tv The Film Review BBC News August 6, 2021 5:45pm-6:01pm BST
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and having my flat whites. but if the time comes, i'll give it all up. so it's going to be, you know, it's like the people you see in the movies living on the other side of the city wall. so, 50, michelle in brighton that you spoke to. thank you very much, interesting. it is edging up to 5:45. the six o'clock news will have more on the day is stories shortly but it being friday, it's a great time. it's time for the film review. hello and welcome to the film review with me, anna smith. i'm filling in for mark kermode to review this week's cinema releases.
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i've got you something. ah... hey, hey, hey, looking sad. what this for? respect. first up, a crime comedy based on a twitter thread that went viral. zola is inspired by the 148 tweet rant by a'ziah "zola" king, who is played here by taylour paige. zola is working in a detroit diner when she meets and flirts with a customer called stefani, played by riley keough. stefani is an exotic dancer and invites zola to join her for a fun and lucrative weekend in florida. it turns out that stefani is not only bringing her hapless boyfriend along for the ride
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but her pimp, too. this is messy, you are messy. your brain is broke. what follows is a wild and witty tale of reckless and manipulative behaviour that will have yourjaw on the floor. zola is often laugh out loud funny, mixing the hilarity and head dinners —— hedonism of the wolf of wall street with the edgy anarchy of spring breakers, but it also functions as a frank expose of the sex industry. writer—directorjanicza bravo weaves in disturbing details about the commodification of women, showing how stefani's pimp exploits and threatens the girls with a chillingly casual air. the director also makes a statement by the way she shoots the sex scenes. it's a far cry from your typical hollywood hooker story. it's easy to compare this to thej—lo starred hustlers which was based on an article about strippers and was also helmed by a woman. but i think zola is an even better film than hustlers,
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partly because it's based directly on the words of its brazen heroine and partly because it so smartly paced, scripted and performed. rising star taylour paige follows up her turn in ma rainey�*s black bottom with another sparky performance. and american honey's star riley keough, who incidentally is the daughter of lisa marie presley, is an absolute riot. oh, god! like, why you on my twitter? why are you on my facebook, why are you on my... why are you damming me? sis, why are you tagging in photos? let me know. yes, sis! but you're innocent, - so we've got to keep fighting. it doesn't matter that i'm innocent, dad. it's not about justice. it's about finding peace.
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from the station agent to spotlight, director tom mccarthy always delivers great character—based dramas. his new film stillwater is more of a hybrid of drama and thriller. i loved her. i know you did. but everybody thinks that i killed her. we have exhausted every possible legal action. is a lawyer not helping you? i'm doing it myself, for now. matt damon stars as bill, a gruff, old—fashioned oil worker from stillwater, oklahoma, who checks into a hotel. it transpires that his daughter alison, played by abigail breslin, is in prison in france, convicted of the murder of her classmate and partner, lina. alison is convinced that a new lead could get her out ofjail and bill decides to investigate himself, with the help of a local that he meets at the hotel. virginie is a liberal bohemian
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actress portrayed by camille cottin. she also happens to have a cute little daughter who bonds with bill. and so an odd couple friendship plays out alongside the drama of a father trying to clear the name of his incarcerated daughter. both are involving but they're an odd juxtaposition. on the one hand, there is an arthouse character piece about a culture clash relationship. on the other, a crime drama. when this plunges headlong into thriller territory it's a bit of a jolt. but damon and cottin are great together and this has something to say about personal politics, the media and prejudice. while it's not mccarthy's best work, stillwater is eminently watchable. what did you do? you just have to trust me. you have the perfect life. the rich, handsome -
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husband who adores you... deaero'hare, there's neverenough time. - never enough of you. know that you hold my hopes, my heart in your hands. it's rory from archive. i think i've found something you want to take a look at. is that gum? we don't allow gum in the reading rooms. i swallowed it. great. now to a romance set both in the 19605 and the present — the last letter from your lover. felicityjones stars as ellie, a journalist who finds old love letters in the archives of the newspaper where she works. aided by mild—mannered archivist, rory, played by nabhaan rizwan, she investigates a romance from the past. as they discover more clues, flashbacks reveal the star—crossed letter writers. a married amnesic socialite called jennifer, who is played by shailene woodley, and callum turner's charming journalist, anthony.
