What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 1st August 2024.

The 22nd Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival kicks off on Friday 2nd August and runs through until Saturday 10th August on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, USA. This highly regarded Oscar-qualifying festival showcases the best of black cinema, featuring independent films, acclaimed documentaries, panel discussions, and exclusive events. The MVAAFF is committed to promoting diversity in the film industry, providing a platform for black and brown filmmakers to share their unique perspectives and stories. Over the past 22 years, the festival has grown into a premier event, attracting A-list talent and audiences from around the world. 

This years Opening Night film is 'Sing Sing' Directed by Greg Kwedar and tells the story of a group of prisoners at Sing Sing Correctional Facility who attempt to stage their own original stage production. The film stars Colman Domingo and Paul Raci. Peacock’s upcoming limited series 'Fight Night : The Million Dollar Heist' will lead the Closing Night festivities and stars Kevin Hart, Don Cheadle, Taraji P. Henson and Chloe Bailey.

The other feature films and feature documentaries being showcased are :-

* 'Freedom Hair' Directed by Diane Houston. 

* 'Billy Preston : That's The Way God Planned It' Directed by Paris Barclay.

* 'Bike Vessel' Directed by Eric D. Seals.

* 'Time II : Unfinished Business' Directed by Fox Rich.

* 'Black Table' Directed by John Antonio James and Bill Mack.

* 'Respect My Crown : The Rise of African American Women in Californian Politics' Directed by Pamela Bright-Moon.

* 'Young King' Directed by Bryant T. Griffin.

* 'Daughters' Directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae.

* 'He Looked Like a Postcard' Directed by Qasim Basir.

* 'The South Got Something To Say' Directed by Ryon Justin Horne and Tyson Alan Horne.

* 'A Radical Act : Renee Montgomery' Directed by Sandrine Orabona.

* 'Ol' Dirty Bastard : A Tale of Two Dirtys' Directed by Sam Pollard and Jason Pollard.

* 'False Positive' Directed by Ismail Al-Amin.

* 'The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat' Directed by Tina Mabry. 

* 'Albany Road' Directed by Christine Swanson.

* 'A King Like Me' Directed by Matthew O. Henderson.

* 'The Debutantes' Directed by Contessa Gayles.

* 'Luther : Never Too Much' Directed by Dawn Porter.

* 'It Was All A Dream' Directed by dream hampton.

For a brief synopsis of the above named feature films and documentaries, plus details of the short films being showcased and more besides, you can go to the official website at : https://www.mvaaff.com

Looking then at this weeks slew of seven new movies coming to your local Odeon, we begin with an American psychological thriller from an acclaimed Director that is partly inspired by a real life Police sting operation, whereby here a serial killer is trapped inside a concert venue as he and his young daughter attend a concert that is surrounded by law enforcement officers intent on capturing him. This is followed by an American comedy drama that sees a washed-up stand-up comedian co-parenting his autistic son with his ex-wife, when faced with crucial decisions about the boys future, father and son go on a life-changing cross-country road trip together. Next up we have a Canadian slasher offering about how a locket is removed from a collapsed fire tower in the remote woods that entombs a rotting corpse of a vengeful spirit spurred on by a horrific 70-year old crime, with his body being resurrected and hellbent on retrieving it, no matter what it takes. Then we turn to an American crime thriller about an ex-homicide detective with memory loss who is forced to solve a brutal murder, only to uncover chilling secrets from his forgotten past. Following on from this is the story of three life-long friends who travel to Key West, Florida, to be bridesmaids at a surprise wedding of their friend from college. Then we have a documentary drama that follows the unsolved Burger Chef Murders of 1978 that claimed the lives of four teenagers in Speedway, Indiana. And closing out the week is a New Zealand historical action film, spoken in traditional Maori, that is set in New Zealand in 1864, and follows the story of a crucial conflict of the nation's first land warfare, fought between Maori and imperial soldiers against overwhelming odds.

