OPPENHEIMER : Tuesday 25th July 2023.

'OPPENHEIMER' which I saw at my local independent movie theatre this week is an MA15+ Rated American biographical war drama film Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Christopher Nolan, and is based on the 2005 biography 'American Prometheus' by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. Christopher Nolan's prior film making credits take in his debut with 'Following' in 1998 then 'Momento' in 2000, 'Insomnia' in 2002, 'Inception' in 2010, 'Interstellar' in 2014, 'Dunkirk' in 2017, 'Tenet' in 2020 with the 'Batman' trilogy in between time in 2005, 2008 and 2012. The film cost US$100M to produce, saw its World Premiere showcasing in Paris on 11th July, was released in the UK, the USA and here in Australia last week, has so far grossed US$242M and has garnered universal critical acclaim.

The film opens in 1926 with a dishevelled looking 22-year-old J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) who has trouble sleeping at night and grapples with homesickness and anxiety while studying under the British experimental physicist Patrick Blackett (James D'Arcy) at the Cavendish Laboratory in the University of Cambridge, England. Oppenheimer finds Blackett demanding and injects an apple he leaves on his desk with cyanide which visiting scientist Niels Bohr (Kenneth Branagh) almost bites into but not before Oppenheimer thrusts it out of his hand and into a waste bin. Oppenheimer completes his PhD in physics at the University of Gottingen in Germany, where he is introduced to Werner Heisenberg (Matthias Schweighofer). He returns to the US, in the hope of expanding quantum physics research, and starts teaching at the University of California, Berkeley and the California Institute of Technology. During this period, he meets Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh), a member of the US Communist Party with whom he has an on-again off-again affair until her eventual suicide in 1944, and later his future wife Katherine 'Kitty' Puening (Emily Blunt), a biologist and ex-Communist whom Oppenheimer married in 1940 and with whom he has two children.

US Army General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) enlists Oppenheimer to spearhead the Manhattan Project in order to develop an atomic bomb after Oppenheimer assures Groves that he has no communist sympathies. Oppenheimer, a Jew, is particularly focused on the Nazis and the very likely possibility that they have their own nuclear weapons programme underway, headed up by Werner Heisenberg. 

Oppenheimer recruits a scientific team that includes Edward Teller (Benny Safdie), Isidor Isaac Rabi (David Krumholtz) and David L. Hill (Rami Malek), to a purpose built town in the middle of nowhere at Los Alamos, New Mexico, to begin work on secretly creating the atomic bomb. During the development, Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein (Tom Conti) discuss how such a bomb could possibly trigger a chain reaction that has the potential to destroy the world. Oppenheimer also learns of a possible Soviet spy within his ranks who has potentially leaked the Manhattan Project's secretive intelligence data to the Russians.

When Germany surrenders in May 1945 some project scientists cast doubt over the bomb's continued importance. The bomb is completed and the initial 'Trinity' test is successfully conducted on 16th July 1945 just before the Potsdam Conference involving Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman and Joseph Stalin which began on 17th July in Potsdam, Germany. US President Harry S. Truman (Gary Oldman) decides to drop atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6th and 9th August 1945 respectively forcing Japan's surrender and thrusting Oppenheimer into the public eye as the 'father of the atomic bomb'. Haunted by the immense destruction and suffering the bombs caused, Oppenheimer personally urges Truman to use restraint in developing even more powerful weapons, saying that he has 'blood on his hands'. Truman perceives Oppenheimer's anxiety as a weakness, and states that, as President, he alone bears responsibility for the bomb's use. Upon leaving the Oval Office feeling very dejected Truman says to his aide that he doesn't ever want to see that 'scientist crybaby again'. Oppenheimer continues feeling intense remorse.

Oppenheimer is outspoken, in government circles, about any further nuclear development, especially of the hydrogen bomb, positioning him against Teller. His steadfast opinions become a point of contention amid the escalating Cold War with the Soviet Union. Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jnr.), chairman of the US Atomic Energy Commission, has a personal beef against Oppenheimer for publicly dismissing his concerns over the export of radioisotopes and, as per Strauss' belief, badmouthing him to Einstein. 

At a four week kangaroo court hearing in 1954 intended to remove Oppenheimer from any and all political influence, and as largely cross examined by Roger Robb (Jason Clarke), Oppenheimer is betrayed by Teller's and other associates' testimony, including the final nail in the coffin delivered by William L. Borden (David Dastmalchian),stating that he firmly believed that J. Robert Oppenheimer was an agent of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile Strauss exploits Oppenheimer's associations with current and former communists such as Tatlock and Oppenheimer's brother Frank (Dylan Arnold).

Despite Rabi and several other allies testifying in Oppenheimer's defence, Oppenheimer's security clearance is revoked by a vote of 2 -1 although his loyalty to the United States was not brought into question. However, this did damage his public image and reduced to zero his policy influence. Later, at Strauss' Senate confirmation hearing as Secretary of Commerce, Hill exposes Strauss' personal motives in engineering Oppenheimer's downfall, which results in Strauss' confirmation being denied.

