THE ‘BURBS (1989)/JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO (1990)
ITV1, 3.25pm/ BBC Two, 3.55pm
Tom Hanks competes against himself in two matinees. Sinister new neighbours shake up placid suburbia in Joe Dante’s cartoonish comedy thriller. Less broad and more heartwarming is John Patrick Shanley’s romantic fable Joe Versus the Volcano, starring Hanks as a dying factory worker who volunteers to become a human sacrifice. Meg Ryan co-stars. (101/97min)
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THE TRANSPORTER (2002)
Channel 4, 9.10pm
Produced by Luc Besson, The Transporter stars Jason Statham as a ruthless underworld courier who develops a conscience while transporting a young Chinese girl. Despite a ludicrous plot and risible dialogue, the director Corey Yuen delivers some impressive martial arts sequences. (94min)
ROCK STAR (2001)
Five, 11.25pm
Partly inspired by the incredible true story of Tim “Ripper” Owens, the Ohio salesman who replaced Rob Halford in Judas Priest, Stephen Herek’s likeable comedy drama stars
Mark Wahlberg as a tribute band singer catapulted to instant fame when he is hired by stadium rockers Steel Dragon. Jennifer Aniston and Timothy Spall co-star. (105min)
DOG EAT DOG (2001)
Channel 4, 1.15am
Good intentions and famous guest stars can not quite redeem Moody Shoaibi’s sloppy, low- budget, sub-Guy Ritchie caper. The co-writer Mark Tonderai and his fellow wannabe London clubland players get into comic scrapes with pornographers, drug dealers and other dodgy characters. Cameos come from Ricky Gervais and Alan Davies. (93min)
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MultiChannel
WAG THE DOG (1997)
BBC Four, 9.10pm
Scripted by David Mamet, Barry Levinson’s ripe political satire stars Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman as cynical spin doctors who engineer a fictional war with Albania to distract attention from a presidential sex scandal. Plenty of sharp lines and fine performances; shame about the implausible slapstick finale. (97min)
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RE-ANIMATOR (1985)
Film4, 11pm
The early 20th-century horror author H. P. Lovecraft enjoys a large cult following, but surprisingly few of his dread-filled stories have successfully transferred to cinema. Stuart Gordon’s college campus bloodbath is widely considered the best to date, a comic orgy of gross-out carnage with a cast of unknowns led by Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton. (86min)