Square Eyes

Television Reviews

Movie of the week, Kandahar, SBS, Tues, 10.50pm:

Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf offers a Kafkaesque vision of a woman's life in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime. It's a semi-autobiographical account of an expat who sneaks into her home country to rescue her suicidal sister. It's a breathtaking odyssey across a bleak, war-torn and ancient landscape - made prior to S11 - that tells a compelling and disturbing visual story. The director's poignant doco on life after the Taliban, Afghan Alphabet, about children finally going to school, screens beforehand at 10pm.

Into the bedroom, Prime, Fri, 9pm:

Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson star as parents whose son is killed by the jealous ex of his lover. It's a ruminative and raw tearjerker about how unspoken anguish will ultimately surface to devastating effect.

Into Thin Air, Ten, Sat, 10.30pm:

Jon Krakauer's bestselling eyewitness account of the night in 1996 when 12 men died on Mt Everest becomes a tragic drama with a salutary warning. Kiwi mountaineer Rob Hall (Nathaniel Parker), called his pregnant wife a final time as he slowly froze, unwilling to leave a paying customer he led to the summit. It's a story about how money can buy most things, but not save your life.

Celebrity Circus, NBN, Sun, 6.30pm:

The name says it all really, except it's more has-been clowning.

The Real Da Vinci Code, ABC, Sun, 7.30pm:

Apparently I'm the only one left who hasn't read Dan Brown's book, which apparently has something to do with the Holy Grail, Jesus getting married and having kids, and Leonardo painting clues into his Last Supper. Baldrick, aka Tony Robinson, spins a beautiful tale as he explores the claims, which is more than can be said for the book.

Beating Vegas, SBS, Tues, 8.30pm:

This is a great revenge-of-the-nerds sting, in which a group of students took on the casinos at blackjack. Posing as high rollers, they used a legal mathematical formula, card counting, and won handsomely, while enjoying lavish hospitality from casinos trying to suck them dry. Of course the one thing you're not allowed to do is win, so a game of cat and mouse ensued. Still, it's one for the battlers.

The Queen's Castle, NBN, Weds, 7.30pm:

An interesting behind-the-scenes look at the going's on at Her Maj's country house. It's a year in the life, beginning with preparations for a dinner for French president Chirac, ironically held in the Waterloo room.

Shake, Rattle & Roll, SBS, Thurs, 8.30pm:

Ross Collins was just 33 when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's a decade ago. The Victorian copper quit to care for his kids, then headed to Brazil with his GP father in search of a cure. A moving portrait of a family under pressure, and the battle between medical beliefs and faith.