tv The Film Review BBC News February 12, 2017 11:45pm-12:01am GMT
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but the real work in la la land. but the real star of the night was the duchess of cambridge. and their pictures on the front of the daily telegraph there. as usual, they stole the limelight on the red carpet. yes, in an alexander mcqueen down. i can tell from looking at it, it is black with ice cream cones on it, that is alexander mcqueen. for once you have done your homework. what you said in the first section is really true, you have these huge us stars who are their own planet, ego, and a minor royal walks into the shop and their knees go weak. not that they are minor royals. we understand the point exactly. that is the papers for the sour. —— that's it for the papers this hour. thank you, caroline and tony. coming up next, it is the film review. hello and welcome to
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the film review on bbc news. to take us through this week's cinema releases is mark kermode. what do we have this week? very interesting week. we have the 20th century women, a new film starring annette bening. we have the lego batman movie, which pretty much does what it says on the tin. and fences, a major awards contender. let's start with 20th century womenm, the latest from writer—director mike mills. it's an interesting film, set in california at the end of the ‘70s. a young boy facing an uncertain adulthood, surrounded by strong women of different ages, who both inspire and also confound him, not least his free—spirited mother, brilliantly played by annette bening. here's a clip.
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stop. what? thinking that you know everything that's going on. no, ijust think that, you know, having your heart broken is a tremendous way to learn about the world. 0k. do you think you're happy? like... ..as happy as you thought you'd be when you were my age? seriously? you don't ask people questions like that. you're my mum. especially your mum. wondering if you're happy is a great short cut tojust being depressed. give me that. i already love it, just from that. and i'm afraid i haven't seen it yet.
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and you're right to do so. i thought it was a terrific film. it has these natural performances, partly because they had time to rehearse and get to know the characters. secondly, these are characters you want to spend time in the company of. you want to know how their lives work out. terrific performances. the film has texture, you feel like at any point the camera could go out of the car, out of the house and into the street and the world would be complete around it. it evokes a world which is in many ways lost. it's back to time which now seems so distant, and yet the issues it deals with feel very contemporary. it's not plot driven, it's absolutely to do with moments, conversations and relationships. the narrative flips back and forth in time to some extent. i just thought it was terrific. when i first started watching it, i knew nothing of what to expect, other than it had a great cast. and i like mike mills's work. but i was drawn into their world,
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into their characters. i really loved it, i can't wait to see it again, it's terrific and you will love it. but is it going to be disparagingly called a women's film? i don't even know what that phrase means. in the past it was a term that was used for popular movies. because it used to be that females audiences were the majority. so when people spoke about women's pictures what they meant was something would be successful and a blockbuster. i hope that was the case. believe me, anybody could see 20th—century women and get something out of it, it's terrific. weirdly, the same is true of the lego batman movie. did you see the lego movie? i'm afraid i didn't. it was great! really great. it sounded like a stupid idea but it turned out to be very smart and inventive. for what age group? for all age groups! i'm in my 50s and i laughed all the way through. so this is now lego batman is a spin—off. it is about lego batman, a complete narcissist,
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completely tied up in himself, and through the movie he has to learn to have relationships with people — with robin, his butler, and thejoker, who is desperate for him to admit that he is a special villain, that they have a special relationship. and what is great about this movie, the visuals are terrific, it is incredibly kinetic. i kept wanting to hold the frame and say, stop! there are so manyjokes in this one frame, they're going by too fast, i can't keep up with the speed of these jokes! it's smart, it is cine literate, for all ages it's funny. there's loads of exciting stuff happening on the screen. for older viewers, there are jokes about the ‘60s batman and the christopher nolan batman. believe me, first you need to see the lego movie, because that is terrific and better than this. i have a busy weekend ahead of me! the lego batman movie is very surprisingly tiptop stuff and doesn't let the side down. well, i'm already feeling overwhelmed by those two. let's talk about fences. i haven't seen the film,
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but i've seen the play, on which it's based, so i'm interested. well, i have seen the film and ifeel like i want to see the play. an adaptation of a play from the ‘50s. denzel washington stars in and directs it. troy is a blue—collar worker. he works in the sanitation department and he brings home his frustrations from his work, from his life. they all come out in the home encounters. the film has got four oscar nominations, including best supporting actress and here's why. i'm not talking about no baseball. you're not listening to me, i'm trying to explain it to you the best way i know how. it's not easy for me to admit that i've been standing in the same place for 18 years. well, i've been standing with you! i've been right here with you, troy. i've had a life too. i've given 18 years of my life to stand in the same spot as you. don't you think i've ever wanted other things? don't you think i had dreams and hopes? what about my life, what about me?
