WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING : Tuesday 26th July 2022.

I saw the M Rated 'WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING' earlier this week, and this American mystery drama film is Directed by Olivia Newman and is based on the 2018 best selling novel of the same name by Delia Owens. This is Olivia Newman's second feature film outing following the 2018 release of 'First Match' on Netflix. The film is Co-Produced by Reece Witherspoon and the title song is written and sung by Taylor Swift. It cost US$24M to produce, has so far grossed US$49M, and has garnered mixed Reviews from Critics while audiences have been kinder. The film was released last week too Stateside. 

The film opens up with the body of a Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson) laying face up dead at the base of a fire tower with the local Sheriff Jackson (Bill Kelly) and his Deputy Joe Purdue (Jayson Warner Smith), looking over the corpse and climbing up the somewhat delapidated fire tower in an attempt to ascertain did he fall by accident, did he jump or was he pushed. We are in the marshlands of North Carolina not far from the coast and it is 1969. 

We then jump back in time to the 1950's and young girl Catherine 'Kya' Daniel Clark (Jojo Regina) is growing up in those same marshlands in North Carolina. She is a resourceful young girl, and she and her three older siblings and her mother and father live in shack located off the beaten track in the marshlands. Her father 'Pa' Clark (Garret Dillahunt) is an abusive alcoholic who fritters what little money away that they have. As her mother 'Ma' Clark (Anha O'Reilly) and older siblings, one by one, flee his physical abuse, Kya is ultimately left alone with him. In time, her father softens but he too one day just ups and leaves her, without warning. Now she has to become self sufficient and learn to live her life on her own. She starts pulling fresh mussels out of the sand along the coastline early every morning and selling them by the fresh bag load to the local general store owner and his wife James 'Jumpin' Madison and Mabel Madison (Sterling Macer Jnr. and Michael Hyatt respectively). A few weeks later she spends her only day ever, at school, and runs away crying because of the taunts she receives from the other children. The local townspeople of Barkley Cove know very little about young Kya, nicknaming her 'The Marsh Girl'.

On the day that her father left, Kya takes his boat to the edge of the ocean but gets lost while trying to find her way home. Fortunately, she comes upon a slightly older boy named Tate Walker (Luke David Blumm), who is fishing and who guides her home safely. He was a friend of her older brother Jodie, and had known Kya since she was a very little girl. Tate then begins visiting her in the marsh, and they become good friends throughout their teenage years. He teaches her to read, write and count, and lends her books to read. They both share a keen interest in the local flora and fauna of the marshlands and in time their friendship grows into something more. However, Tate (now Taylor John Smith) subsequently learns that he has been accepted to a prestigious College and as such will be leaving Barkley Cove but vows to return in four weeks so that they can watch the July 4th fireworks from a secluded beach. However, Tate fails to honour his commitment leaving Kya distraught. 

Over the next few years, her intricate drawings and paintings of the local flora and fauna and knowledge of biology grow, Kya sends her nature drawings and research writings to a publisher, as previously encouraged to do by Tate before he left for college. She also learns that the 350 acre marshland that her property stands on is hers by inheritance, but that anyone who pays the property taxes on it, becomes the lawful owner. There is US$800 in unpaid taxes outstanding. The US$5,000 income from the book helps her keep her family's property, and keeps the developers away. The publishing of Kya's book leads to her reuniting with her older brother Jodie (Logan Macrae), now a military veteran. He informs her that their mother had wanted to track down the other children but she became sick and died from leukemia. Jodie promises to visit her when he can. 

It is now 1965, and the nineteen year old Kya becomes entangled in a relationship with Chase Andrews, Barkley Cove's popular quarterback, who promises to marry her. When Kya discovers that Chase is already engaged to another girl, she furiously ends their relationship. Meanwhile, Tate returns to Barkley Cove, wanting to apologise to Kya for abandoning her and rekindle their romance, but Kya is at first angry with Tate and very reluctant to enter into a relationship with him again. Chase, meanwhile continues to pursue Kya, but she rebuffs him. He then violently attacks and tries to rape her at a secluded beach but Kya successfully fights him off and strikes him to the head with a rock, repeatedly kicks him and loudly vows to kill him if he doesn't leave her alone. This threat is overheard by a local fisherman.

Later, we go back to the opening scene in which Chase is found dead at the bottom of the fire tower from which he has fallen. The tower is located in a wet and muddy marsh that floods at high tide, so wiping out any footprints and no fingerprints were found on the tower. A shell necklace Kya had given Chase was missing from his body, and he had been wearing it the evening of his death as reported by his mother who had dinner with him that night.  The very next day, Kya is charged with murder and overwhelmingly prejudged by the over zealous and suspicious townsfolk.

On the stand in the courtroom, Kya is represented by local retired Lawyer Tom Milton (David Strathairn) who had always treated Kya, even as a young child, with respect and kindness. Despite the knowledge that Kya had been in Greenville to meet with a book publisher the night of the murder and the following day, the police speculate that she could have disguised herself and made a quick, round-trip, bus tour back to Barkley Cove and the fire tower during the night. The police have little evidence to go on other than their unproven theory, the missing shell necklace, along with the testimony from the fisherman, and do not have a strong case, so she is ultimately found not guilty at her trial in 1970.

