rahim stars as mohamedou salahi, upon whose real—life prison diaries the film is based. having been subjected to extraordinary rendition injordan and afghanistan, salahi was held without charge in the american military prison in cuba for m years. what if you're wrong? we're not. what if you are? elsewhere in the star—studded cast — jodie foster is nancy hollander, the lawyer who takes on salahi's case with assistant terri duncan, played by big little lies star shailene woodley, and benedict cumberbatch is liutenant colonel stuart couch, tasked with tying salahi to terrorist atrocities. i've never been part of a conspiracy, - but i'm starting to think that this is what it must feel like to be - on the outside of one. i'm sorry, what exactly are you accusing me of? one of the challenges faced by director kevin macdonald, whose career has shifted between fiction and documentaries, is how to make the mauritanian�*s revelations of torture

dramatic, when many viewers will already be well aware of what went on at guantanamo. it's an endeavour in which he is hugely aided by rahim's riveting central performance, which lends a very personal edge to the proceedings, drawing us deep into the nightmare of salahi's individual ordeal, allowing us to see the world through his eyes. being here, i'm... i'm like a statue! ironically, for all the horrors of his imprisonment, the mauritanian works best as a portrait of an unbreakable spirit, of someone who came through this ordeal and survived. while both the story and the filmmaking may be somewhat familiar, rahim's performance lifts this out of the ordinary. the mauritanian is on amazon prime video now. a couple of weeks ago, i reviewed locked down, a heist caper made on the fly during the pandemic by director doug liman. it was fine, unremarkable, but kind of fun. the same cannot be said of chaos walking, a bloated sci—fi

epic which liman originally shot back in 2017, and which is only now crawling out on digital nearly four years later, presumably in the hope that no one will notice. there was a terrible crash. adapted from a popular ya source by patrick ness, author of the brilliant a monster calls, chaos walking plays out on a colonised planet where the men can all hear each other�*s thoughts... ..an interesting idea that owes a debt to the books and radio shows of douglas adams, but which is here visualised with a silly purple fog that looks like some kind of psychic body odour. whoa! stop! don't come any closer! girl, girl. it's a girl. oh, my gosh. where are you from? you're a girl. no noise, are you from earth? girl! shut up. sorry, i'm sorry. i've never... never seen a girl before. onto this planet falls viola, played

by star wars heroine daisy ridley, who teams up with tom holland's youthful renegade todd. it was strange for me too not knowing what's going on in your head. legend has it that all the women in todd's tribe were killed during a war with the indigenous spackle — and, yes, they really are called the spackle, stop laughing at the back. but one look at mads mikkelsen�*s sinister mayor tells you that foul deeds are afoot, which is fitting since watching this is rather like stepping in a big pile of poo. get in the boat! todd, i can't swim! you won't have to! get in! originally scripted by a now uncredited charlie kaufman, chaos walking was a chaotic production from the outset, beset by endless re—writes, reshoots, dismal test screenings and disastrous word—of—mouth. the result, which cost around $100 million, is simply one of the stupidest and most boringly inept sci—fi fantasies i have ever seen. a movie that makes the dystopian maze runner and divergent films look

every bit as ground—breaking as blade runner. i'd rather stay with you, todd. i'd rather be with you. kiss me, todd. kiss me, kiss me. seriously, comparare to tom holland arguing with the animated purple haze of his thoughts, the sight of sean connery in a posing pouch climbing into a giant flying head in zardoz looks positively sensible. chaos walking is available for premium rental on all digital platforms now. in the 2002 documentary lost in la mancha, bafta—nominated producer lucy darwin captured the unfinished story of terry gilliam's ill—fated attempts to make his dream project, the man who killed don quixote. now in he dreams of giants, she re—teams with co—directors keith fulton and louis pepe to watch gilliam finally complete the project on which he began work nearly 30 years earlier. prepare to die, foul and fearsome giant! laughter boom! the lance pails the sail, boom, and quixote is wrenched

from the rocinante, thrown...! there's a revised script and a new cast, withjonathan pryce as the man who believes he is quixote and adam driver stepping into the shoes originally filled byjohnny depp as the somewhat empty director who becomes sancho panza. as before, there are huge battles to be fought, not least with gilliam's health, which at one point seems to fail him just as the finishing post is in sight. am i dying here? after all of this time, on the film, and i die before we finish it? yet, like werner herzog, gilliam has always been a good soldierfor cinema — someone who refuses to take defeat lying down and is willing to do whatever it takes to get their vision on screen. it's often said that drama is conflict and there's no shortage of conflict here as gilliam rails against the movie gods who seemed determined to thwart his efforts. but while it can be painful watching a filmmaker going through hell, he dreams of giants captures

both the agony and the ecstasy of the creative process, offering what is ultimately a celebration of one of cinema's great mavericks — a modern quixote. towards the end, you're sitting there pondering, did you change the world? did you make a difference? you can find he dream of giants on digital platforms now, along with gilliam's the man who killed don quixote, which is also available on dvd and blu—ray. now, one of this award season's big contenders is minari, a winning drama from writer—director lee isaac chung, with multiple nominations, including best picture at the oscars and best film not in the english language at the baftas. david, look! they're wheels! steven yeun and yeri han

