millions of commuters are facing nightmare journeys and hundreds of schools are closed after heavy snow made it the coldest night in the uk for seven years. in a landmark ruling the mother of a three—year—old girl has become the first person in the uk to be found guilty of female genital mutilation. the united states announces that it's suspending compliance with a key nuclear arms control agreement, signed with the soviet union during the cold war. an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. and in the the united states this is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on. now on bbc news a look ahead to sportsday at 6:30 tonight. we are in dublin where the six nations is set for kick—off. all the more significant in this, a rugby world cup year. ireland are the defending champions. the world number two host england here at the aviva stadium tomorrow evening.

but later tonight in paris warren gatland faces into his last six nations in charge of wales as they take on france. and scotland host italy tomorrow. we will also have the latest from day two of the second test of west indies against england. that is all on sports day at 6:30, but now on bbc news it's time for the film review. hello and welcome to the film review on bbc news. to take us through this week's cinema releases is mark kermode. so mark, what do we have this week? we are definitely in awards season, so we we are definitely in awards season, so we have a couple of contenders. first the green book, the story of an unlikely friendship. can you ever

forgive me? the memories of a forger. and burning, a film from south korea. where do you want to start? green book, first picture, best supporting actor, and mahershala ali is tipped to win. peter farrelly with his brother used to make comedies, like dumb and dumber, and this is a comedy. it is based on a friendship between tony, who needs work, and old school races. he goes for a job interview and he finds that the job is to be a chauffeur and minderfor and he finds that the job is to be a chauffeur and minder for an african american pianist. but he needs the work. they are to ring the segregated south. and they are chalk and cheese. one of them is educated and cheese. one of them is educated and a brilliant musician and the

other is vulgar and comes from the streets. inevitably during their journey together they find they have things in common, not least when tonyis things in common, not least when tony is trying to write letters home to his wife and don starts to tell him how he should write a letter. he isa him how he should write a letter. he is a clip. dear dolores, d—e—e—r. this is an animal. "as i am writing this letter i'm eating potato chips and i'm starting to get thirsty." you know this is pathetic, right? tell me what you are trying to say. i don't know. you know, i miss her. then say that. but do it in a manner that no one else has ever done it before. something like... put this down. "falling in love with you was the easiest thing i have ever done." "nothing matters to me but you and every day i am alive i am aware of this. i loved you the day i met you.

i love you today and i will love you the rest of my life." aw. it is a good—hearted film, you can see from that. it is oscars, so whenever there is an oscar contender there is controversy. on the one hand, this is not true, they were not friends, it was an employer and employee relationship. there have been complaints that this is a story about racism but seen through the eyes of a white character and he saves the day. there have also been comparisons with driving miss daisy, which won the oscar for best picture. but that was saved by the performances. in this case it is the performances. in this case it is the performances that saves it. i understand the criticism that it is a soft film and it is just trivia. but the performances are really

winning, so much so that when you are watching the film you think, i am going to park all the things i think that is wrong with it because i like the characters. i think mahershala ali has a good chance of winning. i think viggo mortensen does a good job with his role. you would be hard pressed not to be charmed by it because its heart is in the right place. it makes a lot of mistakes, it is not ground—breaking and it is fa ntastically soft ground—breaking and it is fantastically soft soap to. remember it is awards season. how much of the aspects of the chemistry between the two leads applies to your next pic of the releases? good question. melissa mccarthy and richard e grant have been nominated as well. this is based on a true story, the story of lee is real, author who could not get published, so she started forging letters from famous literary figures, noel coward and dorothy

parker. she found out she got quite good at it. she said in the film i ama good at it. she said in the film i am a better dorothy parker than dorothy parker. richard e grant is jack hock, the character she fakes the letters for. a lot of people say he is like withnail and i, but that character was needy. in this he puts up character was needy. in this he puts upa lot character was needy. in this he puts up a lot of front because he has got a lot of anxieties. she is fantastic. a couple of reviews have said it is a revelation. but it is not a revelation, she was in dramatic theatre for a number of yea rs. dramatic theatre for a number of years. she has always had a dramatic underpinning. this was brought to the screen and a very likeable form. i like the chemistry between them. norepinephrine's name comes up a lot in the dialogue in a funny way. and