Though Kya and Tate never formally marry, they live together as loving partners in the same shack that she grew up in, albeit subsequently fitted out with many mod-cons that her book publishing income and royalties paid for. Over the years, Kya (now Leslie France) publishes more illustrated books about the local nature, and she is often visited by Jodie and his family. After her death in her mid-70's, Tate (now Sam Anderson) finds the missing necklace at the back of a diary she had hidden. It was the only evidence that could have convicted her. Tate then leaves the shell from the necklace in the water, forever hiding Kya's secret in her beloved marsh.

I had not read the 2018 best selling novel upon which this film is based, and so can't comment on whether this is a fair adaptation or not. That said, it's an entertaining enough murder mystery, coming of age romantic emotional court room drama film that is elevated by Edgar-Jones performance and an assembled cast of fine acting talent, but the script has so many plot holes, loose ends and unanswered questions that I left the theatre feeling somewhat shortchanged. The film does, however, look the part capturing all the beauty of the marshlands, and is reminiscent of the big picture romantic drama's of the 1990's that have been more noticeably absent from our cinema screens in recent years.

'Where the Crawdads Sing' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 28th July 2022.

The 75th Locarno Film Festival kicks off on Wednesday 3rd August and run through until Saturday 13th August. The official website reads 'over the course of its 75-year history, the Locarno Film Festival has become one of the most important film events in the world, in one of the most charming locations. Situated between the lake and the mountains, every summer the entire Swiss-Italian city, in the heart of Europe, turns into the capital of international cinema, bringing the most innovative visions to the screen. It’s eleven days of stars, new talents, professionals and, most importantly, the audience'. The Opening Night film sees the World Premier of the Brad Pitt starring 'Bullet Train' and Directed by David Leitch.

With eleven sections, three competitions and twenty awards, quality and variety are key. This is the framework of a Festival that explores cinema from every perspective, to discover in the present the filmmakers and films destined to have a future. 

The main competition is 'The Concorso Internazionale which features works shown primarily as World Premieres, coming from all over the world and competing for the prestigious Pardo d’oro. Showcasing established auteurs alongside the pleasure of discovery, storytelling and innovation, the Concorso Internazionale is an open, inclusive place, which aims to imagine the new territories of cinematic art. This is where the best forms of contemporary cinema converge, in keeping with the history and tradition of the Locarno Film Festival'. Those films in this competitive strand are :

* 'Declaration' from India and Directed, Written, Co-Produced and Co-Edited by Mahesh Narayanan. Hareesh and Reshmi are an immigrant couple from Kerala working in a medical gloves factory near Delhi. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, when an old video resurfaces among the factory workers, it opens up a Pandora’s box that threatens the couple’s jobs and marriage.

* 'Sermon to the Fish' from Azerbaijan, Mexico, Switzerland and Turkey and Directed, Written, Co-Produced, Edited and lensed by Hilal Baydarov. Davud returns from war to find everyone in his village has succumbed to a strange illness and has decomposed. His sister, the only survivor, is slowly rotting away herself. He confronts the only true question, is surviving the same as living?

* 'Saturn Bowling' from France and Belgium and Directed and Co-Written by Patricia Mazuy. When their father dies, the ambitious police officer Guillaume offers the management of the bowling alley he inherited to his outcast half-brother Armand. The inheritance is cursed, and the two men wind up in a world of violence.

* 'At Night All Cats Are Gray' from Switzerland and Directed and Co-Produced by Valentin Merz. A crew is shooting a libertine costume film in the countryside when Valentin, the Director, suddenly disappears. While the local police investigate, the filming continues but takes an odd turn.

* 'The Adventures of Gigi the Law' from Italy, France and Belgium and Written and Directed by Alessandro Comodin. Gigi is a rural traffic officer where nothing ever happens. One day however, a young girl throws herself under a train. This is not the first time. Facing this unexplainable suicide wave, Gigi starts investigating a strange world, between reality and fantasy.

* 'Tales of the Purple House' from Lebanon, Iraq and France and Written, Directed, Co-Produced, Edited, lensed and sound recording and mixing by Abbas Fahdel. From their ’Purple House’ in the South of Lebanon, French-Iraqi Director Abbas Fahdel and his Lebanese wife, start exploring a multifaceted country that seems to be on the edge of the abyss. Guided only by their perspective, each of them tries, through their art, to grasp the beauty and hardships of a generous country that struggles to feed its children.

* 'Human Flowers of Flesh' from Germany and France and Written, Directed, Edited and lensed by Helena Wittmann. Ida lives on a ship with a crew of five men. In Marseille her attention is caught by the secretive male world of the French Foreign Legion and she decides to follow its traces across the Mediterranean.

* 'Il Pataffio' from Italy and Belgium and Written and Directed by Francesco Lagi. An unlikely group of soldiers and courtiers led by Marcount Berlocchio and his new bride Bernarda take possession of a distant fief. But their castle is a decrepit dump and their villagers aren’t willing to be ruled.

* 'Matter Out of Place' from Austria and Directed, Co-Produced and lensed by Nikolaus Geyrhalter. This is a film about waste in remote areas and about people who are trying to clean up.

