this is following his refusal to resign after kissing spanish women's playerjenni hermoso on the lips following spains win over england in the world cup final. rail passengers across england are experiencing disruption today, as 20,000 staff have walked out over pay and working conditions. workers from m train operators are taking part in the strike. investigations into thefts at the british museum continue as the institution says some of the 2,000 items believed to be stolen have started to be recovered. a staff member the museum suspects of involvement has been sacked. and at least nine people have been killed and nearly 50 injured after a train carriage caught fire in southern india. now on bbc news — talking movies: blockbuster review.

hello from the malibu barbie cafe in new york city. i'm tom brook, and welcome to talking movies. in today's programme we review blockbuster season. hi barbie. we look at whyy barbie so thoroughly won over over audiences. barbie. icon, timeless icon. i actually wanted to watch today but they sold out. you are the man who gave them i the power to destroy themselves. the season's other big hit, 0ppenheimer, brought great acclaim to its director, christopher nolan. we will hearfrom him. when i looked at 0ppenheimer�*s story, it was the most dramatic story i have ever encountered. but 0ppenheimer and barbie were not

met withjoy everywhere. we look at the resistance to each in different parts of the world. translation: men or boys might make feminine gestures, - they might want to put on nail polish, wear earings or do other gestures inspired by barbie. everyone has a barbie story, and the stories are about us. we revisit a classic documentary exploring the origins of barbie and the emergence of barbie—mania. barbie was the doll with breasts, and legs. also in the programme, the other films that performed well in blockbuster season including tom cruise's mission impossible seven. this movie, it is an epic adventure. all that and more in this special blockbuster review edition of talking movies. barbie, in which margot robbie and ryan gosling give excellent performances playing characters inspired by world—famous plastic dolls, is a lot of fun.

it's a thoughtful and intelligent satire. for me, at any rate, it could have been a bit deeper, but that said, it certainly generated a must—see. looking good, barbie. thanks, ken. barbie was more than just a blockbuster that broke several records, it was a real event movie, a rarity these days that allowed people to really enjoy a trip to the cinema, and it tapped into a genuinejoy many have for a plastic doll. it's like the only toy i used to play with when i was a girl. i used to dress them and do their hair, and barbie was my thing, so obviously now i have a daughter, i want to see it with her. i love barbie. i got so excited, i told my mum, can you please get tickets? and i was so excited. barbie really benefited from barbenheimer, a phrase emerged in social media.

it became a cultural meme which helped fuel interested two very different films, barbie and 0ppenheimer, opening at the same time. i think the early barbenheimer effect was because the well—known ip of barbie plus the well known ip of christopher nolan were put together in a way that really sparked the imagination. barbie also distinguished itself in that it is a film defined by a director's artistic vision that succeeded in reaching a mass audience, quite different from the typical, often tired, lacklustre hollywood blockbusters we have grown accustomed to. it really put the filmmaker, greta gerwig, on the map. greta gerwig is now absolutely a a—list director. she started off acting in very, very small micro—budget movies, and worked her way up, as both actor and director, to this level, so this is somebody who is using this is—odd years of understanding of filmmaking

and storytelling, you see that reflected in the film. what's going on? why are these men looking at me? they're also staring at me! barbie, with references to patriarchy and gender, is viewed by many as an enlightened entertainment. things for our world. if this got out, this could mean extremely weird things for our world. but to environmentalists, it is anything but. to them, it is helping to drive sales of plastic barbie dolls that are not eco— friendly, but most barbie fans are not concerned by that. they are just impressed by what greta gerwig brought to the screen. barbie is an inclusive film, appealing to people of all ages and backgrounds. reviewing barbie for talking movies is ted brown. audiences, including myself flock to the cinema in a sea of pink to see what has been dubbed by many

as the film of the year. as an avid doll—lover who played with the barbies as a child, this film did not disappoint. the action takes place in two realms, the real world and barbieland, filled with barbies and kens. but is life in plastic really as fantastic as it seems? we follow barbie, portrayed by margot robbie, as she goes on an adventure to the real world to restore herself after she starts to malfunction. her mission — to find the human playing with her and discover why they are unhappy so that her life can go back to normal. where are we going? in the nearly two—hour film, a lot goes down. there are dance battles, ballads, and interesting takes on the patriarchy and womanhood that have resonated with many. greta gerwig's barbie pays

homage to the iconic doll, but in the same breath it also pokes holes at the beauty standards that barbie sets for women. the cast breathes life into these plastic doll characters by giving them heart and humour. ryan gosling shines as barbie's boyfriend ken, but behind the belly laughs, there is a deeper meaning. barbieland is matriarchal paradise, but we later find ourselves questioning if this is at the expense of the ken characters. barbie has confounded the naysayers, proving that films with female characters made by female directors can be huge, international blockbusters. just before barbie was released, i noticed the arrival of the 25th anniversary of a classic documentary

