A powerful supernatural thriller by Olivier Assayas, the second film he has directed featuring Kristen Stewart, who plays Maureen, the personal shopper of the title, working for Kyra, an aloof and demanding supermodel absorbed with her wildlife ‘foundation’. Maureen has recently lost her twin brother Lewis and is convinced she is in communication with him beyond the grave, though doubts abound. On a trip to London for Kyra, Maureen starts to receive mysterious texts which she at first thinks are from Lewis, but they start to plumb her repressed psyche. Stylish, absorbing and shocking by turns, it’s basically unmissable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Monday (24\/1)\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a001:50\u00a0 \u00a0 Film4\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Paradox (2017)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hong Kong action film directed by Wilson Yip about a police inspector travelling to Bangkok to find his missing daughter, and encountering an organ-trafficking gang. Won or was nominated for a series of awards in the Hong Kong and Asian Film industries, including Best Action Choreography by Sammo Hung.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wednesday (26\/1) 02:00 Film4 Clash<\/em><\/a> (2016) <\/p>\n\n\n\n Directed by Mohamed Diab and set entirely in a police van transporting a number of detainees arrested after the toppling of Egypt\u2019s President Morsi in 2013. Premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thursday (27\/1)\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 00:25\u00a0 \u00a0Talking Pictures\u00a0 \u00a0The Girl with a Pistol<\/em> (1968)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Monica Vitti stars as a Sicilian woman who is rejected by her lover and follows him to England, with a gun, in order to kill him. The theme derives from the local Sicilian tradition that she will be unable to marry until the offender is killed and her honour restored. It was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film and Vitti won the David di Donatello award for Best Actress. Mario Monicello directed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a021:00\u00a0 \u00a0Talking Pictures\u00a0 \u00a0Woman Times Seven<\/em> (1967)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Comedy-drama of seven episodes on the subject of adultery, with Shirley MacLaine starring in each. Directed by Vittorio de Sica and featuring Alan Arkin, Rossano Brazzi, Michael Caine, Peter Sellers, Anita Ekberg and Robert Morley, among others. They don’t seem to make that kind of thing any more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Directed by Paul Verhoeven and based on Robert Heinlein\u2019s novel about a military elite battling an alien species. Verhoeven disliked the original book and refused to read it all. He also apparently agreed to direct a nude scene while nude himself, after the actors insisted. Hitchcock probably wouldn\u2019t have. The film is now seen as part political satire and Verhoeven claimed it anticipated Donald Trump. At least someone did. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sunday (23\/1) 01:05 Talking Pictures The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The film that featured David Bowie\u2019s first major acting role. Nick Roeg\u2019s previous as director was Don\u2019t Look Now, though the dreaminess here probably owes more to Walkabout. From here on, it was kind of downhill, the next being Bad Timing. Bowie plays an alien from a drought-ridden planet come to find solutions on Earth. Good luck with that. Candy Clark plays the lover he meets. Was praised for its stunning visuals, though the cut of twenty minutes made it less comprehensible. Meat Loaf sold about the same number of albums as Bowie, apparently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0074851\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 14:00\u00a0 \u00a0 Channel 4\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wes Anderson’s delightful first venture into animation, based on Roald Dahl’s book about the battle between farmers and a family of thieving foxes. George Clooney and Meryl Streep provide the voices for Foxy and Felicity Fox. The voices of Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Michael Gambon, Owen Wilson and even Jarvis Cocker feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wednesday (26\/1) 21:00 Film4 Wind River<\/em><\/a> (2017)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taylor Sheridan’s chilly neo-Western, set on Wind River Indian Reservation, with Elizabeth Olsen as an inexperienced, idealistic detective (Jane Banner) pitted against local agent Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner), who has discovered the body of a murdered young woman in a remote location. Sheridan was inspired to write it by the high incidence of indigenous women who become victims of sexual assault and\/or murder. He has a good track record, having written Sicario and Hell or High Water before this, each giving a fresh take on aspects of the US we thought we were familiar with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thursday (27\/1) 14:40 Film4 Hatari!<\/em><\/a> (1962)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Directed by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne, this is described as a romantic comedy adventure, however unlikely that sounds. It follows a group in Tanganyika who capture animals for zoos and circuses, and features scenes of animal trapping techniques which aren\u2019t used now. Sounds completely distasteful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Documentary by Alfred George Bailey about Porter\u2019s journey from his childhood in Bakersfield to international acclaim. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 22:00 BBC2 The Souvenir<\/em><\/a> (2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joanna Hogg’s superb drama about Julie, a film student (Honor Swinton Byrne), who meets a charming and mysterious man (Anthony – Tom Burke) and begins a live-in relationship with him, and then begins to discover things about him she hadn’t expected. Very English but at the same time untypical of English cinema output. Swinton Byrne’s real-life mother Tilda Swinton features memorably as Julie’s mother. A sequel, The Souvenir II, has just been released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Monday (24\/1)\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 23:00\u00a0 \u00a0 BBC4\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 John Curry: The Ice King (2018)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Documentary by James Erskine about the British skater John Curry, who was very influential in transforming ice skating from a macho sport into an art form, and in being the first openly gay Olympian. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thursday (27\/1)\u00a0 \u00a0 22:55\u00a0 \u00a0 Film4\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Ex Machina (2014)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Written and directed by Alex Garland, in which a young programmer (Domhnall Gleeson) is invited to help evaluate the human qualities of an advanced android (Alicia Vikander). Was nominated for numerous awards and won many, including the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 23:15 BBC2 The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas<\/em><\/a> (2008) <\/p>\n\n\n\n Based on John Boyne’s novel and directed by Mark Herman (Brassed Off, Little Voice). A young German boy, Bruno, whose family goes to live in the Polish countryside, meets Shmuel, a Jewish boy in what seems to be a farm but is actually a concentration camp. Seen as problematic by critics and academics because of the lack of realism and the blurring of lines between victims and perpetrators, possibly exacerbated by the positive reaction from younger viewers. Asa Butterfield plays Bruno, and David Thewlis and Vera Farmiga are his parents. Sheila Hancock also features. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Friday (28\/1) 21:00 BBC4 Mystify: Michael Hutchence (2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Documentary by Richard Lowenstein about the former frontman of INXS, using rare footage and contributions from Kylie Minogue, Bono, fellow band members, among others. Felt to be an intimate portrait that would appeal to fans as well as casual viewers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sunday (23\/1) 01:25 BBC2 Personal Shoppe<\/a>r<\/em> (2016) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stephen Ilott’s Picks<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saturday (22\/1) 22:50 Paramount Starship Troopers<\/em><\/a> (1997) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other modern films of interest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Sunday (23\/1) 02:05 Sky Arts Gregory Porter: Don’t Forget Your Music (2016)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oldies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n