:00:25. > :00:29.Thanks for staying up to talk movies.
:00:30. > :00:36.This week we're mainly talking the thinking woman's
:00:37. > :00:41.Fight Club? Thelma and Louise?
:00:42. > :00:43.Or my personal favourite, Benjamin Button.
:00:44. > :00:46.Let us know, the details are on the screen now.
:00:47. > :01:17.Passion and patriotism. David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike star in A
:01:18. > :01:22.United Kingdom. And poetry, public transport and Adam Driver in
:01:23. > :01:27.Paterson. Just don't call it dull. Boredom is a good thing.
:01:28. > :01:30.Plus, it's that magic moment, our first Christmas film of the season.
:01:31. > :01:32.Billy Bob Thornton stars in Bad Santa Two.
:01:33. > :01:38.Joining me on the sofa is festive favourite Rihanna Dhillon
:01:39. > :01:44.Hello both of you. Hi. Break a leg! I will try to.
:01:45. > :01:47.Kicking us off this week is director Amma Asante's A United Kingdom.
:01:48. > :01:50.The story of a Botswanan Prince who caused some stiff upper lips
:01:51. > :01:53.to quiver in the late 1940s when he married a white
:01:54. > :02:01.The persecuted lovers are played by David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike.
:02:02. > :02:11.My father, he wouldn't approve. I am just two streets away. Can we could
:02:12. > :02:27.this again? I mean, meet. Is that too forward of me? No. What? Queen
:02:28. > :02:37.Victoria, the men who negotiated for her protection. He was my
:02:38. > :02:49.grandfather, a King. I am his heir. Oh! I see. I play Seretse Khama, he
:02:50. > :02:53.was the heir to the throne of Botswana. While studying in London
:02:54. > :03:00.he meets and false in love with Ruth Williams and their marriage which is
:03:01. > :03:07.an interracial one, causes a diplomatic earthquake with South
:03:08. > :03:11.Africa, Botswana and the United Kingdom. If you choose to marry the
:03:12. > :03:15.leader of an African nation you will be responsible for the downfall of
:03:16. > :03:18.the British empire in Africa. Have you no shame? For me it was always
:03:19. > :03:23.important when I came on board this couldn't just be a love story. This
:03:24. > :03:26.had to be a love story that involved politics because there are people
:03:27. > :03:32.out there that view interracial relationships as a political
:03:33. > :03:35.statement. So to ignore that would have been foolhardy, independenting.
:03:36. > :03:42.Also any politics that you saw should come through the prism of the
:03:43. > :03:49.couple's love. Are you insane? White, British. I think the reason
:03:50. > :03:54.we don't know about this story is because at the centre is a black
:03:55. > :04:03.protagonist and I think history is told by the victors and if a lot of
:04:04. > :04:07.the people telling stories don't look like Seretse Khama they're not
:04:08. > :04:13.interested. We have concluded you should be exiled. I belong with my
:04:14. > :04:17.people. As someone of African descent myself, someone who has
:04:18. > :04:22.loved period dramas growing up and never saw anyone like me in them,
:04:23. > :04:26.when I saw the cover of that book, I thought, eureka, there it is, a
:04:27. > :04:31.story I would want to see as an audience member let alone to be in
:04:32. > :04:34.as an actor. I am told you no longer wish for me to honour my duty as a
:04:35. > :04:38.King because of the colour of the wife I have chosen. These are
:04:39. > :04:42.stories of my wild, they're stories that interest me, they pull together
:04:43. > :04:47.themes that have impacted my life so it feels very natural. I feel that
:04:48. > :04:51.we are very young in our story-telling journey as people of
:04:52. > :04:54.colour and directors who are putting characters of colour at the centre
:04:55. > :04:59.of their own stories. But there is a naturalness to what I do and I think
:05:00. > :05:04.that's important. I am ready to serve you because I love my people!
:05:05. > :05:12.I love this land! But I love my wife!