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at least, i think he's meant to be charming. there's very little chemistry or credibility in the �*605 scenes, despite decent costumes, props and production design. a muttering woodley seems uncomfortable with the dialogue, perhaps with good reason. the banter between the pair feels artificial and the attraction too sudden. this is the kind of film where you only know the characters love each other because they say so repeatedly. the last letter from your lover is based on a novel byjojo moyes, whose adaptations have had some success on the big screen. me before you was a big hit with audiences and like that film, this has plenty of melodrama to tug on the heartstrings. but the dual timelines hamper the tension, and i would've been happierjust watching the excellent felicityjones as ellie. she's the best thing in this film, though it's a sad reflection on the industry when you can just tell an actress is pregnant in real life simply because they don't dress her in thicker hugging clothes.
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the thing is, just send a text. "hey, babe, i'm at the station if you're interested, #comewith if you want to change your life forever, smiley face, aubergine, road sign, sausage." screaming a man struggles to make a film about his alcoholic father in the venezuelan doc el father plays himself. a documentary about the making of a feature film, this comes
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from m0 scarpelli, the partner of the director at the centre of the story. her fella, jorge thielen armand, is tearing his hair out as he tries to direct his own father, who is — as the title suggests — playing himself. making a film in the amazonian jungle is enough of a challenge, and it proves even harder to stop dad from sinking a bottle of rum every time his back is turned. el father is certainly a character with his wild eyes and colourful past. is frustratingly enigmatic. you're best off catching this in a double bill with the original film, la fortaleza, and that's happening at london's ica this weekend.
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that owes a debt to everything from an american werewolf in london to shaun of the dead. boys from county health centres around an irish town you might typically call sleepy but when construction work district triads and ancient vampire, a group of survivors wake up fast. they have to admit the stories they have been telling tourists are true, eugene and his father battled to survive the light and outwit an ancient bloodthirsty foe. a low—budget horror, this has some puzzling editing decisions and while it's been on the vampire myth is original, it's not desperately engaging. this is at its best when going for the comedyjugular and there are some amusing moments thanks to sarcastic humour and judicious use of very strong language. boys from county hell may not be up there with the best blokey rural comedy horror is but better
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than 2009's atrocious title acma lesbian vampire killers. come on, what are we supposed to do about this? thanks for watching the film review with me, anna smith. i will be back next week. in the meantime, stay safe. hello there. the weather story the same over the next couple of days, generally stuck on repeat mode under the influence of low pressure which is producing plenty of frequent thundery showers. that means some of us will skip them altogether and others will see some torrential downpours which will continue for much of the day. on saturday, most frequent showers first thing will be out to the west
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and then these likely to drift steadily eastwards, driven along by a brisk north—westerly wind. temperatures will struggle under the sharper showers, with gusts of wind in excess of 30—40 miles an hour on exposed coasts and a maximum of 20 degrees, 68 fahrenheit. the low—pressure shift of bit further east on sunday, meaning that central and southern parts of england away from that low will see fewer showers around but generally the theme over the next few days in sunny spells and scattered showers and the temperature is disappointing that the early half of august. take care.
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today at six: history's made by team gb cyclist laura kenny, becoming britain's most successful female olympian ever after taking gold in tokyo. alongside katie archibald, she wins in the madison event in the velodrome — her third gold in consecutive olympic games. just to have katie there the whole time, ijust feel like i'm racing with a sister, and i couldn't have done it if we hadn't had that relationship. and a stunning fightback from team gb�*s kate french sees her win in the modern pentathlon. but agony in the men's 4x100 metre relay, as britain's sprinters are pipped to gold in a photo finish. also on the programme: northern ireland becomes the first
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