Last week I mentioned those films in Official Competition, and those in Special Presentation. This week to give a closing indication of those other features to watch out for, here is a quick synopsis of a few highlights :
- 'SHEPHERDS AND BUTCHERS' - Directed by Oliver Schmitz, Australian Premier with Steve Coogan and Andrea Riseborough with Coogan taking a rare dramatic lead as a lawyer in this 1987 set South African courtroom drama.
- 'MUSTANG' - Directed by Deniz Gamze Erguven, this Turkish film has been highly acclaimed and surrounds five sisters, their unity in the face of adversity, the loss of innocence and the coming of age.
- 'SWISS ARMY MAN' - Directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Australian Premier with Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe and Mary Elizabeth Winstead this is the story of a man stranded on a desert island and a corpse washed ashore.
- 'BORN TO BE BLUE' - Directed by Robert Budreau, Australian Premier with Ethan Hawke as jazz trumpeter Chet Baker in this reimagined bio-pic of this imprisoned, heroine addicted comeback kid who lived from 1929 until 1988.
- 'I SAW THE LIGHT' - Directed by Marc Abraham, Australian Premier with Tom Hiddleston as country music legend singer/songwriter Hank Williams in this bio-pic of the hard drinking man who succumbed to pain killing drugs and alcohol at just 29 years of age in 1953, but left an indelible mark on popular music.
- 'HIGH RISE' - Directed by Ben Wheatley, Australian Premier with Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons and Sienna Miller in this dystopian telling set inside a London apartment tower whose residents descend into savagery when the power fails.
- 'PATCHWORK' - Directed by Tyler MacIntyre, Australian Premier with Tory Stolper, Tracey Fairaway and Maria Blasucci as three girls who share nothing in common until a scalpel wielding maniac slices and dices them and stitches them back together as one.
- 'SING STREET' - Directed by John Carney, Australian Premier with Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Jack Reynor and Lucy Bonton set in a mid-80's Dublin with a thumping classic 80's soundtrack, big hair, wide lapels, fashion victims, emotion and heart wrapped up in the power of music and determination.
- 'NATIONAL BIRD' - Directed by Sonia Kenneback, Australian Premier this documentary traces Daniel, Lisa and Heather who enlisted into the US Drone Programme to identify and track targets from the other side of the world, and the impact of their unsettling work including the death, destruction and maiming that they now have to live with. If you saw 'Eye in the Sky' - see this for the other real life perspective.
- 'BEAST' - Directed by Sam & Tom McKeith, with Garret Dillahunt and Chad McKinney this is a story of a mixed-race boxer in Manila managed by his father, who accidentally kills his opponent in the ring in a rigged fight, and the far reaching consequences for all thereafter.
- 'GOAT' - Directed by Andrew Neel, Australian Premier with Ben Schnetzer and Nick Jonas this tells the story of the increasingly dangerous, violent and humiliating initiation rituals experienced by freshmen into the US College system fuelled by alcohol, sex, drugs and peer group pressure.
- . . . and finally, a Scorsese Retrospective featuring ten films by Martin Scorsese as selected by noted film critic, author and lecturer David Stratton homing in on some of his most celebrated and influential works. Those chosen are 'Mean Streets', 'Taxi Driver', 'Raging Bull', The Aviator', 'Goodfellas', 'Casino', 'The King of Comedy', 'New York, New York', 'The Age of Innocence' and 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'. You can catch all of these at The Art Gallery of New South Wales. For more information on the Sydney Film Festival go to : www.sff.org.au
When you have watched in wonder at your movie of choice this week, remember that you can always share your thoughts, comments and observations with your fellow readers and cinephiles here at Odeon Online by leaving your own movie critique in the Comments section below this or any other Post - we'd love to hear from you! Enjoy your film in the meantime.
'WARCRAFT : THE BEGINNING' (Rated M) - this is the long awaited film based on the hugely popular and successful Blizzard Entertainment burgeoning franchise of video games, board games, card games, novels, comics and now a full length feature film that can be traced back some 22 years to 1994 when the game launched, and at its peak in 2010 had some 12 million players. Today that number is more in the region of six million subscribers who do battle in the fantasy world of Azeroth occupied by humans but attacked by Orcs as their world of Draenor is set to collapse. In the world of Azeroth also live elves, dwarves, trolls, gnomes . . . and orcs. A self confessed Warcraft Warrior, Director and Screenplay Co-Writer Duncan Jones is the man behind this US$160M epic that opened in the US on 10th June, and has so far grossed US$307M - undoubtedly with many legions of the Warcraft gameplay fans queueing up around the block to get the best seat in their local movie theatre house. With filming having wrapped in May 2014, the movie has been in post-production for almost two years only adding to the anticipation and expectation factor - with the reality proving to be very mixed so far from critics far and wide.
