Birthday's to share this week : 29th October - 4th November 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Ben Foster does on 29th October - check out my tribute to this Actor Producer Birthday Lad turning 37, at the end of this feature.

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

Sunday 29th October

• Kate Jackson - Born 1948, turns 69 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Winona Ryder - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actress | Producer
• Richard Dreyfuss - Born 1947, turns 70 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Rufus Sewell - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actor
• Ben Foster - Born 1980, turns 37 - Actor | Producer 

Monday 30th October

• Henry Winkler - Born 1945, turns 72 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Kevin Pollak - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Juliet Stevenson - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actress 
• Clemence Poesy - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actress | Writer | Director  

Tuesday 31st October

• Piper Perabo - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress | Producer
• Willow Smith - Born 2000, turns 17 - Actress | Singer
• Stephen Rea - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actor 
• Peter Jackson - Born 1961, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | 
• Dermot Mulroney - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer | Musician
• Rob Schneider - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director   

Wednesday 1st November

• Lyle Lovett - Born 1957, turns 60 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor | Composer | Producer | Director 
• Robert Luketic - Born 1973, turns 44 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Toni Collette - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actress | Producer | Singer  

Thursday 2nd November

• Stephanie Powers - Born 1942, turns 75 - Actress | Producer | Writer
• David Schwimmer - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actor | Director | Producer 
• Jon M. Chu - Born 1979, turns 38 - Director | Producer | Writer 

Friday 3rd November

• Gary Ross - Born 1956, turns 61 - Writer | Director | Producer
• Dolph Lundgren - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Dylan Moran - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Writer
• Lulu (aka Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie) - Born 1948, turns 69 - Singer | Actress
• Roseanne Barr - Born 1952, turns 65 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer
• Kate Capshaw - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actress   

Saturday 4th November

• Loretta Swit - Born 1937, turns 80 - Actress | Singer
• Ralph Macchio - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Matthew McConaughey - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Sean 'Diddy' Combs - Born 1969, turns 48 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Producer | Actor | Writer | Director 

Benjamin A. Foster was born in Boston, Massachusetts to mother Gillian Kirwan and father Steven Foster - restauranteurs. He described his parents as 'free spirited Vietnam protesting hippies'. When he was four years old the family, together with younger brother Jon, relocated themselves to Fairfield in Iowa as a result of a burglary on their home while they were present in the house. Whilst living in Fairfield, Ben attended the Maharishi University of Management featuring a consciousness based education system that includes the practice of Transcendental Meditation technique (which he still practices to this day). Foster began his career as a jobbing Actor from the age of sixteen having dropped out of High School and moving to Los Angeles to chase his dream. However, he discovered acting much earlier on in his life when he wrote, Directed and starred in his own stage play at age twelve - which came second place in an international competition. By age fourteen he has attended the Interlochen Theatre Arts Summer Programme at Interlochen in Michigan, so it almost became inevitable that in time he'd move to Tinsel Town.

He gained his first acting gig in the direct to video release of 'Kounterfeit' - an action crime thriller from 1997 with Hilary Swank. This was followed up that same year with all 26 episodes on the Disney family comedy television series 'Flash Forward' which ran from 1996 through to 1997, with Foster playing a lead role as Tucker James. He followed this up with a single episode on 'You Wish' and then made for television films - 'I've Been Waiting For You', 'Breakfast with Einstein' and '1973' in 1998 with two episodes on 'Freaks and Geeks' and then feature film 'Liberty Heights' closing out the decade in 1999 as Written and Directed by Barry Levinson and also starring Adrien Brody.

2000 launched with a single episode on 'Family Law' and then RomCom 'Get Over It' with Kirsten Dunst, Colin Hanks, Mila Kunis, Zoe Saldana, and Martin Short. TV movie 'The Laramie Project' based on a true crime murder story also starred Peter Fonda, Laura Linney, Steve Buscemi, Clancy Brown and Christina Ricci. This in turn led to two episodes on 'Boston Public' then comedy crime caper offering Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld 'Big Trouble' with Tim Allen, Stanley Tucci, Tom Sizemore, Johnny Knoxville, Rene Russo, Zooey Deschanel and Sofia Vergara. 'Bang Bang You're Dead'; 'Northfork' with James Woods, Nick Nolte and Daryl Hannah; '11:14' with Colin Hanks, Patrick Swayze, Hilary Swank and Barbara Hershey, 'The Punisher' based on the Marvel Comics character of Frank Castle, aka 'The Punisher' played by Thomas Jane with John Travolta, Will Patton, Roy Schneider and Rebecca Romijn; and then 'The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things' took us up to mid-decade.

