speaking to charlotte gallagher, our correspondent. now on bbc news a look ahead to sportsday at 6:30 tonight. coming up on bbc news... england disappoint as they closed a one of the second test against south africa on 262—9. we also look ahead to the fa cup third round. can see filed score an upset against sheffield united? we will also be speaking to an olympic gold medallist who returns to the squad after suffering concussion. but now on bbc news, 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 james king.

a warm welcome and happy new year, talk us through what we've got. we had scarlett joha nsson talk us through what we've got. we had scarlettjohansson heading to germany in jojo rabbit. had scarlettjohansson heading to germany injojo rabbit. matthew mcconaughey goes to london in phil. and aaron eckhart doesn't really know where he is going in in the line of duty. not to be confused with the tv series! very much not to be confused with the tv series. jojo rabbit sounds intriguing, a comedy drama. a ten—year—old hitler youth member who begins to question the ideology of nazism? yes, taika waititi is the name of the film—maker, who has had a lot of success film—maker, who has had a lot of success in the marvel film world and also in low—budget kiwi comedy, like what we do in the shadows. yes, set in the second world war, in germany,

aboutjojo, who is so obsessed, such aboutjojo, who is so obsessed, such a hero worshipper of adolf hitler that he actually imagines him as a friend. so you have taika waititi playing an imaginary adult hits level step shall we take a look at a clip? why not. poorjojo! what's wrong, little man? hi, adolf. want to tell me about that rabbit incident, what was all that about? they wanted me to kill it. i'm sorry, i couldn't. don't worry about it, i couldn't care less. but now they call me a scared rabbit. let them say whatever they want. people used to say a lot of nasty things about me. "oh, this guy's a lunatic." "oh, look at that psycho, he's going to get us all killed." i'm going to let you in on a little secret. the rabbit is no coward. the humble little bunny faces a dangerous world every day, hunting carrots for his family, for his country. my empire will be full of all animals. lions, giraffes, zebras,

rhinoceroses, octopus', rhin—octopus' — even the mighty rabbit. what do you make of it, james? it has had mixed reviews. it seems like one of those films that people love oi’ one of those films that people love or hate? mixed reviews, i've read 5—star reviews and one star reviews. what you give it? i was more on the 5—star side. it's not so much what it saying, what it saying i've seen before but it's the way it saying it. showing war through the eyes of a child, through the eyes of someone who doesn't really understand the magnitude of what's going on, doesn't understand the context of what's going on. and that is what gives it its novelty, really. i will tell you who has really liked it, mel brooks, the legendary director has sung this film's praises. there are definitely elements of mel brooks and certainly the first half of the film, the broad comedy and farce. it gets more serious as the film goes on, it becomes much more

touching, much more like a wes anderson film. but it is one of those comedies where you either go with it or you don't. there isn't really a middle ground. i think that is why there are divisive reviews. quite hard to pull off comedy about nazism? absolutely, mel brooks has donein nazism? absolutely, mel brooks has done in the past. the lead actor who plays the title character, roman griffin davis, does a wonderfuljob. he is getting a lot of great dimensions because he is particularly good. the supporting cast as well, sam rockwell, scarlett johansson. steve cast as well, sam rockwell, scarlett joha nsson. steve marchand. cast as well, sam rockwell, scarlett johansson. steve marchand. lets go on to phil, famous for lock stock and two smoking barrels. this is back to the gangster underworld. very much going back to that. is it 2020 2002 watching this film? guy ritchie going back to his roots. guy ritchie going back to his roots. guy ritchie going back to his roots. guy ritchie going back to gangster movies. matthew mcconaughey going into a london pub and ordering a

pintand a into a london pub and ordering a pint and a pickled egg. it is guy ritchie to the nth degree. the plot is about hugh grant's character, a tabloid hack who is trying to blackmail matthew mcconaughey, who isa blackmail matthew mcconaughey, who is a crime boss. there is lots of bribery and corruption along the way. a lot of alpha males in this movie and a lot of swearing, are com pletely movie and a lot of swearing, are completely bonkers script. it doesn't entirely add up to much but what i would say is first of all a lot of energy to it. you expect that with guy ritchie films. secondly, hugh grant is having a whale of a time in this. we know he is not the biggest fan of tabloid journalism, this seems to be him getting a bit of revenge for that. it sounds a bit like peter cook, he has an amazing accent on it. a bit silly, a bit pointless but not dull.|j accent on it. a bit silly, a bit pointless but not dull. i am not a fan of guy ritchie films but i do love hugh grant i matthew mcconaughey, brilliant actors. matthew mcconaughey is doing his thing, his laid—back, cool guy but he is great at that. the cast makes

it. lets go on to in the line of duty, not the line of duty, what did you make of this? it is interesting, this one. a thriller starring aaron eckhart who plays a police officer who accidentally ruins a kidnap, kidnap operation and is desperate to prove himself by finding the hostage, desperate to make up for things. when you cast aaron eckhart ina things. when you cast aaron eckhart in a movie you expect a certain intensity because he is a respected actor but this is more like a z movie. but there is a very good chase scene in it which i think we can look at now. here is the best bit of the film. dispatch two, 0.39 pursuits now on 14th. two at the 44.

