Birthday's to share this week : 6th - 12th August 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Charlize Theron does on 7th August - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 42, at the end of this feature.

Do you also share your birthday with a well known, highly regarded & famous Actor or Actress; share your special day with a Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer, Singer/Songwriter or Composer of repute; or share an interest in whoever might notch up another year in the coming seven days? Then, look no further! Whilst there will be too many to mention in this small but not insignificant and beautifully written and presented Blog, here are the more notable and noteworthy icons of the big screen, and the small screen, that you will recognise, and that you might just share your birthday with in the week ahead. If so, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online!

Sunday 6th August

• Barbara Windsor - Born 1937, turns 80 - Actress | Writer
• Michelle Yeoh - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actress | Producer | Writer
• Vera Farmiga - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actress | Producer | Singer 
• Melissa George - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress  
• M. Night Shyamalan - Born 1970, turns 47 - Director | Producer | Writer 

Monday 7th August

• Tobin Bell - Born 1942, turns 75 - Actor | Producer
• David Duchovny - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Michael Shannon - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actor | Producer
• Charlize Theron - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actress | Producer
• Abbie Cornish - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actress   

Tuesday 8th August

• Donald P. Bellisario - Born 1935, turns 82 - Writer | Producer | Director
• Dustin Hoffman - Born 1937, turns 80 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer | Songwriter  

Wednesday 9th August

• Sam Elliott - Born 1944, turns 73 - Actor | Producer
• Eric Bana - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• McG - Born 1968, turns 49 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Daniel Henshall - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actor 
• Bill Skarsgard - Born 1990, turns 27 - Actor
• Melanie Griffith - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actress | Producer
• Gillian Anderson - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actress | Producer | Director 
• Rhona Mitra - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress 
• Audrey Tatou - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress 
• Anna Kendrick - Born 1985, turns 32 - Actress | Singer  

Thursday 10th August

• Rosanna Arquette - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actress | Director | Producer | Writer
• Antonio Banderas - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer
• Justin Theroux - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director 
• Brenton Thwaites - Born 1989, turns 28 - Actor | Producer  

Friday 11th August

• Ian McDiarmid - Born 1944, turns 73 - Actor 
• Chris Hemsworth - Born 1983, turns 34 - Actor 
• Viola Davis - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actress | Producer  

Saturday 12th August

• Cara Delevingne - Born 1992, turns 25 - Actress 
• George Hamilton - Born 1939, turns 78 - Actor | Producer
• Bruce Greenwood - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actor | Producer
• Casey Affleck - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Editor
• Lakeith Stanfield - Born 1991, turns 26 - Actor 

Charlize Theron was born in Benoni, in the Gauteng Province of South Africa (formerly at the time of her birth the Transvaal Province), to mother Gerda Jacoba Maritz and father Charles Jacobus Theron. She was raised on her parents farm in Benoni near Johannesburg. Her father had an alcohol problem and at age fifteen he turned on both the young teenage Theron and his wife. Physically attacking his wife, Theron's mother shot and killed her husband. The shooting was judged to be in self defence and she was acquitted of any crime. She attended Putfontein Primary School and at thirteen moved to a boarding school at the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg. At sixteen, she won a one year modelling contract at a competition which saw her relocate to Milan in Italy with her mother. After a year of modelling assignments across Europe, she moved Stateside with her mother living in New York City and Miami. In New York she attended the Joffrey Ballet School where she trained to be a ballet dancer where she appeared in 'Swan Lake' and 'The Nutcracker', but a subsequent knee injury put an end to that career aspiration. 

At nineteen years of age, she took a one way ticket to Los Angeles that her mother purchased for her as an ultimatum - either work out what you going to do with your life here or you can come home and sulk and feel sorry for yourself in South Africa! With every intention of getting a gig in the film business, she was picked up by a talent agent who saw Theron get into a heated outburst whilst trying to cash a cheque at a Hollywood Boulevard bank. That chance meeting led to various introductions to casting agents and time at an acting school. After her big screen debut in a non-speaking role in horror offering 'Children of the Corn III' she scored her first speaking gig as a hitwoman in the 1996  comedy crime film '2 Days in the Valley' alongside Jeff Daniels, James Spader, Eric Stolz, Danny Aiello and Teri Hatcher. Theron's role was praised, even if the film garnered average Reviews at best. 

