hello and welcome to the film review on bbc news. to take us through this week's cinema releases, as ever, is mark kermode. hello, mark — what's in store? so a very mixed bag — we have logan, a superhero movie that isn't really a superhero movie. viceroy‘s house, a very handsome period drama from gurinder chadha. and certain women, the latest low—key offering from kelly reichardt. so wolverine, back with us. yeah, although in a way that kind of missells it. so this is basically a superhero movie that isn't about superheroes — it's about ageing, and it's about arthritis, and it's about growing old, and losing your memory. wow, i am already surprised! yeah, it is an x—men movie for people who prefer westerns to comic book adaptations. set in a not—too—distant future in which huthackman‘s titular character, wolverine obviously,

is making a living as a limo driver. he is looking wretched, drinks, has bloodshot eyes, and he spends his time looking after patrick stewart's charles xavier, who now has what is descibed as a degenerative brain disease in the most dangerous brain in the world. they are living off the grid, trying to stay under the radar, keep themselves to themselves — or at least that is what they're trying to do. here's a clip. hey, carl, it looks like mr munson hired some muscle. looks that way. he's a friend of mine. friend with a big mouth. i hear that a lot. then you probably hear this too. rifle cocked more than i'd like. now, the interesting thing about the film is often count to three and start walking away. i have a lawyer in our! one, two, three. you know the drill. get

the hell out of here. now, the interesting thing about the film is often with the superhero comic book franchises, you know exactly where you are. this is such a different beast — the plot involves a young girl who logan finds himself having to take care of, although initially he doesn't want to. he is forced to do so by circumstances. the real themes of the film are violence and redemption — as i said there is a big western theme. it refers again and again to shane, and i'm thinking of movies like clint eastwood's unforgiven. there is a line that recurs time and time again, "there is no living with the killing." some of the violence does involve a young child, it is bloody and brutal and genuinely properly shocking. like deadpool — this is a 15 certificate — it is not a film for kids.

but unlike deadpool, it is played completely straight — it is not played for goofy laughs. it is played as a film about what happens when you get old, when you are looking back and trying to make sense of your life, when you are trying to find some kind of redemption in a world which is fundamentally broken. as i said, when you talk about those things, the western theme keeps coming back. yes, there are action themes, there is violence, quite surprising violence... and you know me — that is the bit that puts me off, to be honest. but it has context and meaning, and most importantly it has pain — when it happens it feels painful, it doesn't just feel exciting. it feels like there is genuine pain. and when you think that we have seen so many of these kind of movies in which entire cities are just sort of merrily wiped out and you don't feel anything at all — in this you do. no one was more surprised than me. it is directed by james mangold, obviously, and i think it's a really fine piece of work that stands on its own, and you don't have to have seen or loved the other films to get it and understand it. you should give it a go,

because i think it's really interesting. the next one i want to like, because i really like gurinder chadha's work, as a rule. yes, and i do like it — it is a very handsome period drama which blends personal history and politics. it's the story of the partition of india in 1947, so what you have is hugh bonneville and gillian anderson as lord and lady mountbatten. he has been sent there is the last viceroy to oversee the peaceful transfer of power. the story is told through the prism of the people who are working in the household, so whilst upstairs you have dignitaries and politicians arguing about the fate of nations, downstairs you have all these different characters whose fates seem to reflect those of the larger environment. there's a romeo and juliet romance at the heart of it, which i have to say was the one false move — itjust never really gelled for me. what i think does work, chadha was very clear that she wanted to make a populist drama, that would work for a mainstream multiplex audience, that would address a very difficult and complex subject and do so in a way that was comprehensible, accessible, and also entertaining, and to her great credit i think she has done that.

i know that some people have complained that the film perhaps plays to the gallery, it is too simple, broad strokes characters, but i think that she has understood what the audience needs, and i think she has managed to tell a complicated story in a way which is accessible. obviously it is a particular take on that story, but i was surprisingly charmed as well, because it is also a movie that has that wry cheeky wit, which are a lot of her stuff does, even among these complex historical events which are so complex, and often so brutal. certain women — i don't know much about it, but quite a cast. it is great — kelly reichardt, of course, the director, gave us meek‘s cutoff and wendy and lucy — so essentially this is a triptych of tales by maile meloy, and they are put together in one film, and the stories intertwine, but only slightly. in one of them, laura dern is a lawyer who has a client who has an old case he keeps coming back to, and she can't move on from it. in another, michelle williams is attempting to build a dream house while her life and marriage is falling apart. in the third, kristen stewart and lily gladstone are a teacher

and a rancher respectively who strike up an unlikely friendship. here is a clip. i took this job before i finished law school. i wanted anyjob — i was afraid of my loans coming through. i didn't know where belfry was. i guess i was thinking about belgrave, which is a lot closer. so stupid. then i got a realjob. and they are letting me do this because they think it is funny. the pass is icy — it takes me four hours to get here, it is going to take me four hours to get back. i have to work in the morning. now, you can tell from that, the tone of the film seems to be... remember that famous quote — waiting for godot was a play in which nothing happens twice? you could say that this is a film in which nothing happens three times.

