David Farnor | On 21, Aug 2016

With summer here, Sky has been wheeling out its big guns to justify its recent relaunch of Sky Movies as Sky Cinema, not to mention its upgrade to 4K – and with The Martian, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Force Awakens all touching down in August, it’s certainly succeeding. But what’s the price of such high-profile new additions? And what should TV watchers be racing to binge before it’s too late?

We round up the box sets and movies leaving Sky and NOW in August and September. This is your last chance to stream the following…

 

TV

Agatha Raisin: Season 1 – 25th August

Based on the books by M.C Beaton, Ashley Jensen returns to Sky 1 after a Christmas special for a full eight-episode run of stories about the Cotswold-dwelling amateur sleuth.

Absolutely Fabulous: Season 1 and 2 – 31st August

With the BBC comedy on the big screen this summer, the original TV show gives you the chance to become acquainted with Jennifer Saunders’ immature mum and PR woman, Patsy, and Julia Sawalha as her sensible daughter, Saffron.

The Affair: Season 2 – 31st August

The Affair is a masterful exploration of the importance of perspective, with Season 1 introducing the premise: a drama that jumps between the POV of Noah (Dominic West), a married writer with kids, and Alison (Ruth Wilson), the married waitress who serves him in a diner during a family holiday in Montauk, only for them both to fall passionately in love. The show has always dazzled with its playful shifts in appearance, rippling all the way down from its camerawork to its costume design and make-up, and Season 2 adds two more perspectives to the mix: Helen’s and Cole’s. That extension forces us to spread our sympathy further, adding more shades of grey to the emotional palette. Dive in.

Ray Donovan: Season 1 to 3 – 1st September

Liev Schreiber is on fine form as everyone’s favourite LA enforcer and fixer. With Season 4 still available on catch-up for Sky and NOW subscribers, don’t miss the chance to catch up with the first three seasons..

Castle: Season 1 to 7 – 1st September

If you’ve been missing Captain Reynolds since Firefly finished, you’ve probably already discovered Castle. ABC’s crime drama follows Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion), a best-selling novelist, who solves unusual crimes in New York alongside NYPD homicide detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic). Away from the TV screen, a number of books have also appeared “written by” Castle, featuring his fictional protagonist, Nikki Heat.

Inside Amy Schumer: Season 1 to 3 – 1st September

Who is Amy Schumer and why was everything talking about her last year? The first three seasons of her laugh-out-loud comedy series will answer all your questions.

 

Other TV box sets leaving Sky and NOW in August / September 2016

25th August
Life of Crime: Season 1
The Americans: Season 4, Episode 11

29th August
Kingdom: Season 1

30th August
Spy: Season 1

31st August
The Hills: Season 1 to 6
Sex And The Silver Screen: Season 1
Charlie & Lola: Season 1
Dag: Season 4
Deadly 60: Season 1 and Specials
Dolly Parton: Song by Song
Isabel: Season 1
The Love Machine: Season 1
M.I. High: Season 1 and 2
Monty Python Best Bits (Mostly)
Rebecca: Season 1
Ross Kemp: Back on the Frontline
The Biggest Loser Australia: Season 8
The Frankenstein Chronicles: SEason 1
The Next Step: Season 1
The Trials Of Jimmy Rose: Season 1
Whitechapel: Season 4

1st September
Anger Management: Season 2
Julia Bradbury: Fame In The Frame: Season 2

2nd September
Wayward Pines: Season 2
First Love: Season 2

3rd September
Animal Families: Season 2

4th September
Oz: Season 1
Scott and Bailey: Season 4

5th September
DCI Banks: SEason 3

6th September
Yo-Kai Watch: Season 1
Vera: Season 5

8th September
Man On Earth With Tony Robinson: Season 1
Tony Robinson’s Wild West: Season 1
Guitar Star 2016: Season 2
Soundbreaking: Season 1

 

Movies

All the President’s Men – 31st August

Alan J. Pakula’s account of how journalists Woodward and Bernstein uncovered the Watergate scandal is not only gripping, but also becomes more relevant and topical every year that goes by.

Bonnie and Clyde – 31st August

Arthur Penn’s 1967 classic brings the two infamous runaway criminals – Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway – to vivid life in a film that is a landmark not just in terms of quality but also taboo-breaking violence.

Grand Piano – 31st August

Speed but with a piano instead of a bus. When you put it like that, you wonder why no one’s made Grand Piano before. Sort of. But director Eugenio Mira has picked up the barmy baton before anyone else could, creating a thriller that takes its idea and runs with it all the way up the scale. Its sheer commitment to the silly concept is to be applauded.

Up – 1st September

One of Pixar’s most popular hits, this beautiful drama follows an old man coming to terms with the loss of his wife in the most vibrant, eye-popping way possible. Features one of the best (and most moving) opening sequences to any movie ever.

Insomnia – 2nd September

Christopher Nolan’s superb remake of a Norwegian thriller stars Al Pacino as a weary cop who finds himself investigating a girl’s death in an Alaskan town where the sun doesn’t set. Robin Williams steals the whole show as the case’s primary suspect.

Honeymoon – 4th September

Paul and Bea are a young couple celebrating their marriage by going on holiday to a cabin in the woods. What could possibly go wrong? At first, not very much, as they make love, cook eggs and make lots more love. It’s a slow start that allows director Leigh Janiak to set up her central relationship, showcasing the natural chemistry the couple have. That focus is also what gives Honeymoon its creepy edge. The Bad Things that will inevitably happen aren’t serial killers or vampires, but something subtler than that: the horror in this indie B-mobie lies in the transformation of their happy union into something strange and new.

The Drop – 8th September

Tom Hardy is sensationally understated in this gripping, twisting crime drama about a barman who works in a place used by the local mob to stash cash.

Toy Story – 8th September

“You are a child’s play thing!” “You are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity.” It may be 20 odd years since Toy Story was released, but Pixar’s classic tale of friendship, toys and animated space rangers never gets old.

Toy Story 2 – 15th September

“You never forget kids like Emily, or Andy, but they forget you,” says Jessie the Cowgirl, who brings the heart to match Pixar’s trademark humour in a rare sequel that manages to be better than (or at least as brilliant as) the original.

 

Other films leaving Sky and NOW in August / September 2016:

25th August
Herbie: Fully Loaded
Man of the House
The Equalizer
Think Like A Man Too

27th August
Get On Up
The Bank Job
The Cat from Outer Space

28th August
Click

29th August
The Eye

31st August
AVP: Alien Vs Predator
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
Better Living Through Chemistry
D-Day the Sixth of June
De@th on Live
Eight Legged Freaks
Freaky Friday (1976)
Friday the 13th (1980)
Get Smart
Jayne Mansfield’s Car
John Tucker Must Die
Johnny Guitar
Midnight Cowboy
Playing It Cool
The Adventures of Robin Hood
The Devil Wears Prada
The Devils
The Outlaw Josey Wales
The X Files
White Fang 2: The Myth of the White Wolf

1st September
Hey Arnold! The Movie
Max Keeble’s Big Move

4th September
Into The Storm
The Ant Bully

5th September
Poseidon

7th September
Disney’s Teacher’s Pet
March of the Penguins

11th September
If I Stay

12th September
Black Sea

14th September
Jack Frost (1998)
Mars Needs Moms
The Candidate

15th September
Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Mr Magoo
Return to Oz
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)
The Calling
The Giver

 

Photos: The Affair – Steven Lippman/Showtime, Ray Dononvan – Suzanne Tenner/Showtime

 
 

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