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

'TRAP' (Rated M) - is an American psychological thriller film Written, Co-Produced and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan who made his breakthrough with 'The Sixth Sense' in 1999 and which he would follow up with the likes of 'Unbreakable' in 2000, 'The Village' in 2004, 'The Visit' in 2015, 'Split' in 2016, 'Glass' in 2019, 'Old' in 2021 and 'Knock at the Cabin' in 2023. 

The film centres on a serial killer Cooper, dubbed 'The Butcher' (Josh Hartnett) who goes to a Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan) concert with his teenage daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue). Mid-way through the concert he realises that the concert is a trap set by law enforcement in an attempt to catch him. Also starring Hayley Mills, Alison Pill and Kid Cudi, the film is released in the US this week too.

'EZRA' (Rated M) - this American comedy drama film is Co-Produced and Directed by Tony Goldwyn whose previous Directorial credits take in his debut with 'A Walk on the Moon' in 1999, 'Someone Like You' in 2001, 'The Last Kiss' in 2006 and 'Conviction' in 2010, although he has also helmed numerous TV episodes, and has many acting credits to his name too. This film follows Max Bernal (Bobby Cannavale), a stand-up comedian living with his father Stan (Robert De Niro), while struggling to co-parent his autistic son Ezra (William Fitzgerald) with his ex-wife Jenna (Rose Byrne). When forced to confront difficult decisions about their son's future, Max and Ezra embark on a cross-country road trip that has a transcendent impact on both their lives. Also starring Vera Farmiga, Whoopi Goldberg, Rainn Wilson and Tony Goldwyn, the film saw its World Premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival back in September last year, was released Stateside at the end of May and only now is it released here in Australia having so far grossed US$3.2M and has generated mixed or average reviews. 

'IN A VIOLENT NATURE' (Rated R18+) - is a Canadian slasher film Written and Directed by Chris Nash that saw its World Premiere at this year Sundance Film Festival at the end of January in the Midnight programme, was released in the US at the end of May, is released in Australia this week and on streaming service Shudder at some future date. When a group of teenagers takes a locket from a collapsed fire tower out in the Ontario wilderness, they unwittingly resurrect the rotting corpse of Johnny (Ry Barrett), a vengeful spirit spurred on by a horrific 60-year old crime. The undead killer soon embarks on a bloody rampage to retrieve the stolen locket, methodically slaughtering anyone who gets in his way. The film has so far grossed US$4.5M and has garnered generally positive critical acclaim. 

'SLEEPING DOGS' (Rated MA15+) - this American crime thriller film is Co-Written for the screen, Co-Produced and Directed by Adam Cooper in his feature length Directing debut, and is based on the 2017 novel 'The Book of Mirrors' by E.O. Chirovici. Roy Freeman (Russell Crowe) is an ex-homicide detective with Alzheimer's who is undergoing experimental treatment to help him regain some memories, and who is forced to revisit a case he can't remember. As a man's life hangs in the balance on death row, Freeman must piece together the brutal evidence from a decade-old murder investigation, uncovering a sinister web of buried secrets and betrayals linking to his past. With only instincts to trust, he faces a chilling truth, sometimes, it's best to let sleeping dogs lie. Also starring Karen Gillan, Marton Csokas and Tommy Flanagan, the film was released in the US in late March and has received mixed or average reviews. 

'THE FABULOUS FOUR' (Rated M) - is an American comedy film Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, whose prior film making credits include 'Proof' in 1991, 'How to Make an American Quilt' in 1995, 'A Thousand Acres' in 1997 and 'The Dressmaker' in 2015. Here, a group of three life-long friends Lou, Alice and Kitty (Susan Sarandon, Megan Mullally, and Sheryl Lee Ralph respectively) travel to Key West, Florida, to be bridesmaids in the surprise wedding of their best college girlfriend Marilyn (Bette Midler). Over the course of one outrageous trip, sisterhoods are rekindled, the past resurfaces, and there are enough sparks, raunch, and romance to change all their lives in unexpected ways. Also starring Bruce Greenwood and Michael Bolton, the film was released in the US last week and has generated mixed or average reviews.

