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tv   The Film Review  BBC News  August 7, 2022 6:45pm-7:01pm BST

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in the scottish premiership, livingston beat dundee united 1—0 and it finished 1—1 between hearts and hibs. hearts had taken the lead through lawrence shankland and looked set to hold on for a win, but a late goal from the returning martin boyle grabbed a point for hibs. boyle's move to easter road was only finalised at 11pm on saturday, and boss leejohnson said it was a risk to play him for so long in the game, but they got their reward late on. to some golf, because it's the final day of the women's open in muirfield in scotland. where south africa's ashleigh buhai is closing in on a maiden major title. the 33—year—old overnight leader has seen her gap at the top cut from five to three shots but is still in a commanding position withjust a few holes remaining. let's have a quick look at some of the other stories making the sports news today.
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st helens beat castleford by 20 points to 12 to restore their four—point lead at the top of superleague. they survived a late fight back to secure their 18th win in 22 games this season. elsewhere there were wins for leeds rhinos and catalans dragons. italy's francesco bagnaia won the british motogp at silverstone to move up to fourth in the riders standings. french riderjohann zarco had lead from pole, but crashed out onjust the fifth lap as he chased his first victory in the top category. and in cricket's hundred competition willjacks hit a match—winning 81 runs as oval invincibles picked up their first win of the season by beating welsh fire by 39 runs in cardiff.
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just time for a quick look at the medal table. australia still top of the standings, they've been there right from the start of the games — they've won a huge 61 gold medals so far. 165 in total. but hosts england are doing their best to catch up. 5a golds for england — including that brilliant victory for the women's hockey team. scotland have had a brilliant games, they are seventh in the table, wales are in ninth place. northern ireland up to twelth in the table, thanks to a great day in the boxing ring. lots more to come from the alexander stadium. laura millerwill lots more to come from the alexander stadium. laura miller will later be going for her second medal of the games after getting bronze in the 800 metres and eilish mccolgan runs for scotland in the 5000 metres at
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7:45pm, hoping to add a second gold to her birmingham experience. that's all from the very busy birmingham and commonwealth games. next up is the film review. we will have more support throughout the evening. hello, and a very warm welcome to the film review on bbc news. and taking us through this week's cinema releases, anna smith is back with us. good to see you for the summer, anna, and what have you been watching? first off, we're getting on board bullet train. this is brad pitt's new starring role in an action thriller based on a japanese novel. then we've got fadia's tree, which is a documentary about a palestinian refugee, by the artist sarah beddington. and then, we've got maisie,
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which is a documentary about britain's oldest performing drag queen. it's a fantastic mixture — let's start with brad pitt, though. we've got to start with brad pitt. i'm a big fan, i think he's terrific in almost everything i've seen him in, to be honest. he's great in bullet train — as i said, it's based on a novel, ajapanese novel, and it's directed by david leitch, who actually used to be brad pitt's stunt double. which is quite an interesting turnaround. 0h, interesting! and since then, he's directed atomic blonde, deadpool 2. i think fans of the tones of those kind of films might want to check this film out. it's set in tokyo on a bullet train with an international cast. brad pitt plays ladybug, who is a hit man who's hired to do what's meant to be a simplejob — go onto the train, get a briefcase, come off the train, deliver it to the right people. simple, i'm sure. not that simple, this being an action thriller. and it turns out there are a lot of other hit men on the train — coincidence or not, two of them are supposedly british hit men. and we'll see from the clip
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that they're having a little conversation about their names. one is called lemon, and one is called tangerine. let's have a look. lemon. tangerine. you're bleeding, mate. that's not mine, mate. it's not yours? 0h, in that case, just leave yourjacket open and let people have a good old look. yeah, i want everyone to see my tie. - pull your coat together so no—one else notices, lemon. i think they'll notice - the childish codenames first, but if we're sticking with fruit, why notl apple or orange? so what's in this case? 0n phone: are we doing this? you know what's in the case. money, it's always money. tangerine's a sophisticated fruit. 0h, now a fruit's sophisticated? . yeah, it's cross—hybridised with other fruit. they're adaptable — like me. then why am i lemon? because you're sour — no—one likes lemon. lemonade, lemon drops... you got a sore throat? lemon meringue pie. when was the last time you ate a lemon meringue pie? lemon drizzle cake. i'm sorry, are you talking about lemons? i quite like lemons — i ijust hate code names. not without humour. well, it is certainly attempts at comedy. i'm glad to see you laughing, maybe i'm a little bit harder to please. i was not finding
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that that funny. i like both actors, brian tyree henry and aaron taylor—johnson — one american and one british, by the way. but to me this was a bit of an attempt at the tarantino—style, you know, the criminals having the little conversations. there's a running joke about thomas the tank engine — one of them's obsessed with thomas the tank engine. it doesn't quite land for me. in the screening i went to, some people were laughing, some people were stony—faced. but the emphasis of this is very much on the action, because of the genre we're in here. and the action is well delivered, it's very, very slick. what i felt was, is that a lot of the dialogue and the characters definitely came second to that. so, if you want to sit back and enjoy a thriller on a train with pretty top—end violence for cert 15, i'd say, then go ahead. but if you want a film where you actually believe the characters and you actually believe what they're saying, because i felt like there was quite a lot of stuff that should've worked on the page — they didn't do a second or third orfourth take when it actually came to the shooting of it. so i've got a bit of a mixed response to this one. it's not up there with deadpool 2, if you're a fan of the genre.
