MANK : Tuesday 24th November 2020.

'MANK' which I saw at my local independent movie theatre this week, is an M Rated American biographical drama film Directed and Co-Produced by the multi-award winning and nominated David Fincher, whose previous film making credits include his debut 'Alien 3', then 'Se7en', 'The Game', 'Fight Club', 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button', 'The Social Network', and 'Gone Girl' amongst others. This film is based on a script written by David Fincher's father Jack Fincher which he wrote in the '90's with David wanting to film it following 'The Game' in 1997 but it never eventuated because David wanted to shoot the film in black & white to maintain an authenticity of the period in which the film is set ie. the Hollywood of the 1930's and '40's. At that time no studio wanted to shoot a film in black and white and when father Jack died in 2003 the film was put on the back burner, until mid-2019 when Netflix International Pictures put the movie into production. The film has garnered positive critical acclaim, and went on a limited cinematic release from last week before streaming on Netflix from 4th December. 

The film opens up in 1940 with a car motoring along a dusty highway and turning off at Victorville and driving up to the North Verde Ranch where Herman K. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) alights from the vehicle on crutches, assisted by his good friend and writing collaborator John Houseman (Sam Troughton) and English typist Rita Alexander (Lily Collins) and a German nurse Fraulein Frieda (Monika Grossman). Mankiewicz (or 'Mank' as he shall be known) has a broken leg in three places from a recent motor vehicle accident. Laying down in an adapted bed he receives a phone call from Orson Welles (Tom Burke) about a screenplay he has been commissioned to write in ninety days, only Welles tells him that he now has sixty days. Mank is not happy about the news but relents and accepts the direction from the Producer, Director and star of the upcoming film, which the studio, RKO Pictures, have given him complete creative control over - not bad for a 24 year old untried and largely unproven movie maker.

And so Mank gets to work on the script at the alcohol free ranch much to his chagrin, although he is able to get dosed up on bottles of barbiturates provided by Houseman instead of whisky, which has the effect of knocking him out cold for twelve hours at a time. Ultimately, Mank is able to smuggle in to the ranch a crate loaded full of his favoured whisky, unknown to Houseman. With Mank dictating the words to his script for Rita to write down long hand and then type up at night, the process is sporadic at best and with the sixty day deadline looming he has still only one hundred pages completed in what Houseman describes as beautifully written, but incoherent and too high brow for American audiences to grapple with for their 25cents cinema ticket price. Mank however, persists along his chosen path.

In the meantime, we see constant references and flashbacks to various key dates in the previous decade, and his meetings, run ins, business and personal relationships with the likes of screen Actress Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried) and mistress to William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance) the famed American businessman, newspaper publisher and politician, whose life story was to be the main inspiration for Mank's screenplay of Charles Foster Kane - the lead character that would be portrayed by Orson Welles in the 1941 film 'Citizen Kane'. 

In addition we see his dealings with Louis B. Mayer (Arliss Howard) of Metro Goldwyn Mayer fame; prolific Hollywood film Producer Irving Thalberg (Ferdinand Kingsley); American film Producer, Screenwriter and Executive David O. Selznick (Toby Leonard Moore); Mank's brother and Director, Producer and Screenwriter Joseph L. Mankiewicz (Tom Pelphrey) and of course Mank's long suffering but fiercely loyal wife Sara (Tuppence Middleton). 

And naturally there are sub-plots along the way that centre around Mank's heavy drinking and alcoholism (which would eventually kill him in 1952 at the age of just 55), his propensity to gamble on almost anything, the successful attempt by Irving Thalberg who was an MGM Studio Executive at the time to swing the 1934 California Governor's election against the socialist candidate Upton Sinclair (Bill Nye), and his declining relationship with Hearst, which culminates with a drunken rant by Mank at Hearst Castle at San Simeon aimed at Hearst and Mayer and in front of other Hollywood movers and shakers who all one by one get up and leave the dinner table out of disgust or embarrassment or both. And of course the ever looming deadline counting down on sixty days by which time Mank has his final draft of three hundred pages, but doubts that it is really any good until Houseman and brother Joseph tell him that it is probably his finest work. 