Next up was the Tom Hanks Written, Directed and starring 'That Thing You Do!' and then made for television movie 'Hollywood Confidential', Taylor Hackford's 'The Devil's Advocate' with Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves, then Woody Allen's 'Celebrity' with Kenneth Branagh and Judy Davis. 'Mighty Joe Young' followed with Bill Paxton, Sci-Fi drama 'The Astronaut's Wife' alongside Johnny Depp, and then Lasse Hallstrom's 'The Cider House Rules' with Tobey Maguire and Michael Caine seeing out the nineties.

The new decade saw the John Frankenheimer Directed actioner 'Reindeer Games' with Ben Affleck; the James Gray Co-Written and Directed 'The Yards' with Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix; 'Men of Honour' with Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jnr.; and the Robert Redford Directed 'The Legend of Bagger Vance' with Will Smith and Matt Damon - all released in 2000. 2001 and 2002 saw 'Sweet November' with Keanu Reeves again, '15 Minutes' with Robert De Niro again, 'The Curse of the Jade Scorpion' with Woody Allen again, 'Trapped' with Kevin Bacon, and 'Waking Up in Reno' with Billy Bob Thornton and Patrick Swayze. 

Perhaps her breakout role came with 2003's Patty Jenkins Written and Directed 'Monster' in which Theron plays serial killer Aileen Wournos, a former prostitute who was executed in Florida in 2002 for killing six men in the late '80's and early '90's. Theron won much critical praise for her role garnering the Oscar win for Best Actress, the Golden Globe win for Best Actress, the SAG Award for Best Actress and a BAFTA nomination, amongst a haul of others totalling 30 wins and 25 nods in all. The film also starred Christina Ricci and Bruce Dern.

That same year saw the remake of the classic 'The Italian Job' for Director F. Gary Gray with Mark Wahlberg again, and Donald Sutherland, Jason Statham and Edward Norton; and then her turn as Actress Britt Ekland in the biographical 'The Life and Death of Peter Sellers' with Geoffrey Rush in the lead role; and then war time romantic drama 'Head in the Clouds' with Penelope Cruz and Stuart Townsend. 

2006 saw another highly acclaimed turn for Theron in 'North Country' for Director Niki Caro and starring alongside Jeremy Renner, Frances McDormand, Sean Bean, Woody Harrelson and Sissy Spacek. For her role as Josey Aimes Theron was nominated as Best Actress for the Academy Award, the Golden Globe, the BAFTA and the SAG Award as well as a heap of others.

Sci-Fi actioner 'Aeon Flux' came next in 2005 with Frances McDormand again; and then the Paul Haggis Written and Directed 'In the Valley of Elah' with Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Susan Sarandon. Actor Stuart Townsend Wrote and Directed 'Battle in Seattle' which also starred Woody Harrelson again, Ray Liotta, Channing Tatum, Connie Nielsen and Michelle Rodriguez, and this was followed up by 'Sleepwalking', Peter Berg's reluctant Superhero film 'Hancock' with Will Smith; 'The Burning Plain', and then John Hillcoat's post-apocalyptic adventure drama film 'The Road' with Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Robert Duvall seeing out the decade.

2011 brought 'Young Adult' for Director Jason Reitman for which Theron received further awards nominations including a Golden Globe nod; and then the Ridley Scott 'Alien' prequel 'Prometheus' with Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Idris Elba.










'Snow White and the Hunstman' followed in 2012 with Theron playing Ravenna, the Evil Queen to Kristen Stewart's Snow White and Chris Hemsworth's The Huntsman. The film received mixed Reviews but took US$397M at the Box Office off a budget of US$170M and was therefore a commercial success spawning a sequel 'The Huntsman : Winter's War' being released in 2016 in which Theron reprised her role. The film fared less well critically and commercially than its predecessor bringing in US$165M form a US$115M budget outlay.

