hello from the malibu barbie cafe in new york city. i'm tom brook, and welcome to talking movies. in today's programme we review blockbuster season. hi barbie. we look at why barbie so thoroughly won over over audiences. barbie. icon, timeless icon. i actually wanted to watch today but they sold out. you are the man who gave them i the power to destroy themselves. the season's other big hit, oppenheimer, brought great acclaim to its director, christopher nolan. we hearfrom him. when i looked at oppenheimer's story, it was the most dramatic story i have ever encountered. but oppenheimer and barbie were not met withjoy everywhere. we look at the resistance to each in different parts of the world. translation: men or boys might make feminine gestures, - they might want to put on nail polish, wear earings or do other gestures inspired by barbie. everyone has a barbie story, and the stories are about us. we revisit a classic documentary exploring the origins of barbie and the emergence of barbie—mania. barbie was the doll with breasts, and legs. also in the programme, the other films that performed well in blockbuster season including tom cruise's mission impossible seven. this movie, it is an epic adventure. all that and more in this special blockbuster review edition of talking movies. barbie, in which margot robbie and ryan gosling give an excellent performances playing characters inspired by world—famous plastic dolls, is a lot of fun. it's a thoughtful and intelligent satire. for me, at any rate, it could have been a bit deeper, but that said, it certainly generated a must—see. looking good, barbie. thanks, ken. barbie was more than just a blockbuster that broke several records, it was a real event movie, a rarity these days that allowed people to really enjoy a trip to the cinema, and it tapped into a genuinejoy many have a plastic doll. it's like the only toy i used to play with when i was a girl. i used to dress them and do their hair, and barbie was my thing, so obviously now i have a daughter, i want to see it with her. i love barbie. i got so excited, i told my mum, "can you please get tickets?" and i was so excited. barbie really benefited from barbenheimer, a phrase emerged in social media. it became a cultural meme which helped fuel interested two very different films, barbie and oppenheimer, opening at the same time. i think the early barbenheimer effect was because the well—known ip of barbie plus the well known ip of christopher nolan were put together in a way that really sparked the imagination. barbie also distinguished itself in that it is a film defined by a director's artistic vision that succeeded in reaching a mass audience, quite different from the typical, often tired, lacklustre hollywood blockbusters we have grown accustomed to. it really puts its filmmaker, greta gerwig, on the map. greta gerwig is now absolutely a a—list director. she started off acting in very, very small micro—budget movies, and worked her way up, as both actor and director, to this level, so this is somebody who is using this is—odd years of understanding of filmmaking and storytelling, you see that reflected in the film. what's going on? why are these men looking at me? yeah, they're also staring at me! barbie, with references to patriarchy and gender, is viewed by many as an enlightened entertainment. if this got out, this could mean extremely weird things for our world. but to environmentalists, it is anything but. to them, it is helping to drive sales of plastic barbie dolls that are not eco— friendly, but most barbie fans are not concerned by that. they are just impressed by what greta gerwig brought to the screen. barbie is an inclusive film, appealing to people of all ages and backgrounds. reviewing barbie for talking movies is kesewaa brown. audiences, including myself flock to the cinema in a sea of pink to see what has been dubbed by many as the film of the year. as an avid doll—lover who played with the barbies as a child, this film did not disappoint. the action takes place in two realms, the real world and barbieland, filled with barbies and kens. but is life in plastic really as fantastic as it seems? we follow barbie, portrayed by margot robbie, as she goes on an adventure to the real world to restore herself after she starts to malfunction. her mission — to find the human playing with her and discover why they are unhappy so that her life can go back to normal. where are we going? in the nearly two—hour film, a lot goes down. there are dance battles, ballads, and interesting takes on the patriarchy and womanhood that have resonated with many. greta gerwig's barbie pays homage to the iconic doll, but in the same breath, it also pokes holes at the beauty standards that barbie sets for women. the cast breathes life into these plastic doll characters by giving them heart and humour. ryan gosling shines as barbie's boyfriend ken, but behind the belly laughs, there is a deeper meaning. barbieland is matriarchal paradise, but we later find ourselves questioning if this is at the expense of the ken characters. barbie has confounded the naysayers, proving that films with female characters made by female directors can be huge, international blockbusters. just before barbie was released, i noticed the arrival of the 25th anniversary director's cut of a classic documentary called barbie nation — an unauthorised tour. it's well worth watching. it gives an insight into the origins of barbie and its crazed barbie—mania, it helps you understand perhaps why there is all this madness, such as hear in this restaurant, with people all dressed in pink. this documentary helps to explain why barbie has become so much a part of so many lives. i became obsessed and this is what you see now. it shows just how much of a pathbreaking figure barbie was when she arrived in 1959. there had never been a doll quite