In the final analysis Mank's script for the film that would become 'Citizen Kane' was nominated for an Academy Award in every possible category, but won the award only for Best Original Screenplay for co-authors Mank and Orson Welles. Neither Welles nor Mankiewicz attended the dinner, which was broadcast on radio. Welles was in South America filming 'It's All True', and Mank refused to attend. George Schaefer, who was President of RKO Pictures in 1941 when the film was made, accepted Mank's Oscar in his absence. It should be noted that Mank and Welles clashed over the writing credit for 'Citizen Kane', with Welles reportedly offering Mank a bonus of US$10K if he would let Welles take full credit. Mank went to the Screen Writers Guild for a determination, and they eventually laid down a joint credit with Mank's name appearing first. Welles maintained that he had always intended to share the writing credit. 

'Mank' is a beautifully shot film looking as though it was filmed in the late 1930's in crisp black and white by Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt; the dialogue is sharp, emotive and mature; the production values top notch; and the cast are all uniformly good but special mention must go to Gary Oldman who once again inhibits his character in every sense and every scene - just as he did with his Academy Award winning turn as Winston Churchill in 2017's 'Darkest Hour'. And Fincher here has crafted a film that serves as a stirring footnote to Hollywood's 'Golden Age' of domineering studios, those who ran them, and the rot that lurked largely hidden beneath. The film is entertaining, thought provoking, stylishly made, has a haunting soundtrack by regular musical collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and Fincher has here once again proven that he is right up among the best that Hollywood has to offer and is at the top of his game. Oscar bait for sure and worthy of repeat viewing that will be right up the street of every cinephile, but if you're not one of those, then there is a chance this film will be lost on you.

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

-Steve at Odeon Online-

OKJA : Tuesday 4th July 2017

'OKJA' which I saw from the comfort of my own home last week, courtesy of Netflix which is the chosen method of releasing this film for South Korean Director, Screenwriter and Co-Producer Bong Joon-ho in only his second English language release following 2013's excellent 'Snowpiercer'. The film had its Australian Premier as the closing film for the recent Sydney Film Festival on 18th June, and was in official competition for the Palme d'Or at this years Cannes Film Festival, where it received a four minute standing ovation following screening. The film cost US$50M to make, was released on Netflix on 28th June, and has so far garnered largely positive Reviews.

And so to the story. The year is 2007 and we are greeted by new Mirando Corporation CEO Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton), addressing her team in a huge warehouse like building. She is reading from a teleprompter, as it seems that she has recently taken the reins of her fathers company of whom she speaks none to highly off, nor her grandfather either for that matter nor the company they created - manufacturers of napalm no less! She announces that her company has been breeding a 'superpig' - big enough to provide ample supply of food products, delicious to taste, environmentally sustainable, carbon neutral and not in the slightest genetically modified (as she knows that the population at large would not withstand that!). She further announces that the 26 best such superpigs have been sent to the locations around the world where Mirando have a corporate presence, and distributed to farms for their rearing over the next ten years. In 2017 the best of the best fully grown, healthiest pigs will be crowned an outright winner and attend a lavish ceremony in New York. All of this is a big PR exercise in an attempt to re-brand her company and shake off the shackles of her fathers and grandfathers legacy.

Fast forward to 2017, and on a remote farm high in the mountains of South Korea lives young teenager Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun) with her grandfather Heebong (Byun Hee-bong). They were chosen as one of the 26 farms with which to raise a superpig ten years ago, and since then Mija has been lovingly caring for Okja every single day. They have forged a certain bond over that time, an understanding of each other, and a dependence upon one another as both have grown over the ensuing decade.

One day, the time comes when Mija and Okja are visited by representatives form the Mirando Corporation for the purposes of judging the superpig in the 26 strong competition. They are visited at their mountain farm by a small group of representatives that include spokesperson and extroverted celebrity zoologist Dr. Johnny Wilcox (Jake Gyllenhaal, hamming it up and clearly loving it!). They quickly inspect Okja and announce that she is the outright winner and will take her to New York. Meanwhile Heebong takes Mija to the burial site of her parents, and says that he was unable to buy Okja from Mirando, and so his saved up money was invested in a solid gold pig which he presents to her. Devastated by this news Mija returns home only to see the Mirando truck driving away down the mountain side with Okja inside. She gives chase but the truck is too far in front. She returns to the farm, collects some essentials, and leaves for Seoul to the Mirando office there to track down Okja.