2005 saw 'Hostage' - the action crime drama with Bruce Willis, and running concurrently over 23 episodes was the critically acclaimed television series 'Six Feet Under' between 2003 and 2005. These were followed up by 'Alpha Dog' based on a true crime story Directed by Nick Cassavetes and with an ensemble cast taking in Bruce Willis, Harry Dean Stanton, Justin Timberlake, Emile Hirsch, Anton Yelchin, Sharon Stone, Amanda Seyfried, Amber Heard and Olivia Wilde. Foster's performance gained him a Breakthrough Performance Award win at the Young Hollywood Awards. 2006 also saw his turn as Warren Worthington III/'Angel' in 'X-Men : Last Stand', and then the James Mangold Directed Western drama '3:10 to Yuma' alongside Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. David Slade's vampire horror thriller '30 Days of Night' came next in 2007 with Josh Hartnett, Danny Huston and Melissa George, and in between time there were appearances on television series 'The Dead Zone' and 'My Name Is Earl'.

2009 brought 'The Messenger' Directed and Co-Written by Oren Moverman to critical acclaim about an injured American soldier returning from a Tour of Duty in Iraq who becomes involved with with the widow of a fallen officer. Also starring Woody Harrelson and Samantha Morton the film was nominated for two Academy Awards, and picked up seventeen award wins and a total 46 nominations including a number of Best Actor wins and nominations for Fosters performance. Sci-Fi action horror 'Pandora' with Dennis Quaid and Norman Reedus closed out the decade.

'Here', then the remake of
the classic early '70's Charles Bronson actioner 'The Mechanic' in 2011 as Directed by Simon West and starring Jason Statham as Arthur Bishop/The Mechanic followed, with '360' and gritty crime drama 'Rampart' Directed again by Oren Moverman and starring Woody Harrelson, Sigourney Weaver, Jon Bernthal, Brie Larson and Cynthia Nixon all came along that same year.

2012 saw crime drama action film 'Contraband' with Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Ribisi, then in 2013 the biographical drama 'Kill Your Darlings' about the intertwined lives of three great poets - Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs and starring Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHaan, and Jack Huston. The David Lowery Written and Directed 'Ain't Them Bodies Saints' with Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara, and then the true story of Navy Seals on a mission to take out a notorious Taliban leader, when their capture or kill objective goes horribly wrong on a remote mountain side - 'Lone Survivor'. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Eric Bana and Directed by Peter Berg the film was nominated for two Academy Awards and picked up a SAG Award for best stunt ensemble among its haul of five wins and sixteen nods.

Stephen Frears sports biopic of the failed Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, starred Foster as the seven time cycling champion ultimately outed for his banned substance abuse that fuelled his multiple victories, his fame and his fortune. Also starring Chris O'Dowd, Jesse Plemons, Dustin Hoffman and Lee Pace 'The Program' had a limited release but garnered Foster much critical praise for his impressive portrayal of the doomed cyclist. Historical seafaring search and rescue film 'The Finest Hours' was released in 2016 with Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Eric Bana, John Ortiz and Holliday Grainger.

2016 also saw the modern day Western set in America's West Texas rust belt about a couple of down on their luck brothers who resort to desperate measures to save their family ranch from the bank foreclosing. 'Hell or High Water' also starred Chris Pine, Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham and was nominated for four Academy Awards, three BAFTA's, three Golden Globes amongst its combined tally of 39 Award wins and another 160 nominations. This was followed by action adventure fantasy film 'Warcraft' as Directed by Duncan Jones and starring Travis Fimmel, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell, Clancy Brown and Ruth Negga. Costing US$160M this video game adaptation grossed US$433M making it the highest grossing video game film adaptation of all time. 'Inferno' based on the Dan Brown book of the same name about Professor of Symbology Robert Langdon played for the third time by Tom Hanks, and his attempts to foil a deadly global plot masterminded by a wealthy industrialist intent on wiping out half the worlds population because it can't sustain itself. Foster plays that guy.

