BLACK BAG : Tuesday 18th March 2025

I saw the M Rated 'BLACK BAG' this week, and this American spy thriller film is Directed, photographed and Edited by Steven Soderbergh, whose prior feature film making credits take in his debut in 1989 with 'Sex, Lies, and Videotape' which he would follow up with numerous others, including 'Out of Sight' in 1998, 'Erin Brockovich' and 'Traffic' both in 2000, 'Ocean's Eleven', 'Ocean's Twelve' and 'Ocean's Thirteen' in 2001, 2004 and 2007 respectively, 'Contagion' in 2011, 'Magic Mike' in 2012, 'Side Effects' in 2013, 'Logan Lucky' in 2017, 'Unsane' in 2018, and 'Presence' most recently released earlier this year. This film was released in the US last week too, has generated universal critical acclaim, and has so far grossed US$15M from a production budget of about US$55M.

Here British intelligence officer George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) is given one week by his superior, Meacham (Gustaf Skarsgard), to investigate the leak of a top-secret software programme code-named Severus. One of five suspects is his wife, Kathryn (Cate Blanchett), also an intelligence officer. He invites the other four suspects, who are also fellow spies, over for dinner on Saturday evening. The four suspects are satellite imagery specialist Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela), her boyfriend Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke), agency psychiatrist Dr. Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris) and Zoe's boyfriend Col. James Stokes (Rege-Jean Page). At dinner, George drugs their food, but beforehand tells Kathryn not to eat a certain dish, to lower their inhibitions and reveals that Freddie has been cheating on Clarissa, who upon hearing this revelation promptly impales Freddie's hand with a steak knife to the table.  

The next evening while Meacham enjoys a peaceful Scotch on the balcony of his apartment, he suddenly grabs at his chest and keels over, dead from an apparent heart attack. George becomes suspicious of Kathryn after she denies having seen a certain film, although he found a cinema ticket stub in her bathroom garbage bin. The next day he covertly enters her office, logs into her computer diary and learns she will be traveling to Zurich later in the week, on a 'black bag' mission. He persuades Clarissa to redirect a spy satellite for three minutes and twenty seconds and watches Kathryn meet with a Russian operative in real time in a city square in Zurich, Switzerland. 

Meanwhile, James informs George that Kathryn has access to a Zurich bank account containing GB£7M in misdirected and unexplained funds. In a tense psychiatric session, Zoe asks if Kathryn prioritises her career or her husband. In a subsequent session, Zoe breaks up with James. Upon returning from Zurich late at night, Freddie waits for Kathryn outside their house and informs her that George suspects her. Kathryn says that she needs the night to consider her options and next steps. 

We learn that during the three+ minutes George redirected the satellite to watch Kathryn's meeting in Zurich, another Russian operative disappeared from a Liechtenstein safehouse with a copy of the Severus programme, and is now making his way to Eastern Europe to use it to cause a nuclear meltdown. Kathryn uses Clarissa to track the Russian. She suspects that their boss, Arthur Stieglitz (Pierce Brosnan), deliberately allowed Severus to leak in order to cause a nuclear meltdown in order to disrupt the government, even though it could potentially kill thousands of innocent lives.

She leaks the Russian's location to a CIA contact, resulting in a drone strike on a car in Poland, killing both Russians. George puts all suspects except his wife Kathryn through a polygraph test to determine when they first learned about Severus. In bed that night, the husband and wife compare notes and come to the realisation that they are being set up.

George and Kathryn invite the other four suspects to a second dinner party, at which no food or drink is served, but instead Kathryn places a gun on the table, while George says they will play a game. He reveals several secrets - that Freddie and Zoe had an affair, and that Zoe learned of the Severus programme from James but attempted to stop its dissemination due to her Catholic faith. George states that there were two plots - the first by Stieglitz and James to leak Severus and cause a nuclear meltdown, and the second by Zoe and Freddie to use Kathryn to stop it. James grabs the gun, confesses to plotting with Stieglitz and killing Meacham, and attempts to shoot George, but the gun was loaded with blanks. Kathryn pulls out another gun and shoots and kills James with a bullet to the head. The next day George dumps James' body in a pond, where he goes to fish in peace and quiet, while the others return to work. Kathryn informs Stieglitz that his plot failed and suggests he remove himself from the picture, as she has her eyes on his role. Later that night as Kathryn and George reaffirm their love for each other, they realise that the Zurich bank account containing the GB£7M remains untouched and could potentially still be theirs.

With 'Black Bag' Director Steven Soderbergh has crafted an intelligent, mature and engaging spy thriller that pays tribute to the spy classics of yesteryear. This film has both style and substance, and Writer David Koepp will keep you guessing right up until end, and with on point performances from Blanchett and Fasbender, as well as the other principle cast, this all adds up to a very well paced film that doesn't outstay its welcome at a brisk and concise 93 minute run time. 

'Black Bag' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE SNOWMAN : Tuesday 24th October 2017.

