GRAN TURISMO : Monday 14th August 2023.

I saw the M Rated 'GRAN TURISMO' at my local multiplex earlier this week, and this American biographical sports film is Directed by Neill Blomkamp whose prior feature film credits take in his debut with the acclaimed 'District 9' in 2009, then 'Elysium' in 2013, 'Chappie' in 2015 and 'Demonic' in 2021. This film is based on the PlayStation Studios video game series of the same name, and inspired by the true story of Jann Mardenborough, a teenage Gran Turismo player aspiring to be a race car driver. Originally slated for a wide cinema release last week, this has been reduced to a limited release due to the SAG-AFTRA strike before its release proper from the 25th of this month. The film has garnered mixed critical acclaim and has so far grossed close to US$11M. 

The film opens in the home of the Mardenborough's in Cardiff, Wales with Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe) a compulsive obsessive late teenager over his Gran Turismo simulated racing game for which he is a self-confessed expert having spent literally thousands of hours perfecting his skills and constructing and deconstructing his on-line vehicles to his specifications in order to eek out the necessary speed and handling advantages over his on-line opponents. On this particular day he receives a parcel in the post containing a brand new steering wheel which will help him take his gaming skills to the next level. Jann's brother Coby (Daniel Puig) berates him for having to save up his hard earned cash from his part-time job as a shop assistant for months, in order to buy the steering wheel, but Jann responds that it only took him one month of his wage. Jann and Coby's parents are Steve Mardenborough (Djimon Housou) a former professional football player who played for Cardiff City Football Club and his mother Lesley (Geri Halliwell), who berate Jann for spending all of his waking hours playing his game rather than getting a real job or going on to university.

In the meantime, Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom) a marketing executive for Nissan is in Tokyo pitching a plan to Nissan's Board for an opportunity for the world's best Gran Turismo driver to become a real race car driver, and progress through the ranks of the GT Academy to win a spot on Team Nissan and drive in race competitions globally, and in the process open up Nissan to potentially millions of car buying customers. When the Board give the thumbs up for the competition to go ahead, on the one proviso that it is absolutely safe to do so, Danny sets about calling all of his Chief Engineer contacts who will effectively mentor and monitor the group of ten hopefuls in the GT Academy and whittle those ten down to one outright winner who will progress. The last name on Danny's list after a whole bunch of rejections is Jack Salter (David Harbour), a former race car driver who could have been a world champion were it not for a crash in the 24 hour Le Mans race after which he lost his nerve. 

After sneaking out one night with Coby to go and see Jann's would be girlfriend Audrey (Maeve Courtier-Lilley) and taking their Dad's car without his permission, they get side swiped by another car driven by a group of teenagers on their way home. Both cars are pulled over the Police, and while the officer is questioning the driver of the other vehicle, Jann decides to push the peddle to the metal and drive off at speed with the Police car giving chase. Jann's driving skills manage to evade them being caught, but with a broken wing mirror and the side panels needing a paint job, Dad is waiting outside when they pull up outside their home. As penance, Dad insists that Jann join him at his work at a rail yard, given that Jann seems to have little motivation to find a real job and only has his sights set on a pipe dream of racing cars.

And so Jann is selected to compete in a Gran Turismo race at his local gaming arcade because he clocked the fastest time, and so leaving the rail yard and rebelling against his Dad he arrives just in the nick of time to take his seat at the console. Needless to say Jann wins the race and his place on the GT Academy, located at Silverstone Race Circuit, in Northamptonshire, England. There he is joined by nine other hopefuls and are introduced to Danny, Jack (recently recruited from his Chief Engineer role at Capa Racing) and executive members of Nissan.

And so Jack puts the hopefuls through their paces which involves physical exercises to strengthen their bodies to be able to withstand extreme G-forces and speeds, their mental dexterity to make split second decisions while driving at those extreme speeds, and of course time spent behind the wheel of the cars they may one day be racing. Over the course of six weeks they are put through their paces, with Jack and Danny ultimately reducing the number from ten down to five, with the top five having to race each other in a sudden death competition with the winner taking all. And so in 2011, Jann became the third and youngest winner of the GT Academy competition, beating out 90,000 other entrants, and has his sights set on a career as a professional race car driver.

The next day, Jann is on a private Leer Jet with Danny and Jack heading off to Vienna to take part in his inaugural race. There are five races left in the season and Jann must land in the top four in one race to be granted his FIA licence to be able to drive at the top level. In his first race Jann was a back marker, in his second he ranked 17th, in his third race he came 12th and in his fourth he did not finish and crashed out. However, in his fifth race he finished fourth and so was granted his FIA licence. 

