BIRD BOX : Friday 21st December 2018

I saw 'BIRD BOX' from the comfort of my own living room watching the film on Netflix the day of its worldwide release on 21st December. Based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Josh Malerman, the film is Directed by Susanne Bier whose most recent outing as Director was for the highly acclaimed television series 'The Night Manager'. Made for US$20M the film has a limited theatrical run from 14th December before being released on the Netflix streaming service on 21st December. Within a week, Netflix had claimed that the film had seen the biggest seven-day viewership for any of its original movies to date, with over 45 million viewers. The film has received mixed or average Reviews from Critics, although Sandra Bullock's performance as the lead character has been praised.

The film opens up with a mother, Malorie Hayes (Sandra Bullock) kneeling down and speaking quickly and anxiously to her two young children. She informs them that they are about to go on a journey down a river and its going to be dangerous, and if they don't listen to her every word they will die. She also tells them that if they get separated they will die, and if they run off or cause a distraction they will die, and if they remove their blindfolds for as much as a fleeting minute they will die.

We then go back in time five years and Malorie is an expectant mother who is visited in her home painting studio by her sister Jessica (Sarah Paulson). Before setting off to the local hospital for a routine pregnancy check-up, they see reports on television that some sort of strange phenomenon across Europe and Russia is causing mass suicides on a seemingly alarming scale. The pair dismiss the story and go to the hospital. Upon leaving the clinic the pair witness a woman in the corridor smashing her head repeatedly against a plate glass window, smashing the glass and her head and face. Malorie realises that perhaps there was more to that news story than they gave it credit for. As they attempt to race away from the hospital, they see chaos erupt in the streets all around them as more and more people suicide. Distraught by the scenes and carnage unfolding in front of them, Malorie reaches into the back seat to retrieve her ringing phone, when Jessica is unnerved by something up ahead. Jessica crashes the car which comes to halt upside down. They both clamber out. Injured, Malorie is unable to stop her sister stepping in front of an oncoming speeding truck and is killed instantly.

Malorie is swept along by a fleeing crowd of people all running away from something that no one can seemingly see, hear or understand. She is pulled to safety by a group of strangers holed up in house, but in the ensuing chaos, one of those residents walks out into the street and sits in a burning car very quickly engulfing herself in flames. That was the the wife of Douglas (John Malkovich) the owner of the house. After collecting their thoughts as much as they are able under the dire circumstances, they draw the conclusion that just by virtue of looking at the creatures can cause humans to go insane and commit suicide. They cover the windows with newspapers and blankets to hide themselves from the chaos and creatures on the outside.

Days and presumably a few weeks pass by and food supplies in the house are running short. Malorie and the other holed up residents Charlie (Lil Rel Howery), Tom (Trevante Rhodes), Lucy (Rosa Salazar) and Douglas agree to drive to a local supermarket on a supply run. They paint out the windows, and use the vehicles GPS and proximity sensors to detect obstacles in the road and to guide them to their destination. Arriving at the store, but not before encountering the creatures which they manage to successfully evade with some nifty driving skills, they find an almost fully stocked supermarket which Charlie happens to work at. In the drinks aisle Douglas is in his element having found a stash of Scotch Whisky and votes to remain there indefinitely. The others however, reject his notion. Malorie comes across a bird cage containing a pair of birds, which she decides to adopt. The birds quickly validate themselves when a man crying for help from behind the loading dock door wants to gain entry. Upon opening the door the birds yelp and flap their wings violently indicating they are an early warning system against the creatures. The man allowed entry quickly attacks the group as he is seemingly under the influence of the creatures and is out to infect other humans. Charlie sacrifices himself so that the others can make a getaway.

Some time later Lucy and Felix (Colson Baker) steal the vehicle and decide to go it alone, leaving those left in the house without any means of transportation. Soon after, another heavily pregnant survivor Olympia (Danielle Macdonald) allows a seemingly unaffected and innocent wanderer, Gary (Tom Hollander) into the house against Douglas's wishes, for which he is locked up in the garage lest he should try to injure or kill their latest resident. Seemingly speaking from first hand experience, Gary refers to infected survivors who are insane and are compelled to force unaffected humans to look at the creatures, of which he has numerous pencil drawings contained in a satchel. When both Olympia and Malorie go into labour, Gary reveals himself to be one of the insane people he described. He then proceeds to remove all the coverings from the windows and attack the others within the house. Gary murders Douglas and forces Olympia, having just given birth, and another survivor Cheryl (Jackie Weaver) to look at the creatures, resulting in their deaths by suicide. Tom is able to kill Gary with a shotgun and save Malorie and the two newborns, leaving all the other survivors in the house, dead.

