IRRESISTIBLE : Tuesday 20th October 2020

'IRRESISTIBLE' which I saw at my local multiplex earlier this week is an M Rated American political comedy film Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Jon Stewart. The film was released in selected theatres and through Premium Video on Demand in the US at the back end of June, has so far taken US$253K and has generated mixed or average Reviews. Stewart's only other previous film making gig was with 'Rosewater' in 2014, although he has written numerous television series and specials, has forty-eight Producer credits and thirty-four Actor credits to his name too and has hosted his own long running television show, the Academy Awards (twice) and the Grammy Awards (twice) too amongst other things. 

After the opening credits sequence in which we see still photographs of a number of ex-US Presidents all from within living memory in various states of relaxed playfulness, we cut to a scene in which the successful Democratic Party campaign consultant Gary Zimmer (Steve Carell) is in a state of despair following the results of the 2016 presidential election. Zimmer is a few days later shown a video that has gone viral of Marine Colonel Jack Hastings (Chris Cooper) turned local respected farmer standing up for the immigrant population of his hometown of Deerlaken, Wisconsin at a local town hall meeting chaired by Mayor Braun (Brent Sexton). At his Washington D.C. office surrounded by a number of his staffers, Zimmer makes the decision that if he can run Hastings as the Democratic mayoral candidate in the next town election, then he stands a good chance of convincing the people in the American heartland to vote Democrat in the next presidential election. 

Zimmer travels to Deerlaken in order to convince Hastings to run for mayor. Upon arriving, it would be fair to say that Zimmer is somewhat surprised and shocked by the cultural divide that exists between the ordinary rural dwelling townsfolk of Deerlaken compared to the cut & thrust, take no prisoners cashed up privileged existence of life in Washington D.C. After spending a day helping out on Hastings' farm, Zimmer meets with Diana Hastings (Mackenzie Davis), the 28 year old daughter of the Colonel, and he then pitches this idea to them both. Initially the Colonel is not struck on the idea, but Zimmer can be very convincing when he wants to be. After some reluctance, the Colonel agrees but upon condition that Zimmer personally runs the campaign from Deerlaken himself, because after all, the Colonel considers himself conservative with no real leanings towards politics, or experience in this field. 

Following his first introduction to a small gathered group of townsfolk at his farm in front of assembled cameras, the Colonel recruits his friends and neighbours as campaign volunteers to aid his efforts. A number of setbacks soon come to the fore including the fact that most of the town appears conservative and that the incumbent Mayor Braun is being funded directly by the Republican National Committee. The RNC sends Faith Brewster (Rose Byrne) Zimmer's arch nemesis to Deerlaken, to counteract him.

Zimmer decides he needs to take Hastings to New York to meet the powerbrokers there - especially the ones with the deep pockets prepared to donate to his campaign. Arriving at the private lavish townhouse residence of a Mr. Peeler (Bruce Altman), Hastings gives an impassioned speech to the gathered group of potential donors and how he needs their collective help to save his small town in country Wisconsin. On the flight back Zimmer is overcome with emotion recounting Hastings speech, and over the ensuing days the donations come flooding in, so allowing Zimmer to upgrade their approach and enlist the technology and the human resources to make a difference and thwart the incumbent mayor, Braun. 

As a result Hastings who was lagging behind in the polls to Braun, soon catches him up and they are fairly evenly matched. However, just as things appear to be going in Hastings favour, the campaign takes a nose dive when one of Zimmer's team members Tina De Tessant (Natasha Lyonne) advertises a pro-contraceptive platform to a group of single women who turn out to be nuns. Needless to see the media, and Faith Brewster, have a field day.

When Zimmer starts going off at his campaign mates, which he often does in public and in private but often being overheard, Diana convinces him to apologise and that if he is going to run her father's campaign, he needs to be more civil. When it begins to look like Braun is going to win the election, Zimmer tries to convince Hastings and Diana to play dirty and start exploiting the skeletons in Braun's cupboards. Diana is mortified that Zimmer would even consider playing dirty tricks and goes to Braun for advice. Braun and Diana decide to secretly reveal a bigger scandal about Braun so Zimmer will not go after Braun's brother, which was his original plan. The scandal it is later revealed is fake.

