'TRAP' : Tuesday 6th August 2024.

I saw the M Rated 'TRAP' this week, and this American psychological thriller film is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan who made his breakthrough with 'The Sixth Sense' in 1999 and which he would follow up with the likes of 'Unbreakable' in 2000, 'The Village' in 2004, 'The Visit' in 2015, 'Split' in 2016, 'Glass' in 2019, 'Old' in 2021 and 'Knock at the Cabin' in 2023. This film cost US$30M to produce, has so far grossed US$25M and has generated mixed or average reviews since its release in the US and here in Australia last week. 

The film centres on a serial killer Cooper Adams, dubbed 'The Butcher' (Josh Hartnett) who attends a Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan) concert with his teenage daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue). Arriving in plenty of time before the concert gets underway, Cooper observes a large Police presence at the stadium and asks a merchandise vendor Jamie (Jonathan Langdon) the reason for the higher than normal Police activity. Jamie tells Cooper that the FBI plans to catch a serial killer known as 'the Butcher', having learned that he will be in attendance, and Jamie asks Cooper not to divulge to anyone where he got his information from as it's a closely guarded secret. 

Cooper excuses himself from Riley to visit the toilet where it is revealed that he is the Butcher while secretly checking footage on his phone of his latest captive victim, Spencer (Mark Bacolcol), chained to a pole in a basement somewhere. He steals Jamie's employee ID passcard and learns the supposed secret codeword, Hamilton, that will identify him as an employee, using the card to gain access to a back room where a Police briefing is taking place, and in the process stealing a Police radio.

Over the radio he listens in on a woman predicting his movements, so Cooper sets off a diversion in a food outlet and uses the ensuing chaos to access the roof, where he learns from a Police Officer that the manhunt is led by Dr. Josephine Grant (Hayley Mills), an FBI profiler who has a successful track record in tracking down other criminals. 

Confused by Cooper's behaviour, Riley asks him to stay with her. She talks about being chosen as Lady Raven's 'Dreamer Girl', who gets to dance on stage with the singer and receives backstage access, which Cooper believes has the only exit not covered by the Police. Cooper lies to Lady Raven's uncle (M. Night Shyamalan) that Riley recently recovered from leukemia and therefore winning the sympathy vote and resulting in her being selected to be the 'Dreamer Girl'.

Following the end of the concert, Cooper observes that the Police are also guarding the backstage exit. In the privacy of Lady Raven's dressing room, he reveals himself as the Butcher to her, threatening to remotely kill Spencer if she does not escort him and Riley out in her limousine. She complies but asks to visit Riley's house, where she is met by Cooper's unsuspecting wife Rachel (Alison Pill) and Riley's younger brother Logan (Lochlan Miller). Lady Raven stalls for time by explaining the FBI operation to the family, unsettling Cooper by describing Grant's profile of him as someone with maternal issues and obsessive-compulsive disorder. She also explains that the Police discovered details about the Butcher's attendance at the concert via a torn ticket receipt left in a vacant house that was reported anonymously. 

Before leaving at the behest of Cooper, Lady Raven offers to sing one last song using the family piano, accompanied by Riley. Upon finishing the song, Lady Raven steals Cooper's phone and locks herself in the bathroom with Cooper frantically banging on the door demanding she gives his phone back. She gets scant details from Spencer, as he was blindfolded, about where he was taken and livestreams it to her fans, one of whom finds and rescues him. She outs Cooper to his wife, Rachel, and he locks his family upstairs while Lady Raven texts her driver to contact the Police. 

Cooper attempts to drive off with Lady Raven, but his family, having escaped their temporary captivity upstairs, distracts him long enough for her to escape. The Police arrive and Cooper exits the house through a secret tunnel leading to the neighbours property. He then disguises himself using a SWAT uniform and drives the limousine off with Lady Raven handcuffed to a railing inside the car. After he reveals his identity she unlocks the window, manages to break the railing free and draws a mob of fans to stop him so the FBI can catch up. Cooper meanwhile changes into a fresh set of civilian clothes and flees the scene.

