IN THE GREY : Tuesday 19th May 2026

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'IN THE GREY' earlier this week, and this American action thriller film is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Guy Ritchie, best known for his feature films including 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' his 1998 Directorial debut, then 'Snatch' in 2000, 'Sherlock Holmes' in 2009 and 'Sherlock Holmes : A Game of Shadows' in 2011, 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' in 2015, 'The Gentlemen' in 2019, 'Operation Fortune : Ruse de Guerre' in 2023, 'The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare' in 2024 and 'Fountain of Youth' in 2025. This film was released in the USA and Australia last week, has so far grossed US$5M, and has generated mixed or average critical reviews. 

The film opens up with a SUV driving down a road hugging the side of a mountain, before it pulls off. Inside the car is Braxton (Darrell D'Silva), his henchman and Axel Olsson (Kristofer Hivju). Braxton takes a call and asks the two to leave the vehicle and step out side momentarily. Braxton says to the caller that he has the signed paperwork, and that Salazar agreed to pay the US$1B debt that he owes. Axel then shoots dead the henchman, and Braxton who by now now has exited the SUV in a panic. He too is shot dead, and Axel leans over his corpse, retrieves the letter, and calls Salazar, who tells him to destroy it. In the meantime, Rachel Wilde (Eiza Gonzalez) a street smart, tough as nails specialist lawyer, whose particularly adept at recovering large sums of money from those who aren't supposed to have it, visits New York banking Executive Bobby Sheen (Rosamund Pike), whose employer is wanting to recover the US$1B it loaned to criminal dictator Manny Salazar (Carlos Bardem), who has successfully evaded capture over recent years by adopting numerous aliases. Rachel says she can do the job, but wants a commission for her troubles of 20%, but Bobby negotiates her quickly down to 15%, with US$10M upfront payment in addition bargains Rachel, which Bobby accepts. 

Rachel has at her disposal a crack team of other lawyers, plus various other experts in surveillance, computer hacking, cyber security etc. plus a pair of assets in Bronco (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Sid (Henry Cavill) who in turn have a team of mercenaries for hire at their disposal. They are armed to the teeth with the latest gadgets, vehicles, weapons, covert surveillance gear and the wherewithal to take out a small country - which is exactly what they need to do, as Salazar owns and rules over a small island off the coast of Portugal, which they need to infiltrate. 

And so Bronco travels to Salazar's island with his team, while Sid travels to Jeddah and is met by his contact there with the aim of shutting down Salazar's construction of a major hotel development. And so Sid bribes the building engineer to the tune of US$25K, and in the process laying off some 400 Saudi construction workers and costing Salazar millions each week in lost productivity. Next up Rachel targets Salazar's private jet and then his ocean going super yacht which she has forfeited, and then a giant oil rig waiting dockside to be imminently commissioned. Meanwhile, Salazar's own lawyer William Horowitz (Fisher Stevens) is beside himself at Rachel's doggedness at pursuing Salazar and has to front up to his boss every time there is another development to explain away her actions. Needless to say Salazar is becoming increasingly frustrated and anxious, and unusually demands a face to face meeting with Rachel. 

And so Rachel flies onto the island and is flanked by Sid and Bronco who join her at her cosy little meeting at Salazar's private villa. Salazar says that he is prepared to pay US$400M of the debt and not a penny more, and if she doesn't agree she can fuck off. The meeting ends there with Rachel walking away. The plan was then to extract Rachel off the island by using one of three planned escape routes which Bronco and Sid had meticulously planned and rehearsed multiple times over the previous several weeks, and covering off on all possible scenarios. 

As a consequence Rachel digs in hard and goes after Salazar's business interests by having court injunctions taken out on all of his known company's, thereby having them effectively closed down with the front doors chained, padlocked and guarded. This naturally causes Salazar more financial pain and anguish, so he calls another face to face meeting with Rachel, at which he offers her US$800M to pay off his debt. Rachel won't budge however, and replies that she knows every last detail of every shell company he has dotted all around the world, and will happily expose his nefarious deeds to the very long arm of the law. Salazar relents and agrees to pay back the US$1B on the condition that all of his assets are returned to him and that his various business interests are freed up. Rachel agrees.

Upon leaving, Salazar orders Axel to hunt them down and kill them. And so begins an all guns blazing chase as Sid and Bronco and their four mercenary colleagues attempt to extract Rachel off the island, against Salazar's team of Police and his own militia of about fifty men try to thwart their enemy. Needless to say it doesn't end well for Salazar's small army that may have the numbers of boots on the ground, but they don't have Sid and Bronco's latest technical wizardry, military grade weapons, specialist vehicles or pre-set booby traps which are all used to great effect, including taking down Alex with a bazooka as he fires on our two likely lads and Rachel from a helicopter. 

As Rachel is taken off the island by boat, Sid and Bronco remain behind to attend to some last minute business, saying that they'll catch them up. And so the pair return to Salazar's villa posing as maintenance men. Salazar appears and orders them to leave, but Bronco steps up behind him and injects him with a serum that knocks him old cold. Wrapping him up in cling film leaving only his mouth and nose exposed, they load him into a shipping container and send him off to Miami, Florida. There, the FBI converge on the container to find a battered and bruised Salazar sat on the floor sucking on a cigar. The FBI Officer calls out Salazar's name to which he responds, my name is Smith. 