* 'Tommy Guns' from Portugal, France and Angola and Directed and Co-Edited by Carlos Conceicao. In 1974, the Portuguese and their descendants fled Angola where nationalist groups gradually claimed their territory back. A tribal girl discovers love and death when her path crosses that of a Portuguese soldier.

* 'Piaffe' from Germany and Co-Written, Directed and Co-Edited by Ann Oren. When her sibling Zara suffers a nervous breakdown, the introvert Eva is forced to take on Zara’s job as a Foley artist. She struggles to create sounds for a commercial featuring a horse, and then a horsetail starts growing out of her body.

* 'Rule 34' from Brazil and France and Co-Written, Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Edited by Julia Murat. Simone is a young law student who finds a passion for defending women in abuse cases. Yet her own sexual interests lead her to a world of violence and eroticism.

* 'Serviam - I Will Serve' from Austria and Co-Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Ruth Mader. An all-girl Catholic boarding school for the wealthy Austrian elite. Faith is declining. The head of the institution, an energetic young nun, fights with ardor against it.

* 'Fairytale' from Belgium and Russia and Written and Directed by Alexander Sokurov. Once upon a time there were two vagabonds... no... three... No, it’s four... But there were others, many different ones... I knew them. For a long time. But with them I felt cramped. Then something happened and they disappeared.

* 'Stella in Love' from France and Co-Written and Directed by Sylvie Verheyde. For Stella, it’s her final year. But she doesn’t care about it! That year, she discovers the famous Parisian '80's club, the Bains Douches, and its crazy nights. Her friends are just studying, her father has left with another woman and her mother is depressed. And then there is Andre, beautiful, black and mysterious, who dances like a God!

* 'Stone Turtle' from Malaysia and Indonesia and Co-Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Ming Jin Woo. Zahara, a stateless refugee, lives on a small remote island in Malaysia, where she makes a living selling turtle eggs. One day, Samad, claiming to be a university researcher, visits the island, wanting to employ Zahara to show him around.

* 'I Have Electric Dreams' from Belgium, France and Costa Rica and Directed by Valentina Maurel. Against Eva’s wishes, her mother wants to renovate the house and get rid of the cat, which, disoriented since the divorce, pees everywhere. Eva wants to go and live with her dad, who, disoriented like the cat, is experiencing a second adolescence.

The other two competitive strands are The Concorso Cineasti del presente which offers a selection of first and second feature films, mostly World Premieres, Directed by emerging global talents; and, a territory for expressive experimentation and innovative formal poetry, the Pardi di domani section showcases short and medium length films as World or International Premieres. 

For the details of these other two competition sections, plus the full line of current and future releases, retrospectives and the full programme, you can go to the official website at : https://www.locarnofestival.ch/LFF/locarno75.html

This week then to tempt you out on a chilly and wet mid-Winter's evening, we have four new movies coming to your local Odeon, starting off with a story that unfolds over a weekend in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, and explores the reverberations of a random accident on the lives of both the local Muslims, and Western visitors to a house party hosted in a grand desert villa. Next up are a couple of French offerings, the first of which sees a brilliant architect who suddenly has to investigate the murder of the landlord and patriarch of the mansion she was assigned to renovate, and this is followed by a story of a single mother raising two children, who finally gets an interview for a job where she can raise her children better only to run into a national transit strike. And closing out the week we have an Aussie horror thriller that is a sequel to a 2010 film, that sees a great white shark stalking four friends of a Pacific Islands kayaking and diving holiday. 

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the four latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or 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.

'THE FORGIVEN' (Rated MA15+) - is a drama film Written, Co-Produced and Directed by John Michael McDonagh whose previous Directorial offerings take in 'The Guard' in 2011, 'Calvary' in 2014 and 'War on Everyone' in 2016. This film is based on the 2012 novel of the same name written by Lawrence Osborne. It saw its World Premier screening at the Toronto International Film Festival back in September last year, went on release in the US on 1st July, is released in Australia this week and in the UK in early September having so far taken US$344K at the Box Office and garnered generally favourable Reviews. 

Speeding through the Moroccan desert at night to attend an old friend's lavish weekend party, wealthy Londoners David and Jo Henninger (Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain respectively) are involved in a tragic accident with a local teenage boy. Arriving late at the grand villa with the debauched party raging, the couple attempts to cover up the incident with the collusion of the local police. But when the boy's father arrives seeking justice, the stage is set for a tension-filled culture clash in which David and Jo must come to terms with their fateful act and its shattering consequences. Also starring Matt Smith, Caleb Landry Jones, Abbey Lee, Alex Jennings and Christopher Abbott.

'MURDER PARTY' (Rated M) - this French comedy mystery film is Co-Written and Directed by Nicolas Pleskof in his feature length film debut. Here, we follow Jeanne Chardon-Spitzer (Alice Pol), a brilliant architect on a new job, renovating a beautiful mansion owned by an eccentric family who head a board game empire. Jeanne turns from architect to investigator when the landlord and patriarch is found dead and suddenly everybody is a suspect. Also starring Eddy Mitchell, Miou-Miou, Pablo Pauly, Gustave Kervern, Sarah Stern, Pascale Arbillot and Zabou Breitman. 

