LEE : Monday 28th October 2024

I saw the M Rated 'LEE' earlier this week, and this British biographical drama film is Directed by Ellen Kuras in her feature film making debut, and is based on the 1985 biography 'The Lives of Lee Miller' written by Antony Penrose. It saw its World Premiere showcasing at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September 2023, was released in the UK in mid-September this year, in the US at the end of September, has so far grossed US$15.5M and has garnered generally positive reviews. The film was a passion project for lead Actress and Co-Producer Kate Winslet, who started developing the film, and in October 2015, the project was officially announced with Ellen Kuras on board to Direct from mid-2020.

The film opens up during the late 1930's, as Hitler rises to power in Germany. Elizabeth 'Lee' Miller (Kate Winslet) leaves her artistic circle of friends and life behind in France, including Solange d'Ayen (Marion Cotillard), Paul Eluard (Vincent Colombe) and Nusch Eluard (Noemie Merlant), and travels to London after falling madly, and very quickly, in love with the artist Roland Penrose (Alexander Skarsgard), to whom she describes herself as being done 'living a life as the model, the muse, the ingenue, and only good at drinking, having sex, and taking pictures'.

The two embark on a passionate relationship, just as war breaks out in Europe. Already a well regarded photographer, Lee lands a job completing assignments for British Vogue magazine, where she takes photographs of the London Blitz by bringing the chaos and urgency of those air raids to the pages of a popular and well regarded fashion publication. However, she is shocked by the restrictions placed on female photographers, and the attitude of Cecil Beaton (Samuel Barnett) a British fashion, portrait and war photographer also working for British Vogue magazine at the same time. 

As Hitler’s regime takes over large swathes of Europe, Lee becomes increasingly frustrated that her work is constrained by rules dictated by men. Determined to be where the action is, she defiantly pushes back against the establishment and, with the blessing of her friend and Vogue Editor Audrey Withers (Andrea Riseborough), Lee overcomes enormous obstacles to get herself to the frontline of World War II, by using the excuse that as an American citizen she is not governed by stuffy British rules about what women should and shouldn't do. 

And so sent over to Normandy following the D-Day invasion of 1944, Miller was tasked with reporting on what she was told was the newly-liberated town of Saint-Malo. She traveled there only to find that the town was still being heavily fought over. Miller's military accreditation as a female war correspondent did not allow her to enter an active combat zone, but rather than leave she decided to stay, and spent five days on the front lines photographing as much of the Battle of Saint-Malo as she could. Her photographs included the first recorded use of napalm. 

Compelled to document the truth, she turns her lens in the direction of suffering, and slowly begins to reveal the horrific loss of life due to Hitler’s diabolical crimes against the innocent victims of his regime. Miller teamed up with American photojournalist David Scherman (Andy Samberg), a Life magazine correspondent, on many assignments, including the liberation of Paris, the Battle of Alsace, and the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps at Buchenwald and Dachau. 

Scherman's iconic photograph of Miller sitting in the bathtub in Adolf Hitler's private apartment in Munich, with the dried mud of that morning's visit to Dachau on her boots deliberately dirtying Hitler's bathmat was taken in the evening on 30th April 1945, coincidentally the same day that Hitler committed suicide with his wife Eva Braun in his bunker in Berlin. 

Upon returning to London after the end of the war, her husband returns home bearing the latest edition of Vogue magazine in which she expected to see her photographic account and accompanying article on the horrors of what she witnessed in Germany, but there are none. She hurries across to the Vogue offices to see Audrey Withers for an explanation but she is not there, and so tears through a filing cabinet seeking out the negatives of all the images she sent back, and promptly sets about ripping them up and cutting them up with scissors. Audrey appears and explains that she was not allowed to go to print with her images as they were way too graphic. Miller breaks down, and storms out. A short time later sat on the steps outside the Vogue offices Miller speaks of a profoundly traumatic experience when she was just seven years old when she was left home alone with an adult male friend of her family. She says that she has had to live with that shame, fear, and fury, for all of these years and has never told anyone as she was raised to keep secrets. 