In 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson presents Oppenheimer the Enrico Fermi Award (awarded to honour scientists of international stature for their lifetime achievement in the development, use, or production of energy) as a gesture of political rehabilitation. It is revealed that Oppenheimer and Einstein's earlier conversation was not about Strauss but rather nuclear weapons and their far-reaching impacts ultimately. Oppenheimer muses whether the Trinity test, to a large extent, his creation, could launch a chain reaction of events that could lead to a nuclear holocaust. 

'Oppenheimer' is possibly Christopher Nolan's best film offering yet, and that's saying something given the quality of his varied back catalogue over the past twenty or so years. Here he has crafted a film that is well scripted, stunningly photographed, and packed with emotion, intrigue, a stellar ensemble cast and an underlying message that is just as important today as it was almost eighty years ago. Cillian Murphy gives a tour-de-force performance as the torn and troubled Oppenheimer wrestling with his own inner demons over the magnitude of his creation and the implications for all of humankind, and is more than ably supported by Emily Blunt, Matt Damon and Robert Downey Jnr. This is a compelling film that tells the story of war, the people wielding the power and who you can ultimately trust that needs to be viewed on the biggest screen you can get to. It deserves all the accolades bestowed upon it come awards season, and despite it being largely a dialogue driven drama grips the attention from the get go, until the final half hour where the story drags just a little - but don't let that put you off. One of the must see films of the year for sure. Also starring Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Dane DeHaan, Matthew Modine, Scott Grimes, Alden Ehrenreich, James Remar and Olivia Thirlby.

'Oppenheimer' merits four 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 July 2023.

The 32nd Woods Hole Film Festival is taking place in Woods Hole, in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, USA. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The festival this year runs from Saturday 29th July through until Saturday 5th August and is an eight day showcase of independent film featuring daily screenings, workshops, panel discussions, special events, master classes, parties, awards ceremony and more. It is the oldest independent film festival on Cape Cod and the Islands. As a not-for-profit organisation, the Woods Hole Film Festival is supported by donations, sponsorships, grants, and event admissions to produce and present the excellent programming enjoyed by attendees and the film community at large.

This year, there are twenty narrative feature films, twenty-six documentary films and ten short films in the make up of the programme. A brief synopsis of the narrative feature films being showcased is given as below :-

* '7000 Miles' - from the USA and Directed by Amy Glazer. Jo Standish, a passionate young pilot, is challenged by her grandmother to live her life on her own terms, but she finds herself at a crossroads when that could mean revealing her grandmother’s long-buried secrets.

* 'A Kind of Kidnapping' - from the UK and Written and Directed by D.G. Clark. Brian and Maggie, a struggling couple, decide to kidnap London MP Richard Hardy while visiting their local area. Hoping for a big payout, they’re disappointed when Hardy’s wife refuses to pay the ransom. US Premiere.

* 'All Men Are Wicked' - from the USA and Directed by Peggy O'Sullivan and Michael Hansen. After a run in with the local hangman, a young outlaw finds himself bound and dangling by the ankles from an old ranch gate. He’s accused of robbing a stagecoach and making off with $1200 worth of bank bonds. And he isn’t alone. Strung up beside him are two others, accused of the same crime.

* 'Ariel - Back to Buenos Aires' - from Argentina and Canada and Written and Directed by Alison Murray. This is the story of a brother and sister who return to Argentina, the country of their birth, for the first time in their adult lives. Against the backdrop of the glamorous tango clubs of Buenos Aires, they uncover dark family secrets and the reason why their parents emigrated to Canada. World Premiere.

* 'Bolan's Shoes' - from the UK and Directed by Ian Puleston-Davies. This film takes us on a tumultuous journey from the height of T. Rex mania in 1970's Liverpool to the present-day poignancy of what would have been Marc Bolan’s 75th birthday. 

* 'Coyote' - from Canada and Directed by Katherine Jerkovic. A cook in his heyday, Camilo is now a worn-out fifty-year-old who works for a cleaning company. He is looking for a way to get back on track when an opportunity to rediscover his culinary passion finally presents itself.

* 'Earlybird' - from the USA and Directed by Martin Kaszubowski. A struggling theatre owner resuscitates his ailing business with off-the-wall productions, all the while losing sight of why he chose this life at all.
* 'Eden' - from Spain and Directed by Estefania Cortes. Four strangers come to Eden, a clandestine company in the middle of nature, to escape the troubles that plague them once and for all, but is it so simple to escape from the deepest trials of life? North American Premiere.

* 'Everybody Wants To Be Loved' - from Germany and Co-Written and Directed by Katharina Woll. On a blisteringly hot summer day, psychotherapist Ina notices something about her is amiss. But she doesn’t have time to worry about it, and although she wants to please everyone, a life-altering discovery changes everything.

* 'Intermedium' - from the USA and Directed by Erik Bloomquist. When an obsessive-compulsive teenager discovers her new home is haunted by the ghost of its previous occupant, she searches for a way to help him move on, only to discover they have far more in common than expected. World Premiere.