Fast forward five years, and Tom and Malorie are living together with the children in a seemingly relatively safe haven. Malorie calls the now five year olds only Boy (Julian Edwards) and Girl (Vivien Lyra Blair). One day they receive a return radio transmission from a survivor stating that they are well and safe at a community two days downriver and that they are welcome to join them. Tom wants to go to the community despite the dangers of the river, but Malorie fears it could be a trap.

Following the transmission, Malorie flees with the two children when a group of infected survivors locate them and attempt to kill them. Tom manages to kill all the infected, but in doing so glimpses the creatures which results in him turning his gun on himself. Blindfolded, Malorie takes the children, also blindfolded, and the two birds wrapped in a shoe box to a rowboat next to a river.

Their journey is dangerous as described by the voice at the other end of the radio transmission. After some two days having survived raging rapids, an insane infected man, and even capsizing their boat in the rapids, they are washed ashore but by now separated. The creatures tease the children and Malorie to remove their blindfolds by mimicking the voices of loved ones but are unsuccessful as the three are reunited by the sounds of each others voices, and make it through dense woodland to the community guided by the sounds of tweeting birds, just as the voice had instructed.

Upon arriving Malorie and the two children are quickly taken in, and removing her blindfold very gingerly, sees that the compound is an old school for the blind, and most members of that community are blind, rendering them immune to the creatures. She kneels down and gives the children names, Olympia for the girl and Tom for the boy, and releases the birds from their box to join the many others flying above in an enclosed atrium, that have kept them free from harm for these past five years.

This film evoked memories of M. Night Shyamalan's 2008 post apocalyptic horror thriller 'The Happening' and more recently John Krasinski's 2018 post apocalyptic horror thriller 'A Quiet Place'. This film is below par compared with the latter, and would rate just about the same as the former elevated only by the performance of Sandra Bullock who once again turns it on as the everyday woman determined to overcome adversity and look fear in the face and say FU! The film falls somewhat short on suspense, scares and any real horror elements and lingers too long in the past, not long enough in the present and not at all in the intervening five years. As for the fate outside of Malorie's small little world, we are left but to wonder, and why certain individuals are left to roam free as 'carriers' of the creatures curse but not victims of suicide, also remains unclear. If post apocalyptic thrillers are your thing, and if during these extended school Summer holidays you are looking for two hours to sit and watch such an offering from the comfort of your own lounge, you could do worse than tune into 'Bird Box', but equally there's more compelling viewing out there too.  

'Bird Box' warrants three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, from a potential five.

 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE PREDATOR : Thursday 20th September 2018.

I finally caught 'THE PREDATOR' earlier this week, two weeks after its release in Australia. It has been 31 years since the cult classic alien man hunting character 'Predator' emerged onto our cinema screens with the titular action hero of that era Arnold Schwarzenegger going head to head and toe to toe with the said Predator in some undisclosed Central American jungle territory. With a crack team of hardened military rescue types who get picked off most gruesomely and violently one by one, it's Arnie who is the last man standing to face off against the menacing alien foe and save the day. That film was Directed by John McTiernan for US$18M and it took at the Box Office US$99M. On the strength of 'Predator' three sequels have so far materialised including this one. In between time there was 1990's 'Predator 2' Directed by Stephen Hopkins and then 2010's 'Predators' as Directed by Nimrod Antal and now 'The Predator' Directed by Shane Black. A crossover with the 'Alien' franchise produced the 'Alien vs. Predator' films, which to date have seen 'Alien vs. Predator' released in 2004 and 'Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem' released in 2007. This instalment was made for US$88M and has so far grossed US$68M and has garnered mixed Reviews generally.

Shane Black who Co-Starred in the original film back in 1987, and who Directs here and also Co-Wrote the Screenplay has stated that the film would be a sequel set in the present day, following on from the events of the first two films, but set before the events of the 'Predators'. He has also indicated that he looked for plot details from the previous Predator movies that he could retrospectively link back to the new film, and that if this instalment performs well, it could be the first in a planned trilogy.

