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| Green Border Photo: Courtesy of Venice Film Festival |
One of the most vital films of the past year regarding the ongoing refugee crisis, Agniezska Holland's docureal black and white drama charts the brutally inhumane situation experienced by refugees on her homeland Poland’s border with Belarus. Enticed by promises of a safe and easy way into the European Union by Belarussian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, little did the refugees realise they were just pawns in a deadly political game, becoming stuck in the no man’s land forests between the two countries, pushed back and forth with no mercy. Holland takes a multiple viewpoint approach, showing the situation from the refugees' perspective, that of a border guard Tomasz Włosok) and a freshly converted activist (Maja Ostaszewska). Holland pulls no punches and faced a backlash from her own government on account. “The press had been so bad that I had to take protection and hire bodyguards,” Holland told us, read more of that interview.
Romancing The Stone, 12.05pm, Channel 4, Monday, August 26
Robert Zemeckis would go on to cement his place in film lovers' hearts with the Back To The Future franchise a few years later but he had already proved he knew how to craft an adventure with plenty of comedy and heart with this odd couple jungle romp. The film also catapulted stars Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner into serious box-office draw territory and fuelled the career of Danny DeVito. It may have been made with an eye to replicating the success of Indiana Jones but its tale of a romance novelist (Turner) who ends up on an unlikely treasure hunt in the jungle with a loveable rogue (Douglas) is a charmer in its own right. With plenty of sparky chemistry, something they would later put to good use again in War Of The Roses (which DeVito directed), Turner and Douglas really sell the romance element of proceedings, while DeVito is at his comedy best as a kidnapper and Zemeckis keeps his foot on the action throttle. Perfect Bank Holiday afternoon viewing for those who celebrate.
Grizzly Man, Amazon Prime, streaming now
If there's one thing that can make for a magnetic film, it's eccentricity and Werner Herzog - whose own approach is also always slightly off-the-wall - hits paydirt with the strange and compelling life and death of Timothy Treadwell. A New Yorker, he became so beguiled by nature that he appointed himself "guardian of the bears" in Alaska's Kamai National Park. Sadly for Treadwell, his love was ultimately not reciprocated and a bear sent him to his grave. Herzog uses Treadwell's own footage as the basis for this ruminative film. As Treadwell records his encounters with the animals, in which he constantly anthropomorphises them, Herzog offers a counterpoint regarding "primordial encounters".
Charlie's Angels, 6.50pm, Thursday, August 29
There's a lot to be said for watching a film in which all the stars appear to be having a great time and this McG reboot of the telly favourite is an excellent example. The director had enjoyed a career directing pop videos before he sprang into fully fledged blockbuster territory which, at the time, became the highest grossing debut feature. Certainly the presence of Lucy Liu, Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz, didn't hurt but it's not just a star vehicle. These lassies kick asses in any number of enjoyable ways as they go on a mission to find a missing software genius. With slick action and punchy punchlines, this is a fun romp that also includes a nice nod to the original series as John Forsythe continues to provide the voice of the unseen Charlie.
The French Connection, 10.30pm, BBC4, Thursday, August 29
William Friedkin's gritty 1971 thriller is as good as they get - and likely to make you mourn the fact that Gene Hackman retired from when he was still comparatively young all over again. He stars as NYPD detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle alongside the equally reliable Roy Scheider as his partner Russo as they take on a narcotics ring while breaking every rule in the book. There's a docu-realism to the camerawork meaning you can almost taste the tang of the New York city streets and the subway train chase scene has also lost little of its impact down the years, even if Doyle's attitude is even more problematic by today's standards than it was back then.
Beetlejuice, Netflix, streaming now
With the long-awaited sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opening Venice Film Festival in a couple of days before going on release in the UK on September 6, now seems a good time to catch up with the original. Three decades ago Tim Burton was a comparative unknown when this film put his name firmly on the map. It also turned the young Winona Ryder into a star, as she followed up with Heathers not long after. She plays Lydia Deetz, who befriends a dead couple (Adam Baldwin and Geena Davis), who attempt to haunt her. It turns out they're not much good at the scary stuff, so they enlist the help of Michael Keaton's Beetlejuice, whose full-on performance is reason alone to watch this. Irreverent, pretty gory and a lot of fun.
Captain Phillips, 10.40pm, BBC1, Friday, August 30
Paul Greengrass's gripping drama tells the true story of the hijacking of US cargo ship Maersk Alabama by Somali pirates. Tom Hanks is the big name star, of course, and his performance does not disappoint. Phillips may have a surface calmness but we feel the fear lurking somewhere close by. He's matched by the concentrated performance from Barkhad Abdi as lead pirate Muse, whose character is fully fleshed out by Billy Ray's script. Greengrass had form for edge-of-seat tension with 9/11 film United 93 and he repeats the trick here as the situation escalates. Read what Greengrass and Hanks said about the film here.
This week's short selection is Joe Hsieh's atmospheric animation Night Bus.