The Seth MacFarlane Written, Directed and starring romantic comedy Western, 'A Million Ways to Die in the West' came along in 2014, and then 'Dark Places' with Nicholas Hoult and Chloe Grace Moretz, and then George Miller's long awaited follow up to his earlier hugely successful and influential post-apocalyptic action adventure Sci-Fi offerings 'Mad Max' with 'Mad Max : Fury Road' alongside Tom Hardy as the titular Max Rockatansky with Theron playing Imperator Furiosa and with Nicholas Hoult again. The film made US$379M at the Box Office from its US$150M budget and won six Academy Awards and was nominated for four others, was nominated for two Golden Globes, won four BAFTA's and another three nominations amongst its total awards haul of 237 wins and another 209 nominations.

2016 saw the release of the Sean Penn Directed 'The Last Face' with Javier Bardem. The film was panned by Critics as too were Theron and Bardem's performances. This was followed by Theron applying her voice talents to the animated 'Kubo and the Two Strings' together with those of Matthew McConaughey, Ralph Fiennes and Rooney Mara amongst others. So far this year we have seen Theron in the F. Gary Gray Directed 'The Fate of the Furious' in which she pays cyberterrorist and criminal mastermind Cipher alongside Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, Michelle Rodriguez and various others of note. The film made a staggering US$1.24B from its US$250M budget making it the eleventh highest grossing film of all time at the time of writing, and setting the record for the highest grossing opening weekend of all time at US$532M. And just released is 'Atomic Blonde' in which Theron plays double if not triple agent Lorraine Broughton in this cold war era action spy thriller.

Next up for Theron are 'Gringo' due in 2018 as Directed by Nash Edgerton and also starring Joel Edgerton, Sharlto Copley, David Oyelowo, Thandie Newton and Amanda Seyfried; in post-production is comedy about motherhood, 'Tully' for Director Jason Reitman; and in pre-production is 'Flarsky' for Director Jonathan Levine and also starring Seth Rogen.

All up Theron has 52 Acting credits to her name, and sixteen as Producer including on 2017 television series 'Girlboss' and 'Mindhunter'. She is the recipient of 56 award wins and another 96 nominations including the Oscar for 'Monster' and a nomination for 'North Country'; three Golden Globe nominations and the win also for 'Monster'; a Primetime Emmy nomination; two BAFTA nominations; three SAG nominations and the win for 'Monster' and a whole swathe of others from around the global awards circuit.

In 2007 Theron founded 'The Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project' in an attempt to support African youth in the battle against HIV/AIDS. The project is committed to supporting community engaged organisations that address the key drivers of the disease through grant donations, networking and spotlighting their work to ultimately mobilise and empower them to prevent HIV. In 2008, Theron was named a UN Ambassador of Peace. She is also involved in women's rights organisations and has participated in pro-choice rallies, as well as being an active member of 'PETA' (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and a such is a supporter of animal rights. Theron is also a staunch supporter of same sex marriage and refuses to marry herself until such time as her country makes same sex marriage legal. In 2004 she signed a deal making her the spokeswoman for 'J'adore' advertising by Christian Dior, and in 2005 her image was used worldwide in print media advertising for Raymond Weil watches. Theron was in a long term relationship with Irish Actor Stuart Townsend whom she met on the set of 'Trapped' and worked with on subsequent films. The relationship ended in 2010 after eight years. In 2007 she became a US citizen and holds dual nationality with South Africa. She has two adopted children - a boy, Jackson in 2012, and a girl, August in 2015.

