Sunday’s TV tips
(2002) Spirited Away was a deserving winner of an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003.
Hayao Miyazaki’s extraordinary, magical adventure constantly surprises with its daring plot twists and unexpected flights of surreal fancy, interspersed with gentle humour as a young girl named Chihiro (voiced by Daveigh Chase) struggles to break the spell which has transformed her parents (Michael Chiklis, Lauren Holly) into pigs.
The film was originally released in dubbed and subtitled versions (for the purists) and both boast lively vocal performances full of emotion, which carry the story along at a brisk pace.
If you’re a fan of classical music, don’t miss a chance to see this open-air performance by Opera North of Benjamin Britten’s opera from 2013, which was organised as part of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the writer’s birth.
The show is performed on Aldeburgh Beach, the location that originally inspired its creation, and tells the story of a fisherman living in a small seaside community, who is treated with mistrust by his neighbours due to the mysterious disappearances of his young apprentices. Alan Oke and Giselle Allen star.
Brand new to TV3, the sixteenth series of the groundbreaking reality show, Big Brother, hits our screens with a brand new bunch of eccentric, entertaining and unique housemates.
Hosted by Emma Willis, the new ‘Timebomb’ theme will see a Mad Men-influenced, '60s-style decor for the new house as part of an upbeat, glamorous, thrilling and mischievous series. Big Brother will play with time during tasks and have secret missions to create tension in the house.
(2007) In this post-apocalyptic thriller about the last survivor of a terrible man-made catastrophe, virologist Robert Neville (Will Smith) lives in the ruins of the Big Apple seeking a cure for the outbreak.
For three years, he vainly sends out daily messages in the hope of making contact with other survivors while dodging the deadly attentions of mutant victims of the plague.
Director Francis Lawrence makes good use of flashback sequences to reveal the events leading up to the disaster, and the hero’s ongoing battle for survival against the evil Alpha Male will keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
(2013) Auctioneer Simon (James McAvoy) accrues massive gambling debts and agrees to clear them by helping criminal Franck (Vincent Cassel) to steal a vaulable painting.
The heist goes as planned until Simon puts on a show in front of the auction house security guards by tasering Franck, and the thief retaliates by knocking him unconscious.
Simon wakes bloodied and disoriented, suffering from amnesia, which is unfortunate when it transpires that the painting has gone missing and its location is buried deep within Simon’s memory.
So Franck enlists the services of hypnotherapist Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson) to find out out the location of the stolen canvas. As Elizabeth spends increasing amounts of time with Simon, she sparks an attraction with her patient which crosses professional boundaries.
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer could be what’s running through Norrell’s mind when Strange arrives in London to work as his apprentice.
The duo use their powers to save a stricken ship, but the elder magician fears his new friend will surpass him and guards his secrets closely – particularly the ancient magic of the infamous Raven King.
The mysterious Gentleman exerts a sinister influence over Sir Walter Pole’s household, taking butler Stephen Black to a shadowy kingdom where he discovers the price of Lady Pole’s resurrection.
The Speech is a life affirming new series, which aims to help individuals to overcome their fear of public speaking, and this week it’s proprietor of the Vibes and Scribes book and craft shop, Joan Lucey from Cork. A successful businesswoman, Joan is chatty, charming and confident – but when she’s asked to speak in public, that confidence plummets…
In six weeks time, Joan is throwing a party to celebrate the launch of her business online – an occasion that will demand an impressive speech. The woman tasked with the job of preparing Joan for her big speech is television and radio presenter Kathryn Thomas.
As well as arming Joan with her own tricks of the trade, Kathryn organises a session with Remie Purtill-Clarke, a coach in performance and public speaking, in a bid to help Joan lose her inhibitions.
After six weeks of training the day of Joan’s launch finally arrives. In Joan’s shop in Cork, guests start to arrive and Joan puts the tools she’s learnt into practice. Will the training she’s been given over the last few weeks give her the confidence she needs to pull off the speech of her life?
The celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of VE Day have grabbed the attention recently, while helping recall the joyous feelings of those directly affected by the conflict.
But this documentary investigates a far darker period by examining stories of brutal acts of violence in the aftermath of the Second World War.
Some citizens of countries occupied by the Nazis took revenge by committing atrocities against German or German-born civilians who had lived peacefully alongside them prior to the war.
Survivors and eyewitnesses describe what happened.
Stevie Wonder has been a star for most of his life. He signed his first record deal at the age of 11, and two years later became the youngest person to reach the number one album spot in America.
More than 50 years later, an all-star line-up pay tribute to him during this amazinf concert.
Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran, Pharrell Williams, Tony Bennett and John Legend are just a few of the big names performing numbers from Stevie’s songbook at LA’s Nokia Theatre, before the man himself takes to the stage for a performance of some of his all-time classics, including Superstition and You Are the Sunshine of My Life.
Hosted by LL Cool J, the evening also includes Annie Lennox, Ariana Grande, Ne-Yo, Jill Scott and Babyface.
