THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING : Tuesday 6th September 2022.

I saw the M Rated 'THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING' at my local independent movie theatre this week. This dark fantasy film is Co-Written for the screen, Co-Produced and Directed by George Miller, whose previous feature film making credits include his 1979 debut with 'Mad Max', then 'Mad Max 2', 'Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome', 'The Witches of Eastwick', 'Lorenzo's Oil', 'Babe : Pig in the City', 'Happy Feet' and 'Happy Feet Two', with 'Mad Max : Fury Road' his most recent offering before this one, and with the 'Mad Max' spin-off 'Furiosa' currently filming and due for a 2024 release. This film is based on the 1994 short story by A.S.Byatt titled 'The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye'. It saw its World Premiere showcasing at this years Cannes Film Festival in late May, was released in the US on 26th August, here in Australia on 1st September, cost US$60M to produce, has so far earned back US$9M and has garnered generally positive reviews from critics.

The film introduces us to a storyteller, narrativist and scholar Dr. Alithea Bonnie (Tilda Swinton), who by her own admission is a lonely soul, perfectly comfortable in her our company and who has no parents, no siblings and no husband (although she once did have, but he left her for a more outgoing model). Once or twice a year she travels with her work to places like China, Japan and on this occasion to Turkey to speak at a conference. She also suffers from hallucinations of demonic beings - one of which manifests itself to her while she's up on stage addressing the audience at the conference. She passes out, but quickly recovers and tells her good friend and colleague that it's nothing to worry about. Later that same afternoon, she is out shopping at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul and she purchases a small ornate bottle with distinctive blue markings that captured her interest. I'm sure it has an interesting story to tell she says to the shopkeeper as he carefully wraps the bottle in tissue paper. 

The next morning at her hotel having just stepped out of the shower and ordered room service breakfast she sets about cleaning the bottle with her electric toothbrush and dislodges the glass stopper unleashing a Djinn (Idris Elba) that was trapped within it. Djinn offers to grant Alithea three wishes if they are her heart’s desire, but Alithea argues that because she's a scholar of story and mythology, she knows all the cautionary tales of wishes gone wrong, and accuses Djinn of being a trickster. 

The Djinn takes umbrage at the accusations and proceeds to tell her three tales of his past and how he ended up trapped in the bottle on three separate occasions lasting some three thousand years. The Djinn recounts his story of the Queen of Sheba (Aamito Lagum), the most beautiful woman in the whole world, his cousin and lover, being wooed by King Solomon (Nicolas Mouawad), who imprisons the Djinn in a bottle so that he can have Sheba for himself. 

The Djinn's second story surrounds Gulten (Ece Yuksel), a young concubine in the palace of Suleiman the Magnificent (Lachy Hulme). After finding the Djinn's bottle, Gulten wishes for Suleiman's son, Mustafa (Matteo Bocelli), to fall in love with her and subsequently wishes to bear his child. However, Mustafa is murdered by his paranoid father, causing Gulten to hide the Djinn's bottle under a heavy flagstone and flee. Despite the Djinn’s attempts to pursue and save her, the pregnant Gulten is also killed on Suleiman’s orders before she is able to make her final wish. The Djinn wanders around the royal palace for over one hundred years, invisible and intangible due to the bottle remaining hidden and out of sight. 

Meanwhile, the bottle is eventually found by royal brothers Murad IV (Kaan Gulder) and Ibrahim (Hugo Vella), but as they are young children they are unable to lift the heavy flagstone. Some twenty years later Murad IV goes into war, where he becomes a vicious and ruthless ruler, and later dies a lonely man from alcoholism. Ibrahim reluctantly becomes the new sultan and finds himself entangled with a bevvy of obese concubines, including Sugar Lump (Anna Adams), who falls backwards onto the flagstone crushing it beneath her weight and manages to retrieve the bottle. The Djinn appears to her and desperately begs her to make a wish but Sugar Lump, scared and confused, wishes for the Djinn to return to his bottle and for the bottle to be thrown into the sea, which it is.

