ELVIS : Tuesday 28th June 2022.

I saw the M Rated 'ELVIS' at my local multiplex this week, and this Australian and US Co-Produced biographical musical drama film is Co-Written for the screen, based on a story, Directed and Co-Produced by Baz Luhrmann whose previous film making credits take in his debut 'Strictly Ballroom' in 1992, 'Romeo + Juliet' in 1996, 'Moulin Rouge!' in 2001, 'Australia' in 2008 and 'The Great Gatsby' in 2013. The film had its World Premier screening at the Cannes Film Festival on 25th May where it received a twelve minute standing ovation. Released in Australia and worldwide last week, it was originally scheduled to be released in early October 2021, before being delayed to early November 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and then later to last week. It cost US$85M to produce, has so far grossed US$52M from its opening weekend and a further US$13M since for a worldwide total so far of US$65M, and has garnered generally positive critical acclaim.

The film opens up in 1997 with Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks) on his death bed recalling his memories of how he first discovered Elvis Presley (Austin Butler) and how he led him on the path to worldwide superstardom as his manager, mentor, guardian and custodian. The film then takes us back to the late 1940's and a young Elvis (Chaydon Jay) had a largely poverty driven upbringing in Tupelo, Mississippi with his parents Vernon (Richard Roxburgh), who had served jail time, and Gladys (Helen Thomson). Elvis finds his personal means of escape and his own lifeline in music, and in particular gospel music, which he falls under the spell off as a young boy. In his late teens he is often ridiculed by his peer group because of his strong leaning towards African American music to be heard bellowing out from the clubs and bars on Memphis' Beale Street where the likes of B.B. King (Kelvin Harrison Jnr.) and Little Richard (Alton Mason) hang out at 'Club Handy'.

Parker grew up around the carnivals and travelling fair's turning a dollar on the gullibility on his audience night after night. He is also managing Hank Snow (David Wenham) and his son Jimmie Snow (Kodi Smit-McPhee) but as soon as Parker hears Elvis belting out his debut song on the radio he becomes determined to track the singer down and manage his affairs from here on in. Parker eventually meets and persuades Elvis to let him take control of his career by having Vernon and Gladys sign a contract with Vernon appointed as Elvis' Business Manager which begins a meteoric ascent. 

However, not all of the public is impressed with the young entertainer, labelling him 'Elvis the Pelvis' because of his trademark hips and legs wiggle. Many parents fear that his music is corrupting their children, especially the young and impressionable daughters, and racist politicians also attack him. He is asked to downplay the wiggle and stand up straight, not gyrate his hips, and wear a suit with tails onstage, which he does once under the guise of 'The New Elvis', but his fans rebel against this demanding they want 'The Old Elvis' back. After a violent incident at a stadium concert, Elvis finds himself facing a possible jail term because he gave the fans what they wanted to hear and see. However, it is suggested that Parker persuades the government to draft Elvis into the US Army in 1958 as a way of avoiding any further legal proceedings. During his time in the Army on a posting to Germany, Elvis learns that Gladys has died of alcoholism. He is distraught by the news and almost inconsolable. Parker comforts Elvis and Vernon in their hour of need and says to Elvis that while he is overseas seeing out his Army service that he will take care of all of his affairs and need not worry about a thing. 

While stationed in Germany, Elvis meets Priscilla Beaulieu (Olivia DeJonge), and upon his discharge, he resumes his career-making concert tours and Hollywood feature films while Parker's control of his life takes on an even stronger grip. Elvis is devastated by the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 and Robert Kennedy also in 1968, and wishes to become more politically outspoken in his music while Parker merely wants him to sing family friendly frivolous songs that will be No.1 best sellers. He hires Jerry Schilling (Luke Bracey) and Steve Binder (Dacre Montgomery) to resurrect his ailing career (which they described as being 'in the toilet'), much to Parker's disliking. Schilling and Binder orchestrate Elvis' 1968 Comeback Tour which has massive television success and reestablishes the singer right back to his former glory years. 