'THE SNOWMAN' which I saw earlier this week is potentially the first in what may turn out to be new film franchise for this Norwegian crime fighting detective Harry Hole, based on the Oslo Crime Squad character created by Norwegian author Jo Nesbo in the popular series of novels that have been translated into forty languages, and having sold over thirty million copies worldwide. Harry Hole appears in eleven novels so far, first launched in 1997 with 'The Bat', taking us up to 2017 with the release of 'The Thirst'. 'The Snowman' upon which this film is based is the seventh book in the series and was published in 2007. This film is Directed by Tomas Alfredson, whose previous Directing credits include the acclaimed 'Let The Right One In' and 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'. The film cost US$35M to bring to the big screen and has so far recouped US$23M, and has garnered generally lacklustre Reviews.

Research reveals that Harry Hole (here portrayed by Michael Fassbender) is a brilliant and driven detective prone to using unorthodox methods in his work, a classic loose cannon in the police force. Hole is unmarried and he has few close friends. He frequently makes enemies among his colleagues who, nevertheless, grudgingly respect him. He is a chain smoker and heavy drinker, although for the most part has his reliance on alcohol under control. The effects of his problems however, sometimes bring him into repeated conflict with his superiors, and some colleagues. Hole is also one of just a handful in the force to have undertaken special interrogation techniques and firearms training with the FBI.

Our film opens up on a desolate snow covered mountain side dwelling. Up pulls a VW Golf Police car, and out steps an overweight getting on in years man who delivers two gas cylinder bottles to the house, stashes them away inside and then sits down at the dining table with the mother of the household and her young teenage son. It is presumed to be sometime in the early 80's. The man tests the young lad on notable dates in history, and when the boy falters or answers incorrectly the women gets a stern beating. One such wrong answer sends the mother crashing backwards off her chair and onto the floor. Next up the young lad is spying on the mother and the man through the bedroom window as they have sex. When the boy is seen, the man hurriedly gets up out of the bed, gets dressed, storms out of the house ranting as he does so and speeds off in his car. The mother and boy give chase in the car across the spartan snow covered landscape. At some point the mother releases her hands from the steering wheel and the car careers off the road onto a frozen lake. The boy is screaming at his mother but she doesn't hear, her gaze fixed firmly on the road ahead, emotionless. The boy pulls on the handbrake and the car skids to a halt. He gets out of the passenger side door hearing the ice crack beneath the vehicle. His mother sits motionless as the boys struggles to open the drivers side door to free his mother. But she doesn't want to be freed as the vehicle slowly sinks into the icy depths below and disappears.

We then cut to the present day and waking up from a drunken stupor in a park shelter is Detective Harry Hole of the Oslo Police. He has been absent without leave for the past week or so, and meanders into the office to check on his mail, and is greeted by his superior officer with a reminder of leave protocols, a quick slap on the wrist and told not to do it again. He then ventures outside to a smoking balcony where he meets new recruit Katrine Bratt (Rebecca Fergusson) who has been assigned to his office. They exchange social niceties and go their separate ways, only to meet up hours later when Hole sees Bratt leaving for the day and catches a ride. She is on her way to a reported missing persons case, and Hole tags along. Meanwhile, in Hole's stash of mail is a handwritten cryptic letter sent directly from a supposed killer with a picture of a snowman at the bottom of the page - its plays on Hole's mind momentarily, but then he seems to dismiss it.

The missing person in question is Birte Becker (Genevieve O'Reilly) a married mother of a six or seven year old daughter. The night before her disappearance we see her car being followed by another on the way home from work. She arrives and is greeted by the young child, but the waiting father Filip Becker (James D'Arcy) is angry at her being late and he storms out of the house with bags packed on his way to some important business meeting out of town, leaving mother and daughter alone in the house. The next morning, the child wakes up and mother is gone. No sign of her, and a neighbour alerted the Police who send Bratt along to investigate. Outside in the garden is a squat snowman, with twigs for arms and coffee beans for a wry smile, gazing up the house.

The next case of a missing person requires a drive out to some remote farmstead for a case of a missing Sylvia Ottersen (Chloe Sevigny), but when they arrive Sylvia Ottersen is alive and well and shrugs it off as a prank call form her jilted boyfriend. Hole and Bratt leave from whence they came, only to be alerted over the Police band radio that Sylvia Ottersen has been reported missing . . . two minutes ago! They hastily turn around and return to the farmstead to be greeted by Ane Pedersen (Chloe Sevigny), Sylvia's identical twin, only to find the decapitated corpse of Sylvia Ottersen on the ground in the chicken shed. At this point Hole and Bratt surmise that the Snowman is playing with them and that he must have been watching them all along, calling in that Sylvia was missing even before she was butchered. Hole surveys the surrounding buildings and locates the head of Sylvia perched on top of a snowman at the bottom of a frozen abandoned silo.

