What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 22nd September 2016

The release of Oliver Stone's 'Snowden' this week marks the Director's 25th feature film in a long, varied, successful and at times controversial career dating back to 1971 as an Actor, Screenwriter, Producer and Director that has seen him collect numerous Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards for his Direction and as Producer. Here is a quick summary of the man's back catalogue to date :-

* 1974 - 'Seizure' - Horror - Director | Co-Writer
* 1981 - 'The Hand' - Horror - Director | Writer
* 1986 - 'Salvador' - War Drama - Director | Producer | Co-Writer
* 1986 - 'Platoon' - War Drama - Director | Writer
* 1987 - 'Wall Street' - Drama - Director | Co-Writer
* 1988 - 'Talk Radio' - Drama - Director | Co-Writer
* 1989 - 'Born on the Fourth of July' - War Drama - Director | Producer | Co-Writer
* 1991 - 'The Doors' - Biographical Drama - Director | Co-Writer
* 1991 - 'JFK' - Biographical Drama - Director | Producer | Co-Writer
* 1993 - 'Heaven & Earth' - War Drama - Director | Producer | Writer
* 1994 - 'Natural Born Killers' - Crime Drama - Director | Co-Writer
* 1995 - 'Nixon' - Biographical Drama - Director | Producer | Co-Writer
* 1997 - 'UTurn' - Crime Drama - Director | Co-Writer
* 1999 - 'Any Given Sunday' - Sports Drama - Director | Producer | Co-Writer
* 2003 - 'Persona Non Grata' - Political Documentary - Director
* 2003 - 'Commandante' - Political Documentary - Director
* 2004 - 'Alexander' - Historical Epic - Director | Co-Writer
* 2004 - 'Looking for Fidel' - Political Documentary - Director
* 2006 - 'World Trade Centre' - Disaster Drama - Director
* 2008 - 'W.' - Biographical Drama - Director
* 2009 - 'South of the Border' - Political Documentary - Director
* 2010 - 'Wall Street : Money Never Sleeps' - Drama - Director
* 2012 - 'Savages' - Crime Drama - Director | Co-Writer
* 2012 - 'The Untold History of the United States' - Documentary series - Director | Writer
* 2016 - 'Snowden' - Biographical Drama - Director | Co-Writer

Along the way Oliver Stone also Written or Co-Wrote the Screenplays for 'Midnight Express' (1978), 'Conan the Barbarian' (1982), 'Scarface' (1983), 'Year of the Dragon' (1985), 'Eight Million Ways To Die' (1985) and 'Evita' (1996). All up, that's a fairly prolific track record!

Turning out attention to this week we have just three new movies coming to your local neighbourhood cinema screen, kicking off with a biographical telling of a whistleblower extraordinaire in the very recent past that caused a major upset in his own country and in others when he spilled the beans. Then we have two very different animated offerings both featuring animals - one from Sony Imageworks featuring delivery birds and a 'newborn', and another from Studio Ghibli featuring a giant turtle and a man stranded on a desert island.

As every week you are invited to leave your own critique when you have sat through your film of choice in the coming week, by leaving a remark or two in the Comments Box below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear your views too, and in the meantime, enjoy your movie.

'SNOWDEN' (Rated M) - this biographical political drama was Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Oliver Stone and based on the books 'The Snowden Files' by The Guardian's foreign correspondent Luke Harding, and 'The Time of the Octopus' by Russian lawyer and Doctor of Law Anatoly Kucherena. The former is an in depth biography of Edward Snowden's story, and the latter is a story of a fictional American whistleblower seeking asylum in Russia. The film rights for both books were acquired by Oliver Stone and form the foundation of this account of Edward Snowden, who hit the international headlines in mid-2013 for leaking classified information from the National Security Agency to The Guardian in the June of that year. With an all star cast, Stone was so worried about filming in the US and reprisals from the NSA, that he shot the film mostly outside of the US in Munich and Hong Kong with some footage filmed in Washington D.C. and Hawaii. A controversial man and a controversial story with Snowden being hailed a whistleblower, a dissident, a hero, a freedom fighter, a patriot and a traitor - you can decide for yourself!

Featuring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Edward Snowden and Shailene Woodley as his girlfriend Lindsay Mills, the film tells the story of this American computer professional, former Central Intelligence Agency employee and former contractor for the United States government who copied and leaked classified information from the NSA without any authorisation. His disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and Governments across Europe. After leaving his job at an NSA facility in Hawaii, Snowden flew to Hong Kong and in early June 2013 he revealed thousands of classified NSA documents to numerous journalists which then appeared in The Guardian and The Washington Post and other newspapers including Der Spiegel and The New York Times. After being charged by the US Government on two counts of espionage and theft of classified information he flew to Moscow seeking asylum which he was granted for twelve months, subsequently extended to three years. He remains in Russia as of this date, and co-operated in the making of this film. Also starring Zachary Quinto, Nicolas Cage, Tom Wilkinson, Scott Eastwood, Timothy Olyphant, Rhys Ifans, Melissa Leo, and Joely Richardson . . . and Edward Snowden. The film cost US$40M to make.

'STORKS' (Rated G) - here's one for the younger and the young at heart just in time for the Australian September school holiday fortnight. This CG animated adventure comedy has home delivery storks as its premise, but no longer the kind that deliver oh so cute babies to expecting parents you understand. In this era of social media, on-line shopping and next day delivery, storks deliver packages for a global giant internet shopping business called CornerStore.com. Junior (voiced by Adam Samberg) is a white stork and also the company's #1 delivery stork and in line for promotion, when inadvertently he activates a baby making machine and hey presto, out pops a beautiful cute and so unauthorised baby girl. Before boss Hunter (voiced by Kelsey Grammer) gets wind of the recent baby arrival, it's up to Junior and Tulip (voiced by Katie Crown) the only human working at CornerStore.com to devise a cunning plan to deliver the baby girl, create a family unit and return the storks to their true calling in life. Written, Co-Produced and Co-Directed by Nicholas Stoller and starring the other voice talents of Jennifer Aniston, Danny Trejo, Ty Burrel and Keegan-Michael Key.

'THE RED TURTLE' (Rated PG) - Co-Written and Directed in his debut feature film by Dutch/British animator Michael Dudok de Wit in collaboration with the famed Japanese Studio Ghibli this dialogue free animated feature length film has so far wowed audience the world over where it has been shown on the festival circuit and so far released. It premiered in the Un Certain Regard category at Cannes earlier this year and took out the Special Prize for the films Director. Here a shipwrecked sailor is washed up on a desert island and exploring his new found home he soon discovers it to be a little piece of paradise with swaying palm trees, freshwater rock pools, rocky outcrops and a bamboo forest. However, despite his idyllic surrounding he is desperate to leave, and over time as he attempts to do so his plans are thwarted by a giant red turtle. This fable or fairy tale type offering is open to your own interpretation but it explores nature and mans interaction with it when there is no alternative and he has to succumb to its beauty, its power and its wonder. Drawn beautifully, this simple tale is a must see on the big screen.

With just three offerings this week and a whole bunch of other great movies out on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed here, you have every reason to get out to your local picture house for two hours of escapism and entertainment. Share your views here when you have done so. I'll see you in the week ahead at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-