Charlize Theron - has been voted on numerous 'Top' lists multiple times including the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World, 100 Sexiest Women in the World, the Hot 100 Women, the Sexiest Woman Alive, Most Desirable Women, Top Earning Actresses; has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Afrikaans is her fist language and she learned English as teenager by watching American television; is as active in the causes she believes in as she is on the big screen both in front of the camera and increasingly behind it; is blonde, stunning and statuesque but happy to turn that upside down and inside out for her craft and has been recognised for it numerous times; and is now a bona fide action star in her own right thanks to the likes of 'Aeon Flux', 'Mad Max : Fury Road' and 'Atomic Blonde'. Plenty of achievements already, and lots more still to come - we'll keep watching Charlize, and in the meantime, Happy Birthday to you, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 3rd August 2017.

With the release this week of the foodies gastronomic road trip film 'The Trip to Spain' it got me to thinking about the history of food, cooking and eating in cinema over the years. And so as a result of some celluloid gourmet research, I cook up for you here my thoughts on the top feature films worth seeking out if you're looking for some food porn, culinary motivation, or cuisine inspired drama, thrills or laughs to entertain you for a night in front of your smart TV. This roll call deliberately leaves out the shopping trolley load of food related documentary films, that could easily constitute another listing in their own right.
* 'Tampopo' - 1985 : Directed by Juzo Itami; starring Tsutomu Yamasaki, Ken Watanabe, and Nobuko Miyamoto; country of origin - Japan.
* 'Babette's Feast' - 1987 : Directed by Gabriel Axel; starring Stephane Audran, Birgitte Federspiel and Bodil Kjer; country of origin - Denmark; Box Office US$5M.
* 'The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover' - 1989 : Directed by Peter Greenaway; starring Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren, Tim Roth and Ciaran Hinds; country of origin - Britain and France; Box Office US$8M (US).
* 'Delicatessen' - 1991 : Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro; starring Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Dominique Pinon and Marie-Laure Dougnac; country of origin - France; Box Office US$12M.
* 'Like Water for Chocolate' - 1992 : Directed by Alfonso Arau; starring Lumi Cavazos, Ada Carrasco, Regina Torne and Marco Leonardi; country of origin - Mexico; Box Office - US$22M.
* 'Eat Drink Man Woman' - 1994 : Directed by Ang Lee; starring Sihung Lung, Kuei-Mei Yang, Chien-lien Wu and Yu-Wen Wang; country of origin - Taiwan; Box Office - US$7M.
* 'Big Night' - 1996 : Directed by Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott; starring Minnie Driver, Ian Holm, Tony Shalhoub, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini and Liev Schreiber; country of origin - USA; Box Office US$12M.

* 'Chocolat' - 2000 : Directed by Lasse Hallstrom; starring Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Alfred Molina, Carrie-Anne Moss and Peter Stormare; country of origin - Britain and USA; Box Office - US$153M.
* 'Sideways' - 2004 : Directed by Alexander Payne; starring Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church; country of origin - USA; Box Office - US$110M.
* 'No Reservations' - 2007 : Directed by Scott Hicks; starring Catherine Zeta Jones, Aaron Eckhart and Abigail Breslin; country of origin - USA; Box Office - US$93M.
* 'Ratatouille' - 2007 : Directed by Brad Bird; starring Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm, Brad Garrett, Brian Dennehy and Peter O'Toole; country of origin - USA; Box Office - US$621M.
* 'Soul Kitchen' - 2009 : Directed by Faith Akin; starring Adam Bousdoukos, Moritz Bleibtreu and Birol Unel; country of origin - Germany.
* 'Julie & Julia' - 2009 : Directed by Nora Ephron; starring Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Stanley Tucci; country of origin - USA; Box Office - US$130M.
* 'The Trip' - 2010 : Directed by Michael Winterbottom; starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon; country of origin - Britain.
* 'The Lunchbox' - 2013 : Directed by Ritesh Batra; starring Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur and Nakul Vaid; country of origin - India; Box Office - US$16M.
* 'The Trip to Italy' - 2014 : Directed by Michael Winterbottom; starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon; country of origin - Britain.
* 'Chef' - 2014 : Directed by Jon Favreau; starring Jon Favreau, Dustin Hoffman, Sofia Vergara, Robert Downey Jnr., John Leguizamo and Scarlett Johansson; country of origin - USA; Box Office US$46M.
* 'The Hundred Foot Journey' - 2014 : Directed by Lasse Hallstrom; starring Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Charlotte Le Bon and Manish Dayal; country of origin - USA; Box Office - US$89M.
* 'Burnt' - 2015 : Directed by John Wells; starring Bradley Cooper, Omar Sy, Daniel Bruhl, Sienna Miller and Emma Thompson; country of origin - USA; Box Office - US$37M.
* 'The Trip to Spain' - 2017 : Directed by Michael Winterbottom; starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon; country of origin - Britain.
* 'The Dinner' - 2017 : Directed by Oren Overman; starring Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Steve Coogan, Rebecca Hall and Chloe Sevigny; country of origin - USA; Box Office - US$1M (recent US release only).