The International Hotel is set to open on the Las Vegas strip, and while Elvis has plans to tour Europe Parker has other ideas. He downplays touring Europe based on the cost involved that would heavily eat into any profits made and the security risks associated with travelling to foreign lands. Instead, Parker suggests that The International Hotel would offer Elvis a six week residency at no cost, because they need a big name act to help establish the new hotel as a gaming and entertainment destination, and quickly. Afterwards, Parker says, he can tour overseas. But afterwards never comes, as Parker who is now heavily in debt to a casino for his gambling addiction, secretly and without any consultation with Elvis commits the singer to a residency term of five years in exchange for US$5M for Elvis, plus an unlimited line of credit and the waiving of all debts owed by Parker. 

Elvis puts his all into his sell out stage shows at The International Hotel, but eventually grows tired of Parker and attempts to fire him, only to be sued by the latter for more than US$8M for expenses incurred since day one of their relationship. Elvis chides Vernon as his Business Manager saying that he was supposed to oversee all of his finances, but Vernon only responds with the fact that he will have to sell Graceland and that sum will leave him broke and destitute. A vicious argument ensues between Elvis and Parker as he is about to leave for the airport and embark on a European Tour, but afterwards Elvis has to concede that he has no choice but to maintain his management from Parker, and instead embark on a fifteen city tour of the US instead. Ultimately, they grow apart and rarely see each other afterwards.

Following this, Elvis's life spirals on a seemingly ever downward trajectory as Priscilla takes their daughter Lisa Marie and leaves him over his prescription drug addiction, which grows even stronger after she is gone. They divorce in 1973. Later, as Elvis is about to board his private plane and bidding farewell to Lisa Marie at the airport, Priscilla jumps in the back of the limo and the pair share a private and tender moment. Elvis says to his former wife that he is approaching his fortieth birthday and that no one will remember him when he is gone. As the pair part company and Elvis boards his plane he mouths the words 'I will always love you' to Priscilla. Elvis died from a heart attack on 16th August 1977 at the age of 42. 

The final scene is one of Elvis's last shows which depicts him as being bloated and pale looking, while singing 'Unchained Melody' at the piano, with real footage from the concert as key moments from his life are shown, with Parker passing away old and alone in 1997. The closing credits reveal that Parker's financial and contractual abuse of Elvis was the subject of litigation by the Presley Estate after Elvis' death. Parker spent his last years gambling away his money on casino slot machines, while Elvis remains the best-selling solo artist of all-time and one of the most beloved entertainers in music history.

I sat in a packed out cinema theatre half full of baby boomers who would have been around in the '60's and '70's to see the real events unfold, with the other half being millennials who would have been there for the entertainment and education factors and to see the legendary King of Rock 'n' Roll writ large on the silver screen. What was unusual was the applause this film garnered from the gathered audience when the end credits rolled, which is telling in its own right! Unlike his previous 'The Great Gatsby' which for me was all style with little substance, in 'Elvis' Luhrmann has delivered an extravagant spectacular biopic that has style and substance in equal measure and that will keep you glued to the screen for all of its 160 minute run time. Austin Butler lives and breathes EP and his performance is near perfect in terms of his looks, his singing, his gyrating, his dancing and his persona in a role that we are unlikely to find as convincing this year. As for Tom Hanks in his fat suit and prosthetic face and nose made up to resemble Col. Tom Parker in all his manipulative, controlling illegal alien personality, it was at times hard for me to see behind the Mr. Nice Guy image that Hanks more often than not portrays in his film roles. That said though, I learned a lot about EP's Manager and their 20+ year relationship that turned toxic towards the end, even though Elvis kept coming back to him time after time like a lost puppy no matter how harshly he was treated. 'Elvis' is a brash film that will keep you pondering the King's life, and all of its twists and turns, ups and downs long after the credits have rolled. It's memorable for a whole bunch of reasons and has Luhrmann's trademark glitz and glamour written all over it while attempting to explain how a little kid growing up poor in Tupelo came to become the most successful solo music artist of all time and as popular still today some 45 years after his death, as he was when he was alive. 

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

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN : DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES - Tuesday 30th May 2017.