'FULL TIME' (Rated M) - is a French drama film Written and Directed by Eric Gravel in only his second feature film making outing following 2017's 'Crash Test Aglae'. Here, Julie Roy (Laure Calamy) goes to great lengths to raise her two children in the countryside while keeping her job as the head chambermaid of a five-star hotel in Paris. She just about manages to get by with the help of sporadic child support payments from her ex-husband. Each day is meticulously planned out, starting before sunrise, preparing the kids for school and undertaking a long commute to work, where she unflappably completes her duties in time to return to them. When she finally gets a job interview for a position she had long been hoping for, a national railway strike breaks out, bringing the public transport system to a grinding halt. The fragile balance that Julie has established is jeopardised, increasingly pushing her into a frenetic race against time that threatens everything she’s worked so hard for. Also starring Anne Suarez and Genevieve Mnich. This film won the Best Director Award for Eric Gravel and the Best Actress Award for Laure Calamy at last years Venice Film Festival. 

'THE REEF : STALKED' (Rated M) - this Australian horror thriller is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Andrew Traucki and is the follow up to his 2010 great white shark terror offering 'The Reef'. In the intervening years Traucki has also Directed 'The Jungle' and 'Black Water : Abyss'. In an effort to heal after witnessing her sister's horrific murder, Nic (Teressa Liane) travels to a tropical Pacific Island resort with her friends for a kayaking and diving adventure. Only hours into their expedition, the women are stalked and then attacked by a great white shark. To survive they will need to band together and Nic will have to overcome her post-traumatic stress, face her fears and slay the monster. Also starring Ann Truong, Kate Lister and Saskia Archer.

With four new release movie offerings 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 at your local Odeon in the coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE GRAY MAN : Tuesday 19th July 2022

I saw 'THE GRAY MAN', Rated MA15+, at my local independent movie theatre this week, and this American action thriller film is Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo who have previously helmed four MCU films, being 'Captain America : The Winter Soldier' in 2014, 'Captain America : Civil War' in 2016, 'Avengers : Infinity War' in 2018 and 'Avengers : Endgame' in 2019, amongst other feature films and TV series. Based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Mark Greaney, the film went on limited release from last week before being released on Netflix from 22nd July. Costing US$200M to produce it is the most expensive film ever made by Netflix, and it hopes to start a series of films based on the eleven 'Gray Man' novels. It has garnered generally mixed or average Reviews so far. 

The film opens up in 2003 in a prison cell where Court Gentry (Ryan Gosling) is incarcerated until 2031 for the murder of his father. He is being interviewed, or rather recruited, by Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton) who works for the CIA and recognises in Gentry the attributes necessary to turn him into a black ops mercenary, with the associated skills to take out all the bad guys on their hit list. Fitzroy tells Gentry that he can walk out of the prison in thirty minutes a free man, or he can serve out his sentence, and for what it's worth Fitzroy would have done the same thing as Gentry did that got him into the slammer in the first place. 

We then fast forward eighteen years to the present day. We are in Bangkok in a lavish hotel counting down the minutes to midnight on NYE. Gentry (now known as Sierra Six or simply Six) is ordered to take out a hit on a mark set to arrive shortly in time for the fireworks extravaganza. With the marks entourage in tow, and Six now poised to take the shot, he hesitates, so allowing the mark to walk outta there. But Six pursues his mark and what follows is a close quarter hand to hand fight on the ground floor amongst exploding tubes of fireworks. Six overcomes his mark, and as the mark lays bleeding out, he hands Six a medallion containing a USB drive, and says that he is Sierra Four, before he dies. Six gets the hell outta there, goes to an internet gaming joint and plugs in the USB, but it is heavily encrypted and without the necessary passcodes can't access what is contained therein. So, he is next seen posting it in a letterbox to an unknown recipient. 

Back in Langley, at CIA HQ, Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas) another CIA Agent is being questioned by Denny Carmichael (Rege-Jean Page) her superior as to the role she played in the Bangkok hit, what if anything the mark gave to Six, and for her to very seriously consider her future career if he doesn't get the answers he wants. Miranda has an obvious dislike for Carmichael and gives nothing away. 

Meanwhile, Six hot wires a Tuk Tuk and calls Fitzroy asking for him to arrange for his extraction. Fitzroy has subsequently retired but still has connections and influence. His tells Six to get to Chiang Mai where an extraction team will be waiting with a cargo plane fuelled and ready for take off with a team of friendlies on board. 

In the meantime, Carmichael has recruited Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans), a psychotic and torture loving former colleague of Six who lasted just five months in the service of the CIA before venturing out on his own and operating a seemingly very successful mercenaries for hire business. Hansen has kidnapped the young daughter of Fitzroy, Claire (Julia Butters) and is threatening to do all manner of nasty things to her should he not get the answers from Fitzroy, whom he also now holds captive. Hansen coerces Fitzroy in telling the extraction team to dispense with Six. And so whilst cruising at 25,000 feet and while Six catches up on some much needed shut eye, the extraction team spring into action with the intention of killing Six. But, needless to say this doesn't go according to plan, and more close quarter hand to hand combat leads to a stray bullet blowing a gaping hole in the fuselage, various bad dudes getting thrown out of the plane, and the aircraft steadily disintegrating as Six jumps out of it without a parachute before it explodes in midair. He of course glides toward a bad dude with a parachute, they fight in free fall and Six lands shaken but not stirred somewhere in Turkey. 

