Best on the box
James Croot picks out the best on the box for the week ahead.
Mythical Movie Theatres, 8.30pm, Friday, Sky Arts
This eight-part documentary series promises to take viewers on a trip around the globe to discover the most amazing cinemas. Each episode focuses on a different movie theatre, from Athens’ The Thission to Tierra de Fuego’s The Porvenir and Prague’s The Lucerna to Havana’s The Campoamor.
A Ghost Story, 8.30pm, Saturday, Rialto
David Lowery’s 2017 meditative romantic drama is bewildering and beguiling in equal measures. What other movie this past year dared to place Oscar’s reigning best actor winner under a sheet for most of the running time, or spend five minutes watching a terrific young Hollywood actress devour a family-sized pie? And yet somehow for all that craziness it still left a good chunk of cinemagoers haunted by it for days.
Canada: The Story of Us, 6.30pm, Sunday, History
Made to celebrate this North American nation’s 150th anniversary this past year, this An Oscar-winner earlier this year, Casey Affleck spends most of A Ghost Story under a bedsheet. 10-part series uses CGI and a cast of celebrity interviews to take viewers inside the country’s biggest stories. As the publicity states, it features 50 stories of ‘‘change makers and rule breakers, dreamers and visionaries, scientists and entrepreneurs who forged a nation in a vast and harsh land’’. Naturally, it features an introduction from Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.
The Great Australian Bake Off, 7.30pm, Tuesday, Prime
It’s biscuit week in this latest iteration of the Aussie version of the much-loved British cooking competition. Under the watchful eye of judges Matt Moran and Maggie Beer, the contestants must whip up some filled biscuits, an Italian cannoli and a showstopper fit for bakers and builders alike. 7
Days irregulars Claire Hooper and Mel Buttle are the genial hosts.
Steve Jobs, 8.30pm, Wednesday, Three
Like its polarising subject, Danny Boyle’s film is an inspirational and sometimes infuriating watch. In the ultimate three-act structure, this 2015 drama looks at the life of the Apple co-founder (played here by an impressive Michael Fassbender) and at a trio of key points in his career – 1984’s launch of the Apple Macintosh, 1988’s introduction of the NEXT Black Cube and 1998’s birth of the imac G3.
The History of Comedy, 8.45pm, Thursday, TVNZ1
This new eight-part CNN series uses archival footage and current interviews to investigate what makes the comedic mind tick. Talking to everyone from stand-up and sitcom stars to late-night hosts and improv troupes, it aims to examine what makes us laugh and how comedy has affected the social and political landscape throughout history. ‘‘Would be enjoyable just for its wealth of vintage clips,’’ wrote The New York Times‘ Neil Genzlinger.