The movies to watch on free-to-air and Sky TV this week

Saturday, 6 June 2026

TV Guide rounds up a selection of the flicks screening on New Zealand’s linear channels over the next seven days.

Saturday

Dolphin Tale 2 7pm, Three. Starring Harry Connick Jr.

The staff at Clearwater Marine Aquarium rescue a severely sunburned beached dolphin in this solid 2014 sequel.

“It doesn't have the focus or splash of the original, but Charles Martin Smith's follow-up winningly wears its heart on its sleeve,” wrote The Observer’s Mark Kermode. ***

Cranston Academy Monster Zone 7.30pm, Whakaata Māori.

While this 2020 animated feature doesn’t offer much new in the way of a storyline (it’s essentially Harry Potter-meets-Monsters, Inc. by way of Stargate), there’s some inventive humour and a standout character in Idzi Dutkiewicz’s Mothman. ***

Greatest Days 8.30pm, Rialto. Starring Aisling Bea.

British boy band Take That’s songs are showcased in this 2023 jukebox musical drama about school friends who reunite after a 25-year gap to listen to their favourite group in concert one more time. Based on the stage show first performed in 2017.

“Well-performed and efficiently emotive,” believed The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey, “Just like the music of Take That, I guess.” ***

Terminator 2: Judgment Day 9pm, Whakaata Māori. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton.

The 1991 movie that changed film-making forever by proving computer-graphics could do almost anything. Liquid robots aside, what T2 cemented was director James Cameron’s reputation of being able to marry a cracking story to high-octane action and the ability to make a sequel bigger and better.

While Schwarzenegger and Robert Patrick duked it out, a buffed-up Hamilton was the real star of the show. ****

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 9pm, TVNZ 2. Starring Martin Freeman.

It was always going to be a hard act to follow. Eleven Oscars, a worldwide box office of just under US$3 billion (NZ$3.65b) and the transformation of New Zealand cinema from near cottage industry to global player.

So, it was a great relief to many that Sir Peter 'Action' Jackson delivered, in late 2012, a rollicking adventure that more than satisfied Rings fans, even if it didn't win over any new ones. What is slightly strange, though, is that the spectre of not one, but two trilogies appeared to hang over the film.

In fleshing out Professor J.R.R Tolkien's much slimmer, more child-orientated tale (written decades before Rings), to make it fit in with what they have already committed to celluloid, Jackson and company find themselves facing the same join- the-dots prequel dilemma as George Lucas set himself more than a decade earlier.

However, this Unexpected Journey is still one filled with 'dark and powerful magic', a towering cast and plenty of hero shots of Aotearoa's spectacular scenery. ****

What Happens in Vegas 9.05pm, Three. Starring Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher.

A dreary combination of The Break Up and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, all the best bits of this 2008 rom-com can be seen in its trailer.

Chemistry between Diaz and Kutcher is pretty minimal, the pairing only really working when they want to kill each other. Not once is it ever believable that they would make a cute couple. *

Sunday

The Secret Life of Pets 2 2.20pm, TVNZ 2.

Max, Snowball, Gidget, Duke and Chloe returned for this 2019 animated sequel in which they have to face their biggest fears.

Harrison Ford and Tiffany Haddish were among the newcomers joining the vocal cast.

Somewhat darker than its bright and breezy 2016 forebear (following an age-old Hollywood tradition), this feels like a series of loosely connected shorts, rather than a coherent whole. ***

The Bourne Identity 7.30pm, Bravo. Starring Matt Damon.

Damon headlines this 2002 actioner that not only gave the cinematic world author Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne, but also gave James Bond the hurry up he clearly needed.

The impressive cast also includes Franka Potente, Julia Stiles, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen and Brian Cox.

“One of those rare thrillers where the cops aren't fools, villains don't turn stupid at crucial moments, and career assassins seldom miss targets,” wrote Charlotte Observer's Lawrence Toppman. ****

The Long Walk 8.30pm, Sky Movies Premiere. Starring Mark Hamill.

Almost 50 years after the novel was first published under his pseudonym Richard Bachman, this dystopian Stephen King horror finally got the cinematic treatment in 2025.

Set in a totalitarian America, it revolves around a group of young men involved in an annual walking contest where they must maintain a speed of at least three miles per hour – or they risk execution.

Judy Greer, Cooper Hoffman, Roman Griffin Davis and Hamill feature.

“A tense and surprising dystopian drama, steeped in personal and national ethos,” enthused Variety’s Siddhant Adlakha. ****

In Time 8.40pm, Three. Starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried.

