Most of the time, journalism is not that exciting (trust us, we know). But these movies do a superb job of making the business look glamorous, dangerous and fun.
What good can a journalist do in a world full of evil? Bring the evil to light, certainly, and expose the malefactors, if not to justice, then to the opprobrium of the public. All right, and then what?
The early-’90s slaughter of Bosnians (most of them Muslims) by Serbs (most of them Christian) was the first fully televised holocaust. Viewers watched, were horrified and flicked the channel to Cheers; European and American leaders watched, were horrified and did next to nothing. In Michael Winterbottom’s fiction film with a documentary feel, a British reporter (Stephen Dillane), a veteran eyewitness to many such atrocities, determines to adopt a Bosnian child. It seems one of the two options available to reporters at war: a kind gesture or, more futile but more therapeutic, a scream.
We mean the 6hr. BBC miniseries, not the Russell Crowe-Ben Affleck remake opening today. Both are about the murder of a woman connected to a prominent politician, and a dogged news team’s search for the truth while fighting off the police, the government and powerful corporations with lots to hide. But the original — written by Paul Abbott and directed by David Yates — is much more vigorous and comprehensive in showing how journalists get a big story, wheedle details out of sources and fight their natural instincts to defend a friend who’s also the subject of an exposé.
Among the added perks in the BBC version: Polly Walker, world’s most desirable woman, as the politician’s estranged wife, and Bill Nighy, purring sulfur as the paper’s harried editor. This twisty mystery is also a hymn to old-fashioned journalism — the kind where the drudgery of digging for a story, not spitballing on a blog, wins acclaim, readers and self-respect.
The Foo Fighters captured five Grammys and Adele won four, including the song of the year trophy for “Rolling in the Deep,” at a Grammy ceremony that had the difficult task of celebrating music’s best while mourning the loss of one of their greatest, Whitney Houston.
From Nicki Minaj’s Red Riding Hood getup to Katy Perry’s head-to-toe blue ensemble, TIME rounds up some of the best (and worst!) sartorial choices at the annual music awards show.