In the opening voiceover Rachel comments that she and her team exist somewhere between what is legal and illegal, between what is moral and immoral, and between what is black and what is white - in the grey! And so it is with scribe and film maker Guy Ritchie who has crafted a film which is full of exposition like he's spoon feeding the audience with his on-screen graphics of what's about to play out. The action sequences are all reasonably well staged but offer up nothing we haven't seen a hundred times before; the banter and the quips between Sid and Bronco come thick and fast with some landing and others falling by the wayside; and the cast are all beautifully coiffed and kitted out in designer wear that wouldn't look out of place in 'The Devil Wears Prada 2'. As for the plot, well you can leave your brain in neutral and go along for the ride, which exists 'in the grey' - it's neither that good, nor that bad either, and at a brisk 98 minute run time doesn't outstay its welcome.

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

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 14th May 2026

The 79th annual Cannes Film Festival is in full swing having begun on Tuesday 12th May and running through until Saturday 23rd May. The Cannes Film Festival is considered the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries. Founded in 1946, the invitation-only festival is held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres. The festival was formally accredited by the FIAPF in 1951. Cannes is considered one of the 'Big Three' European film festivals, alongside Venice and Berlin, as well as one of the 'Big Five' international film festivals, alongside Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance.

This years Opening Night film presentation is the French period comedy drama film 'The Electric Kiss' that is Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Pierre Salvadori. Set in Paris in 1928, the plot follows a young grieving painter Antoine Balestro (Pio Marmai) who tries to contact with his dead wife Irene (Vimala Pons) through a psychic Suzanne (Anais Demoustier) after losing his inspiration to paint.

The South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook is this years Jury President for the main competition for the prestigious Palme d'Or, with other members of the Jury panel including Demi Moore, Ruth Negga, Stellan Skarsgard, Chloe Zhao and Paul Laverty. During the festival, two Honorary Palmes d'Or will be awarded - to New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson, and to American Actress, singer and filmmaker Barbra Streisand.

It should be noted that 2,541 feature films were submitted for consideration, with the initial main competition lineup featuring twenty-two films from three continents and five female Directors. Those films competing for the Palme d'Or are as given in brief, below :-

* 'All of a Sudden' - from France, Japan, Germany and Belgium and this drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi and stars Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto. World Premiere.

* 'Another Day' - from France and Belgium and this drama film is Written and Directed by Jeanne Herry. World Premiere.

* 'The Beloved' - from Spain and France and this drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen and stars Javier Bardem and Victoria Luengo. World Premiere.

* 'The Birthday Party' - from France and this drama film is Written and Directed by Lea Mysius. World Premiere.

* 'Bitter Christmas' - from Spain, and this tragicomedy is Written and Directed by Pedro Almodovar. International Premiere.

* 'The Black Ball' - from Spain and France, this drama film is Co-Written and Co-Directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, and stars Penelope Cruz and Glenn Close. World Premiere.

* 'Coward' - from Belgium and France, and this WWI drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Lukas Dhont. World Premiere.

* 'The Dreamed Adventure' - from Germany, France, Bulgaria and Austria, this drama film is Written and Directed by Valeska Grisebach. World Premiere.

* 'Fatherland' - from Poland, UK, France, Italy and Germany, this biographical film is Co-Written and Directed by Paweł Pawlikowski, and stars Hanns Zischler and Sandra Huller. World Premiere.

* 'Fjord' - from Romania, Norway, Denmark, Finland, France and Sweden, this drama film is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Cristian Mungiu and stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve. World Premiere.

* 'Gentle Monster' - from Austria, France, Belgium and Germany, this drama film is Written and Directed by Marie Kreutzer, and stars Lea Seydoux and Catherine Deneuve. World Premiere.

* 'Hope' - from South Korea and this Sci-Fi thriller film is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Na Hong-jin and stars Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender. World Premiere.

* 'A Man of His Time' - from Belgium and France, and this WWII drama film is Written and Directed by Emmanuel Marre. World Premiere.

* 'The Man I Love' - from the USA and France and this musical fantasy film is Co-Written and Directed by Ira Sachs, and stars Remi Malek, Tom Sturridge, Luther Ford, Rebecca Hall and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. World Premiere.

* 'Minotaur' - from France, Latvia and Germany this political thriller drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev. World Premiere.

* 'Moulin' - from France and Hungary, this historical drama WWII biographical film is Directed by Laszlo Nemes and stars Gilles Lellouche and Lars Eidinger. World Premiere.

* 'Nagi Notes' - from Japan, Singapore, Thailand and France, this drama film is Written and Directed by Koji Fukada. World Premiere.

* 'Paper Tiger' - from the USA, Brazil and Italy, this crime drama film is Written and Directed by James Gray and stars Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller. World Premiere.

* 'Parallel Tales' - from France, USA, Italy and Belgium, this drama film is Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Asghar Farhadi, and stars Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney, Adam Bessa and Catherine Deneuve. World Premiere.

* 'Sheep in the Box' - from Japan, this Sci-Fi drama film is Written, Directed and Edited by Hirokazu Kore-eda. World Premiere.

* 'The Unknown' - from France, Belgium and Italy this psychological fantasy film is Co-Written and Directed by Arthur Harari, and stars Lea Seydoux and Niels Schneider. World Premiere.

* 'A Woman's Life' - from France and Belgium, this comedy drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet, and stars Lea Drucker and Melanie Thierry. World Premiere.

