bye-bye. hello, and welcome to the film review with me, mark kermode, rounding up the best movies available for viewing in cinemas and in the home. last year, the british feature rocks, which boasts an ensemble cast of brilliant young screen newcomers, played to rapturous applause at the london film festival. now it's opening in uk cinemas.

rocks, what's p diddy and 50 cent — what's that all about? i want to be like p diddy and 50 cent. but you have to think about specifically, what type of career? entertainment business. business, now you're getting it. what type of business? makeup. overlapping chatter. bukky bakray is the titular 15—year—old east londoner who returns home from school to discover her mother has abandoned her and her young brother, emmanuel. determined to avoid being taken into care, rocks attempts single—handedly to fend for the pair, scuttling them between friends' houses and cheap hotels while maintaining the outward appearance of a normal life. how's your mum doing? yeah, she's fine. but as pressures mount, our heroine finds herself shutting out the friends — like kosar ali's sumaya, upon whom she once relied — becoming more and more isolated with each passing day. written by theresa ikoko and claire wilson, directed by sarah gavron, who made brick lane and suffragette, rocks is a uniquely collaborative production born out

of workshops with young people at a range of schools and youth hubs. the result is a team effort that rings true. everything about these teenagers' lives has the smack of authenticity — from their hardscrabble battles for survival to exuberant classroom food fights and scenes of raucous laughter, and cross—cultural kinship. sensitively lensed by helene louvart, who shot the remarkable never rarely sometimes always, rocks combines the grit of ken loach‘s cathy come home with the visual poetry of the selfish giant, and the girl—power oomph of celine sciamma's girlhood. "real queens fix each other‘s crowns," says a bedroom wall sticker in rocks — and that's a message that rings throughout this wonderful, heartbreaking, life—affirming gem of a movie. do not miss it.

from the streets of contemporary london to shanghai's besieged sihang warehouse in 1937, where the chinese army mount a last stand against japanese forces in the historical war drama the eight hundred. the warehouse in question stands on the banks of the suzhou creek across the water from shanghai's foreign concessions from whence locals and western powers alike watch the battle play out, making weird theatre of warfare. directed by guan hu, best known for 2015's mr six, and produced by the huayi brothers, the eight hundred — which has been dubbed a chinese dunkirk — has spectacle to spare, shot on vast sets captured on imax cameras at a reported cost of around $80 million. it's visually impressive stuff, but it's not been without controversy. originally set to open the shanghai film festival in 2019, the eight hundred was pulled

at the last moment for "technical" reasons — often a euphemism for censorship issues. according to the industry newspaper variety, local reports indicated that it may have been pulled because "it didn't portray rivals of the ruling communist party in a sufficiently negative light." a year later, with changes and cuts duly made, the eight hundred finally opened in china where it promptly became a resounding hit — outperforming tenet and providing a huge boost for china's cinema industry. whether it'll prove as popular with uk audiences, many of whom may know little of the second sino—japanese war, remains to be seen. but the film provides a heady, if somewhat cumbersome mix of kinetic action and philosophical quandary — there is much discussion about authority, desertion, self—sacrifice and heroic defeat — all played out against the bizarre backdrop of two utterly disparate worlds divided by a simple

stretch of water. both: whoa! for those in the mood for something altogether more playful, what better way to lift the spirits than in the company of william s preston, esq and ted theodore logan — aka alex winter and keanu reeves? both: hey, death! why, if it isn't the wyld stallyns. back in 1989, bill and ted's excellent adventure introduced us to wyld stallyns, whose terrible guitar—twiddling music would apparently improve so much that it would go on to unify the cosmos. but two movies and three decades later, our now—ageing antiheroes still haven't written the song that will save reality as we know it. so it's now time for bill and ted to face the music in a belated but delightedly bonkers threequel. penned by original writers chris matheson and ed solomon,

the script picks up with bill and ted still plugging away at their dreams — to the dismay of their respective wives. greetings, my excellent friends. when kelly, daughter of time—traveller rufus, arrives from the future to tell the boys that time and space are collapsing, they're faced with a deadline of 7:17pm to write the ultimate song. so they venture back into the cosmic phone booth, travelling back and forth in time as they round up historical musicians and meet their future selves, while being pursued by a killer robot called dennis, reuniting with death and dropping into the pit of hell. how you doing? well, you know, dead. and we're in hell. this time, bill and ted have daughters, billie and theo — played by bridget lundy—paine and samara weaving — who embody the best of their dads' lovable traits with none of the bogus baggage. having been released simultaneously in theatres and on vod in america, bill and ted face the music gets a cinema—only release here in the uk — and i'm delighted to report that it's a hoot.