And so the next season takes us to various race circuits around Europe where Jann is always in competition with the very opinionated and aggressively competitive Nicholas Capa (Josha Stradowski) who firmly believes that a simulator driver will never stand on the winners podium, and that they are not real race car drivers. As the season progresses, the action takes us to Germany's Nurburgring race track. With the race in full swing and Jann catching Capa, his Nissan GT-R Nismo caught air and cartwheeled end over end several times through the fence into spectators, leaving one spectator dead. Jann is rushed to hospital in a helicopter while his parents watch on from their home in Cardiff in disbelief. Jann eventually comes round in a hospital bed with Danny and Jack on hand. He asks what happened, and Jack explains, and then responds with 'was anyone hurt', to which Jack responds with one spectator died. Jann is mortified. It takes Jann a while to reconcile the events of that horror crash, but later on while driving around the Nurburgring with Jack behind the wheel of a Porsche he first recounts his own experience at the Le Mans 24 hour race years earlier and teases Jann with the words 'don't let the crash define who you are - how you respond to it will'. He then tells Jann to finish his lap, on the empty track, which he does. 

His final fixture of the season was to be the 24 hour Le Mans race. In the lead up everything is good, and Jann has made a good recovery, but during the early stages of the race he is closing in on a car when it veers out of control, off the track, into the tyre wall and bursts into flames. Jann is visibly shaken by the event which occurred directly in front of him and which he then caught in his rear view and wing mirrors, which brought back memories of his horrific accident. He slows down dramatically giving up his place as seventh and falling back to fifteenth in a crisis of confidence, with Jack and Danny beside themselves in the pit lane. Jack then plays Jann his favourite Kenny G and Enya songs, which he uses to relax and compose himself prior to a race, on the team radio which brings Jann back to the here and now. Fairly quickly with his mind back on the task in hand, Jann begins to recover his lost ground rising through the rankings and ultimately battling it out for third place with Nicholas Capa and just inching ahead of his arch rival as they cross the chequered flag in a photo finish, with Jann being declared in third place and a podium finish. 

'Gran Turismo' is an entertaining sports drama biopic that has emotion, excitement, exhilaration and energy that elevates it above many of the other video game adaptations that we have seen in recent times. The production values and clever use of graphics are top notch, and the racing sequences (of which there are plenty to satisfy any petrolhead) are expertly crafted from both inside, outside and above the cars. The performances from Harbour, Bloom and Madekwe are all on point and the Direction from Neill Blomkamp all help to create an underdog racing story, that if a little generic in its formula, has enough under the bonnet to maintain your interest for its 135 minute run time. This film won't be for everyone, but if fast cars racing around closed circuits is your thing, then this movie is for you. 

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

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 10th August 2023.

The 76th Locarno Film Festival this year takes place between Wednesday 2nd and Saturday 12th  August. The Locarno Film Festival was born in the aftermath of the Second World War. It offered a stage for revival, freedom of art and expression for talents from all over the world eager to tell stories in new, different ways. Since its inception, Locarno has been home to the most daring, avant-garde, irreverent and innovative forms of films – screened in their uncut, uncensored versions. Every year since 1946, we present international independent films carefully selected to inspire you, to surprise you, to make you question assumptions, to open your mind, to push you. Nestled in the mountains beside a lake, our remote Swiss-Italian town gives way to an intense eleven day celebration of cinema. The festival this year offers over 350 screenings of which 110 are World Premiere's, talks, events, conferences, concerts, art exhibitions, parties (and so much more!) - so reads the official website.

The Opening Film of the festival was 'Dammi' - from France and is Co-Written and Directed by Yann Mounir Demange and stars Riz Ahmed, the recipient of the years 'Excellence Award'. The Closing Film is 'Shayda' - from Australia and Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Noora Niasari.

The Concorso internazionale features works shown primarily as World Premieres, coming from all over the globe and competing for the prestigious Pardo d’oro. Showcasing established auteurs alongside the pleasure of discovery, storytelling and innovation, the Concorso internazionale is an open, inclusive place, which aims to mark the new territories of cinematic art. This is where the best forms of contemporary cinema converge. The Pardo d'oro award offers the Grand Prize of the Festival to the best film with an award of CHF75K to be shared equally between the Director and the Producer. There are also awards for Best Direction, two prizes for Best Performance and a Special Jury Prize.

Those seventeen films in official competition for the Pardo d'oro (Golden Leopard) are :-

* 'Animal' - from Greece, Austria, Romania, Cyprus and Bulgaria and Written and Directed by Sofia Exarchou. 

* 'Essential Truths of the Lake' - from the Philippines, France, Portugal, Singapore, Italy, Switzerland and the UK and Written, Co-photographed, Directed and Edited by Lav Diaz.

