TV | Freeview Flicks: Singin’ in the Rain, Inglorious Bastards and Four Lions

In the Middle’s best weekly freeview flicks picks is here! This week we go singing in the rain, meet a fanged villain and attempt to kill Hitler.

MONDAY – Dracula (BBC4 22:00)

Halloween is fast approaching, and so all our favourite horror films will be making a return to our television screens. One of the most classic horror films ever made is Dracula, starring the wonderful Christopher Lee in the title role. A figure of huge cultural importance, Dracula is quite simply everywhere and has been adapted for the big screen time and time again in various different ways. With the right mixture of horror, emotion, drama, action and eroticism, it is the classic vampire film.

TUESDAY – Singin’ In The Rain (Film4 14:45)

Winter is certainly approaching, and deadlines for essays are getting closer and closer and the reality of the huge amount of university work you have to do is becoming clearer. What you folks need is a classical musical to put a smile on your face. That is exactly what Singin’ in the Rain is good at, a classic and simply wonderful musical that hits all the right notes.

WEDNESDAY – Hugo (Film4 21:00)

Martin Scorsese is directing a kid’s film in 3D? The question asked by many when Scorsese announced that he was making the film Hugo. Although children will certainly love the magical story and beautiful aesthetics, it is certainly much more than a kid’s film. Completely uplifting, magical and beautiful in terms of visuals and story, this film is something to treasure.

THURSDAY – Jurassic Park (ITV2 18:30)

Being made as you read this is Jurassic World, the latest film in the Jurassic series attempting to revive the popular franchise. No matter what they do,it is highly unlikely to be better than the original Jurassic Park, a Spielberg masterpiece that has stood the test of time. Everyone knows the story, everyone has probably seen the film, but who doesn’t want to watch this classic again and again?

FRIDAY – Inglourious Basterds (Film4 21:00)

Brad Pitt stars in Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds as a slightly nuts Jewish U.S. soldier, who has a plan to assassinate senior Nazi leaders, including Hitler himself. Because this is a Quentin Tarantino film, you know you can expect lots of bloody violence, dark humour, a witty script and just moments of sheer oddness and absurdity. Perfect for a Friday night in.

SATURDAY – Killer Joe (Film4 22:45)

Director William Friedkin is best known for The Exorcist, a film that changed the horror genre. Since then, the films he has been making have never really impressed, at least until he teamed up with none other than Matthew McConaughey. Fresh off the set of romantic comedies, and ready to show what he is actually made of, he shows off his real acting talent in Killer Joe. Emile Hirsch plays a desperate man who hires a hit man, McConaughey, to kill his mother to get the insurance money that would pay his debts. Twisted from the start, the film just gets more and more unsettling. Not for the faint hearted, but worth a watch.

SUNDAY – Four Lions (Channel 4 22:05)

Straight after Homeland, a serious drama about terrorism, Channel 4 are showing a comedy about terrorists, Four Lions (which nutter put that schedule together?). One of the biggest hits in its year of release, Four Lions surprised everyone, being a likeable, hilarious and surprisingly touching comedy about a group of wannabe terrorists in Britain. The quartet of incompetent British jihadists will not only make you laugh until your stomach hurts, but force you to make a connection that makes the end of the film more stark and emotional than is expected.

Emily Murray

Image property of fourlionsthemovie.com

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