this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 1pm. motorists are being warned of dangerous driving conditions because of snow and ice. this is the scene live at the junction of the m1 and m6 in leicestershire, earlier highways england reported "severe conditions" when there was an accident involving a lorry. there are delays at stansted airport after snow on the runway caused all flights to be suspended for several hours. and 10,000 properties are without electricity, mostly in the midlands and wales. prince harry sets out how he views his role as a senior royal. while guest editing for the bbc‘s today programme, he promises to remain above politics. but shine a light on certain issues and causes. i will continue to play my part in society and do myjob to the best of my ability so i can wake up in the morning and feel energised and go to bed hopefully knowing that i have done the best that i can. a small number of critically ill syrian children are allowed to leave a rebel held area of damascus.

and england have had their best day on their ashes tour of australia so far. alistair cook completed his first ashes century in seven years. and coming up, mark kermode looks back at 2017's big film releases — including the sequel to blade runner, that's the year in film in half an hour. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. high winds and snow have caused disruption for much of england and wales. thousands of homes and properties are without power in the midlands, the south west and parts of wales, after power lines were brought down overnight. there's been disruption for passengers at birmingham

and sta nsted airports, and collisions on the mi, in the last few minutes stansted had is closed again. m25 and a number of a—roads caused by treacherous driving conditions have caused major delays. viewers have been sending in pictures from their area , georgina tweeted this photo from the departure lounge at stansted airport, which has suffered delays due to a closed runway, and reamins closed. but the weather hasn't been bad news for everyone, jason sent in this picture of his dog enjoying the snow in gartloch, just outside glasgow. keep tweeting us @bbc—haveyoursay. phil mackie has been braving the weather at the catthorpe interchange , where the mi meets the m6. earlier he described what he saw when he arrived: there were queues getting of both

the mi onto the a14 and also the m6 on to the a14, and at the moment things have certainly improved as a result of that. and the snow has stopped and the sun is beginning to peek through the clouds, so we are expecting much better weather conditions this afternoon. a lot of those homes that have had power outages are in this part of the world as well, so west and east midlands through warwickshire and leicestershire are particularly badly affected overnight. western power has begun to get some of them back on this morning, but a lot of them will be probably cut off right through to this evening. birmingham airport was also closed overnight for about and an hour and a half because of snow on the runway. they have cleared that now and there are no further problems there today, but it did mean that much like at stansted this morning, some flights had to be diverted. prince harry has told the bbc that his fiancee meghan markle had a "fantastic" time with the queen and his family over christmas. the prince and ms markle spent christmas with the royal family at sandringham in norfolk.

the pair will marry in 2018, but when asked whether the couple would invite barack 0bama to the wedding, prince harry remained tight lipped. we haven't put the invites or the guest list together yet, so who knows whether he's going to be invited or not. wouldn't want to ruin that surprise. that must be a major headache? i think once you get married you go through that process. but for me, today, post christmas, looking forward to new year, i just hope that everybody out there has had a chance tojust think about the things that really matter and the difference that every single one of us can make. it's not necessarily your decision either. your fiance often has a big say this things. of course, 100%. so christmas. it was your future wife's first christmas with the in—laws. how was it? it was fantastic. she really enjoyed it. the family loved having her there. yeah, there's always that family part of christmas is that

work element as well. i think together we had an amazing time, great fun staying with my brother and sister—in—law. and running around with the kids. christmas was fantastic. as i said, we're really looking forward to new year and looking forward to 2018 because, you know, i'm determined to make sure that myself and the young generation and everybody else the pendulum is going to swing and 2018 is going to be a fantastic year. we all need to play our part. during his interview with barack 0bama, the former president issued a warning about the use of social media — saying it can lead to people being ‘cocooned' in ‘different realities'. how do we harness this technology in hay way that allows a multiple voices, diversity of views, but doesn't lead to the vulcanisation of our society but rather continues to promote ways of finding common ground. i'm not sure government can

legislate that, but what i do believe is that all of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the internet. one of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities. they can be just cocooned in information that reinforces their current bias. he also interviewed his father prince charles entered the opportunity to ask about environmental issues. do you feel optimistic about the future for the world that william, myself, your grandchildren and everybody else out there will inherit? there are so many reasons not to feel optimistic i suppose, but there are also way more reasons from a younger generation's point of view to feel optimistic. because i feel as though the time has come that the pendulum needs to swing and we start to work

with nature and appreciate what is already there. it is given to us, it is not something we have to create, it is something we can learn from and if we do protect it and look after it then actually, this huge increase in population and everything else suddenly becomes manageable if it is cared for and looked after right. what can we be most optimistic about? the fact that you're saying this gives me a enormous optimism, because i haven't put you off. no you haven't. by banging on all these years. it is really encouraging because what i've tried to do all these years is to make sure, if i can possibly, i am not sure if i can, ensure that you and your children, my grandchildren, but also everybody else's grandchildren, have a world fit to live in that provides them with opportunity. a man who is serving a 20 year prison sentence for carrying out

