RAMBO : LAST BLOOD - Friday 27th September 2019.

'RAMBO : LAST BLOOD' is Rated R18+, which I saw for nostalgic reasons last week, because I grew up on a diet of '80's action movies featuring Sylvester Stallone and his contemporaries - among them none other than our titular fractured Vietnam War vet, John Rambo. So here we have what is likely to be (judging by the title) the last in the 'Rambo' action thriller film franchise that Actor, Director and Writer Sylvester Stallone has made his own. The franchise launched in 1982 with 'First Blood', then in 1985 with 'Rambo : First Blood Part II', then in 1988 with 'Rambo III' and in 2008 with 'Rambo', and now 'Last Blood' marks the fifth instalment. The series of four films so far were made for a combined US$153M and grossed worldwide US$728M and gave rise to an animated television series, comic books, novels, video games and even a Bollywood remake. Created by David Morrell in his debut 1972 novel 'First Blood' Stallone has played the title character of John Rambo in all films as a US Army Green Berets veteran who is traumatised by his experience in the Vietnam War, and uses the particular set of skills he gained there to fight police, enemy troops, drug cartels and anyone indiscriminate enough to get in his way. Stallone Co-Wrote the screenplays of all five films, and Directed 2008's 'Rambo'.

Here in only his second feature film Directing gig, after 'Get the Gringo' with Mel Gibson in 2012, Adrian Grunberg was announced as Director in August 2018 after ten years of to-ing and fro-ing on again off again Writing and Directing false starts. The film was made for US$50M, has so far recovered US$47M and garnered mostly negative press.

And so we join John Rambo attempting to rescue three wayward mountain hikers during the mother of all rainstorms. John is on his trusted steed and the gale force winds and driving rain are forcing the local search and rescue team off the mountain. Rambo comes across the dead body of the one of the hikers and continues his search. He comes across the other two cowering for shelter - one of whom wants to go off in search of his wife (the same dead body that Rambo saw earlier) and refuses Rambo's help, leaving a young woman to be rescued from an advancing torrent of water heading down the mountain towards them. Needless to say, Rambo saves the young woman, but not the other two.

As the storm clears and dawn rises we see Rambo riding back to his deceased fathers horse ranch somewhere in Arizona, settling the horse back in the stable and taking breakfast with his old friend with whom he manages the ranch, Maria Beltran (Adriana Barraza). Living with them is also Gabriela (Yvette Monreal), Maria's granddaughter, who has done so for the last ten years or so since her mother died of cancer and her father ran out on her never to be seen or heard from since.

Following an afternoon of horse riding together Gabriela reveals to Rambo that a friend of hers, Gizelle (Fenessa Pineda), has been able to locate Gabriela's biological father, Miguel (Rick Zingale), in Mexico. Against Rambo and Maria's staunch wishes, Gabriela secretly drives to Mexico to ask why Miguel had abandoned her and her mother years ago. Gizelle leads Gabriela to Miguel's apartment, where he tells her in no uncertain terms that he never really cared for Gabriela or her mother and that it was easy for him to turn his back on them. Heartbroken by this news, and now realising that the words of Rambo and Maria were correct in the first place, Gizelle takes Gabriele to a local night club where she is drugged and kidnapped by a local cartel for use in their own highly lucrative underground sex trade.

In the meantime, Maria has learned of Gabriela's disappearance in Mexico, and advises Rambo. He drives down to Mexico and interrogates both Miguel and Gizelle about Gabriela's whereabouts. Miguel has no idea but Gizelle is a different story. Rambo is reluctantly taken by Gizelle to the club where Gabriela was last seen, and confronts El Flaco (Pascacio Lopez) the man who was last seen with Gabriela, with non life threatening but very painful injuries. A mysterious woman, Carmen Delgado (Paz Vega) who was drinking alone at the bar, spied Rambo and noticed his actions watching El Flaco. She follows Rambo from a distance as El Flaco leads him to Gabriela's location.

Rambo is immediately confronted by armed members of the cartel led by Hugo and Victor Martinez (Sergio Peris-Mencheta and Oscar Jaenada respectively), then set upon, beaten up and marked by Victor with a cross carved into the cheek. They take his driver's license, revealing the ranch's location, and a photo of Gabriela, whom Victor recognises. The cartel vow to mistreat Gabriela further due to Rambo's intervention in their business, but Hugo lets Rambo live, much to Victor's disgust. So Victor promptly takes out his anger and frustration on the captive Gabriela.

Carmen takes Rambo back to her home where she cares for him until he fully recovers, and has a friend, who is a doctor, who gives him the once over, and stitches up his cheek. After four days, and Rambo has made a rapid recovering from the heavy beatings he sustained, Carmen reveals herself to be an independent journalist who has been investigating the Martinez brothers, the kidnappers and murderers of her own sister two years ago. Rambo later raids one of the brothels, killing several men until he finds a heavily drugged Gabriela. On the way back home in his pick-up truck, Rambo thanks Gabriela for giving him hope and purpose for the last ten years before she dies from a forced drug overdose.

