moments, m it is the film review. moments, it is the film review. just to it is the film review. just to explain, it was recorded earlier in the week and let's take a look. england have dual concerns. a defeat against italy and they will be relegated and gareth southgate's preparations won't be health either. st. helens are preparing to go for record—breaking fourth super league title in the grand final, but never fold eold trafford in jold trafford in previous and old trafford in previous attempts. we will look ahead to that and others and roger federer�*s final match before retiring. all on sportsday at 6:30 p:m., but it's now time for the film review.

i'mjane hill, and taking us through this week's cinema releases as ever is mark. hi, mark. very interesting week we have. don't worry darling — we have blonde, which may be a marilyn monroe biopic, or maybe not. and catherine called birdy, a mediaeval tale birdy, a mediaeval tale with a difference. oh, i thought it was a biopic, but anyway, more on that later. ok, so don't worry darling, which is a new film by olivia wilde, who made booksmart, which i loved. florence pugh and harry styles are alice and jack chambers. they live in a kind of absolutely rarefied, dreamy, late �*50s, early �*60s americana, you know, glistening cars, mad men suits, fabulous dresses. the wives stay at home and prepare the house and cook the meals and wait for the return

of their husbands, who are out doing work which cannot be spoken of when they come back. and florence pugh�*s character seems to think this is idyllic and wonderful. and then, one of her friends and neighbours becomes suicidal after leaving the village, which they're not allowed to do, and going out into the desert and encountering something. and alice starts to think, "hang on a minute, this "isn't what it seems. "there's a conspiracy going on here." here's a clip. violet, where did you meet bill? we met on a train... to boston. yeah. yes, you dropped your ticket and you bent down, picked it up, gave it to you, right? that is. yeah. l that's how margaret met ted and peg. am i right in thinking that that's how debbie mcintyre met her husband? yes, lam. that's how they met.

yes, that's true. i'm jealous. honestly, it's such a sweet story. isn't that funny? that's incredible. there are so many different stories that were told. we're told what we remember and tell. until we try to remember things that they want us to forget... ..like margaret. alice? no, jack. it's ok. i'm curious to hear where she's going with this. - frank is doing something to us. so, frank's played by chris pine, who is the sort of the eminence greece behind all of this, this victory, this somehow idyllic americana that doesn't exist and isn't real. and here's the thing — it's basically the stepford wives. the difference is the stepford wives at the beginning of the stepford wives, you think, ok, this you know what? is there something off kilter? you can't quite figure

what's wrong with it. in the case of this from the beginning, it is absolutely clear that this is an artificial world, that none of this can be what it seems, that somehow, they're in a bubble or an illusion. now, florence pugh works wonders making the character of alice engage you so that even though she's in this completely artificial environment, you believe in her character and you engage harry styles, he's fine. there've been some sort of cruel things said about his performance. it's ok. it's staggeringly unremarkable. the problem is that you very quickly figure out there's one of a number of possible scenarios that are the solution to how this is all happening, and then when it's revealed... when it's that answer... so, the film is nothing like as clever as it thinks it is. i mean, yes, it's a puncturing of the chauvinist dream of what the world looks like in which the man goes to work and the woman stays at home. we have seen that done many times before, much better.

and of course, it didn't help that in the run—up to the film playing at venice, there was all this kind of controversy about florence pugh not taking part in the publicity for the film and, you know, casting and recasting. i think the film could have got away with it if it was 90 minutes long, because it's a fairly... it looks very stylish. the production is terrific. it's you know, it's solidly made, but it takes itself more seriously than it deserves to. and it's a bit kind of like, yeah, i know it's yeah and oh yeah, that's what it is, you know. and i loved booksmart like you love, like.... yeah, absolutely terrific. this doesn't have any of that energy. florence pugh is brilliant, but it's a big movie to carry, you know, and it's even she can't get it over the, the problems that are inherent in the script, i think. 0k. all right. blonde, number two, which i did indeed think was a biopic of marilyn monroe. so, it's based on the fictional biography of marilyn monroe byjoyce carol 0ates, which is a work of fiction, but based on some historicalfact. it's directed by andrew dominik, who made the assassination

