the pooh. we also creation of winnie the pooh. we also have reese witherspoon in home again, a likeable if that rom—com. and daphne, a very interesting and edgy home—grown pick. and daphne, a very interesting and edgy home-grown pick. goodbye christopher robin. i used to make up stories for my kids, so i am fascinated by this. tell me i am going to love it. i really liked it. i know it has divided critics, but it is basically the story of how the winnie the pooh stories came about. it begins with a a winnie the pooh stories came about. it begins with a a milne ”i fir; . , ,

high“? as if? e; if: i a =,, z—lll f:. 7“ lll—l aggie rt —lll fl- 7“ lll—l ll257~e ll when child —l~lllll lll l—lililll lll lllli that his childhood i bought finds that his childhood is bought and ir§§ was — finds that his childhood is bought and éfl? was 2, moment in and sold. there was a moment in which he is in london zoo in a cage

with a bear and they are both basically on display. it is a film about his separation from his pa rents, about his separation from his parents, particularly his mother, played by margot robbie, who is very sympathetically portrayed as someone who is rather opportunistic in the promotion of christian robin. i think it balances the light and dark very well. you saw in that clip, there was a bit of animation and some magic. the woods are filled with a spielberg light, but it is not afraid of dealing with the horrors of the war. it is not afraid of dealing with the frankenstein—like idea of making something that then overshadows the rest of your life. i was moved to tea rs by rest of your life. i was moved to tears by it. i thought it was very well played. i went in feeling slightly cynical, same as with saving mr banks. you approach mary poppins very delicately, and it is the same with winnie the pooh. i thought this did it respectfully well and i was moved and charmed by it. so other critics, pish! now,

home again with reese witherspoon. the story is that she has recently separated. she is a ilo—year—old mum who has moved back to los angeles to the house where her father who who has moved back to los angeles to the house where herfather who is who has moved back to los angeles to the house where her father who is a film maker lives. she meets three young film—makers, all of whom are slightly besotted with her. next thing, they are living in her guesthouse, which is difficult because she hasn't yet divorced her arejust are just separated. are lag who house i?’* in ” f 7 house i?’* in and f 7

it. it it. sheen . it it. sheen hast x turns a bad penny the x who turns up like a bad penny at all the wrong moments. and again, much as i went in feeling cynical, i thought it was a laugh and i chuckled all the way through, largely because reese witherspoon is a great screen presence and you largely because reese witherspoon is a great screen presence and you can hold this kind of thing together. and playing older roles now. well, playing a role that is appropriate to her age. what is interesting is that although there was a thing going on in the movie about this age difference, imagine if you reversed the age difference, and would anybody raise an eyelid? i laughed, and that is fairly rare. well, not that rare! now, daphne. a powerhouse performance by emily beecham. she plays a young londoner who has

a p pa re ntly plays a young londoner who has apparently drifted into her early 30s without much direction, but an awful lot of repressed angst. she works in a kitchen and she works very hard. when she plays, she plays hard. she drinks, she takes drugs, she sleeps with whomever she likes and some people she doesn't like. she is cynical and isolated and she is deliberately attempting to keep everybody at a distance. here is a clip. when you put it like that, that sounds negative, yes. no, no, i know what you're saying. all i'm saying is that so much of what's called love is really people just projecting their ideas of what a love object should look like onto someone else and then getting upset when that person fails to live up to those expectations, so then they fall in love with someone else, till they disappoint them too. right, so basically, it turns out i didn't know what you were saying. i don't know why ijust said any of that stuff. i don't actually think any of those things. what, about people basically being incapable of love that isn't self—interested? it's to do with expectations. i don't want you to expect one thing about me and then get mad when i'm not that.

you do realise this is a first date, don't you? no need to be facetious. no, it's funny. we're on a date and you're basically saying, "don't get your hopes up, pal". no. it's like i've gone to church, only to realise i've sat next to satan. it's funny. emily beecham is a rising star. she's fantastic. i have seen her in a few films and i barely recognise herfrom one film a few films and i barely recognise her from one film to the next. she was in hail caesar and she's a versatile player. in this, she is great. this character is quite frustrating and hard to be with and much as with darren aronofsky‘s mother!, the much as with darren aronofsky‘s mother! , the camera much as with darren aronofsky‘s mother!, the camera spends the whole time with her, but you absolutely ca re time with her, but you absolutely care for and understand her because of her performance. you get to understand this very conflicted nature that on the one hand, she's missed to be alienated from everybody, but there was a sort of desperation and it. there is a

random act of violence that she witnesses and she can't understand why she doesn't feel more empathy for it. so mixed up in her character development are a number of things pulling in different ways, and you understand them all and you understand them all and you understand them all and you understand them because of the way she portrays them. it's a really intelligent performance, because it does that thing where the character doesn't have to be likeable for you to like and understand them. i thought it was really three—dimensional. you really get to grips with the issues she is dealing with and yet at the same time, you can find her company very exasperating. it's called daphne and it's worth seeing. emily beecham is terrific in it. what is best out at the moment? i love this film called in between about three palestinian women living in tel aviv, each independently struggling for their own independence. one is a lawyer with a boyfriend who is not as liberal as he seems. one is a dj whose strict christian parents don't know that she is gay. another is a

muslim who is engaged to be married toa muslim who is engaged to be married to a very sanctimonious and bullying quy- to a very sanctimonious and bullying guy. this has won awards everywhere from the israeli film academy to the cannes film festival. it has also ruffled some feathers. i loved it. i think it is this year's mustang. it isa think it is this year's mustang. it is a debt to converge. really vibrant is a debt to converge. really vibra nt performances. is a debt to converge. really vibrant performances. again, you really get to care about these women and their lives. it is caught in between and it is terrific. best dvd? city of ghosts. it is not an easy watch. it is a documentary about these journalists documenting what is happening in syria. they call themselves raqqa is being slaughtered silently and are using the internet to get the true story out. it is of with some very distressing images in it and distressing images in it and distressing subjects. the tag line is, our word is stronger than their weapons. obviously, there was a danger with getting those words out, but it is really brave thing that they are doing and the documentary isa they are doing and the documentary is a tribute to that bravery,

although it is a tough watch. and also different from the kind of news coverage. we had a bbc team in raqqa this week, and this is different. coverage. we had a bbc team in raqqa this week, and this is differentm is absolutely ground level and what is absolutely ground level and what is being whisked by the journalists getting this stuff out is extraordinary. the documentary attem pts extraordinary. the documentary atte m pts to extraordinary. the documentary attempts to show you enough that you understand what is going on. i don't think it is in any exploitative, but there are moments in it when i think anybody would have to look away. it isa anybody would have to look away. it is a very powerful piece and very well made. a tough watch, but an important what. i believe so. mark, thank you so much. a quick reminder before we go that you'll find more film news and reviews from across the bbc online at bbc.co.uk/mark kermode. and you can find all our previous programmes on the bbc iplayer. that's it for this week, though. thanks for watching.