scanlen and wallace have a palpable connection, while essie davis and ben mendelsohn are hilarious and heartbreaking as miller's pill—popping mother and her psychiatrist father. this is a film about love, loss, compromise, sacrifice, and accepting the realities of life and death. it's hugely entertaining and it's ultimately deeply moving. i suggest you keep tissues handy. don't forget your mask either — because ba byteeth is in cinemas now.

the story of the puppet pinocchio has inspired many a movie version, including the cutesy 1940 disney classic. a new live—action version from italian director matteo garrone is a very different beast. a relatively faithful adaptation of the 1883 book the adventures of the pinocchio by carlo collodi, it stars roberto benigni as geppetto, the woodcarver who crafts a puppet that magically comes to life. using elaborate prosthetics and cgi, the child actor federico ielapi is transferred very credibly into the wooden puppet who just wants to be a real boy. the bond between geppetto and his "son" is tangible, so it's nerve—racking when the gullible pinocchio wanders off and gets lost in the countryside, encountering robbers

and conmen. pinocchio is a gorgeous—looking film that occasionally tugs on the heartstrings. but it's much more satisfying in the subtitled version, which is showing in independent cinemas, than it is in the dubbed one that is showing in the multiplexes. the cloying english voices make it seem creepy. either way, pinocchio feels unusually dark and disturbing for a pg film, so while fans of garrone‘s twisted fairy tale film tale of tales will find plenty to feast on, the parents with younger children might want to wait for the upcoming disney live—action film from robert zemeckis. what is going on? it is me, kurt, from kurt's world. ijust realised something big. i'm calling it the lesson. it is a sure—fire way for me to go viral and guess what? the best part being i can do off of the front seat of my spree. so you guys stay tuned, buckle up and i will show you the ropes. peace out.

much love, you guys. a cab—driver turned into a serial killer in spree, a comedy—horror warning about the perils of social media. in the desperate bid to gain more followers, kurt, played by stranger things‘ joe carey, gets a job as a cab—driver for the conveniently named company spree. he fits the car with cameras, starts a live feed and begins slaughtering his passengers — using spiked bottled water and a variety of gorier methods. at first, he's got too few followers for anybody to notice, let alone believe it's for real. i don't even know why i'm making these videos. "nobody wants to watch a white guy drive around," one of his friends taunts in one of the films many meta—moments. enter sasheer zamata as a standup comedian. she makes things more interesting. spree is a decent entry into the social media crime thriller genre. more engaging than recent film infamous, though less insightful than the 2017 comedy ingrid goes west, which i loved.

spree has about two points to make and it does so repeatedly. but it takes its own advice by inserting a few wtf moments that really have an impact and there are plenty of known jokes for its target market, if, of course, they can stay off their phones for long enough of course. spree is in cinemas now. onto a small—screen horror that takes itself much more seriously. sputnik is a russian sci—fi about an astronaut who comes back from space with an unexpected passenger in tow. set in 1983 and coloured in neutral grey and brown hues, it stars oksana akinshina as a psychologist, tatyana, who is surprised when she is asked to treat a famous cosmonaut in a secret soviet facility.

it turns out he's suffering from more than ptsd. he's harbouring a parasite inside of him. openly influenced by the alien films, this delivers mild scares and a smattering of gore. having the creature in captivity somewhat limits the potential, really, but egor abramenko‘s film is very efficient at building tension, atmosphere and characters. all in all, it's a serviceable horror that's on digital platforms now. if you're a fan of quirky documentaries with eccentric characters, check out my rembrandt, which is in cinemas and on demand now. prior to 2003, it had never occurred to me that one could buy a painting by rembrandt.