:05:13. > :05:17.Oh, stirring stuff! Danny, was this really a story that was begging to
:05:18. > :05:21.be told? I think it absolutely was. It's a great untold story and those
:05:22. > :05:25.are very rare. Maybe in the telling of the story it feels sturdy and
:05:26. > :05:30.cosy but I don't care because the story is anything but cosy. The
:05:31. > :05:34.story is electric. It has to feel like Sunday night TV to reach the
:05:35. > :05:38.kind of numbers of people who watch Sunday night TV, I am totally fine
:05:39. > :05:42.with that, I admire this film hugely. It's hand some, it's a smart
:05:43. > :05:46.movie: I urge people to see it. Don't you think there is a reason
:05:47. > :05:49.why it was untold? I think the director sort of specialises in
:05:50. > :05:54.these stories, she sort of digs up and actually I am not entirely sure
:05:55. > :06:03.if it's sort of, it will make any difference this film, what do you
:06:04. > :06:07.think? Well, I think, you know, you talked about Asante's past films,
:06:08. > :06:10.one of a woman of mixed heritage and dual heritage and seeing a role
:06:11. > :06:13.model like that in period dress was so wonderful. I had grown up
:06:14. > :06:17.watching all white period dramas and loving them and wishing I could be
:06:18. > :06:23.in them and to see a film like that I was thankful it was brought to our
:06:24. > :06:27.scenes. So, I think the same is true for A United Kingdom. It doesn't
:06:28. > :06:33.necessarily feel relevant in the way that it is however many years old.
:06:34. > :06:37.Did you really feel you identified with somebody who married - who was
:06:38. > :06:43.in Kenwood House? I think people who are, you know, my age now would have
:06:44. > :06:46.been the children of those parents. I think that's really fascinating.
:06:47. > :06:49.It's not that far off history. I think it is definitely relevant. We
:06:50. > :06:55.don't see that many stories like that on our screens. Does it bother
:06:56. > :07:06.you at all that actually the story was told in an incredibly route one,
:07:07. > :07:10.incredibly beNiall way. It was structured like a rom-com. There was
:07:11. > :07:13.a great emphasis applied to the fact, why would she marry him? Why
:07:14. > :07:17.would she risk everything? She's rejected by her family. People sort
:07:18. > :07:22.of attack them on the street. I think why would he marry her, she's
:07:23. > :07:27.really boring? She is a really smart working woman at a time where there
:07:28. > :07:31.weren't a huge amount... No evidence for that, but. It was 1947. There
:07:32. > :07:36.was no evidence she was really smart. The point is she's ordinary.
:07:37. > :07:39.She's involved in the jazz scene, has a job, out there, clearly
:07:40. > :07:44.interested in different cultures which wasn't a given in 1947 in
:07:45. > :07:49.England. Absolutely why would you not make a film about this love
:07:50. > :07:52.story? It changes history. I don't know, maybe it's different. My
:07:53. > :07:57.school I didn't learn about a story like this which changed the world,
:07:58. > :08:00.genuinely, all the cliches we pick up from movies about true love
:08:01. > :08:03.changing the world that happened with this one. It's fascinating we
:08:04. > :08:07.are talking about love, this is a political drama more than I think
:08:08. > :08:11.it's a love story. I think it's a shame that Rosamund Pike is
:08:12. > :08:18.sidelined a lot in this film. Obviously we know... The only person
:08:19. > :08:21.who isn't sidelined is him. It's mostly an opportunity for him to get
:08:22. > :08:25.up and do his civil rights voice, I am afraid. He is excellent at doing
:08:26. > :08:31.that. It would have been great to see Rosamund Pike doing something of
:08:32. > :08:35.the same. She's sidelined to these wry smiles. Don't you think in 2016
:08:36. > :08:41.also there's something, you talk about relevance of the film, do you
:08:42. > :08:45.not think we are supposed to be - you take a film that says actually,
:08:46. > :08:49.the British Empire wasn't all good news for everyone. Even Churchill
:08:50. > :08:54.wasn't a saint. That seems like a radical message. I agree there, the
:08:55. > :08:59.way the civil servants are portrayed are ridiculous. Jack Davenport, have
:09:00. > :09:02.you no shame? Who says that in a proper movie? Obviously the
:09:03. > :09:05.apartheid wasn't something the film made up. This existed. I think
:09:06. > :09:09.they've really nailed those attitudes. I think it's important
:09:10. > :09:12.that we don't forget how culpable we were. It gets the history right.
:09:13. > :09:16.Thank you. Yes, no, maybe.
