BEAU IS AFRAID : Wednesday 26th April 2023.

I saw the R18+ rated 'BEAU IS AFRAID' this week, and this American black comedy horror film is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Ari Aster whose previous feature film making credits are 'Hereditary' with Toni Collette and Gabriel Byrne in 2018 and 'Midsommar' in 2019 with Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor. This film saw its World Premier screening in New York on 1st April, before it limited release to selected IMAX screens in LA and New York on 14th April, and before its wider release worldwide from last week. It costs US$35M to produce, has so far grossed US$4.3M and has garnered generally favourable reviews.

Beau Wasserman (Joaquin Phoenix) is the son of a famous and wealthy businesswoman, Mona (Patti LuPone). He grew up without a father, who his mother always maintained died during an orgasm on their wedding night and the first time they made love (which was also when Beau was conceived), a hereditary medical condition that effected his grandfather and great-grandfather too and which she claims was also passed down to Beau. As a teenager on a cruise trip with his mother, Beau (Armen Nahapetian) meets and falls in love with a gregarious out-spoken girl named Elaine Bray (Julia Antonelli). The two kiss and promise to remain virgins until they meet again as adults. 

Fast forward and now as an adult, Beau is paranoia ridden extremely anxious and living alone in a graffiti strewn down market apartment in a crime-ridden city where muggers, murderers, prostitutes and all manner of miscreants roam the streets 24/7. His therapist (Stephen McKinley Henderson) prescribes an experimental drug for his anxiety and warns him to only take it with water. He has booked a flight to see his mother for the anniversary of his father's death, but sleeps through his early morning alarm after a neighbour keeps him awake half the night with their loud music, which thumps through the paper thin walls. After hastily packing, and exiting his apartment, he needs to go back inside momentarily only to discover minutes later that his keys and luggage have been stolen from his front door. Beau calls his mother to explain the situation and seek her advise as to the best solution, but she dismisses him.

Beau takes his medication, but panics when he discovers there's a water outage in the whole block. He anxiously runs across the street to a convenience store to buy a bottle of water evading a group of deranged homeless people who break into his apartment and lock him out. The next morning, having slept on construction scaffolding outside his apartment, he wakes to find his apartment has been turned upside down and trashed. He tries to call his mother, only to have it answered by a UPS driver who tells him that she was seemingly decapitated in an accident at home when a chandelier fell on to her crushing her skull into tiny fragments. In a state of shock, he takes a bath now that the water has been reconnected, only to discover an intruder hanging from the ceiling directly above the bath tub. The intruder falls and lands on top of Beau and after a violent scuffle in the tub, Beau is able to break free and runs naked out of his apartment and onto the streets, where he is hit by a passing truck, following an altercation with a Policeman during which he was held at gunpoint.

Beau comes round two days later in the home of a married couple, Grace (Amy Ryan) and Roger (Nathan Lane), a well regarded surgeon, who hit Beau with their truck. In their care is also an unstable veteran named Jeeves (Denis Menochet), who was their son's army comrade before he was killed in action. The couple have a highly strung and easily led teenage daughter named Toni (Kylie Rogers) who instantly despises Beau for moving into her bedroom and upsetting the balance she has in her life. Beau calls Mona's attorney, Dr. Cohen (Richard Kind) who chastises him and informs Beau that despite the Jewish custom to lay the body to rest as soon as possible, her last wish was not to be buried until he is present, and he had better get himself home immediately wearing a suit and with a eulogy planned. 

Beau repeatedly asks to book the next available flight back home, but Roger promises to drive Beau the six hours it will take to get to his mother's estate, but insists he rest at least one more day until he is healed a little more. Throughout Beau's stay in their home, Grace subtly hints to him that he is being watched and secretly tells him to switch to Channel 78 on the TV and warns Beau not to 'incriminate' himself. Channel 78 plays back the footage captured by concealed CCTV cameras around the property. On the day that Roger is to drive Beau home, Toni takes him to her brother's old room and attempts to force him to paint the walls in different colours. When he refuses, she ruthlessly berates Beau before drinking a can of paint, committing suicide. Grace walks in on Beau standing over Toni's body and violently blames him for her death. As Beau flees into the woods, Grace sends Jeeves after him.  

Running for his dear life, Beau gets knocked out when he runs headlong into a low hanging tree branch. Coming round and lost in the woods, he comes upon a traveling theatre troupe who call themselves 'The Orphans of the Forest'. He is invited to their dress rehearsal and becomes entranced by the play, imagining himself as the protagonist, who spends his entire life looking for his family after they’re separated by a great flood, only to be reunited with his three sons who step down from the stage to greet him. A man then approaches the aged Beau and informs him that he knew his father and that he is alive. The troupe is ambushed by Jeeves, where he slaughters several actors in the process, and now back in the present, Beau flees deeper into the woods dodging automatic machine gun fire.