Throughout the film we return to 1977 and Miller's home at Farley Farm House, in Chiddingly, East Sussex where she is being interviewed by Antony Penrose (Josh O'Connor) about her time as a WWII photojournalist and recounting the stories behind some of the most influential photographs of that era. Miller is somewhat distant of Penrose only opening up when he agrees to tell her something about his life. At the end Miller says it's your turn and it's then that we realise that Antony Penrose is in fact her son, who tells her that growing up she always was distant, disconnected from him, and almost an obstacle to her life. Miller remarks 'that's disappointing'. She pulls out a box containing a lock of his hair from his very first hair cut, the first book she ever read to him, and the first picture he ever painted. As the camera pulls away, Miller is not there, but spread all over the floor are Lee's photographs that Penrose only discovered after her mothers death in 1977, when he came across them in the attic of Farley Farm House by chance. 

Lee Miller carried out this dangerous work for the sake of the female readers of Vogue magazine, from whom the reality of war was largely kept hidden, and in the process yielded an indelible series of photographs which to this day continue to shape how we view these events.

'Lee' is a fairly detailed character study of this icon of WWII photojournalism that charts her story from the late 1930's through until just after the end of the war. It is at times harrowing, emotional, thought provoking and funny, and Kate Winslet shines in the role of the conflicted, yet thoroughly determined Lee Miller, and appears in almost every scene. Ellen Kuras as former Cinematographer turned Director has crafted a biopic of a woman you may not have previously heard of, but through this film her enduring legacy is granted a new life which she so rightly deserves. Alexander Skarsgard is miscast as Roland Penrose and his dialogue comes across as stilted and barely interested, and Josh O'Connor comes across as the floundering Prince Charles - the role he played in 'The Crown'. Andrea Riseborough, Marion Cotillard and Andy Samberg are all first rate in their roles. 

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

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE NORTHMAN : Tuesday 26th April 2022.

Having this week returned from a break in England, which should explain my absence from this Blog for the past month or so, I saw the MA15+ Rated 'THE NORTHMAN' at my local independent movie theatre earlier this week. Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written by Robert Eggers whose previous two feature films were 'The Witch' in 2015 and 'The Lighthouse' in 2019, this epic historical action film cost US$90M to produce and has so far garnered largely widespread critical acclaim, having thus far recouped US$27M. Following its World Premier showcasing in Stockholm on 28th March, advance screenings we held in certain cities in early April before its wide release (including Australia and the US) from last week onwards. Normal service of my Blog BTW, will be resumed form next week onwards. 

The film opens up with a number of Viking longboats sailing towards a remote windswept island upon which sits a settlement. It is A.D.895 and the returning King Aurvandill War-Raven (Ethan Hawke) is welcomed back triumphantly with the riches he has pillaged from various overseas lands. He is met by his wife, the Queen Gudrun (Nicole Kidman) and his young son and heir Prince Amleth (Oscar Novak). Also in the returning party is Fjolnir (Claes Bang), Aurvandill's younger brother and Amleth's uncle. Later on Aurvandill and Amleth take part in a spiritual ceremony that marks Amleths passage into manhood. The ceremony is overseen by Aurvandill's jester Heimir (Willem Dafoe). 

The next morning as father and son are exiting the place of the ceremony, several warriors on horseback all descend upon the King wounding him with arrows and spears. Fjolnir is among them as the leader of the pack, and ultimately beheads Aurvandill. Having hidden behind a rock nearby and witnessed the slaying of his father, his village massacred and his mother taken away screaming by his uncle, Amleth flees the island by row boat repeatedly uttering the words 'I will avenge my father, save my mother and kill my uncle'. 

