SALTBURN : Tuesday 21st November 2023

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'SALTBURN' at my local independent movie theatre this week, and this psychological thriller drama film is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Emerald Fennell in her second feature film outing following the highly acclaimed 'Promising Young Woman' in 2020 which reaped 116 award wins and another 193 nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit. This film saw its World Premiere showcasing at the Telluride Film Festival in late August and was released in the US, the UK and here in Australia last week having so far generated mostly favourable reviews and grossed US$1.7M at the Box Office. 

The films open up in 2006 with a collar, tie and blazer wearing Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) walking across the quad at Oxford University and into his ground floor dormitory as a first year freshman. He is looked upon with some disdain by many of the other jeans and T-shirt wearing students, some of which mildly abuse his attire. On his first night over dinner in the packed refectory he struggles to find a place to sit, and ends up opposite another equally displaced student Michael Gavey (Ewan Mitchell) who introduces himself as another 'Nigel Nofriends'. Oliver observes Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), a charming, handsome, popular and clearly very well off student, who is attending Oxford with his American cousin, Farleigh Start (Archie Madekwe), and who happens to be attending the same college. 

One day just before the summer break of 2007 Oliver lends Felix his bicycle so Felix can attend a class to which he is already running ten minutes late, as Felix's own bicycle has a punctured wheel. Felix is extremely grateful. As a result of this gesture, the two become fast friends and is invited into Felix's and Farleigh's inner circle of friends, which sees Oliver turn his back on Michael. Oliver becomes increasingly obsessed with Felix. Oliver tells Felix he is an only child with an alcoholic mother and a drug dependent father, and grew up in Prescot, near Liverpool. One day he announces that his father has suddenly died. Oliver's story garners Felix's sympathy, and so he invites Oliver to spend the summer with him and Farleigh at Saltburn, his wealthy family's sprawling estate in the country. Oliver accepts, albeit reluctantly at first.

Oliver arrives at Saltburn where he is greeted by the Butler of the house, Duncan (Paul Rhys), and after a whistle stop tour of the household Felix introduces him to his father, Sir James (Richard E. Grant), his mother, Lady Elspeth (Rosamund Pike), and his sister, Venetia (Alison Oliver). Also at Saltburn is 'Poor Dear' Pamela (Carey Mulligan), Elspeth's friend, whom the family believes has now outstayed her welcome and actively encourage her to leave when she reveals that she has rented a new flat. Despite the family's initial eccentricities and over indulgent living standards, Oliver clearly relishes his time at Saltburn. Oliver begins lying to curry favour with the family so they can grow even more fond of him, firstly implying to Elspeth that Pamela made up her bizarre, tragic stories for the attention it brought her. Later in the summer, the family learns that Pamela has died, though Elspeth in nonplussed by the news.

Late one evening Oliver secretly watches Felix masterbating while taking a bath in their shared bathroom to which their bedrooms both adjoin. After Felix has brushed his teeth and bid his friend goodnight, Oliver drinks the last of the draining water from the bathtub and licks the plughole clean. Another night, he sees Venetia outside his bedroom window wearing a see through night gown. He performs oral sex on Venetia despite it being her time of the month to which Oliver retorts that its just as well he's a vampire. Farleigh observes this from his bedroom window overlooking the gardens. Farleigh tells Felix who is upset with Oliver, since a former friend of Felix's had also slept with Venetia last summer. Oliver convinces him that Farleigh was lying and that he was only comforting the moody Venetia, who he claims is interested in him. Later, Oliver overhears an argument between Felix and Farleigh over the latter milking Sir James' for financial support for his university studies. On another occasion during a party with a karaoke machine, Farleigh retaliates by tricking Oliver into performing the Pet Shop Boys song 'Rent' (whose lyrics mirror Oliver's current situation at Saltburn) to everyone. Later that night, Oliver threatens Farleigh and initiates a sexual encounter. The next morning, Farleigh is asked to leave Saltburn when he is said to have attempted to sell rare ceramic antique plates from Sir James' collection to Sotheby's. 