Beau stumbles out of the woods and hitches a lift to his mother's home, only to find that he had just missed his mother's funeral, but that there is a video presentation playing inside the house. He falls asleep on a sofa and wakes up later that evening to the sound of a woman mooching around the house, having arrived late for the service. He realises that the woman is Elaine (Parker Posey) and they reconnect. They make their way to Mona's bedroom and have sex. Beau is terrified that he's going to die as soon as he ejaculates, but is ecstatic when he lives. However, Elaine is not so lucky as she has died mid-climax, her body seemingly frozen stiff. Mona then appears from the shadows and commands two house servants remove and dispose of the corpse, while revealing that she was not only still alive, and kicking, but watching the whole time. She derides Beau and reveals that his therapist works for her, sharing their sessions with her for years. He demands to know the truth about his father, and she takes him to the attic, where Beau learns that he not only has a secret twin brother who is chained up in a corner, but his father is actually a giant penis-shaped monster. At that moment, Jeeves breaks through a window in the attic and is killed by the monster. Beau escapes the scene down the access ladder and is dragged by his therapist into a lounge area where his mother further humiliates him. In a rare fit of rage, Beau grabs his mother by the throat and attempts to strangle her, before coming to his senses and releases his grip. Mona however, falls backwards and face first into a glass table where she lay motionless.

In a state of shock, Beau leaves the house and finds a motorboat on a nearby beach, taking it out into the sea. After entering a cave and emerging out the other end, the boat's motor begins to stall and he finds himself in a crowded arena, where he's put on trial by a still-alive Mona and Dr. Cohen on a podium acting as prosecutors. They show footage of numerous instances of Beau slighting his mother on a giant video screen while a cheap defence lawyer tries to push the case for Beau, but he is soon murdered by one of Mona's henchmen. Beau tries to fend for himself, but discovers that his feet are now glued to the boat. He attempts to appeal to his mother, but when she does not respond, he finally accepts his fate. The boat's motor explodes, capsizing it and drowning Beau.

Here Ari Aster's Beau has anxiety issues, paranoia issues and Mummy issues who seeks a therapist and a constant diet of pills to keep those issues at bay. Until one day and through no real fault of his own, Beau's world collapses in around him and its hard to distinguish what is real and what is not, as various potentially deadly encounters land directly in his path. A very dark comedy this film certainly is, but what's it's not is a horror film, and more of a psychodrama with a handful of thrills thrown in for good measure. Joaquin Phoenix appears in almost every scene which he handles with aplomb and never seems in doubt of the angst ridden direction that Ari Aster throws at him. The genre bending film won't be for everyone - but those who are satisfied by it are likely to elevate it to cult status in years to come, and even if it doesn't perform so well at the Box Office it will leave the viewer much to discuss and debate once the end credits have rolled. For me, I came out of the theatre feeling a little non-plussed by the experience and drained by the almost three hour run time, but also thinking that perhaps a second viewing is in order. 

'Beau Is Afraid' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.  

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 27th April 2023.

This years 'Hot Docs' documentary film festival marks its thirty year anniversary, and is running from Thursday 27th April through until Sunday 7th May, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Hot Docs was founded in 1993 by the Documentary Organisation of Canada, a national association of independent documentary filmmakers. In 1996, Hot Docs became a separately incorporated organisation with a mandate to showcase and support the work of Canadian and international documentary filmmakers and to promote excellence in documentary production. Each year, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, North America's largest doc festival, conference and market, presents more than two hundred cutting edge films from around the world. Hot Docs is not-for-profit organisation dedicated to advancing and celebrating the art of documentary and creating production opportunities for documentary filmmakers.

Of the two hundred or so documentary films being showcased, twenty-five are being shown in 'The Special Presentations' section over the duration of the festival. These are as detailed below :-

* 'Black Barbie : A Documentary' - from the USA and Co-Produced and Directed by Lagueria Davis. International Premier.

* 'Blix Not Bombs' - from Czech Republic, Germany and Sweden and Directed by Greta Stocklassa. North American Premier.
* 'The Deepest Breath' - from UK and Ireland and Directed by Laura McGann. Canadian Premier.
* 'The Disappearance of Shere Hite' - from the USA and Co-Produced and Directed by Nicole Newnham. International Premier.
* 'El Equipo' - from the USA and Co-Produced and Directed by Bernardo Ruiz. Canadian Premier.
* 'Food and Country' - from the USA and Co-Produced and Directed by Laura Gabbert. International Premier.
* 'Igor Levit - No Fear' - from Germany, and Directed by Regina Schilling. North American Premier.
* 'Innocence' - from Denmark, Israel, Finland and Iceland, and Directed by Guy Davidi. Canadian Premier.
* 'Invisible Beauty' - from the USA and Directed by Bethann Hardison and Frederic Tcheng. Canadian Premier.