'THE SPEEDWAY MURDERS' (Rated M) - this true crime mystery docudrama is Written and Directed by Adam Kamien and Luke Rynderman, and charts the 'The Burger Chef' murders that took place at a Burger Chef restaurant in Speedway, Indiana, USA, on the night of Friday, 17th November 1978. Four young employees went missing in what was initially thought to be a petty theft of cash from the restaurant's safe. By Saturday morning it became a clear case of robbery-kidnapping, and by Sunday, when their bodies were discovered in a woodland area some thirty miles away, a case of murder. While investigators believe they have identified some or all of the perpetrators, without physical evidence they have not been able to prosecute those who remain alive. This is that story of Assistant Manager Jayne Friedt aged 20, Daniel Davis aged 16, Mark Flemmonds aged 16 and Ruth Ellen Shelton aged 18 as portrayed by Essie Randles, Joseph Cumpston, Nya Cofie and Davida McKenzie respectively. 

'KA WHAWHAI TONU : STRUGGLE WITHOUT END' (Rated M) - this New Zealand historical action film is Directed by Mike Jonathan in his debut feature film, although he has previously helmed two feature length documentaries - 'The Road to the Globe' in 2012, and 'Freezing Works' in 2015 with a number of short films and TV series in between and since. Set in New Zealand in 1864, the film follows the story of a pivotal battle in the first land wars fought in New Zealand’s Waikato region. Amidst the chaos of the infamous 1864 siege of Orakau, two teenagers Haki and Kopu (Paku Fernandez and Hinerangi Harawira-Nicholas respectively) must seize command of their destinies and fight for freedom. Facing insuperable odds, the Maori tribes defiantly stand their ground in a struggle for sovereignty against the relentless advance of colonial forces. Presented in te reo Maori, this ambitious historical drama tells the story of a critical moment in New Zealand history from a Maori perspective. Also starring Temuera Morrison, Cliff Curtis and Jason Flemyng. 

With seven 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-

LONGLEGS : Tuesday 23rd July 2024.

I saw the MA15+ rated 'LONGLEGS' at my local multiplex earlier this week, and this American horror film is Written and Directed by Osgood Perkins, whose prior feature film credits take in his debut with 'The Blackcoat's Daughter' in 2015, then 'I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House' in 2016, 'Gretel & Hansel' in 2020 with 'The Monkey' based on a 1980 short story by Stephen King set for a cinema release in February 2025. Released in the US last week, this film has garnered generally positive reviews and has so far grossed US$59M off the back of a production budget of less than US$10M. 

The film opens with car driving along a snow covered road and coming to halt outside a remote house. It is Oregon, sometime in the 1970's. A little girl observes the car, puts on a winter jacket and goes outside to investigate. She follows a strange voice coming from behind the house and is confronted by a man wearing pale makeup and long white straggly hair who is acting erratically. 

We then fast forward to sometime in the 1990's, and newly recruited FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) seems to posses the gift of intuition in the field, as is evidenced when she correctly points to a local house on a cookie-cutter estate in which a murderer is hiding, and whom she captures, but not before the murderer had gunned down Agent Horatio Fisk (Dakota Daulby), Harker's partner while he was conducting a routine house to house enquiry.

As a result of her testing for possible precognition she is assigned to a decades-long case of a series of brutal murder/suicides involving families throughout Oregon state. In each incident, the father brutally murdered his wife and children before taking his own life, and left behind at each crime scene a letter with cryptic, seemingly Satanic coding, that is signed 'Longlegs'. The handwriting belongs to none of the victims, despite no forensic evidence of any home invasion or third parties having been present.