Bringing us up to date are the French comedy Directed, Co-Written and also starring Guillaume Canet 'Rock'n Roll' with Marion Cotillard and the soon to be released Western drama set in 1892 'Hostiles' with Christian Bale, Jesse Plemons, Stephen Lang, Peter Mullan and Rosamund Pike. Also due soon and in post-production is 'My Abandonment' and hitman revenge film 'Galveston' with Beau Bridges and Elle Fanning due later in 2018.

All up Foster has 53 Acting credits under this belt so far, and one as Producer on 'Rampart'. He also has a stage credit for appearing alongside Gillian Anderson in 2014 in 'A Streetcar Named Desire' at London's Young Vic Theatre, later transferring in 2016 to New York's St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn. He has so far garnered seven Award wins for 'Hell or High Water', 'The Messenger' and 'Alpha Dog' plus a further thirty nominations.

Foster was in a long term relationship with Actress Robin Wright from early on in 2012, becoming engaged to be married two years later, only to call it all off in late 2014. They reconciled their differences a few months later only to abandon the relationship for good by August 2015. Fourteen months later in October 2016 he became engaged to Actress Laura Prepon, and the couple celebrated the birth of their first child together, a daughter in August of this year.

Ben Foster - described by some Critics as giving powerful 'unhinged' and 'intense' performances that even 'make a bad film worth seeing'; often plays crazy, violent roles; has a soft, mellow and calming voice; was ranked highly on the '30 under 30' Actors list and the '10 Actors to Watch' list and has already gained the accolades and recognition to prove it, and, is only improving with age and is increasingly in demand. With a varied body of work across the small screen, the silver screen and the stage taking in just about all genres (except a song and dance number . . . yet!), we'll stay tuned for your further offerings. In the meantime, Happy Birthday to you Ben, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

INFERNO : Tuesday 18th October 2016

'INFERNO' which I saw this week was written by Dan Brown, and he has so far had two other Robert Langdon adaptations committed to the big screen - 'The Da Vinci Code' in 2006 which made US$758M from its US$125M budget outlay, and 'Angels and Demons' in 2009 which returned US$486M from its US$150M budget. 'Inferno' is the third movie outing for Harvard Professor of Symbology, Robert Langdon and the fourth book of the series. 'The Lost Symbol' - the third book in the series was skipped over as it was thought by those all knowing Studio Exec's that 'Inferno' would make a more compelling transition to the cinema screen. The Langdon character is reprised once again by Tom Hanks and with Director Ron Howard at the helm. David Koepp wrote the screenplay. The film was made for US$75M and has so far made US$50M ahead of its US release date on 28th October.

The film opens up with a lone man being chased on foot by three assailants. He disappears up a bell tower and upon reaching the top with no where to turn he steps out on to the ledge overlooking the cobbled streets below of Florence. The three men chasing after him emerge, the man is caught, he turns inwards to face the men, some words are exchanged, and the man leans back and plummets to his death onto the street below. We then cut to a hospital bed where a semi-conscious Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is hooked up to a drip, heart monitors and his head bandaged. He is having visions of Hell, the plague, ravaged bodies, violence and death and rivers of blood but all in a modern day setting. He comes around and is greeted by Dr. Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones) who advises him that he was admitted muttering the words 'very sorry' over and over again and with a bullet wound to the head that is likely to have caused temporary amnesia. Langdon has no recollection of the events that caused him to end up in the hospital bed, and in Florence of all places which he recognises instantly from his bedroom window.

Whilst Langdon is still in pain from his head wound and experiencing ongoing visions which he is seemingly caught in the middle of, Vayentha (Ana Ularu) an assassin, arrives at the hospital in police uniform and makes for the room where Langdon is in recovery. A hospital orderly is gunned down, and in the melee Brooks acts upon her survival instincts and gets herself and Langdon out of the hospital just in time to evade the rapid gunfire at the hand of the disguised assassin. The pair flee to Brooks' apartment where Langdon sleeps. When he wakes he freshens up but still has little memory of the events that brought him to Florence. Rummaging through his old bloodied clothes he comes across an object that he has never seen before, that requires his thumb print to open the stainless steel tube. Reluctantly the pair agree to open it revealing a 'Faraday Pointer' - a miniature projector - which reveals an image of Botticelli's late 15th Century Map of Hell which is based on Dante's 14th Century epic dark masterpiece 'Inferno'. But within the map on closer inspection are certain adjustments, hidden letters and a clue pointing to Betrand Zorbrist (Ben Foster) - the man who fell to his death at the beginning of the film.

