What to watch tonight: picks by mood and time

Searching often takes longer than the first episode would. Two questions help more than any best-of list: how much time do you have, and what are you in the mood for? Here are five typical evenings, each with two or three picks that fit.

You have 90 minutes and want to laugh

Palm Springs

2020, 90 minutes. A wedding guest, played by Andy Samberg, lives the same day in the California desert over and over, and soon he is no longer alone in it. A time-loop comedy that retells a familiar idea with pace and dry humour.

The Naked Gun

1988, 85 minutes. Leslie Nielsen plays police lieutenant Frank Drebin, who causes one disaster after another with a dead-serious face. The gags come every few seconds, many of them in the background. We mean the original, not the 2025 remake.

Life of Brian

1979, 94 minutes. Brian is born on the same day as Jesus, in the stable next door, and is later mistaken for the Messiah. The British comedy troupe Monty Python turns this into a satire of fanaticism and groupthink.

You want tension, but nothing brutal

Rear Window

1954, 112 minutes. A photographer with a broken leg is stuck in his flat for weeks, watches his neighbours and at some point believes he has witnessed a crime. Alfred Hitchcock builds the tension almost entirely out of looks through a window. James Stewart and Grace Kelly play the leads.

Searching

2018, 101 minutes. A father searches for his missing daughter by going through her laptop. The whole film plays out on screens: chats, video calls, search windows. It sounds like a gimmick, but it works right to the end. John Cho plays the father.

Apollo 13

1995, 140 minutes. On the way to the Moon in 1970 there is an explosion on board, and three astronauts have to find a way back in a damaged spacecraft. Ron Howard tells the true story with Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton. The tension comes from technology, time pressure and teamwork, not from violence.

You are tired and want something familiar

On some evenings, a film you already know is exactly right: you do not have to pay close attention, and you know you will like it.

Back to the Future

1985, 116 minutes. Marty McFly lands in 1955 in a time machine and has to make sure his parents fall in love. Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd play the leads, Robert Zemeckis directed. Many small details from the first half pay off in the second, which is why the film is still fun the fifth time.

Ratatouille

2007, 110 minutes. A rat in Paris wants to become a chef, of all places in a famous restaurant. Pixar turns this into a warm film about talent, background and good food, with lots of small jokes in the kitchen. For all ages.