hello — this is bbc news. the headlines: reaching a milestone, half of all adults in the uk have had a first dose of the coronavirus vaccine. the health secretary hails a phenomenal achievement. the health secretary hails a phenomenal achievement-— achievement. the vaccination programme _ achievement. the vaccination programme is _ achievement. the vaccination programme is our _ achievement. the vaccination programme is our route - achievement. the vaccination programme is our route out l achievement. the vaccination | programme is our route out of achievement. the vaccination - programme is our route out of the pandemic. it will help us to protect people and we know that these vaccines protect you. we also know that they protect those around you.

europe braces itself for a third wave of coronavirus infections, with fresh lockdowns in france, and poland. government science advisors warn that summer holidays overseas are "extremely unlikely" this year, because of the risk of travellers bringing coronavirus variants back to the uk. protesters opposed to the coronavirus lockdown march through central london. police have made several arrests. and a volcano has erupted south—west of iceland's capital, reykjavik — the first eruption in that area of iceland for 800 years. now on bbc news, it's time for the film review. hello and welcome to the film review with me, mark kermode, rounding up the best new movies available for viewing

in the home while we look forward to cinemas reopening in may. if you've watched my bbc four series secrets of cinema, which is now on iplayer, you'll know that i'm a great fan of pop biopics. from the buddy holly story to good vibrations, the latter of which told the story of legendary belfast record label boss terri hooley. there's more than a touch of hooley�*s maverick genius in creation stories. a new film about alan mcgee who helped launch the careers of bands like primal scream and oasis. he's comin�* in for his white labels. anything you can find in this box. tvps? later! co—written by irvine welsh, produced by danny boyle and starring ewen bremner, you could be forgiven for thinking that this has something

of a trainspotting feel. i have a dream! indeed, mcgee comes across as basically a more successful version of spud, someone whose kamikaze style enthusiasm for class a narcotics leads him not into a gutter in edinburgh, but to a swanky poolside terrace in la. now you've had one of the biggest bands in the world, where does it go from here? played in his younger years by leo flanagan, and by bremner as an oddly childlike adult, mcgee's biggest breaks seem to be down to chaotic fate. with his unswerving belief that each new signing will be bigger than u2, he somehow stumbles into a position of immense cultural importance, helping to define the era of britpop and gaining access to the corridors of power under tony blair's new labour tony blair's new labour where everything starts to unravel. directed by nick moran who previously did a brilliant job with thejoe meek story, telstar, this is entertaining if inevitably self mythologising fare. bremner is clearly having a ball in the lead role

but it's the supporting characters who often steal the show. from former skids frontman richard jobson as alan's overbearing dad, to jason isaacs in a rip—roaring cameo as a coke addled producer. it's a biopic, forrest gump meets boyz n the hood. personally, i could have lived without the somewhat hackneyed staged interviews, and for all its excesses, there's little sense that this gets under the skin of its la rger—than—life subject. but, like many of the bands that mcgee champions, that mcgee championed, this is entertainingly bolshie fare. loud, brash and absolutely full of itself. creation stories is on sky cinema from saturday. it's a book. it's a little more than that. open it. you bought drugs from yourself? i had to beta test it. sticking with substance fuelled lifestyles, silk road retells the story of self—proclaimed dark web pirate ross ulbricht

who made a fortune setting up what was effectively amazon for drugs. a site where narcotics could be bought, sold and even customer rated, all under the anonymity of bitcoin currency. that's 1.2 million a day. likeable love simon star nick robinson plays the real—life entrepreneur whose libertarian dreams of changing the world lead him into increasingly paranoid isolation, obsessed with money, riven with deadly suspicion. by contrast, jason clarke is the fictional ravaged narc who worms his way into ulbricht�*s confidence, albeit from a distance, determined to bring him down. we get him on conspiracy to commit murder. checkmate. there may be a brilliantly incisive movie to be made about this story, told in a rolling stone article by david kushner, but this isn't it. instead it's stylishly empty fare, fitting perhaps considering the subject matter. robinson who was terrific in the underrated coming—of—age

pic the kings of summer, makes a very sympathetic lead, although it's worth remembering for all of his talk about giving people the freedom to make their own choices, ulbricht was essentially a dealer grifting in an industry built not upon freedom but on extortion, greed and murder. the result is a passable if lightweight cyber crime thriller that you can find online, appropriately enough, from monday. at the other end of the dramatic spectrum we have oleg which opened to very positive reviews in the directors' fortnight at cannes in 2019 and now arrives

on mubi, offering a vivid and occasionally horrifying portrait of economic migration. valentin novopolskij is the latvian butcher who travels to belgium in search of work but finds himself effectively enslaved by smilingly psychotic polish criminal andrzej. seeming initially to befriend and support oleg, andrzej is soon exploiting and abusing him, refusing to pay him for his work and threatening to kill him or his family if he leaves. inspired by real—life tales of modern slavery that add a gritty veracity to the kafkaesque proceedings, directorjuris kursietis' film has an urgent documentary—like quality, interspersed with quasi—religious dreams of drowning that somehow universalise the story. dawid ogrodnik is particularly