The trailer for the latest in this hugely successful franchise 'PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN : DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES', which I saw last week, would have us believe, that, allegedly, this is the final voyage for the good ship Black Pearl and her merry band of seafaring pirates as led by the most infamous swashbuckling blaggard of them all Cap'n Jack Sparrow. And so here we have this fifth instalment in the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' series Directed by the Norwegian pairing of Espen Sandberg and Joachim Ronning for a cool US$230M budget outlay. This film has been in development since before the release of 'On Stranger Tides' in 2011 and went through extensive re-writes, filming delays and budget issues to ensure that the script and the production were just right to almost guarantee its commercial and critical success. It has been reported that Johnny Depp takes home a pay packet worth US$67M for reprising his role for the fifth time as our titular hero of the seven seas. This statistic would hardly seem surprising given that the first four films took a combined US$3,729B at the worldwide Box Office against a budget of US$1,044B together with a collective awards haul of 101 wins and 231 further nominations - not bad for a series of films based on a Disney theme park ride that was first launched fifty years ago. The film has so far taken US$508M since its release in the US, Canada, China and Australia at the end of May.

Here this story starts with a twelve year old Henry Turner (Lewis McGowan) who is in possession of a map that will tell him the exact offshore location of his now increasingly barnacled old man - the banished to sea as Captain aboard The Flying Dutchman, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), as seen at the end of 'At World's End'. Following a watery rendezvous at the bottom of the ocean Henry announces to his father that he knows of the means to break the curse which binds his father to Davy Jones Locker for all eternity, by way of the mythical Trident of Poseidon. Will of course will have nothing of this far flung fancy and tells his son that the Trident does not exist, and he should leave and forget about him. Henry vows to keep searching for the Trident and the means of setting his father free despite what he thinks or says.

We then fast forward nine years later and Henry is now a strapping young man (Brenton Thwaites) working for the British Royal Navy aboard a warship. While chasing down a pirate ship, Henry realises that his Captain is about to sail them straight into the jaws of the uncharted Devil's Triangle from which there is no return. Having an intimate knowledge of all things nautical, Henry is so convinced that they face certain doom, that he rebels against the Captain and his Officers, only to be locked up for his insolence and inciting a mutiny.

Sure enough, the Captain advances into The Devils Triangle and is quickly engulfed by a living shipwreck and its undead crew led by one Captain Armando Salazar (Javier Bardem), who go about killing every man on board . . . except the incarcerated Henry, who just happens to have a wanted poster for Jack Sparrow in his cell. Salazar spares Henry's life so that he can deliver a message that certain death is coming after him!

Meanwhile, on the northeast Caribbean island of Saint Martin, a young woman names Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario) has been sentenced to death by hanging because she has been branded a witch because of her intelligence, her knowledge of astronomy and of horology. She is able to briefly escape her captors and inadvertently runs into Jack Sparrow who has been caught red handed robbing a bank vault with his crew. After a long slapstick chase sequence through the main town that is pulled straight from a Buster Keaton movie, the crew come to realise that the vault is empty and all their hard efforts were for nothing. Saying that their Captain's luck and good fortune have finally run out, Jack's crew abandon him. Later Carina meets with Henry who has also been sentenced to death for his crimes against the Royal Navy. During their brief meeting Carina tells Henry that she knows how to locate the Trident. She helps to free Henry but in the process is captured herself.

By now Jack is feeling decidedly depressed and sorry for himself. He has lost his crew, his ship, The Black Pearl, is cursed and locked inside a bottle, and he has no money with which to even buy himself a drink. He lumbers into a tavern caked in mud from a booze induced fall, and trades in his mystical compass for a bottle of the landlords finest rum. In giving up his compass, this causes the Devil Triangle to crumble into the sea, and Salazar and his undead ship mates to roam the seas now freely. Before you know it, Jack is caught by the British Army and sentenced to death with Carina the Witch. He chooses the guillotine and she is to be hanged. However, just in time Henry comes to the rescue of them both, as do Jack's former shipmates and crew having been paid to do so by Henry.  What follows is another action set piece lifted straight out of the Keystone Cops, allowing Jack, Henry, Carina and the pirate crew to escape on Jack's ramshackle old ship 'The Dying Gull'.

Out on the ocean wave, Carina reveals to Henry and Jack that she is in possession of a map that will lead them to the whereabouts of the Trident, but that the map is hidden in the stars, and being an astronomer and a horologist, only she is qualified on board to navigate the course. She agrees to help Henry lift the curse on her father and Jack lift the curse of the revengeful Salazar in exchange for her realising the dream that was left to her by her father. Meanwhile, Salazar is free to sail the seas in search of Jack and is intent on dispensing with all pirate ships once again. He systematically wipes out Barbossa's fleet which has grown quite large and very wealthy, in his relentless search for Captain Jack. Barbossa meets with Salazar and bargains with him to spare his fleet in exchange for the delivery of Jack Sparrow to which the undead Captain reluctantly agrees.

