THE END OF OAK STREET : Tuesday 18th August 2026.

I saw the M Rated 'THE END OF OAK STREET' earlier this week, and this American Sci-Fi survival film is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by David Robert Mitchell who made his feature film Directing debut with 'The Myth of the American Sleepover' in 2010 and has since had only two other features, 'It Follows' in 2014 and 'Under the Silver Lake' in 2018. This film was released last week too in the US, cost in the region US$85M to produce and has so far grossed US$64M having garnered generally positive critical reviews along the way. 

The film opens on a scene of a street party on Oak Street in the town of Flowervale, Michigan, on what appears to be a beautiful sun drenched summers day. We are quickly introduced to Denise Platt (Anne Hathaway) and her husband Greg (Ewan McGregor) and their mid-teenage daughter Audrey (Maisy Stella), their younger son Brian (Christian Convery) and their dog Starbuck. The couple's marriage is somewhat strained, and Denise privately contemplates divorce, while Greg, having lost his regular job within the last few weeks secretly works as a local pizza delivery driver just to earn a few bucks until he can get back on his feet. 

Sometime later, Denise who is an aspiring novelist takes a draft of her first novel to local neighbour Mrs. Huddleston (Anne Gee Byrd) for a proof read, and who thinks her novel has merit and should continue writing. Before Denise leaves, Mrs.Huddleston invites her into her backyard to observe a peculiar looking plant that has suddenly sprouted up in the last three days and stands about six feet tall. Denise takes a photograph and at the library, the librarian, Mrs. Valcourt (Emily Kuroda), identifies the plant as a species that went extinct two hundred million years ago. The next morning, a big pile of animal dung subsequently appears in neighbour Mel Jacobs (P.J. Byrne) yard, and he fumes at Denise and Greg saying that it is their kids doing. Greg defuses the matter by offering to help Mel clean up the mess. Radio broadcasts report increased solar-flare activity. During a storm later that night, Greg returns home from a pizza delivery, when a huge white light suddenly engulfs Oak Street, joined by a change in atmospheric pressure, and a power and water outage. The next day still none the wiser as to what, how or why last nights incident occurred, Denise, Greg and their two kids leave their house to search for Starbuck, who has gone missing from his outdoor kennel. 

They soon discover that Oak Street is seemingly surrounded by a prehistoric landscape from which dinosaurs emerge, and kill people throughout the neighbourhood. The family proceeds to board up their windows and Audrey theorises that the flashes of light were wormholes that transported the entire neighbourhood millions of years into the past. 

Holed up in their home, the family gather to discuss their situation. Denise seems to accept their fate that they could potentially be stuck there for the rest of their lives, while Greg believes in the power of divine intervention and that God will help them find a way back to their normal lives. 

That night, Greg reveals he knows Denise is considering divorce, and confronts her about her draft manuscript which he says he has read and is about their life and struggles together, while also coming clean about losing his job. Meanwhile, Brian sees Starbuck outside his bedroom window and ventures outside to get him, with Audrey following. They witness Mel being killed by pterosaurs on the roof of his house. They encounter Jeannette Christiansen (Jordan Alexa Davis), Brian's neighbourhood crush, who joins them after revealing her parents have been killed. Elsewhere, Denise and Greg, while trying to find the children, see a flash of light and follow it to a house containing a wormhole. They refuse to leave without their children, and the wormhole disappears. A herd of dinosaurs pursue them, but they take shelter in a car, reconcile, reunite with the children, and offer to look after Jeannette.

The following morning, an Allosaurus attacks the group homing in on Denise. Greg comes to her rescue but is subsequently killed protecting the others, who are able to flee, obviously distraught and heartbroken over the sudden death of their husband and father. They observe the wormhole again in the distance above Mrs. Valcourt's house and make their way onto the roof. They observe that the wormhole appears and disappears at regular intervals. Jeannette jumps in and disappears, but when Brian attempts to follow, he misses the opening and falls to the ground injuring his leg in the process. A Tropeognathus grabs at his leg, but Starbuck appears and attacks the creature. The group attempt to take shelter inside Mrs. Valcourt's house, but it is infested with erythrosuchids, one of which Mrs. Valcourt manages to shoot dead with a shotgun before being overwhelmed and killed by the others. Escaping back to the roof, the group then to jump into the wormhole together.

Jumping through the wormhole together, the three come crashing down into a swimming pool in the pouring rain. The irate owner comes out screaming for the three to get the hell outta there, while Denise shouts 'what year is it?' 'What sort of a question is that? the home owner yells back, 'it's 1982!' Having returned about twenty minutes before Oak Street is transported mysteriously away, Denise calls from a local phone box, a handful of Oak Street residents to leave the neighbourhood prior to the white light appearing, while Jeannette runs to warn her parents. Denise also contacts Greg to make his next pizza delivery to a distant bus stop, where they will be waiting. When Greg arrives, he is embraced by Denise and his kids. The white light appears again, engulfing the suburb as Oak Street disappears and is replaced by the prehistoric landscape. Two years later, the military and authorities have contained the area while scientists study both the prehistoric environment and its wildlife in attempts to determine how and why the wormholes appeared. Denise has become a hero for warning residents and has published a book titled 'The End of Oak Street', based on her experiences, which has made the family moderately well off financially. The film ends with the Platts and the Christiansens enjoying a barbecue together, with a pair of matching Jeannettes.

