it's interesting, though, sooner. it's interesting, though, that he is rbc taking his time, i think the observer angle is more accurate. that he is reserving his decision and he's got plenty of time until tuesday, but he will have to see something at some point. and as the sunday telegraph says this is his biggest born policy crisis. the sunday telegraph says this is his biggest born policy crisisi won't touch a couple of others, a piece on hs two in the cost of this. the taxpayers will lose £40 billion of it goes ahead. deputy chair of the inquiry set up to review it, and

this is one of the things he will have to take over the next month. the next month according to the telegraph. it's one of those things where, one of several things that was fudged in the manifesto in the election less than a month ago. that paragraph is... does not have to hedge his bets any more. this is obviously an attempt to influence in a particular direction. there's no question that lord buckley would quote the most unfavorable figures, but it clearly would be a very expensive decision to go ahead with. which interesting is that the lord calls for ministers to quote, but a new budget to parliament for approval, change the scope of the project or cancel it. i mean, you know, it's it's in their burning issue to deal with on top of the iran situation and also another bit of people will be

health care which the sunday times touches on in the story about the long waits that people are having to face to see a gp. three weeks. well remember, his first speech in downing street last july the prime ministers said myjob is to make sure you don't have to wait three weeks to see your gp. however according to the sunday times the four months for which figures are available since then, 11.3 million patients have waited longer than three weeks. and to top, a senior medical expert says this is really a worrying shortage of family doctors that are fuelling demand for gps. he said it's really concerning situation that's been made worse by the dispute over pensions doctors working —— refusing to work overtime. and high tax rates. in

the situation is totally unacceptable. patients deserve better. so it seems that there's a wider crisis facing the prime minister in the nhs and it's interesting because they say improving access to gp is the second—highest health priority for the public after increasing nhs staff members. and they cannot come too soon. time for a final thought from john on this one. tony blair was taken aback during election campaign when he was challenged by members of the studio audience who said you can't get to see a gp and he had no idea. plainly had no idea how difficult it was. and it's still getting worse, borisjohnson has got to get it fixed. time is against us. we don't want to be all doom and gloom. happy new year everyone. thank you very much indeed. and thank you for watching, if you're heading out have a great night, if you're going to bed night night, but the front pages of the papers online

on the bbc news website. it's all there for you — seven days a week at bbc.co. uk/papers — and if you miss the programme any evening you can watch it later on bbc iplayer. hello, and welcome to the film review on bbc news. taking us through this week's cinema releases, we have james king. james, a warm welcome and happy new year. you too! talk us through what we've got. well, we've got scarlettjohansson heading to germany injojo rabbit. matthew mcconaughey goes to london in the gentlemen. and aaron eckhart doesn't really know where he's going in in the

line of duty. not to be confused with the tv series, the line of duty! very much not to be confused with the tv series! anyway, let's start off with jojo rabbit. this sounds intriguing. it's sort of 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 in the marvel world, but also with low—budget kiwi comedies as well — things like hunt for the wilderpeople and what we do in the shadows — which, of course, is also a tv show. and, yes, so set in second world war in germany, aboutjohannes — jojo, of the title — who is so obsessed, such a hero — such a hero—worshipper of adolf hitler that he actually imagines him as a friend. so you've got taika waititi playing an imaginary adult hitler. shall we take a look at a clip? yeah, why not? here it is. 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, octopuses, rhin—octopusses — even the mighty rabbit. what do you make of it, james? it's sort of had mixed reviews. oh, really... it seems like one of those films that people either love or hate. yeah, really mixed reviews. i've read 5—star reviews, i've read one—star reviews. what are you gonna give it? i was more on the

