The weekend is here, and with it are some great movies airing on TV that you should check out.
From a “gripping” classic thriller starring Cillian Murphy to an acclaimed recent South Korean mystery, BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have a wealth of offerings.
Digital Spy has rounded up five of the best films to catch over the next day or so.
The Magnificent Seven
This 1960 classic is considered one of the greatest westerns ever made, and features an ensemble cast including movie icon Steve McQueen.
A remake of Akira Kurosawa’s iconic Seven Samurai, The Magnificent Seven follows seven gunfighters who are hired to protect a Mexican village from a group of bandits.
The action-packed movie was followed by a number of sequels and a TV series, as well as a 2016 remake starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt and Ethan Hawke. However, if you fancy catching the original, it is on TV on Saturday afternoon.
Airing on Saturday at 1.55pm on BBC Two. Available after on BBC iPlayer.
Godzilla vs Kong
Starring Alexander Skarsgård and Millie Bobby Brown, the movie follows on from 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters and 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, and pits the two iconic creatures against one another after the Monarch organisation moves Kong from Skull Island to the Hollow Earth.
The film received a largely positive critical reception – sitting at 76% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes – and was a box office hit during the pandemic, ending up as the eighth highest-grossing movie of 2021. Sequel Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire was released last year in cinemas.
Airing on Saturday at 7.30pm on ITV1. Available after on ITVX.
M3GAN
This sci-fi horror has become a cult classic since its release three years ago, and follows an AI doll who develops self-awareness, getting very protective of her owner that leads to murderous consequences.
Starring The Haunting of Hill House‘s Violet McGraw and Girls‘ Allison Williams, M3GAN made $180 million off a budget of just $12 million, while a sequel called M3GAN 2.0 is on the way this month – that’s not to mention a spin-off called SOULM8TE coming next year.
Ahead of the follow-up, you can catch the original this weekend on TV.
Airing on Saturday at 9.35pm on Channel 4. Available after on Channel 4.
Decision to Leave
Director Park Chan-wook’s (Oldboy) neo-noir follows a detective who starts to grow feelings for a suspect in a murder case he is investigating, who also happens to be the wife of the victim.
Decision to Leave was acclaimed by critics when it was released, and sits on a near-perfect score of 94% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. It also earned two BAFTA nominations as well as winning the Best Director accolade at the Cannes Film Festival. Tang Wei and Park Hae-il star as the two central characters.
Airing on Sunday at 00.30am on BBC Two. Available after on BBC iPlayer.
28 Days Later
Ahead of anticipated sequel 28 Years Later, the movie that started it all is airing on BBC One this weekend. Released back in 2003, the thriller follows Cillian Murphy’s Jim as he wakes up from a coma only to find a rage-inducing virus has caused the breakdown of society.
28 Days Later come from director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) and writer Alex Garland (Warfare) – who are both returning for the new movie – and also stars James Bond‘s Naomie Harris, The Banshees of Inisherin‘s Brendan Gleeson and Doctor Who‘s Christopher Eccleston.
Airing on Sunday at 10.30pm on BBC One. Available after on BBC iPlayer.
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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘i’ as a sub-editor.
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