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great performances. you've seen it as a play. and that scene is so powerful in the play. the only problem is this — that the film feels very stagey. there are plays that have been adapted for the screen that start to feel cinematic. what this feels like is something that has taken the stage play and literally filmed it. obviously there are slight differences, but it never felt like a cinematic endeavour. it felt like really great writing, very relevant issues, terrific committed performances that you could absolutely get behind. but it never took flight as a piece of film—making. for me, that's a problem, because if you're going take a stage play away from the stage and put it somewhere else, you have to do something to it. you really feel you wish you were seeing it live on stage, because particularly with the larger speeches, that's what it felt like — a theatrical production, as opposed to a cinematic production. because the screenplay was written by august wilson before he died, a great, great playwright.
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i guess it's a different writing for the screen, a different craft? and it's a different thing directing that work for the screen. i always thought the classic screen adaptation of plays, they understand the language of cinema first and foremost. this is clearly a huge reverence for the stage play, and understandably so. i just don't think it's as cinematic as it needs to be. despite the fact that it's great writing, really solid performances and great individual moments, but as a piece of cinema it doesn't quite fly. coming up to the baftas on sunday, it's something that might win awards generally for the acting, rather than anything else? my feeling is that that's where its heart resides. they are terrific performances. it's just it feels theatrical to me. the best thing out in the cinemas at the moment is toni erdman. you need to see this. it's terrific. it sounds so unlikely,
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a three—hour german black comedy, a standout performance about father, daughter estrangement. a father turns up at his daughter's place of work pretending to be a life coach, who she cannot get rid of. it is really edgy and really funny and really painful and really poignant. it is about to be remade starring jack nicholson. i read that! why? it's perfect as it is, leave it alone! it doesn't need remaking! but you will love the original. you tell me it's perfect. i have seen the trailer and the trailer itself is interminable. does it need to be three hours? it does, believe me. i am somebody who believes in cutting to the bone, less is more, but in the case of toni erdman, there's nothing i'd take out. it is that good. it is a really fantastic movie. don't be put off by the trailer. i know loads of people who have seen the trailer and not been put off it. it is not a great trailer. 0k, only because you have told me.
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tell us about the dvd. the unknown girl. it's a story about a young doctor who fails to open the door to a potential patient who is then found dead. no one knows who she was. the doctor then has a crisis of conscience and tries to find out who she is. it was a film which, when it was in the cinemas, got lukewarm reviews. the great thing about dvds, you can reassess things that was perhaps overlooked the first time. it is a better film than critics gave it credit for first—time around. it is a thriller, but it has a humanist heart and is well worth seeing. i don't know it, so that's a good recommendation. mark, thank you very much indeed, as ever. thank you. a quick reminder should you need it, you can find more film news and reviews from across the bbc online at bbc.co.uk/markkermode. and of course the baftas, it's going to be very cold but should be fun. full coverage from bbc
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news on the red carpet. that's it for this week, though. goodbye. good evening. many of us glad to see the back of this weekend. cold and drab and wintry. we have had some beautiful weather watchers pictures sent in. i suspect any thicker snow will be blown around because it will turn quite windy. but it will turn milder. finally some double digits and with some sunshine it will feel quite springlike. the strength of the wind will be a key feature through monday. drinking some rain
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to the south—west. drizzle through the north—east. a windy start to monday for all of us. and this though will be line around, i suspect. temperatures will climb in the south—west. because of the strength of the wind, it perhaps will not feel that war out there but we will see if the cloud breaking. in places where we have not seen much sunshine in recent days. drizzle across eastern scotland and north—east england. the further west in scotland, some sunshine. still windy. hopefully some sun. quite a lot of cloud from the north sea. this temperatures may suggest something a bit better, maybe even 10 degrees at with the strength of
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the wind — gales and even severe gales across the south—west, that will make it feel chilly. cloudy outbreaks to the south—west. the by winds pivoting to the south—west. ballmer and from the near continent hopefully will break up the clown. some sunshine coming through once we lose the weather front on tuesday, oi’ lose the weather front on tuesday, or was the risk of some outbreaks of shower we rain to the south—west but temperatures likely to climb up to high is of 12 degrees. a lot of cloud on thursday but a milder feel and much appreciated, i am sure. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. the headlines: after the latest firing of a north korean ballistic missile, the us says it will reinforce its alliances in the pacific region.
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a massive heatwave in eastern australia creates what authorities call catastrophic fire conditions. i'm reged ahmad in london. the bafta is awarded to la la land. it is best film, best director and best actress for the american romantic musical at the british film awards. we will tell you who else picked up a bafta. hours away from the 59th grammy awards, beyonce and adele will go head—to—head for three major gongs, including album of the year.
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