but either of you are dog lovers, but there is a story on the daily telegraph, the queen's new role as a helpful dog walker. i'm not sure whether it is a telegraph scoop or whether it is a telegraph scoop or whether they have managed to confirm somebody else's world exclusive, but what is saying is that her majesty has spent last two years quietly acting as a dog walker for her former gamekeeper. his late wife was known as the keeper of the corgis, and presumably she died and so the queen has got into the dog walking business. another little nugget in here is that she is considering taking on two more dogs, having said that the current ones would be her last. what a thing to do when you are 90 years old. in a world of chaos, brexit, donald trump, the queen is walking some dogs. it is reassuring. it is, i like it anyway. that's it for the papers. thank you, rowena and jim. coming up next, it is the film review. hello and welcome to

the film review on bbc news. to take us through this week's cinema releases is mark kermode. and we've got one or two things you might have heard of. we are in award season so it's a big week. we have of course la la land which everyone is talking about. live by night, the new film by ben affleck. and manchester by the sea, with a standout performance by casey affleck. la la land. yeah, you've seen this is coming out, you've seen the poster. i have seen it. i've seen the film. 0h, you've seen the film, oh great, fantastic. so, damien chazelle's swooning tribute to classic old hollywood musicals of singin' in the rain and also things like umbrellas of cherbourg. emma stone and ryan gosling are the star—crossed pair who meet in an la trafficjam.

it's a fantastic opening. a wonderful song and dance number. he is a hardcore jazz freak, she is an aspiring actress. they hate each other at the beginning but gradually the relationship begins to thaw and they become friends and possibly something more. here's a clip. i got a call back. what? come on! for what? for a tv show. the one i was telling you about, earlier. the dangerous minds meets the 0c? yeah. congratulations, that's incredible! i feel like i said negative stuff about it before. what? it's like rebel without a cause, sort of. i got the bullets. yes. you've never seen it! i've never seen it. oh, my. you know, it's playing at the rialto. really? yes. you should go— i mean, i...i can take you. 0k. you know, for research. for research. yeah. 0k. um, monday night, ten o'clock. yeah, great. for research. research. you're grinning all the way through it.

i know, i loved it. well, you and everybody else. i went into it thinking, the problem is everybody said this is so good, it's going to be a crushing disappointment and it isn't. it's really, really good. firstly, this is actually chazelle's second musical. he'd made a thing called guy and madeline on a park bench before he made whiplash which was drums as a war movie. full metal hi—hat we called it at the time. from the beginning, it said it was presented in cinemascope and the screen opens up into this glorious cinemascope, an explosion of colour, blues, yellows, greens, really primary colours. there is a fabulous dance sequence on a freeway which is almost kids from fame but done in la. then what the story does is it occupies a space between, on the one hand this nostalgic clunkiness of woody allen's everyone says i love you, and the free—form fluidity of gravity. in fact there is a scene where we are literally flying. i thought the performances were terrific. emma stone dominates it.

she plays somebody who has to go to an audition and act being an actor. a really hard thing to do! and she does it brilliantly. i thought the song and dance numbers were well choreographed, i loved the lyrics, i love the way in which... people have said they are no fred and ginger. no, they are not meant to be. damien chazelle said he wanted to make something that has the magical of musicals but also had its feet on the ground. it had the texture of real life. i think it does have that. i thought it was utterly charming. plus, most importantly, it is not afraid to be melancholy or poignant, it is notjust everything is tied up neatly, it is... its strengths are in its sad streaks which makes the joyousness even more. i thought the opening five minutes was worth the price of admission alone. it's brilliant. it appears to be one shot. but also, we have talked about casablanca being remade, badly. this is casablanca for our times, in many ways.

absolutely right. it is a movie that is good enough to nod very explicitly to casablanca and for you not to go, oh, sorry, you blew it. i really, really liked it. so did i. now live by night. so, ben affleck writes, directs, stars in an adaptation of a novel by dennis lehane. he isjoe coughlin, a small—time hood in prohibition era boston and doesn't want to be a gangster, the opposite of ray liotta in goodfellas. he finds himself travelling to florida where he becomes exactly what he didn't want to be. he goes up against the ku klux klan. the interesting thing about the film is it has an extraordinary pedigree. chris cooper, elle fanning, brendan gleeson, and of course affleck himself. i think one of the reasons it has sniffy reviews is when you have that kind of talent, people expect something more than a film which is ok. you said invoking casablanca, this film invokes the godfather

and scarface and it is neither of those films. it is handsome but in a way which is kind of artificial. it does look good and there are... certainly, i wasn't bored, i found the story sort of interesting enough. but it does have a sense of its handsomeness is more important than any depth. it is very much to do with surface. there is stuff in there to like but at no point did i think this was a classic. when you look at the pedigree involved in it, itjust ought to be better than it is. argo, which ben affleck also directed was one of the best films of the last ten years. it's witty and it's tense and based on a true story which he takes liberties with but it is really good. however, this brings us nicely to manchester by the sea. this is the third film by the playwright kenneth lonergan who made you can count on me which got awards nominations and everybody loved. and then margaret, which spent five years in the editing room. he just couldn't finish it and there were lawsuits. is he a genius or someone

who cannot finish a film? i have to say, this, as his third film, made me go, actually, he might be a genius. we're not going to be here much longer. i'm not moving to boston, lee. don't wanna talk about that right now. you said he left you money so you could move. yep, that doesn't mean... anyway, what's in boston? you're a janitor. so what? you can do that anywhere. there's plenty of toilets and clogged up drains all over town. i don't wanna talk about... all my friends are here. i'm on the hockey team, i'm on the basketball team. i gotta maintain our boat now. i work on george's boat two days a week. i got two girlfriends and i'm in a band. you're a janitor in quincy. what the hell do you care where you live? ok, so he is a janitor in quincy but he's called to his hometown of manchester—by—the—sea which is actually the name of the town, where he has to revisit the ghosts of the past after his brother collapses and he finds himself having to look after the nephew.