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i'm loving the look, you see, because i love all the bright primary colours. i mean, that's great. but it's interesting that you mentioned atomic blonde, because my other half loved it, and that sort of thing is just, again, a bit too violent for me. so it's — take your pick. if you like that sort of film, maybe you'll enjoy it. maybe you will — it's not the top of the genre, but it had its pleasures. all right, and, yeah, we like brad pitt. so something very, very different with fadia's tree. so fadia's tree is a documentary about a palestinian refugee who's living in a camp in lebanon, she's called fadia. and i love the story of how she met the film—maker, sarah beddington, the artist — they were in a cafe in beirut 15 years before this film was made, and a woman leant over to sarah and said, "are you happy?" such an interesting intro. and the two struck up a conversation, they struck up a great friendship. sarah ended up going to the camp, finding out more about this very strong personality, fadia, who makes a very interesting subject, i think. and fadia actually asked her to go to her homeland — the homeland she can't visit — in order to find this tree, which is a mulberry tree that's kind of legendary
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in the family, and it's very much part of her ancestral identity. i think it's a quietly powerful piece of work. for me, it's not up there with other personal female—led documentaries we've had recently like i am belmaya, or the wonderful for sama. but i do think that it raises some issues that are interesting, and it's certainly quite moving and a little bit heartbreaking in places. yes, i think everyone should watch it, in the sense ofjust reminding ourselves how refugees live. this is someone who can almost see the border of the country she should be living in, but is living her whole life with herfamily in a refugee camp in lebanon — and yet so close to her homeland, which she clearly, of course, as you would, really pines for. and that comes through across the whole film, doesn't it? and that's very powerful and very moving, i think. it's very much about a sense of home, and also, it's interesting, it's contrasted with lots of details about bird migration in the area. so i think perhaps slightly laboured, but interesting symbolism there obviously
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about the freedom of the birds and the freedom that she doesn't have. yes, and how certain birds will land on one side of the palestine border, as that as they refer to their homeland, and some land in lebanon. and the ornithologist makes the point that some birds know where they belong, and they will always find their way home. i know what you mean — possibly slightly laboured, but also very beautiful, and some very beautiful filming of the birds, as well. it's gorgeous, i like the pace of this, i think it's one of those films that you just submit to. and if you commit to it and you just buy into it, then it is a rather lovely film. yeah, and you certainly learn a lot, and heartbreaking. a different — very different style and subject matter for the finalfilm. yeah, another documentary — this is about britain's oldest performing drag artist, maisie trollette, otherwise known as david raven. and this is a brighton—set documentary, chiefly. and you see david in the run—up to his 85th birthday when his friends have a bit of a surprise for him. let's have a look at a clip.
