What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 4th June 2015.

As the mercury falls in the thermometers across Adelaide, and the wind blows its chilling gusts straight up from Antarctica there is only one sure thing to do on a cold Winter's night (well OK then - two I guess!) and the first involves putting on a thick warm Winter coat and heading out to your local multiplex to a warm place, with a glowing light, a big screen, surround sound, a bucket of popcorn and other like minded cold weather dodgers!

And so with this excellent adventure in mind to lift the spirits, warm the heart and tickle your fancy there are two films out this week each fielding a stellar cast that are sure to be a draw card on any chilly Winter's day or night. First up there is the big screen treatment of a very successful long running small screen show of the same name featuring a bunch of mates living in and around a movie star buddy; and then there is DramedyRom set somewhere exotic where boy meets girl when the old girl resurfaces to throw the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons!

There's always plenty more great cinematic content doing the rounds than those Previewed here, and so when you have sat through your film of choice, share your thoughts, observations and opinions with your friends at Odeon Online by leaving a Comment below this or any other Post. See you at the movies!

ENTOURAGE (Rated MA15+) - Written, Produced and Directed by Doug Ellin who also created the award winning hit series of the same name which ran for eight seasons up to 2011, the film 'Entourage' reunites the same cast and continues where the series left off. Executive Produced by Mark Wahlberg upon whose early Hollywood career the series is/was based, the film continues to chart the life of movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his entourage of close friends. Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) is the new head of a movie studio who agrees to bank roll Vincent's film debut as Director for a budget of $100M, but when that film goes $15M over budget Ari needs to go and convince Texan billionaire Larsen McCredle (Billy Bob Thornton) and his son Travis (Hayley Joel Osment) to part company with the funds with which to complete the production.

Vincent and his 'bros' continue to live the high life and live it large every day as Eric (Kevin Connolly), Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) and Drama (Kevin Dillon) take full advantage of Vincent and his trappings of success, while navigating their own little personal crises aided by the likes of Alan Dale, Kid Cudi and Martin Landau. The film also sports a huge array of cameo appearances including Warren Buffet, Jessica Alba, Gary Busey, Kelsey Grammar, Armie Hammer, Piers Morgan, Liam Neeson, Ed O'Neill, George Takei, Pharrell Williams and Mark Wahlberg of course all starring as themselves. Made for just US$30M it should easily recover that sum based on the success of the TV series alone!

ALOHA (Rated PG) - Written, Produced and Directed by Cameron Crowe for US$37M and with an all-star cast set amidst the back drop of Hawaii this dramatic comedy romance sees our hero of the piece and defence contractor Brian Gilcrest (Bradley Cooper), returning to the place where he enjoyed his most successful career work as part of the US Space Programme. In doing so he is attracted to his hard nosed tough as nails watchdog assigned to look after him  - Captain Allison Ng (Emma Stone), but it's not long before Gilcrest meets up with former love interest Tracy Woodside (Rachael McAdams) and things begin to go a little haywire there on in. Also starring Bill Murray, Danny McBride and Liam Neeson with the tropical Hawaiian background this is likely to be on for the followers of the genre only! Bradley Cooper meanwhile looks as though he has stepped straight off the set of 'American Sniper' . . . perhaps he did!

That's it then for this week, but if you have the time, you may want to catch the 2015 Sydney Film Festival too starting on 3rd June with the opening night world premier of 'Ruben Gutherie' - Brendan Cowell's Directorial debut starring Patrick Brammall, Alex Dimitriades, Abbey Lee, Robyn Nevin and Jack Thompson - and described as "a hilarious, bittersweet love letter to Sydney, a beautiful city with a dark side". For the full details of what's screening, what's in competition, what to see when & where, and a synopsis of every film showing go to the website at : www.sff.org.au

Enjoy the movies, and see as many as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

A MOST WANTED MAN - Tuesday 5th August 2014.

Starring, tragically, in his last lead role, Philip Seymour Hoffman plays German anti-terrorism Chief, Gunther Bachmann in this tense, taut telling of a 2008 John le Carre novel 'A MOST WANTED MAN', which I saw last night at the Cremorne Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace. I like a good spy drama, and they don't make 'em like this so much anymore, and because it is PSH's last  lead film role (the final 'Hunger Games' instalments are currently in post-production) this just added more weight as to why I should see this!

Directed by Anton Corbijn, and set in Hamburg post 9/11 the opening scene has half Chechen and half Russian Muslim, Issa Karpov (Grigoriy Dobrygin) crawling out of the harbour undercover of the night - cold, wet and doubtless somewhat anxious! Latching on to Hamburg's Islamic Community he finds safe haven in the house of a local couple where we learn he was imprisoned in Turkey and then Russia where he was savagely tortured before hatching his escape to Germany where he seeks asylum. He is in Hamburg to claim a vast inheritance from his father's ill-gotten gains, and the money is locked away in a private bank to which he has no access other than a mans name and an account number written on a scrap of paper. The man it turns out is the owner of the bank - Tommy Brue (Willem Dafoe) who needs to satisfy himself that Issa's intentions are genuine, he is who he says he is and that he does have a claim to a fortune that is worth in excess of ten million Euros.

In the meantime, Karpov has appeared on the radar of Gunter Bachmann and his covert crew of local undercover anti-terrorism cohorts and so they keep him under close surveillance to determine what exactly he is in Hamburg for. All the while the US are doing likewise in the form of US Embassy Attache Martha Sullivan (Robin Wright) who has conflicting views on Karpov's intentions and motivations. The two organisations have to join forces and reach a quick accord - so the US agree to give the Germans 72 hours to prove and shut the Karpov case, or they will go in all guns blazing (figuratively speaking) and lock him away never to see the light of day again!

Karpov meanwhile has been befriended by Annabel Richter (Rachel McAdams) a human rights lawyer who sees the good in him and provides the link to Banker Brue, and what needs to be done to release the inheritance funds.

The questions being asked here surround Karpov's motives - terrorist in disguise seeking a huge stash of cash to fund terrorist activities back home, or, is he an oppressed victim seeking asylum and a fresh start in life? It is Bachmann's job to uncover the truth and minimise the fall out, but the clock is ticking with only 72 hours in which to do so. The truth must be told to Brue, Richter and Sullivan for his plans to determine the reality to succeed, and so they all get drawn into a web of intrigue with Karpov becoming our 'most wanted man' unknowingly and possibly unwittingly!

Hoffman plays it brilliantly as we have come to expect from  his nuanced, believable and realistic performances of fractured men carrying around the excess baggage of life. Here he is the chain smoking, whisky guzzling leader of an undercover spy outfit that is not recognised or acknowledged by the German authorities because they operate for the safety of the nation, but outside the law.  He has been around a long time and has seen service in the worlds trouble spots tracking down and thwarting acts of terror - although not always successfully as we learn when a little of his back story is revealed, and for this he has become world weary, overweight, laboured, smokes and drinks too much but is expert at what he does, and oversees a tight knit team.

This is a slow burning film the likes of which you have seen in a previous le Carre big screen adaptation 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'. Don't expect car chases, gun play, big explosions and burning buildings - there is none of that! This is a thoughtful, intelligent, grounded adult spy drama with solid performances from its strong cast that also include Daniel Bruhl and Herbert Gronemeyer. It is however, Hoffman's film and his performance will be ranked amongst his career best. Appearing in almost every scene holding a cigarette and speaking with a thick German accent, when he exits his car in the final frames, with the camera filming from inside as he walks away for the last time with his back to the audience, this is a particularly poignant scene, for many reasons!

   

-Steve, at Odeon Online-