5—star side. it's not so much what it's saying — you know, what it's saying, i've seen before — but it's the way that it's saying it. i think it's 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'll tell you who has really liked it — i think this is very interesting — mel brooks, the legendary director, has sung this film's praises. and there are definitely elements of mel brooks in, certainly, the first half of the film — the broad comedy and the farce. it does get more serious as the film goes on. it becomes much more touching, actually — much more like a wes anderson film, really. but it, yes, it is one of those comedies where you either go with it or you don't. there isn't really a middle ground. and i think that is why there are those divisive reviews. and it's quite hard to pull off kind of comedy about nazism, isn't it? yeah, absolutely. well, mel brooks has

done it in the past. but i think the lead actor who plays the title character — a young actor named roman griffin davis — does a wonderfuljob. he is getting a lot of great mentions for this because he is particularly good. but the supporting cast as well — sam rockwell, scarlett joha nsson, i mentioned earlier, stephen merchant. so for me, it works, but i appreciate that it's not going to work for everyone. ok, let's go on to the gentlemen. guy ritchie — famous of course for lock, stock and two smoking barrels, snatch and so on. this is back to the kind of gangster underworld ? it is very much going back to that. it's is it 2020 or 2002, watching this film? it's guy ritchie going back to his roots, guy ritchie going back to geezer movies and gangster movies. in fact, the opening scene of this films is matthew mcconaughey going into a london pub and ordering a pint and a pickled egg. it is guy ritchie to the nth degree! the actual plot is about hugh grant's character who is a tabloid hack who is trying to blackmail matthew mcconaughey, who is a crime boss. of course, there is lots of bribery and corruption along the way. a lot of alpha males in this movie, a lot of swearing in this movie, a completely colourful — a 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 — and you expect that with guy ritchie films. the music, the editing. it's very well—paced. secondly, hugh grant is having a whale of a time in this. we know that he is not the biggest fan of tabloid journalism. this seems to be him getting a bit of revenge for that. he's got this amazing — he sounds a bit like peter cook, actually — he's got this amazing accent in it. so, a bit silly, a bit pointless, but not dull. yeah, i've got to say i am not a fan of guy ritchie films, but i do love hugh grant and matthew mcconaughey, i think, are both brilliant actors. yes. and matthew mcconaughey, you know, he is doing his matthew mcconaughey thing. he's doing his laid—back, cool guy thing. but he's great at that. so the cast is what makes it. yeah, all right. let's go on to in the line of duty, not the line of duty. what did you make of this? um, yeah, it's interesting, this one because it's a thriller starring aaron eckhart. he plays a police officer who accidentally ruins a kidnap — an anti—kidnap operation and is desperate to prove himself by finding the hostage,

desperate to make up for things. and when you cast aaron eckhart in a movie, you expect a certain intensity because he is a very respected actor. this actually is more of a straight—to—dvd movie, u nfortu nately! there is, however, one very good chase scene in it, which i think we're gonna have a look at now. wow. so here's the best bit of the film. chuckles. dispatch two, 0—39 in pursuit southbound on 14th. two up in 44. suspectjust ran into st anthony's. dramatic music. glass smashes. car alarm beeps. thanks, padre! and that's the best bit of the film? laughter. well, the chase scene is about ten minutes long, it's quite near the start of the film, and it is actually really impressive. and the film starts off,

you think "ok, this has got a bit of depth to it" but it is what happens after that is the problem, is that it never really follows through on that early promise. the director is someone who has made a lot of straight—to—dvd, straight—to—streaming action movies. and unfortunately, despite the credibility of an actor like aaron eckhart, this does just descend into being another one of those average action films. right. it's not going to take off in the cinemas then? um, it will be at cinemas, but i think ultimately, it's more of a film to watch at home. yeah. what's wrong with it, do you think? i think it's just pedestrian, that is the problem. chuckles. it's that ultimately, it, you know, it starts off saying something, it starts off quite positively, but can't quite follow through on that. and that's just a lack of ambition, really. so that ultimately is the problem with it. you sometimes wonder how these films ever get off the drawing board, don't you? well, i wonder that all the time! yeah, i wonder that all the time! you sort of thing "when they see the script, do they not realise it's a turkey?" anyway. ok, let's go on to best 0ut this week. what have you got there?