an acid attack in a packed london nightclub has been in court again this morning. 25—year—old arthur collins appeared at bromley magistrates‘ court where he pleaded guilty to hiding a mobile phone inside a crutch while in prison. workers could see another year without a pay rise, that's according to the resolution foundation think—tank, which looks at living standards in the uk. it said a year—on—year rise in real pay wouldn't be noticeable until december next year. the government says it is cutting taxes for millions and raising pay through the national living wage. people who mistakenly have their credit ratings damaged by unresolved debts will be protected under new government a consultation on how county courtjudgments are issued proposals. a consultation on how county courtjudgments are issued has been launched. there are concerns some businesses may be deliberately sending claims to the wrong addresses, in order to exploit people's debt and ruin their rating. most businesses responsibly collect

their debts, but what we want to do is protect vulnerable consumers against the minority of cowboy companies that can devastate people's credit ratings without them even knowing. we have a package of measures that will deal with that problem. the minority of rogue companies that need reining in. aid workers have started to evacuate critically—ill patients from a rebel—held suburb near the syrian capital, damascus. it comes after weeks of negotiations between the united nations and syria's president, bashar al—assad, to allow children with cancer to be transferred from eastern ghouta into damascus for treatment. earlier we spoke to someone closely involved in the evacuation through his charity role. he gave as his reaction to what is happening. we are delighted that 29 children were evacuated overnight from ghouta into damascus. they'll need critical medical care. we got involved about ten days ago

when our clinic in ghouta had informed us that they had seven children under the age of 12 with curable cancer. this time last year david and i managed to persuade president putin and president assad to get children out of the town. 0vernight children are starting to move out. your introduction is very right, the united nations and other ngos have been working incredibly hard over the last several months to get these children out. we are hopeful after speaking to him this morning that she will continue with this evacuation and we also asked that he allows a much—needed humanitarian aid, medicine and food and other staples into ghouta where people are dying of malnutrition. when you say you spoke to assad, i assume you mean someone

from his government. the one thing that has been missing from this whole process, process, is that word hope. are things changing? you are right, we spoke to assad this morning and the king ofjordan spoke to the russian foreign secretary on our behalf yesterday. i think in engaging with these people is making a difference. these people are after hope. they have been besieged and bombed and living in the most atrocious conditions. there is a possibility now of peace negotiations starting up in the next few weeks and the un geneva peace process will hopefully get going again in the next few weeks. but with this bit of hope, hopefully it will galvanise everybody and we're delighted that world leaders are engaging and yesterday i spoke to...

i wrote to 120 ministers and politicians in this country to get involved and i am delighted they are now. with this direct approach. although the russians and syrians have in fact won the battle, what is critical now is to rebuild syria which undoubtedly the us and the west will pay for. we are good at that. a small bit of hope, a ray of light... these children that have witnessed unspeakable things and lived in unspeakable conditions. how they are physically, presumably there are problems mentally? it is shocking. david and myself spent the last 30 years on the battlefields of the world and have been in and out of syria the last five years. it is awful and our charity tells us that 75% of children under the age

of 13 suffer from post—traumatic stress disorder, and in them about 50% manifests itself with incontinence. these are things that children should not see and have suffered terribly over this time, but we must not give up hope. some people have criticised us for dealing directly with assad. there are 29 children now who are receiving medical children they would not have got, and if we can drive the peace process in any way and help it, and many others are doing this, i think it is a combination of everybody‘s efforts that it is time in syria there is a ray of light, it is the children who are missing growing up in syria. we must sort them out to give syria a chance of a prosperous and peaceful future. this mightjust be the beginning. just to update you that stansted

airport has now reopened, but they do point out they are not ruling out temporary runway closures throughout the day as snow continues to steadily fall. it was shut for 20 minutes to clear snow and ice that has now reopened. coming up in a moment we'rejoined by viewers on bbc one for a round up of all the days news. good afternoon. police are warning drivers of hazardous conditions on the roads today, as heavy snow hits parts of the uk, leaving thousands of homes without power. there are ice warnings in place in scotland, northern ireland and north east england — and warnings for snow in parts of england and wales. the runway at stansted airport is currently closed while the snow and ice there is cleared. it has now reopened. simonjones has this report. as many took to the roads again after the christmas break, heading home or back to work, these were the conditions people were facing in bristol.

for the emergency services the wintry weather meant numerous call—outs, crashes, breakdowns and jackknifed lorries kept the police busy. torrential rain overnight has become snow in many areas and that has led to some pretty grim conditions on the roads. many are slushy, there is ice in a lot of areas and notjust the minor roads but motorways have been affected as well. particularly hard hit was the a14 near kettering, a series of crashes led to some drivers being stuck for hours. i'm on the a14 trying to go eastbound to northampton. i set off from my house in hinckley at 6am this morning. i have been on the a14 for three hours now. as you can see there is nothing going in the other direction. a bit cross! those who braved the conditions to get to stansted airport found flights disrupted or cancelled after the runway had to be shut for a time.