While Harker is talking on the phone one night to her mother, she is visited by a mysterious figure who leaves behind a 9th birthday card with a coded message. Harker decodes the text with the aid of a Bible, which states that if she reveals to anyone how she figured out the code, Longlegs will kill her mother. Harker is able to quickly connect certain similarities between the families, namely that each had at least one nine-year-old daughter born on the 14th of the month, and the murders all occurred within six days before or after the birthday itself. When scribed out on a linear calendar, the dates of the murders form an occult symbol of an inverted triangle, with one date missing to complete the shape. 

Armed with a clue, Harker and her supervisor, Agent Carter (Blair Underwood) travel to a remote farmstead some eighty miles away and there upstairs in a barn, unearth a doll buried under the floorboards of one of the former crime scenes. A forensics expert performs an autopsy on the life size and realistic looking doll and inside its head, find a strange metal orb that emits high energy sounds despite being empty inside. Despite Carter's skepticism of the supernatural, Harker hatches a theory that each family received a similar doll from Longlegs, and he has been infusing the orbs within each doll with some sort of evil energy that can possess and influence those in close proximity to it. Carter grows concerned that Harker is connected to Longlegs after seeing hints of Longlegs' knowledge of Harker and her mother Ruth (Alicia Witt).

Harker visits her mother who still lives in the same home that she grew up in, who denies any memory of her daughters 9th birthday but subtly directs her to search through her childhood belongings, as she never throws anything out. Harker finds a chest in her childhood bedroom containing a pile of Polaroids. Among them is a picture of the pale-faced man, revealing her to be the girl from the films introduction. Knowing now that she was visited by Longlegs (Nicolas Cage, who also Co-Produces here), she hands the picture over to Carter, allowing the FBI to track him down and arrest him at a bus stop with two suitcases containing letters written in the same Satanic code.

After realising the missing date on the inverted triangle is that day, Harker believes Longlegs may have an accomplice. In the interrogation room, he tells her that he serves 'the man downstairs'. He tells Harker to question her mother's involvement in his crimes, proclaiming 'Hail Satan' before repeatedly slamming his face and jaw into the metal table, finally killing himself after splintering open his forehead and nose. 

Agent Carter is somewhat distressed that Harker's line of questioning led Longlegs to kills himself so bringing their investigations to a premature end. Agent Browning (Michelle Choi-Lee) seeing that Harker is in no fit state to drive herself, drives Harker back to her mother's home. While investigating the house, Harker witnesses her mother unloading with both barrels of a shotgun on Browning who was waiting patiently in the car for Harker to return. Harker then stumbles to a back yard and sees Ruth shooting the head off a doll resembling a young nine-year-old Harker, causing her to lose consciousness.

Seen in flashback, it is revealed that Ruth has been Longlegs' accomplice ever since Lee's encounter with him as a child. Longlegs returned in the night to attack and subdue Ruth, forcing her to make a choice—let her daughter be murdered as part of the ritual, or to comply with his wishes to spare her. She complied, leaving Lee to be the missing birthday on the triangle. Longlegs has lived in the Harker house basement ever since, creating dolls he would infuse with his Satanic magic. Ruth would pose as a nun delivering a gift from the church to bring the dolls to the families who are then possessed and proceed to kill one another. Lee's doll has been guiding her with the Satanic influence of Longlegs since that time.

Coming around in the basement to the sound of a distant phone ringing, Harker makes her way upstairs to the kitchen and answers the phone to hear a demonic voice proclaim, 'You're late for Ruby's party'. Realising Agent Carter's daughter, Ruby (Ava Kelders), has her ninth birthday that day and that the Carters' deaths would complete Longlegs' triangle, Harker races over to the Carter household to intervene, only to discover that Ruth had already delivered the doll to the family, who are all already possessed. After Carter murders his wife in the kitchen, Harker shoots and kills Carter to protect Ruby. Ruth stands up maniacally brandishing a dagger, leaving Harker little option but to shoot and kill her mother with a bullet to the forehead. Harker tries to shoot the doll's head, but her gun is either out of ammunition or it jams. She then tells Ruby they need to leave but remains transfixed on the doll. 

