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tv   The Film Review  BBC News  August 7, 2022 11:45pm-12:01am BST

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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, 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
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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 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 not apple or orange? - so what's in this case? on phone: are we doing this? you know what's in the case. money, it's always money. tangerine's a sophisticated fruit. oh, 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?
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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 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
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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. 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
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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 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?
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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 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.
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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 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
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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, 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,
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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 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.
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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 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,
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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 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. hello there. there was a lot of dry, sunny, very warm weather over the weekend, certainly across england and wales. and that's just the taste of things to come, because as we move through this upcoming week, it's set to get very hot and sunny across parts of england and wales, a developing heatwave here. but even scotland and northern ireland will turn much warmer with plenty of sunshine. now, high pressure will keep control of the weather through this week,
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weather fronts always flirting with the northwest corner of scotland and will bring more cloud, breeze, outbreaks of rain. and then towards the end of the week, the area of high pressure will sit towards the east of the uk, and that will bring very warm southeasterly winds off the near continent. now, of course, we know it's been very dry last month across england and wales and we continue the dry theme into august. very little rain over the next few days for much of the country. most of it will be falling across the north and the west of scotland. and there will be further splashes of rain across northwest scotland, over the northern and western isles, over the course of monday. more sunshine, though, for northern ireland, much of central, southern and eastern scotland. most of the sunshine, though, and warmth will be across england and wales. so we've got the low 20s across the north in the sunniest spots, the high 20s further south. we could be up to around 29 degrees in a few spots across the midlands and southern england. monday night, then, dry and clear for most, a bit of mist developing here and there.
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it'll stay cloudy and breezy across the north and west of scotland, further splashes of rain here. and temperatures will begin to creep up, 10—16 degrees will be the low. and as we move through the week, the nights will get warmer. so for tuesday, then, it's a fairly mild start to the day, plenty of sunshine across the country. again, the far north and west of scotland will see most of the breeze and the cloud. quite windy across the west highlands, into the western isles. 17 degrees here, the mid—20s further south, and we could be close to the 30 celsius mark across parts of england and wales. until wednesday, i think a sunnier picture across much of scotland and northern ireland, that weather front just pushing to the northwest of the country. so we're up to around 2a, 25 degrees through central, southern scotland, up to 30 or 3! celsius across the midlands and the south wales, southern england. and it gets hotter across england and wales as we move towards the end of the week, perhaps up to the mid—30s in places. warm as well for scotland and northern ireland. don't forget, the nights will get much warmer as well.
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welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... the us senate approves joe biden�*s landmark bill to fight climate change, channeling billions of dollars towards ambitious clean energy goals. the world will be a better place for my grandchildren because of what we did today, and that makes me feel very, very good. very, very good. a ceasefire comes into effect between israel and the palestinian militant group, islamichhad, but there are already reports of continued fighting. the fight for life in afghanistan — one year since the taliban takeover, we see how the country's maternity services are at breaking point.

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