the snow also brought down power lines, more than 20,000 homes left without electricity as temperatures plummeted. there were warnings for ice in scotland, northern ireland, and north east england. 0n boxing day, two walkers had to be rescued from a precarious ledge in snowdonia. the coast guard said they were not properly equipped. a reminder, like here in the lake district, that the snow may look beautiful, but it is posing considerable risks. many people are hoping for a white christmas and may have been disappointed but the weather has made up for it today. here in high wycombe the snow has become rain as the temperature rises to around three or 4 degrees and that is likely to be the picture as the weather heads east. at stansted the ru nway weather heads east. at stansted the runway was closed this morning for a period while it was cleared, dan reopened and had to be closed again but has now reopened once more. not quite out of the woods just yet.

the former us president barack 0bama has warned about the irresponsible use of social media, in his first interview since he left office at the beginning of the year. mr 0bama said social media was, in some cases, simplifying complex issues, and spreading misinformation. he was speaking to prince harry in an interview for radio 4's today programme. this report from our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell. prince harry, first of all. you are very welcome to our studio. good morning. joining the today programme for the day had been a big learning curve, harry said. but he had enjoyed being the interviewer, rather than the interviewed. it was quite fun, especially interviewing president 0bama. .. his principal scoop had been to persuade barack 0bama to give his first interview since standing down as us president. the word trump was never mentioned. but may have been in mr 0bama's mind when he warned about the responsible about the responsible —— irresponsible use of social media. how do we harness this technology in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, allows a diversity of views,

but does not lead to a balkanisation of our society but rather continues to promote ways of finding common ground? harry had also interviewed his father, the main focus had been on climate change. the issue prince charles has championed for decades and for which he was sometimes derided. maybe now some years later they're beginning to realise that what i was trying to say may not have been quite as dotty as they thought. but i mean, the issue really that has to go on being focused on, big time, i think is this one around the whole issue of climate change, which you know now, whether we like it or not, is the biggest threat multiplier we face. and then at the end of the programme it was time to face questions, rather than to ask them. first about his fiancee meghan markle and her first christmas at sandringham. she really enjoyed it, the family loved having her there. and you know, there's always that family part of christmas,

and always that work element as well. and i think, you know, together we had an amazing time, we had great fun staying with my brother and sister—in—law. harry's commitment to issues he cares about like the armed forces and mental health, had come through strongly. so how does he see his future? part of my role and part of myjob is to shine a spotlight on issues that need that spotlight, whether it is people, whether it is causes, issues, whatever it is. so i will continue to do, to play my part in society and do myjob to the best of my abilities. so that i can wake up in the morning and feel energised and go to bed hopefully knowing that i've done the best that i can. not so long ago he admits to having doubts about royal role. clearly, no longer. nicholas witchell, bbc news. aid workers have begun evacuating critically—ill children from a rebel—held suburb near the syrian capital, damascus. four critically—ill patients were reportedly taken out of ghouta overnight.

another 25 are expected to be evacuated in the coming days, although hundreds more are in urgent need of treatment. some 400,000 residents have been under siege by government forces there since 2013. matthew thompson reports. a wave, a smile. and for eight—year—old imjy a chance, at least, at life. 29 seriously ill civilians are due to be evacuated from this besieged suburb of damascus. many others were not so fortunate. eastern ghouta is one of the last strongholds of rebels fighting the forces of president bashar al—assad. it has been under siege by government troops since 2013 and as peace talks in geneva have faltered, the humanitarian crisis has escalated. food and fuel shortages have led to rampant inflation, starvation, and with medical supplies severely limited, doctors are powerless to help those in need. to escape the constant bombardment,

for months families have sheltered in the basements of shattered buildings. but they offer no protection from hunger and disease. these people have been besieged and bombed. and living in the most atrocious conditions. there is just a little chink now and if we can get the ceasefire extended, there are peace negotiations starting up again in sochi in the next few weeks. russian sponsored talks may offer a way out but so far rebel groups have refused to engage. meanwhile the un has identified nearly 500 seriously ill civilians in desperate need of evacuation from eastern ghouta. 29 may be a start, but there is much more to be done. matthew thompson, bbc news. the firm that managed grenfell tower will hand over responsibility for almost ten thousand properties to the local council by the end of january. kensington and chelsea tenant management 0rganisation was heavily criticised after the grenfell tower

fire, in which 71 people died. a consultation into the future management of the properties will take place soon. a man who is serving a 20—yearjail sentence for throwing acid across a packed london nightclub has pleaded guilty to being in possession of a prohibited item in prison. 25—year—old arthur collins hid a mobile phone, two sim cards and two usb sticks in a crutch while he was on remand in september. he was awaiting his trial over the acid attack, in which 22 people were injured. cricket, and england are in the driving seat in the 4th ashes test in melbourne. at the end of the second day, an alistair cook century left england at 192 for two — 135 behind australia's first innings total. from melbourne, patrick gearey reports. mercury rising at the mcg. health advice in such heat — stay in the shade, conserve energy, and under no circumstances try