good as oleg's nemesis. a ball of nervy energy who oozes danger, switching in an instant from goofiness to gangsterism — a terrifying combination. as for novopolskij, he plays the sacrificial lamb to a tee, his strangely innocent face perfect for the role of someone trapped in hellish surroundings, stripped of their voice and their identity. oleg is available on mubi from tuesday. to hungary now, where this year's entry from the best foreign language film oscar was the lengthily entitled preparations to be together for an unknown period of time. it may not have made the academy's shortlist but that's no reason to miss out on this twisty treat from writer director lili horvat. siren wails natasha stork is martha,

a hungarian neurosurgeon living in the us who returns to her homeland after a fleeting encounter with janos at a conference in newjersey. realising that janos is "what i've been looking for", martha agrees to a rendezvous in budapest, but when she gets there he insists that he has no memory of meeting her. has martha encountered a doppelganger? is janos just pretending not to know her? or has she simply imagined their relationship, carefully conjuring every detail so even i believe it happened?

horvat has cited truffaut and kieslowski alongside hitchcock as influences, although strangely, the emotional tension of her film reminded me at times of the superb french thriller tell no one. impressively, horvat manages to keep all the narrative options open forfar longer than should be credible. with martha and janos playing an unspoken game of cat and mouse as they follow each other through a city whose distinct districts seem to mirror and map her internal conflicts. part ghost story, part love story, this playfully mysterious film is a joy to watch, with stork drawing us deep into martha's kaleidoscopic world while horvat toys expertly with the tricks of memory and the mind. you can find it on curzon home cinema. this sunday 21st is world down syndrome day. on thursday, the brilliant british movie my feral heart starring steven brandon had its terrestrial and network premiere on bbc four,

and it's now available on iplayer. it's a real indie gem, of which writer producer duncan paveling significantly said that inspiration came from the similarities and experiences that we all share regardless of needs, adding that this story is about ability not disability. that's a sentiment that also rings true with amber and me, a beautiful and uplifting documentary about childhood, friendship and education that's available for home viewing from sunday. amber, do you want to taste a bit of the cake now? time for the taste test. focusing on twin sisters amber and olivia, and directed by their dad, ian davies, the film follows the girls as they start school together, embarking on different journeys that will see each challenged in different ways. she just finds it a bit trickier. now she doesn't want to go to school as much. it's impossible not to feel deeply involved in the world of these sisters who share a palpable bond that is tested

by the classroom environment, but that also proves unbreakable. dad? are you going to go to school tomorrow? i don't want to. how are you feeling? sad. sad? do you feel a bit sad really? yeah. the honesty with which the camera catches them both at work and at play is terrific. it's like being in a room with friends and family watching these two young people grow, wishing only the best for their future. it really is a lovely film. for details of how to see it go to amberandmefilm.com. i'll leave you with news that following a lengthy fan fuelled campaign, zack snyder's director's cut of the 2017 flop justice league has been completed and is now available for home viewing.

the original theatrical release was finished byjoss whedon after snyder left due to a family tragedy and was universally panned by critics, myself included. this new cut, which clocks in at a heaven's gate style four hours, restores the film to snyder's original vision, producing a substantially different experience that's been enthusiastically embraced by ha rd—core devotees. life is either one or zero, it's to be or not to be. not both. for me, justice league has problems that no amount of re—cutting could solve, from the endless video game cg effects, some of which still look shonky, to the wooden dialogue, flatpack characters, despite an abundance of additional character building, and risibly overburdened plot. i mean, we have to try, don't we? we have to try. but i do understand the desire to see the movie as it was intended, and having spent four hours doing just that i can tell you that this

is an improvement on the disastrously disjointed 2017 cut. it may be bloated and turgid, but at least it's coherently bloated and uniformly turgid. you can judge zack snyder's justice league for yourself on sky cinema. that's it for this week. thanks for watching the film review, stay safe and i'll see you next week. you're alan mcgee? as i live and breathe! hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm sarah mulkerrins. coming up on the programme.

it's all eyes on paris as wales prepare for their six nations showdown against france with a second grand slam title in three years on the line. it's all india as england are beaten in their t20 series losing the final match in ahmedabad. and redmond rules in a south coast battle — as southampton secure their spot in the fa cup semi—finals with victory against bournemouth. hello and welcome to sportsday. this is the six nations saturday. it's not long to kick until kick off in the big game in paris — with wales looking to win the grand slam against france. that starts at 8 o clock. but earlier — ireland finished their campaign on a high with a convincing 32—18 win over england in dublin — ending their run of four successive defeats by their opponents. not good for eddiejones, though — his side are now set for a fifth—place finish. michael redford has this report.