* 'Is There Anybody Out There?' - from the UK and Directed by Ella Glendining. Canadian Premier.
* 'It's Only Life After All' - from the USA and Co-Produced and Directed by Alexandria Bombach. Canadian Premier.
* 'Joan Baez I Am A Noise' - from the USA and Co-Produced by Miri Navasky, Karen O'Connor and Directed by Miri Navasky, Karen O'Connor and Maeve O'Boyle. Canadian Premier.
* 'Love to Love You, Donna Summer' - from the USA and Co-Produced by Roger Ross Williams and Directed by Roger Ross Williams and Brooklyn Sudano. Canadian Premier.
* 'The Man Who Stole Einstein's Brain' - from Canada and Directed by Michelle Shephard. World Premier.
* 'Periodical' - from the USA and Directed by Lina Lyte Plioplyte. International Premier.

* 'Praying for Armageddon' - from Norway and Directed by Tonje Hessen Schei and Michael Rowley. North American Premier.
* 'The Rise of Wagner' - from France and Directed by Benoit Bringer. World Premier.
* 'Stephen Curry : Underrated' - from the USA and Co-Produced and Directed by Peter Nicks. International Premier.

* 'Still : A Michael J. Fox Movie' - from the USA and Co-Produced and Directed by Davis Guggenheim. Canadian Premier.
* 'Theatre of Violence' - from Denmark and Directed by Lukasz Konopa and Emil Langballe. North American Premier.
* 'Time Bomb Y2K' - from the USA and Directed by Marley McDonald and Brian Becker, and Produced by Brian Becker. Canadian Premier.
* 'Total Trust' - from Germany, the Netherlands and China and Co-Produced and Directed by Jialing Zhang. North American Premier.
* 'We Are Guardians' - from Brazil and the USA and Directed by Edivan Guajajara, Chelsea Greene and Rob Grobman and Co-Produced by Chelsea Greene. World Premier.
* 'Who's Afraid of Nathan Law?' - from the USA, Hong Kong and UK and Co-Produced and Directed by Joe Piscatella. World Premier.
* 'Without Precedent : The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella' - from Canada and Co-Produced and Directed by Barry Avrich. World Premier.

For the synopsis of each of the aforementioned documentaries, plus a whole lot more good stuff including the full run down of all films being showcased, you can visit the official website at : https://hotdocs.ca/festivals/hot-docs-festival

This week, to tease you out to your local Odeon, we have four newly released movies hailing from all four corners of our world, and which kick start with an American sports comedy offering that sees a group of friends who made it their life-long mission to go to the Super Bowl and meet NFL superstar Tom Brady. This is followed by a film set in South America in 1960 in which a lonely and grumpy Holocaust survivor convinces himself that his new neighbour is none other than Adolf Hitler. Next up is a British romantic action comedy that is a merry mash up of sisterly affection, parental disappointment and bold action as it follows a schoolgirl martial artist-in-training who believes she must save her older sister from her impending marriage. And closing out the week there is an Australian offering that tells the story of two siblings who find hidden beneath their bedroom floor a land of enchantment in need of protection from an ancient enemy, but they soon face epic challenges as they embark on a quest to unite five mystical treasures and save the kingdom.

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.

'80 FOR BRADY' (Rated M) - is an American sports comedy film inspired by a true story that is Co-Produced and Directed by Kyle Marvin in his first feature film making effort. Costing US$28M to produce the film has so far grossed US$40M, was released in the US in early February and has garnered mixed or average Reviews. Just two days prior to the films release famed NFL quarterback for the New England Patriots for twenty seasons and then the Tampa Bat Buccaneers for his final three years, Tom Brady, announced his retirement after twenty-three seasons. 

Four best friends Lou (Lily Tomlin), Trish (Jane Fonda), Maura (Rita Moreno) and Betty (Sally Field) live life to the fullest when they make it their mission to embark on a wild trip to see their hero, Tom Brady (Tom Brady who also Co-Produced here), play in the 2017 Super Bowl for the New England Patriots against the Atlanta Falcons at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. 

'MY NEIGHBOUR, ADOLF' (Rated PG) - this Israeli, Polish and Colombian Co-Production is Co-Written and Directed by the Russian born Israel raised Leon Prudovsky in only his second feature film offering following 2009's 'Five Hours from Paris'. South America, 1960. A lonely and grumpy Holocaust survivor Mr. Polsky (David Hayman) convinces himself that his new neighbour Mr. Herzog (Udo Kier) is none other than Adolf Hitler. Not being taken seriously, he starts to do some investigative digging of his own to prove his claim, but when the evidence still appears to be inconclusive, Polsky is forced to engage in a relationship with the enemy in order to obtain undeniable proof. The film has garnered mixed or average reviews.