We then fast forward to years later and the now adult Amleth (Alexander Skarsgard) is rowing a Viking longboat down river in the land of Rus. It seems that he was found by a band of Vikings and raised among them as a berserker. After a bloody attack on a village, Amleth comes across a Seeress (Bjork) in the temple of Svetovit. She predicts that Amleth will exact out his revenge on Fjolnir. Amleth learns that Fjolnir was overthrown by Harald of Norway and now lives in exile in Iceland. Amleth sneaks aboard a slave ship headed for Iceland. Posing as a slave, he encounters a Slavic slave named Olga of the Birch Forest (Anya Taylor-Joy), who lays claim to being a sorceress. Upon arrival, Amleth and the other slaves are shackled and taken to Fjolnir's farm, where it is revealed that Queen Gudrun, now Fjolnir's wife, has borne him a son, Gunnar (Elliott Rose).

One night, Amleth flees the farm and comes across a He-Witch (Ingvar Eggert Sigurosson), who facilitates a spiritual discussion between Amleth and the late Heimir, revealed to have been murdered by Fjolnir by gouging out his eyes, cutting out his tongue and slicing off his ears while he still lived. He then tells Amleth about Night Blade, a magical sword that can only be drawn at night, and its whereabouts, which Amleth later obtains through fighting and overcoming an undead spirit for the sword.

The next day Amleth is chosen to compete in a game of knattleikr. Needless to say this is a brutal and bloody game which turns violent and Amleth saves Gunnar, who runs to play, from the rival team's champion Thorfinnr (Hafþor Julius Bjornsson). Amleth wrestles Thorfinnr to the ground and repeatedly heads butts his opponent until his skull cracks open. As a reward, Thorir (Gustav Lindt), Fjolnir's eldest and adult son allows Amleth to claim Olga as his wife and makes him a supervisor over the other slaves, but warns him that he will never be free of a life of slavery himself. 

During the celebrations later that same evening, Amleth and Olga make love. They commit to work together to overthrow Fjolnir and his men. Over the ensuing nights, Amleth kills a number of Fjolnir's men. Olga meanwhile mixes the men's food with magic mushrooms, causing them all to hallucinate, so allowing Amleth to enter Fjolnir's house. There he meets his mother, Gudrun, who tells him that she was originally taken into slavery, and that Amleth was the result of rape. She also reveals that it was her order for Fjolnir to kill Aurvandill and Amleth, and that she prefers Fjolnir and her new son Gunnar. Amleth leaves, distraught and angered and promptly kills Thorir in his sleep and rips out his heart. 

Fjolnir is determined to find his son's killer and promptly begins slicing the throats of random slaves if they don't give him the answer he is looking for. He threatens to kill Olga, resulting in Amleth revealing himself as responsible and trading Olga's life for Thorir's heart. Amleth is taken captive, strung up and severely beaten to within an inch of his life. Amleth is released from his restraints by a flock of ravens who peck away at his bindings. Olga rescues Amleth from the farm and the two escape, planning to go to Amleth's kin on Orkney island. Departing Iceland by boat, Amleth kisses a wound on Olga's throat, caused by the knife held to her neck previously by Fjolnir. This triggers a vision that she is pregnant with twins, and believing that his children will never be safe as long as Fjolnir lives, Amleth, against Olga's wishes, determines to finally kill Fjolnir and jumps overboard and swims back to shore.

Back at the farm, under cover of darkness, Amleth frees the slaves and kills the majority of Fjolnir's men. The slaves burn the farm down to the ground. While looking for Fjolnir, Amleth is attacked by Gudrun and, after, by Gunnar. Amleth defends himself, but, in the ensuing melee, kills both, but is seriously wounded from multiple stab wounds. Fjolnir discovers the bodies and arranges a fight to the death with Amleth at the Gates of Hel—the actively spewing volcano Hekla, to resolve their conflict. At the volcano, the pair engage in a fierce swordfight, resulting in Fjolnir being decapitated and Amleth fatally wounded. As Amleth lies dying, he has a future vision of Olga embracing their twin children safe on Orkney, and sees his ascent on horseback to Valhalla.