and bowl at steve smith. australia's captain, not out in tests here for three years. so was this a mirage? tom curran's first test wicket, a rare and valuable one. now this might look like a replay, but it's not. it's mitchell marsh falling to chris woakes, in exactly the same way. the old reliables, stuart broad andjimmy anderson, did the rest. australia all out for 327, only 83 more than they'd started the day with. it's half past one, the temperature is over 30 degrees and the england bowlers will be really pleased that they're back in the shade of the pavilion. they have got their side back into this, now what can the batsmen do? well, they made 35 before mark stoneman ran into the goat. short for "greatest of all time" — a nickname extended to nathan lyon. james vince went too, but england could cheer the revival of a reassuring presence. alastair cook's first 50 of a frustrating series, with more than 11,000 test runs to his name, cook knows the value of luck. so rarely does steve

smith let these escape. cook was on 66. questions have been asked about cook's appetite for batting, but look at the reaction when he went to his 100 in the last over of the day. his answer to those who doubted him. in the changing room the celebrations when he got that 100 were huge. you know, peoplejumping up and i think that is testament to the bloke he is. you know, he is a very calm character, he's not someone who gets particularly fazed or particularly down. i mean, he went through so much stuff with his captaincy, i'm not sure a bit of stick about scoring runs is going to bother him too much. this may be seen as too little, too late, an afterword to the ashes. but at least, at last, england have had their day in the sun. patrick geary, bbc news, in melbourne. there's more throughout the day on the bbc news channel, we are back with the news at 6.30pm. now on bbc1 it's time for the news where you are. we had some excitement with the snow

earlier today but no more is expected. the hazard will be the ice forming. clear and cold this evening, very cold overnight and in fa ct evening, very cold overnight and in fact where we have snow cover across the uk as low as —10 degrees. also some freezing fog in northern ireland and more wintry showers. tomorrow morning starts cold and frosty with some ice in places and then the afternoon looking beautiful, crisp and cold. just in the far south—west a chance of some thicker cloud and spots of rain but other than that, all the way from the south coast across the midlands it is looking beautiful. temperatures barely above freezing. the next spell of snow, and there is

some snow potential beyond this period, that is into thursday night and early friday morning. the weather front coming from the atlantic, bumping into that cold air. tricky to say if it is going to settle on the ground, almost certainly across the hills but whether the towns and cities get lying snow is too early to say but be prepared for the potential during the course of friday. but by the time we get friday afternoon most of that turns to rain. some milder atla ntic that turns to rain. some milder atlantic are coming through so the temperatures start rising through the day. then the new year weekend, saturday, a jet stream pushing a weather front in our direction. it will be very blustery especially around western coast. temperatures

up around western coast. temperatures up to 13 degrees potentially in the south. i had some rain around as well and then new year's eve itself, well and then new year's eve itself, we mightjust well and then new year's eve itself, we might just about well and then new year's eve itself, we mightjust about be between weather systems so they could be clear spells around. it will be a cold wind and just a few passing showers. goodbye. this is bbc news. the headlines: motorists are being warned that snow and ice are causing disruption to motorways in england and wales. prince harry sets out how he views his role as a senior royal. he has told the bbc that his fiancee had a fantastic time over christmas. a small number of critically ill syrian children are allowed to leave a rebel—held area of damascus. the company that ran grenfell tower gives up control of thousands of other properties, saying it can't guarantee tenants the service they expect. tesco has apologised to customers

who have complained that their christmas turkeys were not and rancid. —— rotten. now on bbc news it's time for the year in film. hello and welcome to this review of the year in film. i'm mark kermode and we're here at the cinema museum in south london. over the next half an hour, i'll be looking back at some of the best movies released in uk cinemas in 2017. and what a year it's been. as always, the film year began with the oscar circus which back in february became the scene of one of the most astonishing debacles in awards history as la la land, which had already picked up gongs for best director, best cinematographer, best music, best original song, best production design, and best actress, for emma stone, was announced as the winner

of the best picture award, only for that to be revealed as a mistake. i'm sorry, no, there's been a mistake. moonlight, you guys won best picture. in fact, the award went to moonlight. director barryjenkins‘s minor key masterpiece which also won best adapted screenplay and best supporting actor for mahershala ali. among the night's big hitters, manchester by the sea picked up the award for best original screenplay and best actor for casey affleck. meanwhile, viola davis won the supporting actress award for her role in the fences. an adaptation of august wilson's stage play directed by leading man, denzel washington. i gave 18 years of my life to stand in the same spot as you! as always, some of the most interesting movies competing on 0scar night were in the foreign—language film category. my own personal favourite was toni erdmann, a jet black comedy from writer director, maren ade about father—daughter estrangement boasting a brilliant central performance by sandra huller. in the end, the foreign—language