In between time we catch glimpses of a back story featuring some Bergen based ace detective who came close to uncovering the Snowman murders some ten or fifteen years back. Detective Gert Rafto (Val Kilmer) was a drunken no nonsense kinda guy who met with a very sticky end at the hands of the Snowman, that was cleverly masked over to make it look like a suicide. When Hole goes to Bergen to investigate he is met by DC Svensson (Toby Jones) who simply reports that it was a plain and simple suicide and was therefore not investigated further. Hole, however, thinks there was more to it and examines further. His closer examination reveals a connection between Rafto and Bratt.

Another side story involves Arve Stop (J.K. Simmons) as an unscrupulous sinister media mogul who is spearheading Oslo's bid for the Winter Olympic Games which is about to be announced. Bratt has a feeling in her bones about Stop and goes undercover to investigate further, installing a hidden camera in his hotel room where she intends to proposition herself to him. Stop had dealings with Frederick Aasen (Adrian Dunbar) back in 2006 involving some kind of industrial development that went tits up leaving Aasen very bitter indeed. Needless to say it doesn't end well for Bratt as the Snowman gets to her first before Stop retires to his room for the night, and the Snowman has erased all footage from the hidden camera, and any evidence of a struggle.

The final plot scenario is the story of Hole's on again off again long term relationship with his ex-partner and art dealer Rakel (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her teenage son Oleg (Michael Yates) by her first marriage. Hole feels more than a semi-fatherly connection to Oleg despite Rakel's husband Mathias (Jonas Karlsson) also playing adoptive father duty who works as a medical consultant specialist that sees him away quite often on business or attending conferences, so giving Rakel the chance to rekindle with Hole, albeit temporarily - a fact that Mathias seems to accept.

Meanwhile back to the chilling killing as the body count rises and dismembered corpses turn up in all manner of locations, there seems little to connect the murderous spree other than motherhood, by neglect, abortion, jealousy etc. while their mysterious vanishings seems to coincide with fresh snow fall. Hole seems to do little actual detective work here, leaving all the investigative work to Bratt only to come along at the end and join the dots and bish bash bosh the serial killer is out in the open and exposed back where it all began in that desolate snow covered mountain side dwelling where Rakel and Oleg's lives are hanging in the balance. Hole sits across the table from his two loved ones almost powerless having to answer questions that determine whether the electric motorised garrote held by the Snowman is tightened or loosened around Rakel's neck. Needless to say, it comes down to a face off on a frozen lake with Hole shot to the ground and the Snowman approaching ready to plug him again at close range to finish the job.

This is a disjointed film where, alas, the sum of its parts are not greater than the (Harry) Hole. With a strong ensemble supporting cast who for the most part are left wanting to do more with the little screen time and dialogue afforded them, the film meanders from one grizzly killing to the next while Hole and Bratt join the seemingly simple dots to expose the serial killer. Fassbender and Ferguson are well cast, but that alone can't save this film that is too busy with side stories that go nowhere and add little value instead of getting down and dirty with the detective work and concentrate on what drives The Snowman to commit his unthinkable crimes. When the quality of Scandinavian police driven crime drama film and television is so good, despite the snow covered Norwegian vistas, this film feels like a hurried by the numbers affair that I'm sure will leave the legions of fans of the source novel thinking WTF! If Harry Hole does return to the big screen in another adaptation, and Fassbender could do so easily, let's hope that the lessons learned from this first instalment bode well for any follow-up as there is just enough of a foundation to do so.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 8th - 14th October 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Steve McQueen does on 9th October - check out my tribute to this Director, Producer and Writer Birthday Boy turning 48, 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 8th October

• Sigourney Weaver - Born 1949, turns 68 - Actress | Producer 
• Kristanna Loken - Born 1979, turns 38 - Actress | Producer 
• Paul Hogan - Born 1939, turns 78 - Actor | Writer | Producer
• Chevy Chase - Born 1943, turns 74 - Actor | Writer | Singer | Producer
• Edward Zwick - Born 1952, turns 65 - Director | Producer | Writer
• David Yates - Born 1963, turns 54 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Matt Damon - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actor | Producer | Writer

Monday 9th October

• Brian Blessed - Born 1936, turns 81 - Actor | Director
• Tony Shalhoub - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Scott Bakula - Born 1954, turns 63 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Guillermo del Toro - Born 1964, turns 53 - Producer | Director | Writer | Actor | Make-up FX
• Peter Docter - Born 1968, turns 49 - Writer | Director | Producer | Actor | Animator
• Steve McQueen - Born 1969, turns 48 - Director | Writer | Producer | Actor | Cinematographer
• Chris O'Dowd - Born 1979, turns 38 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Brandon Routh - Born 1979, turns 38 - Actor | Producer  

Tuesday 10th October

• Charles Dance - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Martin Kemp - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor | Director | Producer | Writer | Singer | Songwriter  

Wednesday 11th October

• David Morse - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actor | Producer
• Sean Patrick Flanery - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Lennie James - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor | Writer
• Luke Perry - Born 1966, turns 61 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Justin Lin - Born 1973, turns 44 - Producer | Director | Writer | Editor
• Dawn French - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Singer
• Joan Cusack - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actress | Writer  

Thursday 12th October

• Hugh Jackman - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Josh Hutchinson - Born 1992, turns 25 - Actor | Producer  