* 'Home' - from Portugal and Co-Written, photographed and Directed by Leonor Teles.

* 'The Human Surge 3' - from Argentina, Portugal, Netherlands, Taiwan, Brazil, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, and Peru and Written, Co-Produced, Directed, Edited and Special and Visual Effect by Eduardo Williams.

* 'The Permanent Picture' - from Spain and France and Written and Directed by Laura Ferres.

* 'Lousy Carter' - from the USA and Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Bob Byington.

* 'Manga D'Terra' - from Switzerland and Portugal and Written, Co-Produced, Directed and Edited by Basil Da Cunha.

* 'Critical Zone' - from Iran and Germany and Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Ali Ahmadzadeh.

* 'Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World' - from Romania, Luxembourg, France and Croatia and Written, Directed and Costumes designed by Radu Jude.

* 'Obscure Night - Goodbye here, anywhere' - from France and Switzerland and Written, photographed, Directed, Edited, sound engineered and Art Directed by Sylvain George.

* 'The Invisible Fight' - from Estonia, Latvia, Greece and Finland and Written and Directed by Rainer Sarnet.

* 'Patagonia' - from Italy and Co-Written and Directed by Simone Bozzelli.

* 'Rossosperanza' - from Italy and France and Written and Directed by Annarita Zambrano.

* 'Stepne' - from Ukraine, Germany, Poland and Slovakia and Co-Written, Produced, Directed and Co-Edited by Maryna Vroda.

* 'Sweet Dreams' - from Netherlands, Sweden, Indonesia and Reunion and Written, Co-Executive Produced and Directed by Ena Sendijarevic.

* 'The Vanishing Soldier' - from Israel and Co-Written and Directed by Dani Rosenberg.

* 'Yannick' - from France and Written and Directed by Quentin Dupieux.

This years 'Excellence Award' goes to Riz Ahmed, the 'Leopard Club Award' goes to Stellan Skarsgard and the Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Renzo Rossellini. For the details on the other Special Award recipients, the other competitive sections and a whole lot more good stuff, you can go to the official website at : https://www.locarnofestival.ch/home.html

This week we have five latest cinematic releases to tease you out to your local big screen Odeon, launching with a comedy drama offering from a Director known for his quirky movie offerings that sees world-changing events spectacularly disrupt the itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention in an American desert town in the mid-1950's. This is followed by a supernatural horror film about the crew of a cargo ship stuck in the middle of the ocean who must fight for their lives against a blood thirsty and terrifying unknown creature. Next up we have a high octane biographical sports drama film about a video  gamer's skills that wins him the chance to become a professional race car driver. Then we turn to a Sci-Fi comedy about how a man's quiet life gets upended when a UFO crashes in his backyard in rural Pennsylvania; before closing out the week with a drama about a movie location scout, while touring a repossessed chateau, falls for its flirtatious representative, who recounts the story of an influential book written there.

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.

'ASTEROID CITY' (Rated M) - this American comedy drama film is Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Wes Anderson, whose previous film making credits include his debut in 1996 with 'Bottle Rocket' and then 'Rushmore' in 1998, 'The Royal Tenenbaums' 2001, 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou' in 2004, 'Moonrise Kingdom' in 2012, 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' in 2014, 'Isle of Dogs' in 2018, and 'The French Dispatch' in 2021. This film saw its World Premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in late May this year, where it competed for the Palme d'Or. It began a limited theatrical release in the US in mid-June before its much wider release a week later. It has so far grossed over US$47M worldwide off the back of a US$25M production budget and has received generally positive reviews.

The film follows Conrad Earp (Edward Norton), a legendary playwright on his world famous fictional play about a grieving father who travels with his tech-obsessed family to small rural Asteroid City to compete in a junior stargazing event, only to have his world view disrupted forever. Also starring an ensemble cast that takes in Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie, Jeff Goldblum, Hope Davis, Rita Wilson and Bob Balaban. The film serves as Anderson's homage to popular memory and mythology surrounding extraterrestrials and UFO's as reported in the Southwestern desert nearby to the atomic test sites during the post WWII period of the late 1940's and 50's in America.

'THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER' (Rated MA15+) - aka 'Dracula : Voyage of the Demeter' is an American supernatural horror film that languished in development hell for almost twenty years going through numerous Directors and lead Actors before eventually in 2019 Andre Ovredal was chosen to Direct. His previous feature film making credits take in 'Trollhunter' in 2011, 'The Autopsy of Jane Doe' in 2016, 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark' and 'Mortal' in 2020. This film is an adaptation of 'The Captain's Log', a chapter from the 1897 Bram Stoker novel 'Dracula'. Here, strange and horrifying events befall the doomed crew of the merchant ship 'Demeter' as they attempt to survive the ocean voyage from Transylvania to London, stalked each night by a merciless presence onboard - a legendary vampire known as Dracula. When the Demeter finally arrives off the shores of England, it is a charred, derelict wreck, with no trace of the crew. Starring Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham, David Dastmalchian and Javier Botet as Dracula. It is released in the US this week too.

