fearless talent. The reasoning behind how that talent took shape – and often expressed itself in such a confronting manner – remains something of a mystery, however. Just like Mapplethorpe the man himself. Perhaps the filmmakers came to the conclusion that Mapplethorpe’s stark, overtly sexual imagery does all the explaining necessary. Once you experience the best of his copious body of work showcased here, you’ll be inclined to agree. (Just one word of warning: if you are only familiar with Mapplethorpe’s ‘greatest hits’ as a lensman, be prepared for a few full-frontal shocks to the senses. Nothing shown here is out of context, but will not conform to all tastes.) The only disappointment is that Mapplethorpe’s first great love, singer Patti Smith, declined to participate here.