Friday 13th October

• Chris Carter - Born 1956, turns 61 - Writer | Producer | Director 
• Sasha Baron Cohen - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Kelly Preston - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actress   

Saturday 14th October

• Lori Petty - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actress | Writer | Director | Producer
• Mia Wasikowska - Born 1989, turns 28 - Actress | Writer | Director
• Christopher Timothy - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actor | Director | Producer | Writer
• Cliff Richard (aka Harry Webb) - Born 1940, turns 77 - Singer | Actor 
• Steve Coogan - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor | Writer | Producer 
• Ben Whishaw - Born 1980, turns 37 - Actor 

Steven Rodney McQueen was born in London, England and hails from Trinidadian and Grenadian ancestry. He was raised in the west London suburb of Hanwell, in the Borough of Ealing where he attended the Drayton Manor High School. He subsequently stated, long after leaving, that he did not have a very good experience with his school years saying that he was placed in a class for pupils best suited for manual labour types and more menial career pathways, and that because he was dyslexic and suffered with a lazy eye, that these could have been reasons for him being marginalised in this way. He studied A-level Art at Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College, followed by Art and Design at the Chelsea College of Art, and then Fine Art at Goldsmiths College, University of London which is where his initial interest in film was first ignited. He spent a brief period at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University but left this finding the course too restrictive and not experimental enough. He cites those who have had the most profound influence on his career as being the likes of Andy Warhol, Sergei Eisenstein, Buster Keaton and Billy Wilder.

McQueen's film debut came in his 1993 ten minute short, 'Bear' which he Directed and also stars in, and which he presented at London's Royal College of Art. The film, shot in black and white, depicts a wrestling match between two naked black men (Vernon Douglass and McQueen) who alternate questionable relations and glances of aggression and erotic attraction. He followed this up in 1995 with the black and white seven minute short film 'Five Easy Pieces' about a woman walking a tight rope; then 'Stage' in 1996 which McQueen also Wrote and Produced, and that same year 'Just Above My Head' is another ten minute short offering which McQueen also stars in. 1997 saw the one minute 'Exodus' which he also Wrote and Edited, the two minute 'Catch' and the five minute 'Deadpan' which McQueen stars in again too recreating that classic 1928 silent Buster Keaton film 'Steamboat Bill, Jnr' in which the facade of a house collapses around Keaton who is saved by standing exactly in the right spot as a window, shot from varying camera angles. 'Drumroll' followed in 1998 and the six minute 'Prey' closed out the decade in 1999.  

McQueen continued Directing, Writing and Producing short films from 2000 until his first full length feature film in 2008. 2000 kicked off with 'Cold Breath', then the fifteen minute 'Illuminer' in which he also stars in 2001, the fifteen minute 'Girls, Tricky' that same year, and then the 23 minute '7th Nov.'. 'Western Deep' - a 24 minute short film exploring the sensory overload of miners working a South African gold mine as they are exposed to dark claustrophobic conditions and the ever deafening noise of heavy drilling machinery all around them came in 2002, and then the 24 minute 'Carib's Leap' later that year too.  2004 saw the six minute 'Charlotte' with Charlotte Rampling, then fourteen minute long 'Pursuit' in 2005, 'Unexploded' in 2007, 'Running Thunder' running for twelve minutes, and the eighteen minute 'Gravesend' take us up to his first feature. In between time McQueen was commissioned to go to Iraq as the official war artist in 2006, and the following year he showcased 'Queen and Country' an art installation commemorating the deaths of British soldiers killed in action during the Iraq War by presenting their portraits as a sheet of postage stamps. 

2008 saw that debut as Writer and Director on 'Hunger' a British/Irish historical drama Co-Production that starred Michael Fassbender as Bobby Sands, an Irish member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who died in 1981 whilst on hunger strike while imprisoned at Northern Ireland's Maze Prison. The film also starred Liam Cunningham and Premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival winning the Camera d'Or Award for first time feature film makers. The film went onto win the BAFTA for Director/Writer McQueen, won major prizes at Toronto, Venice and Sydney and all up accumulated 45 award wins and a further 33 nominations. 

Later that year McQueen returned to short films with the eleven minute 'Rayners Lane', then the seven minute 'Static' in 2009 and then the thirty minute 'Giardini' also in 2009. The latter two films he also Wrote, and he took a Producer credit on 'Giardini' too. 

This leads us to 'Shame' in 2011, again Written and Directed by McQueen and starring again Michael Fassbender. Made for US$6.5M the film grossed US$18M at the Box Office and was Critically praised picking up 49 award wins and another 90 nominations including one Golden Globe and two BAFTA nods and four major award wins at the 2011 Venice Film Festival. Carey Mulligan and James Badge Dale also star in this confronting film about a sex addict whose life is suddenly turned upside down and inside out when his estranged sister rocks up on his doorstep.

