Bugonia: A Black Comedy with an Alien Twist
A scruffy conspiracy theorist (Jesse Plemons) and a CEO-maybe-alien (Emma Stone) face off in this wild black comedy. Plemons plays Teddy Gatz, a warehouse worker and beekeeper, distraught about the damage done by corporations such as the one Michelle Fuller (Stone) heads up. Teddy's internet research has convinced him Fuller is an Andromedan colonist intent on enslaving humanity, so along with his autistic cousin Don (Aidan Delbis), Teddy plans to kidnap her and negotiate Earth's liberation. Technically, Bugonia is a remake of a Korean film, but the mischievous mood comes unmistakably from Yorgos Lanthimos, the acclaimed director behind Poor Things and The Favourite. The film airs Saturday 4 July, 10.25am and 8pm, on Sky Cinema Premiere.
Tombstone: A Classic Western with Val Kilmer
This tough-talking 1990s western is one of several movies to retell events surrounding the legendary Gunfight at the OK Corral, when Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) and his deputised lawmen attempted to disarm a gang of cattle rustlers in the saloon town of Tombstone, Arizona. What sets this version apart is a scene-stealing turn from Val Kilmer as sickly Doc Holliday, a brief-but-brilliant voiceover narration from Robert Mitchum, and several tremendous moustaches. It airs Sunday 5 July, 9pm, on Film4.
Blade Runner: A Sci-Fi Masterpiece
Los Angeles, 2019. The permanent neo-noir night. It's the job of cop turned bounty hunter Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) to track down and retire rogue replicants. But what if Rick can't tell the humans from their bioengineered counterparts? Ridley Scott's 1982 film was a relative flop on first release, but is now widely considered among the greatest sci-fi films of all time. This 2007-issued final cut blends influences as disparate as German expressionism, Italian futurism and Hong Kong on a very bad day into a visually iconic whole. It airs Sunday 5 July, 10pm, on BBC Two.
My Summer of Love: Emily Blunt's Debut
Emily Blunt's big-screen debut boded well for her magnificent career. She plays Tamsin, an alluring posh girl who hooks up with tomboy Mona (Natalie Press) over one sultry season in West Yorkshire's Calder valley. Paddy Considine plays Phil, Mona's ex-convict brother, whose recent religious conversion seems to conceal a simmering propensity for violence. It's a modern-day lesbian Wuthering Heights, with Bafta-winning direction from Paweł Pawlikowski, who just picked up his second best director award at this year's Cannes. Airs Wednesday 8 July, 12.05am, on BBC Two.
Wicked: For Good – The Vibrant Conclusion
Does pink complement green – or does it clash? This concluding part to the Broadway musical adaptation inspired by The Wizard of Oz is an impressive feat of tonal blending. At its heart is the fraught bond between Glinda the Good (Ariana Grande) and Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West (Cynthia Erivo). There are other vibrant strands woven in, including backstories for familiar characters such as the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man and Dorothy herself. Airs Friday 10 July, 7.25am and 6pm, on Sky Cinema Premiere.
Leave Her to Heaven: A Noir Classic
Demonic daddy's girl Ellen (Gene Tierney) creates havoc in this 1945 noir-melodrama, cited by Martin Scorsese as an all-time favourite. Cornel Wilde plays Richard, the unsuspecting novelist who falls for a beautiful Boston socialite on the train to Jacinto, but soon lives to regret his impulsivity. Leon Shamroy's sumptuous Technicolor cinematography won that year's Academy award, and director John M Stahl includes allusions to femme fatales of Greek mythology. Airs Friday 10 July, 11am, on Film4.
The Bodyguard: Whitney Houston's Debut
Once intended as a vehicle for Steve McQueen and Diana Ross, The Bodyguard had a 20-year journey to the screen before finally materialising in 1992 as Whitney Houston's film-acting debut. She plays a famous actor and singer who, despite being threatened by a stalker, resists restrictions placed upon her by new head of security Frank (Kevin Costner). Until the two get intimate. Initially dismissed as hokey, The Bodyguard now stands as a timeless tribute to the power of soaring ballads and interracial romance. Airs Friday 10 July, 8pm, on Sky Cinema Greats.
