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tv movies

Screen watch: Your guide to the best TV movies to catch this week

From a Japanese children’s classic to the one film to avoid – here are some recommendations for the week ahead.

WE’VE BEEN SIFTING through the movie options available this week across free-to-air TV and streaming services. 

Bank Holiday family favourite

Madman Anime / YouTube

  • My Neighbour Totoro (Netflix)

If you haven’t caught up with the Studio Ghibli films on Netflix, then here’s the perfect one to get started with. In My Neighbour Totoro, two young girls move with their father to a new home, and discover some incredible creatures in the forest next door. A delight.

Classic pick

SMMC4lyfe / YouTube

  • Shadlowlands, TG4, Bank Holiday Monday, 4.30pm

Debra Winger and Anthony Hopkins star in this Richard Attenborough film about an American woman who makes her way into an upper-class teacher’s life.

Streaming pick

YouTube Movies / YouTube

  • Big Night (Netflix)

Stanley Tucci co-wrote and directed this 1996 delightful film about two brothers who run a failing Italian restaurant in New Jersey. So when they get a chance to try and impress a famous singer, they go all out.

Irish pick

LionsgateFilmsUK / YouTube

  • Maze, Saturday, RTE One, 9.30pm 

This 2017 Irish film tells the true story of the Maze escape, and stars a whole host of great Irish actors.

Friday night classic

Movieclips Classic Trailers / YouTube

  • The Magnificent Seven, 10.15pm, TG4, Friday 

Steve McQueen and Yul Brynner are among the famed seven in this classic Western.

Late night pick

LionsgateFilmsUK / YouTube

  • Locke, Film Four, Friday, 1.25am

Tom Hardy is the full focus of this movie, where he plays a man (called Ivan Locke) who is on a long journey when he gets a life-changing phone call. The entire movie is set in the car with Locke, so it’s a thrilling ride.

And finally… one to avoid

Zero Media / YouTube

  • Daddy’s Home 2

With a 21% score on RottenTomatoes and 6/10 on IMDB, this film doesn’t score incredibly high with viewers. Perhaps that’s not surprsing, when you realise it’s a Christmas movie about two dads tormented by their kids and stepkids. Stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg.

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