Cooper returns home and confronts Rachel who confesses that she had suspected that he was the Butcher and was the one who left the receipt in the vacant house for the Police to find. Cooper decides to kill her and then himself, but Rachel persuades him to at least share some leftover pie made for Riley. After Cooper admits his hatred for Rachel in causing him to miss seeing his children grow up, he realises Rachel drugged the pie with crushed pills from his tool bag, leading him to hallucinate his mother expressing pride in him for feeling real emotion. The hallucination is actually Grant, impersonating Cooper's mother to calm him down, and he is then tasered several times by SWAT officers as he walks up to her. As he is led away in hand cuffs, he stops to pick up Riley's bicycle on the lawn outside and stand it upright and shares a tearful embrace with her before being loaded into a Police van. As it drives away, Cooper retrieves a bicycle spoke from his sleeve that he secretly took when adjusting Riley's bike and unpicks the lock on his cuffs, laughing to himself.

'Trap' plays out over about six or seven hours from the point where Cooper and Riley jump out of their car having parked up very conveniently close to the concert venue to the point post gig where he is arrested, cuffed and carted off in the back of a Police van later that night. Right from the first ten minutes or so we know that Cooper is 'The Butcher' and that there is a covert Police sting operation afoot to ensnare him, so from this point forward all bets are off, and instead Director and Writer Shyamalan opts for a more traditional cat and mouse game, while sacrificing his trademark twist at the back end. Hartnett is well cast as the mild mannered yet fractured family man harbouring a deadly double life, but the rest of the cast are largely one-dimensional. Make no mistake this is a concert film in which M. Night allows his singer-songwriter daughter Saleka to perform centre stage, write the songs and also score her first screen acting role, all wrapped up in a thriller that in reality is thin on thrills and spills. You can easily forego the price of your cinema ticket and wait for 'Trap' to come out on your local streaming service.

'Trap' warrants three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 2nd February 2023.

The 22nd AARP Movies for Grownups Awards were presented on Saturday 28th January at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, in Los Angeles, California, and hosted by Alan Cumming for the third time. The awards are given out to 'champion films made by and for grownups'. Given annually by the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons), they began in 2002 with the goal of encouraging Hollywood to make more movies by and about people over the age of fifty. The first awards were announced in an issue of AARP the Magazine, before moving to an annual ceremony in 2006. 

The awards in the movie category, are as given below :-

* Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups : awarded to 'Top Gun : Maverick'.

* Best Director - presented to Baz Luhrmann for 'Elvis'.

* Best Actor - presented to Brendan Fraser for 'The Whale'.

* Best Actress - awarded to Michelle Yeoh for 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'.

* Best Supporting Actor - awarded to Judd Hirsch for 'The Fabelmans'.

* Best Supporting Actress - presented to Judith Ivey for 'Women Talking'.

* Best Screenwriter - awarded to Kazuo Ishiguro for 'Living'.

* Best Ensemble - presented to 'She Said'.

* Best Intergenerational Movie - awarded to 'Till'.

* Best Time Capsule - awarded to 'Elvis'.

* Best Grownup Love Story - presented to 'Good Luck to You, Leo Grande'.

* Best Documentary - awarded to 'Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down'.

* Best Foreign Film - presented to 'The Quiet Girl' from Ireland. 

In addition, Jamie Lee Curtis received the Career Achievement Award.

For all the details on the other nominated films in the above categories, plus the winners and nominees in the television awards, you can go to the official website at : https://www.aarp.org

This week we have three new movies to tease you out to a cool air conditioned picture theatre on a balmy Summer's evening, kicking off with a story about a reclusive English teacher with morbid obesity who tries to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter for one last shot at redemption. Then we turn to a tale about a young girl and her parents, who while holidaying in a remote cabin, are taken hostage by armed strangers who demand that the family make a choice to avert the apocalypse. And closing out the week we have a film about newlyweds who embark on the romantic honeymoon of a lifetime in Venice, but when the trip is gatecrashed by the Groom's best friend, it inadvertently turns their perfect lovers’ holiday into a complete disaster.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.