'The Northman' will not be a film for everyone, which probably explains the lacklustre Box Office performance (as at the time of writing), but having said that I don't think that Director Robert Eggers is too worried about that given the overwhelming critical acclaim the film has generated. For me, I certainly was entertained and thoroughly engaged for the duration of the 135 minute run time by the authenticity of the production values that Eggers insisted on, the storyline (which while simple enough is hardly complex but engrossing nonetheless), the strong cast of A-list talent, and the brutality and blood soaked violence of the Viking era where life meant so much less than it does today. All of that said, the film does labour at times and the VFX of Amleth's family tree branching out from his heart with passing images of his ancestors and ultimately his own children felt clunky and somewhat ill paced. Despite these minor observations however, Eggers continues to demonstrate his ability over his craft and this time with a much more sizeable budget that expands on the historical worlds he created in his two previous cinematic outings and offers the viewer an original gripping story that alas, we see far too little of today. 

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

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN : Friday 8th July 2016.

'THE LEGEND OF TARZAN' which I saw on Friday sees a tree swinging, loin cloth wearing, jungle dwelling raised by apes hero who turned 100 years old in 2012 - having first emerged as the subject of a novel 'Tarzan of the Apes' immortalised by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912. The first full length feature film appeared in 1918 with 51 subsequent live action and animated films since then right up to 2005. Perhaps the most memorable and loved Tarzan was played by Johnny Weissmuller - a record breaking swimmer and winner of five Olympic Gold medals at the 1924 and 1928 Olympics in Paris and Amsterdam respectively. His first film 'Tarzan the Ape Man' was released in 1932 and all up he made twelve appearances as the jungle hero. Buster Crabbe, another Olympic Swimmer of the 1928 and 1932 Olympics appeared in 1933's 'Tarzan the Fearless' with Lex Barker starring in five films and Gordon Scott in six. By the 1970's Tarzan had largely had his time, albeit John Derrick's 'Tarzan the Ape Man' in 1981 with Miles O'Keefe; 'Greystoke : The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes' in 1984 with Christopher Lambert; 'Tarzan in Manhattan' and 'Tarzan Returns' in 1987 and 1996 both with Joe Lara, and then 'Tarzan and the Lost City' with Casper Van Dien in 1998 saw the last of the live action offerings on the big screen. There have been four animated features since then - three from Disney Studios and as recently as 2005 with Warner Bros. releasing a short-lived television series in 2003 with Travis Fimmel in the title role. Tarzan has a rich and colourful history taking in a multitude of films, television series, radio shows, theatre productions, novels, comic books, video games and action figures. And, there is a San Fernando Valley neighbourhood named 'Tarzana' established around a former ranch previously owned by the characters creator.

With the history lesson over how will this latest live action offering go in an era of Marvel dominated Superheroes, hi-technology, advanced gadgetry and otherworldly enemies when our hero is not super but just a mere mortal dependant upon his brute strength, animal instincts and the laws of the jungle, and, lives in the late 19th Century? Directed by David Yates (he of the last four 'Harry Potter' films and the upcoming 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' and made for US$180M the film has so far recovered US$136M, and stars a well known principle cast, with Alexander Skarsgard as our planet of the apes man John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke (aka Tarzan) whom we meet initially in company with the British Prime Minister (Jim Broadbent) at 10, Downing Street. Also in the room are the PM's aides, advisors and members of his Cabinet and a George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson), an American Envoy. The discussion surrounds the recent Berlin Conference, and how the African Congo has been split up between Belgium and the United Kingdom. As a result Lord Greystoke has been invited by King Leopold II of Belgium to visit Boma, and report back on Belgium's development of the country and infrastructure.

Greystoke turns down the invitation, but Williams is insistent and knows that he is the legendary Tarzan and he should return to investigate claims of rumours that the Belgians are enslaving the locals to build rail road tracks, bridges, forts and infrastructure. Having done so King Leopold has gone very heavily into debt, and so he sends his own Envoy out to the Congo, Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz) to pillage the land of all its mineral wealth, but most notably the fabled diamonds of Opar, which when in his possession will make him the worlds wealthiest monarch.

