The complete version – Parts I & II screened back-to-back – of BC on TV’s all-time favourite film make it easy to go outside of BC on TV’s normally strict 6pm-10pm primetime to include the earlier starting time of I. The DIRECTV Channel offers a real treat for lovers of female voice with back-to-back concerts by four of the best singers alive, Norah Jones at 9pm, Joan Baez, the Grandmother of Folk at 10 and the awe-inspiring Joss Stone, with Mavis Staples, who inspired her, at 11pm.

Today’s Number One Film:

The Godfather Part I, 3pm AMC Ch 511. Watch this if you liked Casino, Goodfellas or the HBO series The Sopranos. Part I of BC on TV’s favourite film of all time and the American Film Institute’s No. 3 begins the story of the rise of the crime figure – Marlon Brando in his best role ever (except possibly for Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire or Kurtz in Apocalyspe Now) supported by Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall and more. The most quoted movie of all time, for the very good reason that it has the best script, ever. “Leave the gun; take the cannoli”. Part I & II are really one film, shot two years apart. Like The Sopranos, its best imitation, and the greatest American cinematic art created since The Godfather, the real strength is its revelations about family life, not crime. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola/ 1972/ USA/ Drama-Crime/ 175 mins/ Rated R.

AND

The Godfather Part II, 7pm AMC Ch 511. BEST FILM OF THE DAY. Watch this if you liked The Godfather, Goodfellas or the HBO series The Sopranos. Part II of BC on TV’s favourite film of all time and the American Film Institute’s No. 3, takes up where Part I left off and features Al Pacino’s best role, ever, and Robert Duvall, Robert De Niro, John Cazale, Diane Keaton and the rest almost as good. Riveting cinema. I & II are really one film made in two different parts but, for the flashback storytelling, the improved production values, the 27 minutes more, and for Pacino and De Niro together making up for the absence of Marlon Brando, if you really had to say one was the better of the two, II would be better than I. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola/ 1974/ USA/ Drama-Crime/ 202 mins/ Rated R.

JUST NOSED OUT:

Son of Saul (Hungarian Holocaust), 6.05pm Max; Jurassic Park (Action-Adventure-Sci-fi-Thriller), 6.26pm Max; The Jungle Book (Action-Adventure-Animated), 10pm HBOF; Ant-Man (Superhero) 9pm MaxP; Midnight in Paris (Fantasy-Rom-Com), 6.45pm HBOS; Any Given Sunday (Action-Drama-Sports), 7pm TCM; The Peanuts Movie (Animated-Family), 7.30pm FoxFam;

BEST Pay Per View BET: Doctor Strange Ch 406

*Starred films have been chosen in the last year. ** Double-starred films have been chosen in the last two months.

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