The Day Lennon Died 31 years later, and JK Rowling discovers a war hero in her family tree.
TV
Yoko Ono and John Lennon 1980
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (TV2, 7.30pm). Whatever happened to the original Extreme Makeover? Gone the way of the dinosaur, we hope. Here’s a new series of the feelgood US show that builds new dwellings for the deserving. Tonight, a mother and daughter in Las Vegas who suffer from an immunodeficiency disease. Do you think someone will cry? We think so.
Who Do You Think You Are? (UKTV, Sky 006, 7.30pm). Harry Potter’s creator, JK Rowling, discovers that her great-grandfather was part of a group of older untrained men who were used to guard bridges and roads in WWI. However, his unit came under attack in France when they were guarding a village, and he and the battalion stationed there fought for seven hours against the Germans.
The Mentalist (TV2, 8.30pm). We’re really just marking time until the double episode next week in which Jane finally comes face-to-face with Red John, and tonight’s episode seems like an excuse for Jane to be silly with a timpani when a violinist with the Northern California Symphony Orchestra is shot dead. There’s possibly more fun in television’s most deadpan character, Cho, having to deal with a clever young pickpocket. Btw, how classy was Rigsby last week?
Rookie Blue (TV2, 9.30pm). Lord knows why this series gets to continue into a third season when so many other good shows fall after just one, but on it goes. Rookie Blue finishes tonight, although TV2 is ending it with penultimate episode of season one. Not that we care.
aimRenderAd(300, 250, '300X250','ContentRect','/POS=POS2'); if(!$.browser.msie){ ContentRect_frame = $("#ContentRect")[0]; ContentRect_frame.src = ContentRect_frame.src; }Prime Rocks: The Day Lennon Died (Prime, 9.30pm). Because we never see documentaries like this one in the year they were made, we’ll have to make do with marking 31 years since John Lennon was murdered in New York. It’s a British doco that talks with people who dealt with the crime on the day, and also people whose lives have been changed since. There’s the cop who arrested Lennon’s killer, Mark Chapman, and the surgeon who tried to revive him at the hospital by massaging his heart. Even the Telegraph was impressed by a “wealth of memorable detail”.
FILM
Mission: Impossible II (TV3, 8.30pm). John Woo’s mastery of the balletic action scene is almost worth the ticket money, but beautiful cinematography aside, this is way too long and way less fun than it should be. The film begins well, and early scenes between Tom Cruise and Thandie Newton in Spain have a certain sizzle, but the “mission” – something to do with a virus – quickly becomes nonsensical. (2000) 6
Daybreakers (Sky Movies, Sky 020, 8.30pm). This try-hard futuristic flick jumps on the vampire bandwagon with a plague that has turned most humans into vampires. Enter haemotologist Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke), who must find a blood substitute to save the human species before he himself turns into a bloodsucker. Sci-fi horror is a familiar theme for Australian writer/director twin brother team Michael and Peter Spierig, and they give this world dark, edgy, moody corners but an unimaginative script and weak characters do not help the cause. The C grade is elevated to B thanks to Willem Dafoe, playing a human cured of vampirism. Sam Neill and Jay Laga’aia also star. (2009) 6 – Frances Chan
Cinderella Man (Sky Movies Greats, Sky 022, 8.30pm). The king of narrative, Ron Howard, gets it right in this Depression-era biopic of the boxer James Braddock. He wrenches the best out of a story that could have easily been made into a mawkish study of the down-and-out – and he also coaxes the best out his actors. It’s one of Russell Crowe’s finest performances and one for which he must have had Oscar hopes, although that honour went to the brilliant Paul Giamatti, who plays Braddock’s manager, Joe Gould. Renée Zellweger proves she’s more than just Bridget Jones. (2005) 8
RADIO
Music Alive (Radio New Zealand Concert, 8.00pm). Who better to interpret Russian composer Rachmaninov than a fellow countryman? Nikolai Demidenko is the pianist, the Christchurch Symphony is the orchestra and Tom Woods is the chap with the baton. This concert, recorded in Christchurch’s Aurora Centre in August, features Don Juan by Richard Strauss and two pieces by Rachmaninov: his Symphony No 2 and Piano Concerto No 2. The concerto is dedicated to the composer’s therapist, Nikolai Dahl, who helped him through the crippling depression he suffered when his first symphony was savaged by the audience and critics alike. – Diana Balham
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