Upon arriving in Seoul Mija forces her way past the Mirando Offices security in her search for Okja. From a window above she looks down on Okja being roughly man-handled and secured inside a truck ultimately bound for NYC. As the truck leaves down the side streets Mija gives chase on foot eventually jumping onto the roof of the moving truck. As the truck enters a road tunnel, it is intercepted by another truck of the same size, containing masked and hooded members of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) who are seeking to liberate Okja from returning to the unscrupulous Mirando Corporation.

Okja is set free from the Mirando truck inside the tunnel with the intention of getting her inside the ALF truck, but chaos ensues as the panicked Okja goes on the rampage trashing several now parked up and backed up cars in the tunnel and frightening the bejeezus out of onlookers. The commotion continues out of the tunnel and down into a subway and a shopping precinct there where several shops come off worse for wear. However, the ALF come good and safely retrieve Okja and Mija before the armed authorities close in.

The ALF soon realise that Mija is Okja's owner, and leader of this ALF Group Jay (Paul Dano) tells her that their plan is to put a camera recording device in Okja's ear and let her be re-captured by the Mirando Corporation to show the world how brutally they treat their animals. In the meantime, social media coverage of Okja's rampage through Seoul has gone viral, and Lucy has to go into damage control with her company executive board members including her closest aide Frank Dawson (Giancarlo Esposito). Lucy hatches a plan to reunite Mija with Okja onstage in New York City so that the world can see what a loving, caring, sharing company Mirando really is. Meanwhile, at the test laboratory where Okja is taken she is forcibly bred with another superpig, and Johnny Wilcox extracts meat samples for testing purposes, all of which have a traumatic effect on the humble animal.

The day of the eagerly awaited carnival arrives and with it the revealing to an awaiting world of Okja as the competition winner, to be welcomed on stage by Mija, Lucy and Johnny. Mija has been tipped off by Jay in her hotel room that the ALF still plan on going ahead with liberating Okja while she is on stage and in front of a worldwide television and live audience. 

On stage Mija is reunited with Okja who heavily traumatised by her ordeals in the laboratory does not recognise the young girl and tries to attack her. More chaos ensues and the world watches on too as the ALF screen secretly filmed footage of Wilcox's mistreatment of Okja. The gathered crowd of onlookers soon turn against Johnny and Lucy, and in the ensuing fracas Jay, Mija and Okja and the other ALF Members - K (Steven Yeun), Red (Lily Collins), Blond (Daniel Henshall) and Silver (Devon Bostick) attempt to escape but are thwarted by armed heavies deployed by Nancy Mirando - sister of Lucy and former CEO of Mirando Corporation (also played by Tilda Swinton) who has been waiting in the wings for her sister to fail.

Okja is captured once again, and the held ALF members are beaten up, but Jay and K are able to escape. They take Mija to a huge slaughterhouse plant where they believe Okja will end up as various cuts of pre-packaged meat destined for the supermarket shelves. Eventually through the night time flood lights Mija sees Okja being led up a ramp and cattle prodded to be slaughtered. Finding entry into the slaughterhouse she sees many dead and butchered superpigs, hanging carcasses and scenes of horrifying animal treatment. She arrives just in time to see Okja being prepared for slaughter. She pleads with the man operating a huge machine that will administer a lethal shot to the head just as Nancy arrives with her entourage.

In turn Mija tries to reckon with Nancy that Okja should be spared, as they have grown up together and have formed a special bond. Nancy will have none of this, until Mija produces the solid gold pig from her grandfather and offers to buy Okja in exchange for the figurine. Nancy agrees seeing much greater value in the gold than one worthless superpig, and allows them to go home, but has Jay and K arrested. As Mija and Okja are exiting they witness many more superpigs being led to the slaughter.