This week then there are just three new release movies coming to your local Odeon, multiplex, or independent picture house. We kick off with a throw back to the late Cold War era Berlin in this action spy thriller that has more in common with 'John Wick' than it does 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' supported by a kick-ass all action female protagonist, wide lapels and a thumping late '80's soundtrack. We then move to two likely English lads in this third course offering that sees them travelling along the Spanish coastline eating and drinking their way through the hot spot restaurants and hotels along the way as they verbally joust with each other, before moving to a RomCom that is inspired by the real life events of the lead actor and his wife in this cross-cultural, health challenged story of love, acceptance, and family.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three new releases 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 here warmly invited 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 meanwhile, enjoy your cinematic experience in the coming week.

'ATOMIC BLONDE' (Rated MA15+) - is Directed by David Leitch in his first solo Directorial outing having served as the uncredited Co-Director on 'John Wick' with Chad Stahelski and having served his time over the years as Stunt Co-ordinator and Stuntman on more action films than you can poke a stick at, and in the capacity as Second Unit Director on a good many also, and occasional Producer and Actor too. Next up for this new Director is 'Deadpool 2' currently filming and due in 2018. This film, however, is based on the 2012 graphic novel titled 'The Coldest City' by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart, stars a strong cast and a thumping '80's soundtrack and cost US$30M to make. The film has so far garnered generally positive Reviews and has taken US$26M at the Box Office since its US release at the end of July.

Set back in 1989 at the end of the Cold War and with the Berlin Wall about to be torn down, here sensual, sultry and savage when need be Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) is at the top of the spy game in MI6, and an agent who's willing to do whatever it takes to stay alive to complete her mission at hand. Ordered by her superiors she travels into the heart of Berlin to locate and retrieve a valuable document hidden in microfilm in a wristwatch, identify a notorious double agent, and expose and eradicate an espionage ring. Upon arrival, she teams up with an embedded station chief David Percival (James McAvoy), but he too is not necessarily all he seems. Also starring Sofia Boutella, John Goodman, Toby Jones and Eddie Marsan this is a kick ass thriller in the same vein as 'John Wick', matched by a killer soundtrack and strong performances from the two leads - McAvoy who chews up every scene and Theron who proves herself as a genuine A-List action star.

'THE TRIP TO SPAIN' (Rated M) - in 2010 Director Michael Winterbottom released a film about two likely English lads, one a food writer for The Observer, Steve (Steve Coogan) and his best mate Rob (Rob Brydon) to tour the English countryside and report back on their gourmet eating experiences at the country's finest eateries. That film 'The Trip', spawned a sequel in 2014 also Directed by Winterbottom called 'The Trip to Italy' and starred the two same English likely lads doing exactly the same thing all over again, only this time on a road trip through Italy from Piedmont to Capri. Now in 2017 Winterbottom once again rolls out his two likely lads Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon to travel along the Spanish coastline sampling the culinary delights of the finest hotels and restaurants whilst trading banter, anecdotes, jokes, impressions, war stories and how age shall not weary them along the way all delivered with their usual aplomb. Bon appetite!

