Film and television critic Philip Wakefield assesses the best movies on offer on the box this week, for Tuesday, June 10 to Monday, June 16.
Tuesday
AEON FLUX
2005, AO. 8.30pm, TV2.
Surprisingly dull live-action dramatisation of the cult ‘toon about a sexy assassin, starring Charlize Theron as a sleek, kinky, futuristic cross between La Femme Nikita and Catwoman. Girlfight’s Karyn Kusama directs; Kiwi Martin Csokas (Romulus, My Father, Kingdom of Heaven) co-stars. 
Wednesday
STEALING HARVARD
2002, AO. 8.30pm, Prime.
Lowbrow comedy starring My Name is Earl’s Jason Lee as a salesman who resorts to crime to pay for his trailer park niece’s tuition at Harvard. Tom Green, Law & Order’s Dennis Farina, Will & Grace’s Megan Mullaly and Scrubs’ John C McGinley co-star.
Thursday
MONSTER HOUSE
2006, PGR. 6pm, Sky Movies 2.
It’s a little early for Halloween but this astounding triumph of animation, imagination and characterisation is worth celebrating any time of the year. Enthralling and funny, it summons up the child within all of us and features the voices of Steve Buscemi, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kevin James, Jason Lee and Kathleen Turner. 
Friday
ELIZABETH
1998, AO. 11.15pm, TV3.
This rip-snorting re-interpretation of the dawning of England's Golden Age owes less to historical pedantry than the epic intrigue and ruthless machinations of The Godfather. It succinctly but sensationally dramatises how Elizabeth I's coronation changed Henry VIII's Protestant daughter from a naïve princess to a hardened survivor of murderous Catholic plotting and a “virgin queen” married only to her people. Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush and Joseph Fiennes star. 
Saturday
ICE AGE
2002, G. 7.30pm, TV3.
Ice Age is for all ages, a dazzling, dizzying ‘toon about an unlikely trio -- Manfred the Mammoth, Diego the Sabretooth Tiger and Sid the Slot -- on an incredibly funny journey to return a lost tyke to his cave clan. The outstanding sight gags are reminiscent of Warner Bros’ animation-amok heyday while the characterisations owe more to Shrek with a dash of Monsters, Inc's tenderness.
THE SCORPION KING
2002, AO. 9.30pm, TV3.
Entertaining spin-off from The Mummy Returns, in which The Rock reprises his role as the Egyptian warrior in the Gomorrah of 5000 years ago, where an evil ruler lurks. Chuck Russell (Eraser, The Mask) directs; Michael Clarke Duncan co-stars. 
SCARY MOVIE 3
2003, AO. 9.35pm TV2.
This gag-cum-gaspfest franchise graduates from skewering teenage slasher drivel to higher-concept creepshows like The Sixth Sense, Signs and The Matrix. There’s also a change in director, with Flying High’s David Zucker taking over from Keenan Ivory Wayans.
ADAPTATION
2002, AO. 10.20pm, TV One.
Nicolas Cage plays real-life neurotic screenwriter Charlie Kaufman trying to turn a book about orchids into a movie as meaningful as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. That’s when he’s not wrestling with writer's block worse than Barton Fink’s or watching his uncomplicated (but fictitious) twin deliver a cut-and-paste screenplay for six figures. The rest of the ingenious, mind-bending plot fractures time and reality with the same breathtaking finesse and delicacy that it peels back the layers of its title. Never has there been such an inventive, perceptive or laugh-out-loud take on the agony and angst of the creative process or the human condition. Spike Jonze, whose first head trip with Kaufman was Being John Malkovich, directs.
SNAKE EYES
1998, AO. 11.20pm, TV2.
Political conspiracy thriller starring Nicolas Cage as a crooked cop whose bending of the rules while investigating a politician's murder during an Atlantic City prizefight paradoxically proves both his making and his undoing. It's an unusual dilemma for an action hero and one that, ironically, undoes Snake Eyes, robbing it of thrills as the see-through plot lumbers towards a lame resolution that's neither visceral nor thought provoking. Brian De Palma (Redacted, Mission: Impossible) directs; CSI: New York’s Gary Sinise co-stars.
THE WATCHER
2000, AO. 11.30pm, TV3.
An FBI agent suffers a mental breakdown while working on a shocking serial killer case and goes into hiding in another city ... only to have the murderer follow and torment him with photographs of his next intended victims. More far-fetched than frightening, it stars James Spader, Keanu Reeves and Marisa Tomei.
Sunday
MAD MAX: BEYOND THUNDERDOME
1985, AO. 8.30pm, C4.
The third Max Max is simply the best when it comes to production values but mayhem-wise it’s the softest in the trilogy. Joining Mel Gibson is Tina Turner as a post-apocalyptic Wicked Witch of the West while Max becomes a father-knows-best for a lost tribe of children. George Miller (Happy Feet, Babe: Pig in the City) directs.
THE TRUTH ABOUT CATS AND DOGS
1996, AO. 11.30pm, TV3.
Delightful romantic comedy with a Cyrano De Bergerac pedigree starring Janeane Garofalo as the host of a radio talkback show about animals who's asked out - sight unseen - by a caller (The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep’s Ben Chaplin). But she's so insecure she asks a neighbour - a model who men mistreat (Uma Thurman) - to go in her place. The set-up is shaky but what develops is so charming and perfectly played that you're happy to suspend disbelief just to savour the sweet performances and gentle humour.
Monday
THE OMEN
2006, AO. 8.30pm, Sky Movies.
The Omen is a miscast, cut-and-paste re-make of the 1976 demonic blockbuster that looks as if it was assembled with pinking shears. Made in haste to meets its worldwide 666 release date -- the sixth day of the sixth month of 2006 – it ploddingly follows the original but with none of the finesse or frights that made director Richard Donner’s reputation. John Moore directs Julia Stiles, Liev Shreiber and Mia Farrow.
See Also