The opening scene sees a spaceship hurtling through space and bursting through a wormhole emerging the other side with planet Earth in the distance. It crash lands somewhere on the outskirts of suburbia in a woodland area. Meanwhile Army sniper Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook) has assumed the undercover sniper position with a hostage retrieval situation going on down below, with his aim squarely on one of the antagonists about to make an exchange. He is communicating with four of his other colleagues all in position somewhere in the dense undergrowth. Just then the spaceship comes into view flying low over head and coming to a crashing halt somewhere close by. McKenna is caught off guard, fires a shot killing one of the goons below and then falls down an embankment coming to rest eventually not far from the stricken ship. He ventures to explore further and finds various pieces of hardware and technology, when a colleague arrives who is quickly dispensed with by an alien creature who strings him up and then slices him in half at the waist. This gives McKenna a split second to incapacitate the alien creature and make his get away.

Will Traeger (Sterling K. Brown) is a Government Agent and Director of the 'Stargazer Project' which has been monitoring the aliens comings and goings since their arrival in 1987, then in 1997 and more frequently with each passing year. He captures McKenna and interrogates him, but not before McKenna has mailed off the retrieved items of alien hardware to somewhere safe. Traeger has also captured the alien which he has termed a 'Predator' because it seems to hunt its prey for sport, and has it heavily sedated and bound in a laboratory for observation, testing and doubtless experimentation. He recruits Dr. Casey Bracket (Olivia Munn) an evolutionary biologist to aid the research team with their studies of the alien being. But of course its not long before the captured Predator breaks free of its shackles like they are dental floss, and promptly and with bloody efficiency dispenses with everyone wearing a white lab coat, or in a security uniform brandishing a firearm.

McKenna meanwhile is escorted out of the same premises and onto a bus with a rag tag bunch of other ex-soldiers all suffering from PTSD. This bunch are made up now of McKenna, ex-Marine Gaylord 'Nebraska' Williams (Trevante Rhodes), military veterans and war buddies Coyle and Baxley (Keegan-Michael Key and Thomas Jane respectively), Blackhawk helicopter pilot Nettles (Augusto Aguilera) and former Marine Lynch (Alfie Allen). Witnessing the alien escape across the roof top of the facility they are now exiting from, the bunch now believe what McKenna was telling them about visitors from outer space and promptly take over the bus over powering the two escorting security guards and the driver.

They see that Bracket has given chase across the roof top in hot pursuit of the Predator wielding a tranquilliser gun like she's Lara Croft. Traeger's Security Guards give chase and are ordered to kill her, but she is rescued by McKenna and his team who ride off on stolen motorcycles headed for the home of his ex-wife Emily (Yvonne Strahovski) and autistic son Rory (Jacob Tremblay) whom he mailed his package to of retrieved alien tech.

Arriving there, McKenna searches Rory's room for the tech but only finds the empty box. Rory has however, as it's Halloween, gone trick or treating down to the local neighbourhood, wearing the alien helmet and gauntlet in an attempt to avoid detection form a couple of nasty school bullies who seem intent on making Rory's life a misery. McKenna and his team split up roaming the streets searching for Rory, when an explosion in the distance alerts them to there being something amiss in da hood. They arrive to find Rory in a deserted floodlit football field in a standoff with two huge Predator dogs approaching menacingly.

Thwarting the dogs and rescuing Rory, the team make off into the seemingly safe harbourage of a nearby school. The Predator chases them in and corners McKenna, Rory and Bracket. Just as McKenna is about to return the alien tech to the Predator in a seemingly vain attempt to save his life, another much larger Predator bursts through the wall and begins to fight with the first, eventually throwing it onto the roof of a car and ripping off its head and extracting its spinal column in the process. The team escape while the Predators do battle with themselves, leaving the second larger more dominant and seemingly more advanced Predator to now locate the lost technology.

Bracket somehow deduces that the Predators are attempting to rapidly evolve themselves with the superior DNA of humans and other inhabitants of planets across the galaxy. The team regroups at an old barn, but Traeger tracks them down, captures them, and shares his thoughts that the Predators foresee that climate change within the next two generations at most will end their ability to retrieve human DNA for their ongoing hybridisation, so they are scrambling to retrieve it now before time and mankind runs out. Rory sketches a map to the spaceship and so Traeger takes the boy away to that location to use his autistic skills to unlock access to the ship. The team escapes and goes after him with the help of a Predator dog suddenly turned tame and obedient, recognising that it is really mans best friend who holds the upper hand in the food chain.