With 'Longlegs' Director and scribe Osgood Perkins has crafted a chilling and thrilling slow burn police procedural horror film that is akin to 'Silence of the Lambs' with a little bit of 'Se7en' thrown in for good measure, and his film succeeds on almost every level. Maika Monroe's performance is a stand-out and Nicolas Cage still has what it takes to play the gonzo bat-shit crazy unhinged role that this film requires. The film mixes the supernatural with the psychological all woven together in a neat package that is at once terrifying, creepy and will crawl under your skin and hibernate there long after the end credits have rolled. 

'Longlegs' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 25th July 2024.

The 33rd Woods Hole Film Festival kicks off on Saturday 27th July and runs through until Saturday 3rd August and is both an in-person and a virtual event. The festival is an eight day showcase of independent film featuring daily screenings, workshops, panel discussions, special events, master classes, parties, awards ceremony and more. Held annually from the last Saturday of July through to the first Saturday of August, it is the oldest independent film festival on Cape Cod and the Islands of the US state of Massachusetts. The festival programmes and events are designed for filmmakers and non-filmmakers alike, in fact anyone who is interested in the moving image.

The feature films being showcased take in the following titles :-

* 'Abroad' - from the USA and South Korea and Directed by Giovanni Fumu.

* 'African Giants' - from the USA and Directed by Omar S. Kamara.

* 'Agua Sala (Salt Water)' - from Colombia and Directed by Steven Morales Pineda.

* 'All Happy Families' - from the USA and Directed by Haroula Rose.

* 'Champions of the Golden Valley' - from the USA and Directed by Ben Sturgulewski.

* 'Crookedfinger' - from the USA and Directed by Julia Halperin and Jason Cortlund.

* 'Egghead & Twinkie' - from the USA and Directed by Sarah Kambe Holland.

* 'Hangdog' - from the USA and Directed by Matt Cascella.

* 'Him w/ Fast Food' - from the USA and Directed by Rebecca Wahls.

* 'If That Mockingbird Don't Sing' - from the USA and Directed by Sadie Bones.

* 'Katie's Mom' - from the USA and Directed by Tyrrell Shaffner.

* 'Lie of the Land' - from the UK and Ireland and Directed by John Carlin.

* 'Lost Nation' - from the USA and Directed by Jay Craven.

* 'Okie' - from the USA and Directed by Kate Cobb.

* 'Porcelain War' - from Australia, the USA and Ukraine and Directed by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev.

* 'Riley' - from the USA and Directed by Benjamin Howard.

* 'The Body Politic' - from the USA and Directed by Gabriel Francis and Paz Goodenough.

* 'The Compatriots' - from the USA and Directed by Spencer Cohen.

* 'The Rhapsodist' - from Greece and Directed by Nikolai Hamel.

* 'The Strangers Case' - from Jordan and Directed by Brandt Andersen.

* 'Three Birthdays' - from the USA and Directed by Jane Weinstock.

* 'We Strangers' - from the USA and Directed by Anu Valia.

For the summaries of the above named feature films, plus all the details of the documentaries, shorts and a whole heap of other good stuff, you can go to the official website at : https://woodsholefilmfestival.org

Turning attention then back on this weeks hottest new movies to grace a cinema near you this week, we have a truly international selection kicking off with the third instalment in this long awaited franchise that sees two Superheroes, one recovering from his injuries and the other described as the Merc with a Mouth, teaming up to defeat a common enemy. Next up we have a British horror offering centring around a family living deep in the wilds of English woodland, where a young girl witnesses her father undergo a terrible transformation. This is followed by a Spanish drama of the buried memories of the Spanish Civil War being unearthed as a woman searches for the remains of her great grandfather and discovers the story of an idealistic young teacher from Tarragona. Then we turn to a Mexican film about a seven-year-old girl who spends the day at her grandfather's home, for a surprise party for her father, but as nightfall approaches, she comes to understand that her world is about to change dramatically. Next is a French comedy about two down-on-their-luck friends who set up a company running horse trekking tours in the French Pyrenees mountains, in order to turn around their fortunes; and closing out the week we have an Australian family animated movie about a young sloth who moves to the big city with her family, where they all must adapt to life in the fast lane, whilst remembering and honouring their familial and cultural practises.