On the day of the election, only two votes are cast - one for each candidate, which confuses both Zimmer and Brewster. In the town hall where the candidates and their campaign staffers are all gathered to hear the final results it is revealed that the election was in fact an elaborate ruse orchestrated by Diana. She shot the video of her father's immigration speech so that Zimmer and Brewster would watch it and ultimately campaign to pour thousands of dollars into the election, which would help the town through its financial trouble due to the earlier closure of the military base there. Diana conceded that they were only looking to raise US$750K to keep Deerlaken's High School open, but they actually raised US$45M. Zimmer is shocked that Diana would play him in such a way and Diana then explains the town set this up because the D.C. politicians play small towns like theirs all the time. When Zimmer reveals that he was hoping that there was a spark between them, Diana rejects him. Fast forward six months and Diana and her Dad are seen laying out plans for several new buildings and businesses in Deerlaken and extensions to the High School with the US$45M in donations received. Diana becomes the mayor of Deerlaken after a special election, and in closing we are shown three possible love interests involving Zimmer with Diana, Zimmer with Faith Brewster, and Zimmer with Ann (Blair Sims - the owner of the local Cafe, who plies him everyday with coffee and blueberry streusel). 

As political satires go, this film isn't great, but it isn't bad either. There are no laugh out loud moments here, but it did raise a few smirks and chuckles along the way mostly thanks to the comedic expressions, one liners and deadpan delivery of Steve Carell playing the Democratic campaign activist with a sadistic streak but his heart is still in the right place. Rose Byrne also puts in a good turn, as the campaign activist on the other side of the fence but tarred with the same brush as Carell's character, while Chris Cooper and Mackenzie Davis's characters were left somewhat undercooked. As for the Writer and Director Jon Stewart who has crafted a career out of political satire I would have expected a story with a little more cutting edge sharpness and relevance to todays American political landscape - instead he opts for a middle of road, non-committal crowd pleaser that doesn't always land, but the twist in the tale at the end and the chemistry between Carell and Byrne are redeeming payoffs. Also starring Topher Grace and Debra Messing.

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

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE BIG SHORT : Saturday 6th February 2016

I saw 'THE BIG SHORT' over the weekend and loved this quirky fascinating insight into the financial crisis that rocked world economies back in late 2008 - the effects of which have only begun to subside in more recent years. This is a biographical tongue in cheek comedy drama written for the big screen and Directed by Adam McKay, and based on the book of the same name by Michael Lewis about the build up of the housing market from 2006 to 2008 and the mortgage bubble wrapped around it. The film cost US$28M to make and so far has grossed US$105M since its release at Christmas time, and here in Australia on 14th January. 'The Big Short' is nominated for five Academy Awards and five BAFTA's in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor for Christian Bale, Best Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay, with decisions pending. It was nominated for four Golden Globes but failed to win any amidst stiff competition.

To the average man in the street the financial crisis and the events leading up to it eight or so years ago now will be a fading memory and a bunch of financial gobbledegook that would be almost impossible to get your head around, or understand the banking speak that goes with the territory down on Wall Street. What Director and scribe Adam McKay has done though is bring together a strong ensemble cast, witty dialogue, and almost a beginners guide to the financial crisis delivered by an overarching narration delivered by one of the central characters, Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling), and several guest appearances delivered by named personalities to explain things in lay-mans terms when it all begins to get too much - Margot Robbie in a bath tub sipping Champagne, Anthony Bourdain in his kitchen cooking fish off-cuts, and Selena Gomez at a blackjack table. Cleverly done!