In the Djinn's final story, he tells of Zefir (Burcu Golgedar), the young wife of an older Turkish merchant, who is gifted the bottle after it is recovered during the mid-19th Century. Zefir is intelligent enough in her own right but wishes for knowledge, which the Djinn grants in the form of literature on mathematics, the sciences, history, astrology and astronomy and her second wish to understand the world as djinns do. Despite the Djinn's growing feelings toward Zefir and the fact she is now pregnant with his child, in time she becomes increasingly hemmed in by his presence and her newfound knowledge. The Djinn offers to reside in his bottle whenever she wishes, but Zefir wishes to forget she ever met the Djinn, so imprisoning him once again.

The Djinn's final story moves Alithea to the point where she wishes for Djinn and herself to fall in love. The next day Alithea must return home to London and so she and the Djinn board a flight with the Djinn residing temporarily in a crystal salt shaker. One day, Alithea returns home and discovers that the Djinn is gradually becoming weaker due to the effects of being out of his bottle for a prolonged period of time and the apparent effects of modern telecommunications transmissions. She uses her second wish to get the slowly disintegrating Djinn to speak again, apologises for using her wish to deny them the chance to fall in love naturally, and uses her third and final wish to set the Djinn free, so he is able to return to 'The Realm of Djinn'. Though she never expects to see him again, the now-healthy Djinn visits Alithea three years later and periodically again afterwards throughout her lifetime, and the arrangement suits Alithea just fine. 

'Three Thousand Years of Longing' is Director George Miller's modern and more adult take on the more child friendly 'Aladdin' of old, and with it he has crafted a film of stunning set visuals, effects and cinematography, four compelling stories all woven into one neat package, of the power of storytelling, love, loss and hope for the future. The two leads in Swinton and Elba are spot on, and to see them riff off each other as they verbally spar with one another wearing nothing but white bathrobes in a hotel room is a joy to watch and helps keep the story grounded in the here and now. The final, after the pair return to London, feels a little rushed in an attempt to tie the whole story together and bring it to a satisfying conclusion, but that would only be a minor observation in a film that is greater than the sum of its parts. 

'Three Thousand Years of Longing' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 1st September 2022.

The 79th annual Venice International Film Festival launches on Wednesday 31st August and runs through until Saturday 10th September. It is one of the world's longest established film festivals and is held on the island of the Lido in the Venice Lagoon, Venice, Italy. Venice is considered one of the 'Big Five' International Film Festivals worldwide - the other four being Cannes, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. 

This years Opening Night film is 'White Noise' from the US and UK and Directed, Written and Co-Produced by Noah Baumbach and starring Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Raffey Cassidy, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Don Cheadle, with the Closing Night film being 'The Hanging Sun' from Italy and Directed by Francesco Carrozzini and starring Charles Dance, Peter Mullan and Jessica Brown Findlay.

In the Main International Competition this year there are twenty-three titles competing for a number of prizes including the Golden Lion (awarded to the Best Film screened in competition), the Grand Jury Prize (awarded to the second Best Film), Silver Lion (awarded to the Best Director), Special Jury Prize (awarded to the third Best Film), the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and Best Actress, the Golden Osella (awarded for Best Screenplay or Best Technical Contribution) and the Marcello Mastroianni Award (presented to an emerging Actor or Actress). This year Jury President for the Main Competition is Julianne Moore. 

Included in the twenty-three titles are the following :-

* 'All the Beauty and the Bloodshed' - from the US, this documentary film is Directed and Co-Produced by Laura Poitras and examines the life and career of photographer and activist Nan Goldin and her efforts to hold Purdue Pharma, owned by the Sackler family, accountable for the opioid epidemic.

* 'The Banshees of Inisherin' - from Ireland, the US and UK and Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Martin McDonagh with Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan telling the story of a conflict that arises between two friends when one of them abruptly ends their friendship, with alarming consequences for both of them.

* 'Bardo (or False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths)' - from Mexico and Co-Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. The film follows a renowned Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker who returns home and works through an existential crisis as he grapples with his identity, familial relationships and the folly of his memories.

* 'Blonde' - from the US and written for the screen and Directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale and Xavier Samuel. Following a traumatic childhood, Norma Jeane Mortenson becomes an actress in the Hollywood of the 1950's and early '60's. She becomes world famous under the stage name 'Marilyn Monroe'.

