The Post, Coco, The Commuter The Film Review

Now it is The Film Review.

A warm welcome to The Film Review on

BBC News. To take us through this

week's cinema releases is Mark

Kermode. What have you been watching

this week?

Very exciting week. We

have the post-starring Tom Hanks and

Meryl Streep. Koko, the new

animation from Pixar. And the

commuter, the new Liam Neeson action

vehicle.

Is about journalism. Did you like

it?

I really did, it's a newsroom

thriller about the revelations of

the Pentagon papers and a report

which basically said that successive

US administrations had misled the

country about the Vietnam War.

Largely set in 1971, Tom Hanks plays

the editor of the Washington Post.

He's eager for a scoop. Meryl Streep

is Catherine Kate Graham, publisher

of the Washington post. It's going

to the stock exchange so its

finances are slightly precarious.

When the White House that an

injunction on the New York Times

after they publish some of the

Pentagon papers, Ben Bradley wants

to publish, but Meryl Streep says,

hang on, there are reasons we can't

do this, not least of all that it

might endanger the paper. Here is a

clip.

Do you have the papers?

Not

yet.

Oh gosh, oh gosh, because you

know the position that would put me

in. We have language in the

prospectus.

I know they can change

their mind. I know what is at stake.

You know, the only couple I knew

that both Kennedy and LBJ ordered to

socialise with was you and your

husband, and you own the town paper.

It's just the way things worked.

Politicians and the press, they

trusted each other so they could go

to the same dinner party and drink

cocktails and tell jokes while there

was a war raging in Vietnam.

I don't

know what we're talking about, I'm

not predicting linden.

The man who

commissioned the study, he's one of

about a dozen party guests out on

your...

And protecting the paper.

The thing I like about this film is

it has a number of intertwining

stories, one is the story of Kate

Graham finding her own voice. She

surrounded by men in boardrooms at

the beginning, she doesn't really

speak, she slightly like a fish out

of water. During the course of this

she has to step up to the walk and

decide what is the right thing to

do. Second thing is, it runs almost

like a prequel to all the Presidents

men. The end of this film runs right

into the beginning of all the

Presidents a film I was really

affected by in the 1970s when it

came out. I was a kid when I saw it

and loved it. Great period detail,

sequences in the printing presses of

the Washington Post. We're looking

at the hot metal machinery, the old

machines. I love all that stuff.

Most importantly, it's a really

contemporary story. That in 19 221.

Yes, the period detail is great, the

performances are great, Meryl Streep

and Tom Hanks are fantastic, the

whole ensemble cast is great. This

is a contemporary story about in

this particular case, a corrupt

president in the White House

attempting to stop the press from

expressing you know, the right of

free speech. You look at that and

look at what's happening today in

the world in which the press is

under attack, all the stuff about

fake news. We have the so-called

fake News awards recently. It is a

film almost like a call to arms for

the press. The independent press.

From a free press, to truth to

power. It's interesting what

Spielberg has done is to take a

period piece and tell the story

straight. It's not twisted in any

way at all. And tell it in a way

which makes it seem urgently

contemporary in terms of gender

politics, newspaper politics, in

terms of the way it talks about the

necessity for a free speech and good

reporting, good factual reporting,

to keep check on authorities. I've

seen the film twice now and would

happily go back and see it a third

time.

You don't need to be

interested in journalism or the

issues you've just raised to like it

as a film?

I think it helps and I

certainly know some people who

aren't interested in those things

and that bit of history has eight

why would you go and see it? You see

it because it is a personal drama

about those two characters but also

something that leads you very much

by the hand. It does assume from the

beginning you might not know this

stuff, so it gives you a primer. It

starts you in a battlefield and it

leads you and tells you all you need

to know. I would encourage anyone to

go and see it because I think it is

a film that is timely though it is a

period piece. I think you don't have

to be specifically interested in

that war or the Pentagon papers

journalism to find it a gripping

drama. The performances are just

great.

Animated film is your second

choice.

It really good one, Coco,

the new film from Pixar, set at the

Mexican day of the dead festivities.

Miguel longs to be a musician but

his family have banned music because

his great-grandfather years ago

chose music over family. There is no

more music in the family any more.

On the magical day of the dead, Fate

takes a hand in the land of the

dead. I thought this was

terrifically entertaining and very,

very touching. On the one hand it

has lovely animation and slapstick

sequences and all the stuff you

would expect from a Pixar vehicle.

