UNCHARTED : Tuesday 22nd February 2022.

I saw the M Rated 'UNCHARTED' at my local multiplex earlier this week, and this American action adventure film is Directed by Ruben Fleischer, whose previous film making credits include his big screen debut in 2009 with 'Zombieland', then 2013's 'Gangster Squad', 'Venom' in 2018 and 'Zombieland : Double Tap' in 2019. The film, based on the video game series of the same name, had its Premier in Barcelona, Spain on 7th February, having been originally set for release on December 18, 2020 but was postponed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was subsequently released in the UK two weeks ago now and both here in Australia and the US last week. It has received mixed reviews from Critics and has so far grossed US$146M off the back of a US$120M production budget. 

The film opens up with young teenage brothers Sam (Rudy Pankow) and Nathan Drake (Tiernan Jones) attempting to steal the priceless first map of the world made after the Magellan Expedition of 1522.  However, mid-heist they are caught red handed by two Security Officers who escort them back to the orphanage where they are living. Because this is Sam's third strike, he is expelled from the orphanage and ordered to vacate immediately. Nate goes up to the room they share together, and sees Sam climbing out of the window, to pursue life on his own rather than be holed up in someplace he doesn't want to be. Before leaving, Sam promises his little brother that he will return for him. Sam leaves him with a ring belonging to their ancestor Sir Francis Drake, with the inscription 'Sic Parvis Magna', which when translated means 'Greatness from small beginnings'.

Fast forward fifteen years, and Nathan (Tom Holland) now works as a bartender in New York City and pickpockets wealthy patrons. Victor 'Sully' Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) observes Nathan stealing a bracelet from a female customers arm, and confronts him with it at closing time. Sully is a fortune hunter who worked with Sam tracking treasure hidden by the Magellan crew, explains to Nathan that Sam vanished two years ago without a trace after helping him steal Juan Sebastian Elcano's (a crew member of that Magellan Expedition) diary. Nathan, whose only contact with his brother over the years has been through a series of postcards sent from exotic places around the world, agrees to help Sully to find his brother. 

Sully and Nathan attend an auction to steal a golden 15th Century cross linked to the Magellan crew. There, the pair encounter Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas), the last descendant of the Moncada family (who funded the original expedition five hundred years ago), and Jo Braddock (Tati Gabrielle), leader of a small group of mercenaries hired by Moncada. Nathan is ambushed by Braddock's men, and the ensuing fight creates a distraction for Sully (disguised as an auction attendant) to steal the cross, which is one of a pair which also double up as keys but for locks which are as yet to be discovered. However, not before Sully is held at knifepoint by Braddock, until she is interrupted by a trio of security guards who catch her off guard allowing Sully to make his getaway with the cross.

The pair fly to Barcelona, where they believe the treasure to be hidden, and rendezvous with Sully's contact Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali), who has the other cross. Chloe steals the first cross from Nathan and after a foot chase across the roof tops and streets of the city eventually catch-up with her and convince her to work with them. Meanwhile, Moncada confronts his father, Armando (Manuel de Blas), upon learning the family fortune is being donated to charitable causes states that his son is not worthy of inheriting it, and so Moncada orders Braddock to kill him, with his last words to his father as his throat is slit are 'father, please forgive me!' 

Nathan, Chloe, and Sully follow clues in Elcano's diary to the 15th Century church Santa Maria del Pi, finding a secret crypt behind an altar. Nathan and Chloe enter, locating a trap door, but as they open it, the crypt floods with water. Sully, just in time, manages to help them escape before the pair drown, after being ambushed by Braddock. 

Using the two crosses to unlock a secret passage, Nathan and Chloe find a map that indicates the treasure is in the Philippines. Chloe betrays Nathan (having originally been hired by Moncada) by knocking him unconscious and makes off with the map. Sully reunites with Nathan and tells him that after he and Sam recovered Elcano's diary, they were ambushed by Braddock and Sam was shot and Sully narrowly escaped. Sully believes Sam to be dead. Nathan however, believes Sam to be simply lost and not gone, as so agrees to team up with Sully again, and finish what they started. 

