coming up next, be back at 11:30pm. coming up next, it is the film review with simon mccoy. don't go away. hello, and welcome to the film review on bbc news. to take us through the cinema releases this week is jason solomons. what do we have this week? the glamour of old—school hollywood is the backdrop for a love story between a starlet and her chauffeur under the watchful eye of reclusive billionaire howard hughes in warren beatty‘s rules don't apply. we have the sands of time, which reveal voices from a hidden mirror in the form of gertrude bell's letters from baghdad, as read out by tilda swinton in letters from baghdad. and wartime london's rubble provides

the setting for gemma arterton and bill nighy in their finest, as they struggle to produce wartime propaganda movies. we begin with rules don't apply. warren beatty, he hasn't had the best of years! with that oscars fiasco. it has been 16 years since he wrote and directed... this was meant to be his big return. as he gets older is he getting better? this is a vanity project that he wrote, directed, starred in... it's interesting, he began at the end of old hollywood with his film bonnie and clyde. it brought indie cinema into the fore, destroying the old studios, a success in 1967. this is old hollywood where he started out in as an actor. you can imagine him coming into town like the star

lily collins does here. it's good on the details of how a boss like howard hughes ran the studios. everybody is waiting on him. starlets, showbiz and businessmen. even presidents wait on the wealth of howard hughes for their green light. it shows how he used to keep starlets in various places, the big mansions he kept them in, they were secretive, they had rules that applied to them. but not to warren beatty‘s howard hughes... i decided when i won a talent contest that maybe i would give it a go in hollywood. lam frank. two weeks in los angeles, you are working for howard hughes? i'm having high hopes. $400 a week on top of this? i hope howard hughes doesn't expect to meet you in a hotel room... i would like to thank you for my acting classes, ballet classes and the chance to become a star.

what the hell is she doing here? you said you wanted that girl? yes, marilyn monroe! she is a baptist nun... sex is bad because it could lead to dancing. i am a square. movie actresses are supposed to be sexy, and they're the rules in this town? without carly simon here, some people suggest that warren beatty could be talking about himself in some of this? you think this film is about you... he has been a figure in hollywood, and him playing howard hughes recently, played by leonardo dicaprio in martin scorsese's the aviator, he is a strange and shadowy figure that warren beatty plays himself. like indiana jones, with a pilot jacket. i think warren beatty becomes obsessed with the mania that howard hughes himself was overtaken by and the film becomes oppressive

and more oppressive. you think it will be light and fluffy and full of ‘50s jazz numbers, but it isn't. the romance between lily collins and alden ehrenreich, it is overshadowed by his ego in his own film, a howard hughes thing to do. i see where he was going but it is like oscars night — chaos awaits those fingertips! he will never live it down! letters from baghdad. we've all heard about lawrence of arabia but not many people have heard of gertrude bell, the queen of the desert? yes, maybe we have heard of lawrence of arabia because of that epic tribute. gertrude bell never really had hers, and this documentary is as epic as it gets. there is another film with nicole kidman, but this is a more fitting tribute through this letters that she left through her correspondence in the desert. she was the most powerful women

in the british empire. at the end of world war i, the borders of arabia were being drawn. she was very much involved in that with winston churchill, riding into the desert, a redoubtable british colonial figure, intrepid explorer, part spy, part stateswoman, part antiquarian. in the arab world, she learned farsi, she understood everything. magnificently played by tilda swinton, as you would expect. what is well done in the documentary, directed by two women, they resurrected these letters, finding brilliant archive footage from baghdad and damascus — all of that stuff we see on the screen now. the sphinx is an apt figure as gertrude bell stares out. there's footage now from the region which is war—torn and ravaged. war was always something

in that sand, but there is an elegance to it, a kind of colonial innocence in that footage which is beautiful. it really summons up a lost time. gertrude bell's voice rings out as a lost voice of the british empire. let's move on to their finest. a british film crew attempting to boost morale during the second world war. what's not to like? in this film, they have bill nighy and gemma arterton. they wanted to make authenticity and optimism shine out to boost morale through the war. happy news wasn't enough. stiff upper lip, chocks away for their finest, directed by denmark's lone scherfig. this goes back to the 1940s, gemma arterton making her way as a script girl, directing slop dialogue, the romantic dialogue in movies. here she is, elbowing her way and finding her voice on the set. even taking on bill nighy, who plays a washed—up

actor, ambrose hillyard. an example, a mention of the clever code. i may say that would be the first clever thing that she's done in her life! laughter. just a dash of humour and further along... excuse me... certainly. no, no... it's the caption at the end is going to be "he's not listening "but the enemy might be". it's a joke for women who never think that their husbands pay attention. if you start answering, the caption would make sense. i wrote it. the scenario? i will be in my dressing room, if anyone needs me... gemma arterton revealed on the one show recently that she used alexjones's accent