:09:17. > :09:19.Next is Back To The Future director Robert Zemeckis with Allied -
:09:20. > :09:21.a wartime thriller starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard.
:09:22. > :09:28.The tasty twosome find love as undercover spies behind Nazi lines.
:09:29. > :09:30.But can their love survive back home?
:09:31. > :09:45.Being good at this kind of work is not very beautiful. After the war do
:09:46. > :09:51.you have a place? When the war is over what matters where imI am. It's
:09:52. > :09:59.a love story, but it begins with two people who don't know each other.
:10:00. > :10:06.Both of them are spies. They meet on a mission in North Africa during
:10:07. > :10:09.World War II. They're going to fall in love and obviously in this
:10:10. > :10:13.atmosphere of war it won't be that easy.
:10:14. > :10:21.There's no easy way to say what we are about to say. We suspect your
:10:22. > :10:26.wife is a German spy. That's insane. If you are right all this will be
:10:27. > :10:34.forgotten. But if she is you execute her with your own hand. If you do
:10:35. > :10:36.not comply you will be hack hanged. We weren't paying homage to any
:10:37. > :10:40.specific film of the past although what was very obvious when I read
:10:41. > :10:43.the screenplay from the first moment, that was the main
:10:44. > :10:44.inspiration and then all the departments kind of felt that and
:10:45. > :10:56.guided us to the style of this film. I was fascinated by American movies
:10:57. > :11:05.from the 40s and the 50s when I was a kid. So, of course I was inspired
:11:06. > :11:10.by this very special rhythm, this special energy and I was fascinated
:11:11. > :11:14.by all those actresses. The first actresses who fascinated me actually
:11:15. > :11:20.were actresses from this era. You were different with me last night.
:11:21. > :11:26.Different? Like you were angry. As the conflict in the world starts
:11:27. > :11:30.closing in on our characters, our feeling was that the whole design of
:11:31. > :11:45.the film should start closing in, as well. The film should start closing
:11:46. > :11:49.claustrophobic as the plot thickens. So we are talking lovely sets,
:11:50. > :11:57.beautiful drapings, a lot of clothes. Is it sort of Allied or
:11:58. > :12:01.Allied Carpets? Just to clarify, did you say sets or sex? But we could
:12:02. > :12:09.talk about the sex if you like. The sets are beautiful. It's gorgeous,
:12:10. > :12:12.set in Casablanca, harks back to one of the most beautiful movies. There
:12:13. > :12:17.is a great scene where they climb into a car in the middle of a sand
:12:18. > :12:24.storm and get it on. I thought that was incredibly hot. Didn't you think
:12:25. > :12:28.the fact she climbed over him while trying to remove her 40s underwear
:12:29. > :12:35.made her look like a fat tourist trying to sit on a camel, that's
:12:36. > :12:39.what I thought? They're not teenagers, to - I think it kind of,
:12:40. > :12:42.you know, the problem with this film is that everything hasn't quite been
:12:43. > :12:45.thought through. There are amazing set pieces but they don't really
:12:46. > :12:48.come together. I don't know if you thought that, Danny? The problem is
:12:49. > :12:54.it's very camp but it really doesn't want to be. It works very hard not
:12:55. > :13:00.to be camp, Brad Pitt is taking this very seriously. Quickly into the
:13:01. > :13:04.film you have a throttling in a Phonebooth and blood on the marble
:13:05. > :13:09.staircase. We are on the brink of show tunes at any given moment. Do
:13:10. > :13:14.you think Brad's capable of doing a romantic lead? I thought I am not
:13:15. > :13:19.sure this is his thing. The issue is that he is confusing gravitas. He is
:13:20. > :13:25.a man of a certain age, he is confusing that with not moving your
:13:26. > :13:34.face. That may not be deliberate, I don't know. It is Benjamin Button. I
:13:35. > :13:39.thought Marion Cottillard was doing more of the work. She outclassed him
:13:40. > :13:43.so much. They're both completely hostage to the costume department.