Moncada, Chloe, and Braddock's team depart in a cargo plane to find the treasure, but just as Moncada drinks to their success with the map now in his possession, Braddock betrays and kills him by slicing his throat. Nathan and Sully hide out on the plane in the boot of the prized red sports car given to Moncada on his 18th birthday by his father. Nathan confronts Braddock and a gunfight breaks out while Sully parachutes out. Nathan is knocked out the plane with Chloe behind the wheel of Moncada's sports car, who is trying to make her getaway with the map after Moncada's death. The pair land in the sea just off the coast of a Philippines island at the end of a parachute, where they realise the map does not identify the location of the treasure. 

Checking into a resort hotel for the night, the pair come to the conclusion that Sam may have left a clue in his numerous postcards. Nathan determines the treasure's true whereabouts while Chloe sleeps. Unsure over where Chloe's loyalties lie, Nathan leaves her fake coordinates and finds the Magellan ships and the lost gold, reuniting with Sully. 

Braddock meanwhile follows them, forcing Nathan and Sully to hide as her crew airlift the ships using two heavy lift cargo helicopters from their resting place of the last five hundred years. While escaping, Sully climbs up the rigging and commandeers one of the helicopters, causing Braddock to order the other helicopter to approach for a broadside. Nathan is able to fend off her mercenaries and shoot down the other helicopter with one of the ship's centuries old but still working cannons. Braddock drops that ship's anchor while Nathan climbs to the helicopter with the mercenary in hot pursuit. Sully throws a bag of collected gold at Braddock, who falls into the sea some distance below, and is then is crushed to death when the ship breaks free of its bindings and falls directly on top of her. 

As a Philippine naval boat arrives, Nathan and Sully escape with a handful of pieces of pickpocketed gold treasure, while Chloe (who has followed them by boat) is left empty handed. Sully, looking down on the ship which is now sinking below the surface and breaking up says that the gold, worth an estimated US$5B is now the property of the people of the Philippines. 

Judging by the critical reaction to 'Uncharted' I wasn't expecting too much going in, but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised coming out of the movie theatre. Sure there are obvious parallels to the 'National Treasure', 'The Mummy' and Indiana Jones franchises, but this film is a serviceable fun and entertaining enough addition to the big screen video-game adaptation genre that knocks the likes of 'Mortal Kombat' and 'Assassin's Creed' into a cocked hat! The action set pieces are well realised and when they arrive they do so thick and fast; the all to often bickering dialogue between Sully and Nathan grates at times but is interspersed with moments of humour and a real sense of chemistry between the two male leads. As for the villain in the piece, Banderas as Moncada is nothing more than a one-dimensional cardboard cut-out character who seems to be there to simply fill in a few plot holes. I have no prior knowledge of the Uncharted video game and so I had no pre-conceived ideas about the casting, the plot, the action or the look and feel of this film, but I can also guess where die hard fans of the game might be put out by some of those elements in this cinematic rendering. Nonetheless, 'Uncharted' is a fun, safe, well paced and effective action adventure adaptation that is sure to find an audience perhaps unfamiliar with those aforementioned franchises, and for whom this movie will offer up something new and fresh. Remain in your seat for two mid-credits sequences, which set up a sequel.  

'Uncharted' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 24th February 2022.

The 72nd annual Berlin International Film Festival (aka the Berlinale) took place from 10th to 20th February in person. The festival opened with Francois Ozon's drama film 'Peter Von Kant'. Isabelle Huppert was awarded Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement on 15th February at the Berlinale Palast award ceremony. Her film by Laurent Lariviere, 'A propos de Joan' was also screened.

The awards were presented on 16th February, with those winners being :-

* The Golden Bear for Best Film was presented to 'Alcarras' Directed and Co-Written by Carla Simon. This Spanish and Italian Co-Produced film is set and was filmed near Alcarras, Catalonia, featuring non-professional actors speaking Catalan language. The plot concerns a family drama about the disappearance of traditional peach-harvesting activities to a planned solar farm bringing the members of one family to a stand-off. World Premier screening.

* The Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize was awarded to 'The Novelist's Film' Directed, Written, photographed, edited and scored by Hong Sang-soo. This South Korean black and white drama film is described as the film that, 'celebrates the beauty of chance encounters, while talking about the importance of authenticity in the dishonest world of cinema'. World Premier screening.

* The Silver Bear Jury Prize was presented to 'Robe of Gems' from Mexico, Argentina and the US and Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Edited by Natalia Lopez Gallardo. World Premier screening.

