TRIPLE 9 : Friday 4th March 2016.

'TRIPLE 9' which I saw over the weekend as Directed and Co-Produced by Australian John Hillcoat, is a crime drama that might get you thinking about 'The Town' or 'Heat'. With an ensemble cast and made for just US$20M this was released in the US at the end of February and so arrives fresh in Australia only this week having so far brought in US$10M.  Early on many other names were attached to this project including Shia LaBeouf, Cate Blanchett, Christoph Waltz and Charlie Hunnam - but they all dropped away giving way to the line up that now makes this film.

The film opens with an impressive bank robbery set piece in broad daylight when three criminal types - Michael Attwood (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Russell Welch (Norman Reedus) and his brother Gabe (Aaron Paul) and two corrupt cops Marcus Belmont (Anthony Mackie) and Franco Rodriguez (Clifton Collins Jnr.) retrieve a strong box from the bank vault, in downtown Atlanta, and in the process Gabe helps himself to a stash of new dollar bills sitting on a nearby trolley. With only minutes allowed to execute their plan which they have timed to perfection, they make their getaway in various vehicles undercover of plain sight. In doing so, the cash money picked up by Gabe during the heist explodes in one of the getaway vehicle spraying the crims with red dye and engulfing the inside of the car with red smoke, as they speed along a busy highway. They are forced to stop after several collisions and exit the car resulting in a bullet ballet shoot out on the city freeway. Needless to say the gang do get away before the police can descend upon them.

Having robbed a safety deposit box which contains information which could overturn the recent conviction of a Russian Mob kingpin, Michael delivers the said box to the mobsters wife Irina Vlasov (Kate Winslet) who withholds their reward money demanding that they do one more job involving a further heist to secure data which will support her husbands cause for freedom. This time though they have to infiltrate a secure closely guarded government building. To ensure that the gang get the message of just how serious she is, she orders the murder of Russell, leaving the gang shocked and Gabe traumatised. That said, they have no choice but to comply, and for Michael there is an added complication in that he has a son with Irina's sister Elena (Gal Gadot), and if he fails to co-operate it might prevent him from seeing the young lad again . . . or worse.

Having agreed to do the plan, we are quickly introduced to Chris Allen (Casey Affleck) and his wife Michelle (Teresa Palmer) as he joins the local PD and is assigned to partner up with Marcus. Arriving on the scene to investigate the bank robbery in the aftermath, is Sergeant Detective Jeffrey Allen (Woody Harrelson) - who also happens to be the uncle of young Chris. Marcus and Chris do not get off to the most promising partnership in police history and things go arse up on their first day out together when Marcus heatedly questions Chris when he seeks to gather information from a local gang over a gang-related murder.

By now Michael, Marcus and Franco are hatching their plan to steal the data needed by Irina, but have concerns about the time needed to get in, lift the merchandise and get out - requiring ten minutes or more, which is plenty of time for the police to converge on the scene of the crime once the alarm is raised - which they know it will be. What to do? Gabe meanwhile has been linked to the robbery by Jeffrey and still grieving the death of his brother tries to stop the robbery from proceeding.

To give the gang the time necessary to pull of the heist, they decide to pull a 'Triple 9' - which is an officer down call, that sends all police to the scene of an incident, so potentially detracting the police from the scent of the crims who can go about their business largely unhindered, and buying the time required to complete the job and get the hell outta there.

As the time approaches Marcus and Chris are out on patrol and arrive at a rundown projects estate to meet with an informant. This is where the Triple 9 call will originate from so allowing Franco and Michael to complete the robbery. Things go awry inside the darkened derelict building, resulting in a shoot out involving Gabe, Chris, Marcus and a gang member on the run that had been involved in earlier questioning by Chris. The Triple 9 call is made, but who is the officer down, and what are the far reaching consequences of this on Franco, Michael, Irina and Jeffrey?

In the final analysis it does not end well for the crims and the corrupt cops in this piece who all get their comeuppance in this cops & robbers tale. With such a strong cast and a grounded story I was expecting more, and in this case the sum of its parts does not make a whole. The films looks good and the premise is sold enough, but, this is certainly not up there with 'Heat' or 'The Town'. Whilst there are some redeeming features I felt let down as the story seemed to run out of steam until the final five minutes when the conclusion is rushed as it races towards the credits - perhaps an extended DVD/Bluray release will deliver more. The ensemble line up is strong, and good to see many of them playing against type, although for me Winslet does not quite meet my expectations of a menacing, cold, callous, show no mercy, take no prisoners Russian Mafia mob wife, but, the principle male leads did well.

You don't need to see this on the big screen, and hopefully the DVD/Bluray release will tease out more to make for a more rounded complete film ultimately.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 3rd March 2016.

