of four us high school students using a gun bought by his father appear in court where they have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges. at least one person has been killed and dozens injured on the indonesian island ofjava as a volcano erupts sending up a huge ash cloud. dozens of troops have been deployed to northumberland to help people whose homes are still without power eight days after storm arwen. sportsday will be coming up shortly — before that, though, it's the film review with jane hill and mark kermode. hello, and a very warm welcome again to the film review on bbc news and, as you see, taking us through this week's releases, mark kermode is back. what have you been watching, mark? something for everyone. we have c'mon c'mon, which is the new film starring joaquin phoenix. we have encounter, in which riz ahmed struggles to save his kids from alien invaders. and silent night — a very unhappy christmas. the christmas films are here already. they are. let's start with c'mon c'mon. ok, so this is directed by mike mills — he made 20th century women. story isjoaquin phoenix and gaby hoffmann are brother and sister. they have been estranged since the death of her mother. she is called away to deal with her partner's mental health problem. she has a young sonjesse, who's intelligent but very demanding. talks all the time, loves to role—play, which is something he's got down pat with his mum, something which his uncle is not yet used to. here's a clip. so should i call you, like, poppa or dad orjustjohnny? you can call me whatever feels comfortable to you. i don't know, it'sjust — i'm not used to being able to choose. maybe we can just take this process slowly and see how it feels. - hmm—mmm, yeah. i'm just really sorry that your children died. um, you know, i don'tl think i can do that part. yeah, i told you that's how me and mom do it. if it makes sense for your mom to do that, that's cool, - but it doesn't make sense to me, and that's what i was explaining it to you — why doesn't make sense for you? because it's ridiculous. isit...? it's sad. the question is why i do you want to do it? you are just terrible at this. the whole film's got that kind of, you know, slightly low—key slightly mumblecore feel about it. that feels like it's improvised. it does, absolutely, and kind of beautifully shot but also unobtrusive. what happens is ok, at the beginning, they're chalk and cheese. obviously during the course of the movie, they will find a bond, a relationship. he takes him to new york. there is quite a lot of them walking around new york that has a similar feel to something like manhattan, that kind of... they're talking about everything but they're talking about nothing. and the weird thing about the film is it's got this kind of cumulative effect, these incidental scenes, none of which appear to be about very much all add up to something which feels kind of profound. it's a lovely performance byjoaquin phoenix and of course and you think very recently he was winning awards forjoker, which was a very big performance! 0h, frightened me to death! yeah! but this is kind of like completely the other way. yes. everything very, very low—key, everything feels very, very naturalistic. lovely use of music. there's an original score by aaron and bryce dessner. and then they've got things like the san francisco saxophone quartet playing clair de lune, which sounds like it shouldn't work and yet, somehow, when used in the right context, it's rather beautiful. i mean, it's very touching, it feels very incidental but i... you come away from it feeling like 0k, humanity is basically good, which i think is a good thing. i liked it a lot. i was very, very charmed by it. well, we could do with that! we could do with that. people will watch and say why the black and white? because it's an aesthetic decision that it makes it look slightly distanced. it also gives it a... i know some people have sniffed at it. some people have said "oh, well, itjust makes it look arty". i actually think it works quite well. i mean, here's the other question — why not black and white? why should colour be the default? if that's the register the director wants to shoot it in, you know, do it in black and white. it looks lovely. 