* The Silver Bear for Best Director was awarded to Claire Denis from France for 'Both Sides of the Blade'. World Premier screening.

* The Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance was presented to Meltem Kaptan for 'Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush' from Germany and France. World Premier screening.

* The Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance was awarded to Laura Basuki for 'Before, Now & Then' from Indonesia. World Premier screening.

* The Silver Bear for Best Screenplay was presented to Laila Stieler for 'Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush' from Germany and France.

* The Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution was awarded to Rithy Panh and Sarit Mang for 'Everything Will Be OK' from France and Cambodia. World Premier screening. 

* Special Mention was made to Michael Koch for 'A Piece of Sky' from Germany and Switzerland. World Premier screening.

You can visit the official website, for all the news and the winners in the other competition sections as announced on 16th February, plus a whole lot more besides, at : https://www.berlinale.de/

Turning back to this weeks current releases, we launch with another adaptation of a famed 1897 play in which all too self-conscious to woo Roxanne himself, wordsmith Cyrano de Bergerac helps young Christian nab her heart through love letters. Next up is a Kosovan film about a woman whose husband has been missing since the war in Kosovo, and so she sets up her own small business to provide for her kids, but as she fights against a patriarchal society that does not support her, she faces a crucial decision. This is followed by a film about the legendary rock band Foo Fighters who move into an Encino mansion steeped in grisly rock and roll history to record their much anticipated 10th album, but there are supernatural forces at work that might just prevent them from doing so. Then we turn to a documentary offering charting the story of 30-year-old climber Tom Ballard who disappeared on one of the Himalayas' most deadly mountains, Nanga Parbat, in February 2019; before closing out the week with a Japanese anime about a single mother and her eleven-year-old daughter with nothing in common except living together on a boat at the port, and a miracle that occurs when their secret is revealed.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the five latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the coming week.

'CYRANO' (Rated M) -  this musical romantic drama film is Directed by Joe Wright and with a Screenplay by Erica Schmidt, based on Schmidt's 2018 stage musical of the same name, itself based on the 1897 Edmond Rostand play 'Cyrano de Bergerac'. Joe Wright is the British Director and Producer whose previous film making credits take in 'Pride & Prejudice' in 2005, 'Atonement' in 2007, 'The Soloist' in 2009, 'Hannah' in 2011, 'Anna Karenina' in 2012, 'Pan' in 2015 and 'Darkest Hour' in 2017. The film saw its World Premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in early September last year, is scheduled for a wide cinema release in the US, the UK and here in Australia from this week onwards, cost US$30M to produce and has garnered generally positive critical reviews. 

The film tells the story of Cyrano de Bergerac (Peter Dinklage) as he pines for the affections of the beautiful Roxanne (Haley Bennett), who has fallen in love with another man named Christian de Neuvillette (Kelvin Harrison Jnr.). Though Cyrano understands that his social status and physical appearance will forever keep him apart from his love, he offers his skills as a gifted poet to Christian in an effort to bring him and Roxanne together once and for all. Also starring Ben Mendelsohn, 'Cyrano' has so far picked up six award wins and another forty-six nominations, many of which are still pending an outcome at the time of writing.

'HIVE' (Rated M) - is an Albanian-Kosovan drama film Written and Directed by Blerta Basholli in her Directorial debut. It saw its World Premier at the Sundance Film Festival at the end of January 2021 and became the first film in Sundance history to win all three main awards – the Grand Jury Prize, the Audience Award and the Directing Award – in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. It was selected as the Kosovan entry for the Best International Feature Film at the upcoming Academy Awards. The film is based on the true story of a woman Fahrije (Yllka Gashi), whose husband has been missing since the war in Kosovo. Along with their grief, her family is struggling financially. In order to provide for them she launches a small agricultural business selling her own pepper and eggplant relish and honey, but in the traditional patriarchal village where she lives, her ambition and efforts to empower herself and other women are not seen as positive things. She struggles not only to keep her family afloat but also against a hostile community who is rooting for her to fail. Released in the US in early November last year and this week here in Australia, the film has garnered positive critical acclaim. 