With Oliver's birthday approaching Elspeth and Sir James plan a fancy dress party for two hundred or so guests to celebrate. On the morning of his birthday Felix surprises Oliver with a road trip. Upon nearing their destination Oliver panics when Felix tells him that they are going to see his mother in Prescot in an attempt to mend their fractured relationship. However, it is revealed that Oliver's family lives in the upper-middle-class suburbs, his father is alive and very well, both his parents are kind and not substance abusers, and he is not an only child and in fact has two sisters. Felix is mortified by Oliver's deception, telling him to leave after the party that evening, while Oliver states that he only lied so Felix would be his friend. That evening, the party commences at Saltburn with numerous guests in attendance, including Farleigh, who threatens Oliver. Inside Saltburn's maze, Oliver attempts to reconcile with Felix, but Felix outright rejects him. The next morning, Felix is found dead in the maze.

Oliver and the Catton family mourn Felix's death, but Elspeth and Sir James try to put a brave face on the matter. Sir James cuts Farleigh off from his financial support, saying that he will not inform the Police but that is the last thing he will do for him, and forces him to leave Saltburn for good when Oliver suggests that Farleigh doing lines of coke at the party last night contributed to Felix's death. After Felix's funeral, Oliver privately breaks down as he strips down and penetrates Felix's newly dug gravesite in the driving rain. When Elspeth demands Oliver stay at Saltburn, Venetia later confronts him when Oliver barges in on her while she is taking a bath. It dawns on her that he has successfully latched himself onto her family and that Felix's death was a result. Venetia is found dead the following morning having apparently slashed her wrists in the bathtub, leaving Elspeth and Sir James in further despair. Fearing that Elspeth is growing too attached to him and becoming suspicious of his insistence on staying, Sir James opens his cheque book and asks Oliver how much does he want to leave Saltburn. Oliver responds that he can't leave Elspeth while she needs him most, but Sir James is insistent, and Oliver leaves having agreed a price. 

A number of years later and Oliver reads about the recent death of Sir James in the newspaper. Sometime shortly afterwards and Oliver is sat in a cafe typing away at his laptop when Elspeth walks in to buy a takeaway coffee. They are both surprised to see each other and Elspeth comments to Oliver how grown up he is and how pleasing it is to see him again. Oliver gives his condolences to Elspeth over the passing of her husband to which she responds that he never really recovered following the death of Felix and Venetia. She urges him to return with her her to Saltburn. 

Soon afterwards and Elspeth becomes fatally ill. On her deathbed, looking very proud of himself, Oliver reveals that he was responsible for all the tragic events that have fallen upon Saltburn having orchestrated his initial meeting with Felix, Oliver then murdered him by poisoning the bottle of Champagne that he drank from that night in the maze. He also subtly manipulated Venetia into killing herself by placing razor blades on the side of her bath, and sent the email that resulted in Farleigh's fast exit from Saltburn. Finally, he planned his encounter with Elspeth in the cafe, with flashbacks revealing that she subsequently left all of her financial assets to Oliver, including ownership of Saltburn. Oliver then kills Elspeth by forcefully removing her life support tube. Having now taken over the Saltburn estate and the Catton fortune and seemingly dismissed the Butler, maids and footmen, Oliver dances naked around the house to 'Murder on the Dancefloor' by Sophie Ellis-Bextor. 

'Saltburn' is a slow-burn thriller about those born with not one but two silver spoons firmly planted in their mouths, and those hangers-on who aspire to such dizzy heights and those even fewer who make it - by fair means or in this case by foul. Writer and Director Emerald Fennell has here delivered us a film of modern day British aristocracy that is conflicted by the out-of-touch staid and overly quirky mannerisms of the parents versus the next generation keen to mark its place in the world, and on that note Richard E. Grant, Rosamund Pike, Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan are all expertly cast in their roles of old school versus new school. The very black and often bleak humour is rendered with a deft touch that if you blink you'll surly miss some of the zingers that come hurtling by. Barry Keoghan gives a fearless performance in every respect from the mild mannered unassuming student we first meet at Oxford University to the cold calculating murderer we see at the end who relishes in his ill gotten gains - one for the ages for sure. 

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

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

SHE SAID : Tuesday 22nd November 2022.

I saw the M Rated 'SHE SAID' earlier this week, and this American biographical drama film is Directed by Maria Schrader whose prior film making credits are 'Love Life' in 2007, 'Stefan Zweig : Farewell to Europe' in 2016 and 'I'm Your Man' in 2021, as well as helming the Netflix mini-series 'Unorthodox' which won the Director the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special in 2020. This film is based on the 2019 book of the same name by The New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey titled 'She Said : Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement'. The film saw its World Premier screening at the New York Film Festival on 13th October and was released in the US and here in Australia last week having garnered generally positive reviews. Costing US$32M to bring to the big screen, the film has so far grossed just US$3.6M.