0k! well, interesting! your second choice for this week? encounter. so riz ahmed, who is brilliant in everything, is a decorated marine, hadn't seen his boys and a couple of years. he suddenly turns up in the middle of the night and says he is taking them on a road trip. then he says it is not a road trip, it's a rescue mission. he is a decorated marine who is now working on a mission because the earth has been invaded by extra terrestrial spores that are getting inside people, they get into the bloodstream, they take over the hosts and they turn people into basically it's like invasion of the body snatchers. but the film is a cross between invasion of the body snatchers and a psychological film about father and sons and there's also a family road trip in there and, at times, it's an adventure movie. it is written by... joe barton did the original script and then michael pearce, who made beast with work with him on it and directed it. the really smart thing about it is it starts out like a m night shyamalan movie and then, about half—an—hour through, you think "no, this is a movie that family. "this is a movie about his relationship with his sons. own relationship with the world." and there's film by william friedkin — which i'm sure you have not seen — called bug — because nobody has seen it — and it's based on a tracy letts play and it is brilliant, and this owes a great debt to bug which, again, is a film about ideas getting under your skin and the whole idea of an extra terrestrial invasion that spores, that get into your bloodstream, and the paranoia that that would induce — i think — i think it's really remarkable, and riz ahmed is just great. there is nothing he can't do. well, he's so talented. he is so talented. really smart. i don't know — this is worthy of his talents, is it? yes, it is, absolutely. incidentally, he has that short film the long goodbye which i think is now eligible for an oscar so very soon, ithink, yeah. i mean, he's great, he's just great and this is very, very good. it's a very good film. encounter is well worth seeing. the only thing i'd say is don't find out too much about it before you see it. ok, well, that's always a good tip, if that's the case. and the christmas film — it is december, gotta have a christmas film. ok, but this is — it is a christmas film and it isn't. it starts out michael buble, a bunch of poshos arriving at a country house where they're all gonna have christmas together. they've got their kids, but something is out of whack. the kids are swearing in a way that kids would not do, they are all telling each other stories that you would not expect them to and they are starting to behave like there is no tomorrow. here's a clip. simon. sure. um, where to start? god? god, yes, dear god, - may we thank you for... my wife's culinary talents. also an important...ah... um... for our beautiful friends? yes. for our beautiful children. um, for the food on our table. for, ah, the lives that we've shared. for...? 0h! for...uh... the promise of love. and happiness! and health! and safety — health and safety. in your beautiful — really beautiful... fun! let's not forget how much fun it's gonna be up there! in yourfun, beautiful, safe...! kingdom. amen. let's eat! crack on, everyone. ooh, i'm not sure i want to be at that dinner party! no, but here's the thing — keira knightley has the right register, fun! "fun!" everything's cracking because the end of the world is coming. now, here's the thing — the writer and director said that they were inspired by partly when the wind blows, you know, the adaptation of the raymond briggs' novel, also partly because her kids came back from seeing war horse and said "what would we do in that circumstance?" so it starts out like a christmas movie but it's the christmas movie goes to hell. and it sounds like an interesting idea. i have to say for me, it did not work and it doesn't work for two reasons. the first one is that for the first part of it when it is a comedy with irritating poshos, i did not find them funny and i did not believe in them. and the second part of it, when it becomes the kind of apocalypse in which it is dealing with a lot of very dark material, it didn't feel earned. it felt like because i don't believe in these characters and because you are still doing the knockabout comedy stuff, none of this is earned. now, that said, i know some people who thought "oh, this is great," you know? "it's like an acerbic christmas" — i like an acerbic christmas film. i like, you know, silent night, deadly night. i like gremlins. there's that joke about, you know, christmas slay — he knows if you've been bad or good and he's got an axe. all that stuff is fine. the problem with this is it doesn't know how to do the balance between the comic and the horrific. so it's an interesting idea but it, for me, it doesn't work. others think differently but i've watched it twice now and both times, it didn't work. ok, so, yeah, twice is enough, by the sounds of what you're saying. i gave it a fair run. you did, you absolutely did. best out? yeah, so petit maman — so you've now seen it. please tell me that you love it above all things. oh, oh, i loved it. i loved it. and do you — but what's so interesting is, i mean, it's really — it's slight — and i don't mean that in a demeaning way. 72 minutes long. it's slight and it's so short and actually, i wanted more. when it ended, i thought "oh, no, no