2013 saw the release of '12 Years a Slave' - a historical biographical drama adapted from the 1853 slave memoir 'Twelve Years a Slave' by Solomon Northup, a New York State born into freedom African-American who was kidnapped in 1841 by two conmen in Washington D.C. and sold into slavery. For the following twelve years Northup was put to work on the plantations across Louisiana before being released. The film cost US$17M to make and grossed US$188M at the Box Office and was widely acclaimed by Critics and audiences alike. Starring Michael Fassbender as slave owner Edwin Epps and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup, the film also starred an ensemble cast including Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano, Lupita Nyong'o, Sarah Paulson and Scoot McNairy. The film went on to win three Academy Award wins including Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Performance by an Actress for Lupita Nyong'o, and Best Adapted Screenplay and was nominated for another six including Best Director for McQueen. The film also picked up the Golden Globe win for Best Motion Picture and six other nominations; two BAFTA's including Best Film and Best Lead Actor for Chiwetel Ejiofor and eight other nominations; one SAG Award win and three other nods. All up '12 Years a Slave' reaped a total 238 Award wins and another 326 nominations, appeared on one hundred Critics 'Top Ten' lists for the Best Films of 2013 and was rated at number-one on 25 of those, and was the first film to receive a Best Picture Academy Award by a black Director or Producer.

McQueen followed this up with the ten minute short film 'Ashes' in 2014, then the nine minute short film for singer Kanye West and his new single 'All Day/I Feel Like That' in 2015, and finally the three minute 'Mr. Burberry' in 2016 promoting Burberry's new fragrance for men.

Next up for McQueen is 'Widows' based on the television crime drama series of the same name from 1983 and 1985 created by Linda La Plante. This big screen adaptation is currently in Post-Production for a late 2018 release and is Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written for the screen by McQueen with 'Gone Girl' scribe Gillian Flynn also Co-Writing the Screenplay. The Chicago set film tells the story of four armed robbers who are killed during a bungled heist attempt, only to have their widows step up to take over the job and the legacy they left behind. The film stars an ensemble cast including Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez, Cynthia Erivo, Jacki Weaver, Colin Farrell, Liam Neeson, Robert Duvall, Jon Bernthal, Lukas Haas and Daniel Kaluuya.

All up McQueen has 32 Director credits to his name, eight as Writer, six as Producer, five as Actor (on his own short films), three as Cinematographer and one as Editor. He has amassed 83 Award wins and another 86 nominations including the Oscar and the BAFTA for Best Picture for '12 Years a Slave'. He is married to Bianca Stigter, a Dutch cultural critic and they have two children together. He was awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) by HRH Queen Elizabeth II in 2002 and this was elevated to a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen's 2011 New Years Honours List to mark his services to the visual arts.

Steve McQueen - cut his teeth for fifteen years honing his film making skills on short films and art installations; was 38 years of age when he Directed his first feature length film, has cast Michael Fassbender in all three of his first three features; shoots his films mostly using just one camera; shoots his dialogue scenes in often just one single take or a series of extended takes; is not adverse to filming confronting and at times brutal subject matter; and was voted in 2014 by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. With such a track record, we look forward to your next Production, and in the meantime Steve, Happy Birthday to you, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

ALIEN : COVENANT : Tuesday 16th May 2017.

'ALIEN : COVENANT' which I saw last week is a franchise that was launched 38 years ago by an up & coming Director, Ridley Scott. Here, he is back with his Science Fiction horror touchstone that began with only his second feature film Directorial outing, 'Alien' back in 1979 that has so far seen six films under the 'Alien' banner and two spin offs with the 'Alien vs. Predator' franchise. This highly anticipated prequel to the events leading up to that seminal 1979 film, is the second in the prequel series that Scott relaunched in his 2012 film 'Prometheus', and the third film out of the six that he has Directed. Scott has confirmed already that the Screenplay for the third prequel is written and he hopes to begin shooting what is currently reported as being 'Alien : Awakening' sometime in 2018. The Director has no intention it seems of letting go of the franchise he created having stated that 'Alien : Covenant' would be the first of three more films before linking up with original 'Alien', starting a new trilogy of Sci-Fi films. Made for US$97M the film has so far grossed US$118M, and went on release in the US only a few days ago on 19th May.

The film opens up with a prologue set in the past with Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce) the trillionaire founder and CEO of Weyland Corporation that funded the earlier Prometheus expedition, in discussion with David (Michael Fassbender) the new synthetic prototype android created by Weyland who was a crew member aboard the ill fated Prometheus. They discuss the meaning of existence and creation from an expansive pristine room overlooking mountain terrain in the distance. Weyland tells David that's one day they will explore the Universe together in search of mankind's creator.

