QUEEN & SLIM : Tuesday 17th March 2020.

'QUEEN & SLIM' which I saw this week is a MA15+ Rated American romantic crime drama offering and is Directed by first time film maker Melina Matsoukas who is an already established American music video, television and commercial Director. Amongst her numerous music video's which she has made since 2006 she has worked with Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Minogue, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Whitney Houston, Robin Thicke and Christina Aguilera. Her TV commercials credits take in such companies as Diesel, Adidas, Lexus, Nike and Stella McCartney. This film saw its World Premiere at the American Film Institute Fest in mid-November 2019 and was released in the US in late-November. It has so far received generally positive reviews from critics, has grossed US$47M off the back of a circa US$18M production budget, and has garnered ten award wins and a further 27 nominations from around the awards circuit.

Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Slim's (Daniel Kaluuya) first Tinder date at a down-beat Ohio diner takes an unexpected turn when a Policeman pulls them over for a minor traffic violation while Slim is driving Queen home. The Police Officer makes Slim get out of the car, frisks him, and asks him to open the car boot asking if he has any stashed guns, alcohol or drugs therein. Slim retorts with only several boxes of shoes, which the Officer opens up and over turns. Slim asks the Officer if he could hurry up as it's cold. The agitated Officer draws his gun on Slim, and when Queen gets out of the car and tries to record the incident on her mobile phone, the situation quickly escalates, and Queen's leg is grazed by a bullet fired by the Policeman, sending her to the ground. Slim tackles the Officer and a scuffle ensues, resulting in Slim grabbing the officer's gun and shooting him with it in self defence. Slim is a god-fearing family loving kinda guy with no criminal history and straight away wants to call it in, but Queen has other plans for fear of spending the rest of their natural lives behind bars.

And so the pair go on the run, in Slim's white Honda with the registration plate 'TrustGod'. They run out of petrol on a remote highway and are able to flag down a passing pick-up truck for help in getting them to a fuel stop. The kindly driver, Edgar (Benito Martinez) turns out to be local Kentucky Sheriff. Arriving at the petrol station, Sheriff Edgar hears a call out on his radio about the murder of an Officer in Ohio, and a description of Queen and Slim. Holding the Sheriff at gun point, they return to their car, make him get in the boot of the Honda, and drive off in his pick-up truck.

The pair travel onwards to New Orleans to the house of Queen's estranged Uncle Earl (Bokeem Woodbine), a pimp who shacks up with Goddess (Indya Moore) and Naomi (Melanie Halfkenny), for help. Although Earl is reluctant to lend his assistance, Queen convinces him to aid them since she had previously helped him avoid jail time for the accidental killing of her mother. Queen we have subsequently learned is a defence lawyer, and her first case upon qualifying was that of her Uncle Earl. 

Slim proposes that they escape to Cuba, and Earl tells them that when he was serving in Iraq, he saved the life of a Mr. Shepherd who would be able to help them get there from Miami. Queen and Slim plan on staying two nights in New Orleans but their stay is interrupted when a Police Officer calls upon the house late at night, poking around and asking questions. He sees the pick-up truck and asks to look around but Earl fends him off saying he'll need to return with a Warrant. Early the next morning the pair take one of Earl's cars, an envelope with a few thousand dollars in it and head towards Florida, but not before torching the pick-up truck on waste ground on the outskirts of the city. 

As they continue on their drive the couple's car breaks down with steam pouring out from under the bonnet. They take it to a workshop they passed not far back, owned by a black mechanic who says it will cost them $2,500 to repair and will take three days. The pair say they need it done today and the mechanic reluctantly agrees when Slim hands over all the remaining cash they have. Watching over the mechanic, who quickly become agitated and looses his patience, suggests his son, Junior (Jahi Di'Allo Winston), take them for a walk to kill a couple of hours and let him get on with the repair job in peace. Junior states his admiration for them both, and lets them know they have become widely recognisable and a symbol against black oppression.

Queen and Slim arrive at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd (Flea and Chloe Sevigny respectively) in Savannah, but a neighbour recognises them. The Shepherds, over dinner tell them about the bounty of $250K each on their heads. Mrs. Shepherd says they could pay off their mortgage with that kind of money, as she is obviously disapproving of her husbands support towards the pair of outlaws. Mr. Shepherd gives them directions to the next person who will be able to assist them. During dinner, a SWAT team shows up outside and Mr Shepherd hurriedly tells Queen and Slim to hide in a crawlspace under the bed in their room until the coast is clear. Soon after the SWAT team burst through the door and search the house, but find no sign of the couple. 

