From 'A Beautiful Mind' to 'Glass': 7 films to watch this week in the UAE

Our pick of old and new movies to watch on little or big screens

The Journey. Courtesy Cinema Akil
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The Journey

Sunday, Cinema Akil, 9pm and 11pm

Cinema Akil continues its Ramadan season of Arabic films with Mohamed Al-Daradji's The Journey, the first Iraqi film in 27 years to be released in cinemas in its homeland when it came out in 2017. The film is set on the first day of Eid Al Adha in 2006, at a time when Baghdad is celebrating the re-­opening of the city's train station. Suicide bomber Sara arrives with the intention of ruining the festivities, but instead, finds herself taking a salesman hostage and being forced to confront her own mortality and the consequences of her actions.

A Beautiful Mind

Monday, 1.20am, Paramount Channel

Ron Howard’s biographical drama is based on the life of Economics Nobel Laureate John Nash, and on the Pulitzer Prize-nominated book of the same name by Sylvia Nasar. The film stars Russell Crowe, along with Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly and Christopher Plummer in supporting roles. The story begins in Nash’s days as a graduate student at Princeton University. Early in the film, Nash begins to develop paranoid schizophrenia and endures delusional episodes while watching the burden his condition brings on his wife Alicia and their friends.

Victoria & Abdul

Tuesday, 9.40am, OSN Enigma

Stephen Frears's biography follows the adventures of Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal), a young prison clerk from Agra in the British Raj, who is instructed to travel to ­England for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887 to present her with a gold coin that has been minted as a token of appreciation from British-ruled India. Judi Dench's Victoria, who is lonely and tired of her fawning courtiers, develops a friendship with Abdul. She promotes him to a lofty position in her court and asks him to teach her Urdu and the Quran. When Victoria discovers he is married, she invites his wife and mother-in-law to join him in England. They arrive wearing black burqas, to the consternation of the household.

A Quiet Place

Wednesday, 10pm, OSN Movies First

Emily Blunt stars alongside her real-­life husband John Krasinski, who also directs, as the parents of a family struggling to survive after the ­destruction of most of humanity by sightless ­monsters with hypersensitive hearing. As a result, the film takes place in almost total silence, with the characters, including deaf daughter Regan, played by deaf actor Millicent Simmonds, communicating largely in American Sign Language. Like It Comes at Night, the film follows the refreshing recent trend of smart horror, and grossed more than $300 million (Dh1.1 billion) at the global box office on ­release last year.

Glass

Thursday, all day from 4am, OSN Cinema

The third part of M Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable trilogy finds three everyday superhumans – the almost invincible David Dunn (Bruce Willis); the split personalities of The Horde, including the super-strong The Beast (James McAvoy); and the smart-but-fragile Mr Glass (Samuel L Jackson) – brought together in a psychiatric hospital, where it is the job of Sarah Paulson's psychiatrist to convince such patients that they are just normal human beings. Naturally, none of the three are too pleased about this and they soon escape to embark on new adventures and reveal an unsettling conspiracy.

Amelie

Friday, 7.05pm, Star Movies

Jean-Pierre Jeunet's quirky tale of life in contemporary Paris tells the whimsical story of a shy waitress, played by Audrey Tautou, who decides to change the lives of those around her for the better while struggling with her own isolation. The film took more than $33 million in a limited theatrical ­release, and is to date the highest-grossing French-language film released in the United States. It also became one of the biggest international successes and is one of the most successful French movies in history. The movie picked up four European Film Awards, including Best Film. Jeunet's masterpiece was also nominated for five Oscars in 2002, although it failed to land any.

Goodbye Christopher Robin

Saturday, 5.50pm, OSN Movies First

After leaving London for the English countryside, writer A A Milne starts to spin fanciful yarns about his son's growing collection of stuffed animals. These stories form the basis for Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner, published in 1926 and 1928. Milne and his family soon become swept up in the instant success of the books, while the enchanting tales bring hope and comfort to the rest of post-war England. Simon Curtis directs, while Domhnall Gleeson and Margot Robbie star.