Your Night In: Every movie on TV tonight rated or slated
While there are plenty of free-to-air options on TV tonight – including one of Brad Pitt’s first films and an ocker Aussie sequel – a Burt Reynolds classic available to stream is also worth your time.
Leigh Paatsch
Don't miss out on the headlines from Leigh Paatsch. Followed categories will be added to My News.
XXX (M)
***
8.30pm GO!
If you don’t mind your movies fast or stupid as long as they’re prepared to admit it, then the original XXX (avoid the second on like the plague) will mark the spot most action flicks miss by a considerable distance. Vin Diesel (Fast and the Furious) stars as an extreme sports nut sent by a secret government agency to stop some Czech terrorists from blowing up Europe. Groovy gadgets, deadpan quips and stunning set-piece stunts reign supreme in this expertly-made schlockbuster.
THE COUNSELOR (MA15+)
**
8.30pm WORLD MOVIES
On paper, everything about The Counselor simply screams quality. The great Ridley Scott is leaning forward in his director’s chair. Acclaimed novelist Cormac McCarthy is tapping away at his first-ever original screenplay. The likes of Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz form an orderly queue for our complete attention. On the screen, however, every frame of The Counselor reeks of low-end trash. Fassbender has the title role, a slick legal eagle who goes from having it all to blowing it all when implicated in a messy drugs deal. Speaking of messy, McCarthy’s script is a shambles that baffles instead of bewitches. His language is floridly awkward when said aloud, and includes some of the most risibly sexist dialogue you’ll hear in this supposedly progressive age. Disappointing.
KALIFORNIA (MA15+)
***1/2
10.40pm WORLD MOVIES
Brad Pitt might have first come to the attention of moviegoers with his inspired support role in 1991’s Thelma and Louise, but it was a few years later, in this gritty American indie chiller, that he really let his talent blaze brightly for the first time. A pre-X-Files David Duchovny has the starring role as a student on a road trip to gather research for his thesis on serial killers. However, Pitt steals every scene as a bearded psychopath who gives the bookworm some free on-the-spot tuition. Pitt’s girlfriend at the time, Juliette Lewis, also chimes in with a frighteningly focused display that obviously stood her in good stead when it came to starring in Natural Born Killers the following year. Do give this a look if you’ve never seen it, as director Dominic Sena (Gone in 60 Seconds) has a nifty knack for playing out major twists in a minor key.
CROCODILE DUNDEE 2 (PG)
**
8.40pm Ch. 9
Paul Hogan cashed in on the spectacular global success of the first Crocodile Dundee with a sequel that stuck to the proven formula like glue. This limp, sporadically likeable effort has not aged anywhere near as well as its predecessor. You must have something else to do tonight, surely?
EVERYTHING MUST GO (M)
**1/2
7.40pm WORLD MOVIES
A lesser known, uncharacteristically low-key (bordering on downbeat) entry in the Will Ferrell back catalogue. He plays a lapsed alcoholic who blows up his marriage and career in short order, then proceeds to turn it around with a yard sale of all his worldly belongings. You definitely have to be in the right mood to get anything from this genially meandering affair.
Three movie picks for streaming or rental to get you through the evening
HIGH FLYING BIRD (M)
***
NETFLIX
This intriguing, if erratic drama should have already beeped on the radar of Netflix users who love their sports. Devotees of American basketball will probably press ‘play’ without a second thought. Hold it right there: High Flying Bird might be a movie about basketball, but you’re not going to see much basketball going on. This is more a deep-dig into the off-court machinations of the NBA, where players and team owners are always at loggerheads over who gets a bigger cut of the billions on offer for broadcast and endorsement rights. Director Steven Soderbergh (Magic Mike, Ocean’s Eleven) frames the tale around a fictional lockout where an NBA game hasn’t been played in six months. Emerging stars not yet to cash in on their fame are beginning to panic. Established stars whose spending habits are out of control are also sweating bullets. Enter cocky manager and manipulator Ray Burke (Andre Holland), who just might have the tricks up his sleeve to defuse this explosive standoff. Co- stars Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2).
DELIVERANCE (MA15+)
****
FOXTEL, BINGE
Four city slickers from the American south hit the backwoods of Georgia to canoe down a ferocious river shortly before a new dam is scheduled to flood the waterway. There are black clouds gathering over the heads of these unhappy campers (led by a maniacally macho Burt Reynolds) from the get-go. Following a brutal encounter with a pair of local yokels, the quartet discover their absolute survival will depend on how well they adapt to the unnatural laws of the hillbilly heartland. This gripping drama was a controversial release back in the early 70s, and its distressing intensity hasn’t really diminished in the decades since. Just remember, once you go with its powerful flow, there ain’t no turnin’ back.
BOY ERASED (M)
****
FOXTEL, NETFLIX
This fascinating, moving and well-acted drama focuses on the controversial practice of conversion therapy, in which homosexual youth are shipped off to religiously inclined rehab facilities to “pray the gay away.” Working in writer-director mode, Australian actor Joel Edgerton tackles this complex, hot-button topic with impressive levels of tact, sensitivity and balanced insight. The true story told here is based on the best-selling memoirs of Garrard Conley (played by Lucas Hedges), the gay son of an American Baptist preacher (Russell Crowe) who was transferred to a conversion clinic during his first year in college. Edgerton also stars as Victor Sykes, the tightly wound head of the clinic whose misguided mission in life is to “make real men” of those who are supposedly anything but in God’s eyes. Performances across the board here are strong and committed – Nicole Kidman is a standout as Garrard’s quietly supportive mum – as is the film’s eloquent push for greater acceptance and understanding.