Enraged, Rambo has Maria move away for her own safety suspecting that the Martinez brothers will now come after him. Over the course of the following week or so Rambo rigs the ranch and its labyrinth of underground tunnels built by Rambo many years ago for reasons that are not all that clear, with traps for a pending confrontation. The montage incidentally of Rambo digging trenches, setting booby traps, fixing up all manner of deadly weapons (and many of the DIY kind), and concealing shotguns, assault rifles, pistols, knives, axes, and bows in real time must have taken a couple of weeks but here it is glanced over as though it's all in a days work!

When his work is done (and you also have to wonder why the Martinez brothers leave it for so long to allow Rambo to prepare himself) he then returns back to Mexico to ask Carmen's help in finding Victor. Carmen initially refuses, believing that it will solve nothing, but is convinced after Rambo appeals to her grief and frustrations.

Rambo locates Victor's home, kills several armed guards and ultimately decapitates Victor. When the Police arrive, the paparazzi and Hugo they are confronted by the bloody scene all thorough the house and Victors headless body laying upright on his bed with a knife through his heart, and Rambo's driving license showing his address. On his drive back home, on a deserted highway Rambo dumps Victor's severed head out of the window.

Needless to say this is an open invitation for Hugo to retaliate, and in force. Hugo leads a group of his crack hitmen to Rambo's ranch, where each falls victim to the rigged traps. Cars get blown up and Hugo's henchmen all succumb to being burned to death, stabbed, speared, spiked, shot, sliced, diced and crushed in the most gruesome and violent means possible. 

Saving Hugo for last, after Rambo has detonated the extensive network of tunnels so forcing Hugo out, he leads him to the barn. There with pinpoint accuracy Rambo pins Hugo to the barn door using four very carefully targeted arrows with his crossbow. Rambo mutilates him by plunging his knife into his chest and ripping out his heart. In the aftermath, a weakened Rambo who has sustained two shots to his upper body, sits on the porch of his father's house in his favourite rocking chair, vowing to continue fighting and to keep the memories of his loved ones alive.

With any 'Rambo' film you know exactly what your in for, and here the 73 year old Actor and Writer Sly Stallone once again ramps up the action, the blood letting and the graphic violence. It seems that in 'Rambo : Last Blood' age shall not weary him - at least where the gratuitous multiple deaths are concerned, and all delivered in creative and inventive ways in the name of revenge. But outside of the killings, John Rambo has spent the last ten years ageing peacefully in small town America, trying to put his past life behind him and getting emotionally attached to two people he now holds dear - one of whom is abruptly and prematurely extinguished from his life. And for this, the perpetrators will pay the ultimate price! And they do, spilling their precious crimson stuff all over the place. If you're a die-hard fan of the Rambo franchise and like your body count high and delivered graphically, then this film is for you, but if you're not, then you're best off steering clear. At the tender rage of 73 Stallone still proves that he's got what it takes in the action genre to pack a punch and wield a knife, and thankfully this time around he keeps his shirt on, and his bandanna off, but don't expect too much smart dialogue or stirring emotion.

'Rambo : Last Blood' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

AD ASTRA : Tuesday 24th September 2019.

'AD ASTRA' is an M-Rated American Sci-Fi adventure offering that has so far received universal acclaim following its World Premier screening at the Venice International Film Festival on the 29th August, and which I saw at my local independent movie theatre earlier this week. Directed, Written and Co-Produced by James Gray whose previous film making credits include his 1994 debut 'Little Odessa' and then 'The Yards', 'We Own the Night', 'Two Lovers', 'The Immigrant' and 'The Lost City of Z' most recently, the meaning of the title when interpreted from its Latin phrase means 'to the stars'. To that end, Gray described his desire for the film to be 'the most realistic depiction of space travel that's been put in a movie', and whether or not he has succeeded in that aim, only you can decide. The movie cost in the region of US$100M to make and has so far grossed US$51M since its worldwide release last week.

Set sometime in the not too distant future, Earth’s solar system is struck by random yet repeated mysterious power surges, potentially threatening all of human life. After surviving an incident caused by once such surge, which sees Major Roy McBride (Brad Pitt), plummet uncontrollably from miles above the Earth's surface, the son of famed astronaut Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones), is advised by U.S. Space Command that the surges have been traced to the 'Lima Project'. The Project was launched to search the far reaches of our Solar System for intelligent life forms, under Clifford's leadership – from whom nothing has been heard of for sixteen years since reaching Neptune.

Informed that Clifford may still be alive, Roy accepts a mission to travel to Mars to try and establish communication with him, joined by his father’s old associate Colonel Pruitt (Donald Sutherland). Roy McBride and Pruitt board a commercial flight bound for the Moon, and upon arrival are escorted by US military personnel to the Space Command base. 

En route in three lunar rovers, accompanied by security officers for their safe passage to another remote base on the dark side of the Moon, they are ambushed by scavenging pirates, who kill most of the group, except for McBride and Pruitt. However, upon reaching the base, a dying Pruitt is placed into intensive care, but not before handing over a Top Secret and highly classified memory stick to McBride which will shed further light on his mission. McBride now has to go it alone onto Mars.

