SHE SAID : Tuesday 22nd November 2022.

I saw the M Rated 'SHE SAID' earlier this week, and this American biographical drama film is Directed by Maria Schrader whose prior film making credits are 'Love Life' in 2007, 'Stefan Zweig : Farewell to Europe' in 2016 and 'I'm Your Man' in 2021, as well as helming the Netflix mini-series 'Unorthodox' which won the Director the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special in 2020. This film is based on the 2019 book of the same name by The New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey titled 'She Said : Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement'. The film saw its World Premier screening at the New York Film Festival on 13th October and was released in the US and here in Australia last week having garnered generally positive reviews. Costing US$32M to bring to the big screen, the film has so far grossed just US$3.6M.

The film opens up in 1992 with a young girl in her early twenties walking her dog along a secluded beach somewhere on the Irish coastline. She comes across a galleon anchored just off the coastline and a small vessel approaching the beach with two or three 18th Century looking sailors marching onto shore and depositing a chest. The young girl has stumbled across a film set, and before long she has a job wrangling extras on that same film set. We then cut to that same young girl running frantically down a street, sobbing and clutching at her torn clothing. 

Fast forward to 2017, and New York Times journalist Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) receive a tip that actress Rose McGowan was sexually assaulted by Hollywood Producer Harvey Weinstein back in the early nineties. Kantor speaks with McGowan who initially declines to comment saying that she and The Times are hardly the best of friends, but later calls Kantor back and describes a situation in which Weinstein raped her when she was 23. Kantor also speaks with actresses Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow, who describe their own sexual encounters with Weinstein, but both ask not to be named in the article for fear of career limiting reprisals. Somewhat frustrated by a lack of progress in her investigations, the Editor of The Times, Rebecca Corbett (Patricia Clarkson) suggests to Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) who is just back from maternity leave, to either continue hounding Donald Trump, recently elected to POTUS or to assist Kantor with her investigations into Weinstein. Twohey agrees to help Kantor. 

Twohey traces a woman who worked as an assistant to Weinstein at Miramax some twenty years previously and then suddenly disappeared. The woman says that she waited twenty years for this moment but then tearfully declines to speak on the matter due to a signed Non-Disclosure Agreement between herself and Weinstein. Twohey later pulls up at the home of the former CFO of Miramax who invites her in. Standing in the hallway with his wife, she asks about former payouts by Weinstein against his accusers, but he is reluctant to divulge any information about the matter. She is also rejected by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after enquiring about information surrounding these payouts. She then speaks to a former member of the District Attorney's office about why criminal complaints against Weinstein were dropped so quickly and she learns that Weinstein had deep rooted social connections with the DA's office.

Kantor receives an anonymous tip-off about three former Weinstein assistants who may have been abused - a Rowena Chiu (Angela Yeoh), Zelda Perkins (Samantha Morton) and Laura Madden (Jennifer Ehle). Kantor flies out to confront each of them individually. She is unable to meet with Chiu in Silicon Valley in San Francisco as she is out of the country for some weeks but speaks with her husband who is clueless about what Kantor is eluding to. Perkins in Wales, UK recounts an incident in which Chiu had a breakdown due to a sexual encounter with Weinstein while working at the London Office. Madden who is living in Newquay, Cornwall, England and is about to undergo a double mastectomy surgery initially declines to speak with Kantor, but changes her mind after a representative of Weinstein reaches out to her after a couple of decades to discourage her from speaking to reporters about her experience. We subsequently learn that it was Madden who was in the opening scene back in 1992 as the young impressionable 21 years old extras wrangler who was later seen fleeing down the street in tears. 

Weinstein learns of the investigation and sends one of his lawyers, Lanny Davis (Peter Friedman) in an attempt to appease the journalists, Corbett and the Executive Editor of The Times, Dean Baquet (Andre Braugher), but declines to go on the record and denies any and all wrongdoing. The lawyer acknowledges a number of past financial settlements (less than forty) but declines to say how many exactly. Kantor receives an anonymous tip to speak with Irwin Reiter (Zach Grenier), one of Weinstein's former accountants who says (without going on the record that the number is somewhere between eight and twelve). At a subsequent meeting in a restaurant over dinner he opens up his mobile phone and disappears to the bathroom saying for her to do with it what she will. On it, it shows her an internal memo that circulated at Miramax in 2015 detailing abuse allegations from a former employee, which Kantor photographs and sends to Twohey and Corbett. Reiter returns a few minutes later, picks up his phone and leaves. 