The next morning, they emerge from the crawlspace, and exit the house to the backyard via the window which is two storeys up. Queens jumps first but dislocates her shoulder when landing awkwardly, followed by Slim who lands and rolls. The couple gain easy entry to a rear garage, and Slim relocates Queen's shoulder, resulting in a muffled cry of pain. This attracts the notice of a young black Officer still stationed outside the front of the house, who goes to investigate. As the couple attempt to flee from the Shepherds' garage in a jump started Mercedes station wagon, the black Officer stumbles upon them, but lets them drive off without alerting his fellow Officers standing guard. The pair drive on to the place where they are to meet their next connection, but being the middle of the night and no one there, they sleep in the car until morning. 

In the morning, they are suddenly woken up by a man (Bertrand E. Boyd II) pointing a shotgun at them through the window. He tells them to follow him to his trailer where he can lead them to a friend with a plane that can get them away to Cuba. After making some calls, and after Slim has stressed the urgency of their departure, he drives them to the airstrip and drops them off hastily where a plane is waiting to take off. 

As the two walk toward the plane thinking they are home free, a convoy of Police patrol cars arrives behind them, and a helicopter circles overhead. Recognising that they are not going anywhere, an Officer on a loud hailer keeps ordering the pair to get on the ground, which they ignore. A female Officer impulsively shoots Queen in the chest, killing her instantly. Devastated, Slim picks up her lifeless body and carries her toward the armed mass of Police Officers. Repeatedly ordering him to halt and get down, Slim ignores their directive leading them to gun him down as well in a hail of bullets. News of the tragic end to the manhunt is widely publicised, with the authorities putting their own spin on the events. The couple's real names - Angela Johnson and Earnest Hines are made public, as hundreds of civilians attend their funeral and commemorative services viewing them as both heroes and martyrs.

'Queen & Slim' is in essence a road movie, but not as you might know it. Sure it's about a couple on the run who hijack a pick-up truck and exchange it for various other vehicles before reaching their final destination, but at the same time it's an evolving love story, a tale of prejudice, anger, resentment, hope, pride, trust, faith and power. The film has a pumping soundtrack obviously coloured by Director Matsoukas's numerous music video works, and a visual aesthetic that shows the southern US in all its downtrodden derelict and at times stunning scenery as the pair travel from Ohio, through Kentucky, onto Louisiana into Florida and all the states in between. The performances by Kaluuya and Turner-Smith are first rate as the one time Tinder dates who weren't even going to go on a second date are thrown together on the lam forging a closeness that ultimately is their undoing, and the supporting cast are equally adept in the limited screen time they are afforded. The moral of the story here is to pick your Tinder dates very wisely as the world of two good people turns bad very quickly and from which there is no return, save for martyrdom and the world knowing your true identities once you're dead . . . and what good is that to ya?

'Queen & Slim' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard out of a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 12th March 2020.

The 70th annual 'Berlin International Film Festival' took place between Thursday 20th February and Sunday 1st March. Usually referred to as the 'Berlinale', this is a film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is considered one of the 'Big Three' next to the Venice Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival. With around 300,000 tickets sold and 500,000 admissions each year, it has the largest public attendance of any annual film festival. Up to 400 films are shown in several sections across cinematic genres. Around twenty films compete for the festival's top awards - the 'Golden Bear' and several 'Silver Bears'.

The festival launched with the opening gala presented by the highly acclaimed Bulgarian Actor Samuel Finzi followed by the World Premiere showing of the film 'My Salinger Year' Directed by the French Canadian film maker and Screenwriter Philippe Falardeau which was selected for the Berlinale Special section. This year the acclaimed English Actor Jeremy Irons acted as the Jury President for the Berlinale Competition section together with American film maker Kenneth Lonergan, Italian Actor Luca Marinelli and Brazilian film maker Kleber Mendonca Filho amongst a few others.