ofjesse james by the coward robert ford, she's gorgeous she's and it has a stunning central performance by ana de armas, who is absolutely brilliant as norma jean. marilyn monroe. the way that it plays her story, however, is not as a biopic, but as a horror movie. you know, in the past, you know, i've tried to sell movies, too, but it's not a horror movie. it really is a full on gothic psychodrama over cranked really in many ways, kind of very cruel and brutal. and it is it's a film about childhood trauma being revisited throughout adulthood. some critics have said, well, it completely makes marilyn monroe a victim and it underestimates her talents as a comedian. well, those things may be true. in the end, it's not about marilyn monroe. it is a sister picture to the assassination ofjesse james, which was a film about how fame can kill you. this is kind of the same thing, but with a the monarch edge. it's almost like the spectre of marilyn becomes a possessing

entity that at first propels norma jean and then possesses her. i mean, it is full—on. and i think one of the things that surprised people isjust how, i mean, it is a horror movie, believe me. that's the register in the same way as twin peaks fire walk with me, which critics didn't like when it came out. it was the best horror film of the year. this is a horror movie, has a great score by nick cave and borealis that leavens all of that, that gives it some heart and gives it some soul. but it's a gothic melodrama and then some clever. but it's a gothic melodrama and then some. isa is a clever? is it hard? hard watch or it's not an easy. no, it's certainly not an easy watch. it's in cinemas now. it's on netflix from wednesday, but it's proved pretty polarising. and i can i can see why the thing everyone's agreed on is ana de armas is terrific. but i think i like it more than some critics because i'm a horrorfan and it is pretty horrifying. 0k. wow. goodness. and lena dunham. yes. so, this is an adaptation of current kushner�*s novel, which i haven't

read, mediaeval setting, very modern sensibility. bella ramsey is birdy. that's a nickname. she is a teenager. she's a vibrant spirit. she's rebellious. we first meet her, you know, rolling in mud and causing chaos. everything's fine until her father, played by andrew scott, realises that he's run out of money. here's a clip. disrupting cottage raisings. causing mischief in the village. and listening through doors i should not listen through. well, how has this happened? after all, you're paid - to prevent things like this? in essence, my lord, you have ignored me. you have spent properly and without censure. i can't have spent so much. give me one example of... ..of an expense notl strictly necessary for the survival of my family. really? my tiger has arrived. it's dead. the travel was harsh from siberia. the travel was harsh

from siberia, my lord. just sleeping, but not breathing. perhaps some water? so, he bought a tiger of one of the essentials of life. so having run out of money, he decides that what he has to do is to marry birdy to somebody who has money into a whole bunch of beardy and horrible suitors. he doesn't want to. he loves his daughter, but that's the situation that he's in. so, what you have here is a really interesting coming of age tale that has many things going for it. one of them is it's not at all squeamish about menstruation. it is a subject that's right there in the middle of the film. absolutely. great. no problem at all, which, let's face it, absolutely. astonishingly, but it isn't. second thing is it has a young heroine who is smarter, funnier, sharper, more sort of self—reliant than almost anyone else on screen. bella ramsey is terrific as birdy just spending time in her company is fantastic because she's this kind of force of nature. she, you know, she's, as i said, like a whirling dervish of a character. but she really manages all the twists and turns of the story really well. andrew scott is a mixture of tragedy and comedy, as the father is. i think you saw there

with the tiger scene, billie piper as her mother is so good. i didn't recognise it for the first few scenes that she was that she was in it. it's really well made. i went into this knowing nothing about it other than it's in cinemas now. it's on amazon prime on the seventh, and it's got that strange title catherine called birdy. but i thought it was great fun. it's a certificate and i think pretty much anyone who's old enough for a 12 cert would would love this. i mean, i'm a 60—year—old and i thought it was terrific. i thought it was really accessible and funny and spirited and charming. and i've not been a huge fan of some of lena dunham's previous work, but i think this is great. i think you'll love this. and i'm so sad i haven't seen it yet because even the trailer really made me laugh and that sense of her spirit really comes through. it's properly funny, but it's also properly empowering. 0h, lovely. that's an excellent recommendation. thank you. so, best out. you and david bowie, are you a big fan or not?