For the descriptors of the aforementioned films in Official Competition, plus the full details of the other competitive strands, and the low-down on all the films being showcased at this years Cannes Film Festival, plus a whole lot of other good stuff, you can visit the official website at : http://www.festival-cannes.com

Focusing the attention then back on this weeks six hot new release movies coming to a big screen Odeon near you, we launch with an action thriller about a secret elite team of agents who are tasked with reclaiming a vast fortune stolen by a ruthless tyrant. Then we turn to psychological drama thriller in which long-buried wounds rise to the surface when an iconic pop star reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer. This is followed by a French mystery thriller where a Parisian psychiatrist investigates a patient's suspected murder despite official suicide rulings. Next up is a supernatural horror offering about a man who uses a magical 'One Wish Willow' to make his crush love him, resulting in a dangerous, violent, and obsessive relationship. Following on is an Australian drama film about a woman reclaiming her independence while escaping a coercive relationship; before closing out the week with a New Zealand drama film about the aftermath of an explosion that rocked the Pike River Coal Mine and took twenty-nine lives, two women step up to fight for accountability.

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.

'IN THE GREY' (Rated MA15+) - is an American action thriller film Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Guy Ritchie, best known for his feature films including 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' his 1998 Directorial debut, then 'Snatch' in 2000, 'Sherlock Holmes' in 2009 and 'Sherlock Holmes : A Game of Shadows' in 2011, 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' in 2015, 'The Gentlemen' in 2019, 'Operation Fortune : Ruse de Guerre' in 2023, 'The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare' in 2024 and 'Fountain of Youth' in 2025. This film is released in the USA this week also.

The film follows a covert team of elite operatives - Sid (Henry Cavill), Bronco (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Rachel Wild (Eiza Gonzalez) who live in the global shadows, as comfortable wielding power and influence as they are automatic weapons and high explosives. When a ruthless despot steals a billion-dollar fortune, the team is sent to steal it back on what would be for anyone else a suicide mission. What begins as an impossible heist gets much worse, spiralling into an all-out war of strategy, deception and survival. Also starring Fisher Stevens, Rosamund Pike, Jason Wong, Emmett J. Scanlan and Kristofer Hivju.

'MOTHER MARY' (Rated MA15+) - this US and German Co-Produced psychological drama thriller film is Written, Co-Produced, Directed and Edited by David Lowery who made his feature film Co-Directing debut with 'Deadroom' in 2005, and then his debut in his own right with 'St. Nick' in 2009. He would follow these up with the likes of 'A'int Them Bodies Saints' in 2013, 'Pete's Dragon' in 2016, 'A Ghost Story' in 2017, 'The Old Man & the Gun' in 2018, 'The Green Knight' in 2021 and 'Peter Pan & Wendy' in 2023. Here then, long-buried wounds rise to the surface when iconic pop sensation Mother Mary (Anne Hathaway) reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel) forces her to confront her past on the eve of her comeback performance. Also starring FKA Twigs, Sian Clifford, Jessica Brown Findlay and Hunter Schafer. The film saw its wide US release in mid-April, has so far grossed just US$3M from a production budget of US$20M and has garnered mixed or average critical reviews.

'A PRIVATE LIFE' (Rated M) - is a French mystery thriller film Co-Written and Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski who made her Feature film Directorial debut with 2010's 'Dear Prudence' and would follow this up with the likes of 'Grand Central' in 2013, 'An Easy Girl' in 2019 and 'Other People's Children' in 2022. When renowned Jewish-American psychiatrist Lilian Steiner (Jodie Foster) working from her home in Paris, France learns of the death of one of her patients she is deeply troubled. Convinced that it was murder, and not a suicide as suspected by the Police, she decides to investigate . . . . . Also starring Daniel Auteuil, Virginie Efira, Mathieu Amalric, Vincent Lacoste, and Luana Bajrami. The film had its World Premiere screening at last years Cannes Film Festival in mid-May 2025, was released in its native France towards the end of November last year, in the US in mid-January and only now is it released here in Australia having so far grossed US$8M from a US$5M production budget. It has received generally favourable critical reviews.

'OBSESSION' (Rated MA15+) - this American supernatural horror film is Written, Directed and Edited by Curry Barker who made his feature film debut with 'Milk & Serial' in 2024, and who has 'Anything But Ghosts' which is currently in post-production for an as yet undisclosed release date. Here, after breaking the mysterious 'One Wish Willow' to win his crush's heart, Bear (Michael Johnston) a music store employee and hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for when he wishes for Nikki (Inde Navarrette), his co-worker and childhood friend to love him more than anyone else in the world. However, Bear soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price, proving ultimately to be careful what you wish for! The film saw its Premiere showcasing at TIFF in early September last year, is released Stateside and here in Australia this week, has garnered generally favourable critical acclaim and cost just US$1M to produce. 

'LIFE COULD BE A DREAM' (Rated M) - is an Australian drama film that is Co-Produced and Directed by Jasmin Tarasin in her feature film Directing debut. Here, Sarah, 40 (Maeve Dermody), and her teenage son Otis (Sonny McGee) flee from an abusive marriage confronting coercive control, financial abuse, and dangerous illusions of romance. As they make their escape toward freedom, confronting threats and Sarah's beliefs about rescue, while seeking refuge in a mansion she's been tasked with selling, she envisions a new future where she learns to let go and begin again. Also starring Alexander England as Sarah's controlling husband Jake. 

'PIKE RIVER' (Rated MA15+) - this New Zealand drama film is Co-Produced and Directed by Robert Sarkies who prior feature film credits take in 'Scarfies' in 1999, 'Out of the Blue' in 2006 and 'Two Little Boys' in 2012. This film is based on the Pike River Mine disaster of 2010 (a coal mining accident that began on 19th November 2010 in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island following a methane explosion that resulted in the deaths of twenty-nine miners). The story follows the subsequent, years-long battle for justice led by Anna Osborne (Melanie Lynskey) and Sonya Rockhouse (Robyn Malcolm), two friends whose respective husband and son, along with twenty-seven other workers, were killed during an underground explosion. Also starring Lucy Lawless and Erroll Shand. The film Premiered at the Sydney Film Festival in early June 2025, before its New Zealand release later last year, has received generally positive critical reviews and has so far grossed US$872K at the Box Office. 