* 'Jess Plus None' - from the USA and Written and Directed by Mandy Fabian. Following a miserable breakup, Jessica must now play Maid-of-Honour at her best friend’s off-the-grid wedding in the woods, where she will be confronted by her more successful friends from college, her perfect ex-girlfriend, and every bad decision she’s made in life so far.

* 'Know Your Place' - from the USA and Directed by Zia Mohajerjasbi. Set in present-day Seattle, WA. Robel Haile, a fifteen year old Eritrean-American boy, embarks on an errand to deliver a huge and heavy suitcase across town destined for a sick family member in his parents’ homeland. He enlists the help of his best friend, Fahmi Tadesse. An unexpected turn transmutes his simple task into an odyssey across the city of Seattle.

* 'Lakelands' - from Ireland and Directed by Robert Higgins and Patrick McGivney. Taking place in a small town in the midlands of Ireland – the sort of place where Gaelic football is religion and identity is defined by what one can do on the pitch. Here, Cian Reilly, a young Gaelic footballer who struggles to come to terms with a career-ending injury after a violent attack on a night out, but then he begins a friendship with Grace, a nurse who is back in town to look after her ailing father.

* 'Let's Meet Half Way' - from the USA and Directed by Max Schmitz and Dana Dveris. A long-distance couple meet in a small town between them once a month in an attempt to save their relationship. Over the course of six months, they begin to lose grip on what they once had.

* 'My Love Affair With Marriage' - from the USA and Directed by Signe Baumane. More than anything 8-year-old Zelma wants love. Only love will make her complete, the Mythology Sirens insist. But love is elusive when you are an outcast at school and a loner at home. Zelma’s story into adulthood represents a journey of all women who try to fit in – to be the best woman they could be according to standards they did not set.

* 'Pacific Coast' - from the USA and Directed by Mark Kiefer. In this coming-of-middle-age comedy, two brothers make a road trip down the Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco to Los Angeles in order to move their somewhat estranged father into a retirement home.

* 'Scrap' - from the USA and Directed by, and starring Vivian Kerr. Beth has recently been laid off work and struggles to maintain the appearance of a successful middle-class lifestyle as she bounces around Los Angeles. Hoping to land a new job and change her situation before her estranged older brother Ben finds out, Beth must confront her own pride in order to reconnect with him and provide for her young daughter, Birdy.

* 'Somewhere Quiet' - from the USA and Directed by Olivia West Lloyd. After escaping a kidnapping, Meg travels with her husband, Scott, to his family’s isolated compound in Cape Cod. When they arrive, they discover they are not alone on the property. Scott’s odd aristocratic cousin, Madelin, is staying next door. Soon, Madelin’s presence is inescapable and Meg and Scott’s already fragile relationship begins to fracture.

* 'The Banality' - from the USA and Directed by Michael Stevantoni and Strack Azar. A small town reels from the sudden and mysterious death of 'Feral Boy', a local legend since his discovery in the woods as a child. Father Moss, a priest with a loose grip on the faith, attempts to counsel the forlorn couple that raised the boy.

* 'The Harvest' - from the USA and Directed by Caylee So. After a car accident leaves his family in need of his help, Thai returns home to Southern California, only to find his whole world in disarray. With mounting medical bills and secrets of their own, the family watches as Cher, a tough and stubborn Hmong father, suffers through the devastating effects of kidney failure.

For the full details of the Woods Hole Film Festival, the other film strands being showcased, and a whole lot more besides, you can go to the official website at : https://woodsholefilmfestival.org/festival-2023/

To tempt you out to your local big screen Odeon during the coming week, we kick start this weeks new movies with a WWII action thriller from Finland that sees an ex-Commando who discovers gold in the Lapland wilderness and tries to take his find to the nearest city some 560 miles away but first he must do battle with a group of Nazi soldiers led by a brutal SS officer. Next up we have a Sci-Fi thriller set in the near future in which a humanoid A.I.'s attempt at winning a grieving widow's heart puts it in the path of a government agent trying to stop the rise of machine consciousness. This is followed by an Aussie supernatural horror film about a group of friends who learn how to connect with the dead through an embalmed hand, ultimately unleashing terrifying supernatural forces. And closing out this week, we have a highly acclaimed Spanish offering centering around this family who has made a living from the summer harvest of their peach orchard in the Catalan town of Alcarras for generations, however, after the death of the owner of the property, his heir wants to sell the land to make way for a solar farm. 

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 week ahead.

'SISU' (Rated MA15+) - is a Finnish historical action thriller Written and Directed by Jalmari Helander in his third feature film making outing following 'Rare Exports : A Christmas Tale' in 2010 and 'Big Game' in 2014. This film has garnered generally favourable reviews, has so far grossed US$13M off the back of a US$6.5M production budget and saw its World Premier at TIFF in early September last year before its release in its native Finland in at the end of January and in the US at the end of April. 