In main completion this year, were eighteen international films, those being :-
* 'All the Dead Ones' - a drama from Brazil and France, Directed by Caetano Gotardo and Marco Dutra.
* 'Bad Tales' - an Italian Swiss drama, Directed by Damiano D'Innocenzo and Fabio D'Innocenzo
* 'Berlin Alexanderplatz' - a drama from Germany, Netherlands and France, Directed by Burhan Qurbani.
* 'DAU. Natasha' - a drama from Germany, Ukraine, UK and Russia, Directed by Ilya Khrzhanovskiy and Jekaterina Oertel.
* 'Days' - a Taiwanese drama film, Directed by Tsai Ming-liang.
* 'Delete History' - a French Belgian drama film, Directed by Benoît Delepine and Gustave Kervern.
* 'First Cow' - a drama film from the United States, Directed by Kelly Reichardt.
* 'Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always' - a drama from the United States, Directed by Eliza Hittman.
* 'Hidden Away' - an Italian biographical drama film, Directed by Giorgio Diritti.
* 'The Intruder' - an Argentinian and Mexican thriller, Directed by Natalia Meta.
* 'Irradiated' - a documentary from France and Cambodia, Direcetd by Rithy Panh.
* 'My Little Sister' - a drama from Switzerland, Directed by Stephanie Chuat and Veronique Reymond.
* 'The Roads Not Taken' - a drama from the UK, Directed by Sally Potter.
* 'The Salt of Tears' - a drama from France and Switzerland, Directed by Philippe Garrel.
* 'The Woman Who Ran' - from South Korea, Directed by Hong Sang-soo.
* 'Siberia' - a drama film from Italy, Germany and Mexico, Directed by Abel Ferrara.
* 'There is No Evil' - an Iranian, German and Czech Republic drama, Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof.
* 'Undine' - a German French drama film, Directed by Christian Petzold.

And so, in the final analysis, the awards presented in main competition were :-




* Golden Bear – 'THERE IS NO EVIL' by Mohammad Rasoulof,
* Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize – 'NEVER, RARELY, SOMETIMES, ALWAYS' by Eliza Hittman,
* Silver Bear for Best Director – HONG SANG-SOO for 'The Woman Who Ran',
* Silver Bear for Best Actress – PAULA BEER for 'Undine',
* Silver Bear for Best Actor – ELIO GERMANO for 'Hidden Away',
* Silver Bear for Best Script – DAMIANO D'INNOCENZO and FABIO D'INNOCENZO for 'Bad Tales',
* Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution – JURGEN JURGES for cinematography in 'DAU. Natasha'.
* The Honorary Golden Bear was awarded to HELEN MIRREN.

For the full details on all the awards winners, the comings and goings, the news and the views, you can visit the official website at : https://www.berlinale.de

And so this week we have six latest release new films gracing your local Odeon. Kicking off with a first date gone horribly wrong for this young couple who go on the run as a result of their actions, only to be hunted down by the Police and heralded as heroes by the public. Next off we have a new Superhero who is brought back from the dead, reengineered, injected with a billion or so nanobots and had his memory wiped clean, but as he starts to remember things he embarks on a deadly rampage out for revenge. We then have three British offerings - the first is a true story about a group of women left at home while their military husbands are serving overseas - and in 2010 they formed a choir, which has subsequently grown into an international movement. Then we have a horror film about a possessed red dress, and whoever wears it more often than not meets with dire consequences, followed up by a family gathering to mark New Years Eve in the English countryside but things go a little awry when an estranged and unwelcome sibling makes an appearance. And we close out the week with a romantic drama film about a young Christian singer who falls for a young girl with terminal cancer.

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

'QUEEN & SLIM' (Rated MA15+) - this American romantic crime drama offering is Directed by first time film maker Melina Matsoukas who is an already established American music video, television and commercial Director. Amongst her numerous music video's which she has made since 2006 she has worked with Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Minogue, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Whitney Houston, Robin Thicke and Christina Aguilera. Her TV commercials credits take in such companies as Diesel, Adidas, Lexus, Nike and Stella McCartney. This film saw its World Premiere at the American Film Institute Fest in mid-November 2019 and was released in the US in late-November. It has so far received generally positive reviews from critics, has grossed US$47M off the back of a circa US$18M production budget, and has garnered ten award wins and a further 27 nominations from around the awards circuit.

Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Slim's (Daniel Kaluuya) first date to an Ohio diner takes an unexpected turn when a policeman pulls them over for a minor traffic violation while Slim is driving Queen home. When the situation escalates, and Queen's leg is grazed by a bullet fired by the agitated Policeman, Slim takes the officer's gun and shoots him in self-defence. Now labelled cop killers in the media, Slim and Queen feel that they have no choice but to go on the run and evade the law, otherwise face the prospect of a life behind bars. When a video of the incident goes viral, the unwitting outlaws soon become a symbol of trauma, terror, grief and pain for people all across the country. Also starring Bokeem Woodbine, Chloe Sevigny, Flea, Indya Moore and Sturgill Simpson. 