like her before. barbie was a real breakthrough item, a kind of a totem. before barbie, girls played with dolls and played mom, and that was the only role they were given, and barbie was the doll with breasts and legs. she was shocking, and a lot of the parents were opposed to her, even at the time, but she gave something truly different for girls and even boys to play with. barbie has long been a lightning rod for criticism. there have complains that she set an unrealistic standard for young girls, but as the documentary show, mattel, the toy company that manufactures the doll, has tried to move with the times. in 1980, the first black barbie was created. there are now barbies of every nationality and race, body type and disability. but in some ways, all of us — i include myself — who aren't that blonde haired, blue—eyed ideal, we remain accessories, like all these other barbies remain accessories to the main fit — white barbie. to some adoring fans, barbie has become almost a complete way of life. we have a barbie fashion show in birmingham, alabama. people make life—sized barbie fashions for themselves, and they wear them in fashion shows, and in this fashion show, it features the barbie—jesus prayer. we thank the father for this wonderful blessing. at the same time features this little girl dressed upas a barbie and a cross—dressing couple dressed up as barbie. what is perhaps so noteworthy in relation to barbie, is while she is the product of american capitalism, mechanised mass production and relentless marketing, she is often able to give those that play with her memorable, personal experiences. she is an object that people can hang their dreams on, their projections on, their fears on, people can use this most mass—produced of things to create a life which is unique. director christopher nolan pulled off an impressive feat this blockbuster season with oppenheimer, with cillian murphy in the title role. who would have thought that a period film focusing on the man who led the team that created the atomic bomb, that was three hours long, would become such a hit? well, adam maloney sat down with christopher nolan. truman needs to know what's next. what's next? in a landscape of sequels and superheroes, a film about the creation of the atomic bomb may not have been the obvious subject for your average summer blockbuster, but then again, christopher nolan is not your average filmmaker. an idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules. the british director is known for features like inception an the dark knight trilogy... when gotham is ashes, you have my permission to die. ..films that combine spectacele with an intelligence lacking from many studio films. he is one of few the directors who's name can be used to mark a movie, and there was a huge supporting cast including matt damon and emily blunt. the story itself is fascinating. oppenheimer's life is fascinating, but he'd manages to make it genre—bending by where he moves in time and what he reveals as he goes. we have a 12—month headstart. 18. how could you possibly know that? he is able to capture the vastness of ideas and profoundly loves the audience, give so much credit to the audience to keep up and be able to metabolise these big ideas. it's happening isn't it? i don't know if we can never be trusted with such a weapon, but we have no choice. however, much of the film rests on the shoulders of the irish actor cillian murphy. it's a performance that's already attracting oscar buzz. what i was looking to perform, was a lot of pressure really. what i was looking to him for was a lot of pressure really. this is a script written in the first person, so i need cillian to use his powers of empathy, to open his thoughts, open his soul really to the audience, and he can do that better than any actor can. it's a really remarkable thing. we imagine a future, - and our imaginings horrify us. the film not only covers the creation of the atomic bomb, but also oppenheimer's life following the war — a period where he grappled with the fallout of atomic weapons, as well as his past communist associations. it's a timely story in terms of politicisation of science, new technology and ai. did you find that as well? it's interesting. you don't know the circumstances in which your film will be released, but now that people are seeing the film, i'm having more and more conversations with researchers in the field of ai, for example. i don't think oppenheimer's story, although it points to the important questions and is a true cautionary tale, i don't know how much it gives him in the way of answers, itjust tries to present the questions in the most suspenseful and dramatic way possible. with a dense subject matter and three—hour running time and opening on the same day as barbie, it was feared that it might get lost in the summer box office, however the movie seems to have benefited from the barbenheimer hype that accompany the simultaneous release of the two films. with a worldwide box office of over $500,000 million, critical acclaim and oscar talk, christopher nolan has once again proved himself to be a filmmaker that can deliver big ideas in big films to big audiences. cheering oppenheimer and barbie have been huge hits in north america and europe. in fact, one hollywood studio executive boasted — perhaps a little arrogantly — that with barbie, the film has been working well everywhere. well, not quite because in some parts of the world, both barbie and oppenheimer have met with quite a lot of resistance, as noah gittell has been finding out. barbie has garnered significant controversy in the middle east, where its feminist and lgbt themes have made it a target of government censors. the film has been pulled from cinemas in algeria and banned outright in kuwait after playing there for a month. in lebanon, the minister of culture