During the last desperate days of WWII, a former legendary Finnish Commando and solitary gold prospector, Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila) crosses paths with Nazis on a scorched-earth retreat in northern Finland. When the Nazis steal his gold, they quickly discover that they have just tangled with no ordinary miner. The word 'Sisu' is a Finnish concept described as stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience, and hardiness, and is held by Finns themselves to express their national character. And so this legendary ex-commando will embody what sisu means, and no matter what the Nazis throw at him, the one-man death squad will go to outrageous lengths to get his gold back, even if it means killing every last Nazi in his path.

'SIMULANT' (Rated M) - this Canadian Sci-Fi thriller film is Directed by April Mullen whose prior feature film making credits take in her debut with 'GravyTrain' in 2010 followed by the likes of 'Dead Before Dawn' in 2012, '88' in 2015, 'Farhope Tower' also in 2015, 'Badsville' in 2017 and 'Wander' in 2020. Here, a woman named Faye (Jordana Brewster) tries to replace her newly deceased husband, Evan (Robbie Amell), with a humanoid simulator. That humanoid has to enlist a global hacker in order to remove all restrictions on his thoughts and capabilities, triggering an A.I. uprising and a government manhunt to eliminate the rise of the machine consciousness. Also starring Simu Liu and Sam Worthington. The film was released in its native Canada in early April, in the US in early June and this week here in Australia having garnered mixed or average reviews along the way.

'TALK TO ME' (Rated MA15+) - is an Australian supernatural horror film Directed by Danny and Michael Philippou in their feature film making debut. When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces. Starring Sophie Wilde, Miranda Otto and Zoe Terakes the film saw its Preview Screening at last years Adelaide Film Festival as the Closing Night Film and had its World Premiere showcasing at the Sundance Film Festival in January this year, before its release in the US and here in Australia from this week, and has garnered generally favourable reviews. 

'ALCARRAS' (Rated M) - is a Spanish Italian drama film Co-Written and Directed by Carla Simon in only her second feature film offering following 'Summer 1993' in 2017. This was film is set and was shot in the town of Alcarras in north western Spain in Catalonia, is spoken in the Catalan language and features a cast on non-professional Actors. Here, the story surrounds a family battling against the disappearance of their agricultural activities, revolving around the intention to install solar panels in an agricultural plot hitherto occupied by a peach orchard, bringing the members of the Sole family to a stand off. The film has generated universal critical acclaim, has picked up eighteen award wins, including the Golden Bear for Best Film at the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival, plus a further fifty-five nominations from around the awards and festival circuit. It has so far grossed US$3.1M. It saw its release in its native Spain in late April last year, in late May in Italy and only now is it released in Australia. 

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-

JOY RIDE : Tuesday 18th July 2023.

'JOY RIDE' (Rated MA15+), which I saw earlier this week, is an American comedy film based on a story jointly conceived by Adele Lim and Co-Produced and Directed by Adele Lim in her Directorial debut. The film saw its World Premiere screening at SXSW in mid-March this year, was released Stateside and here in Australia last week, has generated largely positive critical reviews, and has so far grossed US$12.5M.

The film opens up in the mid-1990's in the suburb of White Hills, Seattle, where Joe and Mary Sullivan (David Denman and Annie Mumolo respectively) sidle up in a kids playground to Wey and Jenny Chen (Kenneth Liu and Debbie Fan respectively) and ask if their daughter can play with their daughter. The Chinese parents looks somewhat bewilderingly at the all white American couple, until it is revealed that the Sullivan's have an adopted Chinese child, and they are looking for a young girl from the same cultural background to play with their daughter. And so begins a beautiful life long best friendship between Audrey Sullivan and Lolo Chen. 

We then fast track twenty-plus years to the present day and Audrey (Ashley Park) and Lolo (Sherry Cola) are living together still in Seattle. Audrey is a go getter over achieving type who works as a lawyer at a prestigious legal firm, while Lolo makes sex-positive art, which she has on display in her parents Chinese restaurant. Audrey is all but guaranteed a promotion to partner and a relocation to Los Angeles if she can seal a deal with a Chinese businessman. Audrey and Lolo take a trip to China, and at the airport are joined by Lolo's cousin Vanessa, nicknamed 'Deadeye' (Sabrina Wu), who is awkward in social situations, has met all her 'friends' online and is obsessed with K-pop. Once there, Audrey meets her former college roommate and close friend Kat (Stephanie Hsu), who is an Actress on a popular daytime show, and despite being sexually promiscuous in college, is engaged to her co-star and seemingly devout Christian fiance Clarence (Desmond Chiam), who is saving himself for marriage. 

The group of four meet with Chao (Ronny Chieng), the Chinese businessman at a nightclub where they play party games, drink copious quantities of alcohol which ultimately leads Audrey to vomit all over his nice clean white shirt. Chao is the forgiving kind it seems and states that in order for him to do business with Audrey, he must meet her birth family, whom she has never met. Afterall, how can he do future business with her, if he doesn't understand her past! Lolo lies to Chao that Audrey is close to her birth mother but that her father has passed away. Prior to the trip, Lolo called Audrey's adoption agency and tracked them down. Audrey reluctantly agrees to meet her birth mother and take her to a birthday party that Chao's is hosting for his 70 year old mother the following Friday. 