this is very much the opposite of a turkey. this is absolutely brilliant. this is little women. so, it came out on boxing day. really pleased to see that a lot of people went to see it over the holidays. of course, the classic coming—of—age story. the wonderful greta gerwig has adapted it, starring the equally wonderful saoirse ronan asjo march, one of the many march sisters in massachusetts in civil war america. and just a really fresh take on the story. it is quite difficult to mess up the story because it is a classic, but there are a couple of, i think, new twists to this. i like the way that this is structured, this film, the way that it is told through a lot of flashbacks, so it really does flag up the nostalgia these girls have for their childhood and for their adolescent years. and also, just some really strong female roles that perhaps were not in the original story, butjo march, for example, is a real pioneer in this film, doing what she wants to do, being the person that she wants to be at a time when women weren't always allowed to do that. so wonderful performances. for me, it's all about florence pugh, the british actor, she — who's had a great year. 2019 was a great year for her. she plays amy in this. and if you're in a movie with meryl streep and yet,

you still steal scenes, that's saying something. better than meryl streep, is that what you are saying? exactly, yeah. i think — i think florence pugh — it's just been her birthday, actually, so belated birthday wishes to florence pugh. i think she actually walks away with this film. you say a fresh take because, of course, some people will say "there have seen so many adaptations of little women in film and tv". yeah, absolutely, but what greta gerwig is done is taken a classic story but found a new way into it and a new way to tell it, and a new wayjust to highlight things. i mean, it's not a movie about feminism, but there is certainly more of a feminist slant to it than perhaps other adaptations. so it feels modern, it feels fresh. a sort of film for the #metoo era, in some ways, do you think? to a certain degree, yes, to a certain degree. yeah, all right. and finally, we've got best dvd. yeah, a million little pieces — this is out to watch at home — so based on another book, actually — this is james frey‘s book from 2003 about his time in rehab. sam taylor—johnson is the director. her husband aaron taylor—johnson stars in it. they both wrote and produced it — very much a passion project for them.

so, sam's last film was 50 shades of grey — big hit movie, but she has sort of suggested it wasn't the greatest time, professionally, for her working on that film. 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. and aaron taylor—johnson, as someone in rehab, as someone with addiction problems, gives this remarkable warts—and—all performance. it really is bruised and battered throughout. so a tough watch but, because of the performances in it, that's why it is impressive. james, great to have you with us. thank you so much. thank you. james king there. and that is it for this week. from both of us, thank you so much for watching. goodbye. to tell you what is a tough watch, the pressure charts start of next week, while the windy weather having a rate with ten other times

as well. and i conditions into the night and morning chris because a light went into the east may be a touch of frost but often lets her cloud around through tomorrow, thick enough for the west for a few fleeting showers, much like today more persistent rain threading a northwest highlands, and a strengthening brees. which will keep temperatures up around eight to 12 celsius. a mild run of wins will continue as we go into next week and which is milder and milder. switching from southwest to a southerly wind. you shall were still around in the west, temperatures holding up though but by the end of the night it's a very wet weather pushing into the west of ireland and that will spread east for the day, reaching central and eastern parts of england until late on monday but will see some wet weather at times, same again on tuesday but i tuesday the winds are even stronger, destructive winds potentially to northern and west.

this is bbc news. i'm samantha simmonds. our top stories. as huge crowds take to the streets to bid farewell to iran's general soleimani, a call for a un investigation under international human rights law, it is very unlikely that the killing of mr suleimani was lawful. australia suffers one of the worst bushfire days of the season as temperatures nudge 50 degrees celsius and howling winds fan the flames. this is what the firefighters were dreading, because it fans these blazes, making them unstoppable, but it also spreads those embers, making the fire behaviour quite unpredictable. and china sacks its official in charge of relations with hong kong, six months