The film opens up in 1992 with a young girl in her early twenties walking her dog along a secluded beach somewhere on the Irish coastline. She comes across a galleon anchored just off the coastline and a small vessel approaching the beach with two or three 18th Century looking sailors marching onto shore and depositing a chest. The young girl has stumbled across a film set, and before long she has a job wrangling extras on that same film set. We then cut to that same young girl running frantically down a street, sobbing and clutching at her torn clothing. 

Fast forward to 2017, and New York Times journalist Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) receive a tip that actress Rose McGowan was sexually assaulted by Hollywood Producer Harvey Weinstein back in the early nineties. Kantor speaks with McGowan who initially declines to comment saying that she and The Times are hardly the best of friends, but later calls Kantor back and describes a situation in which Weinstein raped her when she was 23. Kantor also speaks with actresses Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow, who describe their own sexual encounters with Weinstein, but both ask not to be named in the article for fear of career limiting reprisals. Somewhat frustrated by a lack of progress in her investigations, the Editor of The Times, Rebecca Corbett (Patricia Clarkson) suggests to Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) who is just back from maternity leave, to either continue hounding Donald Trump, recently elected to POTUS or to assist Kantor with her investigations into Weinstein. Twohey agrees to help Kantor. 

Twohey traces a woman who worked as an assistant to Weinstein at Miramax some twenty years previously and then suddenly disappeared. The woman says that she waited twenty years for this moment but then tearfully declines to speak on the matter due to a signed Non-Disclosure Agreement between herself and Weinstein. Twohey later pulls up at the home of the former CFO of Miramax who invites her in. Standing in the hallway with his wife, she asks about former payouts by Weinstein against his accusers, but he is reluctant to divulge any information about the matter. She is also rejected by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after enquiring about information surrounding these payouts. She then speaks to a former member of the District Attorney's office about why criminal complaints against Weinstein were dropped so quickly and she learns that Weinstein had deep rooted social connections with the DA's office.

Kantor receives an anonymous tip-off about three former Weinstein assistants who may have been abused - a Rowena Chiu (Angela Yeoh), Zelda Perkins (Samantha Morton) and Laura Madden (Jennifer Ehle). Kantor flies out to confront each of them individually. She is unable to meet with Chiu in Silicon Valley in San Francisco as she is out of the country for some weeks but speaks with her husband who is clueless about what Kantor is eluding to. Perkins in Wales, UK recounts an incident in which Chiu had a breakdown due to a sexual encounter with Weinstein while working at the London Office. Madden who is living in Newquay, Cornwall, England and is about to undergo a double mastectomy surgery initially declines to speak with Kantor, but changes her mind after a representative of Weinstein reaches out to her after a couple of decades to discourage her from speaking to reporters about her experience. We subsequently learn that it was Madden who was in the opening scene back in 1992 as the young impressionable 21 years old extras wrangler who was later seen fleeing down the street in tears. 

Weinstein learns of the investigation and sends one of his lawyers, Lanny Davis (Peter Friedman) in an attempt to appease the journalists, Corbett and the Executive Editor of The Times, Dean Baquet (Andre Braugher), but declines to go on the record and denies any and all wrongdoing. The lawyer acknowledges a number of past financial settlements (less than forty) but declines to say how many exactly. Kantor receives an anonymous tip to speak with Irwin Reiter (Zach Grenier), one of Weinstein's former accountants who says (without going on the record that the number is somewhere between eight and twelve). At a subsequent meeting in a restaurant over dinner he opens up his mobile phone and disappears to the bathroom saying for her to do with it what she will. On it, it shows her an internal memo that circulated at Miramax in 2015 detailing abuse allegations from a former employee, which Kantor photographs and sends to Twohey and Corbett. Reiter returns a few minutes later, picks up his phone and leaves. 

The Times advises the Board at Miramax of the soon to be released article and asks for a statement within two days, but Weinstein counters saying that he needs two weeks, but Baquet stands firm saying that he has two days. Weinstein denies the allegations and pressures the journalists to name their sources, with the Producer continually asking is they have spoken with Gwyneth Paltrow and if she is named within the article which Twohey repeatedly says no! He also threatens to talk to other publications, including Variety and The Hollywood Reporter to discredit the story. Weinstein eventually releases a statement acknowledging that he's caused pain to others in the past and that he is taking a leave of absence from Miramax. Kantor and Twohey attempt to convince their sources to go on the record but they all initially decline. Just before the publication of the article, Kantor receives phone calls from Judd and Madden who agree to be named, believing it is the right thing to do.