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

'DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE' (Rated MA15+) - this much hyped, eagerly awaited and highly anticipated American Superhero film is based on the Marvel Comics characters Deadpool and Wolverine, and is the 34th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and a sequel to 2016's 'Deadpool' and 2018's 'Deadpool 2'. Those first two films in the franchise grossed a total US$1.57B at the worldwide Box Office off the back of a combined production budget of US$168M. Tim Miller Directed that first instalment with David Leitch on duty for the second, and Shawn Levy taking the helm on this third offering, who also gets a Co-Writer and a Co-Producer credit too.

Six years following the events of 'Deadpool 2' Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) lives a quiet life, having left his time as the mercenary Deadpool behind him, until the Time Variance Authority (TVA), a bureaucratic organisation that exists outside of time and space and monitors the timeline, pulls him into a new mission. With his home universe facing an existential threat, Wilson reluctantly joins an even more reluctant Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) on a mission that will change the history of the MCU. Also starring Emma Corrin, Matthew Macfadyen, Morena Baccarin, Brianna Hildebrand, Jennifer Garner and Dafne Keen.

'THE BEAST WITHIN' (Rated CTC) - this UK horror film is Co-Written and Directed by Alexander J. Farrell in his debut feature film after helming a number of documentaries that are 'Lighthouse Lesvos' in 2016, 'Refugee' in 2018 and 'Making a Killing' in 2023. After a series of strange events leads her to question her family's isolated life on a fortified compound deep in the English wilds, 10-year-old Willow (Caoilinn Springall) follows her parents on one of their secret late-night treks to the heart of the ancient forest. But upon witnessing her father (Kit Harrington) undergo a terrible transformation, she too becomes ensnared by the dark ancestral secret they've tried so desperately to conceal. Also starring James Cosmo, Ashleigh Cummings, and Caylee Cowan.  

'THE TEACHER WHO PROMISED THE SEA' (Rated M) - is a Spanish historical drama film, is Directed by Patricia Font and is based on the book by Francesc Escribano. The film traces the story of Catalan teacher Antoni Benaiges (Enric Auquer), destined in 1935 to a small village in the province of Burgos (introducing innovative and inspiring teaching methods from France among the children before being murdered by Falangists during the Civil War), as well as the present-day story of Ariadna (Laia Costa), searching for her great-grandfather, who disappeared during the Spanish Civil War. The film saw its World Premiere screening in late October last year at the Valladolid International Film Festival, has generated positive critical acclaim and has so far grossed €1.7M.

'TOTEM' (Rated M) - this Mexican, Danish and French Co-Production is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by the Mexican Lila Aviles and is her second feature film following her 2018 debut with 'The Chambermaid'. This film was entered into the main competition at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival, where it saw its World Premiere screening and went onto win the Ecumenical Award for Best Film, and it was also selected for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at this years awards ceremony. Here then, Sol (Naima Senties), a seven-year-old girl, goes to her grandfather's home, where her aunts Nuri (Montserrat Maranon) and Alejandra (Marisol Gase) are throwing a birthday party for her father. It is probably his last, so in a sense it is also a farewell ceremony. With the onset of dusk, an unfamiliar and unrestrained atmosphere takes over, breaking the family bonds. For Sol, the world is about to change as she learns the essence of letting go and feels the breath of life. 'Totem' has garnered universal critical acclaim and has so far grossed just US$165K, and has collected twenty wins and a further forty-four nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit.

