This week Film Weekly goes from Britain on the eve of the second world war with Stephen Poliakoff's Glorious 39, to the American midwest in the 60s with the Coen brothers' A Serious Man, to the fangtastical environs of contemporary Washington state in The Twilight Saga: New Moon.
First up, Jason Solomons meets rising star Romola Garai, who adds to an impressive CV (Atonement, Angel, Vanity Fair) by appearing in almost every scene in Glorious 39, a conspiracy thriller based on true events in Chamberlain's government. She tells Jason how the film plays with the nature of the truth and why it's the "twisted sister" to her breakthrough film I Capture the Castle, plus how she can never live down Dirty Dancing 2.
Xan Brooks then joins Jason to review the week's key releases: the Coen brothers' fascinating, brilliantly acted A Serious Man, Matt Damon in Steven Soderbergh's "too clever" The Informant! and the film that teen girls everywhere have been waiting for, The Twilight Saga: New Moon.
Finally, Jason finds out all about the London Children's film festival from young festival ambassador Jubir Hussain and Barbican film programmer Robert Ryder. The festival, now in its fifth year, opens on Saturday with Hayao "Spirited Away" Miyazaki's Ponyo and will be on until 29 November. Jubir, who is 13 and from Redbridge, particularly recommends The Crocodiles, a German film by Christian Ditter.