Before long Barbossa delivers on his promise to Salazar by locating Jack's ship off in the distance. Jack, Carina and Henry make off to the safety of a nearby island in a rowing boat, leaving the crew aboard The Dying Gull to create a distraction. Salazar and his men, being undead, are all to nimbly walk on water and give chase to the rowboat. Fortunately Jack, Carina and Henry are able to evade Salazar and his men at the waters edge when it is realised that the ghost crew are unable to walk on dry land, having been banished for all eternity to a watery existence.

Jack, Carina and Henry head inland and are promptly captured by some local pirate types that have taken up residence having been abandon there long before. Jack is forced into marrying the fugly overweight daughter of their leader but is rescued from a fate worse than death by Barbossa. He breaks the miniaturised Black Pearl out of its bottle, so breaking its curse and returning it to its full size and former glory. Barbossa takes control of the ship, ties up Jack to the mast, and allows Carina to navigate them to the island where the Trident is allegedly hidden. In a moment of calm, Jack and Barbossa come to realise a tantalising secret about Carina's true parentage, that neither of them can speak of again.

Sometime later, the Black Pearl escapes being destroyed by a British Naval warship, the HMS Essex under the command of Lieutenant Scarfield (David Wenham), which is instead taken out by Salazar's ship. The crew of the Black Pearl then face off against the crew of Salazar's ship, and is able to break away arriving at the island as directed by a constellation of stars marking out a path. Upon activating a path to the Trident, Jack and Carina are sent careering down a pathway  to the ocean floor where the Trident is located. By now the ocean has formed a deep trench with a deep wall of water on either side making access for the living easy.

Meanwhile, Salazar has given chase, and his undead ghost possesses Henry so enabling him to walk on dry land, which in turn gives him access to the Trident on the now dry ocean bed, which he gets to first. Wielding its mighty power, Salazar impales Jack with the Trident. Henry is now free of Salazar's ghostly possession and realises that an earlier clue to breaking its curse upon the sea, is to 'divide' the Trident into two. Before Salazar is able to render the final blow to Jack, Henry intervenes, breaks the Trident and so returning Salazar and his shipmates to the realm of the living. Barbossa aids Jack, Carina and Henry to safety by way of the dropped anchor from the Black Pearl above, but time is running out as the divided sea walls now begin to cave in. As the anchor gradually lifts the three and Barbossa to safety with torrents of ocean water closing in, so Salazar makes a final last ditch attempt to thwart Jack, but ultimately is unsuccessful. Salazar and his crew mates are engulfed by the sea, drown and die, never to be seen again!

All ends happily after after, as Will Turner's curse is lifted and he is reunited with his wife Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), Henry and Carina get it together, and Jack regains the mighty Black Pearl, a loyal crew, and his mystical compass back which points to their next heading, which might just be the teaser that 'Pirates 6' is more of a likelihood than the Studio Exec's would have us believe.

This is an OK entry into the 'Pirates' cannon, but delivers exactly what you would expect and largely what you have seen before. The action set pieces and the CGI are impressive enough, but delivered with a slapstick intent that has been overcooked in the four previous instalments, and as such there is really nothing new to see here. It is an entertaining enough romp - not a bad film but not a great one either, just about sufficient to keep you engaged and maintain your interest for its two hour running time. Johnny Depp plays the Cap'n with a predictable familiarity, that even his brief younger days back story provide little respite from. Rush and Bardem as Barbossa and Salazar respectively provide more of a spectacle and keep the momentum going providing a welcome break from Sparrow's trademark slapstick antics, forced smiles and die-hard one-liners. Watch out for the cameo by Sir Paul McCartney as locked up Uncle Jack, and the end credits sequence setting the scene for the next instalment . . . maybe, perhaps, possibly, and do we really need it!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

LION : Tuesday 24th JANUARY 2017.

'LION' which I caught earlier this week is a drama film Directed by first timer Garth Davis and is based on the autobiographical book 'A Long Way Home' by Saroo Brierley and tells the story of his life as played out by Sunny Pawar as the young Saroo back home in India, and Dev Patel as the older Saroo at home in Australia. Already highly acclaimed by critics the world over, the film was made for just US$12M and has so far grossed US$28M plus twenty-two award wins and a further 67 nominations including the yet to be announced winners for this years BAFTA's for which it has five nominations as well as this years Academy Award nods for which it has six including Best Film and Best Supporting Actor/Actress nods for Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman respectively. After premiering at TIFF in early September, the film went on a limited release in the US in late November before its wider release from January onward.

