Pick of the Week:
Life, Animated
SVT2, April 17, 21:35
The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind followed up on his 2014 bestseller Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes and Autism with this documentary, which he made in collaboration with Roger Ross Williams (God Loves Uganda).
Life, Animated (Metacritic: 75) follows the development of Suskind’s autistic son Owen who was diagnosed with a developmental disorder at the age of three. Soon the parents realised that Disney animated movies were the only way to communicate with their son.
The Guardian found it “a tremendous story of family love and Disney cartoons” while the Telegraph chimed: “Life, Animated is one of those documentaries with a story so cut out for inspirational screen treatment it’s almost suspect – scarcely credible, at first.”
Interviews and Disney extracts are supported by private footage. Definitely, a must-see! (LH)
Also new:
It’s ironic that Midsomer Murders (SVT2, March 11, 19:05), with its multiple murders per episode – exactly the kind of police drama that slow-burning Forbrydelsen was the antithesis of – is so popular in Denmark. It was inevitable that ‘Barnaby’ would head to Copenhagen one day.
The new Barnaby, in case you never cared to find out, is the cousin of the original character (Bergerac), and in this episode (the 100th in fact) the Danish capital joins Brighton as the only place to ‘host’ a Midsomer murder outside the fictional county.
Murderers are the subject of several docs this month – or should we say the object. The compelling Unknown Male No 1 (SVT2, April 10, 22:20) takes us to Italy, The Thread (DR2, April 5, 23:55) follows the post-Boston Marathon manhunt, and Netanyahu at War (DR2, April 11-12, 23:00) … we jest, we jest.
Elsewhere, the miniseries Killing Jesus (SVT1, April 15-16) casts an actor of Western Asian heritage in the title role for the first time ever; there’s another chance to see Fleming – the Man who would be Bond (DR1, April 10-11, 23:35) and S2 of Poldark (SVT1, April 1, 21:30); we’ve got the final of X Factor (DR1, March 31, 20:00); and the good docs continue with Saving Africa’s Elephants: Hugh and the Ivory War (DR2, April 2, 20:00) and Airbnb Nightmares (DR3, April 10, 20:45). (BH)
Coming soon:
Brick Top, Bullet-Tooth Tony, Franky Four Fingers … with so many classic characters, how will the TV series Snatch (55 on Metacritic) live up to the 2000 classic? With difficulty is the answer. The casting of Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) as one of the ‘Lock Stock’ con artists does not inspire confidence.
Imposters (70) the lot of them, you might say, although this Bravo series about con artists has more going on. Beautiful Maddie is a black widow but without the killing, whose past finally catches up with her.
Megan also gets hitched for the money in The Arrangement (61) – to a Hollywood star. Yes, think Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.
“Bleak, beautiful and brilliant,” – no not Holmes in Dawson’s Creek, this is the Guardian’s take on To Walk Invisible: The Brontë Sisters (72) in which the trio try to cope with their alcohol-addicted brother by publishing bestselling novels about domineering male ogres.
In the modern age, maybe Emily would have penned 13 Reasons Why (86), a tale of the suicide of a teenage girl. After all, Kate Bush would have beaten her to the other title.
Elsewhere, the reviews for Marvel’s Iron Fist (37) are poor, time travel yarn Sun Records (65) takes us back to the beginnings of rock ’n’ roll and Trial & Error (67) is a passable comedy about a lawyer – like we need another one of them. (LH)
Sport of the Week:
The FA Cup semis (K6, Chelsea vs Tottenham on April 22, 18:15, Manchester City vs Arsenal on April 23, 16:00), US Masters (SVT2, April, 17:55), Grand National – the ultimate sporting weekend last century. These days they’re spread out a bit more and joined by the latter stages of the Champions League (Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid, Juve vs Barca – 3+, April 12-13, 20:45) and back-to-back F1 races: the Chinese (3+, April 9, 06:30) and Bahrain GPs (April 16, 15:30). (BH)
Film of the Week:
Now, promise you won’t tell me anything about Gone Girl (DR1, April 14, 21:15). A raved-about thriller directed by David Fincher in which bad things happen to Ben Affleck – what’s not to like? The Sessions (DR3, April 14, 22:45) is likewise hard to fault. An incapacitated 38-year-old man decides to lose his virginity to a sex surrogate, and the end-result is charming, thoughtful and well acted. Also on is Kick-Ass 2 (DR3 April 1, 21:00) (BH)