What we have here is Dr. Michael Burry (Christian Bale) playing a no-personality, anti-social, eccentric glass eyed hedge fund manager who is a whizz with numbers but little else and from behind his computer screens in 2005 determined that at some near future date the U.S. housing market propped up on sub-prime loans would collapse with catastrophic effects. Realising that he could potentially make big profits when that day inevitably comes, he persuades the big banks and financial institutions up & down Wall Street, to bet against the housing market when the bottom drops out of it as he predicts. He lobbies six financial institutions who all laugh and scoff at the absurdity of his proposals believing that the housing market is 'the bedrock upon which our great nation is built', and such an event has never occurred before in all of American history. Thinking that this is easy money the six firms all take his money amounting to a collective US$1.3B. All that Burry now has to do is sit back and wait for that day to come, all the while defending his actions to his Clients and his Board who have no faith at all in a housing market collapse and begin to withdraw their investments from his funds as he sees the value of his business steadily decline over the ensuing months.

In the meantime, Vennett is providing us with voice-over narrative to explain to us mere mortals what is going on here. Vennett however, has caught wind of Burry's actions one night in a bar from a banker celebrating a great win earlier that day from a client wanting to bet against the housing market . . . can you imagine the absurdity of that, and easy money as far as the Banker is concerned, so pass the Dom! Vennett, though can see that there is more to this than meets the eye and so digs further and realises that Burry is right. He then decides to take a piece of that pie too and invests for himself. As a result of a misplaced call to the offices of hedge fund manager Mark Baum (Steve Carell, putting in another great turn playing is straight and serious as in 'Foxcatcher'), Vennett pitches what he knows to Baum for a potential bonus come pay day which could be huge if Baum is prepared to invest and go large. Baum does some further digging and realises too that there is something in this and jumps in with both feet having realised that groups of low level dodgy housing loans are lumped together and awarded AAA ratings because the rating agencies are dishonest fraudsters themselves who have no integrity what so ever and are also driven by greed and profits just like the banks, investors and financiers.

Meanwhile, two novice investors Jamie Shipley (Finn Wittrock) and Charlie Geller (John Magaro), who operate out of their garage office at home have successfully turned US$110K four years ago into US$30M today, pick up a paper of Vennett's by coincidence when they pitch themselves to one of the Wall Street's big six and get knocked back very unceremoniously. They study Vennett's unsuccessful pitch to the bank and realise too that there is something in it, and so enlist the support of friend and mentor Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt), an eccentric banker who became disillusioned with Wall Street and turned his back on that system several years earlier. Rickert can see it too, and so agrees to help the two investor friends and opens some doors on Wall Street for them, and provide the advice & guidance needed.

As 2007 comes and goes the default on the sub-prime market begins to escalate with the writing on the wall becoming more clear for our four key protagonists, although all does not going according to plan as the power brokers on Wall Street and the Ratings Agencies seem to ignore the inevitable. They begin to feel increasingly uneasy but hold their ground as more stupidity, absurdity and denial on the part of the banks is realised too. At the same time though, they all begin to realise that when the inevitable crash does come they are set to profit immensely whilst millions of others will not. And so within a few short months the proverbial brown stuff hits the fan with the demise of several long standing Wall Street financial institutions and many of its fat cat investment bankers, mortgage brokers, and hedge fund managers now joining the unemployment queue.

In the final scenes we learn that following September 2008 when the financial crash came eight million people across the U.S.lost their homes and six million lost their jobs. Burry turned a 489% profit from his investment as the market did exactly what he had predicted three years earlier. Baum made US$1B for his company and US$200M personally, Shipley and Geller made US$80M and Vennett received his US$47M bonus cheque, thanks very much. Do we applaud their efforts and their foresight in the light of such a crisis - no, we do not; and do we feel sorry for them - no, we do not. Those few that profited do not celebrate their good fortune here having seen it coming while 99.99% of others could not, or chose not to. The weight & magnitude of the crisis had such far reaching consequences that no one could have foreshadowed what a messed up, stupid, absurd and corrupt system they work in at the expense of the millions in that mortgage sector who were for the most part largely unsuspecting and ignorant of what they were buying into.

A compelling film that grabbed my attention from the opening scenes. Bale, Carell and Gosling are standouts here with sound support from others in lesser roles including Marisa Tomei and Rafe Spall. Fascinating insights into what otherwise could have been a very dry, dull documentary style film, that McKay and his strong assembled cast deliver with relatively easy to follow narrative, relateable characters who all have their flaws, sharp and witty dialogue that helps the flow of understanding, and an engaging, entertaining engrossing take on a subject that touched us all in some way in very recent memory. I wonder what lessons were really learned from it!