The story here starts with brothers Saroo (Sunny Pawar) and his older brother Guddu (Abhisek  Bharate) in 1987 stealing coal from a moving train, so that they can purchase farm fresh milk from the local market to take home to their mother and young sister. It's all pretty innocent stuff and the two boys are the closest of siblings - looking out for each other, larking around and getting in and out of mischief. There is a genuine love for each other that is warmly displayed by the two young child Actors here, but most notably by the five year old Sunny Pawar who has a screen presence to behold, and you can't help but be captivated by his every move.

When Guddu wakes one night to go to work in a neighbouring village Saroo pleads with him to allow him to go along, showing off his strength and manual lifting prowess. Against his mothers wishes Guddu relents and the two disappear into the night. They arrive at a train station where Guddu orders Saroo to remain on a bench until he returns with orders for work. Saroo is fighting to stay awake and dozes off. Sometime later, Saroo wakes and it is still dark but there is no sign of his brother. He calls after Guddu repeatedly and marches up and down the platform and the tracks searching for his older brother but to no avail. He climbs onto a train and promptly falls asleep in a deserted carriage. He wakes later and the empty train is travelling at speed through unfamiliar territory. And so the train keeps travelling for 1,600kms with little Saroo its only passenger, eventually coming to a halt in far away Calcutta.

Saroo gets off the train hungry, thirsty and a long way from home, but still he calls out for Guddu and his Mum, not comprehending the enormity of the distance he has travelled or where he is. He cannot even speak the local dialect (Bengali) because he speaks Hindi. He is however, quick to adapt to his surroundings and proves to be quite resourceful, ever confident that he will someday be reunited with his Mum and his his brother, and how they too will be eagerly searching for him. Along the way over the several months that pass Saroo narrowly escapes being abducted, and then falling into the hands of a kindly gentleman who is not all who he seems. He eventually is handed over to the Police who after questioning place him into the hands of an orphanage where he remains being fed, watered and reasonably well cared for over several more months.

One day, the time comes when he is given the news that he has been adopted by an Australian family living in Tasmania - Sue and John Brierley (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham respectively). This is backed up by the news that the local authorities have searched in vain for his Mother, so far as posting photo's of young Saroo in the newspaper that has a readership of fifteen million. Later, we see Saroo board the plane with his carer, arrive in Hobart and receive a warm welcome by his new adoptive Mum and Dad. Saroo adapts well to his new family, and the three of them bond beyond anyone's expectations. A year or so later Sue and John adopt another young Indian lad, Mantosh, (Keshav Jadhav) who settles in less well to his new surroundings and rebels by self-harming.

Fast track two decades and Saroo is a grown adult living at home with his Mum and Dad and has plans for his life, while Mantosh has rebelled against the establishment and lives in a hut somewhere in Hobart's forest hinterland. Saroo is about to leave for Melbourne University where he is to study Hospitality Management with designs on owning his own hotel one day. Once in Melbourne he quickly befriends a number of Indian students and American girl Lucy (Rooney Mara). One evening over dinner at a student house, Saroo remembers a certain food from his childhood that is served, and in turn he confides in the group that he was adopted at a very young age and whilst he has a strong desire to trace back his family, he has scant memories and wouldn't know where to start. One of the students suggests that Saroo should use the new Google Earth application to search out his family and where he hailed from. It is 2008.

Meanwhile, Saroo and Lucy fall for each other, but as time progresses and Saroo's search draws nothing but blanks, so he retreats further inside himself at the expense of his relationship with Lucy. He breaks off his relationship, and in the meantime has said nothing to his parents Sue and John about his search for his birth mother, for fear that they will be offended, and that he would appear to them to be ungrateful. Sensing that Saroo is so pre-occupied and has distanced himself from his family, causes Sue to fall into a prolonged state of ill health. Later on Saroo visits his parents and in a touching moment he expresses his sorrow at Sue's inability to bear children. Unknown to him however, Sue was not infertile as Saroo had believed, but she and John all along chose to help other less fortunate children through adoption, rather than bolstering the worlds burgeoning population further.

