TV FILMS OF THE WEEK

1

BASIC INSTINCT Tonight, 5 Star, 10pm

DETECTIVE Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) is pressed into action when a rock star is killed with an ice pick. Prime suspect is Catherine Tramell (a star-making turn from Sharon Stone), a crime novelist who was dating the musician. She emerges as a sultry master-manipulator, and it’s no coincidence that she begins a wild affair with Curran, just when he begins to edge closer to tying up the case. Paul Verhoeven’s red-hot thriller is notorious for Stone going commando for the interrogation scene. George Dzundza, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Wayne Knight also star.

2

HOWARDS END Tomorrow, Film 4, 6.05pm

THIS adaptation of EM Forster’s novel is one of the finest movies to come from period drama specialists Merchant Ivory. They’re helped by a top-drawer cast, including Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter, pictured, and an Oscar-winning Emma Thompson. The Schlegel sisters cross paths with the wealthy Wilcoxes, and their fates become intertwined.

3

BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY Monday, Channel 5, 10pm

HELEN FIELDING’S hit novel achieved even greater heights with this Oscar-nominated film adaptation. Renee Zellweger, left, gives what is perhaps a career-defining performance as frustrated singleton Bridget. And Hugh Grant proves that he can play more than his typical bumbling and foppish roles when he gets the chance. Colin Firth also stars as Mark Darcy.

4

THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN Tuesday, Film 4, 4.20pm

THE one where Herbert Lom’s unhinged former police commissioner Dreyfus attempts to take over the world with the help of a giant laser gun. Naturally, Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers, pictured with Lom) has to stop him in his own unique way. Completely over the top of course, but packed with some great sight gags and good performances all round.

5

KING OF THIEVES Wednesday, Channel 5, 10pm

MICHAEL CAINE, pictured, leads a great cast in the film about a real-life gang who pulled off a burglary in London’s jewellery district in 2015. The heist caught the public’s imagination even more so when it emerged the thieves were not exactly in the first flush of youth. Also stars Ray Winstone, Tom Courtenay Paul Whitehouse and Jim Broadbent.

6

THE CORE Thursday, Film 4, 6.20pm

IT’S the end of the world as we know it in this big-budget action movie starring Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, left, and Stanley Tucci. A team of scientists and NASA experts volunteer to travel 3,000 miles below the surface of the Earth in a bid to avert global meltdown. As a diverting couple of hours, director Jon Amiel’s movie delivers its payload.

7

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Friday, BBC1, 10.45pm

TOM CRUISE, pictured, is a wonderful pain in the neck in this lavish blockbuster based on Anne Rice’s bestselling novel. He plays Lestat, a vampire whose history is revealed by a fellow bloodsucker (Brad Pitt) during an interview with a journalist (Christian Slater). Kirsten Dunst and Antonio Banderas also star, along with Stephen Rea.