As Rom and his small army approach Opar they are attacked and overcome by Chief Mbonga (Djimon Hounsou), leaving all dead, except for Rom, who strikes up a deal with the Chief in exchange for his life and all the diamonds he can carry. That deal is to bring Tarzan to the Chief, for the Chief wants Tarzan dead for killing his only son years before, although the son killed Tarzan's ape mother. Greystoke doesn't know what he is walking into as he reluctantly agrees to go on a fact finding and observation mission accompanied by Williams and Jane, his wife (Margot Robbie).

And so, we join Greystoke, Jane and Williams on foot traipsing through the wide sweeping lands of the African Congo plains, where they settle with a tribe formally known to Tarzan and Jane and they are greeted with much celebration for their homecoming. However, Rom has tracked them down and early one morning he and his men ambush the village, burning down the huts, killing the tribal Chief and taking Greystoke and Jane prisoner, although their plans are thwarted somewhat by Williams and his deft touch with a hunting rifle. As a consequence, Tarzan escapes but Jane is taken captive by Rom and they disappear after a fierce gun fight down river on a paddle steamer.

And so the search is on now for Jane. With Williams and a few trusted tribesmen in tow, Tarzan makes across the jungle on foot to intercept a train that will get them fast to where the paddle steamer carrying a captive Jane is believed to be travelling to. The train is of Belgian origin carrying a compartment load of soldiers and  two trailer loads of slaves. Dispensing with the soldiers single handedly, Tarzan learns from an engineer of Rom's plan to bring 20,000 mercenaries into the Congo four days from now and currently en route to Boma via a fleet of ships. The slaves have been used to build forts located strategically along a newly constructed railway line, that will accommodate the newly amassed army from which they will rape and pillage the Congo of all its mineral wealth, led by Rom.

Along the way though Tarzan and Williams encounter several challenges as they follow their path to free Jane and thwart Rom's dastardly plan. This includes a fierce battle with Akut - his ape brother whom Tarzan grew up with, but now considers him a deserter and as the leader now of the apes must be fought with. Akut wins the fight but allows Tarzan to live - and having proven his point he retreats back into the jungle with his family, allowing Tarzan and Williams to continue their journey, albeit Tarzan is badly battered and bruised.

Continuing his journey into Opar, Tarzan is greeted by Chief Mbonga and his tribe, and the two fight in hand to hand combat with Tarzan overcoming his adversary, and about to slit his throat when halted from doing so by Williams, who makes Tarzan see sense. Rom by now is in possession of a chest full of diamonds and Jane, having recaptured her after a failed escape plan, and are returning to Boma. Back at Opar, Tarzan's ape family arrive with Akut to keep Mbonga's tribe at bay, so that he and Williams can make haste to Boma, before the fleet of mercenary ships arrives, Rom pays off his country's debts with the diamonds, and rescue Jane.

Tarzan summons the might of a wildebeest herd to stampede through Boma which they do with devastating effect, so creating enough of a distraction that he can rescue Jane. With the fleet approaching the harbour, Rom sets out to greet them on his paddle steamer and hand over the diamonds. With Williams on port side with a conveniently located machine gun and a full magazine, he fires repeatedly at the paddle steamer, eventually sinking it, but not before Tarzan has got to the engines boiler tank and manipulated the pressure valve. With Jane safe on dry land, left behind by Rom, a fight breaks out on the deck of the now rapidly sinking paddle steamer between Tarzan and Rom, with one of them succumbing to a gruesome watery grave . . . no guessing who that might be, before they paddle steamer explodes in a ball of fire.