'POLITE SOCIETY' (Rated M) - is a British romantic heist action comedy drama film that is Written and Directed by Nida Manzoor in her feature film making debut. The film saw its World Premier screening at the Sundance Film Festival at the end of January this year, is released in the UK, US and here in Australia this week and has generated mostly positive critical reviews. Here, London schoolgirl Ria Khan (Priya Kansara) practises martial arts in order to become a stuntwoman. But when her sister Lena (Ritu Arya) drops out of art school and gets engaged to Salim Shah (Akshay Khanna) after barely a month with plans thereafter to relocate to Singapore, Ria decides she and her friends must pull off the most ambitious wedding-heist in the name of independence and sisterhood. 

'THE SECRET KINGDOM' (Rated PG) - this Australian family adventure film is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Matt Drummond in his third feature film making outing following 'Dinosaur Island' in 2014 and 'My Pet Dinosaur' in 2017. Here then, following a tragic accident, an anxious young twelve year old boy Peter (Sam Everingham) and his nine year old sister Verity (Alyla Browne) relocate with their family faraway to a stately old house—one that was once-grand, but is now cracking at the seams. Upon exploring the local area, they discover an ancient artefact that leads them to an incredible adventure in an underground world. As Peter and Verity’s journey begins, they encounter fantastic creatures and distant lands beyond their wildest imaginations, but soon discover that not everything is at it seems. Aided by an army of pangolins, Peter and Verity must battle the evil Shroud (Gabrielle Chan) to fulfil the prophecy and save time. 

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 week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE POPE'S EXORCIST : Tuesday 18th April 2023.

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'THE POPE'S EXORCIST' earlier this week at my local independent movie theatre, and this American supernatural horror film is Directed by Julius Avery whose previous feature film credits are 'Son of a Gun' in 2014, 'Overlord' in 2018 and 'Samaritan' in 2022. This film is based on the Italian Catholic Priest and Exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth of the Diocese of Rome, who lived from 1925 until 2016, and who claimed to have performed thousands of exorcisms throughout his life, as recounted in his memoirs 'An Exorcist Tells His Story' and 'An Exorcist : More Stories'. The film cost US$18M to produce, has so far brought in US$38M at the global Box Office, has generated mixed or average reviews and was released first in India earlier this month and then in the US and here in Australia last week.

The film opens up in mid-1987 and Father Gabriele Amorth (Russell Crowe), acting as the Pope's personal Exorcist pulls up at an Italian village on his Lambretta scooter where a man is allegedly possessed by a demon. With the help of a local priest, Amorth enters the room where the man is tied up, shouting obscenities in English although he has never uttered a word of English in his life up to this point. While exorcising the man, using a Saint Benedict sacramental Medal, Amorth drives the demon into a pig, which is then killed with a shotgun, leaving the man in a crumpled heap on the bed seemingly to recover.

This 'exorcism' gets Amorth into some seemingly serious trouble with a Church tribunal, since he acted without permission from his superiors. One tribunal member is a friendly African bishop, Lumumba (Cornell John), but another is an overly zealous American cardinal, Sullivan (Ryan O'Grady) who is skeptical of demonic possession, and readily discounts all of Amorth's counter arguments. Amorth replies that evil does exist, and that he did not perform a true exorcism, but instead, some psychological theatre to help the mentally-disturbed man. Amorth goes on to explain that 98% of cases can be attributed to mental or scientific reasons, but the remaining 2% are down to pure evil. However. disgusted by the accusations made by the panel before him, he walks out of the tribunal hearing.

The Pope assigns Amorth to visit a possessed boy named Henry (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney) in Spain. Henry, his mother Julia (Alex Essoe), and his rebellious teenage sister Amy (Laurel Marsden) had traveled from America to take possession of a mysterious old Spanish abbey which was Henry's father's sole bequest to his family after he died tragically in a car accident in which Henry was present in the back seat, and saw his father impaled. The traumatised Henry has not spoken since the accident, which was one year ago now. The group of workmen, who were restoring the abbey so the family could sell it, leave after a mysterious fire breaks out in the basement. Hereafter, Henry starts behaving bizarrely and self-harms. His mother takes him to a local hospital but various blood tests and MRI scans show nothing to be out of the ordinary.

Henry, mercilessly possessed, requests a priest, and when the local Father Esquibel (Daniel Zovatto) arrives, Henry obscenely chastises him and sends him hurtling through the air to come crashing down against a cupboard and saying 'wrong priest'. Amorth arrives and with no alternative, enlists Esquibel as his assistant, though Esquibel is untrained as an exorcist. Amorth states the importance of prayer and staying the course despite the distractions that Henry might throw his way. However, Esquibel makes several mistakes as an assistant exorcist, including attempting to strangle Henry when he derides him, and mocks him for his sins.