By now several years have passed by since Saroo started his search on Google Earth. His room is adorned with maps of India, train timetables from the time, notes and random scribblings that his vague memories have revealed. One evening while feeling frustrated and helpless, he randomly scrolls though the Indian landscape on Google Earth, and notices a formation of rocks that held a familiarity to the place his mother worked. He narrows down the search zooming in on the landscape from above and discovers the place where he lived - a town called Khandwa, with the specific area known as Ganesh Talai. He reveals to his parents that he has found the location of his town and in his head he can retrace the steps exactly to his former home. He tells Lucy too, asking for her to wait for him to return. He boards a flight bound for India to complete the final leg of his 25 year search.

By now it is 2012, and Saroo arrives in Khandwa and sure enough is able to retrace those steps he took many many times as a young lad all those years ago. But his former family home is now a run down stable for goats and sundry livestock. Disheartened he comes across an English speaking local who understands him and beckons him to follow. Out onto the street he follows and is greeted by a procession of colourful Sari wearing women of all ages. At the front is Saroo's birth mother, Kamla Munshi (Priyanka Bose) and his sister. Their re-connection after all this time is emotional to say the least. A crowd gathers round and cheer as the three embrace, knowing that Kamla never gave up hope that her son would one day return.

In the closing sequence we see real footage of the Brierly's visiting Kamla in Khandwa in 2013. We also learn that Saroo had been mispronouncing his name his entire life, and that in fact it is 'Sheru' - a derivative Hindi word for 'Lion'.

This really is a remarkable true story that avoids all the talking heads and voiceovers you might expect from such a production. It is a simple story told with a deft touch by this first time Director, underpinned by strong, grounded and believable performances from its cast - not the least being young Sunny Pawar who is the standout here caught between two very different worlds. But credit where it's due too to Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman for their performances also that keep it real and emotional. The second half labours in places, but this is only a minor criticism - after all, just how interesting can you make someone else relentless Google Earth search? Take a box of tissues for this uplifting weepie tale of loss, hope, belonging and identity. You won't be disappointed!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 19th January 2017.

Last week I reported on the recent Golden Globe Awards that were held on 8th January. Two days before that however, on 6th January at the historic Avalon nightclub in Hollywood, the 6th International AACTA Awards (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts) were held. These awards, which follow up Decembers Australian only awards, recognise international film achievement regardless of country or origin, in seven distinct categories. Hosted by Australian Actor Daniel MacPherson, and kicking off 2017's awards season, the star studded event played out with the eventual winners and grinners from those nominated a month earlier, being as follows :-

* Best Film : 'LA LA LAND',
* Best Direction : MEL GIBSON for 'Hacksaw Ridge',
* Best Actor : CASEY AFFLECK for 'Manchester By The Sea' (released in Australia on 2nd February).
* Best Actress : EMMA STONE for 'La La Land',
* Best Supporting Actor : DEV PATEL for 'Lion' (released in Australia today, see below),
* Best Supporting Actress : NICOLE KIDMAN for 'Lion' (released in Australia today, see below),
* Best Screenplay : KENNETH LONERGAN for 'Manchester By The Sea' (released in Australia on 2nd February).

Turning attention to this weeks latest release films, we have just two to tease you out on a hot Summer's day or night with some air conditioned relief in a cinema of your choosing. We launch with the third instalment in this high octane extreme adventure franchise that sees a heavily tattooed thrill seeking rogue athletic dude come back to life and save the planet from a potential weapon of worldwide destruction and a few crooked governments along the way. Hold on tight! Then we slow down the pace somewhat about the true story of one man's journey to trace his real family back in India from the comfort, security and love of his adopted Australian home. Take your Kleenex!

As always, your thoughts, opinions and observations are welcomed by your fellow readers here at Odeon Online so feel free to record a relevant, pertinent and unbiased Comment below this or any other Post when you have sat through your film of choice in the week ahead. We look forward to hearing from you, and in the interim, enjoy your movie going experience.