'STUDIO 666' (Rated R18+) - this supernatural horror comedy film is Directed by B.J. McDonnell and is based on a story by Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters fame. The film marks the first to feature the Foo Fighters that is not a documentary, as the band were previously the subject of 2011's 'Foo Fighters : Back and Forth' and 2014's 'Foo Fighters : Sonic Highways'. Grohl stars in the film alongside his Foo Fighters bandmates Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett, and Rami Jaffee as they struggle to record their tenth album at an Encino mansion, with band frontman Dave Grohl forced to battle the supernatural forces within the house that threaten the completion of their album, and the lives of his fellow bandmates. 'Studio 666' is released in the US this week too.

'THE LAST MOUNTAIN' (Rated M) - the unforgettable story of the thirty-year-old climber Tom Ballard who disappeared on the so-called killer mountain, Nanga Parbat in Pakistan in February 2019. Directed by Chris Terrill, here he explores the life of British mountaineer Tom Ballard who died while attempting to climb Nanga Parbat with Italy’s 42-year-old Daniele Nardi. They both perished while attempting to scale Nanga Parbat in winter. Ballard was the son of world-famous mountaineer Alison Hargreaves, reputed to be one of the greatest female climbers of all times who died on K2 in 1995. Their compelling lives are explored here using intimate family archive footage and interviewing those left behind to tell the unforgettable story of Tom and his family. The film gets a limited showing in selected cinemas from this week. 

'FORTUNE FAVOURS LADY NIKUKO' (Rated M) - is a Japanese anime film based on the novel of the same name by Kanako Nishi, and is Directed by Ayumu Watanabe. Here, Nikuko (voiced by Shinobu Otake) is a brash, happy-go-lucky passionate woman in an otherwise sleepy seaport town in northern Japan. She’s also the single mother of eleven-year-old Kikuko (Cocomi), who is her opposite in many ways. Kikuko is a string-bean of a young girl, thoughtful, quietly curious, and methodical in how she approaches life in this small seaside town. Nikuko embarrasses Kikuko as any mother to a preteen would, but Nikuko’s bold spirit makes her especially well-known in a town where Kikuko herself wants nothing more than to simply blend in. As Kikuko navigates the everyday social dramas of middle school, enhanced with touches of magical realism from her ever-present imagination, a shocking revelation from the past threatens to upend the pair’s fragile relationship. The film was released in its native Japan in mid-June last year and has picked up two award wins and three nominations so far. 

With five new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

BLACKLIGHT : Tuesday 15th February 2022.

I saw the M Rated 'BLACKLIGHT' earlier this week, and this American action film (shot in Melbourne and Canberra, Australia), is Directed Co-Written for the screen and Co-Produced by Mark Williams in only his third film making outing following 2016's 'A Definitely Maybe' and 2020's 'Honest Thief'. The film was released Stateside and here in Australia last week, cost US$43M to produce, has thus far recouped just over US$5M and has garnered generally unfavourable Reviews.

The film opens up with Travis Block (Liam Neeson) speeding down some country road, continuously adjusting and checking his rear view mirror like he is being followed closely behind by another vehicle in hot pursuit. He pulls up at some rural trailer park where two armed Policemen and forced into a corner by an angry gun toting mob, all wanting to reach the woman inside the caravan behind them. Block sneaks around the back and gives three knocks on the window, at which point a woman appears brandishing a pistol and fearful for her life. After a brief exchange of words he explains that he's there to extract her and disappears to set up an explosive distraction for the angry mob. He does so, the place erupts in ball of flame, and Block successfully extracts the woman, who it turns out is an undercover FBI Agent. 

We then cut to a rally in Washington DC at which activist and Congressional candidate Sofia Flores (Melanie Jarnson) is speaking to a sizeable gathered crowd about women's rights and racial equality. That night, after stepping out of her Uber ride home, she is run over by another vehicle, and killed instantly in an apparent hit and run. Next up we see Block talking to the Director of the FBI, and long term friend Gabriel Robinson (Aidan Quinn) about his recent extraction exercise and how the women will come good again given time and treatment. It seems that Block's off the books work with Robinson is to extract deep-cover agents when their cover is blown or when they’ve spent too much time in the darkness to be able to find their own way out. Another such agent is Dusty Crane (Taylor John Smith) whom Block has a certain attachment to, but who has taken to self-medicating with pills and alcohol in an attempt to ease his guilty conscience about his former misdeeds all in the line of duty. Crane, is arrested by the Police after beating four officers up in the street, because they found drugs, alcohol and a hand gun on the passenger seat of his car. Block gets him out of the slammer no questions asked.

