:00:00. > :00:18.Now, on BBC News, it's time for The Film Review.
:00:19. > :00:20.Hello, and welcome to The Film Review on BBC News.
:00:21. > :00:24.To take us through this week's cinema releases is Mark Kermode.
:00:25. > :00:39.Some interesting stuff. We have a new movie by Pedro Almodovar called
:00:40. > :00:47.Julieta. Popstar never stop never stopping and War Dogs. A true life
:00:48. > :00:53.satire about the arms industry. We start with Julieta. Are you a Pedro
:00:54. > :00:57.Almodovar fan? Ish. OK. That's... Some say that was a cop out. But,
:00:58. > :01:03.no, I was reading review views of this one. It's flashbacks that can
:01:04. > :01:06.be - It's not a flashback movie. Let us be clear about that. It's.
:01:07. > :01:11.More complicated than that. Basically, it's Pedro Almodovar film
:01:12. > :01:16.based on three short stories by Alice Munro which he adapted, turned
:01:17. > :01:22.into one single narrative. Two actresses playing two central
:01:23. > :01:26.characters, Julieta, Adriana Ugarte and Emma Suarez. The story moves
:01:27. > :01:31.between the 80s and several years later. We meet Julieta played by
:01:32. > :01:35.Emma Suarez who is doing well. In control of her life. Lives in an
:01:36. > :01:36.organised apartment. A chance meeting on the street changes things
:01:37. > :02:38.for her. Here is a clip. You can see from that, what happened
:02:39. > :02:41.was that news came as a total shock to her. She is astranged from her
:02:42. > :02:45.daughter. She knows nothing about her at all. What happens, she moves
:02:46. > :02:51.back into the apartment block where she used to live together. . Writes
:02:52. > :02:55.the story of their odyssey. A story of Strangers On A Train, guilt
:02:56. > :02:59.passed down generations and a great silence and the pain that silence
:03:00. > :03:02.can incur. What I loved about the film is, firstly, the two central
:03:03. > :03:08.performances are both brilliant. You do think of it as being parts of the
:03:09. > :03:14.same personality. It's absolutely one unified personality going on in
:03:15. > :03:18.this. It's not a film about flashbacks, it uses flashbacks
:03:19. > :03:21.format. It has a wonderful score which reminded meed of Bernard
:03:22. > :03:31.Herman it brings up Hitchcock themes. One character says at one
:03:32. > :03:35.point - I feel I'm becoming a Patricia Hysmith obsessive. Because
:03:36. > :03:41.Almodovar is a visual director, the adviceuals as.
:03:42. > :03:44.As the dialogue do the storytelling. An apartment is uncluttered to do
:03:45. > :03:49.with someone clearing away their memories. Another apartment full of
:03:50. > :03:53.the past. The costumes define and explain a character's interior life.
:03:54. > :03:56.The use of bold colour, blue, red, white. All of which tells you where
:03:57. > :04:01.you are emotionally with the story. The thing that I loved most about
:04:02. > :04:05.this is, it is a story about grief and loss and guilt and separation
:04:06. > :04:09.and all those things which sound terribly negative. It doesn't
:04:10. > :04:15.necessarily sell it? In fact it's passionate. We open with an image of
:04:16. > :04:20.red cloth which maybe a rose, a heart, it's a red dress. There is a
:04:21. > :04:25.blood line that surges through the film it's a film about ageing and
:04:26. > :04:29.looking back an an unruly can career and drawing together all those
:04:30. > :04:32.elements. If youing a nottist on the subject of Almodovar you should go
:04:33. > :04:36.and see this. I think it will win you over. It's a magnificent piece
:04:37. > :04:43.of work. Which makes me all the more guilty for bringing in the next one,
:04:44. > :04:49.which is Popstar. A music mockumentary. When you think mock
:04:50. > :04:54.umentary is it as good as Spinal Tap the answer is no. Nothing is as good
:04:55. > :05:00.as Spinal Tap. It's the changing fortunes of a guy called Conner, a
:05:01. > :05:05.rapper come singer. He was in a group called the Style Boyz. He's a
:05:06. > :05:10.solo artist. He has fallen from grace with the public, he's trying
:05:11. > :05:13.to do whatever he can to win their approval by organising all these
:05:14. > :05:17.sort of stupid stunts, the kind of which you can see on the screen at
:05:18. > :05:22.the moment. There are several gags in the film that raise a chuckle. I
:05:23. > :05:27.mean, I have this six laugh test. For something to be a comedy it has
:05:28. > :05:32.to make you laugh six times. It just about scraped it. Most are in the
:05:33. > :05:35.parody songs which are well done. It's littered with backslapping
:05:36. > :05:42.cameos which are occasionally funny. Occasionally - Paul McCar cart any
:05:43. > :05:46.appears. Ringo Starr raises the biggest laugh that he has raised in
:05:47. > :05:49.several years. It's kind almost worth it for that. It's fine. It's
:05:50. > :05:55.not going to change the world. It's not great. It's not Spinal Tap or