Okja is a film that will make you think, and all credit must go to Director Bong Joon-ho for bringing his story to the big screen and to Netflix for allowing the Director's vision to be fully realised as he intended. This is a film about love and caring unconditionally on the one hand between the two central characters - a CGI superpig and the impressive South Korean child Actress Ahn Seo-hyun who carries the film with a professionalism and a grounded realism well beyond her years. On the other hand the film is about corporate greed, animal welfare, good versus evil, and the way in which we as humans think less and less about the animals we eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner every single day and in vast quantities. The film has moments of real tenderness between Okja and Mija, has moments of tension and action too, and others that will make you smile and laugh out loud. It's a coming of age story, a heist action drama, and a cautionary tale of the little guys against the corporate behemoth. It is beautifully shot, with strong performances, impressive CGI, a compelling message and it will stay with you after the end credits have rolled . . . and wait for these, as there is also a post-credits sequence! 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 12th - 18th March 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Lily Collins does on 18th March - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 28, 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 12th March

• Liza Minnelli - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actress | Singer
• Rob Cohen - Born 1949, turns 68 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Songwriter
• Aaron Eckhart - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Producer  

Monday 13th March

• William H. Macy - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer
• Common (aka Lonnie Rashid Lynn) - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Emile Hirsch - Born 1985, turns 32 - Actor | Singer | Songwriter 

Tuesday 14th March

• Michael Caine - Born 1933, turns 84 - Actor | Producer
• Wolfgang Petersen - Born 1941, turns 76 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Billy Crystal - Born 1948, turns 69 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer
• Corey Stoll - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actor
• Jamie Bell - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actor | Producer
• Ansel Elgort - Born 1994, turns 23 - Actor  

Wednesday 15th March

• David Cronenberg - Born 1943, turns 74 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Editor
• Renny Harlin - Born 1959, turns 58 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Greg Nicotero - Born 1963, turns 54 - Make Up Artist | Special Effects Artist | Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Kellan Lutz - Born 1985, turns 32 - Actor
• Jai Courtney - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actor
• Eva Longoria - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actress | Producer | Director

Thursday 16th March

• Kate Nelligan - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actress
• Isabelle Huppert - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actress
• Victor Garber - Born 1949, turns 68 - Actor
• Jimmy Nail - Born 1954, turns 63 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer | Songwriter  
• Gore Verbinski - Born 1964, turns 53 - Director | Producer | Writer

Friday 17th March  

• Patrick Duffy - Born 1949, turns 68 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Kurt Russell - Born 1951, turns 66 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Gary Sinise - Born 1955, turns 62 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Rob Lowe - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actor | Producer
• John Boyega - Born 1992, turns 25 - Actor | Producer
• Lesley-Anne Down - Born 1954, turns 63 - Actress | Writer  

Saturday 18th March

• Vanessa Williams - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Queen Latifa - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actress | Producer | Singer | Songwriter 
• Lily Collins - Born 1989, turns 28 - Actress
• Brad Dourif - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actor
• Luc Besson - Born 1959, turns 58 - Director | Producer | Writer

Lily Jane Collins was born in Guildford, Surrey, England to mother Jill Tavelman, an American and former President of the Beverly Hills Women's Club, and father Phil Collins the legendary singer, songwriter and drummer with rock band Genesis, and a successful musician in his own right too, post Genesis days. Her parents divorced in 1996 when Lily was just seven years of age, but by that time the young girl had already made her small screen debut on the short-lived television series 'Growing Pains' for the BBC at age two. The young Collins moved with her mother to Los Angeles where she graduated from the independent Harvard-Westlake School for Girls. She then moved on to the University of Southern California from where she majored in Broadcast Journalism.

As a teenager Collins wrote for 'Seventeen' magazine, 'Teen Vogue' and the 'Los Angeles Times'. She also had a successful modelling career having been named 'International Model of the Year' by Spain's 'Glamour' magazine, and in 2008 she was named 'Newest Red Carpet Correspondent' and 'One to Watch' at that years 'Young Hollywood Awards'. 

In 2009 she launched her screen acting career on two episodes of '90210' which was followed up quickly by her role as Collins Tuohy, the daughter to Sandra Bullock's Leigh Anne Tuohy in 'The Blind Side' about All American football player and first round draft pick, Michael Oher. The role garnered Bullock the Best Actress in a Leading Role Academy Award at the 2010 ceremony as well as the Golden Globe and SAG award wins in the same categories. 