'THE BIG SICK' (Rated M) - this is a RomCom Directed by Michael Showalter who also spends his time acting, writing and producing. This film is Co-produced by Judd Apatow, and is written by husband and wife team Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon and is loosely based on the real life romance that blossomed between Nanjiani (a Pakistani American stand up Comedian, Actor and Writer) and Gordon (an American Writer and Producer). Here Kumail playing a version of himself meets an American student named Emily (played here by Zoe Kazan) at one of his stand-up gigs. As they get to know each other and their relationship starts to take hold, Kumail begins to wonder and worry about what he thinks his traditional Muslim parents will make of her. When Emily falls sick and is left in a coma as a consequence, Kumail finds himself having to navigate through the medical crisis and bond with her deeply concerned parents Beth and Terry (Holly Hunter and Ray Romano respectively) in ways he never thought possible, whilst juggling the emotional tug of war between his family and what his heart is telling him. The film has received positive Reviews setting it above your standard sugar coated RomCom about cross-cultural love and personal heartache brought about by the couples true life experiences.

With three new releases this week to tempt you out on a cold mid-Winter evening, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephiles 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-

ATOMIC BLONDE : Thursday 27th July 2017

I saw 'ATOMIC BLONDE' at an advance screening at my local multiplex one week ahead of its Australian release on 3rd August. Directed by David Leitch in his first solo Directorial outing having served as the uncredited Co-Director on 'John Wick' with Chad Stahelski and having served his time over the years as Stunt Co-ordinator and Stuntman on more action films than you can poke a stick at, and in the capacity as Second Unit Director on a good many also, and occasional Producer and Actor too. Next up for this new Director is 'Deadpool 2' currently filming and due in 2018. This film is based on the 2012 graphic novel titled 'The Coldest City' by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart, stars a strong cast and a thumping '80's soundtrack and cost US$30M to make. The film has so far garnered generally positive Reviews.

The film opens with the death of MI6 Agent James Gasciogne (Sam Hargrave) at the hands of ruthless KGB Agent Yuri Bakhtin (Johannes Johannesson) who then proceeds to remove his wristwatch - for it contains microfilm detailing a List of covert field operatives working in the USSR, that is a very valuable commodity in this 1989 cold war era action spy thriller set on the eve of the Berlin Wall coming down and with it the shifting of superpower alliances. Fast forward ten days and in an ice cold bath emerges a very bruised, beaten-up and battered Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) - a top level MI6 Agent.

She steps out of her bath, pours herself a neat Stoli over rocks, gulps it down and makes herself presentable. She then appears in an interrogation room with MI6 Executive Eric Gray (Toby Jones) and CIA Agent Emmett Kurzfeld (John Goodman) to discuss the intricacies of her very recent mission to Berlin from which she has just returned, and is wearing the battle scars to prove it. The day following Gasciogne's death she is dispatched to Berlin by her superiors to recover the List, now missing in action, and identify, locate and dispense with a known Double Agent referred to as 'Satchel' who has been selling intelligence to the Ruskies for years, and who is believed to be responsible for betraying Gasciogne.

Upon arriving in Berlin, supposedly undercover and incognito, she is ambushed by KGB Agents working for a a lynchpin of the KGB and a generally unscrupulous kinda guy that you don't wanna cross, Aleksander Bremovych (Roland Moller). After a set piece involving Broughton's red stiletto and close quarter hand to hand combat inside a speeding car that doesn't end so well for the Russian's, she is met with very unceremoniously by her contact in Berlin - Agent David Percival (James McAvoy). Percival has been living and working in Berlin for the last ten years or so and is so deep undercover that there's not much he doesn't know about what's what and who's who in Berlin - on both the east and west sides of the Wall.