The New York Times publishes the article on 5th October 2017. In a pre-credits script following the article's publication, 82 women come forward with their own allegations against Weinstein, leading to workplace and legal reforms. Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence for rape and sexual assault in New York, with additional charges pending in Los Angeles and London. 

I have to say that I was left wanting more from 'She Said'. It lacks the necessary Oooomph! that we saw in 'Bombshell' or 'Spotlight' for instance and what we're left with is a fairly pedestrian procedural by the numbers account of what went down to bring Harvey Weinstein crashing down. It's all about e-mails, telephone calls, clandestine meetings and dogged investigative journalism that may have been the way it played out in real life, but there is hardly a thrilling moment in this film apart from a sequence when Twohey receives a call late one night from an anonymous caller saying that he is going to rape her, murder her and dump her body in the Hudson River, and when Kantor leaves the restaurant after meeting with Reiter and is followed for a few short steps by a menacing looking black SUV that quickly speeds off when she turns around. The performances of Mulligan and Kazan especially are top notch aided admirably by Clarkson and Braugher who all keep the story grounded in a journalistic, personal and emotional journey that never lets a story get in the way of the unflinching truth. Sure it's an important subject that needed to be told, and much good has come from it that is still fresh in the mind of the collective audience, but perhaps this film is two or three years premature as the Weinstein case is still unfolding, and we have yet to see the full ramifications of his actions against countless women he has wronged.

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

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN : Tuesday 16th February 2021.

I finally got around to seeing 'PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN' this week following its release in Australia on 7th January. This MA15+ Rated American thriller offering is Directed, Written and Co-Produced by Emerald Fennell in her feature film making debut. The film saw its World Premier screening at the Sundance Film Festival back in January 2020 and went on general release Stateside on 25th December 2020 having so far taken approaching US$9M at the Box Office and garnered positive Reviews. It was named one of the ten best films of 2020 by the National Board of Review, with Carey Mulligan also winning Best Actress, and has received fifty-three award wins so far plus a further 114 nominations including four nods at the upcoming 78th Golden Globe Awards on 1st March, including Best Motion Picture, Drama.

The opening scene of the film sees three male colleagues in a bar late one evening all ridiculing a female colleague. One of the men, Jerry (Adam Brody) notices what's look to be a very drunk young and particularly attractive woman sat all alone. Egged on by his colleagues he siddles up to the woman playing the concerned and caring gentlemen who offers to share a cab home with her to ensure she arrives safely. On the journey he suggests a stop off at his place which is close by for a nightcap. She complies with his wishes and once home and after said nightcap, the woman says she needs to lie down. Jerry seizes the opportunity to get her onto his bed and starts groping, kissing and removing her underwear. At this, the woman sits bolt upright and asks what the hell he thinks he's doing, now as sober as a judge. Jerry is somewhat surprised to say the least at the woman's sudden sobriety, and starts to backtrack as the woman gives him a very stern dressing down.  

It turns out that the woman in question is thirty year old Cassandra 'Cassie' Thomas (Carey Mulligan) who lives with her parents Susan and Stanley (Jennifer Coolidge and Clancy Brown respectively). They have breakfast together every morning and Cassie's mother especially berates her for not having a boyfriend, having no friends, for still living at home, and for having a near non-existent social life. Cassie responds saying that's just the way she likes it. Cassie works at a coffee shop owned by Gail (Laverne Cox), and there one day comes in Ryan Cooper (Bo Burnham) whom nine years previously she was in medical school with. Ryan is now a paediatric surgeon, while Cassie who was the brains of their class is working in a dead end coffee shop! Ryan asks Cassie out, but she initially refuses his advances. 

A few nights later and Cassie is with Neil (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), once again pretending to be very drunk in his apartment. Neil snorts a couple of lines of coke and encourages Cassie to do the same, but she blows instead of snorts. Neil comes on all sympathetic and caring about Cassie's inebriated state and starts to grope and kiss her and puts his hand up her dress. At which point, Cassie reverts back to her completely sober state and asks what he thought he was doing. Neil is taken aback and starts to be fearful of the repercussions that Cassie might bestow up on him, and is left defenceless as she pins him against the wall and reads him the riot act. 