This was followed up by action fantasy horror offering 'Priest' with Paul Bettany in the lead role alongside Karl Urban, Christopher Plummer,  Alan Dale and Maggie Q, with Collins playing Lucy Pace the kidnapped niece of our titular vampire slayer Priest. This was followed up in 2011 by 'Abduction' an action thriller starring Taylor Lautner in the lead role with Collins playing his senior high school team mate on a school research project. 

2012 saw her role as Snow White in 'Mirror Mirror' based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, starring alongside Julia Roberts, Sean Bean, Armie Hammer and Nathan Lane. The film grossed US$183M from its US$85M budget outlay and received average reviews. RomCom 'Stuck in Love' came next with Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connelly, Kristen Bell, and Logan Lerman. A year later came another RomCom 'The English Teacher' with Greg Kinnear  and Nathan Lane again, and Julianne Moore in the lead role as the high school English Teacher in question.

The Sci-Fi action fantasy adventure 'The Mortal Instruments : City of Bones' was next up in 2013 which received lacklustre Reviews at best and made US$91M at the Box Office from its budget of US60M. Sequels to the story based on 'The Mortal Instruments' series of books by Cassandra Clare were set to go into production with the main cast, including Collins reprising their roles. But, due to disappointing Box Office results, any further instalments were put on the back burner. Another RomCom came along in 2014 'Love, Rosie' with Collins headlining as Rosie alongside Sam Claflin's love interest Alex.

2016 saw Warren Beatty's Directed, Co-Produced, Written and Starring RomCom 'Rules Don't Apply' which received mixed Reviews and a US domestic Box Office take of less than US$4M from its US$25M production budget. The film is yet to see the light of day in Australia, and has already been released on DVD and Blu-ray Stateside. Collins did receive a Golden Globe nomination earlier this year for her role in the film, but that clearly wasn't enough to save this movie despite its ensemble cast too, including Warren Beatty himself, Annette Benning, Matthew Broderick, Alec Baldwin, Steve Coogan, Ed Harris, Martin Sheen, Oliver Platt, Candice Bergen, Paul Sorvino and Alden Ehrenreich.

Next up for Collins is 'To the Bone' which Premiered at January's Sundance Film Festival and stars Keanu Reeves in this tale of of Ellen, played by Collins as she battles anorexia. This will be followed up by 'Okja' from South Korean Director, Producer and Writer Bong Joon-ho and tells the story of a massive shy and introverted animal named Okja, that a young girl is helping to protect and rescue from capture by a powerful multi-national company. The film also stars Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano and Steven Yuen. 'Okja' is due for release mid-year this year. 'Halo of Stars' is in post-production for a release later this year, and is a drama film starring Holliday Grainger, Lukas Haas and Harry Treadaway. She is also starring alongside Kelsey Grammer, Jessica De Gouw and Rosemarie DeWitt in the F. Scott Fitzgerald adaptation of 'The Last Tycoon' which has been picked up after the initial pilot episode to go to series through Amazon. 

All up Collins has fifteen Acting credits to her name, and she has so far accumulated three award wins and six nominations including the aforementioned Golden Globe nod. She is guarded about her private life, given her experiences associated with her childhood and growing up in the spotlight of her parents public divorce, and the apparent rift it created between her and her father Phil Collins. She has recently released her first book, 'Unfiltered : No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me' - a personal collection of essays and photographs presented in poignant conversations about the things that young women struggle with. Collins also acts as a Celebrity Ambassador for the anti-bullying organisation 'Bystander Revolution'.

Lily Collins - grew up in the world of entertainment and under the media spotlight; has turned her hand successfully to journalism, modelling, film, television, writing and even singing on the soundtracks of 'Mirror Mirror' and 'Rules Don't Apply'; made the 'Hottest Daughters of Rock Stars' list in 2009 and was voted as one of 'World's Most Beautiful Women' in 2012; is renowned for her set of full eyebrows; is clearly on the up and more and more in demand. Happy Birthday to you Lily, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-