'GRAN TURISMO' (Rated M) - this American biographical sports film is Directed by Neill Blomkamp whose prior feature film credits take in his debut with the acclaimed 'District 9' in 2009, then 'Elysium' in 2013, 'Chappie' in 2015 and 'Demonic' in 2021. This film it is based on the PlayStation Studios video game series of the same name, and inspired by the true story of Jann Mardenborough, a teenage Gran Turismo player aspiring to be a race car driver. Here then Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe), a Gran Turismo player whose gaming skills won him a series of Nissan-sponsored video game competitions in 2011 in which he became the third and youngest winner of the GT Academy competition, beating 90,000 entrants, to become an actual professional race car driver. Also starring Orlando Bloom, David Harbour, Djimon Hounsou, Gerri Halliwell, Thomas Kretschmann and Darren Barnet. Originally slated for a wide cinema release this week, this has been reduced to a limited release due to the SAG-AFTRA strike before its release proper from the 25th of this month. 

'JULES' (Rated CTC) - is an American Science Fiction comedy film Directed by Marc Turtletaub whose previous movie making credits take in his debut in 2013 with 'Gods Behaving Badly' and 'Puzzle' in 2018. although he has also accumulated thirty-four Producer credits, three as Writer and two as an Actor. Here then, Milton Robinson (Ben Kingsley) leads a quiet unassuming life of routine in a small western Pennsylvania town, but finds his day upended when a UFO and its extra-terrestrial passenger crash land in his backyard. Before long, Milton develops a close relationship with the extra-terrestrial he calls 'Jules'. Things start to get complicated when two neighbours Sandy and Joyce (Harriet Sansom Harris and Jane Curtin respectively) discover Jules and the government quickly closes in. The film is released Stateside this week also.

'AROUND THE SUN' (Rated M) - this 2019 drama film was released in the UK in early August 2020 and only now does it get a release in Australia. Directed by Oliver Krimpas in his feature film making debut, here the story tells of a movie location scout Bernard (Gethin Anthony) who, while touring a repossessed and in a state of disrepair chateau in northern France, falls for its owners flirtatious representative Maggie (Cara Theobold), who recounts the story of an influential popular science book written and set there. But is their connection for real, or just a projection of the book's 17th Century characters? The film has garnered generally favourable reviews. 

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-

Birthday's to share this week : 17th - 23rd September 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Neill Blomkamp does on 17th September - check out my tribute to this Director, Writer and Producer Birthday Boy turning 38, 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 17th September

• Baz Luhrmann - Born 1962, turns 55 - Director | Writer | Producer | Songwriter
• Bryan Singer - Born 1965, turns 52 - Producer | Director | Writer | Actor
• Kyle Chandler - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Neill Blomkamp - Born 1979, turns 38 - Director | Writer | Producer  

Monday 18th September

• Tim McInnerny - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actor
• Mark Romanek - Born 1959, turns 58 - Director | Writer | Producer
• Don Hany - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actor | Producer
• Jason Sudeikis - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Singer
• Patrick Schwarzenegger - Born 1993, turns 24 - Actor
• Jada Pinkett Smith - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Director  

Tuesday 19th September

• David McCallum - Born 1933, turns 84 - Actor 
• Jeremy Irons - Born 1948, turns 69 - Actor | Producer  
• Paul McGuigan - Born 1963, turns 54 - Director | Producer

Wednesday 20th September

• George R.R. Martin - Born 1948, turns 69 - Writer | Producer
• Gary Cole - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actor
• Chad Stahelski - Born 1968, turns 49 - Stuntman | Director | Actor | Producer | Writer
• Jon Bernthal - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actor   
• Sophia Loren - Born 1934, turns 83 - Actress | Singer
• Asia Argento - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actress | Director | Writer  

Thursday 21st September

• Jerry Bruckheimer - Born 1943, turns 74 - Producer 
• Stephen King - Born 1947, turns 70 - Writer | Producer | Actor | Director
• Bill Murray - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Singer | Director
• Ethan Coen - Born 1957, turns 60 - Writer | Director | Producer | Editor
• Angus Macfadyen - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actor | Writer | Director
• David Wenham - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Director  
• Luke Wilson - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director