The story here surrounds the peaceful world of Azeroth, whose peace is interrupted by a marauding fearsome race of invaders in the form of orcs from the dying planet of Draenor. Fleeing their own planet through a portal that has opened up connecting the two worlds, the humans inhabiting Azeroth face destruction from the orcs who face extinction if they remain on Draenor. From each side and emerging hero rises who are set to collide in a epic battle that will seal the fate of their families, their people and their world. Starring Travis Fimmel as Sir Anduin Lothar, Toby Kebbel as Durotan, Dominic Cooper as King Llane Wrynn, Ben Foster as Mendivh, Daniel Wu as Gul'dan, Clancy Brown as Blackhand, Robert Kazinsky as Orgrim Doomhammer and Paula Patton as Garona Halforcen amongst an army of otherworldly characters set to battle it out for dominance . . . or will they find a better way?
'FINDING DORY' (Rated G) - the 2003 film 'Finding Nemo' to which this film is a sequel, was hugely successful for Pixar Animation Studios, making US$937M from its US$94M cost to make, standing today as the 35th highest grossing film of all time. It won the Best Animated Feature Oscar together with 46 other award wins and a further 59 nominations for Director & Screenwriter Andrew Stanton and its talented voice cast comprising Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Willem Dafoe, Geoffrey Rush and Alexander Gould as Nemo, the clownfish amongst others. This sequel - 13 years it seems in the making is set six months after the events of that first film and sees Director and Screenwriter Andrew Stanton return once again with a bigger voice cast than before that sees Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) regaining her childhood memories and recounting images of Morro Bay in California. Aided by Nemo (this time voiced by Hayden Rolence) and Marlin (Albert Brooks) she has an epic adventure eventually arriving at Monterey Marine Life Institute, where their lives a diverse collection of sea life, but can Dory and her new friends save her Mum and Dad from captivity so that they can be reunited once more? Also starring the voice talents of Ed O'Neill, Ty Burrell, Diane Keaton, Idris Elba, Eugene Levy, Dominic West, Willem Dafoe, Sigourney Weaver, Bill Hader, Alexander Gould and more. The film is released in the US the day after its Australian release.
'MILES AHEAD' (Rated M) - Co-Written, Co-Produced, Directed and Starring Don Cheadle as the legendary jazz-trumpeter Miles Davis, this is a real labour of love for the multi-award winning and nominated Actor, who is Directing his first feature film in which he also stars . . . nothing like jumping in off the deep end! Whilst this is essentially a bio-pic Cheadle takes liberties with the timeline and distorts the truth a little here to weave in an engaging story of a past his prime Davis who goes into self imposed exile towards the late 70's whilst dealing with the pain of illness in his hip, a voice roughed up by years of drugs and painkiller abuse, and memories of the past haunting him. One day music journalist Dave Braden (Ewen McGregor) comes knocking on his door to research and write a comeback piece on the music legend, and unwittingly the two forge a relationship over the ensuing days that sees them seek to recover a stolen tape recording of Davis' most recent compositions. Prolific in the jazz scene from the late 40's when he started playing with saxophonist Charlie Parker through its numerous iterations, the great man died in 1991 aged 65. This is Cheadles tribute to the man, the legend, the musician, the artist, and mostly it has received positive reviews.
'ME BEFORE YOU' (Rated M) - based on the 2012 book of the same name by Jojo Moyes, this romantic drama is Directed by Thea Shamrock and centres around a paralysed Will Traynor (Sam Claflin) - a former wealthy banker whose life changed forever two years earlier resulting in him now being wheelchair bound for life. Before the accident he lived life to the full, was an adventurous type, and outgoing but now has become reclusive, cynical and short tempered especially with those hired to look after him. Then Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke) arrives on the scene - an English lass who drifts from one job to another without any real purpose in life other than to help support her struggling family. When she loses her job at a local cafe, the young, optimistic and quirky Louisa lands a job looking after Will who at first shuns her quirkiness and optimism, but soon the two develop a friendship that in time becomes more. With the clock counting down on a crucial moment in time for Will, Louisa makes it her mission to show Will that life is worth living and that adventures and discovery can still be had even in the face of adversity. Charles Dance and Joanna Lumley also star. The film has so far made US$55M off its US$20M budget - take your box of tissues to this weepie!
'MR. RIGHT' (Rated MA15+) - this action comedy romance is Directed by Paco Cabezas, Written by Max Landis (son of John) and has so far received average reviews at best and since its early April release Stateside has made just US$250K - that should give an indication of this films pulling power! This is however, somewhat surprising given Anna Kendrick as the female lead playing Martha - an eccentric but good natured warm hearted woman who stumbles across Francis (Sam Rockwell) in a convenience store. He feels an instant attraction and so asks Martha out on a date, during which he demonstrates some of his physical abilities and dexterity, and confides that he is in fact an assassin for hire, but now kills those you hire him rather than the intended target. Eventually, Martha comes around to his way of thinking and feels a connection particularly when she sees for herself some of the low-lifes and undesirables that he has to deal with in his line of work. When the past comes back to haunt Francis in the form of Hopper (Tim Roth) the man who trained him in the first place, the two join forces to thwart the evil enemy with over the top unbelievable results that might just account for its Box Office take so far.Five new release offerings to encourage you out on a cool Winter evening in June, and when you have sat through your preferred movie choice in the coming week, remember to share your thoughts with your like minded movie goers here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you at the Odeon.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