called barbie nation — an unauthorised tour. it gives an insight into the origins of barbie and its crazed barbie mania, it helps you understand perhaps why there is all this madness, such as hear in this restaurant, with people all dressed in pink. this documentary helps to explain why barbie has become so much a part of so many lives. i became obsessed and this is what you see now. it shows just how much of a pathbreaking figure barbie was when she arrived in 1959. there had never been a doll quite like her before. barbie was a real breakthrough item, a kind of a totem. before barbie, girls played with dolls and played mom, and that was the only role they were given, an barbie was the doll with breasts and legs. she was shocking, and a lot of the parents were opposed to her, even at the time, but she gave

something truly different for girls and even boys to play with. barbie has long been a lightning rod for criticism. there have complains that she set an unrealistic standard for young girls, but as the documentary show, mattel, the toy company that manufactures the doll, has tried to move with the times. in 1980, the first black barbie was created, and there are now barbies of every nationality and race, body type and disability, but in some ways, i include myself, who aren't that blonde—haired, blue—eyed ideal, we remain accessories, like all these other barbies remain accessories to the main fit — white barbie. to some adoring fans, barbie has become almost a complete way of life.

we have a barbie fashion show in birmingham, alabama. people make life—sized barbie fashions for themselves, and they wear them in fashion shows, and in this fashion show, it features the barbie—jesus prayer. we thank the father for this wonderful blessing. at the same time features this little girl dressed upas a barbie and a cross—dressing couple dressed up as barbie. what is perhaps so noteworthy in relation to barbie, is while she is the product of american capitalism, mechanised mass production and relentless marketing, she is often able to give those that play with her memorable, personal experiences. she is an object that people can hang their dreams on, their projections on, their fears on, people can use this most mass produced of things

to create a life which is unique. director christopher nolan pulled off an impressive feat this blockbuster season with 0ppenheimer, with cillian murphy in the title role. who would have thought that a period film focusing on the man who led the team that created the atomic bomb, that was three hours long, would become such a hit. well, alan maloney sat down with christopher nolan. truman needs to know what's next. what's next? in a landscape of sequels and superheroes, a film about the creation of the atomic bomb may not have been the obvious subject for your average summer blockbuster, but then again, christopher nolan is not your average filmmaker. an idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules.

the british director is known for features like inception an the dark knight trilogy. when gotham is ashes, you have my permission to die. films that combine spectacele with an intelligence lacking from many studio films. he is one of few the directors who's name can be used to mark a movie, he is one of few the directors whose name can be used to market a movie, and there was a huge supporting cast including matt damon and emily blunt. the story itself is fascinating. oppenheimer's life is fascinating, but he'd manages to make it genre—bending by where he moves in time and what he reveals as he goes. we have a 12—month headstart. 18. how could you possibly know that? he is able to capture the vastness of ideas and profoundly loves the audience, give so much credit to the audience to keep up and be able to metabolise these big ideas. it's happening isn't it? i don't know if we can never be trusted with such a weapon, but we have no choice.

however, much of the film rests on the shoulders of the irish actor cillian murphy. it's a performance that's already attracting 0scar buzz. what i was looking to him for, was a lot of pressure really. this is a script written in the first person, so i need cillian to use his powers of empathy, to open his thoughts, open his soul, really, to the audience, and he can do that better than any actor can. it's a really remarkable thing. we imagine a future, - and our imaginings horrify us. the film not only covers the creation of the atomic bomb, but also 0ppenheimer�*s life following the war — a period where he grappled with the fallout of atomic weapons, as well as his past communist associations. it's a timely story in terms of politicisation of science, new technology and ai. did you find that as well? it's interesting.

you don't know the circumstances in which your film will be released, but now that people are seeing the film, i'm having more and more conversations with researchers in the field of ai, for example. i don't think 0ppenheimer�*s story, although it points to the important questions and is a true cautionary tale, i don't know how much it gives in the way of answers, itjust tries to present the questions in the most suspenseful and dramatic way possible. with a dense subject matter and three—hour running time and opening on the same day as barbie, it was feared that it might get lost in the summer box office, however the movie seems to have benefited from the barbenheimer hype that accompany the simultaneous release of the two films. with a worldwide box office of over half $1 billion, critical acclaim and oscar talk, christopher nolan has once again proved himself to be a filmmaker that can deliver big ideas in big films to big audiences.