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-

OPERATION FORTUNE : RUSE DE GUERRE - Tuesday 17th January 2023.

'OPERATION FORTUNE : RUSE DE GUERRE' which I saw earlier this week is an M Rated American spy action comedy film Co-Written and Directed by Guy Ritchie whose previous film making credits take in the likes of 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels', 'Snatch', 'Sherlock Holmes', 'Sherlock Holmes : Game of Shadows', 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.', 'Aladdin', 'The Gentlemen' and 'Wrath of Man' in 2021. It was originally slated for release at the end of January last year and then mid-March 2022. In mid-February 2022, the film was pulled from the release schedule without comment by the studio. Reports indicate the film was pulled from release, not due to the COVID-19 pandemic as before, but because it featured gangsters of Ukrainian nationality as the main antagonist's henchmen. The film's Producers thought it would be of bad taste, in light of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian War, for the movie to present 'Ukrainian baddies'. The film has garnered mixed or average Reviews and so far has grossed US$11.0M in Box Office receipts since its international release on 4th January and in Australia from the 12th January. 

The film opens up with a seemingly well executed raid on a secret tech lab, where the perpetrators of said raid steal a device that is dubbed 'The Handle'. It is determined that the device must have importance since its price tag on the black market is US$10B. It turns out that the nefarious perpetrators of the raid were the Ukrainian mob. The British government, under the auspices of Norman Knighton (Eddie Marsan) recruits Nathan Jasmine (Cary Elwes) to locate and retrieve, by almost any means possible, The Handle before it falls in to the hands of billionaire arms dealer Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant) who in turn would then sell it to the highest bidder. Jasmine recruits his go to man and super spy Orson Fortune (Jason Statham, who also Co-Produces here, and collaborates with Ritchie for the fifth time) as well as the very tech savvy Sarah Fidel (Aubrey Plaza), the very handy sharp shooter JJ Davies (Bugzy Malone) and various others. 

And so the team travels to Madrid, seeking the courier intended to transport the hard drive containing the data from The Handle. Their search is scuppered by former colleague of Fortune, Mike (Peter Ferdinando) who has gone out on his own, hired a crack team and who also seems to have been hired to retrieve The Handle. Fortune and JJ manage to prevent Mike's team from getting to the courier and take him away, but he suffers a heart attack and dies before telling them the entire code. However, Sarah manages to copy the hard drive's contents before Mike catches up with them and steals it.

Sarah learns that Simmonds plans to host a charity gala aboard his lavish yacht in Cannes. The team decides to infiltrate the yacht by blackmailing Simmonds' all time favourite movie star, Danny Francesco (Josh Hartnett) into helping them. While Simmonds is distracted by Danny, Fortune deals with another of Mike's men masquerading as a waiter, and Sarah is tasked with getting close to Simmonds' phone so JJ can clone it, so allowing the team to track the arms dealer. Simmonds encourages Danny to spend the weekend at his Turkish villa in Antalya, so that he can gain inspiration for his next movie role which Danny describes as being a mysterious self made billionaire type, to which Simmonds replies that he's just described him! Fortune stealthily breaks into the Ukrainian mafia house to hack their computers, disguising it as a robbery by stealing cash and jewellery. The British government meanwhile calls Nathan to warn him that The Handle is an advanced artificial intelligence that can be programmed to defeat any security system in the world. Learning from the computer information that the exchange for The Handle will take place in Antalya, the team travels to Turkey, and take up Simmonds offer to stay at his villa.

While Simmonds shows Danny his private car collection, Fortune and JJ follow Simmonds' right hand man Ben Harris (Max Beesley) with Fortune giving chase on foot while JJ helps to track the man from his vehicle. After a chase through the side streets and alleyways, Harris attacks Fortune, who by accident is killed when he falls over a protective railing at the top of a tall lookout tower. Fortune stands in for Harris at the exchange (as the Ukrainians would be unfamiliar with what Harris looks like) with Sarah using a computer programme to disguise Fortunes's voice to that of Harris's in order to fool Simmonds, so that he can relay a sixteen digit access code to activate The Handle. 

The exchange goes south when Fortune is recognised by one of the Ukrainian guards who was at the house the night Fortune broke in. Danny and Sarah escape Simmonds' villa before Simmonds learns what they have been doing. Meanwhile, Mike arrives, attacks, and kills everyone except Fortune and steals The Handle. JJ saves Fortune by taking out Mike's henchmen from afar, and the two take a helicopter to go to the aid of Danny and Sarah.

Nathan informs the team that Mike was not hired by any government and that he has gone rogue, and that a third party contracted him to steal The Handle. Lacking knowledge about the buyer, Fortune suggests talking to Simmonds. In spite of the problems the team caused him, Simmonds is willing to help, telling them that the buyers were a pair of billionaire bio-tech moguls, Arnold and Trent, whose intended use of The Handle is to create a worldwide financial collapse, while becoming richer through their ownership of large quantities of gold, which would become the world's only stable economic asset. 