:13:44. > :13:46.They're running this entire movie. They're used like dress-up dolls
:13:47. > :13:51.from scene to scene and both of them have the look of, you know if you
:13:52. > :13:55.see a little dog that's been done up with the little booties and looks
:13:56. > :14:01.miserable and ashamed. That's Brad and Marion in this movie. It was
:14:02. > :14:06.like how to kill the German ambassador through linen alone. All
:14:07. > :14:09.they thought about was the outfits. He ought to be a good director and I
:14:10. > :14:15.don't understand how this project spun out of control. He makes fun
:14:16. > :14:23.films and entertaining films that are slick and stylish. Allied,
:14:24. > :14:25.perhaps it doesn't have as much substance as it should. For example,
:14:26. > :14:31.Marion's character gives birth during the blitz and they manage to
:14:32. > :14:33.make it look romantic and exciting. You would be absolutely terrified
:14:34. > :14:39.and probably miscarry I think at that point. I like that scene. The
:14:40. > :14:42.script write certificate a good writer and when he goes for this,
:14:43. > :14:46.these big moments, so sufficient the sex scene in the sand storm and the
:14:47. > :14:51.giving birth, those work. Those are moments you think it works.
:14:52. > :14:55.Especially with her shrieking through the blitz and she was meant
:14:56. > :14:59.to give birth that you never believe they've had together because there
:15:00. > :15:03.is zero chemistry. I thought, I mean, it's not like they've even met
:15:04. > :15:06.each other before. I think it was what was lovely, when she kind of
:15:07. > :15:10.comes up to him on the roof and they have to be play agenting and it's
:15:11. > :15:14.like a fantasy because they haven't met before and they're having to
:15:15. > :15:19.build this relationship from scrap. I think it's a great idea on film.
:15:20. > :15:22.That's a lovely scripted moment. I mean, it's bringing me out in hives
:15:23. > :15:34.to agree with you, but you are right. We can't agree!
:15:35. > :15:42.You loved this film? It is really entertaining and it will bring
:15:43. > :15:48.people out of their homes and that is a good thing. There were some
:15:49. > :15:55.very deft classic, but there was a lot of camp touch. A tweet from
:15:56. > :16:00.Michelle says, I think the first time I noticed him was in Thelma and
:16:01. > :16:14.Louise and he made quite an he did. Sean Griffiths says Jesse James. Not
:16:15. > :16:18.only is the film a masterpiece, Brad Pitt's performance is a masterclass
:16:19. > :16:24.in understated menace. I would not go as far as that. I did not expect
:16:25. > :16:28.him to be funny after he gave a goofy smile I was laughing louder
:16:29. > :16:35.than Brian Blessed that. I totally agree, I would say it was
:16:36. > :16:43.my favourite performance in Burn After Reading. What is your
:16:44. > :16:53.favourite moment? Fight club because he is dark in that, but oceans 11.
:16:54. > :16:57.What about you? 12 Monkeys. He is doing something with his hands all
:16:58. > :17:03.the time where is at the moment he is statuesque and slightly weird.
:17:04. > :17:05.Next Adam Driver stars as a New Jersey bus driver and
:17:06. > :17:10.part-time poet in Jim Jarmusch's Paterson.
:17:11. > :17:17.When you are a child you learn there are three dimensions, height, width
:17:18. > :17:25.and depth, like a shoe box. Later you hear there is a fourth
:17:26. > :17:28.dimension, time. Paterson is about a guy named Paterson who lives in
:17:29. > :17:35.Paterson, New Jersey, who drives a bus. Is your name Paterson or did
:17:36. > :17:41.they just give you that? My real name is Paterson. He is a bus
:17:42. > :17:46.driver, but he also happens to be a poet, or you could say the opposite,
:17:47. > :17:51.that he is a poet but he happens to be a bus driver. Your poetry is
:17:52. > :18:00.really good and some day you might let the world read it. I mean it,
:18:01. > :18:08.you are a great poet. It is not a story with a lot of conflict, it is
:18:09. > :18:13.the exact opposite. My wife wants me to take her to Florida, but I am
:18:14. > :18:17.behind the mortgage payments, my uncle is coming from India and I
:18:18. > :18:25.need money for the wedding and I have a rash on my back. How about
:18:26. > :18:33.you? I am OK. I had to learn how to park a bus in Queens and that tests
:18:34. > :18:40.your patience. I have a situation. It could have exploded into a
:18:41. > :18:49.fireball. Oh, Danny. Snog, married or avoid? I am not answering that.