'THE WHALE' (Rated M) - is an American psychological drama film Directed and Co-Produced by Darren Aronofsky and is based on the 2012 play of the same name written by Samuel D. Hunter. Aronofsky's previous film credits take in the likes of his debut with 'Pi' in 1997, then 'Requiem for a Dream' 2000, 'The Wrestler' in 2008, 'Black Swan' in 2010, 'Noah' in 2014 and 'Mother!' in 2017. This film saw its World Premier at the Venice International Film Festival in early September last year where it received a six minute standing ovation and then went on limited release in the US in early December before a wide release from 21st December. It has so far grossed US$15M from a production budget of US$3M, has so far garnered thirty-four award wins and a further 118 nominations from around the awards and festival circuit, of which a number of those nods are still awaiting a final outcome. The film has divided critics although the performance of the cast, most notably that of Brendan Fraser, have been praised.

Here then, a reclusive English professor Charlie (Brendan Fraser) whose main form of contact with the outside world is the online classes he teaches with his webcam switched off, and suffering from severe obesity weighing over 600lbs is grief-stricken over the death of his partner, and is effectively trapped in his apartment due to his weight. He attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink) for one last chance at redemption. Also starring Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins and Samantha Morton. 

'KNOCK AT THE CABIN' (Rated M) - this American apocalyptic psychological horror film is Directed and written for the screen by M. Night Shyamalan, and is based on the 2018 novel 'The Cabin at the End of the World' by Paul G. Tremblay. Shyamalan's previous film output includes his breakout film with 'The Sixth Sense' in 1999, then 'Unbreakable' 2000, 'Signs' in 2002, 'The Village' in 2004, then a period of less popular films before his resurgence with 'The Visit' in 2015, 'Split' in 2016, 'Glass' in 2019 and 'Old' in 2021. This film sees its release this week in Australia and Stateside too. While on holiday at a remote cabin in the woods, a young girl Wen (Kristen Cui) and her parents Eric (Jonathan Goff) and Andrew (Ben Aldridge) are taken hostage by four armed strangers - Leonard (Dave Bautista), Redmond (Rupert Grint), Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird) and Ardiane (Abby Quinn) who demand they make an unthinkable choice to avert the apocalypse. Confused, scared and with limited access to the outside world, the family must decide what they believe before all is lost.

'THE HONEYMOON' (Rated M) - this UK and Italian Co-Produced RomCom is Written and Directed by Dean Craig in only his third feature film making outing following 'Love Wedding Repeat' in 2020 and 'The Estate' in 2022. Adam (Pico Alexander) whisks his new bride Sarah (Maria Bakalova) to Venice for a honeymoon. But when Adam brings his needy best friend Bav (Asim Chaudhry) along for the ride, Bav causes one gross-out disaster after another. When charming gangster Giorgio (Lucas Bravo) falls for Sarah, he gets rid of Adam and Bav by sending them across the border on a drug-dealing mission. The film saw a limited release in the US in mid-December and was subsequently made available on Amazon Prime Video in the UK and other other European nations. 

With three new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

GLASS : Tuesday 22nd January 2019.

'GLASS', which I saw at my local multiplex this week, will doubtless please fans of the 'Unbreakable series' (aka the 'Eastrail 177 Trilogy' following the derailment of the fictitious Eastrail #177 train in the first instalment of this series of now three) of films which launched in 2000 with 'Unbreakable', carried on with 2016's 'Split' and now sees its apparent conclusion with 'Glass'. All three films have been Directed, Written and Co-Produced by M. Night Shyamalan. 'Unbreakable' was made for US$75M and grossed US$248M, while 'Split' was made for just US$9M and grossed US$279M with both films being a critical success too. 'Glass' had a production budget of US$20M, and was released in the US and Australia last week, has so far grossed US$107M and has generated largely mixed or average Reviews. By way of a quick recap however, Samuel L. Jackson's character from 'Unbreakable', Elijah Price is a mass murderer and comic book theorist with Type 1 Brittle Bone Disease and superhuman intelligence. Bruce Willis's character also from 'Unbreakable', David Dunn, is a former college football prodigy turned security guard who possesses superhuman strength, stamina, and invulnerability as well as an extrasensory ability to see the crimes people have committed just by touching them. Dunn is the sole survivor of the Eastrail 177 train journey which killed all 131 other passengers on board, but left him completely unscathed - hence Unbreakable! Dunn turned Price into the authorities after discovering the full extent of his crimes. James McAvoy from 'Split' plays Kevin Wendell Crumb, a former Philadelphia Zoo employee with 23 different personalities whose body chemistry changes with each personality, resulting in a 24th personality known as 'The Beast'.