And so Simmonds and Danny go to confront Arnold, Trent, and Mike in Arnold and Trent's HQ. Fortune successfully infiltrates the place by taking out numerous goons with support from Sarah and JJ. After Simmonds and Danny have said their piece and made their own demands, they leave. Mike tells his men to kill Arnold and Trent, starting a shoot-out. Fortune arrives after the carnage and manages to retrieve The Handle, but is then attacked by Mike, who is beaten about the head several times with the case containing The Handle, killing him stone dead. 

Fortune, Sarah and JJ follow Nathan to Doha, where they are offered another job, only for them to decide to take a holiday. Nathan demands that Fortune return the cash and jewels from the robbery at the Ukrainian villa, but reveals that he's used the proceeds to finance Danny's latest movie project in which he plays a fictionalised version of Greg Simmonds.

'Operation Fortune : Ruse de Guerre' is formulaic and predictable fare for sure, but nonetheless entertaining enough. The cast led by 'The Stath' who once again is in full ass-kicking, gun-toting, quips at the ready mode falls effortlessly into his usual tough guy persona, ably supported by those other British screen acting veterans Grant, Elwes and Marsan who all looked as though they were having a good time in making this film, as did the token American contingent of Hartnett and Plaza. For Writer and Director Ritchie, he has certainly found his calling with this type of action comedic offering and it appears, for now at least, that he doesn't want to deviate away from it. He delivers the action set pieces well enough, the humorous one-liners raised a smile and the occasional chuckle, but the story line is just a little too far fetched to keep it grounded or relatable. It's an enjoyable romp, not up there with his best, but for an early year start to big screen entertainment where you can switch off and just go with the flow, you could do worse.

'Operation Fortune : Ruse de Guerre' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, from a potential five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 12th January 2023.

The 80th Golden Globe Awards honouring the best in film and American television of 2022, as chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) was held on Tuesday 10th January from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. The American stand-up comedian, Actor, Writer and film maker Jerrod Carmichael hosted the ceremony. 

In the films categories, the winners, grinners and also rans are as highlighted below :-

* Best Motion Picture : Drama - presented to 'THE FABELMANS', beating out 'Avatar: The Way of Water', 'Elvis', 'Tar' and 'Top Gun: Maverick'.

* Best Motion Picture : Musical or Comedy - presented to 'THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN', beating out 'Babylon', 'Everything Everywhere All at Once', 'Glass Onion : A Knives Out Mystery' and 'Triangle of Sadness'.

* Best Performance in a Motion Picture : Drama, Actor - presented to AUSTIN BUTLER for 'Elvis', beating out Brendan Fraser for 'The Whale', Hugh Jackman for 'The Son', Bill Nighy  for 'Living' and Jeremy Pope for 'The Inspection'.

* Best Performance in a Motion Picture : Drama, Actress - awarded to CATE BLANCHETT for 'Tar', beating out Olivia Colman for 'Empire of Light', Viola Davis for 'The Woman King', Ana de Armas for 'Blonde' and Michelle Williams for 'The Fabelmans'.

* Best Performance in a Motion Picture : Musical or Comedy, Actor - presented to COLIN FARRELL for 'The Banshees of Inisherin' beating out Diego Calva for 'Babylon', Daniel Craig for 'Glass Onion : A Knives Out Mystery', Adam Driver for 'White Noise' and Ralph Fiennes for 'The Menu'.

* Best Performance in a Motion Picture : Musical or Comedy, Actress - awarded to MICHELLE YEOH for 'Everything Everywhere All at Once', beating out Lesley Manville for 'Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris', Margot Robbie for 'Babylon', Anya Taylor-Joy for 'The Menu' and Emma Thompson for 'Good Luck to You, Leo Grande'.

* Best Supporting Performance in a Motion Picture : Actor - awarded to KE HUY QUAN for 'Everything Everywhere All at Once', beating out Brendan Gleeson for 'The Banshees of Inisherin', Barry Keoghan for 'The Banshees of Inisherin', Brad Pitt for 'Babylon' and Eddie Redmayne for 'The Good Nurse'.

* Best Supporting Performance in a Motion Picture : Actress - presented to ANGELA BASSETT for 'Black Panther : Wakanda Forever', beating out Kerry Condon for 'The Banshees of Inisherin', Jamie Lee Curtis for 'Everything Everywhere All at Once', Dolly de Leon for 'Triangle of Sadness' and Carey Mulligan for 'She Said'.

* Best Director - awarded to STEVEN SPIELBERG for 'The Fabelmans', beating out James Cameron for 'Avatar : The Way of Water', Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert for 'Everything Everywhere All at Once', Baz Luhrmann for 'Elvis', and Martin McDonagh for 'The Banshees of Inisherin'.

* Best Screenplay - presented to MARTIN MCDONAGH for 'The Banshees of Inisherin', beating out Todd Field for 'Tar', Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert for 'Everything Everywhere All at Once', Sarah Polley for 'Women Talking' and Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner for 'The Fabelmans'.

* Best Score - presented to JUSTIN HURWITZ for 'Babylon', beating out Carter Burwell for 'The Banshees of Inisherin', Alexandre Desplat for 'Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio', Hildur Guonadottir for 'Women Talking' and John Williams for 'The Fabelmans'.

* Best Animated Feature - presented to 'Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio', beating out 'Inu-Oh', 'Marcel the Shell with Shoes On', 'Puss in Boots : The Last Wish' and 'Turning Red'.

* Best Non-English Language Film - awarded to 'Argentina, 1985' from Argentina, beating out 'All Quiet on the Western Front' from Germany, 'Close' from Belgium, 'Decision to Leave' from South Korea and 'RRR' from India.