The next days Ryan is back in the coffee shop and again asks her out on a dinner date - this time Cassie responds in the affirmative. On their first date Ryan mentions that their former classmate Alexander 'Al' Monroe (Chris Lowell) is getting married soon. Now it comes out that at medical school Cassie was very close friends with a Nina Fisher who was raped by Al Monroe nine years ago. As a result, both the school and the legal system failed Nina and as a consequence both Nina and Cassie dropped out of medical school despite being Grade A students, and subsequently Nina committed suicide. 

Hearing the news of Al's forthcoming wedding, Cassie begins plotting her revenge on those she considers responsible for the rape and death of her best friend. She first invites an old friend from medical school, Madison McPhee (Alison Brie), who didn't believe Nina's accusations, to lunch at an upmarket restaurant and gets her drunk on Champagne and red wine, then has a man she hired take Madison to her hotel room. After the incident, Cassie ignores all of her many calls. 

Next, Cassie targets Elizabeth Walker (Connie Britton), the medical school dean who dismissed Nina's case due to lack of evidence. Cassie pretends to be a makeup artist for a band called 'Wet Dream' that Walker's teenage daughter Amber (Francisca Estevez) loves and tricks the teenager into getting into her car. Later, Cassie meets Walker under the pretense of resuming her education and questions her about the events that led to Nina's dropout and death. When Walker explains away her actions, Cassie tells her she dropped Amber off at a dorm room with a bunch of drunk male students, and not to worry!! After a fearful Walker apologises for her inaction, Cassie reveals Amber is safe at a local diner. 

Next up Cassie pays a visit to Jordan Green (Alfred Molina), Al's lawyer who harassed Nina into dropping her charges. When Green expresses remorse for his actions, having suffered a mental breakdown over his guilt and now on a forced sabbatical from his law firm, Cassie forgives him. After visiting Nina's mother (Molly Shannon), who urges her to move on, Cassie abandons the rest of her plans for revenge. And so Cassie's relationship with Ryan goes from strength to strength, so much so that the pair find themselves falling in love with each other. 

One day when returning home, Cassie finds Madison waiting outside her house, still distraught and desperate to know what happened after their lunch having woken up in a hotel room with a strange man with whom she has no memory. Cassie reassures her that nothing happened. In response, Madison gives Cassie an old phone containing a video of Nina's rape before telling her to never make contact with her again. As she watches the video, Cassie is shocked to see Ryan among the onlookers. She confronts him at the hospital where he works and threatens to release the video unless he tells her where Al's bachelor party is being held. Ryan tells her and begs for forgiveness, but Cassie refuses and turns her back on him.

Cassie arrives at Al's bachelor party as a stripper in a nurses uniform, plying Al's friends with spiked alcohol to knock them all out and takes Al upstairs to be alone. She handcuffs him to the bed which he willingly volunteers to, and then reveals her true identity to him. However, as she tries to carve Nina's name into Al's stomach, he breaks free from one pair of cuffs, overpowers her and suffocates Cassie under a pillow. 

The next morning, Al's friend Joe (Max Greenfield) comes up to the room, discovers a sobbing Al and the lifeless body of Cassie still under the pillow, consoles him and helps him burn Cassie's body to destroy any evidence. A couple of days later Cassie's parents file a missing person report, and the Police begin an investigation. A Detective questions Ryan at the hospital, but Ryan does not reveal where Cassie was going and states that they split up five days ago and suggests she was mentally unwell and possibly suicidal.

During Al's wedding reception in the grounds of the house where the bachelor party was held, it is revealed that Cassie had sent Jordan Green the phone with the video of Nina's rape, along with information on where she was headed and who would be responsible if she went missing. The Police begin to arrive immediately after the wedding ceremony, and with Police tracker dogs uncover the burnt remains of Cassie's body. At the reception in front of all the gathered guests, the Police arrest Al and cart him away handcuffed, while Joe flees the scene and Ryan receives several scheduled texts from Cassie, explaining that this is not the end, until it is. She signs off in her name and a ; )

This is a thought provoking, of the moment, pitch black revenge thriller comedy that starts of light but culminates in a real sucker punch by the time the end credits roll, that will leave an impression firmly planted in your brain long after you have left the theatre. For her debut movie making outing, Director and Writer Emerald Fennell has here delivered a bold, audacious, never boring and highly relevant film underpinned by perhaps a career best performance from Carey Mulligan playing completely against type, and she absolutely nails it. The rest of the principle cast are alas undercooked in the often fleeting scenes they are in, but carried along on Mulligan's coat tails which should propel her into the Best Actress nominations at this years upcoming Oscars. 