Once again Kiwi-born writer/director Andrew Niccol was right on the money in tackling a hot button issue – in this case Darwinian capitalism – just as he did in The Truman Show (predicting the rise of reality TV) and Gattaca (DNA testing and genetic modification), and he delivers his 2011 sci-fi allegory with invention, wit and pacy action aplenty. ****

Synecdoche, New York 8.45pm, Whakaata Māori. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Hoffman is joined by Michelle Williams and Samantha Morton in this 2008 drama about a theatre director struggling with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play.

“Exhilarating,” raved Time magazine’s Richard Corliss. ****

Monday

Mr. and Mrs. Smith 8.30pm, Sky Open. Starring Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt.

The 2005 action-comedy that brought Brangelina together. Pitt and Jolie play an ordinary suburban couple who are actually assassins working for competing organisations. Given their later post-marital travails, it’s hard not to view director Doug Liman’s movie in a very different light today.

“A kicky, twisted thrill ride, with enough laughs to leaven what can be read, at heart, as a metaphor for the modern marriage,” wrote Washington Post's Michael O'Sullivan. ****

Zookeeper 9.40pm, Duke. Starring Kevin James.

A group of zoo animals decide to break their code of silence, in order to help their keeper (James) find love, in this truly terrible 2011 comedy.

“I’m not gonna sugarcoat this: Movies don’t have to be this bad,” lamented Austin Chronicle’s Kimberley Jones. *

Tuesday

Dirty Dancing 8.40pm, TVNZ 2. Starring Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey.

To some, nobody puts this movie in a corner. This 1960s-set, 1987 romantic drama with a toe-tapping soundtrack, memorable set-pieces and endlessly-quotable dialogue, focuses on a teen who falls in love with a holiday camp's dance instructor.

“Smart and funny, touching and unabashedly sensual,” wrote Los Angeles Times’ Sheila Benson. ****

Honest Thief 9.40pm, Duke. Starring Liam Neeson.

Keen to go straight, a notorious bank robber (Neeson) turns himself in, only to be double-crossed by two ruthless FBI agents, in this dreary 2020 action-thriller.

“By the standards of Neeson thrillers, Honest Thief is pretty weak tea, a passable, low-octane action movie that doesn't do much more than steal one's time,” grumbled CNN.com’s Brian Lowry. **

Thursday

Miss Congeniality 8.30pm, TVNZ 2. Starring Sandra Bullock.

While not exactly subtle or clever, it’s hard not to like, or even love, this 2000 calamitous cop comedy. Bullock plays Gracie Hart, an FBI agent who goes undercover at a beauty pageant in order to prevent a terrorist attack.

A movie that plays up the fish-out-of-water scenario and relies heavily on its leading lady’s charisma to sell the sometimes creaky premise, it does feature some terrific cameos from the likes of Michael Caine, Candice Bergen and a scene-stealing William Shatner. ***

Friday

Beauty and the Beast 7.30pm, TVNZ 2. Starring Emma Watson, Dan Stevens.

Any issues you might have with lyric-changing or the CGI in Bill Condon's impressive remake of the 1991 animation-classic, are more than compensated for by some stunning art direction, production design and costuming, spot-on vocal casting (Sir Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts) and moments of inspired camerawork that will draw viewers of all ages into this world.

Fans of the stage show may lament the choice to create new songs instead of including any of the additions from there, but both Days in the Sun and Evermore enhance the story and allow the Beast a bit more voice in the proceedings.

In the end, this new Beast is still a tale as old as time that looks likely to stand the test of time, and one that will have you wiping away the tears - no matter how hard you try. ****

Vantage Point 7.30pm, Sky Open. Starring Dennis Quaid, Forest Whitaker.

The attempted assassination of an American President (William Hurt) is told and re-told from several different perspectives in this drab 2008 political thriller.

“Vantage Point might sound intriguing on paper, but it's all gimmick and not a lot of substance,” fumed The Times’ Wendy Ide. **

The Young Victoria 9pm, Whakaata Māori. Starring Emily Blunt.

Blunt stars as she who was “not amused” in Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallee’s 2010 biopic (written by Downton Abbey’s Julian Fellowes) of Queen Victoria's early years and her enduring romance with Prince Albert (Rupert Friend).

The impressive ensemble also includes Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson, Mark Strong and Jim Broadbent.

“Blunt, her eyes sparkling, her manner playful, smart, and proud, shines in the title role. If the film itself isn't brilliant, its star most definitely is,” wrote Philadelphia Inquirer’s Steven Rea. ****

Grease 10.05pm, TVNZ 2. Starring Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta.

Is there anything that evokes summer more than this 1978 musical (it helps that there's a song called Summer Nights)?

Travolta and Newton-John in their pomp, preen and careen across the screen, while oozing sensuality. ****