From 'Unbreakable' Bruce Willis returns as David Dunn and so does Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, aka Mr. Glass. From 'Split' we have James McAvoy, reprising his role as Kevin Wendell Crumb and the other 23 multiple personalities who reside within him, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke, the only captive to survive an encounter with 'The Beast' (Kevin's 24th identity). Following the conclusion of 'Split' and about three weeks after that fact, we find David Dunn and his now adult son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark) working together from the stockroom of David's Security shop to take down criminals whilst also attempting to home in on Kevin Wendell Crumb who has taken four cheerleaders captive somewhere across the city of Philadelphia. Crumb and his numerous persona's now collectively go by the name of 'The Horde', whereas Dunn's exploits have earned him the moniker 'The Overseer' on social media.

One day while out scouring a derelict part of the city, Dunn brushes up against Crumb in his nine year old 'Hedwig' persona, and using his powers of extra sensory perception is able to locate the cheerleaders whereabouts. He frees them, just as Kevin returns in the guise of 'The Beast' and immediately sets upon Dunn. The pair fight, with The Beast surprised at Dunn's strength and resilience. They crash through a window and fall to the ground several storey's below, but are captured by heavily armed Police authorities who escort the pair to the Raven Hill Memorial Psychiatric Hospital for observation and treatment.

Inside the heavily fortified psychiatric hospital, Dunn is placed into a room with powerful showers that will flood his room instantly in the event of an attempted escape, erratic behaviour or anything else that gives cause for concern. This is because Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) the head Doctor in charge of the facility, knows of Dunn's weakness when he is exposed to water. Similarly, The Horde are placed in a room with movement sensitive lights and cameras that flash on an off in an instant, so causing Crumbs multiple personalities to change with each flash of the high intensity bright lights, so effectively disarming The Beast. Staple's chosen field of medical expertise is in working with patients who claim to have special powers, and be superhuman, and to persuade them otherwise.

In the fullness of time, Staple assembles Elijah Price who has been confined to a wheelchair and remains mute and almost motionless the whole time, and who has been a long term resident of the hospital for some years now, with Crumb and Dunn in a room together. Her aim is to evaluate how the three interact with each other and debunk their theories that they are something special and convince them that are just normal human beings who may possess some kind of special skill but nothing extraordinary that can't be learned by anyone else. She also reveals that she has been given just three days to convince the three that they are normal, and if they can't be convinced then they'll have to suffer the consequences of a very long term stay in her facility under constant observation, scrutiny and treatment.

Meanwhile Joseph, Mrs. Price (Elijah's mother, played by Charlayne Woodard) and Casey Cooke all visit the hospital on separate occasions and meet individually with Staple and try to persuade her that Mrs. Price's son, Joseph's Dad, and Casey's former captor all have merits, are simply misunderstood and have good inside them. Staple is however, unconvinced.

The evaluation awakens something in Elijah, giving him the motivation to make his play. One night when the facility is quiet, the care staff are between shifts and otherwise distracted and security is at a minimum, Elijah breaks into The Hordes room wanting to meet with The Beast. After an introduction and time running out before the next care giver starts his shift, Elijah sets up a meeting for the next night, at which he will also see to it that David Dunn is freed too. Upon leaving the room, Crumb asks Elijah what he should call him, to which Elijah turns in his wheelchair and says 'first name Mister, last name Glass'. 

