* 'Pirates of the Caribbean : The Curse of the Black Pearl' - released in 2003. Directed by Gore Verbinski, Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Budget outlay US$140M, worldwide gross Box Office US$654M. Starring Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, Geoffrey Rush as Hector Barbossa, Kevin McNally as Joshamee Gibbs, Orlando Bloom as Will Turner, Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann, Jonathan Pryce as Weatherby Swann and Jack Davenport as James Norrington. 35 award wins and 101 nominations, including five Oscar nods, four BAFTA nods and one win, and one Golden Globe nod.
* 'Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man's Chest' - released in 2006. Directed by Gore Verbinski, Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Budget outlay US$225M, worldwide gross Box Office US$1,066B. Starring Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, Geoffrey Rush as Hector Barbossa, Kevin McNally as Joshamee Gibbs, Orlando Bloom as Will Turner, Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann, Jonathan Pryce as Weatherby Swann, Jack Davenport as James Norrington, Bill Nighy as Davy Jones, Stellan Skarsgard as Bootstrap Bill Turner, Tom Hollander as Cutler Beckett and Naomi Harris as Tia Dalma. 44 award wins and 53 nominations, including three Oscar nods and one win, four BAFTA nods and one win, and one Golden Globe nod.
* 'Pirates of the Caribbean : At World's End' - released in 2007. Directed by Gore Verbinski, Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Budget outlay US$300M, worldwide gross Box Office US$964M. Starring Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, Geoffrey Rush as Hector Barbossa, Kevin McNally as Joshamee Gibbs, Orlando Bloom as Will Turner, Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann, Jonathan Pryce as Weatherby Swann, Jack Davenport as James Norrington, Bill Nighy as Davy Jones, Stellan Skarsgard as Bootstrap Bill Turner, Tom Hollander as Cutler Beckett, Naomi Harris as Tia Dalma, Chow Yun-Fat as Sao Feng and Keith Richards as Captain Teague. 20 award wins and 46 nominations, including two Oscar nods and one BAFTA nod. At the time of this films release, it was the most expensive film ever made.
* 'Pirates of the Caribbean : On Stranger Tides' - released in 2011. Directed by Rob Marshall, Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Budget outlay US$379M, worldwide gross Box Office US$1,045B. Starring Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, Geoffrey Rush as Hector Barbossa, Kevin McNally as Joshamee Gibbs, Ian McShane as Captain Edward 'Blackbeard' Teach, Sam Claflin as Philip Swift, Penelope Cruz as Angelica and Keith Richards as Captain Teague. Two award wins and 31 nominations. At the time of this films release, it was the most expensive film ever made - a record that still stands to this day.
* 'Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Men Tell No Tales' - released in 2017 and Previewed below. Directed by Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg, Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Budget outlay US$230M. Starring Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, Geoffrey Rush as Hector Barbossa, Kevin McNally as Joshamee Gibbs, Orlando Bloom as Will Turner, Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann, Brenton Thwaites as Henry Turner, Javier Bardem as Armando Salazar and Kaya Scodelario as Carina Smyth.
This coming week we have five new cinematic offerings to tease you out to your local picture house, kicking off with a big Hollywood blockbuster that sees the fifth film in this highly successful franchise set on the high seas with a larrikin Captain at the helm of his good ship needing to thwart an undead enemy in order to save his kind the world over. We then get more serious with a film of the meaning of life and divine intervention as one man struggles to overcome a family tragedy; before turning to a New York fixer that gets in way over his head with a foreign Prime Minster and the local community who support him. We then wrap things up with a comedy based on a graphic novel about a grumpy middle aged man who gets a new lease of life after discovering that he has a teenage daughter to the wife that he separated from seventeen years earlier; and a biopic of an acclaimed Chilean poet and politician who goes on the run in the late '40's because of his outspoken beliefs that rattle the authorities but gain the respect and support of the people.
With such a rich choice of films to watch this week as Previewed below, or those still out on general release, and as Reviewed and Previewed between these humble pages previously, what reason do you have, not to catch a movie. When you have done so, remember to share your thoughts, observations and opinions with your like minded cinephiles here at Odeon Online, by leaving your relevant, pertinent and succinct views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your film experience.
'PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN : DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES' (Rated M) - the trailer for the latest in this hugely successful franchise would have us believe, that, allegedly, this is the final voyage for the good ship Black Pearl and her merry band of seafaring pirates as led by the most infamous swashbuckling blaggard of them all Cap'n Jack Sparrow. And so here we have this fifth instalment in the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' series Directed by the Norwegian pairing of Espen Sandberg and Joachim Ronning for a cool US$230M budget outlay. This film has been in development since before the release of 'On Stranger Tides' in 2011 and went through extensive re-writes, filming delays and budget issues to ensure that the script and the production were just right to almost guarantee its commercial and critical success. It has been reported that Johnny Depp takes home a pay packet worth US$67M for reprising his role for the fifth time as our titular hero of the seven seas. The film is released in the US and China this week also.