Friday 22nd September

• John Woo - Born 1946, turns 71 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Editor
• Nick Cave - Born 1957, turns 60 - Writer | Composer | Singer | Songwriter | Actor
• Scott Baio - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actor | Director | Producer | Writer
• Tom Felton - Born 1987, turns 30 - Actor | Director  

Saturday 23rd September

• Jason Alexander - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer
• Alex Proyas - Born 1963, turns 54 - Director | Producer | Writer 
• Anthony Mackie - Born 1978, turns 39 - Actor 

Neill Blomkamp was born in Johannesburg, South Africa where he attended the independent and private co-educational Redhill High School located in Morningside, Johannesburg. It was there that he met Sharlto Copley at the age of sixteen. Copley gave Blomkamp the use of computers to pursue his passion and growing talent for animation and design, and in return Blomkamp helped Copley in creating 3D work for proposals on various projects that Copley was working on/interested in. At the age of eighteen, Blomkamp and his family relocated to Vancouver, where he attended the Vancouver Film School.

During the late '90's, Blomkamp began working in the film industry as a 3D animator, gaining work on such Sci-Fi television shows as 'Stargate SG-1', 'First Wave' and 'Mercy Point', and earthquake drama miniseries 'Aftershock : Earthquake in New York'. These led to Blomkamp scoring his first gig as Lead Animator on the Sci-Fi action drama series 'Dark Angel' which ran for 43 episodes over two seasons, and then feature film '3000 Miles to Graceland' with Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell in 2001. He then picked up work at two of Vancouver's noted digital effects studios - 'The Embassy Visual Effects' and 'Rainmaker Digital Effects' both companies working on televisions commercials, in television and on feature films. It was however, his work on his own short films that got him noticed by one Peter Jackson, including the two minute short film 'Tetra Vaal' that was Written, Directed, Produced and Edited by Blomkamp - a mock commercial for a third-world Police robot; 'Alive in Joburg' with a five minute running time that was Written and Directed by him too about extra terrestrials marooned in Johannesburg, and then 'Tempbot' and 'Yellow'. 

In 2007 Blomkamp was slated to Direct his first feature length film - an adaptation of the popular video game series 'Halo' after he had Directed three short live action films in 2007 set in the 'Halo' universe and known as 'Landfall'. Funding for the 'Halo' feature fell through and the project was cancelled, but with Producer Peter Jackson on board and a relationship being nurtured, attention was turned to Blomkamp's feature film debut, the Sci-Fi thriller 'District 9' based on his earlier short film 'Alive in Joburg' which Peter Jackson Co-Produced. The film was released in 2009 and starred Sharlto Copley in his first lead role as Wikus van de Merwe. The film was universally acclaimed, recovered US$211M from its US$30M budget outlay, and was nominated for four Academy Awards, one Golden Globe, and seven BAFTA's amongst its total haul of thirty award wins and  another 114 nominations.

2013 saw the release of Written, Directed and Co-Produced Sci-Fi offering 'Elysium' set in an overpopulated and pollution ravaged Earth of 2154 where most of the world populace live in poverty while the rich and powerful live on a luxurious man-made space habitat within Earth's orbit. Starring Matt Damon in the lead role supported by Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Diego Luna, and William Fichtner, the film cost US$115M to make and recouped US$286M and received generally positive press, albeit not nearly on the same scale as for 'District 9'. It picked up one award win and ten nominations.

This was followed up by 'Chappie' released in 2015, based on his own earlier short film 'Tetra Vaal'. This film too was again Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Blomkamp, and starred Sharlto Copley as the artificially intelligent law enforcement robot, affectionally named 'Chappie' by the mob of gangsters who capture him and train him, together with Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver, and Yolandi Visser and Watkin Tudor Jones both of South African counter-culture rap-wave band 'Die Antwoord'. The film cost US$49M to bring to the big screen and raked in US$102M and received mixed to average Reviews.

Back in 2015 Blomkamp announced that he was working on a treatment for an 'Alien' sequel with Sigourney Weaver set to reprise her role as Ellen Ripley. He later went on to confirm that announcement and that furthermore he was planning more than one sequel to the successful franchise. However, the project was shelved later that year when Ridley Scott began shooting 'Alien : Covenant'. Earlier this year the title of the film was said to be 'Alien : Awakening', although Ridley Scott subsequently stated that Blomkamp's film had been officially canned, although the Production Studio may have different ideas yet. The follow up feature to 'Alien : Covenant' is said to be titled 'Alien : Awakening' which is set to go into production for a 2019 release, and Directed once again by Ridley Scott.

