Pick of the week

Dune

After taking on one mighty sci-fi property in Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve boldly goes for Frank Herbert’s epic novel of galactic empires – and again emerges triumphant. It’s only part one of two, giving him the time to explain how Timothée Chalamet’s callow noble Paul – heir to House Atreides – comes to be on the desert planet Arrakis (AKA Dune) under threat from powerful forces who would destroy his family. Blending Game of Thrones machinations with tribal mysticism and medieval-tinged technology, this sumptuous saga has the narrative sweep and visual grandeur we expect from the best space operas, knitted together with a pleasing lack of portentousness.
Friday 15 April, 10.40am, 8pm, Sky Cinema Premiere

***

All the Old Knives

Eight years after an Islamist plane hijack became a bloodbath, Vienna station CIA agent Henry (a furrow-browed Chris Pine) is asked to ferret out the mole in the agency who helped precipitate the disaster. So far, so Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – but Henry’s main suspect is his former lover Celia (Thandiwe Newton). Janus Metz’s nicely played espionage mystery has plenty of tense spy-stuff flashbacks but at heart it’s a two-hander: the couple share dinner and their memories of the event, but both have motives that are murky at best.
Out now, Amazon Prime Video

***

Great Expectations

You can rely on Charles Dickens for a cracking plot – and this 1946 film of his novel delivers that – but it’s in David Lean’s rich evocation of the early 19th century that the adaptation really comes to life. From mist-soaked Kent marshes to Miss Havisham’s dusty, decaying estate and the bustle of London, Pip’s progress from blacksmith’s boy to snobbish young man, courtesy of an anonymous benefactor, is given depth and drama. John Mills is solid as Pip but it’s the supporting cast who sparkle, particularly Martita Hunt as Miss Havisham and Francis L Sullivan as the lawyer Jaggers.
Saturday 9 April, 2pm, BBC Two

***

The Favourite

Deadpan Greek surrealist Yorgos Lanthimos runs a coach and horses (and the odd duck) through the costume drama with this riotous tale set in the 18th-century court of Queen Anne. A love triangle develops when new servant Abigail (Emma Stone) plots to usurp her cousin, Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz), as the confidante of the petulant, stupid Anne (an Oscar-winning performance of humour and surprising pathos by Olivia Colman). In a nod to Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, it’s shot using only candles, fires or natural light, adding a wow factor to the wit.
Saturday 9 April, 9.15pm, Channel 4

***

Wildlife

Actor Paul Dano’s directorial debut, co-written with Zoe Kazan, is a film of quiet desperation, tenderly extracted from Richard Ford’s novel. In the wide, lonely spaces of 1960s Montana, 14-year-old Joe (a watchful Ed Oxenbould) is dragged into the unresolved dramas of his parents. Prideful, fickle Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal) takes a job away fighting forest fires, and the dissatisfied Jeanette (Carey Mulligan) uses the freedom to explore what life can offer her – but will that include her family?
Monday 11 April, 11.40pm, BBC Two

***

Funny Cow

Ostensibly a rags-to-riches story, this intense drama about a standup comedian reflecting on her early life is more of a psychological dissection of its lead character than a paean to female empowerment. The great Maxine Peake gives no quarter as “Funny Cow”, raised amid poverty and violence but with the determination to find an escape through the northern working men’s club circuit. It’s a harsh world where the (invariably male) comics are rude and racist, and director Adrian Shergold and writer Tony Pitts (who also plays her boyfriend) pull no punches in showing her struggle.
Wednesday 13 April, 1.30am, Channel 4

***

The Godfather

It is now 50 years old, but Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece remains a touchstone for any cinematic depiction of the Italian mafia – and arguably the crime genre as a whole. As Marlon Brando’s Don Corleone strives to maintain his empire as a feud between mob families turns into open warfare, two of his sons – impetuous heir Sonny (James Caan) and the more reserved, thoughtful Michael (Al Pacino) – represent differing paths to success. Directed with operatic flair and packed with great acting, it’s an offer you can’t refuse …
Friday 15 April, 8pm, Sky Cinema Greats