:00:16. > :00:21.Hello and welcome to The Film Review on BBC News.
:00:22. > :00:23.To take us through this week's cinema releases is James King.
:00:24. > :00:27.So, James, what do we have this week?
:00:28. > :00:36.Well, it's a bit of a globetrotting week this week actually. From
:00:37. > :00:42.America, via ancient Greece, we have the new blockbuster, Wonder Woman.
:00:43. > :00:48.And from Japan, the quiet and pensive drama, After the Storm. And
:00:49. > :00:53.from France and Switzerland, stop motion animation, My Life as a
:00:54. > :01:00.Courgette. If nothing else, one of the best titles of the year, isn't
:01:01. > :01:03.it? It certainly is! Intriguing. Let's start off with Wonder Woman,
:01:04. > :01:12.which has had some pretty good reviews, actually? It is getting a
:01:13. > :01:15.good buzz. Last year we had Batman versus Superman, fairly painful
:01:16. > :01:19.experience but she was good in it. And she will be back next year with
:01:20. > :01:25.various other superheroes, but this is her on her own, stand-alone movie
:01:26. > :01:28.directed by Patty Jenkins, and it is an origin story. Where did she come
:01:29. > :01:32.from? She is never referred to as Wonder Woman in the movie, by the
:01:33. > :01:40.way, she is Diana. We learn about her upbringing on this island, from
:01:41. > :01:44.these Amazon warrior women, her involvement in the First World War.
:01:45. > :01:48.This is a clip. Gal Gadot plays Wonder Woman, and this is her with
:01:49. > :01:54.Chris Pine, an American pilot and spy who crash lands on this magical
:01:55. > :02:10.island on which she lives, and he was taken prisoner... My name is
:02:11. > :02:16.Captain Steve Trevor, serial number 8141921, and that is all I am at
:02:17. > :02:27.liberty to say... British intelligence. What the hell is this
:02:28. > :02:33.thing? The lassoo compels you to reveal the truth. What is your
:02:34. > :02:45.mission? You are in more danger than you think. What is your mission? I
:02:46. > :02:50.am asked by! I am a spy. I supposed to be used to seeing all of the male
:02:51. > :02:54.superheroes, but this is a female one. Yes, it is refreshing because
:02:55. > :02:58.of that, and a female director with Patty Jenkins as well. But part of
:02:59. > :03:01.the reason I enjoyed this is it feels quite old-fashioned and
:03:02. > :03:06.traditional, and what I mean by that, it has this refreshing lack of
:03:07. > :03:09.cynicism about it. I remember in the 80s and early 90s, blockbusters were
:03:10. > :03:15.not something to be embarrassed about, but full of fun, enjoyment
:03:16. > :03:21.and excitement. This is like that. Some other comic book movies have
:03:22. > :03:25.been pretty cynical and pretty moody and fairly miserable. They have done
:03:26. > :03:30.very well but have not exactly been full of fun. Wonder Woman is fun and
:03:31. > :03:36.feels like a stand-alone movie that does not particularly connect to
:03:37. > :03:40.anything else, to the rest of the DC world that has, shock horror, a
:03:41. > :03:43.beginning, middle and end, and it makes sense! If you have never seen
:03:44. > :03:47.another comic book movie you could watch this and still enjoy it and I
:03:48. > :03:53.think that is why people love it so much. We also have a Japanese film,
:03:54. > :04:01.After the Storm? Yes, written and directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. He is
:04:02. > :04:04.a great film-maker of family dramas. Our Little Sister was one he did a
:04:05. > :04:09.couple of years ago, well worth seeing. It is about a writer who is
:04:10. > :04:13.a bit washed up, in middle age he is struggling to write again and is
:04:14. > :04:17.actually gambling more than writing. He is estranged from his son, his
:04:18. > :04:19.ex-wife, has a difficult relationship with his mother, but
:04:20. > :04:24.they are brought together in his mother's flat one night whilst
:04:25. > :04:28.sheltering from a storm, a tornado. It takes quite a while to get to
:04:29. > :04:31.that point and certainly perhaps for the first half an hour you wonder
:04:32. > :04:35.where it is going, but I actually think that meandering quality it has
:04:36. > :04:39.is ultimately its real power, because it is a film that take
:04:40. > :04:44.things slowly, allows characters to blossom slowly, allows us to get to
:04:45. > :04:47.know them slowly, and it is the antithesis is really of the
:04:48. > :04:53.hyperactive blockbuster. Very much a slow character piece, reminding me a
:04:54. > :04:57.little bit, oddly perhaps, of some Mike Leigh films, that domestic
:04:58. > :05:01.kitchen sink setting, humour and drama. But again the characters...
