The two BEST FILMS OF THE DAY, a thriller set entirely in the front seat of a BMW (**Locke, 9pm Max) and the Coen Bros’ savagely comic noir masterpiece (**Fargo, 11pm FoxClas), would have certainly jostled for first place, had they not been both picked recently. As usual, the DirecTV Channel leads on live concert and music documentary with Nicki Minaj: Pink Planet (9pm), Justin Timberlake: Man of the Hour (6pm) and Beyonce Beyond the Glam (7pm). Earlier in the day, there are also Ringo Starr: A Lifetime of Peace and Love (10am & 5pm), the Change Begins Within Concert (11am), Train (12 midday), Counting Crows (1pm) and even Glen Campbell (2pm).

Today’s number one film:

Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler/ 2013/ USA/ Biography-Crime-Drama/ 85 mins/ R for some violence, language throughout and some drug use), 1.30pm F+1. Watch this if you liked Do the Right Thing, Short Term 12 or Beasts of the Southern Wild. The debut feature from the director of 2015’s surprisingly good Creed is probably even better, Creed’s actually good Sly Stallone performance notwithstanding. Telling the true story of the fatal shooting of a young black man by San Francisco police, but stretched into a gripping tale of bad timing for the protagonist, this is independent filmmaking at, or at least near, its best, an opinion shared by both the Grand Jury and the audience at Sundance, who gave it two of its 39 awards. A film to be watched closely and appreciated for far longer than its runtime.

Also watch:

Saturday Night Fever (John Badham/ 1977/ USA/ Drama-Music/ 118 mins/ Rated R for strong language, sexuality/nudity and some drug content), 9pm Fox Classics. Watch this if you liked Dog Day Afternoon, Midnight Cowboy or Mean Streets. Saturday Night Fever takes the human endeavour least likely to ever become classic – disco dancing – and uses it the way Al Pacino used transgender bank robbing, Dustin Hoffman & Jon Voight used the gigolo sex industry and Harvey Keitel & Robert De Niro used Mob careerism to make another fine example of what they really all are: New York City movies – but John Travolta just happened to also be a great dancer. His moves in the film set dance film standards that are still followed. Yes, the disco soundtrack dates the film to the Seventies but everything else still stands and resonates – and even the most hateful of disco haters would be lying if they said they weren’t thrilled by the matching of the Bee Gees, “Staying Alive” to the opening scene. You get your money’s worth even before the “Directed by” rises. It’s distressing in parts, though, and not at all suitable for children.

A Fish Called Wanda (Charles Crichton/ 1988/ USA-UK/ Comedy-Crime-Drama/ 108 mins/R) 9pm DirecTV Channel. Watch this if you liked Trading Places, My Cousin Vinny or Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels. A fine film, almost perfectly made, features a cast led by Monty Python’s John Cleese as an English barrister, Jamie Lee Curtis as his femme fatale and Kevin Kline as a fascistic, unintentionally hilarious criminal. (He won the 1989 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for it.) The minor roles include fellow Python Michael Palin as a stuttering, reluctant animal assassin and Maria Aitken as Cleese’s snooty upper-class English twit wife (their film daughter, Portia, whose name gives rise to one of the film’s best jokes, is played by Cleese’s real life daughter). A fast-moving caper flick as well as a hugely funny comedy, A Fish Called Wanda is one of those rare gems that please ordinary people and wow film critics. Not to be missed.

JUST NOSED OUT:

The Blue Max (War), 11.40am FoxClas; The Karate Kid (Teen Drama) I, 7.55am & II 10.03am Edge; Wag the Dog (Black Comedy), 8.15am HBOC; Hang ‘Em High (Western), 2.15pm FoxClas; *Lucy (Sci-fi), 4.09pm HBO; **The Hobbit 3 (Adventure-Fantasy), 6.35pm FoxMov; **Kingsman: The Secret Service (Action-Comedy), 5.55pm, FoxAct.

ALSO RAN:

Action/Adventure: *The Dark Knight, 4.53pm Spac

Art House/Independent: Oldboy (American version), 3.15pm F+1

Biography: The Wolf of Wall Street, 9pm Max; Coach Carter, 11.15am FoxAct & 5.55pm CnCl

Children/Family: Ace Ventura II, 9.25am FoxCom; Lego Batman: The Movie, 9.10am MaxU;

Classic: The Big Country (Drama), 4.15pm FoxClas

Comedy: Another 48 HRS, 8.20TCM; Bernie (Black comedy), 9.05pm ISat

Rom-Com: Shopgirl, 12.30 midday FoxCom

Documentary: Les Intouchables (Docudrama), 2.15pm FoxCom

Drama: Foxcatcher, 10.35pm Max

Horror: I Know What You Did Last Summer, 1.31pm Spac

Sci-Fi/Fantasy: Source Code, 9.48am Max;

Thriller: Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone (Fantasy), 1.30pm HBOE

War: The Guns of Navarone, 9am FoxClas

Western: Silverado, 9am TCM

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

Scheduled Internet times often vary on the day, particularly around month-end.