It was a very, very close decision but BC on TV opted to ignore an even funnier Ben Stiller film today (mainly because Owen Wilson is also in it: Starsky & Hutch, 8.55 am, Movie City Action) because today's pick may not last much longer on cable/DirecTV.
Today's best film:
Tower Heist (Brett Ratner/ 2011/ USA/ Action-Comedy-Crime/ 104 mins/ PG-13 for language and sexual content) 11 am and 2 pm today Movie City Premieres. Watch this if you liked Ocean's Eleven, Mystery Men or Horrible Bosses. Perhaps a tad short on belly laughs, but there are more than enough grins, chuckles and smiles from an exceptional cast-Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Judd Hirsch, Stephen Henderson, Casey Affleck and more-doing exceptionally well as amateur second storey men (although, since the heist is of the penthouse of the Trump Tower, Manhattan, it's more like 22nd-storey men). In the Ocean's Eleven movies, the gang was painstakingly chosen for the heist because they were all the top professionals in their respective fields. In Tower Heist, everyone is a rank amateur, and that makes the movie even better. Eddie Murphy has his funniest role since Bowfinger.
Rest of the week:
127 Hours (Danny Boyle/ 2010/ USA-UK/ Adventure-Drama/ 94 mins/ Rated R for language and some disturbing violent content/ bloody images) 5.10 pm Monday Movie City Hollywood. Watch this if you liked Into the Wild, Touching the Void or Grizzly Man. The director of Slumdog Millionaire and 28 Weeks Later brings his huge filmmaking talent to the true story of the hiker trapped in a remote canyon when a boulder falls on him and pins his right arm. A warning: it is, in parts, as claustrophobic as United 93. The better your sound system and the bigger your screen, the more distressing your experience of the film is likely to be; this is not a movie you can be said to "enjoy"-but it sends you back into the real world cheering, and deeply grateful for your own little boring life.
Harry Brown (Daniel Barber/ 2009/ UK /Crime-Drama-Thriller / 103 mins/ Rated R for strong violence and language throughout, drug use and sexual content) 11.35 pm Wednesday and 9.55 pm Friday Movie City Hollywood. Watch this if you liked the original Michael Caine Get Carter, the original Dustin Hoffman Straw Dogs or Animal Kingdom. At 76, Michael Caine should be lucky just to be working but he is deeply menacing as the retired man driven to avenge the murder of his old colleague by the uncaring young drug-and-gun-dealing gang members on an English housing estate. Hold-your-breath tension in parts.
Best of the rest: Mon: *Rise of the Planet of the Apes BEST FILM OF THE WEEK 5.35 and 8.35 pm MCP; Tues: Star Trek 8 pm MCF; Wed: Transporter 3 8.25 pm MCA; Thurs: London River 4.25 pm and 7.25 pm MCP; Fri: War of the Worlds 9 pm MCC; Sat: The Queen 1.30 pm MCH. *Starred films have been chosen before. Scheduled Internet times often vary on the day.