Staple has however, recently extended her comprehensive network of security cameras across the complex, and Elijah's movements were caught on camera. Knowing that he cannot be trusted, having managed to successfully pull the proverbial wool of everyone's eyes for so long, Staple announces to Elijah, (back in his catatonic state) that they are bringing forward to the next day surgery on him to render his alleged superhuman thinking redundant.

The next day, post surgery, Elijah slashes the throat of one of his care givers with a shard of glass taken from a picture hanging in his room. It is also revealed in flashback that Elijah sabotaged the laser device (used in his surgery) the previous evening by removing the lens rendering its power useless. He visits The Horde with the notion of awakening The Beast, with a plan to pitch The Beast against David Dunn in a grand showdown in full view of the media at the grand opening of the city's tallest skyscraper later that same day. Elijah taunts Dunn with his plan, saying that if he doesn't comply he'll destroy the tower and all those inside it. Consequently, Dunn breaks the reinforced steel door down with his third shoulder barge attempt, knocking it clean off its hinges.

Meanwhile, Mr. Glass and Kevin Wendell Crumb are making it out of the hospital using a network of basement tunnels. They are intercepted by several guards, who are quickly dispensed with by The Beast, while Mr. Glass continues to wheel himself out into the open, to be joined by The Beast when his work is done with the guards.

Outside in the hospital grounds, The Beast and David Dunn face off and are pretty evenly matched - The Beast's raw unfettered aggression against anyone and everyone pitched against Dunn's considered unbreakable brute strength and resilience and his unwavering desire to protect those at risk and ultimately use his skills for good.

Staple has by now arrived, as have Mrs. Price, Joseph and Casey Cooke. Armed Police arrive in riot gear. She orders four armed men to fend off The Beast and Dunn but they are no match for the duelling pair and are quickly subdued. Looking on from his wheelchair, Mr. Glass tells The Beast that water is Dunn's weakness, but Joseph comes between them and reveals to The Beast that Elijah orchestrated the train crash that killed Kevin's father, the same train crash from which Elijah came to meet up with Dunn.

In a seemingly moment of clarity, The Beast thanks Mr. Glass for creating him, but also tells him that his purpose was to protect Kevin and therefore he cannot trust Mr. Glass. The Beast breaks Glass' shoulder and punches him severely in the stomach causing him to topple off his wheelchair onto the hard road surface breaking further bones in his brittle body. The Beast then throws Dunn into a water tank and jumps in after him holding him beneath the surface. Despite the effects of the water, Dunn is able to break through the walls of the tank causing a torrent of water to flood the grounds in the immediate vicinity and wash them both out. Dunn survives but has been weakened by his drenching. As The Beast retreats having taunted Dunn to finish off their duel at the new skyscraper, Casey confronts him and coerces Kevin to take control of his body so returning to his normal human state and taking control away from The Beast.

Staple's men then fire on Kevin while he is weak with a single laser pointed gun shot to the stomach. Three others then set upon a now weakened Dunn and begin to drown him in a flooded pothole. Staple lets Dunn touch her as he is drowned, giving him a vision of her participation in a secret society trying to keep the existence of superhumans a secret. Mr. Glass dies of his multiple bone fractures looked over by his weeping mother. Kevin dies of his gunshot wound in the arms of Casey, and Joseph arrives after Dunn was drowned, and is distraught by the death of his superhuman father whom he idolised. Staple promptly wipes clean all the footage from the one hundred or so internal and external security cameras so destroying any and all evidence of superhuman behaviours and what went down earlier that day. She also reports that her mission had been a complete success.

However, what is unknown to Staple, is that all the cameras around the psychiatric hospital had been hacked by Mr. Glass earlier in the day and had been live-streaming that coverage to a private network. Subsequently, Mrs. Price, Joseph, and Casey all receive a copy of the footage. They choose to release that footage to the public at large, and sitting together on a bench in a busy train station, they watch people increasingly accessing their mobile devices to watch the footage so creating an awareness of the existence of superhumans, and before you know it, it makes the primetime television news channels too.