:05:56. > :06:02.Fear of a Black Hat. It's fine. Let's move on. War Dogs. Yes. The
:06:03. > :06:05.idea of arms dealers on television we had Night Manager which is a
:06:06. > :06:12.certain view. This is a different view? The poster for this says, from
:06:13. > :06:18.the director of Hangover trilogy, based on a true story and images
:06:19. > :06:25.from Scarface. It's mixed messages. Based on a
:06:26. > :06:29.Can rolling Story article on a true story. They end up being armed
:06:30. > :06:33.dealers because of the way in which arms are out sourced. The US is out
:06:34. > :06:38.sourcing its military needs. They aric pricking up on crumbs they come
:06:39. > :06:40.across a deal which would offer them the cake if they could find a way to
:06:41. > :06:51.crack it. Here's a clip. Henri has a dinner in 10 minutes. I
:06:52. > :06:56.wanted you to hear it first half. He can help. Which part. Great. He can
:06:57. > :07:00.fill the whole o order. You know it's 100
:07:01. > :07:01.million rounds, right? They're in the process of joining
:07:02. > :07:06.Nato. they have to dispose
:07:07. > :07:10.of all of their Soviet air weapons and I can get most of them
:07:11. > :07:13.for pennies in the dollar. You're looking at the exclusive
:07:14. > :07:17.agent for the whole thing. Why don't you just bid
:07:18. > :07:27.on the contract yourself? Got it. How much for the AK ammo. 10
:07:28. > :07:31.cents a round. You are on a terrorist watchlist. Do you work for
:07:32. > :07:37.Homeland Security. Relax, bro. You should talk to one. We will. We are
:07:38. > :07:41.very interested. Good. My it flight leaves tomorrow morning at 10.00am.
:07:42. > :07:51.I can't spend more than 24-hours in this dump. I say Vegas is a 24-hour
:07:52. > :07:56.town. I was talking about America. The film tells this true, dark grim
:07:57. > :08:00.story with humour. That is also its problem. It can't quite decide how
:08:01. > :08:09.tough, how sharp, how edgy, how dark it wants to be. On the plus side
:08:10. > :08:12.Jonah Hill is terrific. He has done really good work. There has been
:08:13. > :08:17.comparisons between this and Wolf of Wall Street due to the presence of
:08:18. > :08:24.Jonah Hill. If you want to find a precedent fwor this movie you have
:08:25. > :08:28.to go back to Deal of the Century, a comedy about arms dealing which
:08:29. > :08:33.nobody remembers, because almost no-one went to see it. That is more
:08:34. > :08:36.of a precedent. There is an interesting use of pop music from
:08:37. > :08:41.different generations flagging up things like the madness of Vietnam.
:08:42. > :08:45.And, I was never bored. The performances worked well. It's
:08:46. > :08:51.sharply written. Sharply edited. My problem with it is, I wanted it to
:08:52. > :08:56.be darker. I wanted it to be edgier. I want it get gnarly about its
:08:57. > :09:01.subject matter and its antiheroes. It's problem is it can't quite
:09:02. > :09:05.decide how dark to go. That said, it's worth seeing for Jonah Hill's
:09:06. > :09:08.performance. It's messy and scrappy. It's entertaining. The question is
:09:09. > :09:21.whether it needs to be more than that. We move on to the Best Out.
:09:22. > :09:30.Current release which you would have to seek out which is Behemoth. It's
:09:31. > :09:36.about industrialisation. It has these kind of hellish visions of
:09:37. > :09:41.furnaces, the title has a biblical reference. It has enormous visual
:09:42. > :09:45.power. I went to see it because a fellow critic recommended it and had
:09:46. > :09:49.written powerfully about it. I was struck by it. You will have to seek
:09:50. > :09:54.it out. It's worth making the effort for because it's very, very
:09:55. > :09:58.cinematic. It's telling a very important tale. Doing it with a
:09:59. > :10:05.visual angle and interesting use of music as well. Best DVD and we are
:10:06. > :10:09.looking at the life of Sid Vicious. Sid and Nancy is 30 years old. It's
:10:10. > :10:15.out on Blu-ray. Seeing it again was interesting. It works. It works
:10:16. > :10:18.because of Gary Oldman, Chloe Webb and the strength of their
:10:19. > :10:23.performances. At the time there was worry about whether the film was
:10:24. > :10:27.romanticising their relationship which ended tragically. Alex Cox has
:10:28. > :10:32.great sympathy for his characters. When you see it again now, after all
:10:33. > :10:37.these years, what really makes it work is the strength of conviction
:10:38. > :10:45.of the performances. Those performances draw you in. Alex Cox
:10:46. > :10:51.makes the films he wants to make. That is all admirable. Thank you
:10:52. > :10:57.very much. See the Almodovar, you will love it. I'm there!
:10:58. > :11:00.A quick reminder before we go that you'll find more film news
:11:01. > :11:02.and reviews from across the BBC online at bbc.co.uk/markkermode.
:11:03. > :11:06.Plus, you can watch our previous programmes on the BBC iPlayer.