TV Entertainment News

Film picks: The Golden Compass | Paris, Je T'Aime | Sexy Beast

The Golden Compass 6pm, Sky Movies Premiere (Chris Weitz, 2007) This first instalment of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy is a triumphant addition to the youthful fantasy market. There's a feisty heroine in Dakota Blue Richards's young Lyra, a cold-hearted villain in Nicole Kidman's Mrs Coulter, and the whole world of magical animal daemons, sky ships and warrior polar bears is fantastically realised. Paris, Je T'Aime 10pm, Sky Movies Indie (Olivier Assayas etc, 2006) Eighteen vignettes, by different directors, on the subject of love in Paris - the results are inevitably patchy, but taken together make for a fascinating portrait of the city. Among the best ones are a poignant conversation between parting lovers Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara, and Wes Craven's comic resurrection of Oscar Wilde in a graveyard. Sexy Beast 11pm, Film4 (Jonathan Glazer, 2000) The curious opening - in which a boulder tumbles off a mountain and lands in the swimming pool of gangster Gal (Ray Winstone) - signals that this is no ordinary crime thriller. Gal is hauled away from sun-soaked retirement on the costa del crime for one last job by Ben Kingsley's terrifying villain Don Logan; which sounds hackneyed, but director Glazer crafts a superbly suspenseful black comedy that keeps its edge to the end. TV pick of the week Television guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds (read more)