And so now all the interested parties gather at the crashed Predator ship - McKenna and his team, Traeger and his crew, and the second Predator having killed Lynch who was lurking in ambush but was outsmarted by the Predator. Traeger has set up translation equipment to convert Predator speak into the Queen's English, and so the pesky Predator explains through the translation software that it intends to blow up the ship to keep it out of their hands and then give them all a head start of a full seven-and-a-half minutes before it hunts them down predator like and mercilessly dispenses with them all. Needless to say, the Predator quickly kills off most of the team with what's left of McKenna's team and what's remaining for Traeger's crew both heading off in opposite directions in a seemingly futile attempt to thwart the bloodthirsty intergalactic alien antagonist. Traeger tries to use a Predator weapon on the alien but stupidly kills himself in the process.

The Predator captures Rory, believing that his autism is an advancement in human evolution and is consequently worthy of further Predator hybridisation. The Predator takes off in his ship. As it does so McKenna, Nebraska, and Nettles jump onto the ship's exterior hoping to gain access some how, but the Predator activates a force field that slices through Nettles at the waist and his upper body tumbles off the ship. Nebraska is caught on the outside of the force field, while McKenna is underneath it. Nebraska already injured and sensing no further hope, sacrifices himself into one of the ship's turbine engines, causing it to loose power and crash land. McKenna sneaks into the ship and attacks the Predator but is overcome by the strength and power of the alien. Bracket arrives, and with Rory, the three manage to overpower and kill it.

So, there are a few nods back to the first two instalments in this franchise which for the purposes of continuity and consistency are no bad thing. The quips and deadpan humour are here too which adds a certain levity to the violence and gore, and the cast are strong enough and evenly matched, although for me the young Jacob Tremblay is the stand out here displaying all the ticks and idiosyncrasies of a brilliant yet challenged mind. As for the story - well that's pretty shallow, with the audience expected to take huge leaps of faith for example with the apparent overnight programming of alien language translation technology; the rapid deduction that the Predators are harvesting human and other superior alien DNA to enhance their own evolution; and the reason they have visited our humble little blue planet is because of climate change. And there are other plot holes and other storylines that defy explanation too, but suffice to say, Shane Black has crafted a film that is entertaining enough, there is ample blood letting and dismembered bodies, and The Predator as portrayed here by Brian A. Prince, is a convincing antagonist, but you can leave your brain at the door, sit back and enjoy the rapid fire quips & quirks, and violence aplenty, but that's all that this reboot has going for it . . . rather disappointingly.

'The Predator' merits two claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, from a possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

12 STRONG : Tuesday 13th March 2018.

'12 STRONG' aka '12 Strong : The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers' which I caught earlier this week, is an American war drama film from Danish first time Director Nicolai Fuglsig and is based on Doug Stanton's New York Times Bestsellers non-fiction book 'Horse Soldiers' published in 2009. The film was released in the US in mid-January, cost US$35M to make and has so far grossed US$58M and has received mixed or average Reviews thus far. The film tells the story of CIA paramilitary officers, US Special Forces and USAF Combat Controllers, sent to Afghanistan immediately following the September 11 attacks.

The film open up with Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth) moving into a new family home with his wife Jean (Elsa Pataky) and young cute as a button daughter Maddy. It is early morning and the family are busying themselves unpacking their worldly possessions, before packing Maddy off to school for the day. The television is switched on playing the early morning cartoons. It is September 11th 2001. The cartoon broadcast is interrupted by live footage of the plane attacks on the World Trade Centre twin towers, and the Pentagon. The family look on in stunned disbelief.

Next we see Nelson marching briskly into some Army HQ where he had previously (upon request) been assigned to staff duty following several years as a combat trainer, although never having seen active duty himself nor fired a shot in anger. He volunteers to lead Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) 595 into Afghanistan to do battle with the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks, but his commanding officer Lt. Col. Max Bowers (Rob Riggle) has very different ideas for him. Frustrated, his colleague Chief Warrant Officer Hal Spencer (Michael Shannon) who is about to retire, volunteers for this additional assignment, and puts in a good word to Bowers about Nelson's leadership attributes, which has the desired effect.

Before you know it, Nelson's team is assembled and their off to Uzbekistan having farewelled their families. It is early October 2001, some four weeks following the attacks. At an Army Base Camp, Nelson and Spencer receive their orders from Special Forces Group Commander Col. John Mulholland (William Fichtner) who selects their team over five others, because Nelson saw what they were going into for what it was, was well researched, and despite not having seen active duty had a raw determination to succeed, quickly and diligently.