The pair attempt to exorcise Henry, without success, as he utters blasphemous rantings throughout the ritual. Furthermore, without the demon's name, their attempts prove futile. Amorth finds Julia has not been a religious believer since childhood, but he convinces her to pray after she reveals she believed a guardian angel was always by her side during her early school years.

Meanwhile, back in Rome, the Pope (Franco Nero) becomes gravely ill while reading documents about the Spanish case, and is rushed into hospital. Amorth locates a well on the abbey grounds going down to an underground cavern sealed off by the Church as being demonically dangerous. He learns that a founder of the Spanish Inquisition, an exorcist, was possessed, which let him infiltrate the Church and in turn conduct much evil. Amorth also discovers that the Church covered this up centuries ago, and eventually learns the name of Henry's demon, Asmodeus, which will help with the exorcism.

Amorth and Esquibel participate in a Confession and Absolution, mutually confessing, and absolving each other of their sins - with Amorth, an Italian partisan, who survived World War II and vowed to serve God in gratitude, when later a mentally-ill woman asked for Amorth's help, and subsequently died by suicide when he did not help her due to pride, with Esquibel fornicating with a young woman he later abandoned. The two prepare themselves and Amorth instructs Esquibel to wear a Miraculous Medal necklace. During the exorcism, they are tormented by visions of the women whom they failed. The exorcism succeeds only when Amorth offers himself to be possessed, which coincides with Asmodeus's earlier stating that he wants to destroy Amorth.

Amorth attempts to hang himself, but Asmodeus doesn't allow it, preferring that Amorth infiltrate and destroy the Church from within. However, Esquibel helps Amorth drive away the demon that emerges from a well as the Blessed Virgin Mary elevating before him, as well as the demonic manifestations of the two women who so troubled the men. The Pope makes a full recovery, as does Henry who has returned to the USA with his mother and sister. The triumphant pair visit Rome, and find Sullivan has taken extended leave in Guam, being replaced by Lumumba. Amorth and Esquibel are escorted to a special Church archive with many of the relics recovered from the cavern. Lumumba tells Amorth that he will be visiting 199 other evil sites, depicted on a world map Amorth discovered at the abbey, to combat the Devil, to which Amorth replies that it will be a life's work and that he will need an assistant, to which Esquibel acknowledges his support.

'The Pope's Exorcist' is entertaining enough but it doesn't offer the viewer anything new that we haven't seen many times before. There are plenty of plot holes here too, for example, I really can't believe that Amorth rode his Lambretta scooter all the way from Rome, through northern Italy, through southern France and down into Spain; or how Julia gets slammed head first into a bathroom sink that shatters and she gets up with nary a scratch; or how Henry and Amorth seem to recover from their demonic possessions almost instantly; or . . . . well, you know what I'm sayin' here! The film is however, elevated by Russell Crowe's performance as the often quirky, not too serious, scooter riding, whisky guzzling albeit dodgy accented Father Amorth who saves the day to battle it out on another occasion as the open ended conclusion paves the way for a potential sequel. The scares here are few and far between and the tension rarely amounts to much, but stylistically and visually the films looks the part, with particular credit going to Crowe and the twelve year old DeSouza-Feighoney who add a certain gravitas to the proceedings.

'The Pope's Exorcist' 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 20th April 2023.

The Belmont World Films 21st International Film Series is currently in full swing having launched on Monday 27th March and running though until Monday 15th May. Belmont is a town in Massachusetts, USA and is a western suburb of Boston and forms part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. Belmont World Film, is a nonprofit corporation which creates cultural exchanges and understanding through the screening of the world’s top films followed by discussions led by expert speakers. Founded in 2001 Belmont World Film began with the premise that foreign-language film is not only a vehicle for hearing another language in action, but it can also foster an emotional understanding of other cultures. Since the series began in Spring 2002 films have been shown from such familiar European countries as the UK, France, Germany, Scotland, Italy, Belgium and Finland, as well as less familiar countries, such as Bhutan, Bulgaria, Romania, Cuba, Bolivia, Iraq, Mongolia, Iceland, Singapore and Luxembourg. Other speakers have included UN envoys, international filmmakers, academic experts on international relations, languages and humanities, journalists, film stars and documentary film subjects.

This years theme is 'Complicated Identities' and features eight of the world's top films, immediately followed by discussions with filmmakers, film subjects or expert speakers. The films are screened each Monday evening throughout the duration of the series, are are as detailed below :-

* Monday 27th March : the Opening film was 'A MAN' from Japan and Directed by Kei Ishakawa. When a lawyer’s former client asks him to investigate a woman’s late husband’s past, he begins to discover that her husband had been living a double life.