We then fast forward to 2104 where the crew of the colony ship 'Covenant' containing terraforming expert Daniels (Katherine Waterston); her husband Jacob Branson (James Franco) the Captain of the ship; Christopher Oram (Billy Crudup) the First Mate; Tennessee Faris (Danny McBride) the Chief Pilot; Sergeant Lope (Damien Bachir) the Head of Security; and Walter (Michael Fassbender) a synthetic android and an identical yet upgraded version of his David android from the previous film, are en route to remote planet Origae-6. The crew are all in stasis sleep, being overseen by Walter, who is also the guardian of two thousand or so sleeping colonists and a thousand embryo's all destined to kick start the population once they reach their Origae-6 destination, still a number of years in travel time away. When a seismic burst from a passing planet hits the ship causing damage to its retractable solar panels and hence its power source, Walter gives the onboard computer the order to wake the crew. In the confusion that ensues the pod containing Captain Jacob Branson malfunctions and he dies, with his wife looking on. As the crew set about repairing the damage and normality is resumed, the crew congregate over a moment of much needed levity as First Mate Oram steps up to take charge following the Captains death.

Whilst repairs are ongoing to the damaged solar panel, a human radio transmission message is intercepted  from a nearby hitherto unknown planet. Oram decides that they need to investigate as their early investigations seem to indicate that the uncharted planet might be capable of sustaining human life and may be a better option than Origae-6. Daniels disagrees, and has a private conversation with her new Captain expressing her reservations about exploring this alternative world, fearing the unknown and despite the first impressions of its attractiveness.

And so an exploratory mission is launched onto the planet from whence the radio signal originated. The Covenant stays in orbit, while the expedition team descend to the surface in a landing vehicle. Biologist Karine Oram (Carmen Ejogo), wife of the newly appointed Captain, and Ledward (Benjamin Rigby) head off to collect ecological samples, while the others go off in search of the suspected crashed Engineer ship which Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and David piloted ten years before following the doomed Prometheus mission.

As the two parties head off in different directions, two security team members in each group become infected by microscopic alien spores. Within no time, Ledward starts convulsing and contorting in pain. Karine Oram senses that something is not quite right and helps him back to the landing vehicle and radios ahead to Maggie Faris (Amy Seimetz) to prepare the medical bay for quarantine. Once inside Ledward's condition worsens, and then a Neomorph erupts from his back, killing him. It grows quickly and attacks Karine, killing her too. Faris meanwhile sends out a distress warning to the others, which is overheard by the crew left on the Covenant who all start to panic about the events unfolding on the landing vehicle. Faris tries to shoot the alien creature, and in her panic hits a number of gas cylinders causing them to explode in a ball of flame which destroys the landing vehicle. As the party returning from tracking the signal approach the carnage, so the second security team member, Hallett (Nathaniel Dean) who was also infected by alien spores has another Neomorph burst from his throat, killing him too.

As the remaining on ground crew attempt to contact the Covenant, they are attacked by two Neomorph's under cover of darkness killing Ankor (Alexander England) another from the security detail. The crew manage to kill one of the Neomorph's and Walter comes to the rescue of Daniel's by punching at an advancing Neomorph but sacrificing his hand in the process. David then emerges out of the darkness and leads the surviving crew members to a place of safety - a deserted alien city full of petrified corpses. David explains this away by stating that the Engineer ship released inadvertently a bioweapon wiping out the native populace, and then crashed killing Elizabeth Shaw. Meanwhile inside their supposed safe haven, the surviving Neomorph kills and decapitates another crew member, Rosenthal (Tess Haubrich).

Captain Oram searching for the missing Rosenthal, comes across David who is attempting to communicate with the Neomorph. Because David is synthetic, he is safe from attack by the alien creature. As Oram has the alien in his laser sights David asks him not to shoot, but Oram does killing the Neomorph. David is outraged, and upon Oram's demands reveals his activities that have been keeping him busy these past ten years. He has been experimenting and creating early Neomorph's that have evolved over time. He leads Oram into a chamber and reveals several eggs that have continued his experimentation process, urging Oram to take a closer look - for the contents therein are harmless enough! At which points a facehugger erupts from the egg and secures itself firmly on Oram's head implanting an embryo inside. Sometime later Oram comes round as a Xenomorph bursts from his chest, so killing him.

Walter then confronts David having discovered the truth behind his experiments. David wiped out the Engineers population by deliberately releasing the bioweapons, and murdered Shaw as a means of advancing his experiments - as evidenced in graphic pencil drawings made by David as a means of his record keeping. A fight breaks out between the two synthetic androids and David overpowers and disables Walter, who then captures Daniels who has also discovered the grisly secrets of David's past ten years. Walter regenerates himself and the two androids fight once more, allowing Daniels to escape to the approaching Covenant rescue vehicle. The Xenomorph that burst from Oram's chest is by now fully grown and goes in pursuit of the escaping Daniels and Lope. As Tennessee arrives in a rescue landing vehicle, so Daniels, Lope and the victorious Walter make it abroad just as the attacking Xenomorph jumps onto the lander as it takes off.  Mayhem ensues as Daniels tethers herself onto the outside of the lander, which by now is in flight, and goes head to head with the alien eventually capturing it and dispensing with it overboard with the aid of a crane.

Lope meanwhile became implanted with an embryo which burst forth after the rescue lander docked with the Covenant, and in growing mature quickly dispenses with Ricks and Upworth (Jussie Smollett and Callie Hernandez respectively). With Tennessee, Daniels and Walter being the only surviving crew members and an unidentified lifeform on board, its up to the two humans to flush out the marauding alien and kill it, or be killed. They successfully do flush it out, corner it and launch it into space impaled on the jaws of mega truck.