   

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 5th November 2015.

There is a certain British and Australian movie magazine that shall remain nameless but to which I have subscribed ever since it was first published in Australia, and I have every one of its so far 177 monthly editions sitting on my bookshelves at home. Being a movie Blogger too I read Reviews and Previews and general film stuff from numerous other sources too including newspapers, magazines, books, Blog sites, the Internet, on TV and the radio too, and the world of cinema is often the topic of conversation with family, friends, colleagues and anyone prepared to listen. What interests me too is what divides opinion about films and how one source can rave about the best film ever seen, and the other will pan it. I see it all the time, and even in the same publication a film might be awarded four stars at the time of release by one critic and then three months later on Blu-ray the same film gets two stars, or the reverse will apply. It just goes to prove that there's no right or wrong answer when it comes to movies and only you can decide what's hot, what's not, what's in and what's out. Just go along to be entertained and for $20 worth of escapism wrapped up in action, adventure, romance, comedy, drama, horror, science fiction, documentary, thrills and adventure you can be your own best judge, whilst doing your bit to keep film alive.

With that in mind therefore, over the coming week we have five new films coming to your local big screen complex that offer just about everything from romance, comedy, drama, action and zombies, although not in the same film you understand . . . well, maybe! First off there is a true life tragedy, emotion and equal rights story with the back drop of the US Police force; then a lesser known French tradition manifesting itself in New York with life changing consequences; a family survival action drama manifesting itself in south-east Asia when it all goes pear shaped for the locals and the tourists; everything you need to know about thwarting the walking dead with a Swiss Army Knife, a magnifying glass, some aluminium foil and the Boy Scouts Guide to Survival; and finally a home grown Aussie comedy of family, relationships and acceptance.

With another great choice, be sure to catch a film in the week ahead, and when you have done so record your thoughts, observations and assessment below this or any other Post in the Comments Box, and tell the Odeon Online Blogosphere what you thought. Enjoy your film.

FREEHELD (Rated M) - this drama film is Directed by Peter Sollett and is based on the 2007 short documentary film of the same name by Cynthia Wade and written for the screen by Ron Nyswaner. It stars a strong cast; an Oscar winning pedigree that saw it pick up the Golden Statue in 2008 for Best Documentary Short as well as a bunch of other wins and nominations around the festival circuit; and a true life story of gay rights, equality and endearing love.

This film sees lesbian Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore) as a New Jersey Police Lieutenant working in Ocean County. She has a domestic partner Stacie Andrea (Ellen Page), and when Hester is terminally diagnosed with lung cancer in 2005 she actively and repeatedly fights against the New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders to allow her pension benefits to pass to her life partner upon her death. Along the way sympathetic and hard-nosed colleague and police partner Dane Wells (Michael Shannon) provides support, as does activist Steven Goldstein (Steve Carrell) who rallies fellow police officers, the general public willing to be engaged, and anyone else willing to show empathy for the pair's fight for equality - in life and in death!

5 to 7 (Rated M) - first released at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2014, this film received a limited released in April 2015 and has finally made it Down Under. Written and Directed by Victor Levin, this film set in New York sees twenty-something aspiring writer Brian Bloom (Anton Yelchin) hit it off with older French woman Arielle Pierpont (Berenice Marlohe). She is a thirty-something, sophisticated, smart, intelligent . . . and married to diplomat Valery (Lambert Wilson), but that's OK because in France it is tradition to engage in 'cinq a sept' affairs whereby a married persons whereabouts will not be questioned the two hour period after work at 5:00pm and before home at 7:00pm. And so it is with Arielle and Valery, that allows her to carry on with Brian no questions asked. As their relationship grows so the web of intrigue grows too as Brian meets Jane (Olivia Thrilby) an Editor, and mistress to Valery. Looking on is Sam (Frank Langella) and Arlene (Glenn Close) as parents to Brian who sees the problems that exist but grateful that someone has an interest in their son. With romance, drama, comedy, entangled lives and a back drop of New York  this could almost be a Woody Allen feature.