cheering 0ppenheimer and barbie have been huge hits in north america and europe. in fact, one hollywood studio executive boasted — perhaps a little arrogantly — that with barbie, the film has been working well everywhere. well, not quite because in some parts of the world, both barbie and 0ppenheimer have met with quite a lot of resistance, as noah gittell has been finding out. barbie has garnered significant controversy in the middle east, where its feminist and lgbt themes have made it a target of government censors. the film has been pulled from cinemas in algeria and banned outright in kuwait after playing there for a month. in lebanon, the minister of culture recommended a ban of barbie, claiming it promotes homosexuality and sexual transformation — a reference to a barbie character in the film played by trans actor hari nef. at the end of the day, we're all barbie. some endorse the minister's

recommendation. they feel that barbie could have a negative influence on their traditional culture. translation: men or boys might make feminine gestures. - they might want to put on nail polish, wear earrings or do other gestures inspired by the movie. women, too, seeing barbie and her personality can become very controlling. no, this is not how it is supposed to be. in response to the controversy, the lebanese film oversight committee met and determined that the film did not warrant an official ban, but barbie still has no release date in lebanon and many wonder if it will ever screen there. some in the film—making community in lebanon worry that this is a step towards greater censorship. translation: many things are always i being banned in lebanon for certain l reasons but it's been two years that there is like a campaign against culture by blindly banning everything. a country that has always been the face of culture in the arab

world, we may have become among the last with how backwards we're going. oppenheimer, the other half of the barbenheimer phenomenon, has also faced controversy farfrom hollywood. oppenheimer grew up in this apartment building in new york's upper west side. surely, he would've been amazed to find himself the subject of both a hollywood blockbuster and its attracted global criticism, especially from india. in the film, oppenheimer is seen reciting that sacred text from the bhagavad gita while having sex with a young woman which, to at least one indian official, is a profound insult to hindus. it's an assault on our civilisation values. it is an assault on the hindu community. and therefore, we have written a very strong letter to the director, christopher nolan, that he should withdraw this scene from the film. oppenheimer has also faced controversy injapan, where the film has not yet been released. the film chronicles the creation

of a bomb that killed hundreds of thousands of japanese civilians in hiroshima and nagasaki. file: beneath that sinister ball of smoke, the world's - most destructive force has been unleashed. there is speculation that the film may never be shown injapan because of ongoing sensitivities over the world war two nuclear attacks. but at the hiroshima atomic dome and peace park, one japanese student who has been living in london is in favour of the film being shown in japan. i think people are so interested in the film, maybe interested in the american perspective of all of this. i think maybe it might be even better to show it here and kind of educate japanese people even more about it. screaming these controversies may follow oppenheimer and barbie for some time but they also stand as a testament to the power of these films and the power of cinema to create a global phenomenon. it was, in a way, strangely amusing

to find one of hollywood's biggest action stars, tom cruise, partly sidelined during this blockbuster season by the charms of a movie inspired by a long—legged, iconic plastic doll. yes, cruise's mission: impossible 7 was not at all bad but the blockbuster season glory really did go to barbie, as emma jones now tells us. cheering already hollywood's golden boy for what top gun: maverick did for post—covid cinema attendance last summer, the question was would tom cruise's midas touch work again for mission: impossible — dead reckoning? there was a big promotional tour supporting the release, including a world premiere in rome, where part of the film was set. it's all about how do i engage the audience? cruise was as willing as ever to meet fans and to be chief salesman for his movie. it's bigger than all of the films. it has vivid characterisations. it has glorious, luxurious locations

and practical action, and the stuff that we've accomplished has never been seen before on—screen. three, two, one, action! we've even built built our own train to destroy it. this film, the first of a two—parter, does what you'd expect a mission: impossible film to do. it's set around the world in glamorous locations and has an intriguing and timely plot around artificial intelligence which might even be able to outsmart ethan hunt. it's only the beginning. but it cost $300 million to make and so, the pressure was on to top the last mission: impossible film, 2018's fallout, which made more than $800 million for cinemas. at the time of release, the cast were hoping for even more with dead reckoning. is that what you're hoping forfor mission: impossible? that it'll be a huge blockbuster summer?

of course. i'd love crack a bill — wouldn't you? i mean, i'd love to get a bit of that. what was it, 800,000? yeah. i've never been in a billion—dollarfilm. but then, with tom and with top gun, amazingly, of course you want everyone to see this. i feel like this film is everything a cinematic blockbuster should be. and it should be seen, and there's so many films — i mean, we speak about mission but it also becomes a ripple effect, doesn't it, where we show that we can do it, other films will do it? what has made a billion—dollar movie almost mission: impossible, despite cruise's ability to pull off breathtaking stunts, was the release of barbie and oppenheimer, just after dead reckoning. after a strong start, the film's hype was quickly stolen and its worldwide box office of $500 million so far is almost a direct result of audiences seeing so—called barbenheimer instead — including tom cruise, who posted on social media with his ticket. ethan?