it may be a total shambles that makes no sense whatsoever, but i grinned like an idiot from start to finish. and, in these testing times, that's a real treat. now, back injune here on the film review, i alerted you to online preview screenings of white riot — the terrific documentary about the birth of rock against racism in the ‘70s which is now playing in uk cinemas. it was a scary moment, cos punk could've gone either way. formed in response to an infamous "enoch was right" tirade by eric clapton in birmimgham in 1976, rock against racism set out to challenge a tide of bigotry epitomized by the rise of the national front, using music that could unite black and white youth in a fight for equality. it's music that knows who the real enemy is. building from fanzine routes to a network of local gigs that climaxed in a legendary

victoria park anti—nazi carnival in 1978, featuring steel pulse, x—ray spex, the clash, and the tom robinson band, this was a grassroots movement that earned its place in the history books — a place that seems particularly relevant in the current climate. we weren't superheroes, we were just ordinary people. mixing contemporary interviews with a wealth of archival footage, this award—winning documentary is an invigorating affair that captures the sheer energy and passion with which rock against racism attempted to change the world on little more than a wing and a prayer. now you remember what i told you. about them boys on the bus that gave you the black eye. that's what i meant. just gotta pick the right time. y—yes, sir. there's plenty of prayer — most of it unholy — in the devil all the time, a sprawling, star—studded slice of southern gothic neo—noir adapted from donald ray pollock's 2011

novel, and available exclusively on netflix. set between the end of world war ii and the escalation of the war in vietnam, the action moves back and forth in time as the interweaving narratives slip between cold creek, west virginia and knockemstiff, ohio. this was your daddy's. at the centre of it all is arvin russell, whose father returned from the war haunted by visions of battleground crucifixions, and whose path crosses with hillbilly preachers and serial killers — all of whom love to quote the bible. hunger and thirst for righteousness. the international ensemble cast includes tom holland — best known for playing spider—man — bill skardgard, who scared everyone to death as the killer clown in it, riley keough as a murderous seductress, robert pattinson as a philandering preacher, and mia wasikowska as the poor soul with a fatal trust in religious authority. directed by antonio campos — taking a major step up from such

previous features as simon killer and christine — this unwieldy epic is broodingly lensed on 35mm by versatile cinematographer lol crawley, who perfectly captures the darkness that seeps through each disparate scenario. and, though he wasn't one for praying, arvin would often drive herand keep her company. but it's the voice of author donald ray pollock that really holds things together, with his narration leading us through the labyrinthine plot twists and capturing the mix of horror and humour at the heart of this deliciously ripe melodrama. excuse me, preacher. you got time for a sinner? is nature a gigantic cat? and, if so, who strokes its back? i'll leave you with news of a new movie that comes to digital download on monday — michael almereyda's tesla. ethan hawke stars in this latest film about the inventor of alternating current,

an adventurously theatrical affair involving anachronistic laptops, google searches, and pop tunes all intended to dramatize the way that tesla somehow dreamed the future in which we now live. alternating current is a waste of time... ..impractical... ..and deadly. kyle mclachlan is thomas edison, the ruthless businessman whose rivalry with tesla causes sparks to fly. having been memorably played by david bowie in christopher nolan's the prestige, tesla emerges once again as a figure of mystery and magic in this eccentrically offbeat oddity. it's a strange, anarchic film — and not wholly successful. but, compared to the inert dreariness of the current war, i'll take almereyda's wild experimentations — which include tesla singing tears for fears hits — any day. that's it for this week. thanks for watching the film review. stay safe, and i'll be back next week. is he playing

hopscotch...by himself? dude, he's cheating. hello. the new week is getting off to a largely dry and relatively warm start in most places. that will not last. there are big changes ahead, as i'll show you in a moment. but in the shorter term, monday morning will bring some areas of low cloud and fog across parts of england and wales. that'll tend to clear, then we see sunshine. brighter skies than we had on sunday across northeast england, southeast scotland, with that sunshine extending across eastern scotland, with temperatures in aberdeen around 19 celsius. cooler for western scotland and northern ireland, where we see more cloud, we see a strengthening breeze and, as we head through monday night, that cloud in the northwest will continue to thicken. it'll start appearing some outbreaks of pretty heavy rain across the far northwest of scotland by the start of tuesday morning. drier and clearer in the south, a relatively mild night. big changes from mid week onwards, though, it turns much more unsettled with some heavy rain and brisk

winds at times. it also turns much cooler by day. there will also be some rather chilly nights.

this is bbc news — i'm philippa thomas with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. leaked documents reveal how some uk banks have allowed criminals and money launderers to move billions around the world. as thousands more covid—19 cases are recorded in the uk, the health secretary says this is a tipping point in the pandemic. the battle over a new us supreme courtjustice: democratjoe biden says he should name ruth bader ginsburg's replacement if he beats donald trump in november. a usjudge blocks donald trump's order to ban the chinese messaging app, wechat. and stars from 125 locations around the world are preparing