He transfers to the ship 'Cepheus' on a highly confidential nineteen day flight to Mars. En route, the ship receives a May Day signal from a Norwegian biomedical research space station obviously in distress. Despite protests from McBride to maintain their course for Mars, the captain overrules McBride and goes to the aid of the alleged stricken vessel. Initially it seems abandoned as no one is responding to the radio communications, but a rogue baboon test subject has escaped, smashing through the captain's helmet visor and chewing off his hand down to a bloody stump before McBride is able to neutralise it. A second baboon attacks, but Roy locks the door frantically behind him and depressurises the chamber, killing it instantly. He attempts to save the captain and tapes up his badly damaged helmet before carrying him back to the Cepheus but he is declared dead on arrival. A brief service is held where the dead captain's body is ejected into space. The Cepheus lands on Mars just as another surge strikes, forcing manual intervention. The interim captain is overcome by nerves and is unable to fly or take commands, so leaving McBride to land the ship.

McBride is escorted to the underground Space Command base on Mars which is secure from the impacts of the power surges where he meets facility Director Helen Lantos (Ruth Negga). There he is tasked with recording voice messages read from a pre-written script to send to the Lima Project, in the hope of connecting with Clifford, and upon hearing his sons voice will trigger a response. After several seemingly failed attempts, McBride goes off-script during a recording session with an emotional appeal to his father. He is almost instantly removed from the mission, and is led to assume that a response had been forthcoming, but his personal connection now presents a risk to himself and the overall success of the mission.

Whilst being temporarily held in a 'comfort room' awaiting his transportation back to the Moon and then home to Earth, he is visited by Lantos, who advises him that she was born on Mars, has been to Earth only once in her life as a young child, and is the daughter of crew-members aboard the Lima Project. She hands McBride classified footage showing that Clifford's crew mutinied by attempting to return to Earth, resulting in him turning off their life-support systems, and that her parents were among the crew killed. She tells McBride that the crew that brought him to Mars are leaving to destroy the Lima Project base with a nuclear device on board their ship.

The two decide between them that McBride should confront his father himself, and so Lantos sneaks McBride to an underground lake beneath the rocket launch site to give him access to the ship, although the clock is ticking on the countdown. McBride climbs aboard as the rocket takes off, and is discovered by a surprised and startled crew soon afterwards. The crew are instructed to dispense with McBride despite his best attempts to forewarn them all that he is non-hostile. A fight breaks out, and the crew of three all die, leaving McBride to his own devices in complete solitude for the long journey onto Neptune - some two billion miles away. 

The isolation and stress of the mission without any mental or physical stimulation takes its toll as McBride has memories of his relationships with his father and his estranged wife, Eve (Liv Tyler). After several weeks he arrives at the Lima Project. While approaching the Lima Project ship in a small module, another surge damages the module making it impossible to dock securely, forcing McBride to enter the ship via a space-walk. Finding the ship abandoned and its dead crew floating in zero gravity, he lays down the nuclear payload. His father is looking down on him from above as the ship's only survivor. Clifford explains that the surges originate from the ship's malfunctioning anti-matter power source, damaged during a mutiny. Clifford has continued to work alone on the project throughout all the passing years, refusing to lose faith in the possibility of discovering non-human intelligent life.

McBride tries to convince his father to return home with him to Earth, but Clifford dismisses the notion saying that he is already at home, and has been for the past twenty years, and that his relationship with his young son and wife were only ever going to be temporary. Despite his father's protests, McBride arms the nuclear payload with a three hour detonation time, and prepares to return to his ship with Clifford. Once outside the Lima Project ship Clifford uses his spacesuit thrusters to launch himself into deep space, unwilling to return to Earth. Still tethered onto his son, the pair struggle, with Clifford pleading to his son to let him go. Reluctantly, McBride releases his father who drifts off into deep space.

McBride is able to propel himself back onto his own ship, using a dismantled piece of the Lima Project ship's hull the size of a door to shield himself through Neptune's rocky ring. Without enough fuel to return, he uses the shockwave from the nuclear explosion to propel the ship home. Before the Lima Project ship was destroyed McBride downloaded as much data as he could from his fathers findings from all those years of space travel. The data retrieved suggests that humans are the only intelligent life in the universe, inspiring McBride to reconnect with those closest to him, and he returns to Earth with a whole new found positive outlook on life.

I have to say that I was somewhat underwhelmed by 'Ad Astra'. Sure Brad Pitt gives another great performance as the stoic, completely focused, deeply committed, utterly dependable and infinitely reliable astronaut treading in his fathers footsteps, and proving himself worthy to his peers, the US Government, the world ultimately and to his own Dad to be called Clifford McBride's son. At its core, this is a film about the impacts of an absentee father, and the lengths one man must go to in order to reconcile that fact and lay that ghost of the past finally to rest. Visually, the film looks great too from the opening sequence, to the Moon Space Command Base, the rover chase scene, and the passing of McBride's ship as it cruises past Saturn, Jupiter and finally reaches Neptune. But for all that visual splendour, it's nothing more than we have come to expect in this day and age of cutting edge technologically advanced CGI that we have seen before in the likes of 'Interstellar', 'Gravity', 'First Man', 'The Martian' and even '2001 : A Space Odyssey'. In the final analysis its a film about a man with daddy issues who has lost his way in the world and who catches a ride from Earth, to the Moon, to Mars and onto Neptune and back again to prove that humans are the only intelligent life form in the infinite universe and finally to say farewell to his old man, interspersed with a few action set pieces to maintain the interest. And there you have it! Also starring LisaGay Hamilton and John Ortiz.