dramatic music glass smashes. car alarm beeps. thanks, padre. thatis that is the best bit of the film? laughter the chase scene is about ten minutes with long, quite near the start of the film and quite impressive. the film starts off and you think, ok, this is a bit of depth to it but it is what happens after that which is the problem, it never really follows through on the early promise was that the director is a man who has made a lot of straight to dvd and action movies. despite the credibility of actors like aaron eckhart this does descend on being another one of those average films. it will be at cinemas but more a film to watch at home. what is wrong with it do you think?|j film to watch at home. what is wrong with it do you think? i think it is just pedestrian. ultimately, it sta rts just pedestrian. ultimately, it starts off saying something, it sta rts starts off saying something, it starts off saying something, it starts off quite positively but

cannot follow through on that. that is just cannot follow through on that. that isjust a lack cannot follow through on that. that is just a lack of ambition, really. that ultimately is a problem for it. you sometimes wonder how these films get off the drawing board!|j you sometimes wonder how these films get off the drawing board! i wonder that all the time. when they see the script do they not realise it is a turkey? ok, best out this week, what you have? very much the opposite of a turkey, little women. came out on boxing day. really pleased to see a lot of people went to see it over the holidays. of course, the classic coming—of—age story. jo march, one of the many march sisters in massachusetts in civil war america. i really fresh take on the story foster it's quite difficult to mess up foster it's quite difficult to mess up the story because it is a classic but there are a couple of new twists to this. i like the way it was structured, this film, the way it is told through a lot of flashbacks. it really does flag up the nostalgia these girls have for their childhood and for their adolescent years. also, just some really strong female

roles that perhaps were not in the original story butjo march is a real pioneer in this film, doing what she wants to do, being the person she wants to be at a time when women weren't always allowed to do that. wonderful performances. for me, it's all about florence pugh, the british actor, who had a great year. she plays amy on this. if you are ina year. she plays amy on this. if you are in a movie with meryl streep and you still steal scenes, that says something. better than meryl streep?! belated happy birthday wishes to florence pugh. i think she walks away with this film. a lot of people will say they have been so many adaptations of little women in film and tv? yes, but it is a new way into it, a new way to tell it and a new way to highlight things. it is not a movie about feminism but there is certainly more of a feminist slant to it than perhaps other adaptations. it feels modern and fresh. a film for the me too

era? customer care yes. and the dvd? a million little pieces, based on a book from james ryan 2003 about his time in rehab. sam taylorjohnson is the director. her husband starred in it, both wrote and produced it. very much a passion project for them. sam's last film was 50 shades of grey, big hit movie but she has suggested it wasn't the greatest time, professionally, for her working on that film. this feels like a reaction to that. this feels like a reaction to that. this feels like her saying actually, i can make really intense, personal character studies, because that is what it is. aaron taylor—johnson, as someone in rehab with addiction problems gives this remarkable warts and all performance, really bruised and battered throughout. a tough watch but because of the performance and neck, that's why it is impressive. good have you with us, james king. that is it that this week. from both

of us, thank you watching, goodbye. good evening. for many parts of the uk, today has brought some of the brightest weather of the year so far. we have seen a decent amount of sunshine, some showers as well. i can't promise it will stay that bright for all of us through the weekend because behind me you can see an area of cloud that is heading oui’ see an area of cloud that is heading our way. it will particular your vet northern and western parts through the weekend. for the time being, we are in the grip of some relatively cold air. turning colder through the day, particular chilly on the far north of scotland. still quite windy here as well. with that cold air in place, showers across shetland could fall as snow, even all the way down to sea level. showers continuing through the night in scotland, turning cloudy and a bit drizzly in northern ireland, wales and the south—west, far eastern and southern counties of glenn, with the clearest of the skies it will turn a little chilly. some spots in the countryside may be going all the way

down to freezing. tomorrow, starting with high pressure to the south. these frontal systems rolling around to introduce more of the cloud across the western half of the uk. northern ireland, the western side of england, wales will see a lot of cloud, some damp and drizzly weather for coasts and hills. more persistent rain in the west and north of scotland. for southeast scotland, central and eastern parts of england, he had the best of the sunshine through the day tomorrow. temperatures typically in the range of 8-11 temperatures typically in the range of 8—1! degrees. as we go through saturday night, continuing to see a lot of cloud feeding in from the west. it will stay damp and drizzly for coasts and hills, more persistent rain in the north of scotla nd persistent rain in the north of scotland and a similar weather pattern on sunday. the band of rain across north—western areas. the further south emmys, the drier and brighter it will be with some spells of sunshine. slightly windier on sunday but the wind coming from the south—west, a mild wind direction so top temperatures a little higher, between 9—11. as we go into monday, this band of rain pushes eastwards.

possibly not getting into east anglia or the south—east until after dark. behind that, something brighter with just dark. behind that, something brighter withjust one dark. behind that, something brighter with just one or two showers and temperatures around 9-11. the showers and temperatures around 9—11. the main story for next week is that things are set to become quite turbulent, thanks to the jet stream, the winds high up in the atmosphere. thejet stream, the winds high up in the atmosphere. the jet stream stream, the winds high up in the atmosphere. thejet stream is expected to become very powerful, very strong, spinning up deep areas of low pressure and sending them in oui’ of low pressure and sending them in our direction. what that means the next week's weather is it will be very windy, there will be severe gales at times across northern areas. there are likely to be some outbreaks of rain at times. the driest weather towards the south and the east end it is going to be mild. more weather throughout the evening but that is all from me for now.

president trump orders the assassination of one of the most powerful men in the middle east, iran's top military commander. general qasem soleimani was killed in a us airstrike in iraq as he arrived at baghdad airport in the early hours of this morning. iran said the air strike was america's biggest mistake in the region and threatened severe revenge but the white house said general soleimani had been plotting to kill hundreds of americans. we don't seek war with iran but, at the same time, we are not going to stand by and watch the iranians escalate and continue to put american lives at risk without responding in a way that disrupts, defends, deters and creates an opportunity to de—escalate the situation. the us has said tonight it is

sending 3500 more troops to the middle east