When it comes to my highlights this week, it’s all rather bloody I’m afraid!  Ralph Fiennes does a good job bringing Shakespeare’s battle fueled tragedy Coriolanus into the modern day, and in Swedish film The Man From Beijing, a judge is targeted by a psychopathic mass murderer who hacks to death eighteen members of her family - hard not to take personally. To lighten the mood there’s also top documentary Milius, about producer, director and screenwriter John Milius. A wannabe solider and maverick, Milius created some of the most memorable and ‘manly’ characters we’ve seen on screen, including Dirty Harry and Conan the Barbarian.

The best indie films including documentaries on TV this week.

Ralph Fiennes takes on Shakespeare in British movie Coriolanus, and a Swedish judge is targeted by a psychopath in foreign film The Man From Beijing.

When it comes to my highlights this week, it’s all rather bloody I’m afraid!  Ralph Fiennes does a good job bringing Shakespeare’s battle-fuelled tragedy Coriolanus into the modern day, and in Swedish film The Man From Beijing, a judge is targeted by a psychopathic mass murderer who hacks to death eighteen members of her family - hard not to take personally. To lighten the mood there’s also top documentary Milius, about producer, director and screenwriter John Milius. A wannabe solider and maverick, Milius created some of the most memorable and ‘manly’ characters we've seen on screen, including Dirty Harry and Conan the Barbarian.

Starring Gerard Butler, Brian Cox, Jessica Chastain and Vanessa Redgrave

Directed by Ralph Fiennes

Premieres Saturday 9^th November, 8.30pm

Anyone who loves their Shakespeare bloody and brutal should see Ralph Fiennes’ directorial debut Coriolanus. Set in modern-day war-torn Rome, this adaptation of the Bard’s violent tragedy is beautifully cast. Fiennes takes the lead role of Caius Martius, with Vanessa Redgrave as his ambitious mother, Jessica Chastain as his wife, and Gerard Butler as his enemy turned friend, the barbarian Aufidius. It’s a tricky play to adapt, but with this compelling and brutal bloodbath Fiennes does an admirable job of making the point that Shakespeare still matters.

Starring Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood, Francis Ford Coppola and George Hamilton

Directed by Joey Figueroa, Zak Knutson

Premieres Thursday 7^th November, 8.30pm

Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg are generally credited with giving ailing Hollywood studios a new lease of life in the 70s by creating ambitious, unique and adventurous blockbusters. There was, though, another man who also played a massive role in setting the direction of the film industry for decades to come - screenwriter, director and producer John Milius. A larger than life character, Milius, aided by a who’s who of Hollywood, tells the stories of which urban legends are made. Milius studied film at the University of Southern California School of Cinema & Television, where his classmates included George Lucas, Basil Poledouris, Randal Kleiser and Don Glut. He wrote the first two Dirty Harry films and Apocalypse Now, and went on to direct action films such as Conan the Barbarian, Red Dawn, Farewell to the King and Flight of the Intruder. This film is a highly entertaining slice of Hollywood history.

Starring Suzanne von Borsody, Michael Nyqvist, Claudia Michelsen

Directed by Peter Keglevic

Premieres Tuesday 5^th November, 8.30pm

Following the Jo Nesbo adaptations Rialto Channel screened recently, comes another dark Scandinavian crime mystery from author Henning Mankell, who wrote the Kurt Wallander mystery novels. This time around the protagonist is middle aged Swedish judge Birgitta Roslin. In the middle of divorcing her husband of 19 years she discovers her parents and sixteen other members of her family have been brutally murdered with a Samurai sword. Roslin disagrees with the direction of the police investigation and begins digging into her family’s past. We travel to Nevada in the mid 19^th century and Beijing in the present day as she works to discover the origins of the killings. Originally made for television, two ninety-minute episodes have been pulled together so get comfortable before settling into this moody and plot turning mystery.