In a quieter moment we see Block the grandfather to young Natalie (Gabriella Sengos) and his single mum and daughter Amanda (Claire van der Boom) at his granddaughters birthday party. Looking on as Natalie opens up her presents Amanda chides her father that he must have already checked the perimeter of the building and located all the possible points of entry and exit for fear of an attack. A lesson that he has already instilled in young Natalie, much to her mothers chagrin. Block retorts that he just wants his family to be safe, at all times. Soon afterwards Block says to Robinson that he wants to spend more time with his family and be a good grandfather to Natalie, and is thinking of quitting his role as an FBI 'fixer'. Robinson in no uncertain terms says no way Jose, and basically closes the book on that discussion. 

Meanwhile, Crane has reached out to a Washington DC news website reporter Mira Jones (Emmy Raver-Lampton) and will only speak with her about some earth shattering information he has to expose the truth behind a spate of secret FBI sanctioned killings of American citizens. Robinson instructs Block to intercept Crane before he is able to speak to the reporter Jones. Block also meets with Jones and tells her not to talk to Crane, and if he contacts her, she is to contact him straight away. 

Block trails Jones to a rendezvous with Crane at a Museum, where the pair meet. Crane spies Block and makes a dash for it. Block catches up with him, the pair get into a fist fight in which Crane gains the upper hand and quickly climbs a locked wrought iron fence. With both on either side of the fence now, Block asks Crane why. Crane stops, turns and just as he is about to explain his actions is gunned down and killed by two men - the same two men who were at the scene of Sofia Flores hit and run at which she was killed. 

Block asks Jones, who witnessed the whole thing, to tell him what Crane had said to her. She spoke of an 'Operation Unity' which is headed up by Robinson it seems with the two gunmen (who are also FBI agents) who killed Flores and now Crane in Robinson's pocket. Over a whisky in a bar, Block and Jones share their stories and any other details Crane imparted to the reporter. Block visits Robinson at his home, demanding to know about Operation Unity, which Robinson flatly refuses to divulge. Block quits on the spot. After this, Amanda and Natalie have mysteriously vanished, with Amanda unexpectedly quitting her job at the hospital, and Natalie being removed from her pre-school without notice. No one it seems has any idea where they have gone, or the reasons for their sudden disappearance.  

In the meantime, Jones Editor boss Drew Hawthorne (Tim Draxl) has also wound up dead after releasing a largely un-researched press article on their news website about Operation Unity, much to Jones disgust. Hawthorne's death was again at the hands of Robinson's henchmen. Block meanwhile, is beside himself with worry, and after exploring every avenue of investigation to locate Amanda and Natalie, goes to Robinson's home at night to confront him. Robinson is on the phone to his two henchmen at the time, who have just scoped out Block's apartment looking for him. He tells them to get over to his home with back-up immediately. Block takes Robinson up to his safe and orders him to open it and play the hard drive upon which are countless files on all of his agents and Operation Unity. Robinson exits his home as four agents arrive heavily armed and enter the house. A gun fight ensues in which the house is shot to pieces, but Block gains the upper hand and dispenses with the four agents using his very particular set of skills, but not before sustaining a gun shot to the leg. 

Later that evening Jones visits Block who is holed up in a motel, and nurses his injured leg. The next morning Jones Assistant Helen Davidson (Yael Stone) visits and together the three survey the hard drive. There they see a recording of Crane being interviewed by Robinson, at which point he expresses his love for Flores, and says that they had been romantically involved for about a year before her untimely death. Jones comments that Cranes love for Flores was written all over his face. The next day, Block commandeers Robinson's vehicle, and as Robinson gets in, he is surprised to see Block behind the wheel. Block pressures Robinson in coming clean about Operation Unity, to which the Director again replies with a staunch no way, but Block can be especially convincing when he needs to be. A brief shoot out follows after the vehicle comes to a halt in which Robinson sustains a non-life threatening gun shot wound. Block tells him to reveal the whereabouts of his family, and that he will come clean to the media about Operation Unity. 

In the closing scenes it is revealed that Robinson was being held in custody with a court hearing pending, that Jones was being praised from on high about her published news report exposing Robinson and Operation Unity, and Block drives up to the safe house to retrieve Amanda and Natalie.

