What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 6th October 2016.

What is it about real life drama and true story disaster films that make them so compelling? Perhaps it is because we see everyday people thrust into extraordinary circumstances competing against all the odds to rise victorious, overcome adversity and conquer their fears in order to survive in situations that we may remember from television and media reports in the recent past, or yesteryear. As such they are relateable, memorable, and believable stories grounded in reality no matter how much poetic license or big budget expense Hollywood can throw at them, think 1997's 'Titanic' as the mother of them all! And even disaster epics based on fictitious circumstances can be as equally compelling - think 1974's 'The Towering Inferno', or 1972's 'The Poseidon Adventure' or 1962's 'The Day of the Triffids' to name but a few classics.

This year alone we have had six big screen renditions of real life disasters that I can think of quickly - those being :-
* 'The 33' - based on the 2005 Chilean gold and copper mine collapse leaving 33 men buried underground for 69 days,
* '13 Hours : The Secret Soldiers of the Benghazi' - based on the 2012 Islamic militant attack on the US Embassy in Libya, and how six soldiers engaged in fierce firefighting to protect the lives of American diplomats and operatives,
* 'The Finest Hours' - based on the 1952 voyage of the SS Pendleton which was ripped in two by a huge storm, and the US Coastguard rescue mission to retrieve 30 sailors stranded in the ships sinking stern section,
* 'Sherpa' - based on the 2014 Mount Everest expedition and told from the Sherpa's perspective when an avalanche killed sixteen Sherpa's, and the actions taken as a consequence,
* 'Sully' - based on the 2009 emergency landing of a US Airways Flight on the Hudson River by Flight Captain Chesley Sullenberger that saved every one of the 155 passengers and crew on board,
* 'Deepwater Horizon' - based on the 2010 oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico that killed eleven people and caused an unprecedented oil spillage and environmental and social disaster, and as Previewed below.

This week there are just three new releases that first up tells the true story of an off-shore disaster that came at a significant human, environmental and social cost just a few short years ago; then a best seller adaptation of the domestic psychological thriller type that is sure to leave you guessing and on the edge of your seat just as 'Gone Girl' did before it; and finally from an acclaimed Russian Director comes this historical drama at the museum as two opposing sides join forces to save an art collection.

As always, you are warmly invited to leave your own cinematic critique when you have sat through your movie of choice in the week ahead, by leaving a Comment below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your film.

'DEEPWATER HORIZON' (Rated M) - for those who don't know, the Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater, dynamically positioned, semi-submersible offshore drilling rig owned by Transocean. Built in 2001 in South Korea the rig was leased to the British Petroleum Company (BP) from 2001 until September 2013. In September 2009, the rig drilled the deepest oil well in history at a vertical depth of 10,700m in the Tiber Oil Field at Keathley Canyon block 102, approximately 400kms southeast of Houston, in 1,300m of water. On 20 April 2010, while drilling at the Macondo Prospect, an uncontrollable blowout caused an explosion on the rig that killed eleven crewmen and ignited a fireball visible from 65kms away. The fire was inextinguishable and, two days later, on 22 April, the Deepwater Horizon sank, leaving the well gushing oil at the seabed and causing the largest oil spill in U.S. waters. The oil spill that resulted continued until 15th July 2010 when it was finally capped off. Subsequently, BP have made it known that they have had to pay of US$55B in clean up costs and fines and that aside from themselves, Halliburton, the services contractor, and Transocean as the rig operator were also at fault.

This film charts that story as Directed by Peter Berg and made for US$156M that takes place in the Gulf of Mexico with the events leading up to that massive human, social, ecological and financial disaster. Starring Mark Wahlberg as electrician and oil rigger Mike Williams (whom Peter Berg has Directed previously in 'Lone Survivor' and the upcoming 'Patriots Day') who returning from some family time with his wife Felicia (Kate Hudson) and ten year old daughter Sydney (Stella Allen) is looking at a three week shift on the DWH. Arriving with other shift starters there is Gina Rodriguez as the only female on the crew, Kurt Russell as the rig's chief supervisor, Dylan O'Brien as the rig's youngest crew member, and John Malkovich as the BP engineer and rig supervisor. When a series of safety inspections don't yield the test results as expected or required, the worst fears of those on board the rig don't take long to become a horrifying reality. Here Wahlberg plays the grounded everyman thrust into extraordinary circumstances to help rescue some of his co-workers while his family and the world watch on as ultimately the DWH disappears into the ocean into a deep fiery grave. Featuring a top cast who do not overplay the heroics, top notch effects and a story that is a believable, authentic telling of human courage in the face of adversity writ large.

'THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN' (Rated MA15+) - this psychological thriller drama is based on the best selling book of the same name by British author Paula Hawkins. The book was Hawkins debut, and it remained on the New York Times Best Seller list for 13 weeks upon release in early 2015, and by August this year had sold eleven million copies worldwide. Now coming to a big screen near you, the book has been adapted for the big screen by Erin Cressida Wilson and Directed by Tate Taylor (who most recently brought us the James Brown bio-pic 'Get On Up' and before that 'The Help') and stars Emily Blunt as Rachel Watson - a divorcee with a drink problem who left her husband Tom (Justin Theroux) after she caught him cheating on her. Everyday she takes the train to work and muses about the apparent perfect life of her neighbours Scott and Megan Hipwell (Luke Evans and Haley Bennett). One day however, en route to work gazing out of her window seat she witnesses something suspicious and shocking and subsequently Megan goes missing and is later presumed dead. What's a girl to do? Also starring Edgar Ramirez, Lisa Kudrow and Rebecca Ferguson.

'FRANCOFONIA' (Rated M) - premiering at the Venice Film Festival back in September 2015, this drama Directed and Written by Alexander Sokurov who brought us the highly acclaimed single take 'The Russian Ark' in 2002 is out on a very limited release here in Australia and you'll have to hunt it down to catch it in all its majesty on the big screen. Set in 1940 its tells the story of The Louvre in Paris and how its museum director Jacques Jaujard (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing) and German Officer the Count Franz Wolff-Metternich (Benjamin Utzerath) work together to protect the precious and priceless artworks from the Nazi's. Beautifully filmed and richly rewarding this film interweaves the ravages of war with the need to preserve our history and culture through art.

With three top films from which to choose your night out at the movies, you would be hard pressed not to find something to like here, or amongst those out on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed here at Odeon Online previously. Whatever you decide upon, share your views with us here, and in the meantime, I'll see you at the Odeon in the week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-