'PETAOUCHNOK' (Rated M) - aka 'Wilderness Therapy' is a French comedy offering Co-Written and Directed by Edouard Deluc whose first feature film was 'Welcome to Argentina' in 2012, and which he followed up in 2017 with 'Gauguin : Voyage to Tahiti' with Vincent Cassel in the title role. Deep in the Pyrenees, two close friends, Ludo (Pio Marmai) and Richard (Philippe Rebbot), who have hit rock bottom have the idea of the century - to pull themselves out of their misery, they will launch a horse trekking tour, a voyage through the mountains for tourists in search of nature, silence and adventure. What could possibly go wrong??? 

'THE SLOTH LANE' (Rated PG) - this Australian animated family adventure film is Directed by Tania Vincent and Ricard Cusso and Co-Written by Tania Vincent too. The storyline here is that 12-year-old sloth Laura (voiced by Teo Vergara) is devastated when a big storm destroys her family’s restaurant and forces them to relocate from the peaceful countryside to the big city. The sloths take only their prized family recipe book with them – and an old van. They open a food truck, and soon business is booming. There's just one problem. Famous entrepreneur Dotti Pace (voiced by Leslie Jones) – a cheetah with big ambitions and a failing fast-food chain – is determined to buy their family business. When the sloths decline to sell, Dotti resorts to nefarious tactics to steal their family legacy. Can Laura stop her before it’s too late? 

With six 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-

TWISTERS : Tuesday 16th July 2024.

I saw the M Rated 'TWISTERS' at my local multiplex this week, and this American action adventure disaster film is Directed by Lee Isaac Chung who rose to fame and recognition with 'Minari' in 2020 which went on to collect 122 award wins and a further 245 nominations from around the awards and festival circuit. This film is a stand alone sequel to the 1996 film 'Twister' which starred Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, was Directed Jan de Bont and grossed US$495M against a production budget of US$90M. This film had a production budget of about US$180M and was released stateside this week on 19th July, has so far grossed US$31M and has received positive critical acclaim.

The films opens up with a team of storm chasers in Oklahoma, led by Kate Copper (Daisy Edgar-Jones), her love interest Jeb (Daryl McCormack), Javi (Anthony Ramos), Addy (Kiernan Shipka) and Praveen (Nik Dodani) as they battle against all odds to suck the energy out of a category EF5 tornado armed with barrels of a compound akin to what they make disposable nappies from. Initially expecting the said tornado to be a category EF1 or EF2 it quickly spirals into a category EF5 leaving the gang of five to attempt to take shelter under a road bridge, only for Praveen to be sucked into the vortex followed quickly by Addy and then Jeb while he is trying to protect Kate who is clinging onto a railing for dear life. In the heat of the moment Kates leg is badly slashed by a piece of flying debris. She emerges sometime later to a countryside laid to waste.

We then fast forward five years and Kate is seen working at a New York meteorology office and has seemingly settled into her new life and far away from chasing down twisters in Oklahoma's Tornado Alley. Into the office that same day sidles Javi who is now a well meaning entrepreneur with a plan to lure Kate back to Oklahoma by using some of the latest 3D image capturing devices to gain a far better understanding of what makes tornado's tick. Javi meanwhile seems to be on the payroll of a morally corrupt real estate agent wanting to purchase the land for a song from the victims of the tornado's devastating impacts and when they are at their most vulnerable. Kate is initially dismissive of Javi's suggestion, but soon comes round and takes a week off work to study tornado's up close and personal as storm season ramps up across Oklahoma. 

Arriving in Oklahoma at a meeting point with a rag tag bunch of other amateur storm chasers, Kate meets Tyler Owens (Glen Powell) who goes by the moniker of 'Tornado Wrangler' - a seemingly charming but often reckless social media superstar who thrives on posting to his own YouTube channel his storm chasing exploits and has had over one million views. On Tyler's team there is also Boone (Brandon Perea) the videographer, Lilly (Sasha Lane) the drone operator, Dexter (Tunde Adebimpe) and Dani (Katy O'Brian) a mechanic, as well as Ben (Harry Hadden-Paton) a south London journalist who is profiling Tyler. We are also introduced to Scott (David Corenswet) - Javi's business partner. 

