Whether you’re staying on the couch or taking a trip to the cinema this weekend, we’ve got a recommendation for you
BBC One: The Graham Norton Show, 10.40pm (14 Feb)
If you’re staying in on Friday night and fancy listening to some fun, celebrity chat, look no further than The Graham Norton Show on BBC One. Joining Graham on the red couch will be Pamela Anderson, Stephen Graham, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sean Hayes and Ross Kemp, with music from Gracie Abrams.
RTÉ One: The Prince of Tides, 11.15pm (14 Feb)
For an old-school romantic drama, check out The Prince of Tides on RTÉ One on Valentine’s night. The film, starring Barbra Streisand and Nick Nolte, follows the story of an American football coach who travels to New York and forms a close relationship with his sister’s psychiatrist. As their bond deepens, she helps him to come to terms with the terrible secrets of his childhood. Directed by Barbra Streisand, it received 7 nominations at the 1992 Oscars but won none.
Sky: The White Lotus S3 (16 Feb)
It’s finally here! Sun, scandal, sex and murder are the key ingredients in all of The White Lotus instalments to date and this one, set in Thailand, looks to be no different. Created by Mike White, this season features yet another all-star cast including Michelle Monaghan, Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, Leslie Bibb, Patrick Schwarzenegger and Sex Education’s Aimee Lou Wood. Let’s just say, if it’s even half as good as the previous two seasons, we’re all in for a wild ride.
La Dolce Villa – Netflix
Netflix is doing its best to provide us with the romantic comedies we deserve but will this latest one do the job? A widowed dad travels to Italy to help his daughter restore a crumbling Italian villa and on the way, manages to rebuild his heart. I mean, we’re not saying “no”, but if you don’t think your stomach can handle the sweetness, we recommend a scroll through the Netflix archive and throwing on a classic like Wedding Crashers, Notting Hill or How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.
The Gorge – Apple TV
In this love story with a difference, two highly-trained operatives (Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy) bond when they are appointed to posts in guard towers on opposite sides of a vast and highly classified gorge, protecting the world from an undisclosed, mysterious evil that lurks within. When the cataclysmic threat to humanity is revealed to them, they must work together in a test of both their physical and mental strength to keep the secret in the gorge before it’s too late.
RTÉ Player: No Worries if Not
If you haven’t seen this comedy sketch show, there’s a good chance you’ve seen some of the viral clips on social media. The jam-packed, fast-paced show features some of the biggest stars of Irish online comedy – Sean Burke, Michael Fry, Justine Stafford, Emma Doran and Killian Sundermann – as well as the occasional celebrity cameo. You can watch it all now on the RTÉ Player.
At the cinema:
A Real Pain
This is a buddy movie with a difference as Benji and David (played by Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg) travel to Poland to pay respects to their Jewish grandmother. Expect to experience the full gamut of emotions in this widely-celebrated film as well as spectacular performances by the two leads. It’s also directed by Eisenberg but Culkin is hotly tipped to take home the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his turn as Benji.
Bridget’s Jones: Mad About the Boy
It’s officially the final ‘Bridget’ movie, so I think it’s fair to say that we’re all going to see this one and sob, giggle and sniffle our way through it. At the start of the trailer, we learn that our heroine is now a widow (RIP Mark Darcy) and mother of two children but, this being Bridget Jones, we know that love and humour aren’t too far away. New cast members include Isla Fisher, Leo Woodall and Chiwetel Ejiofar but, thankfully, we’ll see returning favourites like Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Emma Thompson and Colin Firth, too.
Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story
This documentary is a candid portrait of one of the world’s greatest and most charismatic writers, Irish author, Edna O’Brien. After releasing her diaries at the age of 93, she gave one last interview to filmmaker Sinead O’Shea about her remarkable life – from her books that were banned and burned to her extravagant lifestyle that included illicit affairs and glamorous parties, and how she made and lost her fortune.
Completed shortly before her death last year, the film features extracts from her journals (read by Oscar-nominated actress Jessie Buckley), contributions from Gabriel Byrne, Anne Enright and others.