Earlier this year, Blomkamp created his own film production company, Oats Studios, with the aim of producing a series of 'experimental' short films to be released via 'Steam' and free streaming on YouTube, with the intention of testing interest and audience acceptance of a given theme, before expanding these notions into full blown feature films. The first such film is a 22 minute offering Co-Written and Directed by Blomkamp and starring Sigourney Weaver, titled 'Rakka' about a dystopian future where an unknown group of aliens have colonised Earth and humans struggle to fight back.

The 27 minute 'Firebase' is a horror Sci-Fi short film also Co-Written and Directed by Blomkamp set during the Vietnam War where both sides face a new kind of terror threat that neither side could have imagined or were prepared for. This was in turn followed up by the four minute 'God : Serengeti' starring Sharlto Copley; and the four episode comedy mini-series 'Cooking with Bill' set as 1980's cooking equipment infomercials in which the cooking demonstrations by the two regular guest presenters go horribly and horrifically wrong.

'Zygote' followed as a 23 minute Sci-Fi horror film starring Dakota Fanning as one of two lone survivors stranded in an Arctic mine who are forced to fight for their lives as they are hunted by a new kind of terror threat. Also Co-Written and Directed by Blomkamp. 'Lima' came next of which details are very scant, and it is believed to be the final experimental short film in 'Volume 1' by Oats Studios.

This brings us up to date in terms of so far published creative output. All up Blomkamp has seventeen credits as Director to his name, fifteen as Writer, eight for his animation and visual effects works, and five as Producer. He has twelve award wins and a further 35 nominations under his belt so far including 'District 9' Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for Best Screenplay, and a Primetime Emmy nod for 'Dark Angel'. Blomkamp is married to Canadian Screenwriter Terri Tatchell with whom she worked with her husband on the scripts for 'District 9' and 'Chappie'. They have one child together.

Neill Blomkamp - known for his seamless amalgamation of natural and photo-realistic computer generated imagery; often threads his own social commentary through the stories he depicts in his films; often works with Sharlto Copley; often shoots his films in his native Johannesburg; and while Sci-Fi is his first love he says that he could easily turn his hand to horror or military conflict. All of that said, based on your maverick style to date, your success, and your imaginative creative approach to story telling, we'll await your next offering with interest and keen anticipation. In the meantime, Happy Birthday to you Neill, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

CHAPPIE : Sunday 15th March 2015

It seems that critics and audiences are divided by Writer/Director Neill Blomkamp's latest Sci-Fi offering - 'CHAPPIE' which I saw over the weekend. Unlike Bloomkamp's second feature film 'Elysium' with Matt Damon and his now regular actor stablemate Sharlto Copley which was set in a mid-22nd Century dystopian Los Angeles, this film takes us back to a very near future Johannesburg which is where too his first feature 'District 9' was set. As the opening scenes unfold I was reminded of the 'Robocop' franchise, but Bloomkamp set up the premise very well with a raw grittiness of the South African city gripped by gangland violence, armed robbery, killings and societal decay. The droid police force are already established, albeit only recently in 2016 and very successful at what they do, but there is nothing shiny, bright and gleaming about these automated law enforcers - they are battered, dented, battle worn machines that are relentless in their task but occasionally break when overcome by RPG's, or renegade truck drivers. For me, the 'Robocop' connection ended there, and it was on with the story!

We are quickly introduced to weapons company 'Tetravaal' and it's MD Michelle Bradley (Sigourney Weaver) who have about 100 titanium plated police droids out on the streets of Johannesburg on active duty and bringing down the crime rate by the day. After a successful bust on a gangland hideaway in the opening scenes in which we are introduced to Ninja and Yolandi Visser (playing themselves of South African rap-rave outfit 'Die Antwoord') and gangster king-pin Hippo (Brandon Auret), 'Tetravaal' receive an order for another 100 police droids which draws attention from the worlds media and causes the company's stock value to skyrocket. All is good for the company and the inventor of the droids - engineer Deon Wilson (Dev Patel), who is also working on an artificial intelligence upgrade of the droids that could potentially give them thought, emotions, feelings and understanding.

Working within the same company but on another droid project is Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman) who has developed a bigger badder bolder one droid army killing machine that is capable of much more wide spread death & destruction all in the name of national security and peace on the streets! Moore's machine though is controlled by a human and dependant on a human unlike Wilson's, and because of this the latter has taken all the funding while the former has to contend with budget cuts and sitting in the shadow of his successful colleague. Moore is an ex-soldier slab of beef cake who shoots first and asks questions later and just wants to blow shit up and get rich in teh process, and so there is an intense rivalry between the two, which will overflow into dire circumstances for them both ultimately.