 

For all the other television category winners, and the full details on Eddie Murphy's win of the Cecil B. DeMille Award for his outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment, you can go to the official website at : https://www.goldenglobes.com

This week then, we have five new release movies doing the rounds, kicking off with an elite spy who must track down and stop the sale of a deadly new weapons technology wielded by a billionaire arms broker, while recruiting Hollywood's biggest movie star, to help them on their globe-trotting mission to save the world. This is followed by a horror story about a robotics engineer at a toy company who builds a life-like doll that begins to take on a life of its own. Next up we have a historical biographical drama film that imagines the transformative, exhilarating, and uplifting journey to womanhood of a rebel and a misfit, one of the world's most famous, enigmatic, and provocative writers who died too soon at the age of thirty. Next up is a microbudget Canadian horror film that sees two young children wake up in the middle of the night to find their father is missing, and all the windows and doors in their home have vanished. And closing out this weeks latest releases is an animated film about a streetwise ginger cat who comes up with a money-making scam by befriending a group of talking rats, but when he and the rodents reach the stricken town they meet a bookworm and their little scam soon turns pear shaped.

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

'OPERATION FORTUNE : RUSE DE GUERRE' (Rated M) - this American spy action comedy film is Co-Written and Directed by Guy Ritchie whose previous film making credits take in the likes of 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels', 'Snatch', 'Sherlock Holmes', 'Sherlock Holmes : Game of Shadows', 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.', 'Aladdin', 'The Gentlemen' and 'Wrath of Man' in 2021. It was originally slated for release at the end of January last year and then mid-March 2022. In mid-February 2022, the film was pulled from the release schedule without comment by the studio. Reports indicate the film was pulled from release, not due to the COVID-19 pandemic as before, but because it featured gangsters of Ukrainian nationality as the main antagonist's henchmen. The film's Producers thought it would be of bad taste, in light of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian War sparking global outrage, for the movie to present 'Ukrainian baddies'. 

Here then, super spy Orson Fortune (Jason Statham, who also Produces here) and his team of top operatives recruit Hollywood's biggest movie star, Danny Francesco (Josh Hartnett), to help them on an undercover mission to stop billionaire arms broker Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant) from selling a deadly new weapons technology that threatens to disrupt the world order. Also starring Aubrey Plaza, Cary Elwes, Bugzy Malone and Eddie Marsan. This film is Ritchie's fifth collaboration with Jason Statham. 

'M3GAN' (Rated M) - is a Sci-Fi horror film Directed by Gerard Johnstone and based on a story Co-Written by James Wan and Produced by James Wan and Jason Blum. This is only Johnstone's second feature film making outing following 2014's 'Housebound'. This film saw its World Premier screening in Los Angeles in early December before its wide release Stateside last week, has so far recovered US$48M from its US$12M production budget and has garnered largely positive critical reviews. Gemma (Allison Williams), is a roboticist working at a toy company. She uses artificial intelligence to develop M3GAN (Model 3 Generative Android), a lifelike dancing doll programmed to be a child's greatest companion and a parent's greatest ally. After unexpectedly gaining custody of her niece Cady (Violet McGraw) when the child's parents die in a car accident, Gemma enlists the help of the M3GAN prototype (Amie Donald with Jenna Davis as the voice), a decision that has horrific consequences when the doll becomes self-aware and overprotective of Cady, leading her to become hostile towards anyone that gets in her way of 'protecting' Cady and Gemma. A sequel is apparently already planned.

'EMILY' (Rated M) - this biographical drama film is Written and Directed by the British born Australian Actress Frances O'Connor in her feature film making debut. The film saw its World Premier screening at TIFF in early September last year before its UK release in mid-October, in Australia from this week and with no firm date for a US release yet set. The film imagines Emily Bronte’s (Emma Mackey) own Gothic story that inspired her seminal novel 'Wuthering Heights'. Haunted by the death of her mother, Emily struggles within the confines of her family life and yearns for artistic and personal freedom, and so begins a journey to channel her own romantic catastrophe on to the page giving us a timeless tale of desire, longing and heartbreak. Also starring Fionn Whitehead, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Adrian Dunbar and Gemma Jones. 

'SKINAMARINK' (Rated CTC) - is a Canadian horror film Written, Directed and Edited by Kyle Edward Ball in his feature film Directorial debut. The film saw its World Premier screening at the Fantasia Film Festival in late July last year, and is set for a release in the US and here in Australia from this week. It cost CA$15K to produce which was mostly crowdfunded and filmed using borrowed equipment from the Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta. Here then, two children, four-year-old Kevin (Lucas Paul) and six-year old Kaylee (Dali Rose Tetreault), wake up in the middle of the night to find that their father (Ross Paul) has disappeared, along with all the windows, doors and other objects in the house. It has generated largely positive reviews, and will be released at a later date on streaming service, Shudder. 

'THE AMAZING MAURICE' (Rated PG) - this computer-animated fantasy comedy film is Directed by Toby Genkel and Co-Directed by Florian Westermann, and is based on the 2001 book 'The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents' by Sir Terry Pratchett. The film had its World Premiere at the Manchester Animation Festival in mid-November last year and was released in the UK in mid-December having received received generally positive reviews from critics. Released here in Australia this week and in the US from 3rd February the film has so far recovered US$107K from a production budget of US$17M. The story follows Maurice (voiced by Hugh Laurie), a goofy streetwise cat, who has the perfect money-making scam. He finds a dumb-looking kid who plays a pipe and has his very own horde of rats, who are strangely literate (voiced by Rob Brydon), but when Maurice and the rodents meet a bookworm called Malicia (voiced by Emilia Clarke) their little con soon goes down the drain. Also starring the voice talents of David Thewlis, Himesh Patel, Gemma Arterton, David Tennant and Hugh Bonneville. 