I enjoyed 'Glass' but not nearly a much as I would have hoped. The film meanders in the mid-section, regurgitates old tropes that we have seen before, short delivers on the action and suspense spectacle and the ending is something and nothing and lacks the punch of a grand finale to a trilogy that up until the final few frames of 'Split' nobody saw coming. McAvoy gives a fine turn once again flexing his multi-personality The Horde by switching from one persona to another without missing a beat. This is his film, and it is richer for his performance. As for Jackson - well he really does diddly squat for the first half except stare blankly at the screen in a near comatose state save for the occasional facial twitch; and Willis is the stoic, expressionless die hard character that he has played in a hundred movies. Paulson just keeps on repeating herself, and Taylor-Joy is also underplayed when her back story could have been explored more. There are a few twists and turns in the film, and any levity comes from McAvoy's rapid fire ever changing character voices, mannerisms, quirks and traits which he nails every time. And as for the trademark Shyamalan surprise at the end, well don't hold your breath this time, because when it does eventuate, its not up to the standard of some of his more noteworthy offerings. All that said, I would describe this glass as half full, rather than half empty.

As such, 'Glass' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 17th January 2019

In the unlikely event that you've been living under a rock these past couple of weeks, you'll probably be aware of the media frenzy, the hype, the excitement and the anticipation of this years 76th Golden Globe Awards. Held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, California on Sunday 6th January and hosted by Canadian Actress Sandra Oh and American Actor, Comedian, Writer, Producer and Musician Andy Samberg, here, in case you missed all the glitz and the glamour, the winners and the grinners and the also rans, is my summary of those who took home a Globe, and those that didn't.

* Best Motion Picture - Drama : won by 'BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY', and beating out 'Black Panther', 'Blackkklansman', 'If Beale Street Could Talk' and 'A Star Is Born'.

* Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy : won by 'GREEN BOOK', beating out 'Vice', 'Crazy Rich Asians', 'The Favourite' and 'Mary Poppins Returns'.

* Best Motion Picture - Animated : won by 'SPIDER-MAN : INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE', beating out 'Incredibles 2', 'Isle of Dogs', 'Mirai' and 'Ralph Breaks the Internet'.

* Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language : won by 'ROMA' (Mexico), beating out 'Shoplifters' (Japan), 'Capernaum' (Lebanon), 'Girl' (Belgium) and 'Never Look Away' (Germany).

* Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama : won by GLENN CLOSE for 'The Wife', beating out Lady Gaga for 'A Star Is Born', Nicole Kidman for 'Destroyer', Melissa McCarthy for 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?' and Rosamund Pike for 'A Private War'

* Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama : won by RAMI MALEK for 'Bohemian Rhapsody', beating out Bradley Cooper for 'A Star Is Born', Willem Dafoe for 'At Eternity's Gate', Lucas Hedges for 'Boy Erased' and John David Washington for 'Blackkklansman'.

* Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy : won by OLIVIA COLMAN for 'The Favourite', beating out Emily Blunt for 'Mary Poppins Returns', Elsie Fisher for 'Eighth Grade', Charlize Theron for 'Tully' and Constance Wu for 'Crazy Rich Asians'.

* Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy : won by CHRISTIAN BALE for 'Vice', beating out Lin-Manuel Miranda for 'Mary Poppins Returns', Viggo Mortensen for 'Green Book', Robert Redford for 'The Old Man & The Gun' and John C. Reilly for 'Stan & Ollie'.

* Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture : won by REGINA KING for 'If Beale Street Could Talk', beating out Amy Adams for 'Vice', Claire Foy for 'First Man', Emma Stone for 'The Favourite' and Rachel Weisz for 'The Favourite'.

* Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture : won by MAHERSHALA ALI for 'Green Book', beating out Timothee Chalamet for 'Beautiful Boy', Adam Driver for 'Blackkklansman', Richard E. Grant for 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?' and Sam Rockwell for 'Vice'.

* Best Director - Motion Picture : won by ALFONSO CUARON for 'Roma', beating out Peter Farrelly for 'Green Book', Spike Lee for 'Blackkklansman', Adam McKay for 'Vice' and Bradley Cooper for 'A Star Is Born'.