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

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 26th September 2019.

The 45th Saturn Awards as presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films honours the best in Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and other genres belonging to genre fiction in film, television, home media releases, and local theatre productions from March 1st 2018 through to July 7th 2019, and was held on September 13th 2019, in the historic nightclub Avalon Hollywood in Hollywood, California.

'Avengers : Endgame' led the nominations for films with fourteen, followed by 'Aladdin' with nine, 'Us' with eight, 'Aquaman' and 'Mary Poppins Returns' each with six, and 'Bad Times at the El Royale' and 'A Quiet Place' each with five. Numerous others films across the qualifying genres also received four, three and two nominations also.

And so the winners and grinners from this years Saturn Awards were as follows :

* Best Comic to Film Motion Picture, awarded to 'Avengers : Endgame'

* Best Science Fiction Film, awarded to 'Ready Player One'

* Best Fantasy Film, awarded to 'Toy Story 4'

* Best Horror Film, awarded to 'A Quiet Place'

* Best Action or Adventure Film, awarded to 'Mission : Impossible - Fallout'

* Best Thriller Film, awarded to 'Bad Times at the El Royale'

* Best Animated Film, awarded to 'Spider-Man : Into the Spider-Verse'

* Best Independent Film, awarded to 'Mandy'

* Best International Film, awarded to 'Burning'

* Best Actor, awarded to Robert Downey Jnr. for Tony Stark/Iron Man in 'Avengers : Endgame'

* Best Actress, awarded to Jamie Lee Curtis for Laurie Strode in 'Halloween'

* Best Supporting Actor, awarded to Josh Brolin for Thanos in 'Avengers : Endgame'

* Best Supporting Actress, awarded to Zendaya as MJ in 'Spider-Man : Far From Home'

* Best Performance by a Young Actor, awarded to Tom Holland for Peter Parker/Spider-Man in 'Spider-Man : Far From Home'

* Best Director, awarded to Jordan Peele for 'Us'

* Best Breakout Director, awarded to Ari Aster for 'Hereditary'

* Best Writing, awarded to Bryan Woods, Scott Beck and John Krasinski for 'A Quiet Place'

* Best Production Design, awarded to Charles Wood for 'Avengers : Endgame'

* Best Editing, awarded to Jeffrey Ford and Matthew Schmidt for 'Avengers : Endgame'

* Best Make Up, awarded to John Blake and Brian Sipe for 'Avengers : Endgame'

* Best Special Effects, awarded to 'Avengers : Endgame'

* Best Costume Design, awarded to Michael Wilkinson for 'Aladdin'

* Best Music, awarded to Marc Shaiman, for 'Mary Poppins Returns'.

And so this week we have five new release movie offerings coming to your local Odeon. Kicking off with a ZomCom set in small town America where the dead rise up from their graves and go on the rampage leaving the local Police and the living to save the day from an ensemble cast of the undead and those very much alive. We then turn to a drama film surrounding a young lad whose mother is killed in a bombing incident, a stolen painting, and how both changed his life forever. Next we turn attention to a horror film set in the late '60's about a discovery of a book, whose stories contained therein start to take on a deadly and very real life of their own. With a change of pace next we have an Australian biopic of a true story of the first, and so far only, female jockey to win the famed Melbourne Cup horse race; before closing out the week with the story of a young lad from Cambodia who seeks a better life in Bangkok only to be sold as slave labour on a Thai fishing boat where violence and death are all too commonplace.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the five latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.

'THE DEAD DON'T DIE' (Rated MA15+) - this American ZomCom is Directed and Written by Jim Jarmusch whose previous film making credits take in 1984's 'Stranger Than Paradise', 1986's 'Down by Law', 1995's 'Dead Man', 1999's 'Ghost Dog : The Way of the Samurai', 2003's 'Coffee and Cigarettes', 2005's 'Broken Flowers', 2013's 'Only Lovers Left Alive' and 2016's 'Paterson'. The film saw its World Premier screening at this years Cannes Film Festival in May where it was the opening night film and also in competition for the prestigious Palme d'Or, went on general release in the US in mid-June, has so far grossed US$14M and has received generally mixed or average Reviews so far.

With an ensemble cast that takes in Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Steve Buscemi, Tilda Swinton, Danny Glover, Caleb Landry Jones, Iggy Pop, Chloe Sevigny, Rosie Perez, Selena Gomez, Carol Kane, Tom Waits and RZA, the story centres on the sleepy small rural town of Centerville, where something is amiss. The moon hangs large and low in the sky, the hours of daylight are becoming less predictable, and animals are beginning to exhibit somewhat disturbing behaviour. News reports are scary, and scientists are concerned, but no one foresees the strangest and most dangerous repercussion that will soon start plaguing Centerville. With the dead rising from their graves and feasting on the living, the citizens must band together and wage war on the marauding undead to survive.