With five 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 week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

WRATH OF MAN : Thursday 6th May 2021.

'WRATH OF MAN' which I saw last week at my local multiplex is an MA15+ Rated American action thriller offering Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written by Guy Ritchie and is based on the 2004 French film 'Cash Truck' Directed by Nicolas Boukhrief. The lead star of this film is Jason Statham, with whom Ritchie has worked on three previous occasions - 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels', 'Snatch' and 'Revolver' with a fifth collaboration currently in the works on spy thriller 'Five Eyes'. Originally slated for a mid-January release but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this film was released in Australia last week, one week ahead of its US cinema release and not until 23rd July in the UK. It has so far taken US$8M following its earlier release in Russia, Germany, New Zealand and here in Australia, and has generated mixed or average Reviews so far.

The film opens up with Patrick Hill (Jason Statham) being interviewed for a new job at cash security firm Fortico by the manager Terry (Eddie Marsan) who tells Hill that his references more than check out, and that he has all the necessary credentials to come on board as a new security guard, including a pistol licence. Fortico collects tens of millions of dollars from around Los Angeles every week from hospitality venues, clubs, casinos, banks and businesses and are therefore considered an easy target. So much so that just a matter of weeks ago two of the firms security guards were killed in a heist on one of their trucks. Needles to say Hill is given the job on the spot. He is quickly introduced to his supervisor Bullet (Holt McCallany) who tells him that he will have to undergo four days of intensive training on driving and manoeuvring a cash truck and his shooting skills, and under the latter he needs to score a minimum rating of 70% to pass. After his first day he is introduced to a number of his co-workers. There is Boy Sweat Dave (Josh Hartnett), Dana (Niamh Algar) and a number of others who all treat the 'limey' with disrespect and indifference. All of this treatment is like water off a ducks back to 'H', as Hill has come to be known by his new colleagues, who tries to keep himself to himself, mingles when it is called for, and is pretty adept at playing the strong brooding silent type. 

We then fast forward three months and one day Bullet, Sweat Dave and H are out on a cash collection in their truck at the docks off loading only about US$10K from a recently berthed cruise ship. Bullet is on board for what should be a simple and routine pick-up. But something is not right and over the radio comes a garbled message that they are to drive the truck a couple of blocks to rendezvous with a bunch of crims who have Bullet captive, and they want the US$1.5M that is already in the back of the truck. Sweat Dave goes into a blind panic not knowing what to do for the best, while H remains cool, calm and collected and orders Sweat Dave to drive the truck. At the meeting point, Bullet is bundled out of a car and beaten to the ground. What ensues is a fire fight in which H shows off his very particular set of skills as a precise marksman by taking down all six crims singlehandedly, while Sweat Dave and Bullet are left speechless by what they have just witnessed. 

After this show of force, H is hailed a hero by his colleagues and Terry. After the fact he is interviewed by FBI Agents Hubbard and Okey (Josh Cowdery and Jason Wong respectively) wanting to clear up some details and show him video footage of the earlier heist on a Fortico truck which claimed the lives of the two security guards, to determine if there were any similarities in the crims MO. Afterwards, the Agents call their superior officer Agent King (Andy Garcia), who tells them to lay off Hill and let him do what he has to do, and that he will monitor the situation closely.

We then go back in time five months and Hill and his teenage son Dougie (Eli Brown) are about to go out to watch a game, but they are running ahead of time and decide to go get a bite to eat first. Hill's phone rings and it is one of his henchmen, Mike (Darrell D'Silva) who wants him to do a quick surveillance job of the movements of a Fortico truck as its leaves their depot. Hill says it's his day off and he has his son with him, but Mike responds with the fact that there is no one else available and it will only take a few minutes of his time. Reluctantly Hill agrees. Under the pretext of wanting to stop for a burrito from a food truck parked outside the Fortico depot, he orders Dougie to stay in the car with the doors locked. As the cash truck leaves the depot, turns right and heads under an overpass, the trucks route is blocked by construction workers. But these construction workers are not what they seem and they soon produce weapons and the necessary hardware to break into the armoured vehicle and steal the cash money contained therein. In the process the two security guards are both killed and shot, and Dougie is observed to be witnessing all of this and is also shot four times and killed outright. At this Hill rounds the corner and witnesses his son lying dead on the ground, he runs towards him only to be shot three times sending him crashing to the ground as he looks up at the gunman wide eyed but motionless. 

A couple of weeks later Hill comes round in a hospital bed with a doctor standing beside him. The doctor tells him he is lucky to be alive having taken three bullets and lost a quarter of his blood. Hill asks after his son and is told that he died at the scene. Later Hill walks out of hospital and back into his office where Mike, Hollow Bob (Rocci Williams) and Moggi (Babs Olusanmokun) are in attendance saying that they have done everything they can do to locate the perpetrators of Dougie's death, but have drawn a blank. Meanwhile, Hills ex-wife, mourning the death of her son, blames Hill directly for his slaying, leaving him speechless.