When Wilson succeeds in developing his A.I. upgrade he implants this in Droid 22 which has been badly injured in the line of law enforcement and is due to be decommissioned beyond the state of repair. Before this can happen though Wilson is kidnapped by Ninja and Yolandi who have seven days in which to pay Hippo 20M Rand for a drug bust gone horribly wrong. When he awakes in some city fringe derelict warehouse building he is threatened with his life by Ninja and Yolandi if he doesn't 'switch off' the army of droids patrolling the streets, so that they can engineer a heist with a 600M Rand pay day, pay off Hippo and ride off into the sunset . . . if only it were that easy!

With the broken Droid 22 in the back of his company van, Wilson agrees to reassemble the droid and reprogramme it with his A.I. system that he has developed, so that the droid can assist with the heist. The droids incidentally, cannot be switched off - they have a rechargeable battery and can live forever almost, but this droids battery was fused to its body casing when an RPG was fired into its chest causing it too fuse together and therefore not be removable or rechargeable. This droid has a rapidly diminishing shelf-life!

In rebooting the droid and reassembling it, the droid is reborn and so has to learn to adapt to its surroundings, communicate and assimilate with those around it . . . like a baby does. Yolandi calls it a 'happy chappy' when they are first introduced because it is naive, cautious and unknowing, and so 'Chappie' (Sharlto Copley) comes into being. Chappie learns very quickly however, and learns too the ways of its gangster captives, and when Wilson is allowed to go but returns later on to teach Chappie the way of the world - for better purposes he hopes!

As the story unfolds we follow Chappie as his world expands and he learns very quickly with his new found intelligence. This is taken full advantage of by his captors who set him up as Gangster #1 and want to use him to pull of their daring heist. He calls Yolandi 'Mommy' and Ninja 'Daddy' because that's what he's been taught and Wilson is 'Maker', and he has loyalties to all three for very differing reasons and motivations. Yes, Chappie can now think for itself.

As we move along there are struggles at 'Tetravaal' between Wilson and Moore, the heist looms closer, Chappie is torn between Maker and Mommy & Daddy, and Moore engineers events to get his moment in the sun which hardly ends well for anyone. The closing however, presents an interesting premise about consciousness and the ultimate power of artificial intelligence. Whilst there are nods to 'Robocop', 'Terminator 2' and even 'Bicentennial Man' I enjoyed this film for its hard edged grittiness, the moral heart at the core of this story, and a new & different take on the subject matter which we have seen done before. Ninja & Yolandi are colourful low life gangster crims, and at times there are nods aplenty to their band 'Die Antwoord' including Ninja's heavily tattooed body and the logos they spray on Chappie.

This is certainly better that 'Elysium' and up there with 'District 9' and worth a look - not essential viewing on the big screen, but why wouldn't you for $20 to see Sharlto Copley doing his mo-cap robotic stuff to great effect, Jackman sporting a wicked mullet and Patel as the scientist engineer just wanting to make the world a better place. Good fun!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 12th March 2015.

Having moved to South Australia recently and taking up residency in Adelaide, and full time work, I have suddenly become more appreciative of the time that I hitherto had available to dedicate to your favourite movie Blog . . . Odeon Online. Now I find myself gainfully employed in this great city and scratching around finding time to write my Blog Posts and provide you with the filmic feedback you have become accustomed to. Undeterred by this minor set back, I carry on regardless in the hope that I can do justice to your insatiable appetite for all things from moviedom!

And so to this weeks new release movies coming to a theatre near you from this Thursday. First up an already much touted, much lauded 70's American stoner pot-infused beach side whodunit with an all star cast and an acclaimed maverick Director at the helm; then another future offering from an increasingly rising star Director creating unique dystopian experiences that have surprised and delighted audiences for their creativity and unique story lines; onto a real life mid-80's kidnapping involving a Beer Baron and a bunch of hapless miscreants who win the biggest ransom monies ever paid; and then we close out with two comedies made on either side of the pond that are likely to find an audience and divide them at the same time!

With this synopsis done, and your film choice(s) made for the week ahead, when you have seen your chosen movie, drop us a line or two at Odeon Online in the Comments section following this or any Post and share your thoughts and opinions with our ever expanding readership. Enjoy your film!

INHERENT VICE (Rated MA15+) - based on the book of the same name by Thomas Pynchon, this is the latest offering from Director, Producer and Screenwriter Paul Thomas Anderson lining up a strong cast to deliver this 70's stoner story of pot-addled Private Detective Larry 'Doc' Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) who in his drug infused stupor takes on three cases at once that all intertwine but seemingly go nowhere. Destined to collide, confuse and cajole you into thinking that this should all makes sense when it probably doesn't, Larry is on the case of his ex-girlfriends real estate developer boyfriend Mickey Wolfmann (Eric Roberts) whose wife is manufacturing a plot to have him committed to a mental institution.