The Times advises the Board at Miramax of the soon to be released article and asks for a statement within two days, but Weinstein counters saying that he needs two weeks, but Baquet stands firm saying that he has two days. Weinstein denies the allegations and pressures the journalists to name their sources, with the Producer continually asking is they have spoken with Gwyneth Paltrow and if she is named within the article which Twohey repeatedly says no! He also threatens to talk to other publications, including Variety and The Hollywood Reporter to discredit the story. Weinstein eventually releases a statement acknowledging that he's caused pain to others in the past and that he is taking a leave of absence from Miramax. Kantor and Twohey attempt to convince their sources to go on the record but they all initially decline. Just before the publication of the article, Kantor receives phone calls from Judd and Madden who agree to be named, believing it is the right thing to do.

The New York Times publishes the article on 5th October 2017. In a pre-credits script following the article's publication, 82 women come forward with their own allegations against Weinstein, leading to workplace and legal reforms. Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence for rape and sexual assault in New York, with additional charges pending in Los Angeles and London. 

I have to say that I was left wanting more from 'She Said'. It lacks the necessary Oooomph! that we saw in 'Bombshell' or 'Spotlight' for instance and what we're left with is a fairly pedestrian procedural by the numbers account of what went down to bring Harvey Weinstein crashing down. It's all about e-mails, telephone calls, clandestine meetings and dogged investigative journalism that may have been the way it played out in real life, but there is hardly a thrilling moment in this film apart from a sequence when Twohey receives a call late one night from an anonymous caller saying that he is going to rape her, murder her and dump her body in the Hudson River, and when Kantor leaves the restaurant after meeting with Reiter and is followed for a few short steps by a menacing looking black SUV that quickly speeds off when she turns around. The performances of Mulligan and Kazan especially are top notch aided admirably by Clarkson and Braugher who all keep the story grounded in a journalistic, personal and emotional journey that never lets a story get in the way of the unflinching truth. Sure it's an important subject that needed to be told, and much good has come from it that is still fresh in the mind of the collective audience, but perhaps this film is two or three years premature as the Weinstein case is still unfolding, and we have yet to see the full ramifications of his actions against countless women he has wronged.

'She Said' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 17th November 2022.

The 33rd Singapore International Film Festival launches on Thursday 24th November and runs through until Sunday 4th December. The 33rd Edition presents a diverse, inclusive range of over one hundred films by filmmakers from all over the world. These carefully selected films speak of memories, emotions, inspired conversations and discussions — that together celebrate the continuity of film and storytelling in the cinematic community, the official website reads. 

This years Opening Night film is 'Assault' from Kazakhstan and is Written and Directed by Adilkhan Yerzhanov. Masked figures with machine guns march into the secondary school in Karatas and take the pupils hostage. They make no demands. Silent terror is their modus operandi. Seeing as the army will take two days to arrive due to a snowstorm, maths teacher Tazshi decides to assemble his own assault team. Southeast Asian Premier. 

The Asian Feature Film Competition presents nine new films by Directors making their first to third features. This year, six of these are directorial debuts, marking an exciting new generation of filmmakers in Asia. Those nine films in brief are :-

* 'Convenience Store' - from Russia, Slovenia and Turkey and Directed by Michael Borodin. An undocumented migrant mother suffers violence and abuse working in a Russian convenience store in this harrowing expose of modern-day slavery. Southeast Asian Premier.

* 'Autobiography' - from Indonesia, France, Germany, Poland, Singapore, Philippines, Qatar and Directed by Makbul Mubarak. The relationship between an authoritarian father figure and a diffident young man forms a gripping study of power relations. Singapore Premier.

* 'Leonor Will Never Die' - from the Philippines and Directed by Martika Ramirez Escobar. A retired screenwriter becomes the heroine of her own unfinished script as reality and fiction collide. Singapore Premier.