* Best Screenplay - Motion Picture : won by NICK VALLELONGA, BRIAN CURRIE and PETER FARRELLY for 'Green Book', beating out Adam McKay for 'Vice', Alfonso Cuaron for 'Roma', Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara for 'The Favourite' and Barry Jenkins for 'If Beale Street Could Talk'.

* Best Original Song - Motion Picture : won for 'Shallow' from 'A STAR IS BORN' sung by LADY GAGA, beating out 'Requien for a Private War' from 'A Private War' sung by Annie Lennox,  'Revelation' from 'Boy Erased', 'All the Stars 'form 'Black Panther' and 'Girl in the Movies' from 'Dumplin' sung by Dolly Parton.

* Best Original Score - Motion Picture : won by JUSTIN HERWITZ for 'First Man', beating out Marco Beltrami for 'A Quiet Place', Alexandre Desplat for 'Isle of Dogs', Ludwig Goransson for 'Black Panther' and March Shaiman for 'Mary Poppins Returns'.

* The Cecil B. deMille Award : was printed for Lifetime Achievement to JEFF BRIDGES.

You can get more information at the official website at : https://www.goldenglobes.com

And so turning attention back to this weeks latest release movies, of which there are five coming to your local Odeon, we kick off with the eagerly awaited and highly anticipated third instalment in this superhero franchise that first launched in 2000, with its sequel (of sorts) coming sixteen years later. Now this film brings those two previous stories together and brings our three antagonists (or perhaps protagonists) head to head for a final conclusion, which if going by this Director's track record will still leave a few surprises in store right to the very end. We then turn to a historical biographical telling of the power struggle during the mid-16th century between two cousins who each claim their right to rule over England, but the throne is only big enough for one! Next up is a horror comedy about a man believing he can commit a perfect murder, but he didn't count on his victim being perhaps smarter than he. Then we have an Australian story based on a much loved book about a young lad who takes in an orphaned pelican chick that has a profound impact on his life ultimately. We then wrap up the week with a modern day retelling of King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable, but from the perspective of a young lad . . . who would be King.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the five latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.

'GLASS' (Rated M) - fans of the 'Unbreakable series' (aka the 'Eastrail 177 Trilogy' following the derailment of the fictitious Eastrail #177 train in the first instalment of this series of now three) of films which launched in 2000 with 'Unbreakable', carried on with 2016's 'Split' and now sees its apparent conclusion with 'Glass'. All three films have been Directed, Written and Co-Produced by M. Night Shyalaman. 'Unbreakable' was made for US$75M and grossed US$248M, while 'Split' was made for just US$9M and grossed US$279M with both films being a critical success too. 'Glass' had a production budget of US$20M, and is released in the US this week also. By way of a recap Samuel L. Jackson's character from 'Unbreakable', Elijah Price is a mass murderer and comic book theorist with Type 1 Brittle Bone Disease and superhuman intelligence. Bruce Willis's character also from 'Unbreakable', David Dunn, is a former college football prodigy turned security guard who possesses superhuman strength, stamina, and invulnerability as well as an extrasensory ability to see the crimes people have committed just by touching them. Dunn turned Price into the authorities after discovering the full extent of his crimes. James McAvoy from 'Split' plays Kevin Wendell Crumb, a former Philadelphia Zoo employee with 23 different personalities whose body chemistry changes with each personality, resulting in a 24th personality known as 'The Beast'.

From 'Unbreakable' Bruce Willis returns as David Dunn and so does Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, aka Mr. Glass. From 'Split' we have James McAvoy, reprising his role as Kevin Wendell Crumb and the other 23 multiple personalities who reside within him, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke, the only captive to survive an encounter with 'The Beast' (Kevin's 24th identity). Following the conclusion of 'Split', Mr. Glass finds Dunn pursuing Crumb’s superhuman persona of The Beast in a series of escalating encounters, while the shadowy presence of Glass emerges as an orchestrator who holds secrets critical to both men.

'MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS' (Rated MA15+) - here we have a historical biographical film Directed by British theatre Director Josie Rourke in her feature film debut, and based on the John Guy biography 'Queen of Scots : The True Life of Mary Stuart'. The film saw it Premier screening at the American Film Institute Festival in mid-November, went on general release in the US in early November, and screens nationally in the UK from this week too. The film was made for US$25M, has so far grossed US$15M and has garnered generally favourable press. And so this film takes us back to the 1560's and Queen of France at sixteen years of age and widowed at eighteen, Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) defies pressure to remarry. Instead, she returns to her native Scotland in 1561 to reclaim her rightful throne. But Scotland and England fall under the rule of the compelling and steadfast Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie). Each young Queen beholds her first cousin in both fascination and fear. Rivals in power and in love, and female royals in very much a male dominated world, the two must decide how to play the game of marriage versus their independence. Ultimately, Mary Stuart's attempt to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I, Queen of England, finds her condemned to over eighteen years of imprisonment before facing execution in 1587 for plotting to assassinate the English monarch. Also starring Jack Lowden, Joe Alwyn, David Tennant and Guy Pearce.

'PIERCING' (Rated MA15+) - this American horror comedy film is Directed and written for the screen by Nicholas Pesce, and is based on the 1994 novel of the same name by Japanese novelist Ryu Murakami. The film saw it World Premier screening at the January 2018 Sundance Film Festival and only now does it go on limited release in Australia, and on 1st February in the US. Running for a relatively conservative 81 minutes, the film has garnered generally favourable Reviews so far and has picked up a couple of awards and a few nods from around the festival circuit. And so, after kissing his wife Mona (Laia Costa) and baby goodbye under the guise of a seemingly normal business trip, Reed (Christopher Abbott) checks himself into a hotel room to accomplish something he's always dreamed of - to carry out the perfect murder. And so he calls an escort agency and hires a prostitute, Jackie (Mia Wasikowska) for the evening, who is to be the perfect victim. As his sinister plans unfold, he soon comes to the realisation that he might just be in over his head with the mysteriously unhinged call girl.

'STORM BOY' (Rated PG) - this South Australia produced film is Directed by Shawn Seet and is based on the 1964 novella of the same name by Colin Thiele. It is these second adaptation of the story to hit the big screen, with the first outing being released in 1976 and taking AU$2.65M off the back of a AU$320K production budget back then. Mike (played as the grown adult version by Geoffrey Rush) is now a retired successful businessman and grandfather. As a lonely young boy wandering through the fierce deserted coast of South Australia, he and his reclusive father 'Hideaway' Tom (Jai Courtney) live in the isolated sand dunes facing the Southern Ocean. In search of friendship, Mike encounters another recluse in the wilderness, Fingerbone Bill (Trevor Jamieson), an Aboriginal man estranged from his tribal people. Fingerbone names the young Mike 'Storm Boy' (played by Finn Little) and enlists the child's help in caring for an orphaned pelican chick he names Mr. Percival. The older Mike recounts to his granddaughter the story of how as a boy, he formed a very special bond with that pelican that had a lasting and profound effect on their lives.

'THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING' (Rated PG) - this English fantasy film is Directed and written for the screen by English Comedian, Television and Radio Presenter, Writer, Actor and only second time Director Joe Cornish, following 2011's 'Attack the Block', which he also wrote and Co-Produced. Not due for release in the USA until late January and the UK in mid-February, this film tells the story of Alex Elliot (Louis Ashbourne Serkis, and the son of Andy Serkis) who is a young lad, bullied at school and really, there's nothing special about him anyway. That soon changes, however, when he stumbles across and pulls King Arthur's famous sword Excalibur from a rock on a building site (of all places). In so doing, he discovers that he is destined to form a new round table with a band of Knights, for an upcoming battle with the medieval villain and powerful enchantress Morgana le Fay (Rebecca Ferguson), who summons evil forces to rule the world and threaten the future of mankind. The wizard Merlin (Angus Imrie, and the son of Celia Imrie) helps Alex in his quest as a younger incarnation capable of transforming into an older version of the acclaimed wizard of old (Patrick Stewart).

With five new release films this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-