Safe from any further alien activity the Covenant returns to complete its original mission. Tennessee is put into cryosleep, leaving Walter to put Daniels into stasis, but in doing so a terrible secret is revealed that Daniels only discovers as her cryosleep pod is closed, and she is put to sleep.

'Alien : Covenant' is a worthy follow up that answers many of the questions left wanting after the end of 'Prometheus', but still leaves plenty of room for manoeuvre in upcoming instalments to keep this prequel franchise alive and fresh . . . hopefully! The film moves along at a good pace once the necessary first introductory scenes are dealt with and we get to the know the characters, their traits, their reason for being and we get down and dirty on the alien planet. That's when the thrills, the tension and the blood and gore come into their own and Scott knows when to turn it on and show some restraint too. The story here too begins to make a lot more sense than its predecessor, which when coupled with our man eating facehugging chestbusting alien crustaceans will please fans of the series. But, for me what the film picked up in Michael Fassbender's dual performances as Walter and David, was let down by the less noteworthy relatable crew members who for the most part are just alien fodder. Even Waterstone as the kick-ass Ripley wannabe, looks the part but just failed to reach her mark as Sigourney Weaver did so well in the first two most noteworthy films. Despite that, and the final action set piece where the alien succumbs to the wrath of Daniels and Tennessee which is a little lame by Scott's and Cameron's earlier climatic endings, the film is a return to form for the franchise and well worth the price of your ticket.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 16th February 2017.

Continuing with all the glitz and glamour of Awards Season, Sunday evening 12th February saw the 70th BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards hosted for the twelfth year by Stephen Fry from The Royal Albert Hall in London, England. Attended by the Who's Who of the movie industry and a couple of Royal Blue Bloods as well (HRH Prince William and Kate Middleton), this years winners and grinners who walked away with the golden mask were :-

* Best Film : 'LA LA LAND'
* Best British Film : 'I, DANIEL BLAKE'
* Best Animated Film : 'KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS'
* Best Film not in the English Language : 'SON OF SAUL'
* Best Director : DAMIEN CHAZELLE for 'La La Land'
* Best Actor : CASEY AFFLECK for 'Manchester By The Sea'
* Best Actress : EMMA STONE for 'La La Land'
* Best Supporting Actor : DEV PATEL for 'Lion'
* Best Supporting Actress : VIOLA DAVIS for  'Fences'
* Best Original Screenplay : KENNETH LONERGAN for 'Manchester By The Sea'
* Best Adapted Screenplay : LUKE DAVIS for 'Lion'
* Best Original Music : JUSTIN HURWITZ for 'La La Land'
* The EE Rising Star Award : TOM HOLLAND
* BAFTA Fellowship Award : MEL BROOKS

In other categories 'Jackie' picked up Best Costume Design; 'Hacksaw Ridge' won Best Editing; 'La La Land' Best Cinematography; Best Hair and Make-Up went to 'Florence Foster Jenkins'; Special Visual Effects went to 'The Jungle Book'; Best Production Design was awarded to 'Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them'; Best Sound went to 'Arrival', and Best Documentary Film went to '13th'.

Turning to this week, we have five new cinematic offerings to tease you out to your local multiplex or independent movie theatre. We start off with a highly acclaimed feel good movie of the '60's Space Race era and how three coloured women proved that they were better than any computer of the time, and so rewrote the history books in the process by putting an man in orbit and ensuring his safe return. The stuff of legend! We then have another historical drama but this time of the Chinese fantasy adventure kind that sees a European arrow slinging warrior face off against the might of an ancient marauding creature foe. Next up is a passion project by a renowned Director taking us on a 17th Century tale of Catholicism in a far way land where it is forbidden, and our two protagonists have their faith tested to the limit as they search for their learned colleague and mentor. We then turn attention to the streets of Las Vegas in a crime drama that pits an undercover cop against the underworld mob as family, work and loyalty collide. Wrapping up is an English crime story of three generations of a crime family and the passing of the baton from father to son to grandson amidst a conflict of interest and a new way of thinking for the younger generation keen on escaping that old way of life.

Remember that you are warmly invited to share your thoughts, observations and personal critique with your fellow readers here at Odeon Online, when you have sat through your film of choice in the coming week. Leave you constructive, relevant and pertinent thoughts in the Comments section below this or any other Post - as always - we'd love to hear from you. Meanwhile, enjoy your film experience in the coming week.

'HIDDEN FIGURES' (Rated PG) - this highly acclaimed historical biographical drama film is Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written for the screen by Thoedore Melfi, is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly and so far has gained three Academy Award nominations whose winners are yet to be announced, as well as a haul to date of 25 wins and a further sixty-one nominations. The film cost US$25M to make, and has so far grossed US$141M since its release Stateside at Christmas.