* 'Bones & All' - from the US, Italy and the UK and Directed and Co-Produced by Luca Guadagnino and starring Timothee Chalamet, Taylor Russell, Mark Rylance, Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloe Sevigny. The film follows cannibalistic lovers, Maren and Lee, as they embark on a road trip across 1980's America.

* 'The Eternal Daughter' - from the US and UK and Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Joanna Hogg with Tilda Swinton, Carla-Sophia Davies and Joseph Mydell. A middle-aged daughter and her elderly mother must confront long-buried secrets when they return to their former family home, a once-grand manor that has become a nearly vacant hotel brimming with mystery.

* 'Love Life' - from Japan and France and Written and Directed by Koji Fukada. The film revolves around Taeko and her husband Jiro, who decide to care for her son’s long-lost father when he reappears, deaf, ill and homeless.

* 'Monica' - from the US and Italy and Co-Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Andrea Pallaoro and starring Patricia Clarkson, Trace Lysette, Emily Browning, and Adriana Barraza and centres around a woman who returns home to care for her dying mother.

* 'Other People's Children' - from France and Written and Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski and starring Virginie Efira and tells the story of a middle-aged teacher who starts a new relationship which creates a close bond with the four year old daughter of her new partner.

* 'The Son' - from the UK, US and France and written for the screen, Directed and Co-Produced by Florian Zeller and starring Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby and Anthony Hopkins. Peter has a busy life with new partner Emma and their new baby, but all this is thrown into disarray when his ex-wife Kate turns up with their seventeen year old son, Nicholas.

* 'Tar' - from the US and Germany and Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Todd Field and starring Cate Blanchett, Julian Glover and Mark Strong. Here Cate Blanchett stars as a renowned conductor and composer in the international world of classical music, Lydia Tar.

* 'The Whale' - from the US and Directed and Co-Produced by Darren Aronofsky and starring Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Samantha Morton and Ty Simpkins. A 275kg weighing middle-aged man named Charlie tries to reconnect with his 17-year-old daughter. The two grew apart after Charlie abandoned his family for his gay lover, who later died. Charlie then went on to binge eat out of pain and guilt.

* 'White Noise' - from the UK and US and written for the screen, Directed and Co-Produced by Noah Baumbach with Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Raffey Cassidy, Andre Benjamin, Alessandro Nivola, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Don Cheadle. Here, Jack Gladney, professor of Hitler studies at The-College-on-the-Hill, husband to Babette, and father to four children/stepchildren, is torn asunder by 'the Airborne Toxic Event', a cataclysmic train accident that casts chemical waste over his town.

In addition, the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award will this year be presented to the American screenwriter and Director Paul Schrader, and the French Actress Catherine Deneuve.

For all details on the full line up of films in and out of competition, plus a whole lot more besides, you can go to the official website at : https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2022

This week then with six new movies gracing a big screen at your local Odeon, we kick start with a dark fantasy offering about a reclusive academic, who, while on a conference in Istanbul, discovers a Djinn who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom. Next up we have a prequel to a successful 2009 psychological horror film that this time around sees a young 'child', who after successfully escaping from an Estonian psychiatric facility, travels to America by impersonating the missing daughter of a wealthy family. This is followed by a British psychological drama about a young woman living on the fringes of society who becomes intoxicated by a stranger who overwhelms her quiet life. Then we turn to a French romantic drama about a woman who's life spirals out of control when she becomes involved in a passionate love triangle. We then have a Norwegian comedy about a small-town loner with a flair for horses and explosives, who struggles to find his place in society while coping with unrequited love for his neighbour, and we close out the week with an Aussie doco filled with fun and joy that shows kids how to move, nourish, respect and embrace their bodies.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the six 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 week ahead.

'THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING' (Rated M) - is a dark fantasy film Co-Written for the screen, Co-Produced and Directed by George Miller whose previous feature film making credits include his 1979 debut with 'Mad Max', then 'Mad Max 2', 'Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome', 'The Witches of Eastwick', 'Lorenzo's Oil', 'Babe : Pig in the City', 'Happy Feet' and 'Happy Feet Two', with 'Mad Max : Fury Road' his most recent offering before this one, and with the 'Mad Max' spin-off 'Furiosa' currently filming and due for a 2024 release. This film is based on the 1994 short story by A.S.Byatt titled 'The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye'. It saw its World Premiere showcasing at this years Cannes Film Festival in late May, was released in the US on 26th August, cost US$60M to produce, has so far earned back US$3.2M and garnered mixed reviews from critics.

A lonely scholar, Dr. Alithea Bonnie (Tilda Swinton), who is suffering from hallucinations of demonic beings, purchases an old lamp at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul and accidentally unleashes a Djinn (Idris Elba) that was trapped within it. Djinn offers to grant Alithea three wishes if they are her heart’s desire, but Alithea argues that because she's a scholar of story and mythology, she knows all the cautionary tales of wishes gone wrong, and accuses Djinn of being a trickster. Djinn proceeds to tell her the stories of how he ended up trapped in the lamp three times, with the final one moving Alithea to the point where she wishes for Djinn to have sex with her. Afterwards, Djinn and Alithea move to London together, but Djinn slowly becomes weak due to spending too much time outside the lamp, so Alithea is forced to trap him again, though every three months he is released to spend time with her.

'ORPHAN : FIRST KILL' (Rated MA15+) - this psychological horror film is Directed by William Brent Bell whose other films from the same genre take in his debut offering 'Stay Alive' in 2006 and then 'The Devil Inside' in 2012, 'Wer' in 2013, 'The Boy' in 2016, 'Brahms : The Boy II' in 2020 and 'Separation' in 2021. This film serves as a prequel to the 2009 film 'Orphan' which was Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and took US$79M off the back of a US$20M production budget. Here, after orchestrating a brilliant escape from an Estonian psychiatric facility, Leena Klammer (Isabelle Fuhrman) a thirty-one year old murderous sociopath who looks like a nine year old child due to a medical condition, travels to America by impersonating the missing daughter of a wealthy family. Yet, an unexpected twist arises that pits her against a mother, Tricia Albright (Julia Stiles) who will protect her family from the murderous 'child' at any cost. Also starring Rossif Sutherland and Hiro Kanagawa, the film has so far grossed US$6.5M since its opening Stateside in mid-August and has garnered mixed or average Reviews. 

'TRUE THINGS' (Rated MA15+) - is a British psychological drama film based on the 2011 novel 'True Things about Me' by Deborah Kay Davies, and is Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Harry Wootliff in only her second feature film making outing following 2018's 'Only You'. Kate (Ruth Wilson) is sleepwalking through life when a chance sexual encounter with a charismatic stranger Blond (Tom Burke) awakens her. High on infatuation she finds herself inexplicably drawn to this mysterious man. Hoping he will provide the escape she so desperately desires, she embarks on an emotionally dangerous journey that slowly begins to consume her. The film saw its World Premier screening at the Venice Film Festival back in September last year, was released in the UK in early April this year, and has generated largely positive critical reviews. Also starring Hayley Squires. 

'BOTH SIDES OF THE BLADE' (Rated MA15+) - is a French romantic drama film based on the 2018 novel 'Un tournant de la vie' by Christine Angot who with Claire Denis Co-Wrote the screenplay while Denis also Directs here. Her previous film making credits take in her debut in 1988 with 'Chocolat' and then 'Trouble Every Day' in 2001, 'The Intruder' in 2004, 'White Material' in 2009, 'Bastards' in 2013, 'Let the Sunshine In' in 2017 and 'High Life' in 2018. Sara (Juliette Binoche) and her husband Jean (Vincent Lindon) return home from vacation to a wintry Paris, where Sara works as a radio presenter. Jean, is a former professional rugby player with a prison record. One day, Sara glimpses her estranged ex-boyfriend Francois (Gregoire Colin) on the street, flooding her with emotion. Francois, who was also once a close friend to Jean, is opening a sports agency to recruit young rugby players and contacts Jean to work with him as a talent scout. The re-entrance of Francois into their lives threatens the relationship Sara and Jean have had for ten years. The film had its World Premiere showcasing in mid-February this year at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Bear, while Denis received the Silver Bear for Best Director. This film is released in its native France this week too having received generally favourable reviews. 