the film is told in two time frames, the present in which he's going back to the past and the flashbacks in which we actually see the past. so much of the story is told through the way in which casey affleck holds himself. the scenes in boston when he is completely withdrawn and everything about the way he hunches his shoulders, the set of his face, the way he slightly purses his lips, is in a start contrast to the flashback scenes in which he's garrulous, and oozing boozy bonhomie. we know these threads will move together, we will see his old life with his beloved wife played by michelle williams, and his new life where he is isolated and somehow we are going to find out how the isolation happened. when it does finally come, it is a fairly devastating central sequence. in one of the key sequences they use albinoni's adagio in g minor, which is a false move for me because it is used in many films. it was used in rollerball, flashdance, gallipoli. it was used by wendy craig in butterflies.

simon mayo used it for confessions on radio 2. it was weird that in a film that was everything to do with the delicate nuances, it was too obvious. that aside, casey affleck is really terrific. kenneth lonergan deonstrates he is actually a very good craftsman as a film maker. and for all the criticism sometimes of hollywood, to have la la land and manchester by the sea, the grittier side of america and the... absolutely, this is an indie favourite director who has finally shown us he is worthy of the praise that has been heaped on him. your best of the week is a monster calls. a monster calls came out just after christmas. i think it's the best out at the moment, juan antonio bayona's adaptation of patrick ness' story about a young boy who was traumatised by his mother's ill—health, and he starts seeing visions of a tree monster, played by liam neeson, which says i will tell you stories and you will tell me your truth. it uses fantasy to address real—life down—to—earth problems and it does so in a way which is beautiful and utterly heartbreaking. it owes a huge debt to guillermo del

toro who i know you're a huge fan of. i have had so many reports from people saying i knew i was going to cry but i had no idea how much. it is very moving, very touching. beautifully filmed. julieta is wonderful. i thought it was the best almodovar since volver. it is the dvd of the week. exactly what i think. i think it is the best since volver. superb story, based on the short stories of alice munro. adriana ugarte and emma suarez playing younger and older versions of the same central character who is estranged from her daughter. it does the thing that almodovar does best which is a passionate, truthful human story. but told in a way which is profoundly cinematic. he has never been backward in coming forward in giving you lush visuals but this has so much to do with the characters, wonderful performances, writing is terrific. it is again heartbreaking but beautifully so. honestly, looking back at the selection of movies we have looked at, that is a good sweep of films. that's a good weekend's viewing.

a quick reminder before we go that you will find more film news and reviews from across the bbc online at bbc.co.uk/film — and you can watch our previous shows on the bbc iplayer. that's it for this week. thanks for watching. bye— bye. hello there. a weak weather front in from the west although the rain is picking up a little bit over the next few hours. behind it we have some mild aircoming next few hours. behind it we have some mild air coming in from the atla ntic some mild air coming in from the atlantic so temperatures will hold up atlantic so temperatures will hold up nicely here. ahead of the weather front it is chilly in east anglia in particular where it gets close to freezing. call here but no problems

further west. it will be a cold start further east. notjust further west. it will be a cold start further east. not just cold that we have the potential for mist and fold as well at least it is a largely dry start to the day. we dig up largely dry start to the day. we dig up some cloud and sees rain up into the midlands. dry across cornwall but it is a mild night at 10 degrees. simla for wales. but it is a mild night at 10 degrees. simla forwales. some but it is a mild night at 10 degrees. simla for wales. some rain into the north—west of england and here it is a great start for the day. mild, a online degrees and similar in northern ireland. cloudy, dry and mild. similaracross similar in northern ireland. cloudy, dry and mild. similar across much of scotland. the cloud is low in places down on the hills, poor visibility for some. firies to scotland extends back and east of england. under the rain, seven or eight degrees but just to the east it is still quite cool just to the east it is still quite cool. the main rain does not move too far too quickly. that rain becomes light and patchy and on the

other side further cloud that it should be brighter weather. sick cloud and the north of scotland will bring rain into the afternoon. for many areas, after a chilly start it is only five or six degrees. a lot of rain in the range of temperatures. in the evening that rain will become clouds and we will see a touch of frost was clear skies in the south—west to start the day. a lot of cloud in many places on tuesday in the best of the sunshine in the south—east. rain across parts of northern england and into the monklands let you know it is largely dry and mild. through tuesday afternoon on into wednesday at the high pressure is in charge of the weather so that will keep things quiet for most. a little rain to be had but most will be in the north and west. the temperatures will do quite well over the next few days. a chilly day once again in east anglia and the south—east. looking ahead to thursday another quiet day. not windy, a lot of cloud was not a lot

of rain. many places are looking fine and dry. more details online. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: smart trade, not free trade. an extraordinary interview from inside donald trump's new york office. decision day for the man at the top of samsung. jy lee will find out within hours whether he will be arrested as part of a south korea corruption investigation. i'm babita sharma in london. new zealand's prime minister tells the bbc he will stand by a transpacific trade deal which donald trump wants disown. trade is our lifeblood, and despite some of the politics around trade, we are firm advocates of being an open economy, getting more freed trade deals, that support income on