After slaying all of the lowlife crims in the neighbourhood who may have had an inkling as to who the perpetrators were responsible for Dougie's death, and having so far still drawn a blank, they hit upon a lead who tells them (under immense duress) who the crims might be. We are then introduced to a bunch of ex-soldiers led by Sergeant Jackson (Jeffrey Donovan) who are all working dead end jobs, as bored as Hell watching TV and drinking beers all day long, and after some excitement in their lives and ideally a big pay cheque. Jackson suggests to his former soldier buddies Jan (Scott Eastwood), Tom (Chris Reilly), Sam (Raul Castillo), Carlos (Laz Alonso) and Brad (Deobia Oparei) a robbery from a wealthy man who Carlos works for but this yields them only a couple of hundred thousand dollars. Jackson later suggests a heist on a cash truck, which eventually leads then to the heist on the Fortico truck in which the two security guards were shot and killed, together with Dougie and in which Hill was collateral damage. 

After successfully pulling off that heist the crims lay low for a couple of month before their next heist. Jackson tells them not to spend up big and just to go about their normal routines so as not to attract any undue attention to themselves. Then comes a major pay day in the form of Black Friday in which Fortico will collect upwards of US$160M in cash. Eight weeks of intense preparation is needed in the lead up to the big day, and all the guys are in, tempted by the excitement of their next 'mission' are the prospect of retirement at the other end. The day duly arrives, and Fortico is as well prepared for every eventuality as it can be. The crims know the high stakes they are playing for and what can go wrong but their planning has been meticulous. Jackson fears only one man in his gang - and that is Jan, the loose cannon, who has attitude, the temperament and the mouth to go with it. Despite being told to lay low he has a furnished warehouse style apartment and a US$28K brand new motorcycle, much to Jackson's chagrin. 

In the truck making their way back to the Fortico depot, Bullet confides in H that he likes him, but that he has a confession to make. Bullet is the man on the inside, feeding intelligence to Jackson and telling him which trucks to hit and when. Bullet is telling H this because he needs his cooperation when they arrive back at the depot to make it look as though all is good to gain access inside. H is surprised and agrees to go along with the plan asking 'what's in it for me' to which Bullet replies with 'your life'. 

Once inside, the other gang members arrive and gain access and needless to say it's not long before a fierce gunfight breaks out as things go awry. H is led into a side room with Terry and Sweat Dave, and has his hands cable tied and is watched over by a pair of the crims wearing full assault gear from head to toe. Meanwhile, all out war is going down outside with Jackson and his remaining crew exchanging rapid gunfire with everyone else working for Fortico. Bullet is making out that he is being held against his will and used as a bargaining tool for the crims to gain access to the main vault. With the shoot out intensifying one of H captors leaves the room to join the fray. This gives H his chance to overpower the remaining one which he does so, ultimately strangling him. In the meantime Terry is on the phone to the S.W.A.T. team who are en route, albeit eight minutes away, and Sweat Dave is dithering about unsure of what to do - fight or flight!

H picks up the automatic weapon from the man he's just killed and goes off in search of the others. He gets into a fist fight with Tom and it doesn't end well for Tom who is killed with a knife to the jugular, while the others get shot up, leaving Bullet to dispense with Dana and a few others. Jan shoots H several times in the chest and leg, leaving hism prone on the ground motionless, but eyes wide open staring at Jan straight in the face. Jackson, Jan and Bullet are the last men standing although Jackson has sustained a bullet injury to the neck and is beginning to look decidedly pale by the time the cash truck crashes out of the depot, pursued by a convoy of Police vehicles. The truck heads down the highway chased closely behind by the Police, a S.W.A.T team and a chopper above. Eventually the truck heads into an underground parking lot, and as the Police vehicles are about to enter Bullet activates the bollards by remote control to come up out of the ground so preventing the Police from gaining access. Unknown to the authorities there is a secret tunnel leading out of the parking lot, that does not appear on any of the schematics as the lot was built in the '50's and the site has since been redeveloped, masking the tunnel from any blue prints. This was Jacksons plan all along. While Jackson is bleeding out Jan and Bullet off load the bags of cash onto two waiting quad bikes that they drive through the tunnel to a parked up Prius at the other end. While Bullet is attending to the stash of cash Jan goes back to the truck and finishes off Jackson by slitting his throat.  

When the pair arrive at the Prius they load up the boot with the money bags. Bullet knows that Jan can't be trusted and so pulls his gun. When Jan returns from opening the gate, he pulls his weapon before Bullet has time to respond, and shoots him through the head without hesitation. Jan successfully makes his getaway with all the money. At his apartment, after stepping out of the shower, he finds a phone ringing in one of the money bags, which was planted there by H to track his location. H had survived and confronts him with Dougie's autopsy report before shooting Jan in the same places Dougie was shot (liver, lungs, spleen and heart), killing him. Agent King is waiting outside to collect the stolen money while H drives off with one of his associates. 

'Wrath of Man' is an enjoyable, well orchestrated piece of action cinema that both Ritchie and Statham are renowned for with set pieces that more than deliver, an ensemble cast of familiar names, and enough shoot 'em up violence and cuss words to please any lover of the genre. With several time shifting storylines, this revenge and retribution offering is often brutal and uncompromising in its depiction of low life criminals and a man on a mission who will stop at nothing to see that his own brand of justice is duly served on those that wronged him. Statham is light on the fast talking quips and one liners trading these in for brooding menacing dialogue that on occasion misses the mark, but is countered by the fast paced action and the actors cold blooded performance. For Ritchie this is not quite up there with his recent 'The Gentlemen', or his earlier works 'Lock, Stock . . . ' and 'Snatch' but it proves his versatility as a film maker of the action crime drama, and as for Statham you know exactly what you're gonna get, but this would be one of his more noteworthy films in recent memory. At a running time of just under two hours, the film feels slightly over extended and perhaps ten or fifteen minutes could have been shaved off, although this would be a minor criticism only.

'Wrath of Man' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard out of a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-