The four women board a train to get them to Audrey's adoption agency, where they are seated next to an American woman who has lived in China for the past five years, and as it turns out is a drug dealer. When there is an inspection of every carriage and compartment, they are forced to consume various amounts of cocaine and hide the various stashes both on, and inside their bodies. The drug dealer steals their luggage and passports and has them ejected from the train. Stranded in the middle of nowhere in rural China, Lolo contacts former NBA star Baron Davis, whose team is currently playing in China and who just happen to pick them up in their tour bus. Audrey, Lolo and Kat injure some of the players in sex-related accidents while Deadeye injures a player while dancing to K-pop later that night, causing the team to refuse to drive them to their destination the next morning. 

The group eventually makes it to their destination. There, Audrey learns that her mother had passed away and that she is in fact not Chinese but instead of Korean origin. In a final effort to secure the deal, one of Deadeye's online 'friends' secures them a private jet to get them to Seoul, but without their passports, the customs officer won't let them pass through. And so the women pretend to be a new K-pop teen idol group to pass the border, but the customs officer remains unconvinced and asks for a demonstration of their act. Lolo livestreams their performance on Instagram Live, only for Kat's skirt to inadvertently fall off, revealing a large tattoo of a devil's head and horns on her shaved vagina. They are forced instead to take a boat into mainland Korea. 

Lolo's livestream quickly goes viral, with hundreds of millions of people seeing Kat's tattooed vagina. Chao calls Audrey to inform her that the deal is off, and then Audrey is fired from her job, while Kat is now at risk of losing her television deal with her acting career practically now dead and buried. The women have a fight and split the scene. Audrey visits her grave, but meets her birth mother's husband there (Daniel Dae Kim). Her husband shows Audrey a video recorded by her birth mother before her passing and tells her that her friends had told him he might find Audrey at her birth mother's grave. Audrey returns to Seattle and reconciles her differences with Lolo and Deadeye, both now working at Lolo's parents restaurant, while Audrey confirms that she was fired from her legal firm.

Fast track one year on and Audrey, Lolo, Kat, and Deadeye are in Paris for a best-friends anniversary trip. Audrey has by now set up in business on her own with her own legal practice, Lolo is still waiting tables but has begun selling her art, Deadeye has accepted themself as nonbinary, and Kat is still engaged to Clarence, having come clean to him about her past sexual exploits with the complete A-Z of men she has slept with. 

'Joy Ride' sees four American Asian women further strengthening their relationship through a road trip that is meant to be sentimental, emotional, business-like and professional but fairly quickly turns into a foul-mouthed, oftentimes crass, sexual (mis)adventure and definitely for adults only offering that will likely turn some viewers off while it will have others rolling about the aisles with laughter. These four women on tour turn the tables on the men they all encounter from the very get go and give as good as they get if not better, which is a refreshing showcase of Asian people and women in particular in a comedy film the like of which is all to rare these days. And in first time feature Director, Adele Lim here she has crafted a film that aside from the physical sight gags and the one-liners that all come thick and fast she has also made a film about learning where you belong in the world, and the strength to be derived from family and enduring friendships. All of that said, the comedy didn't really land with me and it's only occasionally funny, but it is elevated by the obvious chemistry on display here between the four female leads and the lean 95 minute run time which is a little over half of some of the other movie epics released of late.

'Joy Ride' 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 July 2023

The 27th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival kicks off on Thursday 20th July and runs through until Wednesday 9th August. This genre film festival has been based mainly in Montreal, Canada since its founding in 1996, and focuses on niche, B-rated and low budget movies in various genres, from horror to science-fiction. By virtue of the reputation developed over the last two decades, Fantasia has been called the 'most outstanding and largest genre film festival in North America'. Its mission is to promote genre, anti-Hollywood cinema and assist independent filmmakers. Every year the programme offers master-classes and special screenings, as well as World and American Premieres, press-conferences and meetings with Actors and Directors. 

Fantasia's flagship juried section is the Cheval Noir, with the competition winners being awarded with the festival's mascot statuette, a mighty black pegasus. This section showcases a global selection of of varied genre works from new and established, groundbreaking and unconventional auteurs. There are thirteen feature films being screened within this section this year, and these are as follows :-

* 'Aporia' - from the USA and Written and Directed by Jared Moshe, this drama Sci-Fi has its World Premiere screening.

* 'The Red Rooms' - from Canada and Written and Directed by Pascal Plante, this thriller is Fantasia's Opening Night Film and sees its North American Premiere.

* 'Femme' - from the UK and Written and Directed by Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, this drama, horror, thriller LGBTQIA+ film stars George Mackay and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett in its North American Premiere. 

* 'Hippo' - from the USA and Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Mark H. Rapaport, this drama, comedy, thriller fantasy film sees its World Premiere showcasing. 