'EVERYBODY HATES JOHAN' (Rated M) - this Norwegian comedy film is Directed by Hallvar Witzo in his feature film making debut although he has also Directed several short films and numerous episodes of local television series in the meantime. This film is about about Johan Grande (Pal Sverre Hagan), a loner with a penchant for horses and explosives who was never accepted as part of his local community, his nevertheless somewhat adventurous life, and his long-lasting battle to win over the love of his life, Solvor (Ingrid Bolso Berdal) who he accidentally blew up a bit in his teens. 

'EMBRACE : KIDS' (Rated G) - is an Australian documentary film Written, Produced and Directed by Taryn Brumfitt in her second documentary feature film following 2016's 'Embrace : The Documentary'. This film brings together a vibrant collection of stories from young people and famous friends alike, who share their experiences about body image, bullying, gender identity, advocacy, representation and more. It aims to improve the body image of young people across Australia and the world. Aimed at an audience of 9-14 year olds, but equally engaging for adolescents, teachers, and parents, this film inspires, educates, and advocates for a world where we are not held back by the perceptions and misconceptions we have about the way we look. Instead, young people are encouraged to figure out what makes them unique and special, and use that as a spark for change.

With six 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-

MAD MAX : FURY ROAD - Saturday 16th May 2015.

After an absence of thirty years Max Rockatansky is back with a bigger, bolder, budget busting effort by Director and originator George Miller once again at the helm in this fourth instalment in the franchise. 'MAD MAX : FURY ROAD' hit our screens only this week with all the anticipation and hype associated with this long awaited cult series follow-up. Having spent the last twenty or so years in development hell, the notion for a script had been locked away in Millers head for a very long time but global events, location shooting, studio changes, the political landscape and even the weather all conspired to create delay after delay. Finally with the green light switched on filming started shooting in Namibia in mid-2012 and US$150M later the film is here . . . finally!

The Mad Max back catalogue is impressive enough to warrant all the hype about this cult film series that began way back in 1979, with the release of 'Mad Max' with a young fresh faced Mel Gibson in the title role as our titular hero and damaged police patrol cop. That film was made for just AU$400K and grossed over US$100M at the global Box Office, and for many years until 1999 stood as the most commercially successful film of all time on a dollar for dollar basis, until the release of 'The Blair Witch Project'. 'Mad Max : The Road Warrior' was released in 1981 with Mel Gibson again starring, and generated US$40M+ including after sales off a US$4.5M budget. 1985 saw the last instalment up to now ' Mad Max : Beyond Thunderdome' with Mel Gibson again, and Tina Turner acting and singing the title track,  with US$36M+ from an initial US$12M budget - the most lacklustre of the series thus far.

I can remember watching 'Mad Max' and 'Mad Max : The Road Warrior' back to back in a special double bill feature at the Odeon Leicester Square in London in about 1983, and being stunned by the story, the visuals, the energy of these films and the benchmark set for all such future dystopian post-apocalyptic offerings. And, so I went in to see 'Mad Max : Fury Road' last night with high expectations, and I have to say came out feeling a little underwhelmed.

Tom Hardy now takes on the lead role as Max Rockatansky and he does a solid enough job as a broken man whose only instinct now is to 'survive' by any means necessary. We are set about 45 years after the world has gone belly up and everything is scarce - food, water, oil and fuel and humans prey on humans at just about every turn. The last vestiges of any form of civilisation seem to have been long gone, leaving only now a dystopian disfigured downtrodden population all vying for the new world currency - water, fuel and bullets - all of which are in short supply. Out in the desert 'The Citadel' looms large as an oasis of rock, water supply, greenery and a burgeoning diseased population overseen by tyrannical leader King Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne, who also played 'The Toecuter' in 1979's 'Mad Max'). His followers are 'The War Boys' who capture Max early on, keep him locked up in a cage, tattoo his back and designate him a universal blood donor. Max is a brooding fractured man of very few words and says little throughout the film - letting his actions clearly speak louder!

Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) drives a heavily armoured War Rig to collect gasoline and other supplies for Joe from nearby settlements - Gas Town and Bullet Farm - and so heads off on her regular supply trip with outriders for protection. En route it is revealed that Furiosa is carrying 'The Five Wives' - five young beautiful girls who are Joe's breeding stock, and one is heavily pregnant with his child. Furiosa makes a decision to head off track to seek safe haven far way to 'The Green Place' across the treacherous 'Wasteland' but is quickly pursued by Joe and his entire army of War Boys when the truth is made known to him.

What follows on is a film dominated by several extended chase sequences across the barren landscape of the desert as Max at first is strapped to the front of a vehicle by Nux (Nicholas Hoult) in hot pursuit of the War Rig, all the while drip feeding his precious blood supply to a dying Nux back in the cab behind the wheel of his menacing souped up heavily armed dune bashing vehicle. Eventually after much death, destruction and vehicular mayhem the War Rig continues its journey leaving a crashed Nux & Max and countless others buried in a sand dune somewhere still shackled together. When Max comes round he spies the War Rig in the distance and begins his journey on foot, carrying a seemingly dead Nux on his back, because the two are still chained. After a fist fight with Furiosa and now Nux who has regained consciousness, Max takes the vehicle leaving the girls behind, with Joe's army in the hazy distance heading towards them still in pursuit.

It's not long before the girls catch-up given that Furiosa has several 'kill-switches' installed inside the rig to prevent such eventualities, and so Max has little choice but to take them on board and to get the hell outta Dodge before them pesky varmint War Boys descend again! And so of course this leads to the next high octane set piece that sees Joe and his War Boys nudge ever closer through a canyon as Furiosa seeks safe passage in exchange for a payload of gasoline to the keepers of the canyon pass. Blocking further passage of the War Boys behind them through an orchestrated rock fall, the War Rig heads off but not before Joe in his 4WD Monster Truck is able to scale the rock slide and head off in pursuit once more, joined this time by the canyon dwellers who have just seen their fuel payload go up in billowing black smoke!

And so the journey continues with more car-nage, more death, more destruction and more vehicular mayhem as cars, trucks and bikes crash out in spectacular fashion, bodies are flung far & wide, fist fights and close quarter attacks take place at 120 MPH atop those rigs & trucks, and flames and smoke billow out of exhaust systems as every inch of acceleration is sought to gain the upper hand.

It's much the same as we saw in the opening sequence except a different location this time, and then when the dust settles we get some reprieve from the fast paced action as Max, Furiosa, Nux and the now Four Wives all spend a little time getting acquainted and start to bond. This is the obligatory calm before the storm before the final set piece where all Hell will let lose as Joe musters every last vehicle and every last War Boy to retrieve his remaining breeders and dispense with Furiosa and Max. As Furiosa drives on they arrive at a place she recognises and states her affiliation to a clan where she used to live with her mother. From here they decide to abandon the truck and head across the salt plains to another place and sanctuary beyond they believe . . . but it is a 160 day journey which they will have to do on motorbike. They head off, leaving Max behind of his own choice. Considering his fate, he follows on a motorbike to catch them up revealing a plan to return to The Citadel where they can begin afresh with clean water and a new life in safety. They agree, and so retrace their steps in the War Rig.

Of course, it is not long before they come head to head with Joe and his War Boys and so it's on again for young & old and more well choreographed vehicular stunt work as more cars, trucks, bikes of every description collide, get overturned, get burned out, flipped, nudged, shunted and ground down into the desert dust before our heroes arrive back at The Citadel - although they have paid a price! It is all very well executed and deftly handled to deliver road movie carnage to this level with expert practical stunt work combined with cutting edge CGI, but by the third set piece and relentless chase sequences it all begins to get a little predictable and a little wearing I found.