but it is in the nothing—happening an awful lot is happening. and a lot of it is to do with, as you saw in that, one character is talking and another character is looking. but it is the looks which are actually saying more than the dialogue, and what i like about this, kelly reichardt is a film—maker who works on mood, long shots, you believe in these characters absolutely, and the story is not evident immediately — you have to give it time, let it settle. it is a film i want to see again. the performances are fantastically naturalistic — you do believe in the characters, sometimes to the point where you think, i am going to stay with them for a while, even though i am not entirely sure where the narrative thread is going. over the course of the drama, it does have a cumulative affect, but so much of it is to do with the tone of the atmosphere, you know, the way in which people look at each other, the environment in which they find themselves, the isolation, and the way in which they do or do not relate to the other characters around them and the landscape. that is a very hard sell, because you are not going to put that on a movie poster —

a film about the way you may or may not relate to the people and the landscape around you! but it is a film that you have to meet halfway. but she is a superb director, and they are great performances. it sounds absolutely intriguing to me, and that put it on my list, for sure. good. and can there be any doubt about film of the week? no — moonlight is the best thing in cinemas at the moment, the best thing i have seen in a very long time. it won the best picture oscar, and the remarkable thing — when was the last time that the best film of the year actually won the oscar for best film of the year? finally, it happened! it is so brilliant that it did — i think barryjenkins has done a brilliantjob, a coming—of—age story, a triptych, three periods in the same character's life, played by three different actors. each one chaptered according to the name of the character. it is about a tough life, but it has got immense beauty, a wonderful soundtrack. it looks fabulous, you really believe in the characters, it is tactile, sensuous and strange and adventurous, and everything that you want a movie to be. and everything about it kind

of says, this is great, there's no way this will win big at the awards — and it did, and it is such a brilliant thing. i am so pleased for barryjenkins. he is still a very young director, and you don't realise that, in movie terms, it was made on a very small budget. absolutely tiny, and again it is one of those demonstrations that it is not about your resources — it is about passion, commitment and talent. this is a low—budget movie, when you compare what it is up against, and it is really wonderful. you talk about passion and it commitment — that takes us to our dvd. ken loach. i, daniel blake, and this was overlooked by the academy, and it is a great shame that it was, because it was unbelievably powerful — directed by ken loach, wonderful script, great performances by davejohns and hayley squires, and a story which basically has a message, the message being that bureaucracy and bureaucratic inefficiency can be used as a tool of repression. that doesn't sound like it will make for great drama, but it does — it is about characters that you know and like and care

about, and it has got a sequence that has been referred to many times — the food bank sequence — that i think is one of the most perfect pieces of film—making, understated film—making. the cameras stay a long way away from the character, they watch the action play out in real time, and it is so powerful. so moving. it really is. it is notjust that it has a message, the way in which tells the story is powerful. i thinkjust as a piece of film—making, it is really brilliant. i, daniel blake is out on dvd — if you don't want to go to the cinema this week, stay at home and watch that, and possibly sob! it is a good week in all its variety. a quick reminder before we go that you'll find more film news and reviews from across the bbc online at bbc.co.uk/film. and you can find all our previous programmes on the bbc iplayer. and that is it for this week. thanks for watching. see you next time. good evening. if you are just off

the bed wondering what's in store for tomorrow rooted much nothing in comparison to the day. we have real to psy—tu rvy comparison to the day. we have real topsy—turvy weather. it was a miserable day today in northern scotland. it pretty much rained all day. over one inch. in aberdeen it wasn't pleasant. further south, a different story. sunny spells and spring warmth, with 13 degrees. lovely towards london. a change for tomorrow. the rains that in scotland. that will drift into the northern isles and take most of the day tomorrow to clear. at the same time we have windy weather pushing into the south—west. this is the change of fortunes to come. enjoy some sunny change of fortunes to come. enjoy some sunny spells, a scattering of

showers across scotland. maybe still wintry to the tops of the mountains first thing, but not a bad start. northern ireland and northern england, some sunshine. this is the weather front at 9am slicing the country in two. some of that range is heavy and it will be windy as well. a scattering of showers falling behind and that will be the story. driven along by strong winds. gale force gusts developing through the day across the south—west of england and the west facing coast of wales. that will dry in frequent showers. we keep the sunshine in scotland, northern england and northern ireland, so you could have a really lovely day in prospect. any showers will be isolated. 7—9 to the north, 9— ten caps into the far south. as we move out of the weekend towards monday, this little fellow could be an issue first thing in the morning in the south—west. for the early morning rush hour the potential to see some gales or

severe gales likely through the posts, what also some very intense, heavy rain. it clears quickly towards the british peninsular and then moves into the near continent, but behind it sunny spells and scattered showers and likely —— that's likely to the story. in the tuesday and other area of low pressure pushes him, so nothing especially settled for the early pa rt especially settled for the early part of the week. the wet and windy weather likely from the west. by wednesday something just a little bit milder to start —— starts to show its hand at hopefully a little bit quieterfrom show its hand at hopefully a little bit quieter from wednesday onwards. whatever you do, enjoy yourself. hopefully you managed to dodge the heavy rain and scattered showers. good night. welcome to bbc news. our top stories— raising the flag on china's national people's congress in beijing. thousands of lawmakers are gathering to hit the country's priorities for the next year. president trump accuses barack obama

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