* 'Insomniacs After School' - from Japan and Co-Written and Directed by Chihiro Ikeda, this drama family romance film has its International Premiere.

* 'Lovely, Dark and Deep' - from the USA and Written and Directed by Teresa Sutherland, this horror film stars Georgina Campbell and has its World Premiere viewing.

* 'Ms. Apocalypse' - from South Korea and Written and Directed by Lim Sun-ae, this drama film has its World Premiere.

* 'Phantom' - from South Korea and Written and Directed by Lee Hae-young, this spy action thriller film has its North American Premier showcasing.

* 'River' - from Japan and Directed by Junta Yamaguchi, this comedy Sci-Fi film sees its North American Premiere screening.

* 'Stay Online' - from Ukraine and Co-Written and Directed by Eva Strelnikova, this drama action film is the first Ukrainian feature film to have been shot since the beginning of the ongoing Russian invasion, and sees its World Premiere viewing.

* 'Tiger Stripes' - from Germany, Taiwan, France and Malaysia and Written and Directed by Amanda Nell Eu, this fantasy film has its North American Premiere. 

* 'Vincent Must Die' - from France and Directed by Stephan Castang, this thriller film sees its North American Premiere.

* 'Where the Devil Roams' - from the USA and Written, Directed and starring John Adams, Zelda Adams and Toby Poser, this horror film has its World Premier screening.

For the full synopsis of the aforementioned films, plus the films showing in the other competitive strands - including the New Flesh Competition for Best First Feature, the International Short Film Competition, the Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation and the Camera Lucida, plus the special tribute of the Cheval Noir Career Award to be presented to Nicolas Cage - the 'remarkable performer responsible for bringing life to some of the most fascinating people to grace the big screen in some of the most extraordinary films ever made'. Cage's latest film offering 'Sympathy for the Devil' is also being screened in its World Premiere viewing. The Closing Night Film is 'We Are Zombies' from Canada and France and is Written and Directed by Francois Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell and also sees its World Premiere. Get all the details plus a whole lot more good stuff, from the official website at : https://fantasiafestival.com/fr which you can translate into English at the click of a button. 

This week then to tease you out to your local big screen Odeon on a cold mid-Winter's evening, we have three new movies coming your way, and we kick off with an epic biographical drama offering from an acclaimed Director with an all star cast that tells the story of the theoretical physicist who helped develop the first nuclear weapons. Next up is fantasy comedy offering from another acclaimed Director and also featuring an ensemble cast that sees a doll living in Barbieland, who’s forced to leave due to her so-called imperfections, and then embarking on an adventure in the real world; before closing out the week with a French drama film centering one man's ambition to become one of the top pastry chef's in the land. 

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three 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.

'OPPENHEIMER' (Rated MA15+) - this American biographical war drama film is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Christopher Nolan, and is based on the 2005 biography 'American Prometheus' by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. Christopher Nolan's prior film making credits take in his debut with 'Following' in 1998 then 'Momento' in 2000, 'Insomnia' in 2002, 'Inception' in 2010, 'Interstellar' in 2014, 'Dunkirk' in 2017, 'Tenet' in 2020 with the 'Batman' trilogy in between time in 2005, 2008 and 2012. The film cost US$100M to produce and is released in the UK, the USA and here in Australia this week. 

This is the story of American scientist and theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) and his role in the development of the atomic bomb, that ultimately would bring an end to WWII, and herald in the nuclear age. Also starring an ensemble cast that takes in Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer's wife, biologist and botanist Katherine 'Kitty' Oppenheimer, Matt Damon as General Leslie Groves Jr., Director of the Manhattan Project, and Robert Downey, Jr. as Lewis Strauss, a founding commissioner of the US Atomic Energy Commission. In addition, there is also Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, Benny Safdie, Dane DeHaan, Matthew Modine, Jason Clarke, David Dastmalchian, Gary Oldman, Olivia Thirlby and Tom Conti. 

'BARBIE' (Rated PG) - is a much hyped fantasy comedy film Co-Written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach and Directed by Greta Gerwig and is based on the Barbie fashion dolls by the world's second largest toy maker, Mattel. The film is the first live-action Barbie film after many computer-animated direct-to-video and streaming TV films. Greta Gerwig's previous feature film making credits are her debut with Joe Swanberg on 'Nights and Weekends' in 2008, before her breakout 'Lady Bird' in 2017, and then 'Little Women' in 2019. Here then, Barbie (Margot Robbie, who also Co-Produces here) and Ken (Ryan Gosling) are having the time of their lives in the colourful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world on a journey of self discovery they soon learn of the joys and perils of living among humans. Also starring Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Emma Mackey and Dua Lipa as alternate versions of Barbie, and Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu and John Cena as alternate versions of Ken together with Will Ferrell, Michael Cera, Rhea Perlman and America Ferrera. The film cost US$100M to produce, saw its World Premiere screening in Los Angeles earlier this month and is released worldwide from this week. 