* Monday 3rd April : 'LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG' from Ukraine and Directed by Antonio Lukich. When identical twin brothers — who couldn’t be more different —hear that their long-absent father is sick in Luxembourg, they set out on a journey to see him one last time. Will the man they find be the bad-ass father they remember?

* Monday 10th April : 'THE WORST ONES' from France and Directed by Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret. Four teenagers from a working-class neighbourhood in the north of France are selected to act in a feature film. The film within a film walks a remarkably fine line between fact and fiction, allowing the young performers to give star-making turns as 'themselves' while considering the ways in which ostensibly well-meaning documentary and fiction films can exploit non-performers in the name of authenticity. This film won the Un Certain Regard Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

* Monday 17th April : 'BURNING DAYS' from Turkey and Directed by Emin Alper. A young prosecutor is newly posted in the remote provincial town in Anatolia, Turkey, which is marred by corruption, nepotism, and other shady power dynamics ahead of a local election for the mayoral seat. This town also suffers from a severe water shortage and giant sinkholes caused by the excessive use of groundwater for agricultural purposes, which the local officials refuse to address.

* Monday 24th April : 'FAREWELL MR. HAFFMANN' from France and Belgium and Directed by Fred Cavaye. After the Nazi occupation of Paris, a talented jeweller, Joseph Haffmann, arranges for his family to flee the city and offers one of his employees the chance to take over his store until the conflict subsides. The agreement turns into a Faustian bargain, one that will forever change everyone involved.

* Monday 1st May : 'CHILE '76' from Chile and Argentina and Directed by Manuela Martelli. In 1976, a bourgeois housewife heads to her beach house on the coast of Chile to supervise its renovation, only to be interrupted by a request from the priest at the church where she does charity work, to take care of a young revolutionary — a man he is secretly giving asylum to — who has just been hurt. The woman steps into unexplored territories, away from the quiet life she is used to living.

* Monday 8th May : 'THE BEASTS' from Spain and France and Directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen. A French couple move to a small village in Galicia in order to practice ecologically responsible agriculture and to restore abandoned houses to facilitate the town’s re-population. Everything should be idyllic but for their opposition to a wind turbine project that creates a serious conflict with their neighbours.

* Monday 15th May : the Closing Film is 'PEACEFUL' from France and Directed by Emmanuelle Bercot. Here, an overbearing mother to her son Benjamin, a 'failed actor' turned acting teacher, who’s given a terminal cancer diagnosis. He seeks advice from Dr. Edde, who plays guitar and leads his staff members in singalongs.

For further information about the 21st Belmont World Film Series you can go to the official website at : https://belmontworldfilm.org/international-film-series/

Turning the attention back to this weeks five new release movies coming to a big screen Odeon near you, with launch with a dark comedy horror drama film which, following the sudden death of his mother, a mild-mannered but anxiety-ridden man confronts his darkest fears as he embarks on an epic, Kafka like journey back home. Next up we have a drama film about a young woman whose life falls apart after her involvement in a fatal accident in which two people died. This is followed by a twisted tale of two estranged sisters whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most evil version of family imaginable. Then we turn to a drama based on a true story of a national spiritual awakening in the early 1970's and its origins within a community of teenage hippies in Southern California; before closing out the week with a biographical documentary exploring the intertwined fates of trees and humans in this poetic portrait of this Australian environmentalist and political activist, and the Forest.

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.

'BEAU IS AFRAID' (Rated R18+) - is an American black comedy horror film Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Ari Aster whose previous feature film making credits are 'Hereditary' with Toni Collette and Gabriel Byrne in 2018 and 'Midsommar' in 2019 with Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor. The film saw its World Premier screening in New York on 1st April, before it limited release to selected IMAX screens in LA and New York on 14th April, and before its wider release worldwide from this week. It costs US$35M to produce and has so far grossed US$321K.

Here then, Beau Wassermann (Joaquin Phoenix), a mild-mannered, extremely anxious, paranoia-ridden but pleasant enough looking man who has a fraught relationship with his overbearing mother Mona (Patti LuPone) and never knew his father, makes the journey home when his mother dies to attend her funeral. However, along the way he must confront his greatest fears involving some wild supernatural threats. Also starring Amy Ryan, Nathan Lane, Parker Posey, Richard Kind, Hayley Squires and Michael Gandolfini.