NO ESCAPE (Rated MA15+) - this actioner was Directed by John Erick Dowdle, Written by him and his brother Drew Dowdle and Produced by the latter too for the sum of US$5M and already this has grossed US$54M having had its LA Premier in mid-August. Here we have a family in crisis as father Jack (Owen Wilson) takes an opportunity to move himself and his family to south-east Asia to head up a water processing plant there for the company he works for. It doesn't take long for a coup to erupt and Jack is caught in the midst of bloody unrest, political upheaval, death squads, violence, rape, pillage and torture and needing to employ all the survival instincts he can muster to protect himself and his wife Annie (Lake Bell) and daughter Lucy (Sterling Jerins). Along the way to save himself he encounters British tourist Hammond (Pierce Brosnan) who has a 'particular set of skills' that might just come in handy when you need to rescue your loved ones holed up in a foreign hotel during a coup, and you just gotta get sharpish to the local US Embassy no matter what.

SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE (Rated MA15+) - I caught the trailer for this a few weeks ago, and thought it looked like a lotta fun as far as zombie action horror comedy films go, although I'm not sure there's much to top 'Shaun of the Dead' really! This one however, is Directed by Christopher B. Landon and stars a clutch of teenage lads who decide to join the Boy Scouts and soon have to save their small town from being over-run by marauding flesh eating walking dead zombies. Mustering all their Boy Scout knowledge and derring-do to thwart the undead enemy there is Ben (Tye Sheridan), Carter (Logan Miller), Augie (Joey Miller) and befriended waitress Denise (Sarah Dumont) who must save the day, all of humanity and life as we know it. 

NOW ADD HONEY (Rated M) - Directed by Wayne Hope and Written by his wife Robyn Butler who also stars, this Australian comedy has some strong talent behind it to bring their small screen experience and expertise to the big screen with this offering of a dysfunctional family who are descended upon by an overly bronzed movie starlet from Hollywood, Honey Halloway (Lucy Fry). She exists, for now, in that twilight zone between teenage sensation and young adult big time stardom and is forced to stay with her Aussie cousins to adjust, transition, reconnect and keep it real. Clearly there will be clashes, emotion, fun, frivolity, drama and it will all work out in the end with lessons learned, family ties firmly knotted and relationships cemented with the likes of Portia de Rossi, Erik Thomson and Hamish Blake thrown into the mix with varying degrees of success I would suggest.

Yet again, a completely diverse range of cinematic content coming your way in the week ahead. Get out amongst it and see a movie this week and then share your thoughts with us all here. In the meantime, enjoy your film of choice.

See you at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 16th - 22nd August 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Steve Carell does on 16th August - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 53, 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 16th August

• Steve Carell - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• James Cameron - Born 1954, turns 61 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor
• Rummer Willis - Born 1988, turns 27 - Actress
• Angela Bassett - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actress | Producer
• Madonna - Born 1958, turns 57 - Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Actress

Monday 17th August

• Steven East - Born 1963, turns 52 - Hospitality Professional | Odeon Online creator | Movie Blogger  
• Robert De Niro - Born 1943, turns 72 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Sean Penn - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actor | Producer | Director 
• Donnie Wahlberg - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor | Producer

Tuesday 18th August

• Edward Norton - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Christian Slater - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Robert Redford - Born 1936, turns 79 - Actor | Producer | Director  
• Roman Polanski - Born 1933, turns 82 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Madeline Stowe - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actress | Director | Writer

Wednesday 19th August

• Kyra Sedgwick - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actress | Producer
• Kevin Dillon - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor
• Matthew Perry - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Writer 

Thursday 20th August

• Andrew Garfield - Born 1983, turns 32 - Actor | Producer
• David O'Russell - Born 1958, turn s57 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Sylvester McCoy - Born 1943, turns 72 - Actor 
• David Walliams - Born1971, turns 44 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Joan Allen - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actress