Next up Six goes to Vienna to obtain a fake ID and passport, but alas the local who is organising the said documents in secretly in cahoots with Hansen. He successfully manages to capture Six in a deep pit through a bullet proof trap door in the floor just about where Six was standing to have his passport photo taken. Six, using his best MacGyver skills, manages to create a flood of water so elevating him up the pit and rigs an explosive charge to detonate just at the right time when Hansen and his goons arrive at the scene. In the ensuing mayhem, Six comes face to face and fist to fist with Hansen, but on the way out of the building Miranda shoots a tranquilizer dart in the arse of Hansen, and then into Six before loading him up in the boot of her car. 

When Six comes round a short time later, Miranda and Six talk over their predicament and what their next move should be. It turns out that Six posted the USB drive to Margaret Cahill (Alfre Woodard), the former head of CIA Special Op's, who has now also subsequently retired and living in Prague. So, the pair head off to Prague, as Cahill seems to be one of the only people they can trust, and who would have the encryption codes to allow them to access what is contained on that USB drive. Meanwhile, Hansen is back in Croatia in a very lavish and very old villa tracking Six's every move. Hansen also takes the opportunity to interrogate and torture Fitzroy to find out his whereabouts in Prague, and who it is there whom he would most trust.

Arriving in Prague Six and Miranda meet with Cahill who tells the pair that she has terminal cancer and has been given three months to live. But that doesn't stop her from opening up the USB drive and revealing that Carmichael and Hansen have been involved in some nefarious crimes around the world as their own very secretive and covert army of mercenaries taking out the Who's Who of people of influence. Needless to say, as Hansen watches on from Croatia he orders his assembled team of assassins to converge on Cahill's apartment and wreak havoc with all manner of firepower. As Cahill remains in the apartment holding onto a hand grenade, she allows Six and Miranda to escape via an underground tunnel leading out into the street, whilst providing the pair with her armour plated bullet proof glassed Audi car. What follows is a blood bath in down town Prague, as Miranda evades various other vehicles behind the wheel of Cahill's car, while Six is going head to head and toe to toe with numerous goons inside a tram. It doesn't end well for the numerous local Police killed in the conflagration, the assassins who also meet their swift demise courtesy of Six, and the tram which ultimately hurtles sideways and off track into the sandstone columns of a building causing much destruction, on top of the trail of mayhem left behind in the wake of Cahill's apartment being destroyed. 

Next up we find our intrepid rogue agents heading to Croatia to take out Hansen once and for all, rescue Fitzroy and his daughter, and regain the USB drive which has subsequently fallen into the hands of Avik San (Dhanush), and Indian assassin working for Team Hansen. Six and Miranda go in heavily armed to the villa under cover of darkness and while Miranda takes out all the external gun placements Six concentrates his efforts on the internal goons and getting to Fitzroy and Claire. Needless to say its all in a days work for the pair who successfully overcome their foes, leaving Miranda to battle it out with Avik San, and Six to guide the Fitzroy's to safety, although Fitzroy takes a bullet to the stomach and orders Six to take his Claire with him, leaving him with a single hand grenade which he pulls the pin on when Hansen and three of his goons are upon him. Of course the blast takes out the three goons, but Hansen scrambles to his feet and continues to give chase, culminating with Hansen holding Claire at gunpoint inside a maze within the grounds, while Six trails behind in search. The three come face to face around a fountain in the centre of the maze, and Six tells Hansen to let Claire go, which he does, leaving the pair to fight to the death. In the end it is Suzanne Brewer (Jessica Henwick), Carmichael's off sider, who plugs Hansen in the chest with a bullet and kills him dead. She also plugs Six with a non-life threatening bullet wound, just to add to his stabbings, slashings and beating he took from Hansen. 

We then fast forward two weeks to a heavily guarded private hospital in which Six has been non-responsive, and Claire is being held. Brewer and Carmichael plan on paying a visit to Six, with the latter questioning Brewer as to why she let Six live. Because he's a valuable asset and one of the most capable operatives they have she responds. As they exit the lift, the pair are confronted with the bodies of several guards and Six's now empty bed. He is next seen in silhouette passing along the windows of the room where Claire is being held taking out a number of goons. He then enters the room, rescues Claire and the two are seen speeding out of the hospital grounds in a SUV. 

'The Gray Man', which for the most part I enjoyed, is a mash up of Jason Bourne, Ethan Hunt and John Wick with a little bit of James Bond thrown in there for good measure. It's an entertaining ride for sure with plenty of exotic locations, wide sweeping aerial drone shots, action set pieces, gunplay and close quarter combat, solid enough performances from the ensemble cast, and sarcastic quips aplenty to raise the occasional smile, but what it lacks is a fresh approach and sufficient intrigue to make this film stand above all the others in this increasingly overcrowded genre. Watch it from the comfort of your own sofa at home when it lands on Netflix this week, chow down on a big bowl of popcorn, leave your brain in the kitchen and strap in for a high octane super charged globe trotting journey that sees two Hollywood fav's go head to head. What's not to like?