Those orders given to Nelson and Spencer were to locate the Northern Alliance and befriend the leader Abdul Rashid Dostum (Navid Negahban) and gain his trust in waging war against The Taliban and al-Qaida and ultimately capture the strategically placed city of Mazar-i-Sharif - the fourth largest city of Afghanistan located in the country's north.

After a night time drop under cover of darkness and flying at an altitude that their transport Chinook Helicopter can barely withstand, the team of twelve men, led by Nelson, are dropped off forty miles or so south of Mazar-i-Sharif. They assemble with the local militia at a nearby village and hunker down for the remaining night. The next morning Dostum arrives on horseback, and after an exchange of pleasantries, the requisite goodwill gifts and getting-to-know-you which is a little hostile, the team of twelve are split in two, because Dostum only has six spare horses. Six, including Nelson depart for the mountains with Dostum and his men, leaving the other six, including Spencer to wait it out in the fortified village, known as 'The Alamo', pending further instructions.

Following several battles with The Taliban in the mountain terrain over the next few days, Nelson becomes increasingly agitated with Dostum for not divulging his plan of attack, and acting carelessly with the lives of his men. Dostum in turn accuses Nelson, and the US for not caring about the future of his country and are therefore unwilling to sacrifice for it. Later, the pair reconcile their differences when Dostum sees just how tough and determined Nelson is. Dostum in turn advises that he hates The Taliban so much for killing his family, at the hands of one of their leaders Mullah Razzan (Numan Acar).

By now Spencer and his five men have travelled on horseback into the mountains to meet up with Nelson, some faring better than others along the rocky terrain. After a number of skirmishes with The Taliban which result in victories for the Northern Alliance, Dostum is making headway towards Mazar-i-Sharif. However, the US Government sends an e-mail to Nelson demanding to know why progress is so slow when the might of Uncle Sam is providing tactical air support with on demand bombing raids.

Nelson responds laying it out exactly as it is, but not before Mulholland has mobilised a second ODA team to support Atta Muhammad, another Northern Alliance leader who is a political rival to Dostum, and for whom there is no love lost between the two men. Nelson has to explain this course of action to Dostum, who responds less than favourably to the news, and does an exit stage left with his men abandoning Nelson to his own devices. Nelson must progress with the plan regardless, and from high up in the mountains at a pinch point in the pass attacks a strategically held Taliban strong hold that they must overthrow to gain access to Mazar-i-Sharif, but encounters heavy resistance from Razzan and his well armed men.

Under attack form all sides, Spencer and his men hold off a group of Taliban fighters, who make as if to surrender. Not knowing if they are serious or not, Spencer treads very carefully and cautiously, just as a suicide bomber close by detonates his explosive vest, badly injuring Spencer and killing various others - mostly of the Taliban kind. Nelson orders a medevac for Spencer before joining the fray once more against the heavily fortified Taliban. Dostum appears with his militia men and the now strengthened combined forces repel the Taliban on horseback all guns blazing, and Dostum kills a fleeing Razzan.

Dostum and Atta Muhammad meet on the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif overseen by Nelson, who is fearing the worst when the two meet. But Dostum holds out his hand and congratulates his Northern Alliance ally today (for tomorrow he may feel differently). Upon arriving back at the Army Base Camp, Nelson learns that Spencer has survived meaning that all twelve men who went out, returned safe. ODA 595 return home to the US after 23 days in country.

This is a well made based on a true story recent war film that is underpinned by great cinematography, well realised action set pieces, a strong cast and a lesser known story of heroics against the odds delivered by an unproven Captain leading a small but capable band of brothers into the very first US engagement with the Taliban following the 9/11 attacks. The film however, lacks depth - it lurches from one bloody confrontation to another with aerial shots of bombs dropping on the terrain and wiping out Taliban strongholds, and how the few horseridng soldiers and local militia so successfully manage to wipe out hordes of well armed, mountain dwelling Taliban. Uncle Sam wields his can of whoop ass in the usual predictable manner against a local enemy that boasts numbers, firepower, resilience and motivation, but fear not because truth, justice and the American way will prevail. And other than Nelson, Spencer, intelligence Sergeant Sam Diller (Michael Pena) and weapons expert Ben Milo (Trevante Rhodes) we get to know very little about the eight remaining ODA 595 Team, who all survive and come back home against seemingly overwhelming odds largely unscathed, which is surprising in itself, but clearly fact! Like 'The Magnificent 12' riding in to Dodge to right the wrongs of the local cattle rustlers, this surrogate Western film deals with the action and less of the motivation, the emotion, the consequences, or what's going on around the periphery . . . but I guess that is the point here, and for that you can't fault the film.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 26th January 2017.