Later, having made slow progress with her investigations Broughton has a snoop around Gasciogne's apartment looking for any clues. She discovers a photograph of him and Percival indicating that the two men were close friends - a fact earlier denied by Percival. East German Police Officers arrive on the scene of the apartment and another close quarter hand to hand fist fight ensues with Broughton dispensing with them pesky Police types with her usual aplomb using a length of hose pipe and sundry household implements lying around the abode. She comes to realise that only Percival knew that she was going to Gasciogne's apartment, and suspects him of double crossing her to the authorities, and for potentially being Satchel.

Bakhtin meanwhile intends to sell the List to the highest bidder. Percival, having received word of this, arranges a rendezvous and then sticks a screwdriver in Bakhtin's forehead killing him outright stone dead, and takes the List for himself. Broughton in the meantime has met up with a sultry young undercover French Agent Delphine Lasalle (Sofia Boutella) and the two are instantly drawn to each other. Percival meets with Bremovych to sell the List to him, but unknown to the pair is that Lasalle is covertly photographing their meeting.

Amongst all of this is a Soviet defector known as Spyglass (Eddie Marsan) who stole the List in the first place and is the only person to have sighted the contents of the List and has all its data committed to his memory. Spyglass also is a Stasi Officer. Percival has agreed to escort Spyglass and his family across the border into West Berlin, but during a large protest rally which Broughton, Percival and Spyglass use as cover to effect their escape to the West, Percival shoots Spyglass and sends word to Bremovych's men that the injured Spyglass and Broughton are on the run. More hand to hand combat follows, and all the while Spyglass is bleeding out from his shot to the stomach. The pair end up in  car which gets chased down the streets of East Berlin by Bremovych's henchmen. Eventually the car is shunted into the river - Broughton swims free but is unable to free a pinned down Spyglass who drowns in the passenger seat as the car sinks into the River.

After this fracas, Percival visits Lasalle, and kills her to cover his own tracks but not before the French Agent was able to stab Percival twice. Lorraine arrives just after Percival has left, discovering the dead body of Lasalle and an envelope with her name on it containing the covert photographs taken of Percival meeting with Bremovych, proving in her mind that Percival is Satchel. After Percival patches up his wounds, he sets his safe house alight and attempts to flee the city under cover of darkness. Broughton tracks him down, shoots him dead and removes the wristwatch containing the List.

Back in the present day and still in the interrogation room where Broughton has been dutifully recounting all the facts surrounding her Berlin assignment to Gray and Kurzfeld, she presents the photographs and an audio recording that she spliced together herself that show that Percival was Satchel. She also denies all knowledge of the whereabouts of the List, forcing MI6 to shut down the case.

Three days later and Broughton meets with Bremovych in a Paris hotel suite, and she reveals herself to be Satchel, and in possession of the List, which she hands over to the Russian mobster. Bremovych knows however, that he has been set up and has his three henchmen and a 'cleaner' enter the room to dispense with Broughton and dispose of her body. Using a pistol concealed in an ice bucket, Broughton instead dispenses with the three henchmen and the cleaner, and then puts a bullet in Bremovych's head, but not before revealing first that she has been playing all sides along from the get go. Broughton then boards a private jet, where she meets Kurzfeld revealing herself to be a mole planted by the CIA, and hands over to him the wristwatch containing the List, before the pair depart for Langley . . . job done!

There a lot to like about this film - the pounding soundtrack featuring many late '80's greats including Depeche Mode, New Order, Public Enemy, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Cure, Blondie, Duran Duran, David Bowie, George Michael and Nena; the well choreographed action fight sequences; the performances by McAvoy who chews up the screen and the dialogue, and Theron too proving herself to be a bona fide kick ass female action star; and the attention to detail in capturing the mood, the fashion, the sounds of the era. But for all of that I swear that Lorraine Broughton must be John Wick's Mum and she taught him everything she knows, because in the intense gun play and the close quarter fight scenes there are plenty of similarities with John Wick's previous two instalments. The plot we have seen before too (1996's 'Mission : Impossible') and as such it's pretty standard fare, that is saved from its predictability by the stylish and fast paced action. The film has so far grossed US$25M and I guess if it gets enough bums on seats, there is scope for a follow-on instalment.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-