Beginning in 1961 at the start of the Space Race, mathematician Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) works as a human computer in a division of Langley Research Centre in Hampton, Virginia with her two colleagues Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) an engineer, and Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) another mathematician and unofficial supervisor. After the Russians successfully launch a space satellite, so the race hots up to put a man into orbit. Katherine is quickly assigned by her supervisor Vivian Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst) to support the Space Task Group headed up by Al Harrison (Kevin Costner) and become the first coloured woman on the team. Over time the three woman prove their worth to the space race by helping to launch John Glenn into space and his successful and safe return after the newly installed and trusted IBM 7090 computer shows flaws in its calculations and Katherine has to step in with her brain power to save the day, and win the confidence of the nation, and indeed the world. These unsung heroes of the early days of space exploration crossed political, race and gender lines to create something bigger, more valuable and more important than they ever could have imagined and inspired a generation that came after, to dream big. Also starring Mahershala Ali and Jim Parsons, this is a crowd pleasing, uplifting, heart warming not to be missed true story and one to watch.

'THE GREAT WALL' (Rated M) - representing the most expensive Chinese movie ever made at a budget of US$150M, this film is the first English film Directed by Zhang Yimou and is best described as an epic historical action adventure fantasy monster film. It was released in China in mid-December and has so far grossed US$225M before its release in Australia on 16th and the US on 17th February. Set in the China of about a thousand years ago, European mercenary warrior William Garin (Matt Damon) is searching for black powder to secure his wealth, but is subsequently held captive within the Great Wall of China. He quickly becomes caught up in an epic battle with ancient marauding creatures who attack just once every sixty years and so his search for fame and fortune turns into a journey of strength, heroics and survival as he joins an elite team of highly trained warriors to thwart a formidable and seemingly unstoppable enemy. Also starring Willem Dafoe, Pedro Pascal, Andy Lau and Tian Jing. This film has received mixed Reviews and perhaps some unfair criticism but for an epic English language Chinese production the like of which we have never seen before, I think it's gotta be worth a look!

'SILENCE' (Rated MA15+) - this film has been a passion project for Martin Scorsese since reading the book back in 1988 and acquiring the film rights back in 1990. After approaching thirty years in gestation, this historical drama film is Directed by Martin Scorsese, Co-Written and Co-Produced by him too, and is based on the 1966 book of the same name by Shusaku Endo. Costing US$40M to make, the film was released in the US at Christmas and has so far earned back US$14M. The film follows two 17th Century Portuguese Jesuit Priests - Sebastiao Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Francisco Garupe (Adam Driver) who travel from their home country to Japan to search for their mentor Father Cristovao Ferreira (Liam Neeson) who has renounced his faith after being tortured. At a time when Catholicism was outlawed and their very presence in Japan was forbidden, the two must face physical dangers and a test of their own faith in God before their journey and their quest can be complete. Also starring Ciaran Hinds as Father Alessandro Valignano who first hears news of Father Cristovao Ferreira. The film has a Cinematography nomination at the upcoming Academy Awards, and has so far picked up six award wins and another 35 nominations.

'SLEEPLESS' (Rated MA15+) - is a crime drama film Directed by Baran bo Odar, made on a budget of US30M, released Stateside mid-January, has so far recovered US$21M with generally poor Reviews along the way. Starring Jamie Foxx as Vincent Downes a Las Vegas Police Department undercover cop who partners up with Sean Cass (T.I.) to rob an incoming shipment of cocaine, belonging to Stanley Rubino (Dermot Mulroney) whose in cahoots with Rob Novak (Scoot McNairy) who happens to be the son of a powerful underworld king pin. Rubin quickly establishes that Downes did the thieving and so kidnap his son, Thomas (Octavius J. Johnson) while dad is driving his son to soccer practise, demanding the return of his cocaine in exchange for the life of Thomas. What ensues is a high stakes game of corrupt cops, revengeful mobsters and internal affairs as the clock ticks down on a sleepless night to save himself, his son and ensure that justice is served.

'TRESPASS AGAINST US' (Rated MA15+) - Directed by Adam Smith this family crime drama film has had a limited release in the US and opens in the UK on 3rd March. The film is set across three generations of the Cutler family, outlaws living in their own anarchic corner of Britain's richest countryside. Chad Cutler (Michael Fassbender) is heir apparent to his over bearing and dominant criminal father, Colby (Brendan Gleeson) and has been groomed to spend his life hunting, thieving and tormenting the Police. However, when his own son Tyson (Georgie Smith) steps over into adulthood, Chad soon finds himself at odds with his father over what the future holds for his young family. When Colby learns of Chad's dreams and aspirations for another life he sets out to tie his son and grandson into the archaic order that has shaped the Cutler family for generations and made them in to what they are today. Also starring Sean Harris, Rory Kinnear and Lyndsey Marshal.

With three historical and two crime dramas to choose from this week there's no better way to escape the record breaking heat of a scorching Australian Summer than to retreat to an air conditioned comfort of a movie theatre. Share your views afterwards with us here, and in the meantime I'll see you sometime, somewhere in the week ahead at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-