The week in UAE TV: June 6-12

You’ll probably be spending a fair chunk of time indoors over the next few months, so it’s worth reacquainting yourself with the large rectangular thing in the corner. Here’s some good stuff to catch this week.

The Series: Veep (Episode 6, Storms and Pancakes)
When: Monday, June 8, 22:05
The American version of British politics comedy The Thick Of It may not have cult-character and all-swearing icon Malcolm Tucker, but there are more jokes per episode in the White House equivalent. Largely from the same writing team, this is just as sharp as any political satire about. In this episode watching Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, as acting President, racing her rival to a hurricane site just to get the better photo op, perfectly skews cynical attitudes in modern politics.
Channel: OSN First Comedy

Modern film: We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
When: Tuesday, June 9, 21:00
This Texan noir made little impact in cinemas when it was released last year, but is well worth seeing. When a teen steals $20,000 from a crime boss things go predictably sour and he and his two friends get dragged into the corrupt underbelly of their small-town. There’s more than a hint of the Coen Brother’s debut Blood Simple about it and this low-budget indie is a fine antidote to the CGI summer blockbusters.
Channel: OSN Movies

Classic film: Carrie
When: Wednesday, June 10, 23:30
There have been over 100 films and TV series adapted from works by Stephen King and while some achieve classic status – The Shining, Shawshank Redemption – there are plenty of turkeys, step forward It and The Tommyknockers. This one, though, still holds up and is substantially better than subsequent remakes. Friendless teen Carrie (Sissy Spacek) is bullied at school and abused at home by her mother but discovers she has power of telekinesis.When she is finally pushed too far she wreaks violent revenge. With a running time of just 98 minutes, it doesn’t drag and that ending is still as shocking over 40 years on.
Channel: OSN Movies Festival

The Documentary: Searching For Sugar Man
When: Thursday, June 11, 17:30
This is the Oscar-winning story of a bunch of South African music journalists setting out to find out whatever happened to American musician Sixto Rodriguez, who released two albums in the early 1970s. Although no great shakes in the US, he somehow managed to attract a huge cult favourite in South Africa during the Aparthied era. Was he still playing? Was he even still alive? What they find, and how the story develops, makes for one of the most genuinely feel-good films of the last ten years.
Channel: OSN Movies Festival

The match: Game 4, NBA Finals (Golden State vs Cleveland)
When: Friday, June 11, 05:00
Yes, we know it’s early – or late, depending how big your Thursday night was. But it’s the weekend and you can afford to disrupt the sleeping patterns to catch the NBA Finals – which are now coming to the crunch. The Warriors of Stephen Curry and are taking on the Cavaliers, led by a LeBron James, who seems to have spent his entire career trying to prove people wrong. His 44 points in Game 1, however, was all for nought, and he’ll be needing to bring all that and more if he is to add to his two NBA rings – and two Finals MVPs.
BEIN Sports: 8HD