In the final analysis this is a watchable film and worth seeing on the big screen for all the sweeping vistas, jungle scenery, vine swinging, and CGI animal life (close encounters with apes, elephants, tigers, hippos and wildebeest most notably). Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz and Margot Robbie all perform well and really carry this film, but I felt short changed by Alexander Skarsgard who has the perfectly chiseled physique for a 21st century Actor playing a 19th century loin cloth wearing hero but he lacks any personality, humour, emotion or redeeming features that make you want to like him. When he's swinging through the trees, talking to the animals and strutting his funky Tarzan stuff then all well & good, but outside of these occasions - there ain't much there! That said David Yates has done a reasonably good, if predictable, job at bringing us the first live action Tarzan adventure this millennium, and has done his best to keep Edgar Rice Burroughs 104 year old character alive . . . but is it enough to warrant a sequel? Only you can decide that fate!


-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 7th July 2016.

Last week I reported on the first six months Box Office success stories from 2016 and their ranking in the all time Box Office league table. So this week I thought I'd analyse our local Australian market to see what we as a nation have so far favoured this year, and where we spent our hard earned dollar. Once again, taken from Box Office MoJo, the Top 10 films that Australian audiences flocked to see, with how much we spent, are listed below :-

• #1 - 'Deadpool' - released February - $33,314M
• #2 - 'Captain America : Civil War' - released April - $25,699M
• #3 - 'Finding Dory' - released June and still on general release - $22,916M
• #4 - 'The Jungle Book' - released April, and still showing in limited theatres - $22,534M
• #5 - 'Batman v. Superman : Dawn of Justice' - released March - $22,517M
• #6 - 'Zootopia' - released March - $21,242M
• #7 - 'The Revenant' - released January - $15,255M
• #8 - 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2' - released March - $11,697M
• #9 - 'X-Men : Apocalypse' - released May, and still showing in limited theatres - $11,392M
• #10 - 'Kung Fu Panda 3' - released March - $9,808M

Those sitting below but still in the Top 50 so far this year, and worthy of note are 'The Conjuring 2' at #13; 'The Angry Birds Movie' at #15; 'Now You See Me 2' at #18; 'Alice Through The Looking Glass' at #19; 'Independence Day : Resurgence' at #20; 'Hunt for the Wilderpeople' at #23; 'The Hateful Eight' at #24; 'Warcraft : The Beginning' at #32; 'Spotlight' at #38; 'The BFG' at #48. Many of these are still on general release, and some only very recently so. What this shows once again is that we have an overwhelming appetite for comic book Superheroes, action fantasy, SciFi & CGI; the animated features do well for the kids dragging Mum & Dad along too; and well made drama will always find an audience.

Turning attention to this week then, there are five new movies coming to a cinema near you. Starting off with a hero who has seen plenty of film action over the last one hundred years, this is the first live action feature this century and with an all star cast and an accomplished Director, the jungle drums are beating, the wildlife is circling, and there's familiar yell through the trees that can only mean one man has returned. Then we go to the great Aussie outback that has a search for a missing girl amidst crime, corruption and cover-ups in a small mining community; followed up by a New York love triangle story that seems sure to raise more moral questions than it answers. We then have a true story surrounding the Revolution in Iran of 1979, and the impact on one particular family who went from hero to zero overnight and the lengths they went to in order to secure their safety & security when all about them was in turmoil; and wrapping up with two brothers needing to secure responsible, respectable dates with which to attend a family wedding, but needless to say things don't go quite according to plan.

With action, drama, comedy and romance on this weeks agenda, plus the raft of other great cinematic content still on general release and as Reviewed or Previewed between these pages, there is no excuse not to get out to your local movie theatre. When you have done so, be sure to drop your thoughts and film experience into the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear your views. In the meantime, enjoy your film.