Subsequently, Doc meets up with a member of the 'Black Guerrilla Family' who hires him to find a guy he met in jail, and who owes him money and just happens to be the bodyguard of Mickey Wolfmann! Next up Doc is hired by the wife of Coy Harlingen (Owen Wilson) who is missing and whom she believes is dead, but this is really not the case as we later discover. A drug smuggling boat appears on the scene that has links back to the mental institution that Wolfmann gets admitted to by his estranged wife, and the last time that boat sailed Doc's ex-girlfriend was aboard! If all this sounds confusing there are further plot twists and turns to throw you off the scent involving Detective Christian F. 'Bigfoot' Bjornsen (Josh Brolin) who works for the LAPD and Doc's Attorney Sauncho Smilax (Benicio del Toro), a stash of heroin, police paid killings for cash, baseball bat collections and more smoke & mirrors than you could shine a torch at! Sounds like it could be mind-bending fun . . . if you can get your head around it!

CHAPPIE (Rated MA15+) - Neill Blomkamp is back Directing his own story that he made into a short film back in 2004 - 'Tetra Vaal' and hot on the heels of 'District 9' in 2009 and then 'Elysium' in 2013, both starring his acting stablemate Sharlto Copley who takes the lead role here as 'Chappie'. Set in the not too distant future and again in Johannesburg, crime is managed on the streets by a mechanical police force (you can be forgiven for thinking 'Robocop' here!). As the people begin to rebel against robotic law enforcement, one such droid (Chappie) is stolen and reprogrammed with the ability to think for itself, and have feelings and emotions. This is done by Deon Wilson (Dev Patel) who has to go against the company producing the robots in the first place and a rival inventor Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman) who has developed an inferior product dependant on human operation, unlike Chappie. As Chappie learns and adopts more and more human traits so the opposition against it/him grows to the point where despite his law enforcement success there are those who see him/it as a threat to humanity and are determined to ensure that Chappie is both the first, and last, of its kind. Containing many of the Blomkamp trademarks we have come to expect, this latest offering looks like it could be a lot of fun, combining action, a future vision and heart.

KIDNAPPING MR. HEINEKEN (Rated M) - back in November 1983, Dutch Beer Baron, Chairman of the Board and CEO of the global beer brewing giant Heineken International, Alfred 'Freddy' Heineken (Anthony Hopkins) was kidnapped and held for ransom. In a plot that was in the making for over two years the perpetrators of this crime Cor Van Hout (Jim Sturgees), Willem Holleeder (Sam Worthington), Jan Bollard (Ryan Kwanten), Martin Erkamps (Thomas Cocquerel)  and Frans Meijer (Mark van Eeuwen) successfully pulled off the kidnapping crime of the century that resulted in the payment of the biggest ransom ever paid (16 million Euros). For a number of years the childhood mates got away with their crime spreading themselves far and wide, but were eventually captured and punished for their crimes with prison sentences. This films tells that story starring some big names and Directed by Daniel Alfredson, but if it is enough to maintain your attention and give you enough of a thrill given the subject matter only you can decide.

MANNY LEWIS (Rated M) - Aussie comic Carl Barron stars here as famous fictional stand-up comedian Manny Lewis who has confidence, respect and success at the hands of millions of loyal fans for whom he can perform every night as part of his comedic routine. But can he connect on a personal and emotional level with one single woman? Meeting Maria (Leeanna Walsman) with whom he is first introduced to over an adult chat line and then coincidentally face to face in a cafe over a latte, neither of them are aware of their previous telephone 'introduction', as in time their relationship begins to blossom. When Manny discovers Maria's 'other life', he is at the same time invited to break into the potentially lucrative American market, and so must decide which path to take that will allow him to move on and be truly happy!

TOP 5 (Rated MA15+) - Chris Rock here Writes, Directs and Stars at Andre Allen - a hugely successful stand up comedian with a successful trilogy of comedy films behind him in which he stars as an action talking bear hero. His reality TV Star fiancee tries to persuade him that they should broadcast their upcoming wedding on  her TV show, and at the same time he has to be spend a day with reporter Chelsea Brown (Rosario Dawson) who is interested in Allen's move into serious film making despite the opposition from his legions of fans that he should return to stand-up and his action bear comedy film franchise. From what I have seen this is a series of comedy sketches loosely knitted together to form some sort of story that passes off for a film of rediscovery, awakening and realisation   with as much cursing, abuse, disrespect and non-PC one liners that you are likely to expect from Chris Rock! I'm sure it will find an audience!

That's it for this week then - five films to tease you out on an early Autumn evening in Adelaide, Sydney or wherever you may happen to reside in close proximity to a movie theatre. Enjoy the experience, share your views and keep watching!

Movies - see one this week . . . at least!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-