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01st Jan 2021

Here are the 11 best movies on TV today 

Sarah Finnan

Not ready to move off the couch just yet? Luckily there are plenty of movies on TV today to keep you company. 

Happy New Year my friends, we did it – we officially made it through 2020. One of the most challenging years the world has ever faced, there were times when it seemed as though the end would never come but thankfully it did and a new year is finally upon us.

2021 may not be starting off just as we would have hoped but there is still plenty to be thankful for and however you spend the day, we hope that there are brighter times ahead for you all.

Usually, we’d all be well and truly sick of Christmas by now, but this year is a little different and I don’t know about you, but I’m not quite ready to pack it in just yet… so stick on the kettle and join me in prolonging the festive bubble just a few days more.

Here’s what’s on the TV today to help you see in the new year.

Jumanji – Channnel 5 – 2:30pm 

The one that started it all. Loosely based on a 1981 children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg, the movie centres on two young kids who find a supernatural board game and release a host of dangers that can only be stopped by completing the game.  Starring Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst, David Alan Grier, Bonnie Hunt, Jonathan Hyde and Bebe Neuwirth.

Stardust – Channel 4 – 3:05pm 

A young man promises to retrieve a fallen star as a gift for his beloved. Entering over into a magical parallel world, there, he discovers that the star is not a piece of rock as anticipated, but a beautiful woman whom he must protect from an evil witch and a murderous prince.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – TG4 -4:50pm 

A Tim Burton adaptation of the beloved Roal Dahl novel, Johnny Depp stars as Willy Wonka – an eccentric chocolatier who runs a competition to allow five lucky winners (and their guests) a tour of his mysterious chocolate factory.

The Greatest Showman – Channel 4 – 5:30pm 

Cynics will say ‘hasn’t this been on already over the Christmas?’, and to that, we say ‘one can never watch the Greatest Showman too many times’. Featuring quite the all-star cast, Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams and Zendaya lead the line-up.

Dirty Dancing – Sony Movie Channel – 6:55pm 

“No one puts Baby in a corner” – the defining line of the whole movie… well, that and “I carried a watermelon”. Jennifer Grey is Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman, a young girl on holiday with her family who falls for dance instructor Johnny Castle.

Spectre – ITV2 – 7:55pm 

Daniel Craig returns as M16 agent James Bond, who sets out to discover the existence of a secret criminal organisation known as Spectre – spurred on by a cryptic message from his past.

Deadpool – RTÉ Two – 9pm

Ryan Reynolds stars as Wade Wilson, a dishonourably discharged special forces operative working as a mercenary.  Diagnosed with terminal cancer, he agrees to partake in a dodgy experiment in the hopes it will magically cure him.

Groundhog Day – Gold – 9pm 

Bill Murray stars as Phil Connors, a cynical TV weatherman forced to cover the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Caught in a blizzard, he somehow finds himself living the same day over and over again… until he gets it right.

The Inbetweeners 2 – E4 – 9pm 

Jay, Will, Simon and Neil reunite for another holiday, this time taking them all the way to Australia, the Land Down Under.

Pretty Woman – Sony Movie Channel – 9pm 

You could say that not watching this would be a big mistake. Big… huge, even. Romantic comedy, starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts

Pitch Perfect – UTV – 10:45pm 

New student Beca finds herself talked into joining Barden University’s all-girl acapella group The Barden Bellas, taking the reigns and trying to help them win the gold in an upcoming campus competition against their male rivals. Musical comedy starring Anna Kendrick, Skylar Astin, Rebel Wilson and Brittany Snow.

READ NEXT: WATCH: Netflix and Derry Girls star Nicola Coughlan team-up for a love letter to Galway

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