'THE LEGEND OF TARZAN' (Rated M) - this tree swinging, loin cloth wearing, ape loving jungle hero turned 100 years old in 2012 - having first emerged as the subject of a novel 'Tarzan of the Apes' immortalised by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912. The first full length feature film appeared in 1918 with 51 subsequent live action and animated films since then right up to 2005. Perhaps the most memorable and loved Tarzan was played by Johnny Weissmuller - a record breaking swimmer and winner of five Olympic Gold medals at the 1924 and 1928 Olympics in Paris and Amsterdam respectively. His first film 'Tarzan the Ape Man' was released in 1932 and all up he made twelve appearances as the jungle hero. Buster Crabbe, another Olympic Swimmer of 1928 and 1932 appeared in 1933's 'Tarzan the Fearless' with Lex Barker starring in five films and Gordon Scott in six. By the 1970's Tarzan had largely had his time, albeit John Derrick's 'Tarzan the Ape Man' in 1981 with Miles O'Keefe; 'Greystoke : The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes' in 1984 with Christopher Lambert; 'Tarzan in Manhattan' and 'Tarzan Returns' in 1987 and 1996 both with Joe Lara, and then 'Tarzan and the Lost City' with Casper Van Dien in 1998 saw the last of the live action offerings. There have been four animated features since then - three from Disney Studios and as recently as 2005. Tarzan has a rich and colourful history taking in a multitude of films, television series, radio shows, theatre productions, novels, comic books, video games and action figures. And, there is a San Fernando Valley neighbourhood named 'Tarzana' established around a former ranch owned by the characters creator.

With the history lesson over how will this latest live action offering go in an era of Marvel dominated Superheroes, hi-technology, advanced gadgetry and otherworldly enemies? David Yates Directs an all star cast headed up by Alexander Skarsgard as our planet of the apes man for a cool US$180M that sees John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke (aka Tarzan) return to the African Congo from his home in London to thwart Captain Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz) a corrupt and ruthless Belgian officer sent by his King to search for diamonds and take control of the Region. He teams up with Chief Mbonga (Djimon Hounsou) who controls the diamond trade and the Region but has a vendetta against Tarzan. Meanwhile, Tarzan and his wife Jane Porter (Margot Robbie) travel to the Congo with George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson) to investigate stories of locals being enslaved. When paths cross, and the animal kingdom go on the rampage at the will of Tarzan, it will invariably come down to the survival of the fittest and the law of the jungle, and my money is on the loin cloth clad ape man! Jim Broadbent also stars.

'GOLDSTONE' (Rated M) - this film opened the Sydney Film Festival on 8th June and had its World Premier then, before going on general release in Australia this week. Directed and Written by Ivan Sen who also acted as Cinematographer and wrote the music score, this is the sequel to his highly acclaimed and multi-award winning and nominated 2013 film 'Mystery Road'. This films sees Aaron Pedersen reprising his role as Detective Jay Swan who rolls half-drunk and semi-conscious into the Australian outback town of Goldstone where he is promptly picked up by the only cop in this one horse town, Josh (Alex Russell). The two form an unlikely partnership as they in go in search of a missing girl, whilst coming up against various road blocks put in their way by the town's Mayor (Jacki Weaver) and the local mining company boss (David Wenham) that only add to the web of intrigue and unravel a mass of crime and corruption in this remote community. David Gulpilil also stars.

'MAGGIE'S PLAN' (Rated M) - Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Rebecca Miller this dramadeyrom stars Greta Gerwig as Maggie, a young intellectual New Yorker who decides to have a child without the burden of a man. She inseminates herself with the aid of Guy (Travis Fimmel) a former college friend and then promptly falls for John (Ethan Hawke) - an unhappy author married to Georgette (Julianne Moore)  - a Columbia University Professor. John and Georgette's marriage is however, on the slide. Fast track a few years and John and Maggie are now married, but Maggie is fast falling out of love with her husband, and so she hatches a plan to reunite her husband with his ex-wife. The film Premiered at TIFF in September last year, and was subsequently shown at the New York Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival in February before its official US release in May. It has so far grossed US$2.2M.

