Weekend viewing

 Julie plans her trip to Verona with her boyfriend, Brandon but has to set on her journey alone after getting dumped by him. As she arrives at the villa she rented, she realises it has been double-booked leaving her with no option but to share it with the annoyingly attractive stranger. Forming an unexpected friendship, she explores the city of Verona with him. Love in the Villa is now showing on Netflix. 

Based on David Walliams’ best-selling children’s book, with an all-star cast including Jennifer Saunders, James Buckley, David Walliams and Kate Moss, The Boy in the Dress is a celebration of creativity, difference, football and fashion. Dennis feels different – an ordinary boy in an ordinary house in an ordinary street, playing football with his mates and living with his dad and brother, but frustrated by the boring grey world he inhabits. Life has never really been the same since his mum left. However, transformation can happen in the most unexpected places. Aided by Lisa, the coolest girl in the school, Dennis creates a whole new persona and puts it to the ultimate test – but can a boy wear a dress, and what will the headmaster, his dad and his friends on the football team think if they find out? Watch it now on Britbox. 

While attending a conference in Istanbul, Dr Alithea Binnie happens to encounter a djinn who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom. This presents two problems: first, she doubts that he’s real, and second, because she’s a scholar of story and mythology, she knows all the cautionary tales of wishes gone wrong. The djinn pleads his case by telling her fantastical stories of his past. Eventually, she’s beguiled and makes a wish that surprises them both. Three Thousand Years of Longing is now showing at a cinema near you.