'BLOODSHOT' (Rated M) - is an American superhero film based on the Valiant Comics character of the same name which first appeared in 1992. It is intended to be the first instalment in a series of films set within a Valiant Comics shared cinematic universe, and is Directed by David S. F. Wilson in his feature film making debut. Starring in the lead role and also Co-Producing here Marine Ray Garrison (Vin Diesel) and his wife are assassinated. But, Garrison is reborn by a team of scientists. Enhanced with nanotechnology, which grants him the powers of regeneration and meta-morphing made possible through nanites injected into his blood, hence the name Bloodshot, he becomes a superhuman, biotech killing machine. As Ray first trains with fellow super-soldiers, he struggles to recall anything from his previous life. But when his memories begin filtering back and he remembers the man that killed both him and his wife, he breaks out of the facility hellbent on revenge, only to discover that there’s more to the conspiracy than he originally imagined. Bloodshot's bloodstream contains a billion nanobots, enabling him to heal from injuries quickly, interface with technology, and shape shift his mass. Also starring Toby Kebbel, Guy Pearce and Eliza Gonzalez. Made with a budget of US$42M the film is also released Stateside this week. 

'MILITARY WIVES' (Rated M) - this British comedy drama offering is Directed by Peter Cattaneo who is perhaps best known for Directing the 1997 hit 'The Full Monty'. With their beloved partners away serving with the armed forces in Afghanistan, a group of women on the home front come together to form the very first military wives choir, helping each other through some of life's most difficult moments, and quickly find themselves at the centre of a media sensation and global movement. The film was inspired by the true story of the Military Wives Choirs, a network of 75 choirs in British military bases across the UK and overseas. The first choir held their initial rehearsal in April 2010 in Catterick Garrison. Now with over 2,200 members, the MWC network is tri-service (British Army, Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, Royal Marines) and any woman with a military connection can join including those currently serving, veterans, mothers, sisters and daughters, empowering women from across the military community. The film was released in the UK last week having seen its World Premier screening at TIFF back in September last year, and stars Kristen Scott Thomas, Sharon Horgan, Jason Flemyng, Greg Wise and Emma Lowndes. 

'IN FABRIC' (Rated MA15+) - here this British comedy horror film is Directed and Written by Peter Strickland. The film saw its World Premier showing at the Toronto Film Festival way back in September 2018, went on release in the UK in June 2019, in the US in December 2019 and now gets a limited showing here in Australia. A lonely woman, Sheila Woodchapel (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), recently separated from her husband, working as a bank teller and living with her son Vince visits a bewitching London department store in search of a dress in the sales that she can wear out on a date. She's fitted with a perfectly flattering, flowing red gown by sales assistant Miss Luckmoore (Fatma Mohamed), which, in time, will come to unleash a malevolent curse and unstoppable evil, threatening everyone who comes into its path. Also starring Hayley Squires, Gwendoline Christie, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Leo Bill and Julian Barratt.

'HAPPY NEW YEAR, COLIN BURSTEAD' (Rated MA15+) - this British comedy drama film is Written and Directed by Ben Wheatley whose previous film making credits include 'Sightseers', 'A Field in England', 'High-Rise' and 'Free Fire' most recently in 2016. Colin Burstead (Neill Maskell) hires a lavish country house in England's south western county of Dorset for his extended family to see in the New Year. Unbeknownst to other members of the family, and unfortunately for Colin, his sister Gini (Hayley Squires) has invited their estranged brother David (Sam Riley), so placing Colin's position of power in the family unit under serious threat. Also starring Joe Cole, Charles Dance, Alexandra Maria Lara and Bill Paterson. The film had its World Premier screening at the London Film Festival back in October 2018, was released in the UK in late December 2018 and only now gets its release in Australia.

'I STILL BELIEVE' (Rated PG) - is a Christian biographical romantic drama film Directed by Andrew and Jon Erwin whose previous film making credits include 'Woodlawn' and 'I Can Only Imagine' most recently in 2018. This film is based on Jeremy Camp's memoir of the same title. Camp is an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter from Lafayette, Indiana. Camp has released eleven albums, four of them are certified as Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, and two live albums. His original music is a mixture of ballads and up-tempo songs with rock influences. It focuses on Camp's (K.J. Apa) romance with his first wife, Melissa (Britt Robertson), whom he married in October 2000 despite knowing she was dying. The couple were informed after their honeymoon that Melissa's cancer had spread. She died in February 2001, four-and-a-half months after they married. It dramatises Camp's college years, his rise as a well-known singer, and eventually meeting his second wife, Adrienne (Abigail Cowen). Also starring Gary Sinise and Shania Twain as Camp's father and mother respectively, the film is released in the US this week too.

With six 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-