film award went to the salesman, an affecting drama from iranian film director asghar farhadi, who had previously won the award for a separation. this time, in protest against president trump's controversial travel ban, farhadi boycotted the oscar ceremony, explaining that his absence was, "out of respect for the people in my country and those of six other nations who had been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the us." of course, all true film fans understand that cinema is an international medium that knows no boundaries or borders and in 2017, uk cinemagoers were treated to a veritable smorgasbord of delights from all corners of the globe. from israel came in between, the bittersweet debut feature from maysaloun hamoud about three palestinian women living in tel aviv, each fighting their own battle for independence and fulfilment. in the handmaiden, park chan—wook transferred the story

of sarah waters‘s novel fingersmith from victorian england to 1930s korea underjapanese colonial rule, with deliciously twisted results. dutch director paul verhoeven coaxed an oscar—nominated performance from french icon isabelle huppert in elle, a controversial drama about a parisian businesswoman playing cat and mouse with a violent assailant. in by the time it gets dark, thai film maker anocha suwichakornpong used the infamous atrocities of october 1976 as a jumping—off point for a kaleidoscopic meditation on past and present, truth and fiction, cinema and memory. a performance of tremendous wit, vitality and lusty defiance by sonia braga drove brazilian film—maker kleber mendonca filho's aquarius, a portrait of a woman refusing to be bullied out of her seafront apartment by developers. professor.

thank you so much. italian film—maker luca guadagnino scored a critical hit with call me by your name, which many have named their favourite film of the year. in february, hungarian film—maker ildiko enyedi scooped the top prize at the berlin film festival with on body and soul, a brilliantly bizarre tale of two misfits finding dreamy love against the stark backdrop of an abattoir. one of the most uncategorisable films to be released in uk cinemas in 2017 was i am not a witch, a remarkable zambian story from writer—director and british independent film awards winner rungano nyoni. margaret mulubwa stars as the young girl who is accused of being a witch and given a stark choice —

to accept her supernatural branding and live a tethered life as a sorceress, or to cut her ties with local tradition and be transformed into a goat. part social satire, part surrealfairy tale, this terrifically strange parable addresses magic and misogyny, superstition and social strictures, in a manner which is as indefinable as it is unmissable. although i am not a witch was shot and set in its director's homeland of zambia, rungano nyoni grew up in wales and the film is a british—french co—production. 2017 saw the release of several british—backed feature debuts which prove that home—grown talent continues to flourish. staying for the funeral? of course. my favourite british film of the year was hope dickson leach‘s the levelling, a poetic tale of family division and reconciliation which played out against the postdiluvian backdrop of flooded somerset. i don't want this to be your fault!

not again. having been named a star of tomorrow by screen international way back in 2007, it took hope dickson leach nearly a decade to make herfirst feature, which stars ellie kendrick and david troughton. it was well worth the wait. 0ther screen debuts included lady macbeth, the first feature from theatre director william 0 ld royd. transferring its themes from russia to the rugged landscapes of victorian era north east england, the film made a star of florence pugh, who previously shone in carol morley‘s the falling, and she commands the screen in this lusty tale of repression and rebellion. yorkshire provided the arresting setting for god's 0wn country, the feature debut from francis lee won the bifa for best independent film. depicting a tentative relationship to a young local farmer and a migrant romanian worker, god's 0wn country was another low—budget british odyssey

with horizons as broad as the countryside itself. meanwhile, alex barrett's london symphony took cinema back to its silent roots, filming in over 300 locations to present a celebration of diversity and difference with a superb score by james mcwilliam. while gems such as the levelling and london symphony showed what can be achieved with limited resources, other british—based films have more multiplex—friendly appeal. films such as goodbye christopher robin, which gently interwove fact and fantasy as it retraced the creation of a children's classic. at boasting some beautiful writing by frank cottrell boyce, this charming film, which could have been called saving mr milne, served as a fitting epitaph for the life and work of prolific producer steve christian who died earlier this year. and then there was breathe, which provoked both laughter and tears as it revisited the story of pioneering polio survivor robin cavendish.

with terrific turns from andrew garfield and claire foy, an breathe marked the directorial feature debut for andy serkis, best known as the performance capture maestro who brought iconic characters like gollum and king kong to life. this year, serkis reprised the role of caesar in war for the planet of the apes, the third instalment in the rebooted dystopian fantasy franchise. war for the planet of the apes was just one of a number of fantasy blockbusters which proved that mainstream movies don't have to be drearily done to be popular. in fact, they can be inventive, challenging, funny, subversive, dark, delirious, whatever you want, just as long as it's good. music: "hurt" byjohnny cash. one of this year's most adventurous mainstream offerings was james mangold's logan, an x—men movie unlike any other, apparently made for people who prefer westerns like unforgiven to standard comic book franchise fare. at the other end of the mood

spectrum was pattyjenkins' wonder woman, a thrillingly empowering romp starring the indefatigable gal gadot, which proved a box office smash, thereby destroying once and for all those nonsensical myths about superhero movies requiring male heroes. incidentally, the rope—wielding figure of wonder woman also provided the inspiration for angela robinson's stranger than fiction tale of fetishism and female empowerment, professor marston and the wonder women, a real eye opener. for those who like their superheroes to come with a sense of humour, new zealand director taika waititi's thor: ragnarok was a delight. a rollicking adventure which turned out to be funnier than many of the year's alleged comedies. let's do get help. no. come on, you'll love it. i hate it. works every time. it's humiliating. do you have a better plan?