Zorbrist it turns out was a billionaire geneticist who believed that the world is overpopulated and that rigorous measures are necessary to reduce the ever increasing population, which he sees as a modern plague. Through his seminars he has captured the interest of a group of followers around the world, and Langdon deduces that Zorbrist had created a virus capable of reducing the global populace by more than 50% - sustainable levels for a fresh start! By now the pair have been traced by the local authorities and the assassin once again, but again Langdon and Brooks manage to evade capture on foot. With Langdon's intimate knowledge of Dante, and of Florence the two embark on a cat and mouse game across the city's secret passageways, hidden vaults and network of tunnels and chambers all the while unlocking other clues as the clock counts down to the release of the virus in some hidden and secure place.

The pair are pursued at every turn by both Christoph Bouchard (Omar Sy) who claims to be working for the World Health Organisation, and Elizabeth Sinskey (Sidse Babett Knudsen) who heads up the WHO and is well known to Langdon. All the while Langdon's memory is coming back to him in flashback. In the meantime, Harry Sims (Irrfan Khan) heads up 'The Consortium' - a very special and secretive interest group who conduct dirty deeds for vast sums of money for the worlds wealthiest clients, no questions asked and confidentiality guaranteed. Sims is in possession of a video recorded by Zorbrist to be played only after the virus has been released, but since his client is dead, Sims plays the video recording, revealing the magnitude of what his client was planning. Sims approaches Sinskey with the knowledge of Zorbrist's final message, and the pair agree to work together to track down Langdon who is the only one capable of uncovering the puzzle and locating the virus stash before it is released. Bouchard however, gets to Langdon and Brooks first and wins them over with tall tales of Sinskey and how she has her own agenda for the virus.

Sims, using his own very particular set of skills tracks down Langdon who has now been captured by Bouchard, and Brooks has made off, but not before Brooks has revealed to Langdon that she was in fact Zorbrist's lover and his accomplice in the plan to release the virus, but the whereabouts of it were not known even to her. She needed him to reveal the location by following the clues and using his expert knowledge, and has since made off, evading capture by Bouchard, so ensuring the virus will be released as planned. In a run down building Sims quickly dispenses with Bouchard freeing Langdon to continue the chase for the virus. After an explanation of how Sims fits into the equation, Langdon reveals that the virus is in fact in Istanbul in the Hagia Sophia, and so the pair make off with  Sinskey in a private jet. We further learn that Langdon and Sinskey have romantic history and that she in fact asked Langdon with help in deciphering the meanings hidden in the Faraday Pointer. Langdon was kidnapped by The Consortium and given a memory loss drug and the whole hospital episode was a ruse, aimed at keeping Langdon off the scent.

The virus is hanging in a plastic bag dangling in the waters of the 6th Century Basilica Cistern close by to the Hagia Sophia. With a once a year music festival taking place within the Cistern and the gathered orchestra in place and well dressed on lookers filling the Basilica, the WHO Team, Sims, Sinskey and Langdon head down to search out the virus bag. So too do Brooks and two other enlisted foot soldiers intent on detonating two bombs in close proximity to the bag that when ruptured with aerosolize the virus. Needless to say its get pretty hairy in the closing minutes as bodies flay about in the shallow waters of the ancient Cistern and the virus is contained. It doesn't end well for the antagonists or Sims, leaving Langdon and Sinskey to return to the respective lives wondering what might have been if they had their time over again, and leaving the world's population in tact at almost eight billion and counting!

