Square Eyes

Television Reviews

Movie of the week: Unbreakable, Prime, Sun, 8.30pm

Bruce Willis is surprisingly good in this drama about a moribund train crash survivor wracked with survivor guilt. His survival captures the imagination of a comic book buff (Samuel L Jackson) with brittle bones who believes he's found an unbreakable superhero. Writer/director M Night Shyamalan offers a deconstruction of comic books and superhero movies, but also tries to explore the nature of evil itself, as he flits between the supernatural and palpable reality, with surprising twists and turns.

Fireflies, ABC, Sat, 8.30pm

Seachange meets the volunteer fire brigade, with Lill (Libby Tanner) and her husband, Perry (John Waters), a shrink, moving to a tree-laden hinterland village, where she joins the knockabout brigade captain 'Backa' Burke (Jeremy Sims) to save the town from flames. Of course there are all sorts of flare ups between the locals. First up is this 90-minute telemovie, followed by 20 weekly episodes.

Wild Australasia, ABC, Sun, 7.30pm

A natural history doco of the antipodes, including Kiwiland and PNG. Breathtakingly filmed, it's wonderful to watch and will especially appeal to kids - although it could do with an Attenborough narration.

Charlie's Angels, NBN, Ten, 8.30pm

Lucy Lui, Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz reprise the kung fu crime fighting 70s chicky-babes, with Bill Murray as the go-between Bosley. It tries to be a cool and groovy video clip, but lacks any humour. Still it offers teenage girls a career to aspire to.

Death in Holy Orders, ABC, Sun, 8.30pm

A gripping two-part adaptation of the best-selling PD James novel, with Martin Shaw starring has Scotland Yard copper Adam Dalgliesh. He's investigating a death at an ecclesiastical college when suddenly everyone's dropping off the twig. It's a ripper whodunnit.

The Life of Buddha, SBS, Sun, 8.30pm

Today is Nirvana Day - not in honour of Kurt Cobain, but rather the fact that 2544 years ago Buddha finally did his last lap and achieved bliss. This rather dry doco tries to reveal Buddha's 'real' side as an 'anarchist visionary' intent on busting up India's caste system. It's a decent Buddhism for Dummies.

Our Boys, ABC, Tues, 8pm

A four-part doco on the PM's old school, Canterbury Boys High, which follows the lives of five lads at the cash-strapped inner Sydney school where 90% of the students now come from non-English speaking backgrounds. This is Bob Carr's education system at its finest - underfunded and unable to help those most in need.

Seduced by Sai Baba, SBS, Thurs, 8.30pm

This fuzzy-haired 'guru' is one in a long line of Indian BS artistes fawned over by new age airheads. But this conjurer, worth an estimated $3 billion, has a darker intent than greed, with this Danish doco revealing a long string of sexual abuse allegations.

My Restaurant Rules, Prime, Thurs, 8pm

The latest 'reality' game show has couples competing to run a restaurant. Why not a TV station?