no. we're doing it. we're not doing get help. get help! please, my brother is dying! get help! help him! classic. as for kong: skull island, which featured thor co—star tom hiddleston, hats off to director jordan vogt—roberts, for managing to leave his quirky indie fingerprints all over this $200 million studio behemoth, which boasted the biggest primate you've ever seen on screen. of course, there were some clunkers, most notably the shambolic justice league, which suffered production problems ranging from the departure of the original director to studio uncertainty about how dark or light the finished film should be. in the end, itjust turned out dull. that's not something you could say about dunkirk, christopher nolan's overwhelming epic about the allied retreat from france in 1940. shot in the large imax format and best viewed on the biggest screen possible, preferably in 70mm, nolan's long nurtured labour of love is a stunning achievement which deftlyjuggles three intertwining time periods, one week, one day, one hour, as it traces the story from land, sea and sky.

and beneath it all is hans zimmer‘s devastating score, a rising chord of anxiety which tears the audience's nerves to shreds. whoa, whoa, whoa! there were thrills of a very different kind in edgar wright's baby driver, a pedal to the metal cocktail of music and movement which is best described as an american in paris meets the french connection. developing an idea that he had first explored in a 2003 music video for mint royale's blue song, wright's roller—coaster ride cast ansel elgort as a getaway driver who lives his life to the rhythm of a personal playlist. the result is a blast. kathryn bigelow cranked up the tension in detroit, a powerful reconstruction of a shocking incident that took place amid five days of rioting during the summer of 1967. british actorsjohn boyega

and will poulter headed an ensemble cast ably led by hurt locker director bigelow, who became the first woman to win the oscar for best director back in 2010. for those in search of laughter, the year's most unlikely romcom proved to be the perfect tonic. what is happening, what are you doing? i'm changing under this blanket. i've seen everything. remember? we were just having sex. yeah, but you were in the throes of passion then. based on the real—life experiences of co—writer and star kumail nanjiani, the big sick was while you were sleeping for the wide awake generation, a touching tale of cross—cultural entanglement between a pakistani born man and an american woman wrestling with the conflicting ties of unexpected love and arranged marriage. meanwhile, armando iannucci turned history into grim farce in the death of stalin. the star—studded cast sinking their teeth into this brutal black comedy. one of the best things

about being a movie critic is you get to see films about which you know nothing in advance. take, for example, secret superstar, a laughter and tears bollywood treat, which combines hannah montana style teen fantasy with a strong social realist message about domestic abuse, divorce law, gender selective pregnancy termination, and more. i went in unprepared and was completely won over by the charismatic energy of zaira wasim and her scene—stealing co—star and producer aamir khan. and on the subject of children finding beauty in tough surroundings, one of the best films of 2017 was the florida project, described by director sean baker as a modern day our gang. these are the rooms we're not supposed to go in. but let's go anyway! set in the rundown shadows of disneyworld, the florida project had heart and show to spare, thanks in no small part to a brilliantly natural performance by rising star brooklynn kimberly prince. i've failed as a mother!

mom, you're a disgrace. 2017 also turned up to be a great year for animation, cementing my belief that we are currently living through a golden age in which hand drawn and computer graphics live side by side with stop motion, rotoscoping and even oil painting. hey new kid, what did you do to land in here? so, are you the boss? guess you catch on pretty quick. and that's how you talk to girls. among the animated wonders which dazzled uk cinema audiences this year were my life as a courgette, a heartbreaking yet joyful swiss—french tale of abused kids finding kinship in a care home, and the red turtle, an ambitious east—west venture produced by japan's studio ghibli and directed by london—based animator michael dudok du wit at studios in france and belgium. a wordless gem about a man stranded on a desert island, this sublime film harks back to the universality of silent cinema, creating something of beauty which can be enjoyed by audiences of all ages, forever. 2017 also saw the release

of loving vincent, billed as the world's first fully painted feature in which 125 animators working in greece and poland created 65,000 frames based on live action footage to create an astonishing collision of real life and artistic invention. blimey. do something. put the pen down, or we'll hypnotise you! and from the sublime to the ridiculous, let's hear it for captain underpants: the first epic movie, a film so fabulously funny that i saw it twice in the same week and wanted to go back again. tra—laa—laa! 0n the subject of seeing things a second time, it's worth pointing out that alongside all the original material that played in uk cinemas this year, 2017 also saw its fair share of sequels, remakes and reissues. back in january, director

