Cafe Society, Sausage Party, Brotherhood The Film Review

Hello and welcome to The Film Review on BBC News.

To take us through this week's cinema releases is Mark Kermode.

-- James King. What do we have this week? Woody Allen has a new film out

called Cafe Society, set in Thursday's New York and LA starring

Jesse Eisenberg, Steve Carell and Kristen Stewart. Sausage Party, not

words I ever thought I would be saying on BBC News. This is a very

cheeky animation from the warped mind of Seth Rogen. And a Brit

flick, Brotherhood is written by, produced by and stars Noel Clarke.

Great, sausages to come, but let's start with Woody Allen and Cafe

Society. Yes, he's 80 years old now, still making pretty much a movie

every year. This one set in the 1930s, between the East Coast and

West Coast of America. Jesse Eisenberg stars. A young guy who

goes to work in LA with his uncle, Steve Carell, is a big-time talent

agent and works with a lot of stars. When he gets out there and worked

with his uncle, meets his uncle's assistant, played by Kristen Stewart

and falls in love with her. It is really the story of this

relationship. We have a clip. This will go back a little earlier on in

the movie, when Bobby, Jesse Eisenberg's character, has a meeting

with his uncle and it doesn't quite go to plan. Here it is, Cafe

Society. Let's have a look. Adolphe Menjou's threatening

to walk off the picture. I'll give you the details

at Jack's Friday, you'll be You can't believe the

last couple of weeks. Christ, it's all about ego,

this whole town runs on ego. Yeah, I'm Bobby, Ben

was my brother, though. Yeah, and bring Harry,

because I agree, Joel McCrea And don't disappoint me

by cancelling with some excuse. He does uncomfortable well. He's and

watching it, I had a feeling I haven't had for a while, which is I

don't miss Woody Allen being in Woody Allen films and more. He is

not in them as much now as he used to be. He doesn't write roles for

himself so much. Maybe of this bill was 20 years ago, he would have

played that part. The thing about Woody Allen's acting is it's

basically a routine. You get someone like Steve Carell and you have a

proper actor. Steve Carell is absolutely brilliant in it. Jesse

Eisenberg is great in this clip. She reminded

me of Diane Keaton, the ultimate Woody Allen news. There are elements

of this film like Annie Hall. A completely different setting but

it's ultimately a story about a relationship. It's not got a huge

plot to it like some other Woody Allen films, it's much more

meandering and casual than that. And it is a film about romance and the

highs and lows on the ups and downs of romance. And looks good. The time

and the setting. If you are making a movie about the golden years of

Hollywood, it's literally golden. The sun is in every shot of the LA

seems. It does go to New York as well and it looks very different.

Beautiful film to look out. Very casual, relaxing film to watch. Now,

Sausage Party. I read one line synopsis of this earlier. Sausage

strives to discover the truth about his existence. Would you care to

elaborate a little? OK, this is Seth Rogen, the actor and writer. It is

an animation. It's in the tradition of cap next toy cap next story. It's

about a world we humans don't know about, in this case about a world of

the shelves in the supermarket on the products on the shelf. So

sausages, and we see a hot dog bun. I am glad you clarified that! Fruit

and veg, bottles and all that. They have a relationship, they talk to

each other and they have their own world. Two crucial things about

this. First, they have a very strong belief that when they leave a

supermarket and bought by someone they will go to a better life, a

better place. The title probably give this away, if the shape of the

bun didn't give it away, it's still the. User cheeky earlier and what I

read suggested it was more than cheeky. I was being nice. It is a

very dirty film. It is a 15 and aimed at adults. It is not Disney

Pixar. The first 15 minutes are an onslaught of dirty jokes. And if you

find a way that a sausage looks hilarious, then that's a lot of the

film. But actually, I was getting quite bored by that. I was going to

say, is it sustained? I thought, is this it, is this what I have to stay

and watch 90 minutes of? But then it becomes something a bit different.

Then it starts to question their beliefs about the afterlife and

going things. And it becomes a film about faith and about religion,

really. It starts to deal with some quite big topics. For example those

characters in it, one is a flatbed and one is a bagel, they argue with

each other and it is blatantly a reference to Arab and Israeli

issues. At least there is some bravado. There is dirty jokes, some

silly jokes, and probably more jokes than insight that at least there is

an attempt at insight. Something very different now, Brotherhood. Of

course, we had Kidulthood and adult to do now Brotherhood. This is the

third in the trilogy. Noel Clarke created the whole series and is

playing Sam, who in the earlier movies, in the first when he was a

troublemaker and went to prison. Now he is back. London, the gangland of

west London. He is trying to go straight and lead a quiet life, a

family life, but people from his past keep coming back and you find

it difficult to stay out of trouble. Here he is in action in Brotherhood.

What, you wanna try that again without your pool balls, cuz?

Your old cuz, go look after your grandkids.

How does it compare with its two predecessors? It is interesting

because they acknowledge the fact he is now an older character. The first

one was a teen movie and they're not trying to do another teen movie. Now

is a guy who is 30 odd and not a teenager any more and it's not quite

as cool, fit and hip as he used to be. I like the fact they've done.

Noel Clarke looks toil worn in this with the weight of the world on his

shoulders. He's very good in the lead role. It is questionable about

the violence and the language and the attitude towards women. I saw

references to misogyny? The argument against that if that is the world

they are showing, they are just being honest, but I'm never sure if

that is a good enough argument. I think that is debatable but it is

certainly a very good lead performance from Noel Clarke. It is

his baby, he and directed and produced

it. If he can't give himself a good role, it's never going to work. It

feels authentic. I think that is the main charm. I was going to ask that,

in terms of the setting and the story it is telling? It has gripped

and guts and it does feel like this is someone who knows what they are

talking about, then pretending anything. This is authentic. Let's

talk about a pick of yours that is out there at the moment. I think

this is the Jungle Book? Yes. The Jungle Book is the DVD I will do in

a second. Juliet, this is still out in the cinema. Mark talked about it

last week. This is Pedro Almodovar. In the same way Woody Allen is

playing it a bit cooler with Cafe Society, I think he is doing the

same with Juliet. It is not his most showy movie. It's not like the skin

I live in. This is a much quieter and more subtle movie, a film about

a mother who has lost touch with her grown-up daughter. And really

exploring why that happened, that grief and loss and guilt. Really

haunting, not a thriller, but like a Hitchcock thriller in certain

respects, here and creepy, haunting and subtle. It takes place over a 30

year period? Absolutely. But it does it seamlessly. Mark said last week

it doesn't feel like a huge flashback movie and it doesn't. Even

though their flashbacks, they feel two parts of the same thing. I

pre-empted this, let's talk about the Jungle Book, your DVD choice.

The biggest film of the year, over ?46 million at the UK box office.

Number one DVD in the UK this week. A huge film. I like the fact that in

the world of dark, angry, violent comic book movies we live in right

now, the one that has beaten them all is a big, old-fashioned,

traditional family film. Very modern special effects, the CGI is amazing

but it feels warm hearted and traditional. The director, some

great vocal choices for the animals. Bill Murray as the bear, Scarlett

Johansson is in there and I'd resell bar. He has chosen those very well,

they are people with genuinely brilliant voices and it is a luxury

as film to watch. A really epic, warm, traditional family film.

James, that's great. Thank you very much indeed.

You can catch up on our previous programmes on the BBC iplayer.

Good evening. The last of today's rain will still be moving its way

through the south-eastern corner of the UK. Then is fine and dry for

most of England