are jacob and monica yee, a korean couple who relocate from california to arkansas, where jacob dreams of starting his own farm. monica, however, is worried about the fate of their family, particularly young son david, who has a heart condition that prevents him from any form of physical exertion. enter a scene—stealing yuh—jung youn as the grandmother who comes to live with the yee family and who rivals tsai chin's performance in lucky grandma as the screen's most lovably irascible oap. meanwhile, will patton is paul, an eccentric korean war vet and religious fanatic who helps jacob on the farm between performing impromptu exorcisms and dragging a large cross up the highway. it's clear from the outset that faith will be a central theme of minari, which takes its name from a weed—like vegetable that can thrive in the toughest of circumstances and that

significantly flourishes in its second season after dying and being reborn. that theme of rebirth runs throughout the film, which boasts the kind of trial by fire tests and everyday miracles beloved of best picture contenders. yet what makes minari more than just another formulaic feel—good film is the grit with which chung evokes the hard—scrabble lives of these characters, balancing the dreamy elements of the drama with a naturalism that keeps it rooted in reality... ..aided by a superb score by emile mosseri that forms a bridge between the mundane and the magical realist elements. child squeals minari is available on demand and through virtual cinema screenings now, and then in drive—in cinemas from the 12th of april. i'll leave you with news of godzilla vs kong — the latest instalment in legendary pictures�*

expanding monsterverse. this is our only chance. we have to take it. the plot, if you can really call it a plot, finds kong being returned to his mythical homeland, crossing paths en route with the fire—breathing lizard while a sinister corporation manufactures a showdown with a potentially even more destructive adversary. it's godzilla. of the previous series instalments, my favourite was kong: skull island — not least because director jordan vogt—roberts managed to wrestle a franchise behemoth into a weirdly sinny literate oddity that tipped its hat towards apocalypse now, hell in the pacific and even cannibal holocaust, like an indie movie thatjust happened to cost millions

and millions of dollars. there's little of that quirkiness in this latest instalment helmed by adam wingard, whose directorial cv includes you're next, the guest and the 2016 blair witch reboot. the plot makes no sense, even by monster movie standards, the characters are paper—thin and the wanton destruction is so inconsequential that it becomes hard to care, especially when viewed at home rather than on a massive cinema screen. while big creatures fighting can be fun, the biggest problem with godzilla vs kong is that it keeps reminding you of all the other films you'd rather be watching, from ishiro honda's original 1954 godzilla — still an atom—age classic — to guillermo del toro's pacific rim — the high watermark of giant mechanoids punching massive monsters. still, godzilla vs kong does what it says and it's available to rent from a range of vod platforms now.

that's it for this week. thanks for watching the film review. stay safe and i'll see you next week. pretty boy! i'm not pretty, i'm good—looking! good evening. for most of us, easter sunday has brought sunshine and temperatures for some as high as 17 degrees. but if you're in the north of the uk, you will know the weather has been changing. that was the scene in shetland earlier on, with snow showers and very cold air, and that cold air is going to dig its way all the way southwards through tonight and into tomorrow. so, the start of the new week, some cold days and frosty nights in store. there will be snow showers quite widely, and blizzard conditions across northern scotland, the snow really packing in here as we head through the night. cold air coming in behind this cold front, bringing a band of cloud and patchy rain.

in southern areas overnight, temperature staying above freezing but in the northern half of the uk, very cold indeed, —8 in parts of scotland, where it will be snowing in parts in the morning, especially in the north. a band of patchy rain will tend to break up and push southward but behind that, all of us getting the cold conditions with a mixture sunshine and showers. showers down the east coast, into northern ireland, maybe wales and the south west as well, blowing on strong winds, particularly in northern scotland, gusts up to 70mph. so while the thermometer may read between three and nine degrees, it will feel subzero for some, “i! the feels—like temperature in aberdeen, and the snow keeps coming across northern scotland. some really poor travelling conditions here. monday night, widely, will be cold with a frost for most places and then getting into tuesday, another day of sunny spells

and showers, most of the showers falling as snow or perhaps hail in places. mainly across coastal areas, though some developing inland in parts of england and wales across the afternoon. another cold—feeling day, but a subtle change on the way as we head into the middle part of the week, courtesy of this little frontal system developing out west. it is a warm front, bringing cloud and some patchy rain but also something a little less cold. no heatwave, but those temperatures will climb a little through the middle part of the week, double digits towards the south. but in northern areas, friday will turn cold again.

this is bbc news — i'm philippa thomas — with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. royal crisis injordan — former crown prince hamza accused of plotting to destabilise the country. singing. a scaled back easter sunday — although the choir was able to perform at canterbury cathedral. at the vatican, the pope called for vaccines to be shared with the world's poorest countries. thousands of survivors flee fighting in mozambique — a week after a deadly attack by so—called islamic state insurgents. cambridge have crossed the finish line! cambridge beats oxford in both the men and women's boat race — one of the oldest rivalries in sport.