'SUGAR AND STARS' (Rated M) - this French drama film is Directed by Sebastien Tulard in his feature film making debut. The film centres upon Yazid (Riadh Belaiche) who for as long as her can remember, has had one big passion - that of pastry making and cooking up delicious desserts for his adoptive family. At night before drifting off to sleep he would stare longingly at the pictures of his favourite pastry chefs on the wall – propelled forward by his dream of becoming a great chef just like his heroes. Securing an apprenticeship at a prestigious Parisian restaurant, he must suddenly learn to navigate the elitist pastry world under the guidance of the chefs he so idolises. Throughout his journey, Yazid must grapple with homelessness, family issues and a lack of belonging, completely set on his goal – to compete for Paris at the International Pastry Championships. With his talent and the support of true friends, Yazid might just be one step closer to finding the secret ingredient to achieving his dreams – against all odds. This film saw its World Premiere in Epernay, France in mid-January this year, went on general release in its native France in late February, saw its Australian Premiere at the French Film Festival in early March and is now on general release here in Australia from this week. 

With three 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-

MISSION : IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING, PART ONE' - Tuesday 11th July 2023.

I saw the M Rated 'MISSION : IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING, PART ONE' earlier this week, and this eagerly awaited American action spy film is the seventh film in the 'Mission : Impossible' franchise, and is a sequel to 2018's 'Mission : Impossible - Fallout'. This film is once again Directed, Co-Written and Co-Produced by Christopher McQuarrie who also helmed 'Fallout' and 2015's 'Mission : Impossible - Rogue Nation'. The first six films in the ever popular franchise grossed worldwide US$3.57B at the Box Office off the back of combined production budgets of US$828M. 'Dead Reckoning - Part Two' is slated for release on 28th June 2024 with Christopher McQuarrie again in the Director's chair with Parts One and Two being filmed back to back. This film cost US$290M to produce, and has so far grossed US$20M.

Here the film opens up on board a Russian nuclear submarine under the pack ice of the Bering Sea - The Sevastopol - with two high ranking naval officers each with one half of an interlocking key forming a crucifix like shape, insert said key into an AI device that renders the submarine invisible to other foreign vessels so allowing it to stealthily potentially invade any other country's naval fleet undetected. Up on the radar screen comes the sighting of a foreign submarine that the Captain gives the order to arm the torpedo tubes and engage. But the foreign vessel has already launched a torpedo attack on the supposed invisible Sevastopol. As the crew prepare for impact in the closing seconds the torpedo's simply disappear, as does the foreign submarine that the Sevastopol had already sent torpedo's toward. The AI device is seen going into overdrive, as its own torpedo's turn around and head back in the direction from whence they came, detonating on impact and killing every crew member on board, many of whom float to the surface only to be trapped under thick sea ice, with the Sevastopol sinking to the bottom of the sea. 

IMF Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise, who also Co-Produces here) is assigned to retrieve half of a key from his ally and disavowed MI6 Agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who has a bounty of US$50M placed on her. He travels to the Arabian Desert, engages in a gunfight during a sand storm with a bunch of bounty hunters and briefly reunites with Ilsa with them both having seen off all the hunters. After staging the scene, he tells her that to all intents and purposes she is now dead, and therefore to lay very low. 

Back in the US, Ethan infiltrates a meeting of the Community, where officials of various intelligence agencies, including former IMF Director Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) and the Director of National Intelligence Denlinger (Cary Elwes), discuss an experimental AI called the Entity. Originally designed to sabotage digital systems, the Entity turned rogue, expanded to potential sentience, and infiltrated all major defence and military systems and intelligence networks worldwide. The worlds key power players are now racing both to prevent sabotage and to gain control of the Entity, which rests with both halves of the key, although no one knows at this point what the key is for!

Ethan firmly believes that the Entity is too powerful for anyone to control, and so he vows to destroy it. He and his teammates Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) travel to Abu Dhabi International Airport to intercept the holder of the other half of the key. Ethan evades Community agents as well as Gabriel (Esai Morales), an Entity liaison with ties to his pre-IMF past, before losing the half-key to professional thief and expert pick-pocket Grace (Hayley Atwell). Meanwhile, Benji identifies an item of luggage containing a suspected explosive device sent by the Entity, and he races through the back of house baggage conveyer to locate it and defuse it. With the device counting down from four minutes with a series of riddles to answer, Benji is successful in disarming what turns out to be a fake nuclear device. Rattled by the Entity's seeming foresight and the appearance of Gabriel, Ethan goes after Grace alone, and tells Benji and Luther to abort their mission. Ethan is able to dodge past the Community agents with Grace evading Ethan who boards her planned flight to Rome. When in Rome however, she is picked up by the local Police revealing that she is wanted in several countries for theft, extortion, bribery etc. and is in possession of about a dozen different passports all bearing photographs of her likeness. 

In Rome, Ethan tracks down Grace by pretending to be her lawyer, before Community agents and Gabriel close in. After a lengthy high speed car chase through the streets and alleyways of Rome Grace escapes again, but Ethan is picked up by his team and Ilsa. With Benji and Luther providing support, Ethan and Ilsa infiltrate a party held by arms dealer Alanna Mitsopolis (Vanessa Kirby), aka 'The White Widow' in Venice, hoping to find the buyer for the complete key, as well as what it unlocks. Grace is also present as is Gabriel. Grace delivers the half-key to Alanna while Ethan fails to talk Alanna out of selling the key. 