danny boyle reunited us with the original cast of trainspotting in t2, which caught up with renton, simon, spud and begby, upon whom age and regret had taken its toll. considering how important trainspotting was to a certain generation of filmgoers, it was a huge relief that the sequel didn't trample all over our dreams and turned out to be a touching and inspiring movie in its own right. the same was true of blade runner 2049, denis villeneuve's eagerly—anticipated sequel to ridley scott's epochal original. there is an order to things. that's what we do here. we keep order. despite brilliant reviews, blade runner 2049 didn't quite prove the runaway box office hit that its distributors had hoped for. no matter, for my money, it's a masterpiece. true to the spirit of the original but sharp enough to forge its own brave new world.

and then there was paddington 2, a sequel which looked like it couldn't possibly live up to the promise of its predecessor, and then did. marmalade sandwiches all round. 0w! 0n the remake front, sofia coppola won a best director award at the cannes film festival in may for the beguiled, her take on a tale previously told by don siegel in a twisted 70s classic about a wounded civil war soldier taken in by a cloistered group of women. injune, a new adaptation of daphne du maurier‘s my cousin rachel arrived in uk cinemas, with rachel weiss stepping nimbly into shoes which had really been filled by 0livia de havilland. and in november, agatha christie's murder on the orient express which had been filmed several times before, most notably in 1974, pulled into cinemas with a glamorous cast led by actor director kenneth brannagh, and his extraordinary performing moustache. for me, one of the real

treats of 2017 was seeing william friedkin's gruelling masterpiece sorcerer back on screens in a glorious 4k restoration, heralding its long overdue reassessment as a masterpiece, a full 40 years after it first bombed in cinemas. one of the reasons sorcerer, itself a remake of wages of fear, flopped back in 1977 was that the fact it opened back—to—back with star wars, the film that ate the box office alive. four decades later, that intergalactic franchise is still ruling the galaxy, with episode viii, the lastjedi opening in the run—up to christmas, and once again driving sorcerer off our screens. huh! alongside the french connection, sorcerer director william friedkin is best known for the exorcist, the most successful horrorfilm of all time. 2017 was a very good year for horror, with andres muschietti's adaptation of stephen king's it laying claim to the title of horror‘s biggest box office haul, albeit unadjusted for inflation.

no! hiya, georgie! what a nice boat. it was a lot of fun, but the really ground—breaking work was being done on the edges of horror in films which slipped subtly across genres. one of the best films of 2017 wasjordan peele's get out, a sharp socio—political chiller which scratched away at the suface of so—called post—racial america, to find poisonous secrets lurking behind the liberal smiles. so are you guys coming up from the city? yeah, we're just heading up for the weekend. can i see your license please? he wasn't driving. i didn't ask who was driving, i asked to see his id. bizarrely, when it came to the golden globes, get out was placed into the best musical or comedy category. although when asked to define the film himself, peele said pointedly, "it's a documentary".

black swan director darren aronfsky toyed with horror films in his cinematic and powerful mother!, which found jennifer lawrence cast out of a latter—day eden into an increasingly overcrowded hell. 0ther arthouse offerings such as 0livier assayas‘s personal shopper, david lowry‘s a ghost story and yorgos lanthimos's the killing of a sacred deer twisted supernatural tropes to their own psychological end. while trey edward shults‘s creepy it comes at night got under the skin of modern american paranoia with its clever inversion of home invasion riffs. here in the uk, a heavily pregnant alice lowe wrote, directed and starred in prevenge, a uniquely weird antenatal shocker which brought together murder, madness and maternity in a fever dream of fear and farce. i would swap her to have him back. she can't hear you. she can, she's very articulate. but for me, the best horror film, indeed the best film of the year was raw,

the flesh gripping, french—belgian feature debut from writer—directorjulia ducournau. using cannibalism to tell its story of growing pains and sibling rivalry, raw is a astonishingly assured work from a unique film—maker whose vision is etched into every frame, straddling humour, heartbreak and horror with ease. there was horror of a very different kind in city of ghosts, one of the most striking documentaries of 2017 which looked at the online activists and citizen journalists in raqqa, who risked everything to let the world know what was really happening when their homeland was taken over by isis. this year also saw the uk release of i am not your negro, raoul peck‘s unique film about james baldwin, nominated in the best documentary category in the oscars in february before opening here in april. despite the theatrical success of films like fahrenheit 911, many people still view documentaries as being more at home

on television than in cinemas. 2017 was a year in which the boundaries between big and small screens became increasingly blurred. indeed, in their end of year round—up at the cinema magazine sight and sound named the tv series twin peaks: the return as the second best film of the year. meanwhile, netflix and amazon found their logos being booed at the cannes film festival after french cinemas complained that films intended for the home viewing market should not be allowed to compete in a film festival unless they have a proper theatrical release. it's a fair point, but who, other than netflix, would have allowed the korean director bong joon—ho to make a movie as wonderfully weird as the creature feature 0kja, which competed for the palm d'0r? of course, the really big controversy for which 2017 will be remembered are the stories of sexual abuse and harassment which multiplied in the wake of the harvey weinstein scandal. as the silence surrounding harassment within the industry was finally broken, hollywood found some of its most bankable players publicly named and shamed.