I couldn't really warm to Tom Hardy's Max as I did with Mel Gibson's but maybe it is just because now after all these years in the wilderness Hardy's Max is more grizzled, emotionally bereft, and has witnessed more death, destruction and loss than he would care to remember which causes him to experience visions of past memories he would rather forget! That said I question too why such a group would go through so much adversity, conflict, terror and danger along their journey, only to turn around and go back from whence they came, knowing that they may not even make it given what they know lies in front of them! And the action set pieces as good and as convincing as they are just dominate the film from end to end in seemingly never ending road rage written on the grandest scale - I was getting bored toward the end of the monotony and repetition of I was seeing - surely there are only so many ways to skin a cat! I was looking for a little more depth, more character development (although perhaps Miller assumes we know Max's back story - but what happened in the intervening years I wonder, and what about Furiosa too) and perhaps an insight in to the world as it now is and how The Citadel came to be.

At the time of writing 'Mad Max : Fury Road' had grossed US$27M with largely very positive reviews, but for me the jury is out and for the reasons stated above I was a little underwhelmed by it all. I shall probably go see it again to satisfy myself that my views expressed here are validated. I have no doubt that this film will do well enough catering for a whole new audience not familiar with Miller's three previous Mad Max outings, its young adult action appeal, the pedigree of its predecessors and the stylised video game action sequences. See it for yourself on the big screen and you decide, and then let me know what you thought.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 14th May 2015.

You can tell that there's not a school holiday in sight, because this week it's all largely adult fare that is arriving on our cinema screens. For those of us of a discernible age and taste this weeks offerings are dramatic, comedic, horrific, scientific and futuristic leaving just romantic out in the cold. With all the other great cinematic content out there too currently there is something for just about everyone, so choose away and enjoy your movie.

First up then is one of the must-see movie events of the year that is retooled, reimagined and rebooted 30 years after the last offering in this ever cult popular franchise; then we move to the realms of scientific engineering and A.I. and a new take on a genre seen way back when in Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis'; and next up an American Horror offering that proffers something new, fresh, and deadly creeping steadily and stealthily ever closer. From here we head east to Tokyo and then west to  Minnesota in search of fabled treasure that could be fact, or fiction or something in between; and finally a dramedy of Royal proportions that might just bend the historic truth a little!

Five new offerings, two of which I must confess hit our screens last week on a limited release and are showing in selected cinemas around your local area I'm sure. Nonetheless check out any one of these, or those others still doing the rounds, and drop us all an opinion of your experience in the Comments Box below this, or any other Post.

MAD MAX : FURY ROAD (Rated MA15+) - Max Rockatansky first hit our cinema screens way back in 1979 when a young George Miller Directed and Co-Wrote the script for a near future dystopian police thriller set in our own backyard, but which of course could have been just about anywhere. 'Mad Max' made at the time for just AU$400K it grossed US$100M globally and for a long period was the most commercially successfully film of all time on a dollar for dollar basis, and, it launched the career of a young Mel Gibson in the lead role. Inevitably a sequel followed and in 1981 'Mad Max : The Road Warrior' followed again with Mel Gibson and again critically and commercially successful with George Miller at the helm once more. 1985 saw the last outing for Gibson and Max in 'Mad Max : Beyond Thunderdome' with Tina Turner and this film was the weakest of the three despite Miller returning once again. That was 30 years ago and George Miller is back Directing, Producing and  Co-Writing this fourth instalment which has spent the last 25 years in development hell, but has got there finally with a production budget of US$150M . . . and the long wait is over!

This time around Tom Hardy is 'Mad' Max Rockatansky and we are set in 2060 after civilisation as we once knew it has all but collapsed and Max's family were mown down by a motorcycle gang back when things first started to go belly-up! Max comes across Furiosa (Charlize Theron) attempting to cross an expanse of desert with a band of former female captors known as 'The Five Wives' all on the run from an evil Warlord King Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne ['Toecutter' from the original 'Mad Max']) and his bloodthirsty violently fuelled henchmen 'The War Boys' who collectively rule over the desert kingdom known as 'The Wasteland'. King Joe wants the wives back for breeding purposes, and having taken Max captive the only salvation for Max and Furiosa is to join forces and navigate themselves out of the treacherous desert, fight for their very lives and overcome much adversity, souped up vehicular carnage, and a deadly relentless foe so that they may continues their journeys and their lives as they had originally planned. Also starring John Howard, Megan Gale, Nicholas Hoult, and Zoe Kravitz this is already getting much positive press and is worthy of your cinema dollar for sure.