Here this story which draws its inspiration from 'The Curse of the Black Pearl', sees down on his luck Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) pursued by his arch-nemesis Captain Armando Salazar (Javier Bardem) who is a powerful undead pirate who has existed in The Devil's Triangle (aka The Bermuda Triangle) since being betrayed by Sparrow and left to languish there with his Spanish Navy ghost ship, the Silent Mary, and her crew. Able to effect an escape for himself, his crew and his ship he goes in search of the legendary Trident of Poseidon that will give him the power to destroy all the pirates upon the high seas, and wreak his vengeance on Jack Sparrow. Joining his trusty pirate ship mates from the previous films are Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Kevin McNally, Keira Knightley with new recruits Brenton Thwaites as Henry Turner the son of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, Kaya Scodelario as Carina Smyth a head strong academic astronomer who both team up with Cap'n Jack to thwart Salazar. David Wenham also stars, as does a cameo by Paul McCartney. Early indications point to a critically successful film, and the Directors have indicated that this instalment may not necessarily be the last yet.
'THE SHACK' (Rated M) - based on the 2007 book of the same name by William P. Young, this film is Directed by Stuart Hazeldine, went on release in the US in early March and has so far grossed US$89M from its US$20M budget costs. This film charts the story of Mack Phillips (Sam Worthington) who as child suffered from physical and emotional abuse by his often drunken father, as did his Mother. As a grown man, Mack enjoys a plentiful, happy, contended life with his wife Nan (Radha Mitchell) and their three children Kate, John and Missy. One day however, Mack's life is turned upside down and inside out during a family camping trip when Missy disappears while he is saving his other two children from a canoeing accident. When the Police determine that Missy has been killed at the hands of a serial killer, Mack's life slowly but surely unravels, until the day that he receives a mysterious letter inviting him to an abandoned shack somewhere in the Oregon wilderness. Reluctantly he ventures to the shack and there is greeted by a trio of strangers led by a woman named Papa (which was Missy's term for God) played by Octavia Spencer. As a result of this meeting, Mack learns important truths that change his understanding of his family's tragedy and ultimately change his life forever.
'NORMAN' (Rated M) - the full theatrical title of this American/Israeli Co-Production is 'Norman : The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer' and is Written and Directed by Joseph Cedar with Richard Gere in the highly praised title role of Norman Oppenheimer. Here Norman is a one man 'consultancy' firm who works out of his briefcase and scams his way through his professional life by connecting people with his seemingly influential network and who gets things done no questions asked. One day an Israeli dignitary visits the city and Norman decides to establish contact by buying Micha Eshel (Lior Ashkenazi) a very expensive pair of shoes. The ruse works and the two become close associates. Three years later Eshel becomes the Prime Minister of Israel, and as a result Norman quickly rises in esteem through New York's Jewish community. But as Norman loses contact with with the now Prime Minister he finds it increasingly difficult to maintain his smoke and mirrors persona as his former fabrications to gain confidence, win respect and build trust come back to haunt him. Also starring Steve Buscemi, Charlotte Gainsborough, Michael Sheen and Hank Azaria. 
'WILSON' (Rated MA15+) - Directed by Craig Johnson and based on the 2010 published graphic novel by Daniel Clowes, this film Premiered at this years Sundance Film Festival in January and had its US release at the end of March. Made for just US$5M and has so far recouped US$660K. The Wilson here is played by Woody Harrelson a lonely, isolated middle age grumpy guy who decides to track down the wife who left him seventeen years ago - Pippi (Laura Dern). She tells him that he is the father of their daughter Claire (Isabella Amara) - now a teenager, whom he never knew existed up until this point. Shocked, stunned, excited, hopeful and a little anxious, Wilson takes it upon himself to connect with the teenage daughter as he experiences fatherhood for the first time, tries to reconcile with his ex-wife and make a good impression with his new daughter.
'NERUDA' (Rated MA15+) - this biographical drama film is Directed by Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain, who last brought us the highly acclaimed 'Jackie' released earlier this year, that scored 38 award wins and 148 nominations from around the circuit. First shown at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, released in Chile in August 2016, the US in December 2016 and in France in January 2017, this small yet not insignificant little independent film finally arrives into Australian cinemas this week having collected nine award wins and another 25 nominations along the way. Popular Chilean poet-diplomat and politician Pablo Neruda (the pen name of Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basalt), played here by Luis Gnecco stands opposed to the administration of Chilean President Gabriel González Videla, and in an address to the National Congress in 1948, speaks out against anti-communist repression. As a result, Neruda and his artist wife Delia (Mercedes Moran) are forced underground and into hiding. However, loved by the general public, Neruda decides that being in hiding is no place for him as he dodges the attempts of overzealous and largely incompetent Police Inspector Oscar Peluchonneau (Gael Garcia Bernal) who is out to make a name for himself by bringing in the country's most infamous fugitive. What ensues is a thrilling game of cat and mouse as Neruda reinvents himself and his work, leaving behind clues for his would be captor by taunting the authorities and hiding in plain sight. Neruda eventually escaped via a mountain pass into Argentina. He died in 1973 aged 69 under suspicious circumstances having been awarded the International Peace Prize, the Lenin Peace Prize and the Nobel Prize in Literature amongst others.Five films to choose from this coming week that offer us big epic Hollywood swashbuckling action fare, and four other smaller films largely concentrating on the exploits, adventures, misadventures and tragedies of individual men - both real and fictitious. When you have sat through your film of choice, remember to share your movie going thoughts with us here at Odeon Online. Meanwhile, I'll see you sometime, somewhere in the week ahead, at your local Odeon.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
No comments:
Post a Comment
Odeon Online - please let me know your thoughts?