'Promising Young Woman' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

'WALL STREET : MONEY NEVER SLEEPS' : archive from 26th October 2010.

'WALL STREET : MONEY NEVER SLEEPS' - is the sequel to Oliver Stone's 1987 classic 'Wall Street' which was made for just US$15M, made US$44M, snagged its lead star Michael Douglas the Best Actor Academy Award, and co-starred a who's who of acting talent including Charlie Sheen, Martin Sheen, Daryl Hannah, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, Terence Stamp, Sean Young and John C. McGinley. It beautifully captured the excesses of the mid 80's finance power brokers, the traders, the movers and shakers up and down Wall Street and in particular one Gordon Gekko (Douglas) who muttered those immortal lines 'greed is good'.

Fast forward to 2010 and we now have a fitting follow up to that 1987 classic retaining many of the original elements - sharp dialogue, sharper suits and Gordon Gekko still at his razor sharpest and reprised by Michael Douglas. With Oliver Stone once again Directing, this film was made for US$70M and brought home US$135M but in the process divided audiences and the critics.

This film opens in 2001 and Gordon Gekko is being released from prison having served eight years for insider trading and fraud. Fast forward to 2008 and Gekko releases his book 'Is Greed Good' which foretells of a global economic downturn, which as we all know hit in October of that year. When the brown sticky smelly stuff hits the fan a number of top finance institutions go into meltdown - including the one where Louis Zabel (Frank Langella) is MD, who promptly throws himself in front of a train. At this same company works Jacob Moore (Shia LaBeouf) who is a successful trader, and he just happens to be dating the estranged daughter of Gordon Gekko  - Winnie (Carey Mulligan), and financially supporting his mothers (Susan Sarandon) fledgling Real Estate business. Meanwhile Bretton James (Josh Brolin) who heads up another rival Wall Street institution is up to no good profiting from the mis-fortunes of his rivals and who now find themselves in strife, or have done so in  the past . . . including Louis Zabel.

From here paths cross and double cross, deals rise and fall and huge sums of money change hands as each seek to get the upper hand and discredit the other. Charlie Sheen makes a reappearance as Bud Fox from the original film, and Josh Brolin chews up the screen as the uber successful & evil man of Wall Street. Michael Douglas recaptures his cut & thrust, his wheeling & dealing and his smooth suited & booted smiling financial assassin who comes good in the end, and ends up back on top having fallen from grace 15 or so years earlier.

I enjoyed this slice of Oliver Stone Wall Street nostalgia, and whilst hardly an essential sequel it was/is a good watch nonetheless with once again a strong cast that includes too Eli Wallach in his final role before his passing in 2014, Jason Clarke and Oliver Stone himself in his usual cameo appearance. Rent it on DVD or BluRay or download it, but catch the 1987 first instalment before you do so that you grasp the origin story and the continuity . . . as well as the wide lapels, fat ties and big hair!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 25th June 2015.

This week with the mid-year school holiday upon us there are a few limited offerings in the week ahead that are for a more mature audience it must be said, but there is a heap of action and animated fare out there for the youngsters, the teenagers and kids of all ages that have been Previewed here in previous weeks, and are still out there on general release.

Three offerings then this week that offer a range of films that take us from a sequel of a not so cute & cuddly animated kids toy in a grown mans world; an adaptation of a classic English novel getting its big screen remake after 50 or so years; and then a musical bio-pic of a legend of the 60’s becoming a troubled man in the 80’s.

As always, when you have seen your movie of choice in the week ahead, you are invited to record your own critique here in the Comments Box below this, or any other Post, and share your thoughts and observations with your friends at Odeon Online. Enjoy your film.

