Pick of the week
28 Years Later
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s zombie-like horror saga returns – 18 years later – with the first in a trilogy set in a Britain quarantined from the rest of Europe. Rather than being all running and dying (though there is a fair bit of that), this one follows humanity as it tries to protect the remnants of civilisation in the aftermath of the raging infection. Spike (Alfie Williams) lives with his mum, Isla (Jodie Comer), and dad, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), on the fortified isle of Lindisfarne. But forays to the mainland lead all three into danger. And what is Ralph Fiennes’s mysterious doctor up to in the woods? A thrilling, visceral revisit to a dystopia where, despite everything, glimmers of hope remain.
New Year’s Day, 6.30am, 8pm, Sky Cinema Premiere
***
The Phoenician Scheme
You know what to expect from a Wes Anderson picture by now: surreal plots, detailed sets and deadpan performances from a preposterously starry cast. His latest has all those, but adds a giddy quest narrative involving dodgy tycoon Zsa-Zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro) and his Catholic novice daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton) on a fund-raising trip for his epic infrastructure project. There are assassins, love stories, political brouhaha – and a handy box of hand grenades. Ridiculous but entertaining.
Saturday 27 December, 9.35am, 6.15pm, Sky Cinema Premiere
***
Elvis
A fascinating double bill could be fashioned from Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, screening on the BBC next week, and Baz Luhrmann’s flamboyant biopic of the beloved hip-swiveller. Austin Butler is suitably magnetic as Presley, though the film is just as interested in his manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks, with a sort-of Dutch accent and a prosthetic hooter), who guides and manipulates his rock’n’roll cash cow. Their Svengali-like relationship drives the film, while Luhrmann, a master of the musical set-piece, gives Elvis’s performances a real kick.
Saturday 27 December, 7.45pm, BBC One
***
Friendship
Left-field comic performer Tim Robinson continues to pick away at the absurdities and quirks of human behaviour in his first film leading role. He plays a very Robinsonian character – the nerdy, socially awkward/inappropriate Craig, who works in a nebulous office job and has a surprisingly normal wife and son. Paul Rudd plays his new neighbour, weather presenter Austin, who befriends Craig but then drops him after a faux pas. A bewildered, humiliated Craig’s life then disintegrates to disturbing, comic effect.
Tuesday 30 December, 9.30am, 10.30pm, Sky Cinema Premiere/Paramount+
***
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
This delightful mock documentary is the brainchild of Dean Fleischer Camp and Jenny Slate (of Dying for Sex fame). He directs and she provides the voice for Marcel, an inch-tall, part-shell person who lives with his Nana (Isabella Rossellini) in an Airbnb that film-maker Dean rents out. It’s a conceit borrowed from The Borrowers, where household items and detritus are fashioned into inventive tools (toenail skis anyone?) and the human world is a scary but intriguing place.
New Year’s Eve, 9.35am, BBC One
***
The Goonies
There may be too many kids for comfort in this Steven Spielberg and Chris Columbus-penned adventure, but there’s a lot to love here. Five misfit boys – plus a couple of girls for balance – discover a treasure map and decide to find the loot and save their coastal town from demolition by developers. Sean Astin’s Mikey is the prime mover, dragging along the likes of Corey Feldman, Josh Brolin, Ke Huy Quan and Martha Plimpton on a quest that takes in bat-filled tunnels, booby traps and many skeletons. Director Richard Donner keeps the chills and spills at a family-friendly pitch.
New Year’s Eve, 12.35pm, ITV1
***
Withnail & I
Ideal film fodder for a boozy night in on the last day of the year (“We want the finest wines available to humanity!”), Bruce Robinson’s 1987 comedy is a trove of quotable lines and hilarious scenarios. Set in 1969, it follows two self-pitying, jobless actors (Paul McGann and Richard E Grant) on a break from their rat-infested London house to the Lake District. Sadly, this presumed idyll is mainly rain and mud, randy bulls and randy Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths). Grant’s Withnail is a tragicomic character for the ages, a Falstaffian fool witnessing the sad death of the swinging 60s.
New Year’s Eve, 11.40pm, Film4