'A GOOD PERSON' (Rated MA15+) - this American drama film is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Zach Braff whose prior feature film making credits are his debut in 2004 with 'Garden State', then 'Wish I Was Here' in 2014 and 'Going in Style' in 2017. Allison (Florence Pugh) is a young woman with a wonderful fiance, a blossoming career, and supportive family and friends. However, her world crumbles in the blink of an eye when she survives an unimaginable tragedy, emerging from recovery with an opioid addiction and unresolved grief. In the following years, she forms an unlikely friendship with her would-be father-in-law Daniel (Morgan Freeman) whose daughters life was taken in that earlier tragedy. As grief-stricken Daniel navigates raising his teenage granddaughter and Allison seeks redemption, they discover that friendship, forgiveness, and hope can flourish in unlikely places. Also starring Celeste O'Connor, Molly Shannon and Zoe Lister-Jones. The film was released Stateside on 24th March, has so far grossed US$2.4M and has garnered mixed or average reviews. 

'EVIL DEAD RISE' (Rated R18+) - is an American supernatural horror film that is Written and Directed by Lee Cronin in only his second feature film outing following 2019 'The Hole in the Ground'. This film is the fifth instalment in the 'Evil Dead' franchise following 'The Evil Dead' in 1981, 'Evil Dead II' in 1987, 'Army of Darkness' in 1992, all having been Directed by Sam Raimi, and then 'Evil Dead' in 2013 Directed by Fede Alvarez. Those first four films grossed worldwide US$156M off the back of combined production budgets of US$32M. Here then, and following a long journey on the road, Beth (Lily Sullivan) visits her estranged older sister Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), who is struggling to raise three children alone in a small Los Angeles apartment. However, their reunion is interrupted when they find a strange book hidden in the depths of Ellie's building, which unleashes bloodthirsty demonic creatures. The film saw its World Premier showcasing at SXSW on 15th March, is released in the US this week too and has generated largely favourable reviews.

'JESUS REVOLUTION' (Rated M) - this American Christian drama film is Co-Written by Jon Erwin and Directed by Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle, and is based on the book of the same name by Greg Laurie and Ellen Santilli Vaughn. Jon Erwin, together with his brother Andrew, known as the Erwin Brothers, are American Christian film Directors, Screenwriters and film Producers known for such films as 'Woodlawn', 'October Baby', 'Moms' Night Out' and 'I Can Only Imagine'. Inspired by a true movement, the film tells the story of a young Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney) being raised by his struggling mother, Charlene (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) in the 1970's. Laurie and a sea of young people descend on sunny Southern California to redefine truth through all means of liberation. Inadvertently, Laurie meets Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie), a charismatic hippie-street-preacher, and Pastor Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammer) who have thrown open the doors of Smith's languishing church to a stream of wandering youth. What unfolds becomes the greatest spiritual awakening in American history. Rock and roll, newfound love, and a twist of faith lead to a Jesus Revolution that turns one counterculture movement into a revival that changes the world. The film was released in the US on the 24th February, cost US$15M to produce, has so far grossed US$52M having received mixed or average reviews along the way. 

'THE GIANTS' (Rated M) - is an Australian biographical documentary film Written and Directed by Rachel Antony and Laurence Billiet, that is a long overdue biopic of Australian environmentalist Bob Brown, a National Living Treasure, the first openly gay member of parliament in Australia and leader of the world’s first Green party. It’s also about the life of Trees, which scientists are only starting to understand. The film goes from Bob story to the trees’ story - revealing just how closely intertwined they are. Brown’s fifty year trailblazing life helps narrate the exhilarating rise of the environmental movement in Australia from the successful Franklin River campaign in 1983 to today's fight for the Tarkine rainforest in northwest Tasmania. The film is a poetic exploration of his motivations and his actions that began, like Greta Thunberg, with a few lone acts of protest; and of his spiritual connection to nature that continues to sustain him. 

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 week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

AIR : Tuesday 11th April 2023.

I saw the M Rated 'AIR' earlier this week, and this American biographical sports drama film is Co-Produced, Directed and stars Ben Affleck whose previous film making credits take in 'Gone Baby Gone' in 2007, 'The Town' in 2010, 'Argo' in 2012 and 'Live by Night' in 2016. This film saw its World Premier screening as the Closing Night film of SXSW in mid-March recently, has so far garnered generally positive reviews, was released Stateside last week too and has grossed to date US$35M off the back of a circa US$80M production budget. It was originally slated for release on Amazon Prime Video before Amazon Studios decided to release the film theatrically following strong results from test screenings.

Here then, it is 1984 and the Nike, Inc. business sits looking down the barrel of bankruptcy due to is declining footwear sales, with the company capturing just 17% of the American sports footwear sales market, compared to Converse and the dominant player in the market Adidas. Recognising the financial strife they are in, Marketing VP Rob Strasser (Jason Bateman), together with co-founder and CEO Phil Knight (Ben Affleck), task Nike's basketball talent scout Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon, who also Co-Produces here) to come up with a new pitch for a shoeline based on current American sports, believing that basketball's days are numbered. While considering other basketball players chosen in the 1984 NBA draft, Nike's executives think third pick Michael Jordan is off limits, being both a fan of Adidas and too expensive for the basketball division's meagre budget of US$250K, which it aims to spread amongst three or four players, whereas Jordan is rumoured to have been offered US$250K plus a brand new red Mercedes 380 SL by Adidas, with Converse being his second pick. 