'Blacklight' is a pedestrian; by the numbers; been there, seen that, done it too countless times before actioner that Liam Neeson has spent the last fifteen years perfecting to the point where he can quite literally phone his performance in. This film could easily be construed as 'Taken 4' as his family are 'taken' from right under his nose, and no amount of car chases, gun play, fisticuffs, or explosions can mask that fact in this wooden thriller that is short on dialogue, excitement or a plot that really adds up to very little. At approaching seventy years of age, it was reported that after 'Blacklight' Neeson was going to give up the action tough guy genre as he was done with beating up guys less than half his age, but judging by his IMDb profile, we can still expect him to be kicking butt in the upcoming 'Memory', 'Retribution' and 'Marlowe' already completed or in post-production, with two other films currently in pre-production. Well I guess if you possess a very particular set of skills, you may as well put them to good use!

'Blacklight' merits two claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 17th February 2022.

The 72nd Berlin International Film Festival (aka Berlinale) is currently up and running from the 10th through until 20th February. The official website reads 'the Berlinale is a unique place of artistic exploration and entertainment. It is one of the largest public film festivals in the world, attracting tens of thousands of visitors from around the globe each year. For the film industry and the media, the eleven days in February are also one of the most important events in the annual calendar and an indispensable trading forum. The Berlin International Film Festival was created for the Berlin public in 1951, at the beginning of the Cold War, as a 'showcase of the free world'. Shaped by the turbulent post-war period and the unique situation of a divided city, the Berlinale has developed into a place of intercultural exchange and a platform for the critical cinematic exploration of social issues. To this day it is considered the most political of all the major film festivals. The festival brings the big stars of international cinema to Berlin and discovers new talents. It accompanies filmmakers of all disciplines on their paths into the spotlight and supports careers, projects, dreams and visions'.

'Every year, around 400 films of all genres, lengths and formats are shown in the various sections and special presentations of the Berlinale. Across the spectrum from feature films to documentary forms and artistic experiments, the audience is invited to encounter highly contrasting milieus, ways of life and attitudes, to put their own judgements and prejudices to the test and to reinvigorate their experience of seeing and perceiving in the realm between classic narrative forms and extraordinary aesthetics'.

The international jury, which this year is headed up by acclaimed Director, Screenwriter and Producer M. Night Shyamalan presides over the official competition, which will be announced at 7:00pm local time, on Wednesday 16th February. The following awards are presented :-

* Golden Bear for Best Film (awarded to the film’s Producers)
* Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize
* Silver Bear Jury Prize
* Silver Bear for Best Director
* Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance
* Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance
* Silver Bear for Best Screenplay
* Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution.

Additionally, a whole bunch of other awards are bestowed in the following sections, 'Encounters', 'Berlinale Shorts', 'Generation Kplus' and 'Generation 14plus', 'Best First Feature Award', 'Berlinale Documentary' and the 'Honorary Golden Bear' award which this year is dedicated to French film and stage actor Isabelle Huppert, for lifetime achievement.

Watch out for next weeks Blog post in which I'll detail all the winners, grinners and also rans in main competition at the 72nd Berlinale. In the meantime, you can visit the official website, for all the news, programme information and a whole lot more at : https://www.berlinale.de/

Turning back to this weeks four new release movies coming to an Odeon close to you this week, we kick off with an action adventure offering about a street-smart thief who is recruited by seasoned treasure hunter to recover a fortune amassed by Ferdinand Magellan and lost five hundred years ago by the House of Moncada. This is followed by a drama film about a radio journalist who forges an unexpected bond with his precocious young nephew during a cross country trip. Next up is a Bosnian film about a teacher and translator for the UN in the small town of Srebrenica, and when the Serbian army takes over the town, her family is among the thousands of citizens looking for shelter in the UN camp, before closing out the week with a highly acclaimed Danish animated feature about a successful academic in Denmark who is about to marry his long-time boyfriend, and who is confronted with a secret from his past.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the four latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the coming week.

'UNCHARTED' (Rated M) - this American action adventure film is Directed by Ruben Fleischer, whose previous film making credits include his big screen debut in 2009 with 'Zombieland', then 2013's 'Gangster Squad', 'Venom' in 2018 and 'Zombieland : Double Tap' in 2019. The film based on the video game series of the same name and had its Premier in Barcelona, Spain on 7th February, and was released in the UK last week and both here in Australia and the US this week. It has received mixed reviews from Critics and cost US$120M to produce. 