recommended a ban of barbie, claiming it promotes homosexuality and sexual transformation — a reference to a barbie character in the film played by trans actor hari nef. at the end of the day, we're all barbie. some endorse the minister's recommendation. they feel that barbie could have a negative influence on their traditional culture. translation: men or boys might make feminine gestures. - they might want to put on nail polish, wear earrings or do other gestures inspired by the movie. women, too, seeing barbie and her personality can become very controlling. no, this is not how it is supposed to be. in response to the controversy, the lebanese film oversight committee met and determined that the film did not warrant an official ban, but barbie still has no release date in lebanon and many wonder if it will ever screen there. some in the film—making community in lebanon worry that this is a step towards greater censorship. translation: many things are always i being banned in lebanon for certain l reasons but it's been two years that there is like a campaign against culture by blindly banning everything. a country that has always been the face of culture in the arab world, we may have become among the last with how backwards we're going. oppenheimer, the other half of the barbenheimer phenomenon, has also faced controversy farfrom hollywood. oppenheimer grew up in this apartment building on new york's upper west side. surely, he would've been amazed to find himself the subject of both a hollywood blockbuster and its attracted global criticism, especially from india. in the film, oppenheimer is seen reciting that sacred text from the bhagavad gita while having sex with a young woman which, to at least one indian official, is a profound insult to hindus. it's an assault on our civilisation values. it is an assault on the hindu community. and therefore, we have written a very strong letter to the director, christopher nolan, that he should withdraw this scene from the film. oppenheimer has also faced controversy injapan, where the film has not yet been released. the film chronicles the creation of a bomb that killed hundreds of thousands of japanese civilians in hiroshima and nagasaki. newscaster: beneath that sinister ball of smoke, the world's - most destructive force has been unleashed. there is speculation that the film may never be shown injapan because of ongoing sensitivities over the world war two nuclear attacks. but at the hiroshima atomic dome and peace park, one japanese student who has been living in london is in favour of the film being shown in japan. i think people are still interested in the film, maybe interested in the american perspective of all of this. i think maybe it might be even better to show it here and kind of educate japanese people even more about it. screaming these controversies may follow oppenheimer and barbie for some time but they also stand as a testament to the power of these films and the power of cinema to create a global phenomenon. it was, in a way, strangely amusing to find one of hollywood's biggest action stars, tom cruise, partly sidelined during this blockbuster season by the charms of a movie inspired by a long—legged, iconic plastic doll. yes, cruise's mission: impossible 7 was not at all bad but the blockbuster season glory really did go to barbie, as emma jones now tells us. cheering already hollywood's golden boy for what top gun: maverick did for post—covid cinema attendance last summer, the question was would tom cruise's midas touch work again for mission: impossible — dead reckoning? there was a big promotional tour supporting the release, including a world premiere in rome, where part of the film was set. it's all about how do i engage the audience? cruise was as willing as ever to meet fans and to be chief salesman for his movie. it's bigger than all of the films. it has vivid characterisations. it has glorious, luxurious locations and practical action, and the stuff that we've accomplished has never been seen before on—screen. three, two, one, action! we've even built built our own train to destroy it. this film, the first of a two—parter, does what you'd expect a mission: impossible film to do. it's set around the world in glamorous locations and has an intriguing and timely plot around artificial intelligence which might even be able to outsmart ethan hunt. it's only the beginning. but it cost $300 million to make and so, the pressure was on to top the last mission: impossible film, 2018's fallout, which made more than $800 million for cinemas. at the time of release, the cast were hoping for even more with dead reckoning. is that what you're hoping forfor mission: impossible? that it'll be a huge blockbuster summer? of course. i'd love crack a bill — wouldn't you? i mean, i'd love to get a bit of that. what was it, 800,000? yeah. i've never been in a billion—dollarfilm. but then, with tom and with top gun, amazingly, of course you want everyone to see this. i feel like this film is everything a cinematic blockbuster should be. and it should be seen, and there's so many films — i mean, we speak about mission but it also becomes a ripple effect, doesn't it, where we show that we can do it, other films will do it. what has made a billion—dollar movie almost mission impossible, despite cruise's ability to pull off breathtaking stunts, was the release of barbie and oppenheimer, just after dead reckoning. after a strong start, the film's hype was quickly stolen and its worldwide box office of $500 million so far is almost a direct result of audiences seeing so—called barbenheimer instead — including tom cruise, who posted on social media with his tickets. ethan? this mission of yours... ..is going to cost you. this mission has certainly been uncertain. the actors' strike has now delayed filming on dead reckoning part two and part one's steady