And so the 88th Academy Awards took place on Sunday evening at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre with all the glitz, glamour, spectacle and anticipation that has become the trademark of this Hollywood nights of nights, when the stars do shine, and when anyone who is someone in the movie business glides down the red carpet, jostles for the paparazzi, and gushes for the clicking cameras to be seen by a global audience of television watchers. Last week I gave you the list of nominees in the principle categories, and so with the dust now settled, if you didn't know it already, here are the winners & grinners : Best Picture went to 'Spotlight'; Best Director went to Alejandro Inarritu for 'The Revenant', Best Actor went to Leonardo DiCaprio (finally recognition, and well done Leo!) for 'The Revenant'; Best Actress to Brie Larson for 'Room'; Best Supporting Actor to Mark Rylance for 'Bridge of Spies'; and Best Supporting Actress to Alicia Vikander for 'The Danish Girl'. Best Original Screenplay was awarded to 'Spotlight', Best Adapted Screenplay to 'The Big Short', Best Visual Effects went to 'Ex Machina', Best Foreign Language Film was picked up by 'Son of Saul', and Australia's 'Mad Max : Fury Road' made history as the most successful Aussie film of all time and picked up six Academy Awards for Costume Design, Production Design, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Make-Up & Hairstyling to add to its award haul of 154 wins in total and another 170 nominations and a global Box Office take of US$377M. More details can be found at : oscar.go.com

And so to the week ahead. With just three new release films, we have first up a heist film involving the Russian mob, crooked cops, and an unsuspecting officer who has to take a fall, and with an all star cast involving multiple A-listers and a Director of renown too the expectation on this is high. Then there's is a historical seafaring rescue piece as the US Coast Guard search for a stricken vessel to save its crew from the deep blue, and finally an almost true story of a woman whose abandoned life from within the confines of her vehicle provide us with observational humour, pathos and a down to earth look at life through the mind of the acclaimed actress in the lead role.

When you have had the opportunity in the week ahead to sit through your film of choice, share your experience with your friends here at Odeon Online and record your observations in the Comments box below this or any other Post. In the meantime, enjoy your movie!

TRIPLE 9 (Rated MA15+) - Directed and Co-Produced by Australian John Hillcoat, this is a crime drama that might get you thinking about 'The Town' or 'Heat'. With an ensemble cast and made for just US$20M this was released in the US just last week and so arrives fresh in Australia this week having so far brought in approaching US$8M. The film opens with an impressive bank robbery set piece in broad daylight and the resultant bullet ballet shoot out on an Atlanta freeway. Having robbed a safety deposit box which contains information which could overturn the recent conviction of a Russian Mob kingpin, the said box is delivered to the mobsters wife who decides that more is needed from her merry band of thieves, and so she sets them another task to steal more data to help protect her husband.

Along the way however, to the second heist we meet a bunch of corrupt cops, honest cops, the Russian Mafia and various other miscreants and underworld characters all caught up in a web of intrigue, cross and double cross. As the plan picks up momentum the good, the bad and the ugly of this story get more embroiled in the 'Triple 9' plan - which is an officer down call, that sends all police to the scene of an incident, so potentially detracting the police from the scent of the crims who can go about their business largely unhindered - but who will be the officer down? Starring Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie, Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Woody Harrelson, Gal Gadot, Teresa Palmer and Kate Winslet as Irina Vlasov - the Russian wife calling the shots.

THE FINEST HOURS (Rated PG) - this is a Disney Studio Production Directed by Craig Gillespie and based on the 2009 book 'The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue' by Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman that cost some US$70M to bring to the big screen and so far has recovered US$40M since its end of January US release. Telling the true story of the daring February 1952 rescue mission of the stricken tanker, The SS Pendleton, off Cape Cod that had been ripped in two by a huge storm and the thirty sailors trapped inside the gradually sinking stern. As word of the disaster soon spreads the Coast Guard in Chatham, Massachusetts, launch a mission to save the crew using a lifeboat and just three men to do so. Starring Casey Affleck (he's been busy!), Chris Pine, Ben Foster, John Ortiz, Eric Bana and Holliday Grainger this is a rescue mission against all odds, which is even more astounding considering the era in which this occurred.

LADY IN THE VAN (Rated M) - here we have another true story but this time grounded on dry land and in London set in the early 70's. Directed and Co-Produced by Nicholas Hytner and based on the play written by Alan Bennett, for which he also wrote this films Screenplay. Mary Shepherd (Maggie Smith) is an elderly eccentric homeless lady living in an old beat-up Bedford van that Bennett (here played by Alex Jennings) befriends before allowing her to park her van temporarily in the driveway of his Camden home. She ended up staying for 15 years, and eventually passed away in 1989. Before doing so however, Bennett uncovers that Mary Shepherd is not this lady's real name, and that she has a surprising past and has lived in fear of arrest for all these years after a minor altercation when a motorcyclist hit her van, and she believed it was her fault. Made for US$6M this has so far grossed US$24M and has received much critical applause since its November 2015 release in the UK, and also stars Jim Broadbent, Frances de la Tour, and Roger Allam.

With only three new offerings to tease you out to your local multiplex, remember too that there is still plenty of great movie content out on general release that includes a whole handful of Oscar winners and nominations as Reviewed and Previewed between these pages in previous weeks, and others that are worthy too of your movie going dollar.

See you at the Odeon!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-