One evening while feeling down but not defeated, Vaccaro is sat at home with his TV dinner watching highlights of a Jordan game together with a TV commercial by Arthur Ashe for his Head tennis rackets. Seeing the eighteen year old Michael Jordan from a different perspective he is convinced that Nike should pursue the player that he now considers to be a once in a generation talent with both Jordan and Nike building off one another. With his new found enthusiasm he first pitches the idea to Strasser and then Knight who dismiss the notion as wildly too expensive to blow their entire budget on just one player, and besides the Board would never agree to it. 

Vaccaro heads to LA to meet his friend George Raveling (Marlon Wayans), who coached Jordan in the 1984 Summer Olympic tournament in Los Angeles and asks for his support in courting the star. Vaccaro then drives to the Jordan household in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he turns up unannounced. He tells Michael's mother Deloris (Viola Davis) that Nike would give Jordan all the attention that he would not get from his preferred brands Adidas and Converse and begins to recite the opening lines that each of those companies would greet them with. He also asks Deloris to ask a pointed question to the Board members when she meets with those two companies, and to carefully and cautiously gauge their responses and reactions.

After receiving a very angry call from Jordan's agent David Falk (Chris Messina) about visiting his client's family, Vaccaro learns that the Jordans have still scheduled a meeting at Nike's Beaverton, Oregon HQ the following Monday. Vaccaro and Strasser start preparing their pitch while tasking shoe designer Peter Moore (Matthew Maher) to work through the remaining week and weekend to prepare a single prototype, which Moore names 'Air Jordan' after Nike's Air Sole was deemed inappropriate. In the meantime, Knight reluctantly accepts to assign the basketball division's entire US$250K budget to hire Jordan. 

Monday arrives and the Jordan's pull up at Nike's HQ to be met by Vaccaro. He ushers them up to the Boardroom where they are warmly welcomed by Strasser, Moore, and Howard White (Chris Tucker) with Knight deliberately arriving seven minutes late. Vaccaro can sense that Deloris and Michael are non-plussed by the meeting, so he breaks off a video presentation and makes an off-the-cuff impassioned speech on how he sees Michael's future unfolding with Nike, the good times and the bad, and how long after the Nike executives in the room with him that day are gone and forgotten, his legacy will live on. Vaccaro's speech turns the meeting around but he subsequently learns that Adidas matched the US$250K offer while adding a red Mercedes 380SL into the mix, and he believes the deal is done and dusted with Adidas. 

However, he later receives a call from Deloris, who states that Michael will sign with Nike for US$250K, plus that he earns a percentage of every Air Jordan sold anywhere in the world. Vaccaro believes the company's CEO and Board would not accept such a bonus proposal, which sets a precedent. Once Knight is told he calmly shrugs and says that if it is necessary to ensure the endorsement, then accept the terms, saying to himself how much can it be worth, they sold US$3M in shoes last year! Vaccaro calls back Deloris to tell her that Nike will accept her terms and then speaks with Michael welcoming him to Nike. He then goes out into the open plan office and loudly announces 'we signed Jordan'. 

The closing credits reveal various milestones in Michael Jordan's stellar basketball career, how Phil Knight has so far given away US$2B of his personal fortune to philanthropic causes, how David Falk sold his agency for US$100M, how Peter Moore designed the Jumpman logo for the Air Jordan shoe, and how the Air Jordan shoe sold US$162M in the year following its launch and how today sales are upwards of US$4B and Jordan has earned US$400M from residuals. 

'Air' is a notable return to form for Director Ben Affleck since his last misstep with 'Live By Night', for which he can be forgiven on the strength of this gem of a film about a struggling underdog company whose courage of its convictions ultimately wins the day, and well and truly turns the fortunes of Nike around turning it into the one of the most recognised brands and successful companies in the world. The script moves the film along at a steady pace, the ensemble cast are spot-on with their performances, the recreation of the mid-1980's is a slam-dunk and the music score took me right back there to my early twenties. My only criticism is that Michael Jordan as a character in this film is only ever seen from the back of his head, or his hands caressing the prototype Air Jordan shoe, or as the real life Michael Jordan in archival footage as the end credits roll. This film is less about the sport and more about the marketing guys working tirelessly to sign MJ and the advertising strength that his name will bring to brand Nike - and on that level 'Air' delivers, and the rest, as they say, is history!

'Air' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-