:05:02. > :05:08.It is a character driven rather than plot driven film, modest definitely,
:05:09. > :05:16.but moving. You mentioned the great title My Life as a Courgette. My
:05:17. > :05:21.Life As A Zucchini, for the American viewers. About a boy said to an
:05:22. > :05:27.orphanage with other orphans his age? Yes, and it did well at the
:05:28. > :05:33.words. To get to that was amazing, because it is small film. French and
:05:34. > :05:37.Swiss, co-production, 66 minutes, really small-scale stuff, so to get
:05:38. > :05:41.Oscar nominated was amazing. Like you said, a boy goes into a foster
:05:42. > :05:56.home. I saw it with subtitles but this is the clip from the dubbed
:05:57. > :06:05.version... How old are you, son? I'm nine. Can you tell me a little bit
:06:06. > :06:09.about your mother? She really liked to drink beer, and her mashed
:06:10. > :06:14.potatoes were always good, and sometimes we had fun. OK... Not
:06:15. > :06:34.always? So where is your father? Here. Mm. It has my dad's beerchic
:06:35. > :06:40.leader chick on it, too. My mum said he always liked chicks. I will put
:06:41. > :06:47.you in a home with people like you, kid to have no mum or dad. Does it
:06:48. > :06:50.work? It does, actually. Heartbreaking, but uplifting. It is
:06:51. > :06:54.not a film about how miserable it is to be in care. There is misery in
:06:55. > :06:57.the film, of course, but ultimately it is about the friendships this
:06:58. > :07:02.character makes. Courgette is his nickname. And why it was a great
:07:03. > :07:06.place for him to go to, so actually it is uplifting. I always think
:07:07. > :07:10.children's movies should have a bit of darkness and pain in there, and
:07:11. > :07:16.it is there but ultimately it is a feel-good movie. And short, as you
:07:17. > :07:20.say, 66 minutes. It packs a lot in. People often complain films are too
:07:21. > :07:24.long, but I wonder if they might complain this is too short?
:07:25. > :07:30.Possibility, because you're paying the same money, but if you are
:07:31. > :07:33.economical with the screenplay, write a great story, you can pack a
:07:34. > :07:36.lot into a short running time. I have seen three-hour films that have
:07:37. > :07:40.a lot less inept than this movie. OK, let's talk about best out at the
:07:41. > :07:43.moment, which I think is The Hippopotamus? Yes, Stephen Fry wrote
:07:44. > :07:54.the book on which this was based and he did a Q that was beamed to a
:07:55. > :07:58.lot of cinemas. The title character is played by Roger Allam, this
:07:59. > :08:02.rotund, boozy, writer and poet, investigating some rather strange
:08:03. > :08:06.goings-on at a stately home, and he is the reason to watch it. Roger
:08:07. > :08:16.Allam is a fantastic actor and has some outrageous lines in this. He is
:08:17. > :08:19.definitely un-PC, but definitely by the end of the movie rather heroic,
:08:20. > :08:24.but some jaw-dropping dialogue, and he is having a whale of a time, this
:08:25. > :08:28.doozy couldn't care less kind of guy, although the film itself, the
:08:29. > :08:33.plot is hardly edge of your seat stuff. It is a movie to watch
:08:34. > :08:37.because of that performance. Mixed reviews, for that, but you would
:08:38. > :08:42.recommend it? Yes, because of that performance, and Stephen Fry, who
:08:43. > :08:45.wrote the book in 904I think, or a gimmick then, he said I like this
:08:46. > :08:54.character so much I want to revisit ten -- he wrote the book in 94 I
:08:55. > :09:00.think. Your best DVD at the moment? Yes, The Founder. This is about the
:09:01. > :09:03.man who turned McDonald's into the huge franchise, the multinational
:09:04. > :09:08.franchise, it is now. It stars Michael Keaton. There was a bit of
:09:09. > :09:10.an Oscar buzz about this one when it was first announced but then a
:09:11. > :09:14.couple of things happened. The release date changed which didn't
:09:15. > :09:17.help things, then people watched the movie and said, Michael Keaton is
:09:18. > :09:21.brilliant, but actually this guy does not seem that likeable or that
:09:22. > :09:34.nice. It got great reviews and I would give it a great review but the
:09:35. > :09:36.problem with this film, do you want to watch two hours about someone who
:09:37. > :09:38.does not seem that likeable person? It is very interesting
:09:39. > :09:40.business-wise, how driven and determined he was to make this
:09:41. > :09:43.restaurant into a huge success, but he is not someone who you will think
:09:44. > :09:46.is a real hero. But people do love success stories and how people
:09:47. > :09:49.create things, like Steve Jobs, that sort of thing? And in that film as
:09:50. > :09:53.well he was not lovable the whole way through, what he? I recommend
:09:54. > :10:00.it. A lot of people missed it in the cinema and I for the small screen.
:10:01. > :10:08.Michael Keegan is back form, of course, after Spotlight and Birdman,
:10:09. > :10:13.great successes, and he can do this, play people who are not clear-cut.
:10:14. > :10:16.Thank you for being with us. That is it for this week. Thank you for
:10:17. > :10:17.watching The Film Review. Goodbye for