Continuing with the Awards Season updates, the 43rd Annual People's Choice Awards were held at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles on 18th January 2017, recognising the people and their work in popular culture as voted by the general public. In the film category (there are also music, television and digital categories amounting to a total 65 awards handed out on the night) there are sixteen awards given as highlighted below. The ceremony was hosted by Actor, Comedian, Writer, Producer and Television Personality Joel McHale.

* Favourite Movie and Favourite Family Movie : 'FINDING DORY'
* Favourite Thriller Movie : 'THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN'
* Favourite Drama Movie : 'ME BEFORE YOU'
* Favourite Action Movie : 'DEADPOOL'
* Favourite Comedy Movie : 'BAD MOMS'
* Favourite Movie Actor : Ryan Reynolds
* Favourite Movie Actress : Jennifer Lawrence
* Favourite Action Movie Actor : Robert Downey Jnr.
* Favourite Action Movie Actress : Margot Robbie
* Favourite Dramatic Movie Actor : Tom Hanks
* Favourite Dramatic Movie Actress : Blake Lively
* Favourite Comedy Movie Actor : Kevin Hart
* Favourite Comedy Movie Actress : Melissa McCarthy
* Favourite Animated Movie Voice : Ellen DeGeneres for 'FINDING DORY'
* Favourite Movie Icon : Johnny Depp

This week there are four new offerings coming to your local multiplex or independent theatre. We start off with a prohibition era gangster film charting one mans rise to the top of the heap as seen through the lens of this Actor who also Writes and Directs in this his fourth feature behind the camera. We then move to a hugely acclaimed coming of age drama charting the life of one lad from young boyhood to manhood and his sexual awakenings and the drug scene that makes him what he is. Next up is an intense psychological thriller of multiple split personalities and the kidnapping of three girls as Directed by the master of suspense and surprises, and a career defining performance from the lead Actor, before wrapping up with the sixth instalment in a huge video game adapted film franchise that features the undead, mutant monsters and an evil corporation hell bent on wiping out civilisation as we know it.

As always you are cordially invited to share your movie going insights, observations and opinions with your like minded Cinephiles here at Odeon Online by leaving your relevant, constructive and pertinent Comment below this or any other Post. Meanwhile, enjoy your film in the week ahead.

'LIVE BY NIGHT' (Rated MA15+) - acclaimed Actor, Producer, Screenwriter and Director Ben Affleck is back with his fourth Directorial offering after 2007's 'Gone Baby Gone', 2010's 'The Town' and 2012's 'Argo', but with this 1920's era gangster offering based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane he has so far garnered his most lacklustre Director reviews. With Affleck Directing and starring as well taking the script credit and a Co-Producer credit alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, featuring a strong cast and a budget of US$65M the film has grossed just US$16M since its US release at Christmas. Perhaps timing is everything given the time of the year the film is released, what it is up against at the Box Office and the awards seasons focusing attention on more critically acclaimed fare. All that said, there are positives to be had, including strong visuals, an impressive cast and an entertainment factor - just not in the same league as Affleck's other three award winning feature films.

Set in Prohibition era Boston initially where Joe Coughlin (Ben Affleck) has been raised by his father Thomas Coughlin (Brendan Gleeson) the head of the Boston Police Department. When Joe falls in love with Emma Gould (Sienna Miller), the mistress of Albert White (Robert Glenister) who is the figurehead of the Irish Gang of Boston, the rival Italian Mafia Boss blackmails Joe to kill White. When he refuses he flees to California with Emma and along the way commits a daring bank robbery in which three policemen are killed. When Joe is imprisoned on a lesser charge he falls into the clutches of the Mafia Boss and is sent to Tampa, Florida to protect the interests of his rum production empire. Joe himself starts to rise to (underworld) prominence by investing in clubs and casino's but is targeted by the Ku Klux Klan starting an all out war for dominance, but where and how will it all end? Also starring Chris Cooper, Elle Fanning and Zoe Saldana.

