that went on in venice. we have blonde, which may be 3 marilyn monroe biopic, or maybe not. and catherine called birdy, a medieval 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. 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, 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, played by chris pine, who is the sort of the eminence grise 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 with her character. 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... "ok, it's that answer." 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 beautiful. 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, numbertwo, which i did indeed think was a biopic of marilyn monroe. so it's based on the fictional biography of marilyn monroe byjoyce carol oates, which is a work of fiction, but based on some historical fact. it's directed by andrew dominik, who made the assassination ofjesse james by the coward robert ford, 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 to you by going,

"it's not a horror movie." this is a horror movie. so it really is? it really is a full—on gothic psychodrama over—cranked really in many ways, kind of very cruel and brutal. wow. and it is 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 demonic 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. is it clever? is it a 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 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, catherine called birdy. yes. so this is an adaptation of karen cushman's novel, which i haven't read. medieval 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. who stole my chickens? 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 profligately and without censure. nonsense. 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, my lord. just sleeping, but not breathing. perhaps some water? so, he bought a tiger, 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, in terms of mainstream cinema is not a common thing. 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, as i think you saw there with the tiger scene. billie piper as her mother is so good. i didn't recognise her for the first few scenes that she was in. 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 7th, and it's got that strange title catherine called birdy. but i thought it was great fun. it's a 12a certificate and i think pretty much anyone who's old enough for a 12a certificate 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. but i thought it was great fun. 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. oh, 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. moonage 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! but consequently, i can't really be rational about all of this because it's like, yes, i know. you know, i saw bowie when i was 13, but i think this is fabulous. i think the best thing about it is, it has the kind of invention and wit that bowie himself had. 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. on the other hand, he's fantastically self—deprecating. and i think, you know, well, 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 wrong about him. thanks. yeah. yes, i'm quite busy next week. 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... remember that film i talked about, marjorie prime, which i really, really liked? and it's a film about loss and memory and grief and ageing and all those things. well, this is like that. it's very ambient. it's got a beautiful score by aska matsumiya, and it's a very haunting, thoughtful, kind of evocative experience. as 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 this week. 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 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. bye— bye. fairly changeable week in terms of sums and one that, showers the next you in the for something quite nasty later on. to start the week, one where the front just living later on. to start the week, one where the frontjust living away from southern coastal counties, bringing some i rain, element, which opens the door to some north and north westerly airflow, which will bring arctic air our way, but don't forget to september, still a bit of warmth in the atmosphere. not desperately chilly. and even as the morning feels fairly fresh in that breeze, temperatures higher than they were on sunday morning. but we stand with rain across southern counties of inwood, channel islands, turnings and with just a couple

showers later here. ever changing skies elsewhere, some send one minute, showers the next, some heavy, most frequent across scotland down the west coast, a few such spots should avoid the showers altogether, but wherever you are a breezy day competitor of late. gusts up breezy day competitor of late. gusts up to 50 mph potentially. adding up to a cool afternoon. out of the sunshine, temperatures ofjust ten to 16, lowerthan sunshine, temperatures ofjust ten to 16, lower than of late, and failing dusted stick the chill in the north—east of scotland. through monday night and into tuesday, continuing with that strong wind. showers most frequent across northern parts of scotland, and a bit cooler, but enough of a breeze to stop a frost forming to take us into tuesday. this is tuesday's chart, low pressure to the east of us, this weather system trying to move down, sliding towards the south—west. a chance for some cloudy conditions, outbreaks of rain, close to cornwall and devon, but otherwise a sunshine and showers day, commit a

different position of the showers due to a shift in wind direction come a shift in wind direction, but more westerly, so some areas sustain dry for longer before the showers development in the afternoon. 11 to 15, it will feel cool. cool starts to wednesday, but when starting to ease down a little bit, some longer spells of rain for eastern scotland pushing down to the north—east of england through the day, someone to showers in the west but overall southern and western areas in a bit drier and brighter even if it does feel chilly, it will not feel quite as cold given the winds are light. a cold start to thursday, but the week with more places dry but the potential for some very wet and windy weather for friday.

welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... a game—changing election in italy — as exit polls suggest suggest giorgia meloni is set to win, and is on course to become the country's first female prime minister. super typhoon noru has hit the philippines and is set to sweep through the capital manila with winds of up to 175 kilometres an hour. translation: i evacuated the house i'm _ translation: i evacuated the house i'm living _ translation: i evacuated the house i'm living in _ translation: i evacuated the house i'm living in because - translation: i evacuated the house i'm living in because i'mj house i'm living in because i'm scared, — house i'm living in because i'm scared, the _ house i'm living in because i'm scared, the floods are very high — scared, the floods are very high and _ scared, the floods are very high and i don't want to go through— high and i don't want to go through what i went through before _