'xXx : THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE' (Rated M) - the 'xXx' franchise of films is hardly going to go down in history as the most successful, most groundbreaking, most acclaimed series of action movies to grace our screens, having grossed just $349M from the first two instalments off the back of a US$157M combined production budget. The 2002 launch film 'xXx' starred Vin Diesel as our thrill seeking extreme sports stuntman and rebel athlete Xander Cage who becomes a reluctant spy for the National Security Agency tasked with hunting down a bunch of bad-ass Ruskies. That film was Directed by Rob Cohen and grossed US$275M from its US$70M budget and received generally favourable reviews. The 2005 follow up however, was another story completely. Directed by Lee Tamahori for US$87M 'xXx : The State of the Union' starred this time around Ice Cube as XXX Agent Darius Stone, as Diesel had a scheduling conflict with another movie he was committed to at the time. That film grossed just US$71M and was received poorly by critics. Now in 2017 Xander Cage is back even though he was killed off to explain his absence from the second film. Going back as far 2006 Diesel stated that he would return as our titular hero with a look and feel more in keeping with his successful first instalment. It's taken eleven years to bring that dream to our cinemas and here we have it, and there is talk already of Diesel reprising his role for a fourth film which could into production as early as mid-year this year.

This time Directed by D.J.Caruso, Co-Produced by Vin Diesel and seeing a return to form as the risen from the dead Xander Cage, our extreme athlete comes out of self imposed exile recruited by the CIA to track down a weapon which can control all of the worlds military satellites. Known as Pandora's Box, in the hands of one Xiang (Donnie Yen), this weapon could have dire consequences on the world as we know it. And so Xander Cage recruits a crack team of like minded thrill seekers all with a particular set of skills to aid him in his quest to bring down Xiang. Conspiracy and corruption will ensue as Cage and his cohorts get wrapped up in it at the highest levels of world governments, including their own. Seeing Samuel L. Jackson return for the third time to the franchise as NSA Agent Augustus Eugene Gibbons, with Toni Collette, Ruby Rose and Tony Jaa amongst others you can be sure of high octane action, mind boggling stunts, explosive set pieces and a thumping sound track, with Cage looking positively 'dope' in the process!

'LION' (Rated PG) - this drama film Directed by first time Garth Davis is based on the autobiographical book 'A Long Way Home' by Saroo Brierley and tell the story of his life as played out by Sunny Pawar as the young Saroo back home in India, and Dev Patel as the older Saroo at home in Australia. Already highly acclaimed by critics the world over, the film was made for just US$12M and has so far grossed US$19M plus twenty award wins and a further 62 nominations including the yet to be announced winners for this years BAFTA's, as well as this years yet to be released Academy Award nominee announcements. The story here centres around five year old Saroo who unwittingly boards a train for Calcutta and gets off 1600 kilometres from home, in a strange land and ends up in an orphanage. Some time later he learns that he had been adopted by Sue and John Brierley (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham respectively) in Tasmania, Australia. Fast track two decades and Saroo moves to Melbourne to study hospitality management, and falls in with a group who persuade him to track down his real family back in India using Google Earth. This is his story. Take a box of tissues for this weepie tale of loss, hope, belonging and identity.

With just two new filmic offerings coming to a big screen near you each giving us something different, together with those still out on general release, you have ample opportunity to catch a movie of choice in the run up to the end of the (Australian) school summer holidays. Then, share your thoughts with us here. In the meantime, I'll see you somewhere, sometime in the week ahead at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

GOLDSTONE : Tuesday 12th July 2016.

'GOLDSTONE' which I saw this week opened the Sydney Film Festival on 8th June and had its World Premier then, before going on general release in Australia last week. Directed and Written by Ivan Sen who also acted as Cinematographer, Editor and wrote the music score, this is the standalone sequel to his highly acclaimed and multi-award winning and nominated 2013 film 'Mystery Road' which also opened that years Sydney Film Festival. Here, Sen has written a taught, atmospheric and relevant story with the backdrop of a barren sun scorched dusty outback land that stretches for mile upon mile of vast nothingness that is further heightened by widescreen shots taken from afar, or from a birds eye view looking down.