because i'm a die—hard devotee. yeah, i like his flamboyance, but the music is not quite my thing. i'm afraid to say. moon daydream, which is this kind of kaleidoscopic portrait. it's got lots of fragments rearranged in different ways. but an interesting comparison with blonde, for example. i loved it. i should say that i saw bowie play live in 1978 when i was a teenager. you're just too cool iam, iam you're just too cool! i am, you'rejust too cool! i am, i am! one of the best things about bowie was he was on the one hand, he could be deadly serious. he could talk about art and philosophy. 0n the other hand, he's fantastically self—deprecating. and i think, you know, iwell, i love the music, which i know you don't particularly, but there are enough it's a sensory overload experience.

i'd be really interested to know whether somebody who wasn't a huge bowie fan liked it. and actually, from that sense, i would be interested to watch it because he was a force of nature as well and he was so creative and i love that, i love that aspect of it. i can lend you all my bowie albums. you can go through them all and realise that you're actually thanks. yeah. yes, i'm quite busy. but, you know... and what do we have streaming and otherwise? yes. so, after yang, which is on sky cinema and in selected cinemas, it's a very affecting, low key drama about a family of slightly futuristic science fiction, about a family coming to terms with the breakdown of their artificial intelligence. android, who has been brought into the family. it shares themes with blade runner, but it's tonally closer to that. remember that film i talked about marjorie prime, which i really, really liked. and it's a it's a film about loss and memory and grief and ageing and all those things. it's very ambient. it's got a beautiful score by oscar samir. and it's a very haunting, thoughtful, kind of evocative experience. i said, it's on sky cinema and also in selected cinemas, and i thought it was really terrific.

excellent, intriguing. lots of good stuff. really interesting week actually, isn't it? a good bit of mixture and something for everyone. which one are you going to see? birdy. that's that's my starting point. that is my starting point. it has to be, has to be. and that's it. enjoy your cinema—going, whatever it is you choose to go and see. we'll see you next week. thanks for being with us. good afternoon. many parts of the uk are seeing quite a lot of sunshine at the moment. bright but rather cool weather spreading southwards, sunshine and a scattering of showers, but this band of cloud and rain continuing to affect the south—east corner. that will be a feature, actually, for much of the next 2a hours. very slow—moving, this band of cloud and rain, so it will linger across the south—east of england into parts of east anglia as we go through this evening. elsewhere, we will see clear spells, scattered showers, particularly in eastern scotland and northeast england. a cold night in parts of scotland, milder further south and east where we start tomorrow with more

cloud and still with those outbreaks of rain, which could linger for a good part of the day. elsewhere, sunny spells and scattered showers. most of the showers across england and wales, not as many for northern ireland orfor scotland — quite a keen breeze making it feel rather cool, highs of 14—18 degrees, and another fairly cool day to come on sunday. best of the sunshine will be down towards the south. more cloud across the north of the uk.

today at six, a dramatic change in economic direction, the biggest tax cuts in half a century. in a radical bid to kick—start growth. not a traditional budget but the chancellor brought in sweeping changes including a penny of the basic rate of income tax and abolishing the 45% rate. we promised abolishing the 4596 rate. we promised a new approach _ abolishing the 4596 rate. we promised a new approach for _ abolishing the 4596 rate. we promised a new approach for a _ abolishing the 4596 rate. we promised a new approach for a new _ abolishing the 4596 rate. we promised a new approach for a new era, - abolishing the 4596 rate. we promised a new approach for a new era, we - a new approach for a new era, we promised to release the enormous potential of this country. our growth plan has delivered all those promises and more.— promises and more. stamp duty thresholds _ promises and more. stamp duty thresholds will _ promises and more. stamp duty thresholds will rise _ promises and more. stamp duty thresholds will rise and - promises and more. stamp duty thresholds will rise and the - promises and more. stamp duty thresholds will rise and the capl promises and more. stamp duty l thresholds will rise and the cap on bankers bonuses is lifted but the pound tumbles following the announcement. labour condemned the plan is a dangerous risk. the announcement. labour condemned the plan is a dangerous risk.— plan is a dangerous risk. the prime minister and _ plan is a dangerous risk. the prime minister and chancellor _

plan is a dangerous risk. the prime minister and chancellor are - plan is a dangerous risk. the prime minister and chancellor are like - plan is a dangerous risk. the prime | minister and chancellor are like two desperate _ minister and chancellor are like two desperate gamblers in a casino