'MOONLIGHT' (Rated M) - Written for the screen and Directed by Barry Jenkins based on the play 'In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue' by Tarell Alvin McCraney, this film has gained universal acclaim since its release Stateside in October last year, has made US$16M from its US$5M budget outlay and has garnered an impressive 140 award wins and another 222 nominations including The Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture plus five other nominations, four BAFTA nominations with winners yet to be announced and the yet to be released Academy Award hopefuls. Telling the coming of age story in three distinct chapters, we here chart the life of young Chiron (Alex Hibbert) known as 'Little' because of his meek and mild personality and stature. He lives with his abusive drug addicted mother Paula (Naomi Harris) in Miami whom he hates. In the second chapter Chiron is now a teenager played by Ashton Sanders. Here Chiron has his first sexual encounter, and gets arrested as a result of being the victim of an initiation ritual. In the final chapter Chiron now known as 'Black' (played by Trevante Rhodes) is a drug dealer in Atlanta. Grappling with himself across three defining segments in his life, this films charts the pain and torment of growing up, the pleasure and beauty of love and the consequences of your actions on your own life and those around you. Disturbing, heartbreaking, personal, tender and insightful this is a grounded drama that should be on your must see list.

'SPLIT' (Rated M) - Written, Co-Produced and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan this is described as a psychological horror film, but for me it's fits more in the thriller domain and certainly is edge of the seat stuff as the story progresses. The film costs US$10M to make and represents a return to form for the Writer/Director following 2015's successful found footage horror offering 'The Visit' which cost just US$5M and returned US$99M and was well received by Critics. The film kicks off in a fast food restaurant where a bunch of teenage girls are wrapping up celebrating a birthday party. Claire (Haley Lu Richardson) and Marcia (Jessica Sula) are wanting to go home with Dad who refuses to leave outsider Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) alone without a lift home. A few moments pass, and in the car park and into the drivers seat gets a stranger that none of the girls have seen before. Before you know it he sprays a chemical into each of the girls faces that instantly renders them unconscious. Dad is nowhere to be seen. The unknown captor drives off with the three girls. The character at the heart of the film is Kevin Wendell Crumb suffering from dissociative identity disorder whereby he frequently exhibits the personality traits of any one of 23 alternate personalities (all of them played out expertly by James McAvoy). As these characters manifest themselves they can be dangerous, monstrous, creepy, funny, harmless, young, old, male, female. What unfolds as these alternate personalities spring forth is the emergence of an all powerful, dominant, almost superhuman 24th personality known only as 'The Beast' which Kevin's analyst, Dr. Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley), can only begin to understand, and whilst the three held captive girls attempt to escape their captor. I caught an early viewing of this film a week before its Australian release, so check out my full Review posted on 20th January if you want more.

'RESIDENT EVIL : THE FINAL CHAPTER' (Rated MA15+) - this film sees the sixth instalment in the Sci-Fi action horror series that began its big screen life back in 2002 having been adapted for the screen from the popular video game of the same name. Back then Paul W.S. Anderson was hired to Write and Direct - a role he stuck with four of the films including the last three as Director, as Writer on all six and as Co-Producer on all six too. Milla Jovovich has played Alice, the #1 kick-ass leather clad protagonist in all six films fighting against the Umbrella Corporation, the main antagonist in the series - a bioengineering pharmaceutical company that creates bioweapons. Umbrella was responsible for the zombie apocalypse, which occurred after the corporation's T-virus infected the Earth's population. The first five films cost a combined US$250M to make, and so far those films have returned US$916M with 'The Final Chapter' earning so far US$35M since its release in Japan at Christmas. The film is released in the US on 27th January. Here the story takes place three weeks after the events closed out 'Resident Evil : Retribution' that sees Alice return to Raccoon City where it all began and where Umbrella Corporation are gathering forces and readying themselves for the final attack on the remaining survivors of the apocalypse. As Alice joins forces with some old allies and friends you can bet it will be a bloody brutal battle against marauding hordes of the undead and pesky mutant monster types. The films also stars Ruby Rose, Iain Glen, Ali Larter and Shawn Roberts.

For films aimed squarely at the late-teen market and above this week, but offering the undead, unhinged split personalities, prohibition gangsters, and one mans coming of age story with the back drop of the War on Drugs. What's not to like here? Get yourself out to a movie theatre in the week ahead and catch a film of choice as Previewed here, or as Reviewed previously. In the meantime, I'll see you in the coming week sometime, somewhere at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-