SNAKE EYES (1998)
Five, 9pm
Technically dazzling and skilfully orchestrated, Brian De Palma’s pumped-up pulp thriller delivers plenty of sound and fury, even if it ultimately signifies nothing. Nicolas Cage indulges his hammy side to the full as a sleazy cop who witnesses a political assassination plot unfold at an Atlantic City boxing match. Assembled from lengthy tracking shots and multi-angle flashbacks, Snake Eyes is heavy on showy technique but low on human emotion. It was originally meant to end with an apocalyptic tidal wave, which would have suited its comically hysterical tone perfectly, but budget limitations prevailed. (98 min)
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PLEASANTVILLE (1998)
BBC One, 11.35pm
Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire star in this smart modern-day fairytale as squabbling siblings who are magically transported back to the cute monochrome world of a 1950s television drama called Pleasantville. The writer-director Gary Ross has great fun exploring the unsavoury darkness beneath the wholesome, sanitised innocence of Middle America’s idealised past. Evolving into a witty anti-racist allegory halfway through, this finely realised comic fable offers many more layers than it initially seems to promise. William H. Macey, Joan Allen and Jeff Daniels also star. (124 min)
MultiChannel
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THE LAST METRO (1980)
Sky Cinema 1, 9pm
A Parisian theatre troupe struggle against the hardships of Nazi occupation in François Truffaut’s elegant wartime drama. The starry pairing of Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu headline an excellent cast, playing stage actors who develop an illicit sexual chemistry while arguing over questions of resistance and collaboration. With a plot that nods to Casablanca in its central love triangle and wartime setting, this was one of Truffaut’s most mainstream and stylistically conventional films. It was Oscar nominated and won a host of César awards in France. (131 min)