Friday 21st August

• Carrie-Anne Moss - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actress | Producer  
• Kim Cattrell - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actress | Producer  
• Hayden Panettiere - Born 1989, turns 26 - Actress
• Peter Weir - Born 1944, turns 71 - Director | Producer | Writer 

Saturday 22nd August

• Ty Burrell - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actor
• Kristen Wiig - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Valerie Harper - Born 1939, turns 76 - Actress 
• Honor Blackman - Born 1925, turns 90 - Actress

Steven John Carell was born in Concord, Massachusetts, USA to mother Harriet Koch, a psychiatric nurse, and father Edwin Carell, an electrical engineer. Running through his veins there is Polish, German and Italian ancestry with his grandfather being named Caroselli which was shortened to Carell. Steve was educated at Nashoba Brooks School, then The Fenn School, a private boys school in Concord, and then Middlesex School also in Concord. At school he played lacrosse, ice hockey and he learned to play the fife before going onto Denison University in Granville, Ohio where he majored in history in 1984. He was also an active member of the University Burpee's Seedy Theatrical Company where he perfected his art of improvisational comedy and was a DJ at the campus radio station WDUB under the name 'Sapphire Steve Carell'.

Before his first screen acting role in 1991 he scored a few television commercials, acted on stage in both touring children's shows and musicals, and was part of The Second City troupe in Chicago where he met Stephen Colbert who was his understudy for a time. His big screen acting career kicked off with a bit part in 'Curly Sue' in 1991 with TV movie 'Life As We Know It' also that year. In 1996 and for all of just eight shows he scored a gig on 'The Dana Carvey Show' which is attributed to launching his career.

During this period he secured a number of roles on others television shows too, including 'Come to Papa', 'Over The Top' 'Just Shoot Me' and 'Watching Ellie' and then as a regular on 'The Daily Show' with John Stewart from 1999 until 2005. As his television status began to rise so film offers stated to come in with 'Bruce Almighty' in 2003 opposite Jim Carey, 'Anchorman : The Legend of Ron Burgundy' with Will Ferrell in 2004 which would be considered as his first major film role, Woody Allen's 'Melinda and Melinda' in 2004 also, and then 'Bewitched' alongside Nicole Kidman and Will Farrell in 2005.

Judd Apatow Produced 'Anchorman' and was so impressed with Carell's performance that they collaborated together on 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' in 2005 which the two developed the story for, co-wrote and in which Carell starred as leading man garnering him an MTV Award for Best Comedic Leading Man. The next year he starred in the critically acclaimed 'Little Miss Sunshine' which picked up four Oscar nods and won two of those. Before reprising his role from 'Bruce Almighty' in 'Evan Almighty' there was some voice talent work on 'Over the Hedge' then leading to 'Dan in Real Life' and more voice work on 'Horton Hears a Who' before a resurrection of that 60's successful comedy spy series to the big screen 'Get Smart' in which he stars as leading spy man Maxwell Smart. The film did US$200M worldwide gross and was followed up by 'Date Night' and then more voice work as Gru on 'Despicable Me' in 2010 which he reprised again in 2013 in 'Despicable Me 2'.

In the meantime, there was 'Dinner for Schmucks' in 2010, 'Crazy, Stupid Love' in 2011, 'Seeking a Friend for the End of the World' in 2012 and 'Hope Springs' that same year. 'The Way Way Back' and 'The Incredible Burt Wonderstone', 'Anchorman 2 : The Legend Continues' were all released in 2013 with a number of short films before his Oscar nominated turn in 2014's highly acclaimed 'Foxcatcher' as John du Pont. That same year freeing himself of the shackles of a very straight, serious, brooding role as the murderous multi-millionaire, he starred in 'Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day', before reprising his role as the voice of the younger Gru in 'Minions' released earlier this year.

Next up for Carell is 'Freeheld' that has wrapped filming, 'Battle of the Sexes'  in pre-production, 'The Big Short' in post-production, and 'Acme' recently announced. Of course amidst all of this there is/was Carell's award winning performance in the US version of the hugely successful British Comedy series 'The Office' in which he starred as Michael Scott from 2005 until 2013 in 138 episodes, although he exited the show in 2011 but made an appearance in the final instalment. For this gig he won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Comedy and picked up Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for each year in which he starred.