'SEPTEMBERS OF SHIRAZ' (Rated M) - based on Dahlia Sofer's 2007 novel 'The Septembers of Shiraz' this is a true story Directed by Wayne Blair set in the lead up to the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Before that time Iran was a prosperous country where there was tolerance of all religions and people could live and flourish. But come the Revolution and life changes for many in an instant, including that of the prosperous Jewish family led by Isaac Amin (Adrien Brody) - a successful jeweller based in Tehran. One morning, for no apparent reason he is arrested, carted off and interrogated leaving his distraught wife Farnez (Selma Hayek) to make sense of it all, secure the release of her husband and get him and their family the hell outta Dodge! A searing insight into how quickly lives can change, and how much pain and anguish can be endured to save those closest to you.

'MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES' (Rated MA15+) - well, here, once again, we have Zac Efron playing . . . well, Zac Efron! Stuck it seems in type cast Hell judging by his more recent fare, here he plays David, surprise surprise half of a delinquent brother duo to Michael (Adam DeVine) who have a reputation for trashing and upsetting family gatherings because of their hi-jinx and dangerous antics. With their sisters wedding on the horizon planned for Hawaii their parents order the boys to secure responsible, respectable wedding dates. After placing an ad. on social media which quickly goes viral, and then the boys appear on the daytime infotainment talk show - 'The Wendy Williams Show' to promote themselves, they catch the eyes and the ears of Tatiana (Aubrey Plaza) and Alice (Anna Kendrick) who appear to be everything that Mike and Dave's parents could wish for. However, when the foursome arrive in Hawaii with family and guests in tow, the girls shows their true colours and the boys find themselves outsmarted, out-partied and outdone at every turn by the uncontrollable and unhinged girls. Directed by Jake Szymanski.

Five new filmic offerings for the week ahead, so get on out to your local multiplex and treat yourself to some movie goodness. Remember to share your thoughts with this Blog after your movie of choice, and in the meantime, I'll see you at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

BATTLESHIP : archive from 13th April 2012

Saw the Blockbuster Season opener last night - 'BATTLESHIP'. It's a loud, proud, in your face gung-ho all action no expense spared American Navy versus the five badass trespassing Aliens ships lured to our distant planet and then stranded here by a freak collision when one ship collides with a communication satellite . . . and then there were four!




You have to see this spectacle on the big screen - the CGI is impressive; the conversion from Hasbro board game to Hollywood actioner is passable as the battle sequences take place out at sea as you would expect, on land and of course in the air. But why are those pesky aliens here and what do they want - this is a question that only the Lord God Almighty knows because there ain't no time for talkin' when the forces of the US Navy, Army and Air Force are wielding their collective cans of 'whoop ass' at them thar pesky varmint aliens!

As those aliens attempt to phone home and muster reinforcements for their ultimate destruction of our small humble planet, the final set piece moves to Pearl Harbour (how fitting!) and would you believe the USS Missouri is very swiftly recommissioned on the spot to do fierce battle and thwart the intergalactic foe.

Liam Neeson adds gravitas as Admiral Shane, Taylor Kitsch provides the muscle as Lieutenant Alex Hopper, Alexander Skarsgard is brother Commander Stone Hopper, and the eye candy is provided by Rhianna (in her first acting role and passable) as Petty Officer Cora 'Weps' Raikes and Brooklyn Decker is Sam who is the love interest for renegade sailor boy Alex! The alien creatures are well realised and the game tie-in works . . . just about! A thumping soundtrack, the Hawaiian backdrop and the immediacy all make for an enjoyable ride. Mix 'Top Gun', 'Transformers' and 'Predator' and you are just about there!

This film cost a massive US$210M to make and brought in for that investment just US$303M. The film picked up three award wins and thirteen nominations, including a Razzie Award for Rhianna as 'Worst Supporting Actor' and four other 'Worst' nominations in those same 2013 Razzie's. Peter Berg Directed who generally has a reasonable touch with wartime action fare, but I guess it just goes to show that with the best high-octane all guns blazing effects and epic budget you still need a half decent believable story to reel the audience in. When there are others out there that have set the benchmark so high, you gotta be on your game - so I guess it's 'Transformers 1 : Battleship 0'.


-Steve, at Odeon Online-