you mean that one could actually buy? dropping in on buyers, auctioneers and art experts, the film follows people with a passion for the dutch painter, revealing the price they'll pay for what may or may not be his work. trust me. billing itself as an epic art thriller might be slightly overstating it, but it's still a fascinating offbeat watch with a playful sense of humour. hi, i'm michelle payne. i'm available for track work. i'll be outside if anybody needs me. new to dvd this week is ride like a girl, the true story of michelle payne, who in 2015 became the first woman to win the melbourne cup. directed by the actor rachel griffiths from six feet under fame, it stars teresa palmer as the determined young writer who trains up with the help of her father, played

by the great sam neill, and her brother stevie, who's actually played by himself. it's told in a simple style for a broad audience, but it's got a positive spirit and enough dramatic events to keep the attention. what are you doing after the race? celebrating. griffiths pitched this as a pg feminist sports movie to make men cry, and i reckon she's got it about right. ride like a girl is on dvd now. we've spent our whole life trying to unite the world. and i'm tired, dude. ted, we have a destiny to fulfill. greetings, my excellent friends! now, if, like me, you're looking forward to the future release bill and ted face the music, then why not go back in time first in 1989 to bill and ted's excellent adventure? starring keanu reeves and alex winter as time—travelling school kids who scoop up famous people from history,

this release comes with an intriguing new message at the start — "please note that this film reflects historical attitudes which audiences may find outdated or offensive." those are historical babes. now, much as i really enjoyed bill and ted as a teenager, i've got to say that re—watching it now, i have to see the point of this warning. there's the ogling of over bill's stepmum missy and the crude caricatures of some of the historical figures. i winced a bit watching joan of arc do that fitness class in the mall. still, while this may not have stood the test of time as well as, say, back to the future, it's still a fun, retro ride with great leads and a few catchphrases we can all use right now. be excellent to each other. bill and ted's excellent adventure is out on blu—ray 110w. thanks for watching the film review with me, anna smith. i'll be back next week. meantime, be excellent to each other.

i hate that part. bill, strange things are afoot at the circle k. hello there. over the last few days, temperatures have slowly been coming down, something a bit more comfortable both by day and by night. although we'll hold on to the humidity across england and wales as we head on into this weekend. but for this weekend, it's generally pretty similar to how the last few days have been. rather cloudy, a bit of sunshine in northern and western areas. humid in england and wales, where we'll continue to see showers and thunderstorms at times. now on saturday, the pressure chart shows higher pressure to the north, lower pressure to the south. that's why we'll start off with showers and thunderstorms across some southern portions of wales and southern england. further north, it'll be rather grey, pretty much grey everywhere, but the sunshine will break through central and western scotland, northern ireland, north—west england, perhaps a few sunny spells across the south—east of england. this is where we'll see some of the heaviest of the downpours into the afternoon. temperatures low to mid—20s where you get the sunshine, but quite cool across some north sea coasts where we hold

on to the cloud and mist. as we head through saturday night, the threat of showers and thunderstorms drifts a little bit further northwards into northern england, southern scotland, north wales. and for many of us, that cloud will roll back in, so it will be anotherfairly mild night, quite muggy again for england and wales. on sunday, subtle changes. 0ur area of high pressure drifts northwards. that allows this area of low pressure to push north across the country. so, we'll start off plenty of showers across central and northern parts of the uk, although much of northern scotland will stay dry with some sunshine. we'll start with some sunshine across southern england and wales, but then as that temperature rises, then thunderstorms will break out here into the afternoon. some of them could be quite heavy. again, temperatures low to mid—20s celsius across southern areas, cooler where you hold on to the cloud and mist on the eastern coasts. 0n into monday, that area of low pressure sits on top of the uk. quite a weak feature, so these showers and storms spiralling around across the country will be moving quite slowly. the lion's share of the storms, though, will be across england and wales. fewer for scotla nd and northern ireland, where we should see a little bit of sunshine at times. those temperatures ranging from around 17 to 23—24 degrees in the south. then big changes as we head on into

the middle part of next week. something we haven't seen for a while, a deep atlantic low will sweep in to bring much fresher conditions, some strong winds at times through wednesday, particularly into thursday. we'll see a band of rain followed by sunshine and showers, and it will be turning cooler and fresher for all by the end of the week.

will you come to my school formal?

this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: striking in support of the protesters. workers in belarusjoin the public outcry over disputed elections, as more stories emerge of torture and abuse by police. japan marks 75 years since its surrender in the second world war, ceremonies are taking place in tokyo. new quarantine rules come into effect in the uk, as countries across europe continue to fight the spread of covid—19. politics and the post office. how the mail has become a divisive issue ahead