For me, after the novelty of seeing Robert Langdon in 'The Da Vinci Code' and then 'Angels and Demons' which were far better introductory films to the world of symbols, imagery, and iconology, I went in to the theatre with higher expectations and came out underwhelmed! In 'Inferno' we have a pedestrian, predictable, popcorn offering that sees the same old same old regurgitated again for the sake of some historic ancient landmarks whilst making light work of Langdon's particular set of skills to thwart a dead mans evil plot. There are too a number of liberties with the story as written by Dan Brown in his book, which I guess is Hollywood's poetic license at work here, but those that have read his page turning unputdownable novels as I have, are likely to pick up on this too. The story here takes a while to get into gear and then when it does it takes its foot off the peddle and meanders along in a by the numbers offering that make this the least engaging of the three films so far. Disappointing, particularly for another Hanks/Howard collaboration, but maybe for half the budget of its predecessors therein lies your answer? Wait for the DVD or BluRay to watch in the comfort of your own home and save yourself the price of a ticket.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 13th October 2016.

Dan Brown is an American author of thriller adventure fiction, who has sold over 200 million books and had his works translated into 52 languages. His first book was released in 1998 - 'Digital Fortress' a stand alone novel about government surveillance of electronically stored information on the private lives of citizens, and the possible civil liberties and ethical implications of using such technology. This stand alone novel was followed up in 2001 by 'Deception Point' another stand alone story of a meteorite found within the Arctic Circle that may provide proof of extraterrestrial life, and attempts by the antagonists to prevent the evidence against it from becoming public. In 2000 Brown first introduced us to the character of Robert Langdon - a Harvard Professor of Symbology and Religious Iconology in 'Angels & Demons' which was subsequently made into a film in 2009, interestingly after the second novel in the Robert Langdon series 'The Da Vinci Code' which as a book was released in 2003 and as a film in 2006. Brown penned 'The Lost Symbol' next and that book was published in 2009 but was overlooked for the Hollywood treatment in skipping to 'Inferno' - the fourth novel in the Robert Langdon series, which is released this week and Previewed as below. So far all three instalments have been Directed by Ron Howard, with Tom Hanks in the lead role as Robert Langdon. A fifth book in the series is due for release in September 2017 titled 'Origin'. Brown's Robert Langdon books have been international best sellers, and the first two films in the series have grossed over US$1.2B.

This week then we have five new movies coming to your local Odeon, kicking off with the third big screen adaptation from a series of books by an acclaimed author featuring an acclaimed character portrayed by an acclaimed Actor at the hands of an acclaimed Director involving ancient mysteries, curious symbols, a game of cat and mouse, and a life or death situation confronting half the planet. This is followed up by a true crime telling of a late 90's heist that is just too far fetched to be believed - but it really happened, perhaps with a little comedic poetic licence thrown in for good measure here. We then turn attention to an Asian action adventure featuring an unlikely buddy pairing brought together to thwart an evil foe and rescue a maiden in distress, before returning home to our own Aussie backyard and another true crime telling of a pre-meditated partially publicised murder that went ahead when those that could have prevented it . . . chose not to! We then wrap up with a Spanish foreign language film from another acclaimed Director, about a mothers quest to reconnect with her estranged daughter.

When you have sat through your film of choice this week, feel free to drop us a line or two here at Odeon Online, by leaving your own critique in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your movie experience.

'INFERNO' (Rated M) - Dan Brown, the author upon which this film is based, has so far had two other Robert Langdon adaptations committed to the big screen - 'The Da Vinci Code' in 2006 which made US$758M from its US$125M budget outlay, and 'Angels and Demons' in 2009 which returned US$486M from its US$150M budget. 'Inferno' is the third movie outing for Harvard Professor of Symbology, Robert Langdon as reprised once again by Tom Hanks and with Director Ron Howard at the helm. David Koepp wrote the screenplay.

This time we see Langdon waking up in a hospital in Italy with no recollection of how he got there or where he is. He also has no explanation for the origin of a macabre object found stashed away in his belongings. Eventually he teams up with young doctor, Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones) whom Langdon hopes will help him recover his lost memory, but when a threat against his life eventuates the two are propelled into breakneck chase across Florence. Armed with the just a few meagre clues pointing to Dante's 14th Century epic dark masterpiece 'Inferno', Langdon and Brooks race against time to solve the puzzle which may or may not help them save the world from they threat of a virus capable of wiping out half the global population - as planted by transhumanist scientist Betrand Zorbrist (Ben Foster). Also starring Omar Sy and Irrfan Khan.