:18:50. > :18:52.It is a very Jim Jarmusch movie and it is deadpan and deliberate and
:18:53. > :19:00.sometimes that charms me and it drives me up the wall sometimes.
:19:01. > :19:04.Here it works. It has the slightly adolescent quality, it wants to show
:19:05. > :19:10.you its book collection and its record collection. Is it needy? Yes,
:19:11. > :19:18.but what elevates it is the perfect casting. He takes this conceit, this
:19:19. > :19:24.idea of a character and he makes him seem real. I am still a little bit
:19:25. > :19:32.torn about Jim Jarmusch, but I am a major fan of Adam Driver. A minor
:19:33. > :19:37.crash. A little bit. He has got a fabulous face, I could watch it all
:19:38. > :19:43.day. You do not necessarily want to have sex with him to see him more on
:19:44. > :19:49.screen. I am glad we have reached that point very fast. Did you find
:19:50. > :19:58.this film seductive or blind? I did not find it bland at all. It looks
:19:59. > :20:03.into your eyes. I think Adam Driver is spectacular, but also his
:20:04. > :20:08.on-screen girlfriend who is quirky and makes cupcakes. She was so
:20:09. > :20:13.irritating and so annoying and I could not take her seriously when
:20:14. > :20:20.she said, I love your poetry. The poetry is naff and that is part of
:20:21. > :20:23.the charm. I loved the poetry. But it got better and better and towards
:20:24. > :20:29.the end you could see it being published. But the fact that she
:20:30. > :20:33.believed in him, your poems should be published, and you really
:20:34. > :20:38.believed in the couple. Did you like him because he was a sort of folk
:20:39. > :20:45.hero, he has a modest job, he writes poetry by water balls? I want to go
:20:46. > :20:55.back to the quirkiness. A bit of a weakness with Jim Jarmusch movies
:20:56. > :21:00.means he is focused on the girlfriend character, unfortunately.
:21:01. > :21:04.But when he comes home and he has had a terrible day at work and the
:21:05. > :21:12.bus has collapsed and she says, is there anything I can do for you? He
:21:13. > :21:18.does not say, I want you to play a song on the acoustic guitar. The
:21:19. > :21:25.movie allows something else to happen and it is quirky. Jim
:21:26. > :21:29.Jarmusch is aware. I do not think that is a problem. I think it is
:21:30. > :21:36.interesting, New Jersey, backwater type fields here. Jim Jarmusch is
:21:37. > :21:41.older than me with an elaborate pompadour quiff and he still needs
:21:42. > :21:48.to show us that he has read certain novels, mannered is the word. I
:21:49. > :21:56.think it was taking the Mickey and it was very tongue in cheek. Do you?
:21:57. > :21:59.Yes, and it was inclusive and it was a very multicultural film and it was
:22:00. > :22:08.not rammed down your throat and back is very important. It is nice to see
:22:09. > :22:13.a movie that is not even remotely offensive, you can drive a bus and
:22:14. > :22:20.write poetry as well, and there is nothing remotely conflict in with
:22:21. > :22:30.that. That nothing happens in this movie. Yes, I agree. Most people
:22:31. > :22:31.might die of boredom. Sorry. Maybe they have done tonight.
:22:32. > :22:35.Bust open the baubles and ready the whisky,
:22:36. > :22:37.it's the first Christmas film of the season.
:22:38. > :22:39.Don't get too excited, though, as this particular man in red
:22:40. > :22:42.is the last guy on earth you'd want to be ho-ho-ho-ing
:22:43. > :22:49.Billy Bob Thornton stars in Bad Santa 2.
