CRIME 101 : Wednesday 18th February 2026.

I saw the M Rated 'CRIME 101' this week, and this UK and US Co-Produced crime thriller film is Written for the screen and Directed by Bart Layton whose previous film credits take in the 2012 documentary 'The Imposter' and 2018's 'American Animals'. This film is based on the 2020 novella of the same name written by Don Winslow. The film premiered in London at the back end of last month, was released here in Australia and the US last week, has so far grossed US$30M from a production budget of US$90M and has generated largely positive critical reviews.

Set in Los Angeles, Mike Davis (Chris Hensworth) is an elusive and meticulously disciplined jewel thief who carefully plans his robberies to avoid violence, and leaving any signs of his DNA evidence while escaping via US Route 101 (a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the USA). Intercepting a diamond delivery carrying decoy gems, he steals US$3M in genuine diamonds, but is shaken after being grazed by an unexpected bullet fired by one of the men he is stealing from. As a result of being somewhat rattled, he calls off a planned robbery on a high end jewellery store in Santa Barbara, but his fence, Money (Nick Nolte), enlists volatile young biker Ormon (Barry Keoghan) in his place.

Meanwhile, LAPD Detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo) links the diamond theft to Mike's string of unsolved robberies and suggests a lone suspect is responsible, but his theory is dismissed by his partner Tillman (Corey Hawkins) and his superiors. Preparing another heist, Mike pays Devon (Devon Bostick), a hacker, for information on Sharon Colvin (Halle Berry), a high-end insurance broker to the super wealthy. Long undervalued by her firm with whom she has worked for eleven years and has been promised a promotion to Partner, which never seems to eventuate, Sharon is further frustrated when a new colleague closes a lucrative deal with the wealthy Steven Monroe (Tate Donovan). After Ormon violently carries out the Santa Barbara job on his own, Mike cuts ties with Money, who instructs Ormon to intercept Mike's next heist.

The lonely Mike strikes up a relationship with an attractive stranger, Maya (Monica Barbaro), after she rear-ends his car, while he had stopped at a red light. He realises he is being tracked by Ormon, who threatens Devon into revealing that Sharon is connected to Mike's plan. Sharon rejects Mike's attempt to recruit her as an accomplice, and Mike spots Ormon, confronting him in a 24/7 convenience store after a high-speed chase; realising he had been sent by Money, Mike warns Ormon to stay away. Separating from his unfaithful wife Angie (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Lou finds himself joining Sharon's yoga class in an attempt to get fit, and just to try something new, and rents a new apartment by the beach. He discovers the car Mike used in the diamond robbery, and a microscopic trace of blood inside which is a match to Mike's juvenile record with his birth name, James.

Denied a promotion once more, Sharon reluctantly agrees to help Mike. Demanding a US$3M share, she provides inside information on an illicit diamond purchase Monroe has arranged to make with US$11M in cash, for his upcoming wedding at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Lou is suspended for refusing to help cover up the Police shooting of another jewel thief, but continues with his investigation and tracks down Mike's foster mother. Ormon breaks into Sharon's apartment and viciously interrogates her, who turns to Lou for help and admits everything, and quits her job after openly criticising her boss in front of the new female broker. Wary of Mike's secretive nature, Maya ends their relationship after he reveals he will be leaving town for an undisclosed period of time on business, as a 'software developer'.

The briefcase of diamonds arrives with a courier and Mike takes the place of Monroe's private security guard, completely unaware that Lou is posing as the courier himself. Driving to the hotel, the pair strike up a conversation about cars. Mike admits that he prefers the older American cars of the '60's and '70's, cars with character stating that his favourite films is Steve McQueen's 'Bullitt' and his Ford Mustang. Lou confides that his favourite McQueen movie is 'The Thomas Crown Affair', to which Mike replies that he missed that one. Arriving at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel the two of them deliver the briefcase to Monroe and his fiancee in the wedding suite. Mike seizes the cash at gunpoint, but Lou retrieves a concealed gun in the briefcase and reveals himself as a Police Officer. Their standoff is interrupted by Ormon, disguised as a hotel Butler delivering room service. Demanding the case, he shoots and wounds Monroe, but Mike kills Ormon before he can shoot Lou. Lou allows Mike to escape albeit empty-handed, and tells him to get out of town and to not come back, and then forces Monroe and his fiancee to support his story as he frames Ormon for Mike's string of robberies. 