'THE GOLDFINCH' (Rated M) - this American drama film is Directed by the Irish theatre, television and film Director John Crowley whose previous film making credits include 'Boy A', 'Is Anybody There', 'Closed Circuit' and 'Brooklyn'. This story is based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Donna Tartt, and is lensed by the acclaimed Roger Deakins. The storyline here follows Theodore Decker (Oakes Fegley) who was thirteen years old when his mother was killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Now eight years on the older Theo (Ansel Elgort) has seen this tragedy alter the course of his life, sending him on a spiralling odyssey of grief and guilt, reinvention and redemption, and even love. Through it all, he holds on to one tangible piece of hope from that terrible day - a 1654 painting by Dutch painter Carel Fabritius of a goldfinch chained to its perch, which he retrieved directly in the aftermath of the fateful bombing. Also starring Nicole Kidman, Sarah Paulson, Luke Wilson, Jeffrey Wright, Aneurin Barnard and Finn Wolfhard. The film saw its World Premier screening at TIFF earlier this month, went on general release Stateside on 13th September, cost US$45M to make, has so far recovered just over US$6M and has garnered mixed or average Reviews at best.

'SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK' (Rated M) - this American horror film is Directed by Norwegian film maker, Producer and Screenwriter Andre Ovredal whose previous screen credits include 'Trollhunter' and 'The Autopsy of Jane Doe'. Here Guillermo del Toro is given a Co-Producer credit together with a co-credit for devising the story based up on the children's book series of the same name by Alvin Schwartz. Here, the shadow of the wealthy Bellows family has loomed large in the small town of Mill Valley, Pennsylvania for generations. It is 1968 and in a mansion that young Sarah Bellows turned her tortured life and horrible secrets into a series of scary stories. These terrifying tales soon have a way of becoming all too real for a group of unsuspecting teens who stumble upon Sarah's spooky home. Starring Zoe Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Austin Zajur, Natalie Ganzhorn, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows and Javier Botet, the film was released in the US in mid-August, cost US$28M to make, has so far grossed US$93M and has generated mostly positive Press.

'RIDE LIKE A GIRL' (Rated PG) - in her first full length feature film debut here acclaimed Australian Actress Rachel Griffiths Directs and Co-Produces this true story of Michelle Payne - the first female jockey to win the famed 'race that stops a nation' - The Melbourne Cup in 2015. As a little girl, Michelle Payne dreams of the impossible, winning The Melbourne Cup — horse-racing's toughest race run over two-miles. The youngest of ten children, Michelle is raised by single father Paddy (Sam Neill) on a horse farm near Ballarat in Victoria. She leaves school at fifteen to become a jockey (like eight of her other siblings) and after early failures she finds her feet, but a family tragedy, followed by her own near fatal horse fall all but bring a premature end to her dream. But with the love of her dad and her brother Stevie (played by her real life brother Stevie Payne who has Down Syndrome), Michelle (Teresa Palmer) is determined not to give up. Against staunch medical advice, and the protests of her siblings, she rides on, and meets the Prince of Penzance - the horse she would ultimately ride to victory. Together they overcome impossible odds for a shot at her dream - to ride in the 2015 Melbourne Cup, at odds of 100 to one. Also starring Magda Szubanski, Mick Molloy, Aaron Glenane, Sophia Forrest and Sullivan Stapleton.

'BUOYANCY' (Rated M) - Directed by Aussie Rodd Rathjen in his first feature length film outing following a number of largely successful short films, his film here spoken in Khmer and Thai won the Panorama Prize by Berlinale's Ecumenical Jury. Telling the story of fourteen year old Chakra (Sarm Heng in his first film appearance) who leaves the heavy toiling in the Cambodian rice paddies to go in search of factory work in Bangkok. After paying smugglers to ferry him over the border, the boy is instead traded to a seafood trawler as a slave where the violence and murder meted out on his fellow captors is a routine occurrence, all under the watch of ruthless and sadistic captain Rom Ran (Thanawut Kasro). Chakra learns to grow up very quickly and soon realises that his only bid for freedom may mean becoming as violent as his captors. The film has been lauded for it gripping portrayal of the South East Asian fishing industry punishing reality, and the nuanced performance of its first timer lead in youngster Sarm Heng.

With five new release movies this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead, at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE FAREWELL : Tuesday 17th September 2019.

'THE FAREWELL' is a PG Rated American comedy drama Directed, Written and Co-Produced by Chinese born American film maker, Producer and Writer Lulu Wang and apparently loosely based on her own life experiences. Made for just US$3M, the film saw its Premier screening at January's Sundance Film Festival before its wider US release in mid-July having taken so far US$18M and generated mostly widespread critical acclaim.

Born in China, aspiring writer Billi Wang (Awkwafina) moved to the US with her father Haiyan Wang (Tzi Ma) and mother Jian Wang (Diana Lin) when she was a child but kept up a close, albeit long distance, relationship with her beloved Nai Nai (Zhao Shuzhen), meaning paternal grandmother in Mandarin, her father’s mother therefore. Having been rejected for a prestigious arts fellowship grant, Billi learns from her parents that Nai Nai has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and has been given but just a few months to live.