climb at the box office was derailed by barbie. yet, despite the film's difficulties, most unpredictably of all, few would argue that 60—year—old tom cruise is still the action star of the summer. well, to bring our special talking movies blockbuster review to a close, i've entered barbie world, here at the malibu barbie cafe. we hope you've enjoyed the programme. please remember, you can always reach us online at bbc.com?talkingmovies, and you can find us on facebook. so, from me, tom brook, and the rest of the talking movies team, it's goodbye as we leave you with one of the official music videos of barbie. # because i'm just ken # anywhere else, i'd be a ten # is it my destiny to live and die a life of blonde fragility? # i'm just ken # where i see love, she sees a friend # what will it take for her to see the man behind the tan and fight for me? # i'm just ken # and i'm enough # and i'm great at doing stuff # so, hey, check me out # yeah, i'm just ken # baby, i'mjust ken.# hello there. it's been a fairly unsettled weekend, i think, all in all. we've seen plenty of heavy, thundery downpours in places, but there's been some sunshine too. pleasantly warm by day, but quite fresh at night. now, for this upcoming week, it looks like we'll hold onto the unsettled theme. sunny spells, scattered showers, even longer spells of rain, particularly towards the end of the week across southern areas. and at times it will feel quite cool, but in any sunny spells, pleasantly warm. now, cast your eyes to this deep area of low pressure, which has been named by the italian met service as storm ria. that's going to cause all sorts of problems to start the new week off with torrential thunderstorms, strong winds and a risk of flooding. but for our shores, we're starting the week off on a fine note. monday, for many of us, is a bank holiday. apart from a few light showers around, it'll be largely dry with good sunny spells around, lighterwinds. top temperatures — 21 or 22 degrees in the southeast, high teens further north. now, as we move out of monday, in towards the early part of tuesday, it will turn quite chilly again under clear skies. but things start to change in the north. it turns breezier with showers or longer spells of rain here, as another area of low pressure starts to move into the north of the uk. and you can see that here on the pressure chart for tuesday. closer isobars here indicating the blustery winds, weatherfronts which will also push across england and wales. this one — i don't think a very strong feature. it'll bring a band of cloud, some showers as it works its way southwards and eastwards through the day. the heaviest of the showers or long spells of rain will be across scotland. stronger winds to the north and the west as well. and that will peg temperatures back to the low to mid—teens here, higher teens further south and up to 22 degrees across the south east, given some sunshine ahead of that weather front. that front will clear southward. as we head into wednesday, this area of low pressure is generally pulling away into the north sea, so it'll take the stronger winds and the showers with it. however, another unsettled day to come across eastern scotland, maybe northern and eastern england. the odd heavier shower there further south and west. as high pressure moves in here, it should turn a bit drier with increasing amounts of sunshine. again, those temperatures — 20, 21 degrees in the south, high teens further north. as we move out of wednesday into thursday, we've got a brief bump of high pressure which will bring something more settled before low pressure starts to work its way back in off the atlantic to southern and western areas. so for thursday, i think it turns much wetter for northern ireland, wales, south west england with strong winds and some of the rain could be quite heavy. but further north and east, it should stay dry all day with sunny spells and lighter winds here. and again, those temperatures range from around 16 to 20 or 21 degrees. it could be that friday's unsettled, quite wet across england and wales as this area of low pressure pulls away. but then, friday into the following weekend, there may be a high pressure which will build in for a while to settle things down, especially central and southern areas, before low pressure starts to move into the north once again. but a lot of uncertainty remains in place because of this. out in the atlantic, we have hurricane franklin, which could throw a spanner in the works. the computer models are really having an issue with firming down on the details as we move through this period. at the moment, it looks like it'll be on the more unsettled side, particularly across northern areas. but if that area of high pressure does establish itself for a time, it could be a little bit dry and warmer across southern areas. so stay tuned to the forecast for all the changing details. live from london. this is bbc news. russian investigators say genetic testing confirms wagner leader yevgeny prigozhin was killed in a plane crash on wednesday. killed in a mid—air crash — we hear how one of ukraine's most celebrated fighter pilots played a key role in training f—16 fighters. they taught us basics, specific tactics and techniques to be effective. in the uk the metropolitan police is investigating a possible data breach after "unauthorised access" was gained to the systems of one of its suppliers. hello, i'm luxmy gopal. authorities in russia have confirmed that the head of the wagner paramilitary group, yevgenny prigozhin, was killed in a plane that crashed north west of moscow on wednesday. they say that the identities of the bodies recovered correspond with the flight�*s passenger list, which named mr prigozhin. the mercenary leader had led an aborted mutiny against the russian military injune amid growing tension with commanders