TED 2 (Rated MA15+) - The 2012 comic cuddly and not so cute 'Ted' movie was Directed, Produced, Written  and Starred Seth MacFarlane and was made for US$50M and went on to gross US$550M worldwide in the final analysis. It also garnered an Academy Award nomination, 13 awards wins and 26 other nods, so it was inevitable that a sequel would follow. Here we are then three short years later and 'Ted 2' has arrived at our screens with the same Seth McFarland input as before and the same Mark Wahlberg as John Bennett, Jessica Barth as Tami-Lynn, Giovanni Ribisi as Donny and a host of other names to add gravitas  . . . apparently!

This next instalment sees Teddy Bear Ted marrying Tami-Lynn, his girlfriend from the first film, and wanting to have a child together this is where complications naturally set in. When Ted asks life long friend and thunder buddy John to be a sperm donor for artificial insemination purposes, the couple must prove in a court of law that Ted is in fact human and therefore suitable to have custody of the future child. No doubt there will be gross-out humour, hilarity aplenty, pratt falls and comedic misadventure to make this one another sure fire success with Amanda Seyfried, Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson also involved.

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD (Rated M) - Based on the 1874 book of the same name by Thomas Hardy this was adapted for the big screen most notably in 1968 and Directed by John Schlesinger and starred Julie Christie, Terence Stamp, Peter Finch and Alan Bates. Now in 2015 we have this version and the fourth big screen outing for this story as Directed by Thomas Vinterberg and starring Carey Mulligan as Bathsheba Everdene a young headstrong farm owner in Victorian England. Attracting the attention and the passions of three very different suitors there is Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts) a sheep farmer; William Boldwood (Michael Sheen) a wealthy bachelor; and Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge) a reckless and care free Sergeant. What's a girl to do, other than fly in the face of tradition and social expectations and check them all out one by one, have some fun along the way and carve out her our own life path. Strong performances are deftly handled by Vinterberg this is sure to please lovers of the genre, and those who know the source book.

LOVE & MERCY (Rated M) - Directed and Produced by Bill Pohlad this is a bio-pic of 'Beach Boys' creative legend, driving force and front man Brian Wilson who was the mop-haired surf singing musical maestro back in the 60’s when the band of beach brothers were riding the crest of a wave, and before the younger Wilson started to lose his grasp on reality. Here the 1960’s Brian Wilson, enjoying hit after hit record success, is played by Paul Dano, and for his middle aged 1980’s persona it is John Cusack playing the broken unstable confused psycho analysed singer/songwriter. Playing his manipulative psychotherapist Dr. Eugene Landy is Paul Giamatti, and as his future wife Melinda Ledbetter is Elizabeth Banks determined to be the saviour of Wilson against Landy's controlling ways. Not your average or typical musical bio-pic this features strong performances from Paul Dano especially, and a master-stroke of casting to have the two Actors playing the one man and two very different personalities.

That wraps up this weeks movie releases leaving you a few more possibilities to ponder for your big screen entertainment. When you have enjoyed your movie of choice, let us know and don't be shy!

See you at the Odeon!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 24th - 30th May 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Carey Mulligan does on 28th May - check out the tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 30, at the end of this feature.

Do you also share your birthday with a well known, highly regarded & famous Actor or Actress; share your special day with a Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer, Singer/Songwriter or Composer of repute; or share an interest in whoever might notch up another year in the coming seven days? Then, look no further! Whilst there will be too many to mention in this small but not insignificant and beautifully written and presented Blog, here are the more notable and noteworthy icons of the big screen, and the small screen, that you will recognise, and that you might just share your birthday with in the week ahead. If so, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online!

Sunday 24th May

• Kristen Scott Thomas - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actress
• John C. Reilly - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor | Writer | Producer
• Alfred Molina - Born 1953, turns 62 - Actor | Producer
• Jim Broadbent - Born 1949, turns 66 - Actor
• Roger Deakins - Born 1949, turns 66 - Cinematographer

Monday 25th May

• Cillian Murphy - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actor
• Ian McKellen - Born 1939, turns 76 - Actor | Writer
• Mike Meyers - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actor | Writer | Singer | Songwriter
• Frank Oz - Born 1944, turns 71 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Anne Heche - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director
• Jacki Weaver - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actress

Tuesday 26th May 

• Helena Bonham Carter - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actress
• Pam Grier - Born 1949, turns 66 - Actress
• Matt Stone - Born 1971, turns 44 - Writer | Producer | Actor
• Lenny Kravitz - Born 1964, turns 51 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor

Wednesday 27th May

• Paul Bettany - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Christopher Lee - Born 1922, turns 93 - Actor
• Joseph Fiennes - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actor
• Louis Gossett Jnr. - Born 1936, turns 79 - Actor | Producer | Director