'The Gray Man' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 21st July 2022.

The 22nd edition of the New Horizons International Film Festival which takes place in the city of Wroclaw, in southwestern Poland, this year from Thursday 21st July through until Sunday 31st July. This festival was established in 2001 as a place to present the brave artistic cinema, which was not present in Poland at that time, while looking for new forms of expression, and going far beyond the limits of conventional film. The official website, reads that 'it is a festival of cinema visionaries, uncompromising artists who have the courage to follow their chosen path against the prevailing fashions and talk about the most important things with their unique language. From among the hundreds of films shown every year at international festivals and among those submitted for selection, the ones selected are those that, thanks to their unusual form and power of expression, do not allow themselves to be forgotten. They arouse extreme reactions and emotions, arouse polemics and discussions, evoke delight and protests. But it is precisely such films that most often set the latest trends in world cinema. The main competition is the fulfilment of the idea of ​​'New Horizons' cinema'. 271 films are being showcased at this years festival, of which 209 are full length feature films and sixty-two are short films. 

The New Horizons International Competition is the showpiece of the Wrocław festival. It is here that the fresh, uncompromising works of artists looking for original forms of expression are presented. Among the twelve competition titles that will compete for this year's Grand Prix, there are productions from countries including Bolivia, Brazil, France, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Switzerland and Great Britain. Those twelve films are :-

* '107 Mothers' - from Slovakia, Czech Republic and Ukraine and Directed by Peter Kerekes. Lesia is a young prisoner, recently imprisoned in Odessa. A child is already being born in the centre. However, she will be able to see little Kola only at certain times. The boy will stay in the children's ward until he is three years old, then, if he is not taken care of by someone from the family, he will go to an orphanage. Lesia's fate is shared by all mothers who are serving their sentence.

* 'Afterwater' - from Germany, South Korea, Spain and Serbia and Directed by Dane Komljen. Composed of three parts, each with three heroes and a different lake at the centre of the story, it flows freely between epochs (present, past and future), media (digital, 16mm and video), forms of coexistence, identities, but also languages, ideas and texts.

* 'Until Friday, Robinson' - from France, Switzerland, Iran and Lebanon and Directed by Mitra Farahani. In a brilliant and, in its own way, audacious documentary essay, Farahani paints portraits of 'angry age prophets' facing death and the weakness of the flesh, but still extremely insightful and witty. Sometimes they only appear as shadows, sometimes we see them in photos from the hospital. By recording their surroundings and lifestyle, Farahani asks intriguing questions about generational experience, existential choices and conclusions that revolutionists draw from their own biographies.

* 'Enys Men' - from Great Britain and Directed by Mark Jenkin. The year is 1973, communication and entertainment are hard to come by. No change - the woman notes in her diary, but she brought a lot of luggage with her. Memories, fears and fantasies spread around the island, they swim to the shore, they are delirious, they call in the Cornish dialect, they disturb the rhythm.

* 'A Piece of Heaven' - from Switzerland and Germany and Directed by Michael Koch. The postcard scenery of the Alpine province serves as a contrast to the hardships of the heroes' lives, dependent on the whims of nature and the jokes of a perverse fate. All these inconveniences are felt most strongly by Anna - a waitress from a local inn, who decides to tie up with a slightly older Marek. The newcomer arouses the distrust of the local community. The more facts are against the man, the more earnestly Anna stands up for her partner, knowing that she is also fighting for the right to live her own way.

* 'We Haven't Lost Our Way' - from Poland and Directed by Anka Sasnal and Wilhelm Sasnal. They look at the life of a woman and a man at the crossroads - in two separate stories, which, however, perhaps have something in common. Ewa is an English teacher and translator, but she works as a carer for an old lady, whom she is supposed to entertain with reading and conversation. Eryk works at the university, but he is more concerned with helping the needy than with literature, which - like his explosive disposition - causes him a lot of problems. 

* 'Immaculate' - from Romania and Directed by Monica Stan and George Chiper-Lillemark. Daria - a teenager who paid her first love with her addiction to heroin. While her boyfriend is imprisoned, the girl is forced by her parents to take methadone treatment. At the centre, he tells his story, but is he honest? Full of fear, Daria learns the strict rules of the clinic, spends time with other patients, and the key that can open many doors in these relationships and bring relief is touch.

* 'Burning Earth' from Brazil and Portugal and Directed by Adirley Queiros and Joana Pimenta. Here we follow the fate of the Chita and Lei sisters. They are the leaders of a female gang that sells stolen gasoline in one of the largest favelas on the South American continent - in Sol Nascente on the outskirts of Brasilia. The sisters also agitate politically, dance at parties and have long talks with each other. However, the police are on their heels, chanting patriotic and religious slogans. 

* 'The Dam' - from Serbia, Germany, Sudan and France and Directed by Ali Cherri. The protagonist of this film, made in North Sudan near the gigantic Merowe dam, is Maher, a brick maker, seasonal worker from Darfur, who sneaks into the desert in the evenings to make a huge figure out of clay.