Here, street-smart thief Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) is recruited by seasoned treasure hunter Victor 'Sully' Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) to recover a fortune lost by Ferdinand Magellan some five hundred years ago. What starts as a heist job for the duo becomes a globe-trotting, white-knuckle race to reach the prize before the ruthless Moncada (Antonio Banderas) does, who believes he and his family are the rightful heirs. If Nate and Sully can decipher the clues and solve one of the world's oldest mysteries, they stand to find US$5B in treasure and perhaps even Nate's long-lost brother Sam (Rudy Pankow) - but only if they can learn to work together.

'C'MON C'MON' (Rated M) - is a black and white drama film Written and Directed by Mike Mills in his fourth feature film outing following his 2005 debut with 'Thumbsucker' then 'Beginners' in 2010, and '20th Century Women' in 2016. The film had its World Premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in early September last year and was released in limited theatres in mid- November in the US. Having garnered widespread critical acclaim, and won twelve awards so far plus another forty-eight nominations, it has so far recovered US$2M fro its US$8.3M production budget. When his sister Viv (Gaby Hoffmann) asks him to look after her son, radio journalist Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix) embarks on a cross-country trip with his energetic nephew Jesse (Woody Norman) to show him life away from Los Angeles, while Viv goes to Oakland to care for her estranged husband Paul (Scoot McNairy) struggling with mental illness.

'QUO VADIS, AIDA?' (Rated M) - translated literally means 'Where Are You Going, Aida?' is a Bosnian film Directed, Written and Co-Produced by Jasmila Zbanic. An international co-production of twelve production companies, the film was shown in the main competition section of the Venice International Film Festival in September 2020, and was nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 2021 Academy Awards and all up has garnered twenty-nine award wins and another thirty-four nominations from around the awards and festival circuit. The film dramatises the events of the Srebrenica massacre, during which Serbian troops sent Bosniak men and boys to death in July 1995 led by Serbian convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic. The film exposes the events through the eyes of a mother named Aida Selmanagic (Jasna Duricic), a schoolteacher who works with the United Nations as a translator. After three and a half years under siege, the town of Srebrenica, close to the northeastern Serbian border, was declared a UN safety zone in 1993 and put under the protection of a Dutch battalion working for the UN. 

'FLEE' (Rated M) - is a Danish animated docudrama film Directed and Co-Written by Jonas Poher Rasmussen whose previous documentary offerings include 'Searching for Bill' in 2012 and 'What He Did' in 2015. The film saw its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in late January 2021 and was released in the US in early December last year. It has received universal unanimous acclaim from film festivals and critics, with much praise bestowed upon it for animation, story, thematic content, subject matter, and LGBT representation; has garnered numerous awards, mainly for animated and documentary categories, all up so far winning sixty-five awards with a further 124 nominations (many of which are still pending an outcome at the time of writing). The film tells the extraordinary true story of Amin Nawabi, who, on the verge of marrying his husband, shares his story for the first time about his hidden past fleeing his home country of Afghanistan to Denmark as a refugee. Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau serve as Executive Producers on the film. With a budget of US$3.4M to produce, 'Flee' has so far recouped just US$232K. 

With four new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

BELFAST : Wednesday 9th February 2022.

I saw the M Rated 'BELFAST' last week at my local independent movie theatre, and this British coming of age comedy drama film is Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Kenneth Branagh whose previous film making credits include his 1989 debut feature 'Henry V' then 'Peter's Friends' in 1992, 'Mary Shelley's Frankenstein' in 1994, 'Sleuth' in 2007, 'Thor' in 2011, 'Murder on the Orient Express' in 2017, 'All Is True' in 2018, with 'Death on the Nile' released just last week. This film saw its World Premiere screening at the Telluride Film Festival in early September last year and also won the People's Choice Award at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was released in the US in mid-November 2021 and in the UK and Ireland on 21 January. It has received positive reviews from critics and has, so far, grossed over US$26M at the global Box Office, and has picked up thirty-eight award wins and another 230 nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit (many of those nods are still awaiting a final outcome at the time of writing).

The film charts the life of a working class Northern Irish Protestant family from the perspective of nine year old Buddy (Jude Hill), during the rise of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in Belfast, where Buddy and his family live. Father Pa (Jamie Dornan) works overseas in England on a construction project, while the family—Ma (Caitriona Balfe), elder brother Will (Lewis McAskie), and paternal grandparents Granny (Judi Dench) and Pop (Ciaran Hinds) live in Belfast. 