:22:50. > :23:00.Be prepared for some fruity language. Merry Christmas,
:23:01. > :23:11.disturbing children. Come on you Dick heads. Well, you still hit like
:23:12. > :23:18.your daddy. Eat me. You do not trust your mum? I trust her about as far
:23:19. > :23:26.as I can throw you. I didn't even know you had a mum. Has this just
:23:27. > :23:33.hatched? I travel across the country for charities. Have you got a
:23:34. > :23:39.problem with that? Downright I have a problem with that. No way have
:23:40. > :23:49.these guys got 2 million bucks. You have got smaller. Have you got a
:23:50. > :23:56.problem with that? You need a hug. Let go of me. It feels like
:23:57. > :24:04.Christmas. You are both miserable. When you do not have a family, you
:24:05. > :24:09.have to have a new one. I am going to tear all my clothes off and say I
:24:10. > :24:15.really enjoyed this film. I thought it was really funny, it was better
:24:16. > :24:20.than the last one. The last one was well received and I thought the
:24:21. > :24:25.script was great and Cathy Bates was the gangster granny. I did enjoy it
:24:26. > :24:31.and I will say that, but you will disagree with me. I agree, I think
:24:32. > :24:40.it is better than the last one, but that is not saying much. But it is
:24:41. > :24:44.very unsavoury. I unsavoury? It did not feel like any of the actors
:24:45. > :24:49.wanted to be there and it was a slog for them to be in the movie and a
:24:50. > :24:51.slog for us to watch. It was difficult to tell because his
:24:52. > :24:58.character is meant to be unenthusiastic. Except when he is
:24:59. > :25:03.getting lucky with a lady. That is what is weird about the movie
:25:04. > :25:06.because this guy wets himself and vomit on himself and all these
:25:07. > :25:13.incredible women want to... Is that rude? I thought the Christina
:25:14. > :25:18.Hendricks character came out and they had this sort of thing and she
:25:19. > :25:22.is suddenly dropping her pounds and he is screwing her up against a
:25:23. > :25:28.wheelie bin. We have all been there. What did you make of it? I think the
:25:29. > :25:36.original in its wake is a great movie and is not. If you are going
:25:37. > :25:40.to do a cheap and nasty character 13 years later so Billy Bob Thornton
:25:41. > :25:47.can buy whatever he wants with his salary, if you are going to do that,
:25:48. > :25:52.make it really terrible. Make it the spirit of the original and make it a
:25:53. > :25:57.terrible movie. It is half funny and they throw so many jokes at you, but
:25:58. > :26:03.by a lot of average some of it works. It is a bit of a commercial
:26:04. > :26:08.enterprise and you understand that people like Octavia Spencer who has
:26:09. > :26:12.an Oscar is going to return as a prostitute. Maybe there was a
:26:13. > :26:20.terrible clause in her original contract. The women do badly out of
:26:21. > :26:25.this. She does badly out of it and Christina Hendricks has to hire a
:26:26. > :26:31.new agent or something. Cathy Bates, it is about the fact she is a little
:26:32. > :26:38.larger. I think there are some brilliant monologues. The one where
:26:39. > :26:46.he tries to tell the child, the 21-year-old character, how to have
:26:47. > :26:51.sex is absolutely hilarious. It is sure-fire funny, ridiculous,
:26:52. > :26:56.disgusting. I think, Danny, you are grossed out by how disgusting it is
:26:57. > :27:05.and you cannot take it. Is that what it is? You may well be right. You
:27:06. > :27:10.have rolled over. You are right, I think moment is the best character
:27:11. > :27:16.and he is very sweet. I wish they would find more for him to do in it.
:27:17. > :27:27.I have seen the sweet side before in the film Elf. Well, I really enjoyed
:27:28. > :27:31.it. Decision time, what is your film of the week? Allied was a lot of fun
:27:32. > :27:42.and entertaining and slick and Brad Pitt is still fit. Danny? I, Daniel
:27:43. > :27:48.Blake, which is still on. It is one of the most inspiring films from one
:27:49. > :27:54.of the greatest directors Britain has ever produced. I would urge
:27:55. > :27:55.people to see it again and again. I liked bad Santa two.
:27:56. > :28:03.Next week it's Have I Got Views For You Paul Merton at the helm.
:28:04. > :28:05.But for now, we'll leave you with an early look
:28:06. > :28:07.at Kong: Skull Island, starring Brie Larson
:28:08. > :28:08.and Tom Hiddleston, due out next year.
:28:09. > :28:22.These are photos of an island in the South Pacific. We will use explosive
:28:23. > :28:28.to shake the earth, help us to map the surface of the island. You are
:28:29. > :29:02.dropping bombs. Scientific instruments. Is that a monkey?
:29:03. > :29:04.She pretty, Reg? Hard to say from this angle.
:29:05. > :29:07.Well, you keep your hands to yourself.
:29:08. > :29:12.Don't you worry, I've done this before.