Later after the dust has seemingly settled, Lou meets up with Sharon at their yoga class. Having stolen the decoy gems taken into evidence from Mike's earlier heist, Lou swapped them with real diamonds from the briefcase, which he gives to Sharon to start a new life. Mike had sent a text message to Sharon with a photo and an address for 'The Cop'. Showing Lou the photo he comments that he doesn't know where that is. Lou arrives at the apartment block and takes the elevator down to the parking garage, and discovers that Mike has left him his vintage Chevy Camaro. Easily finding the keys behind the sun visor, he turns on the engine and gingerly drives it out of the garage and onto the street where he opens it up, with a big grin on his face. Mike sends Maya a childhood photo which she receives at her desk at her place of work, asking her for a second chance. Realising that Mike must be in the building she rushes for the door.

'Crime 101' doesn't reinvent the west coast USA crime thriller noir playbook, but it does pay homage to the some of the classics from yesteryear including 'Heat', 'Thief' and 'To Live and Die in LA'. The characterisation and their respective back stories are well realised; the performances by Hemsworth, Ruffalo, Keoghan, Berry and Barbaro are all on point; the action set pieces are well choreographed; the story is well conceived and entertaining enough, and the Direction and Cinematography are stylish and assured. At 140 minutes, however, I felt that this elongated runtime could have been shortened by fifteen minutes or so, particularly as the film seemed to drag it heels somewhat in the mid-section, but that's my only gripe. 'Crime 101' is certainly worth the price of your cinema entry, and if a modern take on classic crime noir is your thing, then you won't be disappointed.

'Crime 101' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

ANNIHILATION : Friday 16th March 2018.

I saw Alex Garland's latest Directorial and Screenwriting offering 'ANNIHILATION' from the comfort of my own sofa at home on Netflix late last week having been released on this streaming service only earlier that same week. Based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer this Sci-Fi horror film cost US$50M to make and has so far grossed US$30M in the US, Canada, UK and China where it had a theatrical release - in all other territories the film is released to subscribers of Netflix. Alex Garland is the writer of that acclaimed 1996 novel 'The Beach' made into a movie by Danny Boyle and starring Leonardo DiCaprio in 2000. He has since gone onto write the Screenplays for '28 Days Later', 'Sunshine', 'Never Let Me Go', 'Dredd' and 'Ex Machina' which was also his first Directing gig in 2015 and which received much Critical praise.

And so the film opens up with former US Army soldier Lena (Natalie Portman) and now a biologist specialising 'in the genetically programmed life cycle of a cell', being interviewed in a quarantined room surrounded by numerous hazmat suited wearing onlookers. She has recently returned from an expedition in to a constantly moving rainbow like atmospheric anomaly known as 'The Shimmer' from which she and her husband are the only survivors.

In flashback, we see Lena's Army Special Forces husband Kane (Oscar Isaac) return home without notice having been reported missing, presumed dead, on a top secret mission for a year now. He has no memory of that time during or since, and suddenly becomes very ill coughing up blood. In an ambulance together en route to hospital, government security agents intercept the ambulance and take them forcibly to 'Area X'. When Lena comes round she starts asking questions of Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh) a psychologist, who explains that they are in a facility bordering 'The Shimmer' an electromagnetic field that has encompassed a swamp area on the southern US coast that has been steadily growing since its emergence three years previously. The area in question has been evacuated completely.

Ventress recruits Lena onto the next expedition project into The Shimmer and explains that several military missions have ventured into it and all have been fraught with disappearances, suicides, aggressive cancers, and mental trauma, including her husbands mission. Together with Ventress and Lena, the next mission set off into The Shimmer. Accompanying the two are Anya Thorensen (Gina Rodriguez) a paramedic, Josie Radek (Tessa Thompson) a physicist, and Cass Sheppard (Tuva Novotny) a geologist and surveyor.

Once inside, their guidance systems and all telecommunications fail. Furthermore time seems to have no meaning as the team seem to forget extensive lapses in time. They reach an abandoned house partially submerged into a swamp. Josie ventures inside and is dragged below the water by an unseen force. Thrashing around in the water she is rescued by Lena. An alligator like creature emerges and confronts them all as Lena riddles it with automatic gun fire. A quick investigation by Lena seems to reveal that the alligator has been impossibly hybridised with a shark!

Moving onward with their journey deeper into The Shimmer, the Team come across an abandoned military base. In the mess hall they discover military style bedding, assault rifles and a rough map of the base with a makeshift guard duty roster. They also come across a memory card laid out on a table for those that come after. The memory card reveals evidence of Kane's expedition.