All up Carell has 65 Acting credits and has picked up an Academy Award nomination for 'Foxcatcher' another 25 award wins and a further 93 nominations for his body of work. He has been married to Nancy Carell since 1995 with whom he starred in 'Saturday Night Live' and whom he has known since his days at Second City starring along the way too on 'The Daily Show', 'The Office' and 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin'. Together they have two children, Elizabeth (born 2001) and John (born 2004) and in 2009 they bought the Marshfield Hills General Store in Massachusetts which they also operate, and where they have a Summer house.

Steve Carell - frequent Will Ferrell and Stephen Colbert collaborator; often awkwardly humorous; usually lacks any self-awareness; but proven he has range, diversity, and dramatic complexity; and can be pathetic, comedic and dramatic all at once, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 29th January 2015.

And so across Australia the end of the school Summer holidays has arrived, and with it so have the rains and the cooler temperatures in Sydney at least. This though gives any ardent movie lover every opportunity to escape the world of temporary grey skies and rain to a darker warmer place with a silver screen, surround sound and high definition digital imagery to catch up on latest release film fare, of which there is plenty of choice.

Speaking of which, this week we have five movie releases with which to tempt and tease the film goer, of which three are in Academy Award contention and have already done well this Awards Season, and the other two are definitely not! To start with and in Oscar mode - we have the true life tale in the lead up to an Olympic Games and the tragedy surrounding a disenfranchised billionaire pinning his hopes on two wrestling champion brothers; there is also the true life story of an influential genius of a man still very much in our midst and how his life of tragedy plays out inspirationally from a young age to the present; next up we have a tale of the growing impact of a debilitating disease on a middle aged woman and those closest to her; then a comedic aristocratic spy-spoof jolly that you are likely to have seen before but updated here based on a series of books and with some big names stars certain to bring home  a high degree of success . . . maybe; and finally a unfolding bromance between a groom and his best man for hire on the eve of the wedding is likely to go down with hilarious consequences for all . . . or perhaps not!

FOXCATCHER (Rated M) - the first of this weeks movies in Academy Award contention, 'Foxcatcher' is nominated in five categories including Direction, Lead and Support Acting. Directed by Bennet Miller who brought us the excellent 'Moneyball' with Brad Pitt in 2011, this is another true-life sports drama this time surrounding the world of Olympic Wrestling. Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) is a champion Olympic Wrestler having done well at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and other notable events. He is hired by John du Pont (Steve Carell, playing it straight and with prosthetic nose) a billionaire and heir to the du Pont family fortune to lead his wrestling team to glory at the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympic Games.

Recruiting Schultz to du Pont's privately owned training facility at his 'Foxcatcher Farm' Estate where his training takes off and he begins to excel, soon Mark is joined by older brother Dave (Mark Ruffalo) where relationships begin to unravel and ultimately life changing events unfold for everyone. A sad and compelling true story of tragedy over triumph, obsession, disjointed personalities, fractured relationships and paying the ultimate price. Also starring Sienna Miller as Nancy Schultz (Dave's wife) and Vanessa Redgrave as Jean du Pont (mother to John) this film has so far been nominated for 37 Awards and has won eleven already with the Oscar's, the BAFTA's and the AACTA's still pending.

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING (Rated PG) - next up in the list of Oscar contenders we have Eddie Redmayne giving the performance of his life in this James Marsh Directed story of the life of Professor Stephen Hawking. Based on the memoir of Hawking's first wife Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones) this film starts us off in 1963 at Cambridge University where the completely able bodied young astrophysics student Stephen Hawking (Redmayne) first meets Jane at a party. The two bond almost immediately and whilst studying mathematics and physics he begins to ponder about 'time', 'black holes' and the creation of the universe. As his studies at Cambridge continue he begins to lose balance, and visiting a hospital he is told he has the early onset of motor neurone disease and is given two years to live. In time he will lose control of his muscles meaning he will be unable to walk, talk, move and eat but, his brain will remain unaffected. Needless to say we know that he survives well beyond those two years and is still very much alive today and a world authority on his chosen subject . . . and a few other things too! Hawking goes on to have three children, marries and divorces Jane Wild, marries and divorces Elaine Dawson, travels the world giving lectures, writes the highly acclaimed 'A Brief History of Time' and is honoured many times over. Nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture, and Best Lead Actor and Actress there are a total 83 award nominations for this film and 18 wins already with the Oscar's, the BAFTA's and the AACTA's still pending.