More importantly, it has great

songs, great music. But if dealing

with some very difficult subjects.

With dementia, memory, with death

and life. It's dealing with loss.

It's dealing with the way people

live on as long as they live on in

our memory. And also the way songs

and music will linger in our minds

sometimes, if anybody has had any

experience of people with dementia,

music somehow cuts through. There

are moments that will make you weep,

moments that will make you laugh. In

the end it'll make you cheer. If you

liked this film, you see it and you

like it, and I think you will do,

there is another film from a few

years ago from 2014, book of life,

which got overlooked. It does have

thematic depth, they make a nice

companion. Go and get 2-1 on DVD

because it's a different film but

there are great similarities and

they are both terrific. -- blonde

gets Book of Life on DVD.

The

premise of the story is quite

gripping, The Commuter, does it

deliver?

Liam Neeson is a ex-cop

working as an insurance salesman. He

loses his job, doing his commute, he

needs money because he has to pay

for his kids tuition. Suddenly the

for meagre turns up and says, I want

to define some for me. I can't tell

you who they are or what they look

like but if you do it there will be

a reward. Here is a clip.

Someone on

this train does not belong. All you

have to do is find them, that's it.

This person is carrying a bag. You

don't do what it looks like but

inside that bag is something they

have stolen. This person goes by the

name of Tim two, not a real name.

They will be on this train until

Coldspring. -- name of Prin. If you

find that bag, the hundred thousand

dollars is yours. Don't leave the

train before finding the bag, don't

tell anybody about this offer,

simple.

I thought this was

hypothetical.

It's just a little

thing, shouldn't be too hard for a

ex-cop.

How did you know?

That's me.

You're being serious, right?

You

have until next stop to decide. What

kind of person are you?

Intriguing

setup. Strangers on a train, she has

this, find the person, can't tell

you why, there will be reward.

Hitchcock thrillers, you set up

those rules. The rules have to make

sense, you have to obey them. What

happens, it has an interesting

premise can set it up and 20 minutes

in it goes, none of this makes sense

and we don't care. It throws the

rules out the window. Why would he

do it? That is thrown out. It gets

back into Liam Neeson walking around

the train punching people. The most

frustrating thing is when you see

that clip you think it's the

intriguing... What's going on? It's

literally 20 minutes in the film

goes... I don't care. I don't think

these rules add up to anything, the

whole scenario doesn't make any...

Shall we just have him punching

somebody? The first punching

sequence and then you go, OK, fine,

it is to two on the train. -- it is

Taken on a train. It reminds you,

what happened to that really

interesting idea you throughout the

window? OK, fine, moving swiftly on.

Not a patch on the film of the week

but three billboards, which I have

not... I thought about it every

single day since I saw it, which is

interesting in itself.

Brilliant

performance by fences McDormand who

has a strong chance of winning the

Best actress Oscar. Martin MacDonald

who wrote and directed has done a

really terrific... Made a

tragicomedy that is comic and

genuinely tragic. I know it is

divisive, some take against it and

don't get on at all, but I laughed

in the bits that are funny, but I

also cried because I think it really

deals with tragedy. It really deals

with loss. It's really well filmed.

There are moments in it that are

almost transcendent, they are about,

like with Coco, life and death. The

Chaucerian ear for obscenity that

Martin McDonagh rings true, did you

love it?

With hindsight I loved it,

I wasn't sure as I was watching but

I think the script is terrific and

it's really stayed with me in a

positive way. Don't take somebody

who doesn't like swearing.

That goes

without saying.

That's the only

caveat, isn't it, it's a very

striking film. DVD?

I am not a

witch. It turned out in the

outstanding debut category at the

Baftas. Terry Le'Veon Bell is given

the chance to accept life as a witch

or turn into a goat. The director

has done a brilliant job. It was a

really remarkable feature, something

which, yes, it's funny, satirical,

but also about misogyny and magic.

One of those films, again, sometimes

you're watching it and don't know

whether to laugh or cry and end up

doing both. It's really well worth

checking out.

Thank you, Mark, an

intriguing week. Many more like that

to come because building to awards

season. Plenty to come. A reminder

before we go you will find all of

the film News and reviews from

across the BBC on the website. You

can find all our previous programmes

on the iPlayer as well. A cracking

week. Enjoy your cinema going.

Thanks for being with us. Goodbye.