What follows is a series of twisters that both Javi and Tyler compete for to get there first before said tornado's slice a swathe of destruction through central Oklahoma leaving levelled towns and villages in their wake. In the meantime, we have Javi and Scott coming to blows over Javi's steadfast belief in Kate's ability to locate the next twister just by looking at the cloud formations, the direction the wind is blowing and how much precipitation there is in the air; plus Javi's belief that they should stop and help the clean up efforts at the devastated towns they pass through rather that Scott's POV that they should call in their unscrupulous real estate business partner.

And then there is the interest that Kate and Tyler are developing for each other. Kate decides to look up her Mum, Cathy (Maura Tierney) whom she hasn't seen or spoken to in a long while and who lives on a farm a couple of hours drive away. The pair reconnect and the next day Tyler rocks up unexpectedly and is invited to stay overnight by Cathy. In the shed on the farm property lies Kate's mock up of small town with a large fan placed underneath with which she used to create her own indoor tornado's as part of her scientific experiments, plus all of her note books journalling her theories, successes and failures. All of this leads Tyler and Kate to contact Javi and ask him for the hard-drive of the 3D images that they had so far captured from targeting a twister. This data in turn enables them to determine with greater accuracy the validity of Kate's earlier hypothesis. Armed with this data, and about a dozen barrels of sodium polyacrylate (the super absorbent compound found in those disposable nappies), the pair venture out to locate the next twister and release the stuff. 

The pair arrive in El Reno, Oklahoma and can see that a twister is already forming and making its presence felt on the outskirts of the town. The local townsfolk all begin to scatter and panic as the tornado forms into an EF5 and so begins its destructive force on the town. Javi and Scott are in hot pursuit and observing that a desperate situation is about to unfold on El Reno, Javi says that they need to go and help while Scott is adamant that they need to give their real estate contact the heads-up, and to forget about the people of the soon to be flattened town. Javi wins the day and leaves Scott abandoned on the side of the road out of town. 

With a tornado bearing down Tyler, Kate and Javi corral as many of the townsfolk as they can into a local movie theatre for protection from the storm, however, the roof gets ripped off as does the outer wall in front of which is the cinema screen, with Tyler barely clinging on to Lilly from being sucked out into the vortex. In the meantime, Kate has driven Tyler's truck into the base of the tornado and has successfully launched the sodium polyacrylate into the heart of the twister, with it having the desired effect and effectively drying out the tornado from within. Within a couple of minutes the storm has eased, and so Tyler and Javi run across the field to Kate's aid.

In the closing scene Javi drops Kate off at the airport to catch her return flight home to New York. Tyler pulls up in his truck and the two men bid an uneasy farewell to Kate, with Kate's closing words to Tyler being his own credo 'if you feel it, chase it!' Standing at the departure gate Kate hears a message that her flight has been delayed due to a severe weather warning at which point Tyler emerges by her side and the pair leave the airport together.

'Twisters' is certainly worth the price of your cinema ticket, and for all the expertly rendered CGI effects this film makes for compelling viewing on a big screen as the cloud formations, the swirling violent vortex of the twisters themselves, the flying debris and the destruction on the ground in the aftermath are writ large on a grand scale. Both Powell and Edgar-Jones give convincing performances which helps in carrying the storyline forward in a grounded and realistic manner, although a little bit of a romantic relationship between the pair would not have gone amiss either. Whilst it is more than likely to cement its place as one of this season's blockbuster offerings, I couldn't help feel that the plot was a little predictable, and just a rehash of the 1996 original brought up to date with modern day effects and lots of scientific mumbo jumbo that you have to take with a handful of salt. That said, Director Lee Isaac Chung has crafted a film that is sure to please fans of the disaster genre, and offer up something new to those fans unfamiliar with its predecessor.

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

-Steve, at Odeon Online-