Nai Nai is however, blissfully unaware of this diagnosis, as she was accompanied to the hospital for her tests by her younger sister, Little Nai Nai (Lu Hong) who then received the test results before Nai Nai was able to sight them. Through deception and manipulation of these medical test results therefore, Nai Nai is, instead, falsely told that her most recent scans revealed only benign shadows which are now receding, and therefore she is in the clear.

An impromptu, and fake, wedding for Billi's cousin, Hao Hao (Chen Han), from Japan has been planned in China, as an excuse to reunite the family (for the first time in some twenty years) to spend what is expected to be one last time with Nai Nai. Fearing Billi will end up exposing the lie to her grandmother because she can't yet keep her emotions in check, Haiyan and Jian tell her to remain in New York for fear of giving their ruse away. 

Haiyan and Jian fly out to Changchun to be with Nai Nai leaving Billi at home, but Billi disobeys her parents' orders and travels to Changchun, the day after the rest of the family have arrived. Billi makes a commitment, albeit very reluctantly, to her parents that she will not reveal the cancer diagnosis to Nai Nai. She clashes on more than one occasion, however, with the rest of the family, including the Hospital Doctor treating her grandmother, over their deliberate dishonesty towards her grandmother. 

Overcome with emotions of guilt, Billi expresses mixed thoughts with her parents over the Chinese cultural beliefs that give rise to a family refusing to disclose such a life-threatening disease with the family matriarch. One evening, her Uncle, Haibin (Jiang Yongbo), reasserts that the lie allows the family to bear the emotional burden of the diagnosis, rather than Nai Nai herself, so allowing her to spend her last few months in peace and happiness. Billi subsequently learns that Nai Nai also told a similar lie to her husband up until his death when he was terminally ill.

Come the wedding day and during the lavish banquet held for numerous family and close friends afterwards, Haibin speaks on behalf of himself and his brother and breaks down in tears on stage while thanking his mother for making him the successful man he became. A short time later Hao Hao also breaks down in tears for reasons that are not entirely clear, but both are able to proceed through the rest of the banquet ceremony and formalities as planned without raising Nai Nai's suspicions.

Later that same evening, Nai Nai gives Billi a traditional red envelope containing a sum of money, encouraging her to spend the cash gift as she chooses, but not on bills. When Billi reveals to her grandmother that the art fellowship application fell through, Nai Nai responds by positively encouraging Billi to continue pursuing her dreams anyway as she is a smart girl. 

Billi maintains her commitment to keep the secret and shares a tearful goodbye with Nai Nai, as the rest of the visiting family members return to their homes in Japan and America. The credits reveal that six years after her diagnosis, the woman Nai Nai's character was based on is still very much alive and still practising her Tai Chi.

I did quite enjoy 'The Farewell', but that's about as far as my praise goes. Sure the film has a couple of funny moments - particularly a scene where the gathered family are leaving various offerings to the spirit of Nai Nai's long since deceased husband by his graveside, and another scene involving a collapsing umbrella during a rain storm - and the film also has moments of warmth and heartbreak too. Awkwafina also gives a stand out performance proving her acting chops once again and this time in a more dramatic role despite the look of perpetual sorrow, grief and angst inhibiting her face. As for Zhao Shuzhen's Nai Nai, well she just about steals every scene she's in dispensing her own brand of wit, wisdom and earnest advice whilst remaining completely oblivious to what is really going on around her. The other cast members also all hold their own, especially Tzi Ma, Diana Lin and Jiang Yongbo. The film is ultimately quite watchable, painless and has just about enough weight to carry it through its near one hundred minute run time, but, it's almost instantly forgettable, drags and meanders particularly in the middle section, is devoid of any real emotional heft and the comedic moments are few and far between.

'The Farewell' warrants three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, from a potential five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 19th September 2019.

The 44th annual Toronto International Film Festival was this year held from 5th to 15th September. Starting out in 1976 as a collection of films from other festivals — a 'festival of festivals' if you will, the Toronto International Film Festival has gone on to become one of the worlds most beloved cinematic events, universally regarded as an ideal platform for filmmakers to launch their careers and to premiere their latest works. The Festival has been described as 'the most important film festival in the world — the largest, the most influential, the most inclusive'.

The opening gala was announced as the Canadian documentary film 'Once Were Brothers : Robbie Robertson and The Band', Directed and Co-Edited by Daniel Roher, with the festivals closing night film being the screening of the biographical film 'Radioactive', Directed by Marjane Satrapi and starring Rosamund Pike, Sam Riley and Anya Taylor-Joy. In addition to its regular film awards, the festival announced prior to commencement that Meryl Streep will be the inaugural recipient of the TIFF Tribute Actor Award, a new lifetime achievement award to honour distinguished work in film acting. Congratulations Meryl.