* 'The Cloud Messenger' - from India and Directed by Rahat Mahajan. A pair of teenagers at a regimented boarding school are predestined lovers in this coming-of-age story with a mythical twist. Asian Premier.

* 'Arnold Is a Model Student' - from Thailand, Singapore, France, Netherlands, Philippines and Directed by Sorayos Prapapan. Arnold becomes the school darling after emerging champion at a maths Olympiad. His success attracts a shady tuition centre owner who invites him to join an exam cheating racket. Meanwhile, trouble brews on campus when a disciplinary incident propels a group of students into action.

Singapore Premier. 

* 'Joyland' - from Pakistan and Directed by Saim Sadiq. In a conservative multigenerational Pakistani household, soft-spoken Haider is pressured to find a job and to produce a male heir. After he lands a role as a backup dancer at an erotic dance theatre, his wife Mumtaz reluctantly leaves a job she enjoys at the behest of the family’s patriarch to become a housewife. Southeast Asian Premier.

* 'Summer with Hope' - from Canada and Iran and Directed by Sadaf Foroughi. Unruly teenager Omid has to win a swimming competition - not just for himself but also for his mother Leili, whose freedom from his estranged father is contingent on Omid’s performance. When plans go awry, what is thought to be a beacon of hope soon turns into a snare that Omid must find ways to elude. Asian Premier.

* 'Archaeology of Love' - from South Korea and Directed by Lee Wanmin. Archaeologist Youngsil and Inseek go from strangers to lovers eight hours after they meet. Won over by hyperbolic declarations of love, Youngsil finds herself bound to Inseek even after their eventual breakup. International Premier.

* 'Gaga' - from Taiwan and Directed by Laha Mebow. The Hayung family inhabit the highlands of Taiwan along with other indigenous Atayal people. Held in high esteem by the community, they make a steady living from agriculture and tourism, while the men sometimes have too much to drink. Southeast Asian Premier.

For the other strands playing in and out of competition, namely The Southeast Asian Short Film Competition which presents seventeen new films across four programmes and attests to the abundance of strong creative talents from the region; Singapore Panorama presents the latest works by new and established talents in local filmmaking, with its finger on the pulse of the most exciting developments in Singapore cinema; Foreground spotlights six genre favourites and cinematic highlights of the year, reinvigorating popular genre conventions with refreshing elements and captivating crowds with celebrated visions; Altitude platforms important new works by some of the most established filmmakers today. The section profiles six films as representative of the highest standards in contemporary filmmaking; Horizon scopes out strong festival discoveries and films of eclectic perspectives from all over the world, this selection of ten international films will evoke curiosities as one traverses an array of emotions; Standpoint showcases eight new international works that present strong attitudes of personal, social and political consequences; Undercurrent charts exciting directions and bold expressions in cinema today, affirming imaginative treatments of the moving image; and finally strongly rooted in local specificities, Domain : To Those Who Remain draws from a deep connection to land and provides a rare insight into the colourful lives of rural communities within the South West Asia and North Africa region. You can see the full list of films featured in these aforementioned sections at the official website at : https://sgiff.com/

This week we have five new movies coming to a big screen Odeon near you, kicking off with a biographical drama film about a pair of New York Times reporters who break one of the most important news stories in a generation - a story that helped launch the #MeToo movement and shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual abuse in Hollywood. This is followed by a thriller that sees a radio host taking a call, where an unknown person threatens to kill the showman's entire family live on air. Next up is a Mexican comedy drama offering about a renowned Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker who returns home and works through an existential crisis as he grapples with his identity, familial relationships and the folly of his memories. Then we turn to an Australian documentary that follows an environmental campaigner as he builds a self-sustaining home, an ecosystem that provides its occupants with water, energy, shelter and nourishment; before closing out the week with an American documentary about a five-time Olympic medalist in 1912, 1920 and 1924, and Native Hawaiian who shattered records and brought surfing to the world while overcoming a lifetime of personal challenges.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the five 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 coming week.

'SHE SAID' (Rated M) - is an American biographical drama film Directed by Maria Schrader whose prior film making credits are 'Love Life' in 2007, 'Stefan Zweig : Farewell to Europe' in 2016 and 'I'm Your Man' in 2021, as well as helming the Netflix mini-series 'Unorthodox' which won the Director the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special in 2020. This film is based on the 2019 book of the same name by The New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey titled 'She Said : Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement'. The film saw its World Premier screening at the New York Film Festival on 13th October and is released in the US and here in Australia this week having garnered generally positive reviews.

