HomeFilmThis week in movies: Eddie the Eagle, Sunset Song & Alien

This week in movies: Eddie the Eagle, Sunset Song & Alien

Here are the films we think you should be watching this week.

From the hottest cinema releases, brand new to Blu-ray, and the best of what’s on the box, Entertainment Focus has it covered.

At the Cinema

Eddie the Eagle – released 01/04/2016

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After the bombast and relentless misery of last week’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, I think we could all go for something a little more light-hearted. Step forward, Michael “Eddie the Eagle” Edwards, the plucky downhill skier, who due to lack of funds and opportunity, switched to ski jumping in order to reach the Olympics. Could he ski jump? No he couldn’t. Did the entire world fall in love with him for trying anyway? You bet they did.

Starring Taron Egerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service) and Hugh Jackman as the entirely fictional coach, Eddie the Eagle promises to be a funny and heart-warming account of one of Britain’s most iconic sportsmen. The truth will no doubt be stretched, and liberties will be taken, but this will all be in the service of creating a crowd-pleasing movie.

We don’t just love underdogs in this country, we also love a good underdog movie. If you enjoyed the likes of Pride, The Full Monty, Billy Elliot and Made in Dagenham, then Eddie the Eagle will most definitely be the film for you this week.

Read our Eddie the Eagle review

 

On Blu-ray

Sunset Song – released 04/04/2016

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If you’re in the mood for something a little more poetic, then the Terence Davies directed Sunset Song might be just the thing for you. Based on the classic novel by Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song tells the bleak yet beautiful coming-of-age story of Chris Guthrie, a farmer’s daughter in turn of the century Scotland.

Played by former model Agyness Deyn, Chris endures constant hardships, whether it be the unforgiving landscape, the hands of her brute father (Peter Mullan) or the looming onset of war.

Stunning cinematography and excellent performances combine to make this a truly unforgettable film.

 

On Television

Alien – 02/04/2016 9:00pm on Film 4

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What a week for movies on TV this is. We’ve got American Psycho, Rust and Bone, Sunshine on Leith, and the absolutely stunning prison thriller A Prophet. But even with all these fantastic films on offer, the greatest science-fiction horror movie ever made is on TV this weekend. Alien, directed by Ridley Scott is the high water mark in outer space based horror.

When a crew of haulage contractors are alerted to a distress beacon on their long journey back to Earth, they find a derelict craft on an uninhabitable planet. But something is alive down there. Waiting for a willing host.

There’s nothing I can add that hasn’t already been said about this film. It is a work of genius. From the claustrophobic, industrial production design that is still imitated today, to the cast of characters being working class space truckers instead of your typical pristine futuristic astronauts. Then you get the most famous dinner scene in cinema, followed by H.R. Giger’s biomechanical beast – the most iconic monster in movie-land. And to top it all off, this is the film that gave us arguably the greatest female character in the history of cinema – Sigourney weaver as Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley.

If you hadn’t guessed already, this is one of my all time favourite films. If you’ve not seen it before, I urge you to do so this week. There’s a lot of good stuff to watch on television this week, but nothing as good as Alien.

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John Parker
John is a freelance writer and film reviewer for Entertainment Focus.

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