This years top awards in the final analysis, from the plethora of international and Canadian films being showcased, were as follows :

People's Choice Award (the film rated as the year's most popular film with festival audiences)
* 'JOJO RABBIT' - this American black comedy is Directed, Co-Produced, Written for the Screen and starring by Taika Waititi, with Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant and Alfie Allen.
People's Choice Awards - First and Second Runner's Up
* 'MARRIAGE STORY' - this American comedy drama film is Directed, Co-Produced and Written by Noah Baumbach, and, 'PARASITE' is a South Korean black comedy thriller Directed and Co-Written by Bong Joon-ho respectively.

People's Choice Award - Documentary (film rated as the year's most popular documentary film with festival audiences)
* 'THE CAVE' - this Syrian Danish Co-Production is Directed and Co-Written by Feras Fayyad.
People's Choice Award - Documentary - First and Second Runner's Up
* 'I AM NOT ALONE' - this Armenian and American Co-Production is Directed, Co-Produced and Written by Gavin Hovannisian, and, 'DADS' an American documentary Directed and Co-Produced by Bryce Dallas Howard and her father Ron Howard respectively.

People's Choice Award - Midnight Madness (the film rated as the year's most popular film in the festival's 'Midnight Madness' stream of underground and cult films)
* 'THE PLATFORM' - this Spanish satirical science fiction film is Directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia.
People's Choice Award - Midnight Madness - First and Second Runner's Up
* 'THE VAST OF NIGHT' - this American fantasy Sci-Fi thriller is Directed by Andrew Patterson, and, 'BLOOD QUANTUM' is a Canadian horror film Directed and Written by Jeff Barnaby respectively.

Platform Prize (awarded to films of 'high artistic merit that also demonstrate a strong Directorial vision')
* 'MARTIN EDEN' - this Italian and French Co-Produced historical romantic drama film is Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written for the Screen by Pietro Marcello.
Platform Prize - Honourable Mentions
* 'ANNE AT 13,000 FT.' - is a Canadian drama film Directed, Co-Produced and Written by Kazik Radwanski, and, 'PROXIMA' a French drama film Directed and Co-Written by Alice Winocour.

Best Canadian Feature Film
* 'ANTIGONE' - is a drama film Directed, Written, lensed and Co-Edited by Sophie Deraspe.
Best Canadian Feature Film - Honourable Mention
* 'THE BODY REMEMBERS WHEN THE WORLD BROKE OPEN' - is a drama film Directed and Written by Elle-Maija Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn. Elle-Maija Tailfeathers also stars.

Best Canadian First Feature Film (awarded to the film judged to be the best Canadian feature film made by a first-time Director)

* 'THE TWENTIETH CENTURY' - is a comedy drama film Directed, Written and Edited by Matthew Rankin.

For more on the winners and grinners from this years Toronto International Film Festival, plus all the latest news in wrapping up the festival line up, visit the official website at : https://www.tiff.net

This week there are six latest release movies coming to your local Odeon, and we kick off with the latest and possibly the last instalment in this all American action thriller franchise that first ventured onto our cinema screens 37 years ago starring our tortured yet very resourceful Vietnam War vet anti-hero as he fights the establishment, drug barons and anyone he considers the enemy using his very particular set of skills. Next up is a Sci-Fi thriller about a daring Astronaut who must travel to the far reaches of the solar system to try and locate his missing father and save all of humankind back on Earth in the process. Then we turn to a comedy offering about three sixth grade best buddies who are invited to a party and seek advice in various forms only to have that backfire on them leaving their friendship fractured. These are followed up by a live action rendition of a popular animated kids television series that sees this adventurous explorer deep in the Peruvian jungle in search of a lost civilisation, and her parents; and then we close out the week with two animated offerings featuring a displaced Yeti and a small band of kids who vow to take him back to his home on top of the world; and finally a town inhabited by various ugly dolls and play things who come across another town where the residents are all near perfect waiting to be shipped out to the children of the world, but can one now exist without the other?

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the six latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the coming week.

'RAMBO : LAST BLOOD' (Rated R18+) - here we have what is likely to be (judging by the title) the last in the 'Rambo' action thriller film franchise that Actor, Director and Writer Sylvester Stallone has made his own. The franchise launched in 1982 with 'First Blood', then in 1985 with 'Rambo : First Blood Part II', then in 1988 with 'Rambo III' and in 2008 with 'Rambo', with 'Last Blood' marking the fifth instalment. The series of four films so far were made for a combined US$153M and grossed worldwide US$728M and gave rise to an animated television series, comic books, novels, video games and a Bollywood remake. Created by David Morrell in his debut 1972 novel 'First Blood' Stallone has played the title character of John Rambo in all films as a US Army Green Berets veteran who is traumatised by his experience in the Vietnam War, and uses the skills he gained there to fight police, enemy troops, and drug cartels. Stallone Co-Wrote the screenplays of all five films, and Directed 2008's 'Rambo'.

Here in only his second feature film Directing gig, after 'Get the Gringo' with Mel Gibson in 2012, Adrian Grunberg was announced as Director in August 2018 after ten years of to-ing and fro-ing on again off again Writing and Directing false starts. But now we have John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) who travels to Mexico to save his niece Gabrielle (Yvette Monreal) who suddenly has been taken hostage by a sadistic Mexican cartel headed up by Hugo Martinez (Sergio Peris-Mencheta). Paz Vega and Adriana Barraza also star. The film is released in the US this week too.