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i love that! they keep coming back to that point, don't they, during the documentary? yeah, he insists he is a "drag artiste", and quite rightly so. and i love this idea of this american coming over
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and this culture clash. again, it's obviously very set up, but the fact they're both slightly unimpressed and slightly wary of each other and this rather awkward afternoon tea — you've got this boozy brit, and then this very abstemious, very showy american. and it's kind of fascinating, but it also touches on what it was like to be a young gay man when he was young. and i think that that's really interesting, there's lots of memories in his friends. and also, there's a real sense of community that you get from this film, as well, the fact that he has no living relatives and his friends are helping him out, looking after him. and, you know, it's a low—budget documentary, for sure, but i think if this kind of subject matter interests you, then it's a bit of a charmer. yes, i think you've hit the nail on the head in the sense of you do have to have some interest in the subject matter. i think it is quite niche — and i've nothing against that at all, you know, i'm really interested, and i think some elements of this are very affectionate. but it's funny that we're looking at the clip of the american chap, because actually, for me, that's the bit that worked the least. the bits that are great,
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as you say, are all about community, the brighton community, and these two people who'd never met before — maybe if they'd got on famously, it would have been quite sweet, but actually, i don't think they really did! and you could find that a bit funny, but i actually found that a little bit painful. i know what you mean, it's almost like two films in one — i would have happily watched just his daily life in brighton and, you know, him and his garden, just saying, "who'd know that in this garden shed, "i have all these sparkly ball gowns, and they help keep "the birds away"? all those lovely details. yeah, they were the more touching and more telling details, weren't they? definitely. i could've lived without the man from america, i'm afraid, but there you are. that will only make sense to you if you see the film. but it's an interesting, affectionate portrait — but, yes, made on more of a budget than fadia's tree. definitely, but i enjoyed it. yeah. and so, your best out for this week? she will — this is charlotte colbert's drama—horror—thriller, call it what you will, set in the scottish highlands, where alice krieger plays a former hollywood star
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who's recovering in a retreat with her nurse. and things take a very interesting turn — it touches on witchcraft, it touches on the metoo movement, there's folk horror elements, there's a bit of dark comedy there — rupert everett is rather amusing as this sort of flamboyant man running the retreat. there's a lot going on. i really liked it, i think it's a really interesting film, visually stunning. it stayed with me, for sure — i watched it first at the london film festival, and it really stuck with me. i think the atmosphere is incredible, and the whole storyline — the idea that that the women of the past are inspiring and empowering the women of the present through the earth — i thought that was rather powerful. i loved the filming of it and the look of it. it is well documented — it's a little bit too creepy for my taste, but i know that's testament to how well it's made that i found it very creepy, i think, because that is the point. but it is really well—made. and is it a debut feature? i thought that's impressive for a debut feature. i thought that was really fantastic. and for people who would like to stay in or stream or get a dvd, what else
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do we have this week? so, new to streaming is good luck to you, leo grande, the emma thompson—starrer. so a lot of people will have seen this in cinemas, but if you haven't, i think it's really well worth seeing it on the small screen at home. maybe you'd rather watch this film on your home. emma thompson hires a young sex worker, played by daryl mccormack, because she's never been satisfied in her life and she wants to have a good time, and she wants to branch out, really, and explore. and it's very much a two—hander between them, talking in the room and exploring each other — and exploring each other�*s psychology more than anything, it's not desperately racy, but it's more about empowerment. i don't think it's racy at all. i think it is absolutely about the psychology. and, in fact, by chance, the screening i went to — it was all women in the audience, and there are some laughs in it, as well. it's written by katy brand, and there are some funny moments and all the women laughed, and it's a real talking point. i think everyone should see it, actually, as a debate aboutjust older people and sexuality — she's not even that old, for goodness' sake, but it counts as older people when it comes to the
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big screen, doesn't it? yeah, exactly, you know, it's a very accessible film. it's a fairly light—hearted film, but it does actually have the power to change things on the level you say, i think — it's important. it's a good watch. thank you very much, anna. we'll see you next week. good to see you. and that is it for this week. do join us again next time, enjoy your cinema—going. bye— bye. this is bbc news, i'm chris rogers — the headlines at seven: rockets have been fired into israeli territory as the islamichhad group responded to israeli air strikes. israel says it has killed two commanders after what it called an immediate threat. 11 palestinian children are among the dead in gaza. israel's now reported to have agreed to a truce. here, the two conservative party leadership contenders vying to be
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the next prime minister outline how they

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