asa in the dialogue in a funny way. and as a huge fan of her i liked this in much the same way. it is about the characters. it is about somebody who finds her own voice by pretending to be the voices of other people and i think it works really well. richard e grant is fantastic. it is a long overdue nomination. the next release, burning, which is not about chemistry and it is entirely different. this is based on a short story which i have not read. shy young man, his mother left home and his father was in trouble with the law and he has to turn to the family farm. one day he sees a girl who is outside a stall trying to get punters to come in and he does not recognise. what he does not realise is she knew him as a child from the village where they both grew up. hard to work out from that what that

phil is really about. exactly and i have seen the whole film and it is still quite hard. he is smitten but mystified. she tells him things but he does not remember. then she asks him to look after her cat which he never find. then him to look after her cat which he neverfind. then she him to look after her cat which he never find. then she turns up with a playboy boyfriend who is a gatsby type figure and he likes to make barnes disappear by burning them down and then she disappears. the rest of the film is him trying to figure out whether she has disappeared, as she actually disappeared? is he involved? do we get any answers? maybe it is a murder mystery and maybe it is a film about rich and poor and town and country and reality and invention and memory and what you think remember. the film closes on you like this and it becomes so mesmerising. i was completely

gripped by it and afterwards i spoke toa gripped by it and afterwards i spoke to a couple of people and said, was that a clue? did you see the cat? what i loved about it if it is one of those films that gets right under your skin. it is absolutely breathtaking. is it a murder mystery, a love story, a paranoid thriller? is it all in his mind? at no point does the film say, here is what is going on. it is really brilliantly mystifying in a way which is completely mesmerising. i just wanted to go straight back in and watch it again. i will watch it again. even on second viewing it will keep the secrets. you have got to be up with the uncertainty of it. how wonderful, i loved it. it is so ha rd to how wonderful, i loved it. it is so hard to describe. you have no idea what you are talking about even after seeing it. go and see it to have a proper discussion with you about it. destroyer. i like this.

the whole of the best director liz has not one single female director ina year has not one single female director in a year that had so many great movies directed by women. this film has been sadly overlooked and it needs to find an audience. it is a really good, twisted cop thriller. and two sentences on best dvd. disobedience, again it is a story about life, love, religion, betrayal, the universe and everything. wow, that will do me. that is a good collection for this week. thank you so much. and that is all we have time for. thank you for watching. goodbye. once againi

once again i have got another roller—coaster of emotion for you andi roller—coaster of emotion for you and i am afraid it is not all good news. this evening always was going to be tricky where you have got lying snow and where the ice is forming and disruption always likely. now look what is happening in the southern counties through the rest of the afternoon. that snow has been quite heavy and it has had a significant impact along the line of the m3. but it has got more to give. there could be several centimetres there. other wintry showers available in northern and eastern parts of the british isles. out west the skies are clear and it will be another bitterly cold start to the day on saturday. further showers in northern and eastern parts, still wintry in nature. further west it is a gloriously bright, fine, crisp sort of day. not overly warm. a chilly night to come and then on

sunday we have more wind and snow from west to east across all parts. the met office issues more weather warnings of snow and ice, for large parts of the uk. it follows the coldest night for seven years, with hundreds of schools closed, flights cancelled at some airports, and treacherous driving conditions for motorists. it's like armageddon. lorries jackknifed all up this road. there's lorries jackknifed. there's vehicles everywhere. we will be live in hampshire, where the m3 is blocked in both directions because of three jackknifed lorries. minor roads like the one behind me are virtually impassable. also, on tonight's programme... the mother of a three—year—old girl has become the first person convicted of female genital mutilation in the uk. the political initiative now lies totally with the ayatollah. john simpson reflects on the 40th anniversary