'AD ASTRA' (Rated M) - this American Sci-Fi adventure offering has so far received universal acclaim following its World Premier screening at the Venice International Film Festival on the 29th August, and was Directed, Written and Co-Produced by James Gray whose previous film making credits include his 1994 debut 'Little Odessa' and then 'The Yards', 'We Own the Night', 'Two Lovers', 'The Immigrant' and 'The Lost City of Z' most recently. Made for circa US$85M and getting its US release this week too, the story here surrounds Astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) who travels to the outer edges of the solar system to find his lost father, a renegade Scientist, Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones) and to ultimately unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of humans on Earth. His journey will uncover secrets that challenge the nature of human existence and its place in the cosmos. Also starring Donald Sutherland, Liv Tyler, Ruth Negga, LisaGay Hamilton and John Ortiz. Gray described his desire for the film to be 'the most realistic depiction of space travel that's been put in a movie'.

'GOOD BOYS' (Rated MA15+) - Directed by Ukranian born American first timer Gene Stupnitski and Co-Written by him too with his business partner Lee Eisenberg, this American comedy film saw its World Premier screening at South by Southwest in early March this year, went on general release in the US in mid-August, cost US$20M to bring to the big screen, has so far grossed US$92M and has garnered largely positive Press so far. The film here surrounds three sixth grade student best buddies Max (Jacob Tremblay), Lucas (Keith L. Williams) and Thor (Brady Noon). When Max is invited to his first kissing party, he asks his best friends Lucas and Thor for some much sought after advice on how to pucker up. When they hit a dead end, Max decides to use his Dad's (Will Forte) drone to spy on the teenage Hannah (Molly Gordon) who lives next door. When the boys ditch the drone and it is destroyed, they skip school and hatch a plan to secretly replace it before Max's Dad can learn the truth. But, the truth will out leading to the boys drifting apart before reconciling and promising to be besties forever.

'DORA AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD' (Rated PG) - based on the popular kids television series 'Dora the Explorer' here this live action adventure comedy film is Directed by James Bobin whose previous film making credits include 'The Muppets' in 2011, 'Muppets Most Wanted' in 2014, 'Alice Through the Looking Glass' in 2016 and now this Australian filmed adaptation. Having spent most of her life exploring the Peruvian jungle, nothing could prepare Dora Marquez (Isabelle Moner) for her most dangerous adventure yet - high school in Los Angeles. Accompanied by a ragtag group of teens and Boots the monkey, Dora embarks on a quest to save her parents - father Cole Marquez and mother Elena (Michael Pena and Eva Longoria respectively) while trying to solve the seemingly impossible mystery behind the hidden Incan city of Parapata. Also starring Temuera Morrison, Adriana Barraza, Eugenio Derbez with the voices of Danny Trejo and Benicio del Toro. Released in the US in early August, the film has so far taken US$91M off the back of a US$49M production budget and has generated largely positive Reviews.

'ABOMINABLE' (Rated G) - this computer animated adventure film is an American and Chinese Co-Production between DreamWorks Animation and Pearl Studio and is Written and Directed by American Animator Jill Culton, whose previous Directing outing was 2006's 'Open Season'. Here teenager Yi (Chloe Bennet) comes across a young Yeti (or Abominable Snowman) on the roof of her apartment building in Shanghai (as you do!). She and her cheeky friends Jin (Tenzing Norgay Trainor) and Peng (Albert Tsai) give him the name 'Everest' and so begins a journey to return the magical creature to his family at the highest point on Earth. But the group of young friends will have to stay one-step ahead of Burnish (Eddie Izzard), a wealthy man intent on capturing a Yeti, and zoologist Dr. Zara (Sarah Paulson) to help get Everest back to his rightful home. The film had its World Premier screening at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month, goes on release in the US on 27th September, in the UK on 11th October and here in Australia this week.

'UGLY DOLLS' (Rated G) - here is a computer generated animated musical adventure comedy film Directed by Kelly Asbury and based on a story penned by Robert Rodriguez. Asbury's previous Directing credits include 'Spirit : Stallion of the Cimarron', 'Shrek 2', 'Gnomeo & Juliet' and 'Smurfs : The Lost Village' most recently. In the adorably cute and somewhat different town of Uglyville, weirdness is lauded, strangeness is celebrated and beauty is embraced as being more than skin deep. After travelling to the other side of a mountain, Moxy (Kelly Clarkson) and her Ugly Doll friends discover the town of Perfection, where more conventional dolls receive training before embarking out into the real world to find the love of a child. Soon, the Ugly Dolls learn what it means to be different and ultimately coming to the realisation that they don't have to be perfect to be amazing. Also starring the voice talents of Janelle Monae, Pitbull, Charli XCX, Ice-T, Jane Lynch, Emma Roberts and Nick Jonas, the film saw its release Stateside in early May, in the UK in mid-August, cost circa US$50M to make, has so far grossed US$28M and has met with mostly unfavourable Reviews.

With six new release movies this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead, at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-