EX MACHINA (Rated MA15+) - Alex Garland is probably best known for his novel 'The Beach' which was made into a movie in 2000 starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Directed by Danny Boyle. Since then he has written screenplays for '28 Days Later', 'Halo', 'Sunshine', 'Dredd' and 'Never Let Me Go', and now he has written the story and Screenplay and served as Director for the first time on 'Ex Machina'. The story surrounds Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) a 26 year old coder working at the worlds largest Internet search engine company who wins an internal lottery competition to spend a week at the remote hideaway home of the company's reclusive CEO Nathan (Oscar Isaac). Upon arrival Caleb is persuaded to take part in a strange experiment conversing with a beautiful artificially intelligent female robot, Amy (Alicia Vikander) built by Nathan. As the week passes Caleb becomes more attached to Ava as she demonstrates all the traits of a human being, but, there are other forces at work here and where will this lead as Nathan and Ava battle it out for the upper hand and Caleb is caught in the middle of this human/robot triangle. Made for a lean US$17M this has already made US$24M and garnered much positive acclaim for Garlands Directorial dexterity, his story and the nuanced performances he has created.

IT FOLLOWS (Rated MA15+) - Co-Written, Produced and Directed by David Robert Mitchell this is supernatural horror chiller made on a budget of just US$2M and so far grossing US$17M. The story is a simple one. A malign entity is passed from one person onto another through sexual intercourse and once the designated victim is cursed he or she will be followed slowly, steadily but surely until the evil spirit being eventually catches up and dispenses with its victim in ways that are shocking and deadly. The 'follower' though could be anybody, and you won't necessarily see them and 'it' won't necessarily be obvious until it's all too late. When Jay (Maika Monroe) has the curse passed onto her by her one time boyfriend Hugh (Jake Weary) she soon goes into panic mode and rallies around her close friends for protection, safety and comfort from the ever approaching relentless follower that they attempt to thwart knowing that it is always only a few steps behind!

KUMIKO : THE TREASURE HUNTER (Rated PG) - Written and Starring David and Nathan Zeller, Produced by Nathan Zeller and Directed by David Zeller this film has been kicking around for 15 months since its release at The Sundance Film Festival in January 2014. Starting off in Tokyo, Kumiko (Rinko Kikuchi) is approaching 30, leaves a lonely existence, has a boss she despises, a job she hates, colleagues who intimidate her and a mother who is overbearing. The only pleasure she gets from life is watching a VHS copy of the Coen Brothers 1996 film 'Fargo' from which she convinces herself that the video is in reality a map to the treasure buried in the snow covered ground at the beginning of that film. And so Kumiko travels to Minnesota in search of a mythical treasure and along the way encounters various locals who unwittingly aid her journey and her quest, and, help her to discover things about herself, what is real, and what is imagined. An intriguing and thought provoking voyage of discovery.

A ROYAL NIGHT OUT (Rated M) - It is 1945 and peace has broken out across Europe as the British nation celebrate V.E Day (Victory over Europe). As festivities and celebrations ring out countrywide two young Princess girls urge their parents to allow them to venture out and join the happy throng undercover as common folk for a once in a lifetime experience of freedom and frivolity . . . to a degree. The two young Princess's in question happen to be Princess Elizabeth (Sarah Gadon) and Princess Margaret (Bel Powley) and they must seek permission from Father King George (Rupert Everett) and Queen Elizabeth (Emily Watson). After some reluctance Mum & Dad allow the young Royals to dress up in their glad rags and hit the big city under the watchful gaze of two chaperone's. But of course as the night wears on and our young Royal revellers get the party taste of excitement, exuberance and danger so things go awry as the flavour of a little alcohol, a little dancing and a little romance come their way - but not with too serious a consequence upon the young heir to the throne and her sister! Directed by Julian Jarrold - check out this history lesson . . . maybe!

Again, five films to get you out there to your local independent theatre or multiplex, and what better way that to while away a few hours gazing up at a giant screen in the dark with a bunch of like minded people. When you have seen your film of choice, contribute freely at Odeon Online - we'd love to hear from you!

Movies - see as many as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-