Gabriel delivers an ultimatum to Ethan, saying that he must choose which one of Grace or Ilsa is to die. The team scatters, with Ethan being chased down on foot by Paris (Pom Klementieff), a stone cold French assassin working for Gabriel. Ethan faces off in a gated at either end narrow alleyway against Paris and one of her colleagues, overpowering them both, but sparring their lives. Gabriel meanwhile knocks Grace out and kills Ilsa before Ethan arrives on the scene. He is devastated by her loss.

Grace is wracked by remorse over the death of Ilsa and is convinced to join Ethan's team. They prepare to board the Innsbruck-bound Orient Express train where Alanna plans to meet the buyer. Luther leaves for an off-grid location to investigate traces of the Entity on his hard drive. On the train, Gabriel kills the conductor, destroys the brakes and fires up the engine to gain maximum speed. He meets Denlinger, who proposes an alliance between himself and the Entity. Denlinger explains the complete key unlocks the chamber containing the computer of Sevastopol, a Russian submarine sunk by its own torpedo. An early version of the Entity was injected into the system with the task of sabotaging the submarine's stealth capability, but it instead tricked the Sevastopol into destroying itself. This early version is still on the submarine, and whoever can access it can devise the means to either control or destroy the Entity. Gabriel kills Denlinger and attempts to kill Paris to ensure only he knows about the key’s purpose. He further says to Paris that she will betray him to Ethan, because he spared her life. Grace reluctantly agrees to impersonate Alanna, as long as Ethan is standing right beside her in disguise, but the machine which 3D prints their face masks fails as Ethan's masks is being printed. Grace goes it alone disguised as Alanna and brings the complete key to the buyer, who turns out to be Kittridge. Though tempted to betray Ethan for a reward of US$100M and protection for her very good friend Grace, she sides with Ethan just as the bank transfer gives the command to accept or decline the transfer of monies, and so presses decline. She then pickpockets the key from Kittridge, and flees back up the train. 

Ethan, meanwhile, in constant radio contact with Benji is riding his motorbike alongside the Orient Express with the intention of jumping onto it when it slows down to take a bend in the tracks. Little do the pair know that Gabriel has sabotaged the train and it is accelerating uncontrollably. Ethan misses the crossing point and so Benji directs him up to the next point when he can intercept the train. This leads Ethan to ride up narrow mountain paths and fire trails, until he comes to a halt on the edge of a perilous cliff. Benji asks Ethan if he can see the train to which he responds with a yes, and then tells Ethan to jump off the cliff as he has a parachute on his back. And so Ethan does just that, and rides his motorbike off a cliff and successfully lands in the train saving Grace from being shot by Zola Mitsopolis (Frederick Schmidt), Alanna's brother, but Gabriel escapes with the key. 

Ethan overpowers Gabriel on the roof of the speeding train but is prevented from killing him by Community agents Briggs (Shea Whigham) and Degas (Greg Tarzan Davis). Gabriel escapes the train and initiates a countdown to detonate the viaduct bridge crossing ahead. Grace and Ethan detach the locomotive from the other carriages and save the passengers, but they are not able to escape. 

Just as they are about to plunge down the broken bridge, they are saved by Paris, who is near death. Paris mutters to Ethan of the Sevastopol before falling unconscious. As Ethan flees the train with a one-man chute, he tells Grace that she can trust Kittridge and that she should join the IMF. Grace then informs Kittridge that she has chosen to join IMF. Ethan meets with Benji when he lands at the bottom of the valley and they drive off with the key that Ethan pickpocketed during the fight with Gabriel, who is seen very angry indeed that his precious key has been replaced with a Zippo lighter. 

With 'Mission : Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One' Writer, Producer and Director McQuarrie and Producer and star Cruise have crafted another non-stop, heart pounding action joy ride in this franchise that is now 27 years old, and for which Cruise has been playing the titular lead character for almost half his life. And at age 61 now, Tom Cruise does not seem to be letting up on the action set pieces as he prefers to work all his stunts, firmly in the belief that this is what the audience wants to see, and it's what gets bums on seats. And who can argue with that, because it seems to be paying off as 'Top Gun : Maverick' and early reviews of this latest 'M:I' offering would attest to. The film boasts a stellar cast who are all on point, a plot-line that is firmly planted in the present, well choreographed action set pieces that will keep you glued to the screen, stunning locations, a smattering of suspense, some occasional wry humour, and at a run time of just above 160 minutes that flies by and will never leave you wanting. My only criticism is all the angst ridden dialogue around 'The Entity' which if it is mentioned once, it is referenced a hundred times rendering it more like gobbledegook mumbo jumbo rather than the creation of a whole new world order that is implied. That said, next years 'Part Two' can't come soon enough.

'Mission : Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-