this mission of yours... ..is going to cost you. this mission has certainly been uncertain. the actors�* strike is now delayed filming on dead reckoning part two and part one's steady climb at the box office was derailed by barbie. yet, despite the film's difficulties, most unpredictably of all, few would argue that 60—year—old tom cruise is still the action star of the summer. well, to bring our special talking movies blockbuster review to a close, i've entered barbie world, here at the malibu barbie cafe. we hope you've enjoyed the programme. please remember, you can always reach us online at bbc.com?talkingmovies, and you can find us on facebook. so, from me, tom brook, and the rest of the talking movies team, it's goodbye as we leave you with one of the official music videos of barbie. # because i'm just ken

# anywhere else, i'd be a ten # is it my destiny to live and die a life of blonde fragility? # i'm just ken # where i see love, she sees a friend # what will it take for her to see the man behind the tan and fight for me? # i'm just ken # and i'm enough # and i'm great at doing stuff # so, hey, check me out # yeah, i'm just ken # baby, i'mjust ken.# hello there. this weekend for most of us is one of sunshine and showers. for many of us, it's also a bank holiday weekend with monday actually looking like being the better day

of the three days with some good spells of sunshine around. but downpours have been frequent during saturday. rumbles of thunder, flashes of lightning, even some waterspouts and funnel clouds reported as well. now for the upcoming week, it's quite mixed. low pressure will always be fairly close by. so again, we'll see some sunshine, scattered showers even longer, spells of rain. and because our source will generally be coming down from the northwest, it will feel a little bit cooler for most of us for the time of year. now, for part two of the weekend, it's sunshine and showers again for scotland, england and wales, the heaviest and most thundery showers will be towards eastern scotland, eastern england. this weather front will be pushing across northern ireland, a weakening feature, but it will bring a cloudy day with outbreaks of light and patchy rain. so temperatures 16 or 17 degrees for belfast generally are high teens across scotland. but in some sunshine between the showers for central southern east england, it could be up to 21, 22 degrees now through sunday night.

the showers fade away. that weather front across northern ireland pushes into western britain, weakening further. just a band of cloud with a few spots of rain here and there. so, where we have the cloud and temperatures around 13, 1a degrees, but on either side of it and the clearer skies, it will be quite fresh once again. so for monday and again, like i mentioned, it's a bank holiday monday for many places. that weather front will be flying through central parts of britain, a band of cloud, one or two spots of rain on it, but it will continue to break up through the day. so we should see increasing amounts of sunshine and many places will stay dry with increasing sunshine as well for scotland and northern ireland. so a little bit warmer for belfast and for glasgow, 19, maybe 20 degrees, low twenties across the south and the east. now as you move out of monday into tuesday, this new area of low pressure starts to push towards the north of the uk. that's going to bring blustery spells or longer spells of rain, certainly to scotland, but even to parts of northern ireland and where the front associated with it will spread across england

and wales to bring a band of showery rain too. but on either side we should see some sunshine. it's a bit of a mixed bag on tuesday, but again, in the sunshine, in the southeast and south westerly winds, we should see 22 degrees, otherwise a little bit cooler and fresher further north and west. as we move into wednesday, that area of low pressure pushes out into the norwegian sea, taking the showers and the stronger winds with it. but it could still be another blustery day, we think, on wednesday with further showers across eastern scotland, northeast england. as it pulls away, though, there's a chance that wednesday could be a pretty fine day for much of the country, increasing amounts of sunshine, especially across england and wales. the winds will be light, too. so we're looking at the low twenties once again. further north, it's the mid to high teens and beyond wednesday. then low pressure continues to bring showery weather maybe even longer. spells of rain, maybe a sign as we head into the first part of september of an area of high pressure building in briefly before low pressure starts to push back in. so it really is quite a mixed outlook for the end of august into the early part of september.

there is a chance, like i mentioned though, towards the following weekend, it could warm up a little bit too. that high pressure moves in to bring increasing amounts of sunshine. but i think generally the outlook is for it to stay rather unsettled with low pressure. always close by. see you later.

live from london. this is bbc news. spain's luis rubiales vows to defend himself over the way he kissed a world cup winner, on the lips following

fifa's suspension. the british museum's chairman admits the theft of some two—thousand treasures has damaged its reputation. disruption across england, scotland and wales railway networks as workers strike over pay and conditions. and, we'll take you behind the scenes and bring you all the action at this years edinburgh festival fringe. hello, i'm monika plaha. thank you so much forjoining me. luis rubiarles has said he'll defend himself, after fifa provisionally suspended him as president of spain's football association. his suspension from all football—related activities, came after he refused to resign after being accused of forcibly kissing a winner of the women's world cup on the lips. the spanish football federation accused jenni hermoso of lying about the incident, when she said she did not consent to being kissed on the lips by him,

following spain's victory over