The Reader, 16 Blocks, Jackie Brown: films on TV today

The pivotal moment here comes when Michael, a German law student, fails to disclose information that could change the future of middle-aged Hanna (Kate Winslet). She, on trial for war crimes connected with the Holocaust, has a secret. Michael knows that secret but says nothing, though he could save her from a life sentence in jail. He stays silent because he is ashamed that eight years earlier Hanna had seduced him and made him read to her before and after sex. Stephen Daldry’s excellent, absorbing film, adapted by David Hare from a novel by Bernhard Schlink, is about guilt – Holocaust guilt and human guilt in general. It’s splendidly played throughout especially by Winslet, who won the Oscar for best actress.

Earth Girls Are Easy ★★★★
5.00-7.05pm Movie Mix

The antics of two 1980s Valley Girls now seem as bizarre as the aliens they befriend in this delirious satire. Future superstars Geena Davis and Jim Carrey shine through the froth.

16 Blocks ★★★
9.00-11.00pm 5★

Cop Bruce Willis and criminal Mos Def make an appealing odd couple in this nail-biting action thriller, in which a routine trip to court becomes a fight for survival.

Jackie Brown ★★★★
10.00pm-1.05am ITV4

Quentin Tarantino's sparkling crime thriller helped revive the career of blaxploitation star Pam Grier, who plays an air hostess who must work her way out of her fix after being busted for smuggling.

Shame ★★★
11.10pm-1.15am Film4

Before Steve McQueen's Oscar-winning triumph 12 Years a Slave, he challenged taboos with this contemporary tale starring Michael Fassbender as a troubled sex addict.

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