Square Eyes

Television Reviews

Movie of the week, Best in Show, NBN, Sun, 8.30pm:

This brilliant spoof is set around the tensions leading up to a major dog show. It looks like a doco, but is a sly dig at the sort of people everyone knows - from yuppie lawyers to the old bloke with the trophy wife and the anal-retentive officials. The thing they all have in common is their canine obsession and competitiveness. Sit back, watch the sparks fly and laugh in this dry comedy.

The Green Mile, Prime, Fri, 8.30pm:

Steven King's prison novel is classily rendered with Tom Hanks starring as the benevolent prison warder tending to death row (aka the green mile) inmates. It's a movie that tosses around notions of racism, evil and redemption. While three hours is almost a sentence in itself, it's worth hanging in.

The Truman Show, Ten, Fri, 9.40pm:

Did Peter Weir know just how prescient his movie would become? Or is he to blame for the excess of turgid 'reality' shows? The resounding message of this clever film is that all TV is lies, manipulation and utter BS.

Danish Royal Wedding, SBS, Fri, 11pm:

Our Mary marries that nice chap from Denmark she met at the Olympics. It's a nice fairytale that seems to have captured the imagination. We can only hope their happiness doesn't become the tragic tabloid trash of the Lady Di era. If you prefer commercial loo breaks, Prime screens it from midnight.

Eurovision Song Contest, SBS, Sun, 7.30pm:

So bad it's good - like Australian Idol in funny accents as 10 contestants from different countries try to woo the other nations with cheesy pop songs. Remember this is the gig which gave us Abba.

The Bridge on the River Kwai, ABC, Sun, 7.30pm:

It's strange to think that a railway line that killed so many Australian and other Allied soldiers now carries the posh Orient Express train filled with well-heeled tourists. This fascinating doco, which is nonetheless unsettling, considers the 420km line as the greatest engineering feat of WWII. The blood that got it there is another story.

Heartbreakers, Prime, Sun, 8.30pm:

Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt play a mother and daughter con team out to rip off blokes (like Gene Hackman) who fall for them. It's kind of a chick's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, but despite their best efforts, the humour and romantic subplots fail to gel.

Death in Venice, SBS, Sun, 11pm:

Thomas Mann's novella became a film 33 years ago, with an impressive Dirk Bogarde as the technical, brilliant yet soulless composer whose life is transformed by his obsession with a beautiful young boy. It's a strange worship from afar, and while it hints at paedophilia, it's a story of decay, beauty, obsession, isolation and inspiration, and a wondrously crafted film.