as a model for that? there is a presenting gig for her if the oscars are not forthcoming! i did not know that was alexjones — very good! she is very good in it, gemma arterton, the rosy—cheeked script girl who becomes the force of the movie. it is about female voices coming in while the war was on and gaining some power. people saying, when the war was finished, that the women would not go back into their little boxes after this taste of freedom. it is about that, but the film is good at wartime tailoring and capturing that rubble of london. it is funny, witty and elegant, as you would expect from people like bill nighy, but the spectre of death is never far away. a bomb drop away. the rubble of london. there is a mix of romance and the making of a movie, like rules don't apply earlier. there is that madness of making movies which hangs this together. it's interesting — movies provide shape and structure, and an ending where life at that

time was full of mess and never did. that is why people loved movies back then. 30 million people per week went to the movies. it was the revival for the british people, after a demise beforehand? it would be great if this can get an audience of 30 million in the opening weekend. i don't think it will, but this film is witty, charming and elegantly done. a very good performance from gemma arterton, and neatly tied up by the director, lone scherfig, with a good amount of skill. people might think it is a women's picture, but it has depth and elegance, and i love the wartime tailoring in the costumes. i may get one, a decent coat! the best out is get out. it is a horror film? yes, it is out at most cinemas, it isn't a horror film in a scary way, but it's very edgy. there is this depth going on, like in the stepford wives. a black guy goes to a white

neighbourhood to meet the parents, the parents of his girlfriend... they do not know that her daughter's boyfriend is black? and then they find out, then we realise that maybe they do? it isn't a scary horror film with scary bits going on. it could be a great date movie. it is a really edgy bit of us comedy. it made me laugh a lot, get out. there is the british actor daniel kaluuya there who is brilliant in it and allison williams, who was in girls, thatjust finished on television this week. if you are missing it, there is one of them in get out. and the best dvd, the lady from shanghai. orson welles... and rita hayworth, his wife at the time. she was a famous redhead. in this famous film, he cut her hair and turned her blonde! the studio were up in arms.

they wanted her as a redhead. it's a bit of a mess, this movie, and the final sequence is a hall of mirrors — you don't know who is shooting at who. there's this scene which was later spoofed. i love this film. it is a puzzle but it has all of the classic things you need from this kind of film. orson welles does one of the worst irish accents. he plays michael o'hara. nevertheless, it has a great atmosphere and shows that orson welles was a fantastic film—maker but ultimately flawed. that is what you want from your orson welles films. and that is what you want from jason solomons. that's all for this week. thank you for watching. goodbye. good evening. it has been a large

friday out there and that generally dry theme will continue. here was the scene in northamptonshire earlier and their staff known. blue skies and sunshine. tomorrow will be another largely friday with spells of sunshine around. feeling fresh first thing. we have had clear skies on saturday, a bit of patchy cloud here and there but the temperatures are taking a tumble through this evening and overnight stop there will be showers continuing over northern parts of scotland but elsewhere should stay largely dry and those temperatures under clear skies will fall quickly. by the early hours of sunday, five or 6 degrees of 78 further south, but it will be five or 6 degrees colder in

the countryside. the london marathon, looks like staying dry after a fresh start, temperatures up to 1415 degrees in the afternoon. sunday morning, nine o'clock, temperatures around about my not 10 degrees london for the start of the marathon. more in the way of sunshine in wales and northern england but a fresh start to the day with a slight frost in prime spots. northern ireland, cloudier skies here. a few showers across northern and western scotland. southern and eastern scotland try and white. the cloud increases from the north west. elsewhere across the uk it is looking dry with spells of sunshine likely to remain dry for the london marathon. a small outshine chance of the passing shower. on monday, the frontal system works its way in from the north and that will introduce cloud for much of the country. we

turn to wintry showers with snowfall of the higher ground of scotland. further south, cloudy, of the higher ground of scotland. furthersouth, cloudy, breezy, outbreaks of rain. monday into tuesday, a northerly airflow and cold air will move in. a wintry deal into monday and tuesday with sleet and snow showers over higher ground and snow showers over higher ground and a return to night—time frost. goodbye for now. this is bbc news. the headlines at 11pm: on the campaign trail. labour and the conservatives spar over the possibility of tax rises, both parties promise fair policies. the conservative party, which always has been, is and will continue to be a party that believes in lower taxes, in keeping taxes down for ordinary working people. our tax burdens will not fall on

those on low incomes, our tax burdens will not fall there, they will fall on those with broader shoulders who can bear the greatest burden. tight security across france as the country prepares for the first round of the presidential election. dozens of afghan soldiers are killed or wounded in one of the worst attacks by the taliban on an army base. also we'll take a look at tomorrow's front pages,