* 'A Hidden Gem' - from Argentina and Mexico and Directed by Natalia Lopez Gallardo. The plot that takes place in the Mexican province of Hidden Gem focuses on the search for a missing woman. The kidnapped sister, who serves on the estate of a wealthy family, and her white employer, recovering from the divorce, are involved in it. A moving story about systemic violence, entanglement, misogyny and class guilt.

* 'Great Move' - from Bolivia, France, Qatar and Switzerland and Directed by Kiro Russo. First, we see the city of La Paz from above as a hellish cauldron full of people, sounds and colours. New tall buildings are adjacent to dark alleys and decaying ruins. Closer shots show streets and bazaars bustling with life. Street trade is booming, crowded buses squeeze through the crowd, cars are honking, and unionists are organising miners' demonstrations. This is a portrait of the city, animated by dark energy, full of mysteries and magic.

* 'Water' - from Spain, Switzerland and France and Directed by Elena Lopez Riera. We are in a sleepy town in southern Spain, where the sun-scorched earth is sometimes haunted by great water, which is a breeding ground for various legends and myths. People are beautiful here, but they have no job and no prospect for the future - the youth only dream of breaking out of this hole.

For the full details and the other film strands playing at the 22nd New Horizons International Film Festival, you can go to the official website at : https://www.nowehoryzonty.pl/artykul.do?lang=en&id=267

Turning the attention then back to this weeks three new cinematic offerings, we kick start with a mystery drama about a young woman who raised herself in the marshes of the America's deep South becomes a suspect in the murder of a man she was once involved with. This is followed by a super-natural horror about a thirteen year old lad who after being abducted by a child killer and locked in a soundproof basement, starts receiving calls on a disconnected phone from the killer's previous victims. And closing out the week we have a Spanish Argentinian film about a wealthy businessman who hires a famous filmmaker to help make a smash hit film.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or 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.

* 'WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING' (Rated M) - this American mystery drama film is Directed by Olivia Newman and is based on the 2018 best selling novel of the same name by Delia Owens. This is Olivia Newman's second feature film outing following the 2018 release of 'First Match' on Netflix. The film is Co-Produced by Reece Witherspoon and the title song is written and sung by Taylor Swift. It cost US$44M to produce and is released this week too Stateside. 

Catherine 'Kya' Clarke (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is an endlessly resourceful young girl who grows up in the marshlands of North Carolina. Abandoned by her parents and older siblings in the early 1950's, Kya learns to survive on her own. She is taught to read and write by her friend Tate Walker (Taylor John Smith) and falls for him, but is left behind once again when he goes to college. Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson) is a quarterback who draws Kya into a tryst with promises of marriage that never eventuate. After Kya ends their relationship, Chase attacks her and she narrowly escapes. Then, while she is away, Chase is found dead and Kya is engulfed in a murder trial, with the evidence against her seemingly insurmountable. Also starring David Strathairn and Garret Dillahunt.

* 'THE BLACK PHONE' (Rated MA15+) - is an American super-natural horror film Co-Written for the screen, Co-Produced and Directed by Scott Derrickson whose previous feature film outings take in the likes of 'Hellraiser : Inferno' in 2000, 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose' in 2005, 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' in 2008, 'Sinister' in 2012, 'Deliver Us from Evil' in 2014 and 'Doctor Strange' most recently in 2016. This film is an adaptation of the 2004 short story of the same name by Joe Hill. Here, Finney Shaw (Mason Thames), a shy but clever thirteen-year-old boy, is abducted by a sadistic masked killer, known as The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming serves little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer's previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn't happen to Finney. The film saw its Premier screening at Fantastic Fest in late September last year and went on release in the US towards the end of June this year having grossed US$116M off the back of a US$18M production budget and garnering generally positive Reviews. 

* 'OFFICIAL COMPETITION' (Rated M) - this Spanish and Argentinian comedy film is Co-Written and Directed by Gaston Duprat and Mariano Cohn and it saw its World Premier showcasing at last years Venice Film Festival in early September before being released in its native Spain and Argentina in late February and mid-March respectively. An aged multimillionaire, Humberto Suarez (Jose Luiz Gomez) willing to leave a legacy decides to finance a feature film Directed by eccentric Lola Cuevas (Penelope Cruz). The Screenplay is adapted from an award-winning novel about a man who is unable to forgive his brother for killing their parents in a drunk-driving accident. The two brothers are to be played by defined actor Ivan Torres (Oscar Martinez) and celebrity actor Felix Rivero (Antonio Banderas), whose differing methods cause them to clash during rehearsals. The film has generated largely positive Reviews, and has so far grossed US$4M at the Box Office. 

With three new release movie offerings 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 at your local Odeon in the coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

SUNDOWN - Tuesday 12th July 2022.

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'SUNDOWN' earlier this week, and this Mexican, French and Swedish Co-Produced drama film is Written, Co-Produced, Directed and Co-Edited by Michel Franco whose previous film making offerings include 'After Lucia' in 2012 that won the Un Certain Regard Award at Cannes, 'Chronic' in 2015 with Tim Roth and 'New Order' in 2020 with Diego Boneta. The film has garnered generally favourable reviews, and has so far grossed US$372K since its release in the US at the end of January having seen its World Premier as the Venice Film Festival back in September last year.  