Thursday 28th May

• Carey Mulligan - Born 1985, turns 30 - Actress
• Kylie Minogue - Born 1968, turns 47 - Singer | Songwriter | Actress | Writer
• Sondra Locke - Born 1944, turns 71 - Actress | Director

Friday 29th May

• Annette Benning - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actress
• Rupert Everett - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Danny Elfman - Born 1953, turns 62 - Composer | Actor

Saturday 30th May

• Antoine Fuqua - Born 1965, turns 50 - Director | Producer
• Duncan Jones - Born 1971, turns 44 - Director | Producer
• Harry Enfield - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Director

Carey Hannah Mulligan was born in Westminster, London to mother Nano Booth, a university lecturer, and father Stephen, a hotel manager. At three years of age the family moved to Germany where the young Carey's father had transferred to manage a hotel there. While living in Germany Carey and her brother Owain, attended the International School of Dusseldorf. Five years later, aged eight, the family returned to England where as a teenager she was educated at Woldingham School.

From aged six her interest in acting was sparked by her brothers performance in a school production of 'The King & I'. While at Woldingham School she involved herself in theatre and was the student head of drama while herself performing in musicals, plays and actively supporting productions.

Her parents were disapproving of her desire to pursue an acting career, instead wanting to attend university like her brother. She applied to three London drama schools but failed to gain an offer. In her last year at school author/writer/Director and Politician Julian Fellowes gave a lecture on the production of 'Gosford Park'. She sought advice from Fellowes which led to a dinner invitation for aspiring young Actors to gain advice on their chosen career path. That dinner in turn led to an introduction with a casting assistant and an audition for 2005's 'Pride and Prejudice' which she eventually scored in the role of Kitty Bennett.

Working in a pub and as a errand runner at Ealing Studios she first trod the boards at 19 in 'Forty Winks' at London's Royal Court Theatre. In 2005 she auditioned too for the BBC adaptation of Dicken's 'Bleak House' for which she won the BAFTA Award in her television debut having starred with Judi Dench, Donald Sutherland and Keira Knightley. In 2006 she starred in several TV shows including 'The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard', 'Agatha Christie's Marple', 'Trial & Retribution X', 'Waking the Dead', 'Northanger Abbey', 'My Boy Jack' and 'Doctor Who', as well as the stage play 'The Seagull' with Kristen Scott Thomas and Chiwetel Ejiofor,

In 2009 at just 24 her first lead role hit our screens with 'An Education' by Lone Scherfig and written by Nick Hornby. Further to her breakout role she won a BAFTA Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award and the BAFTA Rising Star Award. That same year she starred in 'The Greatest' with Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon.







Next up was 'Never Let Me Go' with Keira Knightley in 2010, together with Oliver Stone's 'Wall Street : Money Never Sleeps'. The following year came a return to the stage with 'Through a Glass Darkly' which like many of her works to date was much praised and highly lauded. This led to 'Drive' for Director Nicholas Winding Refn and starring Ryan Gosling, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, and Oscar Isaac for which she was nominated for her second BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress. Steve McQueen's 'Shame' with Michael Fassbender followed that same year and the two latter films debuting at the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals respectively.

In 2013 she starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Baz Luhrmann's 'The Great Gatsby' followed by Joel & Ethan Coen's 'Inside Llewyn Davis' with Oscar Isaac once again. Following this was the TV mini-series 'The Spolis of Babylon', the 'Skylight' with Bill Nighy and Directed by Stephen Daldry, with 'Far from the Madding Crowd' and 'Suffragette' with Meryl Streep and Helena Bonham Carter both due later this year.

To date Mulligan has 24 acting credits to her name, and 43 awards wins including the BAFTA for 'An Education' and a further 49 nominations including Academy Award and the Golden Globe nods for 'An Education' and the BAFTA for 'Drive'.

In 2009 she participated in the 'Safe Project' to raise awareness of sex trafficking, she has been  an ambassador for the Alzheimer's Society since 2012, and from 2014 for 'War Child' also. She married Marcus Mumford (of Mumford & Sons) in April 2012, and they are expecting their first child this year.

Carey Mulligan - so much talent from someone still so young; experienced in film, TV and theatre; determined and focused; grounded and humble; charmingly playboyish and beautiful too - Happy 30th Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-