The New York Times journalists Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) publish a report in October 2017 that exposes sexual abuse allegations against powerful Hollywood Producer Harvey Weinstein (Mike Houston) accusing him of three decades of sexually harassing actresses, female production assistants, temps and other employees at Miramax and The Weinstein Company. The shocking story also serves as a launching pad for the #MeToo movement, shattering decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault and harassment, and eventually led to Weinstein being sentenced to 23 years imprisonment. Also starring Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher, Jennifer Ehle, Samantha Morton, Ashley Judd and Tom Pelphrey.

'ON THE LINE' (Rated M) - this American thriller film is Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Frenchman Romuald Boulanger who has eleven Directing credits, eleven as an Actor, thirty-six as a Writer and thirty-eight as Producer under his belt since emerging on the scene in 2005. Here, Mel Gibson portrays Elvis Cooney, a provocative and edgy overnight radio host on a show titled 'On the Line' who must play a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a mysterious caller who has kidnapped his family and is threatening to kill them and blow up the whole station . . . all while live on air. Also starring William Moseley, Paul Spera, Kevin Dillon and Alia Seror-O'Neill. The film has garnered mostly negative press since its release in the US on 4th of this month. 

'BARDO, FALSE CHRONICLE OF A HANDFUL OF TRUTHS' (Rated MA15+) - is a black comedy drama film Co-Written, Co-Produced, Directed and Edited by Alejandro G. Inarritu whose prior film making credits are 'Amores perros' in 2000, '21 Grams' in 2003, 'Babel' in 2006, 'Biutiful' in 2010, 'Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)' in 2014 and 'The Revenant' in 2015. Here then, Silverio Gama (Daniel Gimenez Cacho), a renowned Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker living in Los Angeles, who, after being named the recipient of a prestigious international award, is compelled to return to his native country, unaware that this simple trip will push him to an existential crisis in the form of dreamlike visions. The film had its World Premier screening at the Venice International Film Festival in early September this year, was released in its native Mexico at the back end of October, in the USA in early November, and is released here in Australia from this week before streaming on Netflix from 16th December. It has so far garnered mixed or average reviews. 

'GREENHOUSE BY JOOST' (Rated PG) - this Australian documentary film is Written by Rhian Skirving and Directed by Bruce Permezel and Rhian Skirving whose previous Directorial credits take in a number of TV series, made for TV movie doco's and mini-series doco's. Imagine a house that grows its own food. Extending a lifetime's worth of zero-waste activism, visionary designer Joost Bakker devises the Future Food System, a self-sufficient residence that provides shelter, food and energy while reusing any by-products as fuel or fertiliser. Joined by renowned chefs Matt Stone and Jo Barrett, he works with a team of builders, engineers, and experts in agriculture, aquaponics and biochemistry to bring to life the project at Melbourne's Federation Square - culminating in the launch of a unique farm-to-table restaurant. This film won the Audience Award at this years Melbourne International Film Festival. 

'WATERMAN' (Rated PG) - is an American biographical documentary Directed by Isaac Halasima in only his second Documentary feature following 2016's 'The Last Decent' although he has been kept busy since then helming 123 episodes of 'Dry Bar Comedy' and a prolific number of television specials throughout 2020 and 2021. Here, he charts the story of five-time Olympic medalist and Native Hawaiian Duke Paoa Kahanamoku who shattered records and brought surfing to the world while overcoming a lifetime of personal challenges. The film explores his journey and legacy as a legendary swimmer, trailblazer, and the undisputed father of modern-day surfing. From modest roots in Waikiki, Duke swam his way to fame, becoming the face of a changing Hawaii as it evolved from an independent Kingdom to the 50th American state. Yet relatively few outside Hawaii know the full extent of Duke's impact on sports, lifesaving, and combating prejudice. The film is narrated by Jason Momoa and involves commentary from surfing legends including Laird Hamilton, Kelly Slater and Kai Lenny. 

With five 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 week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-