'The End of Oak Street' as a creature feature harkens back to the halcyon days of Spielberg's 'Jurassic' offerings, in as much as the marauding dino effects are well realised, the action sequences will maintain your interest, and the Platt's family dynamics are relatable. That said, I felt that the background CGI was questionable, some of the dialogue clunky, and the behaviour of the characters is at times ambiguous. For a throwback film of the ilk that trademarked the 1980's and early '90's, this disposable popcorn movie is sure to please despite the plot holes, and at a brisk running time of 99 minutes it doesn't outstay its welcome. 

'The End of Oak Street' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

COCAINE BEAR : Tuesday 28th February 2023.

I saw the M Rated 'COCAINE BEAR' earlier this week, and this American dark comedy action film is Co-Produced and Directed by the American Actress, Producer, Writer and Director Elizabeth Banks in her third feature film making effort following 2015's 'Pitch Perfect 2' and 2019's 'Charlie's Angels'. Released in the US and Australia last week, the film has so far grossed US$34M from a production budget of US$35M and has garnered mixed or average Reviews. 

This film is inspired by real events that occurred in December 1985, and opens up with Andrew C. Thornton II (Matthew Rhys) hauling duffel bags filled with cocaine from his light aircraft. As he is preparing himself to parachute out of the aircraft carrying a duffel bag loaded with coke, he inadvertently knocks himself out on the door frame, falls out of said aeroplane and lands in a crumpled heap, very dead, in Knoxville, Tennessee. The body of Thornton is recognised by Bob (Isiah Whitlock Jnr.) a local Detective who deduces that the drug stash he was carrying is from a Syd White, operating out of St. Louis. In the meantime, somewhere in the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia, an American Black Bear consumes some of the cocaine and as a consequence becomes very aggressive and sets upon two hikers, Elsa (Hannah Hoekstra) and her partner Olaf (Kristofer Hivju), killing Elsa. 

Middle schooler Dee Dee (Brooklynn Prince) lives with her mum, Sari (Keri Russell), a nurse. Dee Dee bunks of school with her best friend Henry (Christian Convery) to paint a picture of the falls in the forest. On the trail to the falls, the pair finds a lost brick of cocaine, and try eating some before they are attacked by the bear. 

Sari goes into the forest to search for the kids with Park Ranger Liz (Margo Martindale) and Peter (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), a wildlife activist. The three find Henry half way up a tree clinging on for dear life, hiding from the bear. The bear attacks, first of all homing in on Henry, while Peter stumbles through a pile of cocaine, and slashing Liz on the butt cheek in the process. Attracted to a cocaine-coated Peter, who has now also climbed a nearby tree, the bear clambers up and kills him, ignoring Henry. While the bear dispenses with Peter, Henry climbs down and he and Sari flee deeper into the forest, and Liz sends for help.

In St. Louis, Syd (Ray Liotta in one of his final film appearances before his untimely death in May 2022, aged 67) sends his fixer Daveed (O'Shea Jackson) to recover the remaining cocaine. Daveed travels to Georgia with Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich), Syd's son, who is depressed following the death of his wife and has abandoned his son. They arrive in Georgia, as does Bob. At the forest station, Daveed gets into a brawl with the Duchamps gang, three delinquents who cause trouble in the forest, overpowering them easily. One of the members, Stache (Aaron Holliday), takes Daveed and Eddie to recover some of the cocaine he stashed in a gazebo. 

Liz arrives back at the station, pursued by the bear. Liz accidentally shoots one of the Duchamps in the head killing him outright before the bear slaughters the other. Paramedics Beth (Kahyun Kim) and Tom (Scott Seiss) arrive and collect Liz who has been further slashed to the shoulder after a brief skirmish with the bear. They leave with Liz in an ambulance, but the bear pursues and jumps into the back of the vehicle, which ultimately results in the death of all three.

Sari and Henry discover that Dee Dee has left them a trail of paint and clothing, with which they are able to track her. Daveed and Eddie arrive at the gazebo with Stache, but find Bob there stranded on the roof with a duffel bag stashed full of cocaine. The bear appears but Bob distracts it with the bag of coke which it swallows whole. Bob is suddenly fatally shot by Syd, who reveals that he is under a huge amount of pressure by his superiors to retrieve the cocaine. 

Sari and Henry come across Olaf mourning over the loss of Elsa. He leads them to Dee Dee’s hiding place in a cave containing the bears two cubs, revealing that the bear is a mother. Olaf leaves and is killed by the bear returning to her cave. Syd, Eddie, and Daveed also find the cave, which leads out to a ledge behind the falls. The bear returns to the cave. Sari, Henry, and Dee Dee jump into the water below to safety, followed by Eddie and Daveed - who have chosen to quit the drug business together - and they all survive. However, Syd refuses to leave the duffel bag of cocaine found in the cave. He shoots and wounds the bear but is unsuccessful in killing it and is shortly thereafter disemboweled by the bear and her cubs.

With 'Cocaine Bear' what you're gonna get is exactly what's written on the side of the tin - a bear stoned on cocaine, just like those other aptly named movies 'Snakes on a Plane' and 'Sharknado' for instance. Director Elizabeth Banks takes a lot of liberties with this story inspired by real events - sure an American black bear did consume a duffel bag full of cocaine dropped from a light aeroplane somewhere over north Georgia in late 1985 but that's where the similarities end. The real 'Cocaine Bear' did not go on a murderous rampage and no one got killed as a result, and the bear wound up dead three months later, found beside dozens of opened containers of cocaine. All of that said, this film is entertaining enough with the emphasis more on comedy than on horror, although there is plenty of blood and gore to satisfy the gore hounds amongst us, but the plot is silly and contrived despite the A-list cast doing the best they can with what they've been given and the lean 95 minute run time just about ensures this film does not outstay its welcome. 

'Cocaine Bear' merits two claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-