Opening up on 15th August 1969, a mob of angry Protestant loyalists randomly and without warning attack the homes and businesses of Catholics along the street where Buddy lives, smashing windows in, breaking down doors and torching a car. The local folk set up a barricade at the end of the street to prevent their re-entry, and Pa returns from England (as he does every other weekend) to check on the safety and security of his family. Buddy and Will attend church one Sunday without their parents on this occasion, and the minister delivers a fire and brimstone speech about choosing the right fork in the road - one which leads to the sanctity of heaven and the other to all damnation in hell. Buddy continues to reflect on the words of the minister throughout the film. At school, Buddy begins to develop feelings towards high-achieving Catholic classmate Catherine (Olive Tennant), and in time they become friends, so much so that in conversation with Pop, Buddy alludes to one day marrying her. 

In the meantime, local low level crim and Protestant loyalist Billy Clanton (Colin Morgan) approaches Pa demanding his involvement in 'the cause' but when Pa refuses, he turns aggressive and starts harassing Buddy saying that he expects his Pa to do the right thing. The family also is struggling to pay off their accumulated debts to the tax office. Pa produces brochures about emigrating to Sydney or Vancouver as the chance for the family to start afresh, however, as far as Ma is concerned this is not an option, as she is dead set against leaving her home, her friends and her family. But, on the other hand, she can no longer deny the option of leaving Belfast as the conflict deepens. Pa returns home after his fortnight in England and tells Ma that he has been offered a promotion in England to work on a five year long construction project that comes with a housing deal from his employers. His employers want an answer from him by Christmas. They try to discuss the matter with their boys, but Buddy has a melt down at the thought of leaving Belfast.

Buddy, local teenage girl Moira (Lara McDonnell) and another young lad attempt to steal chocolate bars from a sweet shop, but the plan goes south and Buddy narrowly escapes the clutches of the shop owner carrying a single bar of Turkish Delight. Moira chastises Buddy for making off with the sweet confection when there were Crunchie's and Flake's to be had instead. When later questioned by the Police, Buddy does not reveal his accomplices. Afterwards, suitably impressed by Buddy's resilience, Moira recruits him into her local gang, who participate in a looting of a mini-supermarket. A reluctant Buddy is forced into stealing something and grabs a box of laundry detergent before returning home and telling Ma of his activities. Ma berates him and immediately drags both Buddy and Moira back to the ongoing looting in order to return their stolen items. Billy Clanton then appears and shouts at them that they take things and don't put them back and promptly takes them hostage to leverage his own escape. Pa, Will and the British Army arrive at the scene to bring an end the riot. This results in a standoff with Billy who attempts a shootout until Pa and Will manage to disarm him. Billy is then arrested and swears retribution.

The Christmas deadline for Ma and Pa's decision to move to England comes and goes - and they further delay until Easter. In the meantime Pop has died. Realising that they are no longer safe in Belfast, the family decide to relocate to England. Before leaving, Buddy bids farewell to Catherine. He laments to Pa whether he could have pursued a future with her despite the fact she was a Catholic. Pa responds that it doesn't make a difference what culture, creed or beliefs someone has, they will always be welcome in their home. As Granny watches, the family boards a bus headed for the airport, saying to herself 'go, go now, and don't look back'. Granny is left alone after the death of her husband and the departure of her children and grandchildren, as she closes the door behind her and rests her head on the window, sobbing. 

'Belfast' is a film for the ages, and anyone who grew up in Britain during these turbulent times will be able to relate to Branagh's tender, whimsical, thought provoking semi-autobiographical offering, centred firmly in his young childhood formative years. The casting is top notch, and Jude Hill as the central character of Buddy is a standout, with equally impressive performances from Dornan, Balfe, Dench and Hinds who all deliver grounded, believable and relatable roles. Whilst the troubles of Northern Ireland are secondary to the plot here and there are no political machinations behind them, this is a film of family connectedness, community solidarity, fun and laughter, love and emotion, music and cinema as seen through the eyes of a nine year old who is struggling to come to terms with a changing world being ripped apart by violence. And within it, Branagh has crafted a crowd pleasing, awards worthy addition to his already impressive resume. 

'Belfast' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-