no!" "i want it to be a little longer!" but the reason it is perfect is exactly that — it leaves you wanting more. it tells you, in those 72 minutes, more, ithink, about life, the world, parents, children. i mean, on the one hand it is a fairytale. it's a, you know, what's actually happened? is it a time—travelling movie? yes. is it a ghost story? on the other hand, it is a story about a child dealing with grief. and it's — i thought it — i mean, ijust love — i think this is my favourite film of this year and i think celine sciamma is my favourite director. you're going to work your way through her back catalogue? oh, i'm absolutely determined now. i thought it was beautifully made. the two little girls in it that are extraordinary. genius. she is so clever with child actors. and it looks beautiful — wistful, but in a very gentle way. i think it is about children dealing with grief — that was perhaps the main thing i took away from it — but there is a lot to absorb. and i noticed everyone in the cinema just sat and watched all of the credits roll because i think we were alljust thinking and thinking about that and absorbing it all. and there's that wonderful use of that tune at the very end — the kind of, the kids anthem, which is just overwhelmingly great. i mean, there is nothing wrong with this film. it is as near to a perfect film as i have ever seen and i — i really — i'm so glad you loved it... i loved it, i loved it. ..because otherwise, we would've had to stop doing this programme. chuckles. quick final thoughts about dvd or streaming? on dvd, candyman, the new version of candyman, 2021 reboot. the original was based on clive barker's short story the forbidden. this one is produced and co—written byjordan peele and it takes an old horror text and does something new and inventive with it and i really liked it. lovely! well, good. that means... but not as much as petit maman. laughs. and the good news is we can be back together next week. thank you very much, mark, as ever, and enjoy your cinema—going, whatever you choose to see. see you next time. bye— bye. hello and welcome to sportsday. a dramatic day in the premier league with a change at the summit of the table — three times — as manchester city end the day top. max verstappen hits the wall as lewis hamilton takes pole position for the saudi arabian grand prix. f1 is heading for an exciting championship finish and a moment of cricketing history — as ajaz patel takes all ten wickets in a test innings, becoming just the third man to do so. welcome along to sportsday. well, what a day of we've had in the premier league, with the lead at the top of the table changing hands three times. chelsea started the day top, liverpool then climbed to the summit, but in the last half hour, manchester city have ended the day as the premier league leaders. they beat watford 3—1 in the late game, with pep guardiola's side in control from the off. raheem sterling scored just four minutes in. bernardo silva added a second and a third goal either side of the break for the visitors. despite a late goal for watford, city won easily to go one point clear at the top of the table. earlier in the day liverpool had gone top of table after a late, late goal clinched a 1—0 victory at wolves. liverpool had been frustrated all afternoon, they've been used to scoring for fun this season — but then with just seconds remaining divock origi latched onto a mohamed salah pass to score the winner at molineaux. tough for wolves, they had defended heroically for the game, they were just 60 seconds away from becoming the first team to stop liverpool scoring this season. wolves remain 8th — liverpool are second. the longer the game goes and it's still 0—0 then, of course, you feel the pressure because we want this result so badly. that we got it is really good. does it make it feel, in a way, almost bigger? it is like the good old times, i don't know, aston villa when we were down after 87 minutes and scoring twice, these kinds of things are really special and we will keep that for us and use it in the right moment. and the reason it opened up for a change at the top of the table, was the loss for chelsea in the early kick off. they were beaten 3—2 by west ham in a thrilling encounter. the hammers twice came from behind at the london stadium, before scoring a bizarre late winner to consolidate their place in the top four. adam wild was watching. it is a sign of how far west ham have come that they welcomed the european champions with a note of optimism and a song from the start. there isn't much between these cross capital rivals geographically or otherwise. it took chelsea's thiago silva to putjust a little distance between them. leading the way in the premier league but in the back here, chelsea suddenly in all of a muddle. a needless penalty. manuel lanzini seeing it