Later that night as Ventress stands guard with Lena who couldn't sleep, the perimeter fence is breached. The others wake with the commotion and venture outside to investigate. A mutated bear like creature grabs Cass in its jaws and drags her away screaming into the night. The next day the remaining four leave, and Lena breaks away to go in search of Cass. She returns later having found her dead body with her throat torn out.

The Team of four continue their journey toward the lighthouse, which was the location of where The Shimmer first manifested itself following a meteor hit. Josie and Anya want to turn back, but are reluctantly persuaded by Lena to keep going given how far they've come, the unexplained lapses in time they have experienced, and following the coastline back to Area X is their best and safest option. They come across an abandoned overgrown town filled with human shaped plants. Josie has a theory that The Shimmer is acting on all organisms like a prism refracts light. Each of the Team realise that they are changing both physically and mentally too, causing them to fear and mistrust one another.

Later that night, Anya attacks the other three and binds them all to chairs. She has discovered that Kane is Lena's husband and accuses them of conspiring to kill Cass. At that Anya hears Cass's screams for help outside the house and goes to investigate. The creature that killed Cass enters the house having mimicked Cass's final screams,  attacks and kills Anya, before turning attention on Lena still bound to a chair. Josie breaks free and fires several shots at close range into the creatures head.

Ventress leaves for the lighthouse alone having revealed that she is dying of cancer and has nothing to lose, leaving Josie and Lena to ponder turning back. Out in the gardens Josie goes walkabout out of sight of Lena. As Lena rounds a corner there is no sign of Josie - seemingly mutated into a human shaped plant. Lena continues the onward journey to the coast and the lighthouse hoping to find some answers to The Shimmer there.

Lena finds the lighthouse and enters. Inside she finds an incinerated corpse, a camcorder, and hole in the side wall of the lighthouse going below ground. She switches on the camcorder pointing at the burned out husk of a human being, to reveal footage of Kane raving on about the effects that The Shimmer has had on him and urging the viewer to find his wife before he blows himself up in ball of white flame with a phosphorus grenade. At that point a duplicate of Kane walks into view on the small screen.

Lena goes down the rabbit hole which opens up into a dark cavernous space. Inside is Ventress who looks at her blankly and exclaims that extraterrestrial forces are at work that will eventually engulf the world. At that Ventress disintegrates into a glowing orb of cosmic light that absorbs a droplet of blood from a cut on Lena's face. The entity that was Ventress forms into a humanoid being that begins to mimic every movement by Lena. She quickly scrambles back up the narrow corridor and out into the lighthouse interior to be greeted by the humanoid. It will not let her leave reproducing exactly every movement, every motion. Lena however, has an ace up her sleeve, and retrieving a phosphorus grenade from Kane's satchel places the grenade in the humanoids hands before fleeing. The creature explodes in a ball of white flame which quickly ignites the lighthouse setting it and the other alien constructs in the vicinity ablaze. At this point The Shimmer fades away.

As Lena's questioning comes to an end, she is reunited with her husband who has made a miraculous recovery since The Shimmer disappeared. They embrace and Lena whispers in his ear if he is the real Kane, to which he responds with an 'I don't think so'. He in turn asks her is she is the real Lena, to which she does not respond.

'Annihilation' has received generally positive Reviews so far, but has also been described as too complex and too intellectual for your typical movie going audience to really grasp. Sure the film is well paced, looks good, is intelligent, thought provoking, and has all the elements of a modern horror film - body horror, monsters, unexplained phenomenon, mimicking aliens, technological disruption, societal breakdown, mistrust and of course death most foul. And the strong and convincing principle cast of five intelligent and accomplished female protagonists in this era of 'Time'sUp' and '#MeToo' should have Hollywood chomping at the bit for its stance on female equality in the mainstream movies. But, despite all of this I was a little underwhelmed by the film, and perhaps a second viewing would make me think differently. The plot is fairly predictable, the two monsters that get screen time are not that far removed from the giant croc as seen in 1999's 'Lake Placid' and the giant boar terrorising the Australian outback in 1984's 'Razorback', and the final big reveal (if you can call it that!) is open ended and ambiguous, leaving the viewer to draw their own conclusions and debate after the credits have rolled. And, I certainly didn't find this as graphic, scary and trippy as some Reviewers seem to have. Garland wrote the Screenplay for this film long before VanderMeer had completed his two follow up novels in the series known as 'The Southern Reach trilogy' where each instalment provides a varying account of a different person's journey into 'Area X' and 'The Shimmer'. Certainly worth a look and keep an open mind.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 4th February 2016.