'MASTERMINDS' (Rated M) - based on the real life North Carolina Loomis Fargo Robbery that occurred in 1997 netting a haul of US$17.3M for its band of misfits (the second largest cash robbery in US history at that time), this crime comedy caper film is Directed by Jared Hess and features a strong cast for its US$25M budget. Here David Scott Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis) is a truck driver for armoured security company Loomis Fargo. Ghantt is stuck in a dead beat job, driving around other peoples hard earned cash for living. He strikes up a relationship with co-worker Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig) who persuades him that there is more to life that driving an armoured truck and to think about the possibilities of what lies inside the truck. Pretty soon, a harebrained scheme is devised with the aid of Steve Chambers (Owen Wilson), and lo and behold Ghantt pulls off the heist of a lifetime with over US$17M to show for it. Handing over his stash of cash to his accomplices who have turned the tables on him, Ghantt is double crossed while his former no-good partners in crime go on a wild spending spree leaving a trail of evidence for the authorities to follow. Evading the authorities and the intentions of hit man Mike McKinney (Jason Sudeikis), Ghantt now needs to turn the tide against those he once trusted. Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones also star so reuniting three of this years 'Ghostbusters' ensemble.

'SKIPTRACE' (Rated M) - this Hong Kong/Chinese/American Co-Production is Directed by Renny Harlin who knows how to create an action movie (think 'Die Hard 2', 'The Long Kiss Goodnight', 'Driven', 'Cliffhanger' and 'Deep Blue Sea') and here he teams up legendary Jackie Chan as Hong Kong Detective Bennie Chan who has been on the hunt for notorious underworld mobster Matador, believed to be Victor Wong (Winston Chao) for over ten years now since killing his young partner. When his partners daughter Samantha (Fan Bingbing) lands herself in hot water with Wong's syndicate, Chan must seek out American gambling con-man Connor Watts (Johnny Knoxville) who aside from gambling his way through China's casinos, was witness to a murder in Wong's Macau casino. What follows in a web of intrigue and a race across various countries that sees the pair travel from Russia, to Mongolia, to the Gobi Desert and back to Hong Kong with both the Russian and Chinese mob on their tails. The film opened big in China and has since taken a haul of US$134M.

'JOE CINQUE'S CONSOLATION' (Rated M) - this film adaptation of the non-fiction book by Australian author Helen Garner was published in 2004 and tells the story of her presence at the trials of Australian National University student Anu Singh (Maggie Naouri), and her friend and fellow student Madhavi Rao (Sacha Joseph), who plotted to kill her engineer boyfriend Joe Cinque (Jerome Meyer) by lacing his coffee with Rohypnol and administering a lethal dose of heroine. Singh believed that Cinque had made her ill in the first place so she plots her revenge, which as time passes becomes more macabre and more public. The murder occurred in October 1997 at a dinner party at which some of the guests were aware of the plan to murder Cinque, but chose to do nothing about it, or to forewarn the victim. Directed by Sotiris Dounoukos, this true crime film will leave you asking questions and debating the subject matter long after the credits have rolled.

'JULIETA' (Rated MA15+) - marking Pedro Almodovar's 20th Directed feature film, 'Julieta' is a Spanish production also Produced and Written for the screen by Almodovar based on three short stories from the book 'Runaway' by Alice Munro published in 2004. This film is Spain's entry into the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 2017 Academy Awards, and was in competition for the Palme D'Or at this years Cannes Film Festival. Telling the story of Julieta (Adriana Ugarte as the younger, and Emma Suarez as the older) ) who is about to relocate herself from Madrid to Portugal, she runs into Bea (Michelle Jenner) unexpectedly - the childhood friend of her daughter Anita. Bea tells her that her estranged daughter is living in Switzerland and has three children. With this news she decides not to leave Madrid with her boyfriend Lorenzo (Dario Grandinetti) but to rent another apartment in the block in which she raised Anita and commit to writing a ledger that explains the events that led to their separation and estrangement, in the hope that Anita will re-establish contact.

Five films this week to satisfy most tastes if you like action adventure, action comedy, true crime, foreign language and family drama then there is something to quench your film going thirst. When you have sat through your movie of choice in the week ahead, drop us a line here at Odeon Online by sharing your thoughts with your like minded cinephiles. In the meantime, I'll see you at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-.