Neil Bennett (Tim Roth, who also Executive Produces here), a quiet introverted man from London, is on vacation in Acapulco, Mexico with his sister Alice (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her two young adult children, Colin (Samuel Bottomley) and Alexa (Albertine Kotting McMillan). They stay in a luxurious resort hotel overlooking the ocean and eat at up market restaurants. Day after day, the family participates in a variety of fun activities, or just lounging beside and in their own private pool. Neil, however, is seemingly not enjoying himself. 

One day, Alice receives a phone call telling her that her mother is being taken to the hospital back in England. Following this news, the family immediately prepares to go home. On the way to the airport the next morning, Alice takes a second call informing her that her mother has passed away. Alice bursts into tears while Neil remains very calm and matter of fact. At the airport, Neil says he left his passport at the hotel, so the rest of the family are forced into flying out without him.

Neil lied about the passport, as it was in his suitcase the whole time, and he decided to stay in Acapulco, at least for the next few days. He gets to know a local taxi driver named Jorge Campos (Jesus Godinez), who takes him to a small cheap downbeat hotel. Neil whiles away the day by eating at cheap beachside restaurants, drinking beers and visiting the very crowded local beach. Alice calls him repeatedly to come home but he soon gets tired of her insistence and starts to ignore her calls and messages left. Instead he starts dating a friendly local named Berenice (Iazua Larios). One day he returns to his hotel room to find his belongings have seemingly been stolen, but he exhibits very little reaction to this, accepting it for what it is. The next day while he and Berenice are at the beach, he observes two men approaching the beach at high speed on a jet ski. They pull up and one gets off and walks up to another guy and shoots him dead at point blank range in broad daylight, and then departs immediately afterwards from whence they came. They both witness this, as did numerous others at the time, yet Neil remains apathetic to the whole affair.

Some two weeks later Alice returns to Acapulco and confronts Neil at the beach in a heated one sided conversation about him abandoning her in her days of need. She promptly leaves when she has said all she is going to. As it turns out the Bennett family is extremely wealthy because they are in the meat processing business with farms and abattoirs up and down the country back in the UK. Neil calls Alice and asks if they can meet. After briefly talking about the family business and saying it was never about the money, Neil signs a document relinquishing his assets and inheritance in the presence of the family lawyer, Richard (Henry Goodman). Alice however, agrees to a monthly stipend of £10,000 for as long as he shall live, which should set him up very nicely in Acapulco. 

Later, on the way to the airport Alice is shot and killed by a gang of three car jackers, driven by Jorge. The Police arrest Neil, believing he ordered the assassination as he was seen talking to the three on several occasions down by the beach. Neil bursts into tears upon learning about his sister's death from a newspaper article. His representatives arrive and tell him that the company is now his. After Richard gets him out of prison, after being locked up in very cramped conditions with half of Mexico's low life crims for a few days, Richard orders their driver to take him and Neil straight to the airport. Neil however, has other plans and asks to be returned to his hotel, much to Richard's bemusement. He continues seeing Berenice and spending time at the beach. Sometime later, Richard, Colin, and Alexa confront him in his hotel room unannounced. Alexa hits Neil in the head with an empty beer bottle. Later, Neil signs off the rights to the family company to Colin and Alexa. Neil, in return, will still receive his monthly pension, £100,000 as a once off down payment and have his private health insurance maintained until he dies. After the meeting, Neil returns to Berenice, with the other three departing straightaway back to England. Neil, once again shows no emotion or empathy at all. 

Sometime later, after Neil and Berenice return to her apartment Neil collapses down a flight of stairs carrying an esky full of beers. Berenice takes him to the hospital, where she learns Neil has advanced cancer that has metastasised to his frontal lobe and the Doctor recommends beginning chemo therapy immediately at a specialist hospital in Mexico City. After Berenice falls asleep by his side, Neil collects up his belongings, abandons her and walks down the streets of Mexico City alone at night. Abruptly we cut from his sullen face to an image of the beach's waves breaking on the shoreline some days following, the glaring sunshine, and the shirt and shoes Neil was wearing the night he walked away from the hospital, left unattended on the back of a chair with a beer bottle on a table nearby.

'Sundown' is a film that won't be for everyone that's for sure, and I'm not even sure it was for me! There is no doubt that Tim Roth's understated introverted and bored millionaire Neil Bennet is meticulously played out with all the nuances of a man who has reached the end of his tether and who doesn't really care about anything or anyone. This is hardly an uplifting film either, it's a slow burn, leaves numerous questions unanswered, and when the ending comes after a brisk 82 minute run time I was left thinking where's the final ten minutes that would tie all those unanswered questions together and provide for a less unambiguous conclusion. On the positive front there is Tim Roth's and Charlotte Gainsbourg's performances, the cinematography which depicts both the richer and the poorer side of Mexican life, the random acts of violence that are seemingly all too real in that part of the world, and as a character study it works. 

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

-Steve, at Odeon Online-