when kevin spacey became the subject of abuse allegations, the producers of ridley scott's all the money in the world enlisted christopher plummer to reshoot all of spacey‘s scenes at short notice. meanwhile, campaigning groups such as raising films, which was set up by the levelling director hope dickson leach, have called for industry wide reform to protect those working within film production from exploitation and abuse. so what of the future? hopefully, the scandals of today will prove the wake—up calls of tomorrow and bring about real change within the industry. watch this space. in the meantime, there are plenty of great movies to look forward to in 2018. strong contenders currently being tipped for prizes at the forthcoming 0scars include martin mcdonagh‘s three billboards 0utside ebbing, missouri, starring frances mcdormand, stephen spielberg's the post, featuring meryl streep and tom hanks, and greta gerwig's directorial debut lady bird, all of which open here in january and february. personally, the films i'm mostly

looking forward to in the coming months are dark river from the selfish giant director clio barnard, lynne ramsay's you were never really here which proved a prize—winning hit at cannes in may, and guillermo del toro's the shape of water, starring the wonderful sally hawkins. the great thing about movies is that you never know what's going to be a hit. take tommy wiseau's 2003 catastrophe the room, widely regarded to be one of the worst films ever made, but which became a midnight movie cult favourite and has now spawned a star—studded making—of drama which has turned wiseau into the stuff of legend. as screenwriter william goldman famously observed, in hollywood no one knows anything, and reversals of fortune are always possible. i'll leave you with a clip from the disaster artist. enjoy the movies. let's do the alley scene! this set of the alleyway looks exactly like the real alleyway out there. that's right, that's what we do in a hollywood movie, right? well, why don't we just shoot it in the real alleyway? because it's a real hollywood movie.

yeah, sounds good. 0k. quite a few fun and games with his now bursting today. it has mostly fizzled away and the biggest hazard will be the ice that is going to be forming after the rain swept part of the uk from last night, and all of the uk from last night, and all of the sleet and snow that we had. ice, i think, the problem overnight and into tomorrow morning. clear skies, very cold, very cold in fact in scotland. where we have the snow lying on the ground, could be lower than minus 10 degrees. those are the temperatures rate in the middle of urban areas. tomorrow, a beautiful

crisp day on the way. there are a couple of areas where it might not be quite so sunny. we are thinking the very tip of cornwall, there. by the very tip of cornwall, there. by the time you get to exeter, it should be sunny. the rest of the country is looking glorious. lots of sunshine around. temperatures two, three, four degrees. watch freezing fog in northern ireland, that could be tricky but should eventually clear away. just a few snow showers across the highlands of scotland. let's see what's happening through the course tomorrow night. this is the course tomorrow night. this is the next spell of potential snow. you have been warned. potentially moving into thursday night into friday into northern ireland, wales, parts of northern england. very tricky to say at this stage if it is going to set along the ground in towns and cities. 0ver going to set along the ground in towns and cities. over the hills for sure, but if we get some in towns like leeds, sheffield, yorkshire, for example, into the borders of

scotland, the thinking is eventually it is going to turn to rain because we will see much milder air coming off the atlantic. you can see those temperatures rising. nearly double figures on the south coast. as we head into the new year weekend, a com plete head into the new year weekend, a complete reversal of the weather. an increasing jet stream pushing in weather front in our direction, so the winds will start to increase. the temperatures will start to creep back up to around 13 degrees in his ice. still residual cold in the north, four degrees. new year's eve, sunday, looks like there will be some showers around and also quite blustery, but by the time we get to midnight, the thinking as we are going to be in between weather systems. midnight in 22018, there should be a lot of clear weather around by the possibility of at least one or two showers passing through. fingers crossed if you want clear skies that is what you will get, but for the rest of today, a lot of sunny weather in ice forming tonight across southern part of the

uk, and once again, the next spell of snow, because a lot of travellers around, the next spell of snow will be first in and friday morning across northern parts of the uk. stay tuned for updates for that. thank you. this is bbc news. the headlines at 2. the first of a group of critically ill syrian children are allowed to leave a rebel—held area of damascus. motorists are being warned that snow and ice are causing disruption to motorways in england and wales. stansted airport had been closed after snow caused all flights to be suspended for several hours. and thousands of properties are without electricity, mostly in the midlands. prince harry and how he sees his role as a senior royal. he promises to remain above politics, but shine a light on certain issues and causes. i will continue to play my part in society and do myjob to the best

of my ability, so i can wake up in the morning and feel energised, and go to bed hopefully knowing that i have done the best that i can. in halfan in half an hour,