PUBS, clubs and restaurants might as well shut up shop for a week, since most Hongkongers will be firmly ensconced in front of the TV every night for the feast of great films leading up to the Academy Awards next Tuesday (HK time).
Pearl begins its ''And the Award Goes To . . .'' series with an absolute belter: Kenneth Branagh's 1989 version of Henry V (9.50pm, original running time, 137 mins).
It was a masterful directorial debut for Branagh, who breathes new fire and comprehension into Shakespeare's words. His wife Emma Thompson co-stars, as do half the big names in British theatre, including Dame Judi Dench and Derek Jacobi.
Henry V was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, and Branagh for both Best Director and Actor. In the end, the film only took the prize for Costume Design, losing out to My Left Foot and Driving Miss Daisy.
But, this is stirring stuff. Such is Branagh's passion when he delivers Henry's speech before leading his army into battle, you'll be leaping out of your seat all set to go once more unto the breach with them.
WORLD is not giving up without a fight, scheduling Steve Martin's likeable comedy L.A. Story (9.30pm, ORT 95 mins) to compete.
Martin wrote this amusing piece of nonsense about an odd TV weatherman, and his real-life wife Victoria Tennant stars as an Englishwoman for whom he falls.
The storyline is thin, but it's secondary to Martin's comic views about LA and its desperately image-conscious inhabitants.
Watch out for appearances by Patrick Stewart, alias Star Trek's Captain Picard, and Iman, aka Mrs David Bowie.
STILL on the subject of entertainment laurels, there's a chance to see the British Academy Awards, the BAFTAs (BBC, 8.25 pm) which were handed out in London and Hollywood yesterday.
Comedian Griff Rhys-Jones was the host in London and his partner Mel Smith in Los Angeles. BAFTAs are awarded for excellence in cinema and television and are a good Oscar pointer.
British hopes are high this year for Howards End and The Crying Game.
''IS Governor Chris Patten a bold champion of democracy or a miscalculating opportunist?'' asks Peter Maize in The Pearl Report (7.35pm).
Maize talks to the Governor about the escalating crisis with China and his increasingly embattled position.
NEW-AGE crooner Harry Connick Jr (Godfather III) is the special guest star on Cheers (Pearl, 9pm). He plays Woody's lovelorn cousin Russell, who develops an obsessive crush on Rebecca (Kirstie Alley).
''TICKET to the Oscars'' goes way back to 1957 for Les Girls (World, 11.35 pm, ORT 114 mins) a lively Cole Porter musical starring Gene Kelly as a philandering hoofer.
Mitzi Gaynor, Kay Kendall and Taina Elg play three showgirls whose involvements with Kelly are told through flashback.
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