This film sees Aaron Pedersen reprising his role as Indigenous Detective Jay Swan from 'Mystery Road', who drives half-drunk and semi-conscious into the Australian outback mining town of Goldstone (shot in the very remote, sparsely populated western Queensland) where he is promptly picked up by the only cop in this one horse town, Josh Waters (Alex Russell). Asking for a breath test Swan blows positive and is promptly handcuffed, thrown in the back of the Police car and given a 'room' and 'bed' for the night at the local Police Station to sober up and cool down. Whilst sleeping, Josh rifles through Swan's kit bag and comes across a Police issue Glock pistol and Swan's Police ID. The next day, Swan's 4WD is delivered by tow truck to the Police Station, and off he goes to find accommodation in a local caravan park (aka 'The Diggers Rest Motel'). Later, while sleeping, he is rudely awaken by two biker types outside his caravan peppering the side of his temporary home with bullets. Swan escapes unhurt, but it is not long before Josh is on the case asking questions and doing some digging of his own. Swan reveals what he is doing in Goldstone - sent on the search for a young missing Asian girl under authority from the Federal Police. Josh quickly dismisses the notion that anyone is missing, and that he should return post haste from whence he came.

With his accommodation shot up Josh moves Swan out to a remote cabin on the outskirts of town. Swan meanwhile goes about his investigations visiting the local Aboriginal community and meeting up with the local elder Jimmy (David Gulpilil) before coming across the fenced off boundary of the Furnace Creek Gold Mine with dire warnings to keep out. Siddling up to a rocky outcrop within the boundary area at dusk he spies an incoming light plane and witnesses Asian women getting on and off the aircraft. Returning to his parked car he is set upon by armed Security Guards, who promptly cart him off for an audience with local mine manager Johnny (David Wenham) who questions him and cautions him that it would be in his own best interests if he gets out of town, asks no more questions and doesn't look back.

By now the local Mayor, Maureen (Jacki Weaver) is asking questions and seeking a private meeting with Swan. Maureen has been married five times before we learn and came to Goldstone to escape the world and live her life as she wanted. She now oversees the community as a smiling assassin - turning a blind eye to the goings on below the surface while feathering her own nest off the back of the prospects the gold mine presents her on a personal level. She bakes Swan a welcoming apple pie, but tells him in no uncertain terms to stop his meddling in business that doesn't concern him.

None of this puts Swan off the scent and his quest for the missing girl. Seeing a link between the Asian girls flown in and his missing person investigation, as well as his meeting with Johnny and more recently with Maureen, he questions Josh as to whether he is on the take? Josh flatly denies this, but really who would know, but the question does make Josh look inwardly, and so he visits 'The Ranch' - the local bar & knocking shop where Asian girls are sold. He questions the four girls who were recently flown in. They remain silent, but Josh suspects there is more to this, and returns on  number of occasions under the guise as a 'customer' to question one girl, May (Michelle Lim Davidson) in particular who takes Josh into her confidence over successive visits.

In the meantime Jimmy is the lynchpin in the signing over of more Aboriginal land rights to Furnace Creek Mining Group to exploit the resources within the Goldstone catchment. The FCMG management are in attendance and talking up the benefits to the local gathered community by way of education, training, jobs, security and wealth but Jimmy can see right through this and leaves ashamed, just as the final papers are to be executed. Johnny and Maureen catch wind of this and meet in secret to discuss what can be done - Maureen threatens to dispense with Jimmy so that the next in line gains authority to sign the deed, but Johnny wants none of this. Maureen tasks local Land & Environment Officer Tommy (Tom E. Lewis) to attend to this.

When a local hermit contacts Swan unexpectedly by mobile phone and arranges a discreet meeting way out of town, a passport is handed over belonging to the missing girl that Swan is searching for. Protecting his anonymity initially, Swan tracks the loner down who leads him to where he found the passport. This sets off the final chain of events that culminates in a shoot out at the Furnace Creek mining village with Swan and Jay joining forces, donning bullet proof vests, and righting the wrongs perpetrated by Johnny and Maureen ultimately, with a few henchmen casualties along the way. Not everyone however, gets their comeuppance as Johnny flies off into the sunset having made a quick getaway with a stash of cash; Maureen has shredded all documentary evidence of her untoward nefarious activities and skipped town; but the ring of prostitution is broken; the missing girl is found although it didn't end well for her; and at the local Aboriginal community justice is served.

This modern day outback Aussie Western is well crafted and packs a punch. Addressing issues such as Aboriginal environmental land rights, corporate greed, corruption, politics, human trafficking, the sex trade and indigenous culture, underpinned with strong performances from the principle cast and the back drop of the vast emptiness of the barren, hostile yet beautiful Queensland outback this is worthy of your attention and commands the price of your ticket. Ivan Sen is proving on the quiet that he is a multi-tasking force to be reckoned with, and a talent to look out for.




-Steve, at Odeon Online-