STILL ALICE (Rated M) - based on the book by Lisa Genova, 'Still Alice' tells the story of Columbia University Linguistics Professor Alice Howland (Julianne Moore) as she begins to become increasingly forgetful, repetitious and distant with the early on set of Alzheimer's Disease. As with the two films Previewed above, 'Still Alice' is also in Oscar contention with a nomination for it's female lead in the Lead Actress category for Julianne Moore (for which she has already won the Golden Globe and the SAG Award). This then is the unfolding story of Alice struggling on with her career role at University, her role as wife and mother and her role as an accomplished individual in her own right as all of these things become increasingly fractured and a fading memory. With little to do except watch on as the despair and desperation of Alzheimer's takes its grip on the family unit comprising husband John (Alec Baldwin) and daughters Lydia (Kristen Stewart), Anna (Kate Bosworth) and son Tom (Hunter Parrish) the ties that bind them together will be tested as never before. Nominated for one Academy Award, there are a total 14 award nominations for this film and 21 wins already with the Oscar's, the BAFTA's and the AACTA's still pending.

MORDECAI (Rated M) - Directed by David Koepp this stars Johnny Depp in the lead role as Charles Mordecai, and is based on a trilogy of books by Kyril Bonfiglioli. Aristocratic, debonair, dashing, charming and handsome Mordecai is an art dealer who is almost down on his luck and down on his funds to support his lavish lifestyle. He falls foul of the bodged sale of a rare vase, and is then approached by friend and Mi5 officer Alistair Maitland (Ewen McGregor) to find find a missing Goya painting. Accepting the task he embarks on a journey to locate the painting and in doing so comes up against unsavoury Russian individuals, an international terrorist, an American heiress, and the Mi5 who all want to get the grubby hands on the painting for assorted reasons - not the least being that it is said to contain a code marking out the location of a stash of hidden Nazi gold. Also starring Gwyneth Paltrow as Johanna Mordecai, Paul Bettany as Mordecai's faithful ever trusting man servant and hired hand Jock Strapp, and Jeff Goldblum as Milton Krampf this could almost be a 2015 version of Austin Powers methinks, and, could well be a franchise in the making!

THE WEDDING RINGER (Rated MA15+) - we've had 'The Wedding Singer' now meet 'The Wedding Ringer' as Directed by Jeremy Garelick. This is the story of soon to be wed Doug Harris (Josh Gad) who is about to marry the girl of his dreams, but he is a socially inept 'Nigel Nofriends' and so can't find any mate to act as Best Man come the big day. What to do? Well, you go hire one I guess from Jimmy Callahan (Kevin Hart) - owner and CEO of 'The Best Man Inc.' to do the deed on the day with the rings, make a speech about what a great mate you are and a loyal friend, and talk you up at the ensuing Reception to the Bride, her family, her entourage and all the other gathered guests. What could possibly go wrong? Well, it seems quite a lot as personalities clash, the deception is revealed, other truths are uncovered, Grandma is set on fire and the Groom, his fake Best Man and his fake Groomsmen all fly off into the sunset to party hard after the wedding has fallen in  heap! Hilarious stuff . . . that you have seen a thousand times before!

Five films then for your week ahead. When you have seen any one of these, or any one of those still out on General Release and Reviewed/Previewed in previous weeks, then drop a Comment below this or any other Post and share your thoughts with the Odeon Online World - we'd like to hear from you, and it's good to share! Enjoy your film!

Movies - see as many as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-