On 30th January at the Shrine Auditorium in L.A. the 22nd annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were held with the following Outstanding Awards presented : Ensemble Cast to 'Spotlight' with Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Rachel McAdams, Billy Crudup and Stanley Tucci. Male Actor in a Leading Role went to Leonardo DiCaprio for 'The Revenant' following on his success at the Golden Globes and setting the tone for the upcoming Academy Awards and BAFTA's. Female Actor in a Leading Role went to Brie Larson for her starring role in 'Room'; with Supporting Roles going to Idris Elba for 'Beasts of No Nation' and Alicia Vikander for 'The Danish Girl'. The Most Outstanding Stunt Ensemble went to 'Mad Max : Fury Road'. Next up are the BAFTA Awards on 14th February and thereafter the Academy Awards on 28th February. Watch out for further updates as these dates pass.

And so to this weeks latest releases, of which there are five. Kicking off we have a stop motion animated feature that is already creating much critical buzz and is sure to warm the cockles; then a bio-pic of a recently passed computer guru who changed the way we interact with technology on a daily basis; a search & rescue story on a grand scale, involving so many, for so long and in a place far away, and deep! And then there is a romantic drama of two people thrown together by fate who need to make the tough decisions which may well determine their future lives together; and finally a documentary of alternative energies, sustainability and environmental awareness that is about more than just huggin' a tree!

With five new offerings and still some great movies doing the rounds as Reviewed and Previewed on these pages before, there is plenty of choice to tempt your $20 from out of your wallet. When you have sat in the dark for two hours or so with a bunch of strangers all staring in the same direction with necks craned up at a big screen, share your thoughts on your filmic experience by leaving your own critique in the Comments section below this, or any other Post. In the meantime, enjoy your movie.

ANOMALISA (Rated MA15+) - this is a stop motion animated film Written, Produced and Directed by Charlie Kaufman. Made for just US$8M this is not a film for everyone, but has had much critical praise bestowed up on it with 17 award wins to date and another 54 nominations. It is the first R-Rated animated feature film (Stateside) to be nominated for an Academy Award, and it is the first animated film to win the Grand Jury Prize at the most recent Venice International Film Festival.

Featuring the voice work of just three actors - David Thewlis as Michael Stone an author specialising in customer service around the conference and convention circuit, who despite his teaching & preaching skills is unable to connect with people in the real world, as he has a lack of interest in what other people do, think and feel. On a business trip though Stone meets up with lively, energetic Lisa Hesselman (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who slowly shows him what can be, and lifts his negative views on life and what it takes to lift it from the mundane to the more adventurous. Everyone else is voiced by Tom Noonan.  Don't be put off by the fact that this is an animated feature, with stop motion work that is up there with the very best seen before. This is a thought provoking human story of emotion, discovery and  hope.

STEVE JOBS (Rated M) - starring Michael Fassbender as Steve Jobs, Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak, Jeff Daniels as Apple CEO John Sculley and Kate Winslet as Apple and NeXT Marketing Executive Joanna Hoffman, this biopic drama is Directed by Danny Boyle  and was made for US$30M and has so far raked in US$32M since its Stateside release in October last year. The film tells the story of Jobs life from 1984 up to the late nineties and just before the release of The Macintosh in 1984, the NeXT computer in 1988 and the iMac G3 in 1998. Nominated for two Oscars, three BAFTA's, and winning two Golden Globes for Kate Winslet and Aaron Sorkin for Best Screenplay as well as eleven other awards wins and 77 other nominations, this is up there on this years must see list - if only because the man whom this films is based upon has touched so many lives for so many years with his forward thinking technology.

THE 33 (Rated M) - this English language Chilean film is based on the real events that unfolded following the collapse of the San Jose gold & copper mine in Chile on August 5th 2010 that trapped thirty-three men two thousand feet below the surface. Above the surface teams of rescue workers toiled for 69 days to free the men, families set up a tent city in a vigil of hope, longing and support, and the Government dealt with the media frenzy that gripped the world as events unfolded and attempts at rescue faltered, but in time came good. Below the ground, 33 men had to come to terms with their fate, struggled with the suffocating heat of their underground captivity, the need to ration limited food and water supplies, remain motivated and confident, and the need to remain focused on their survival. Starring Antonio Banderas, James Brolin, Lou Diamond Phillips, Bob Gunton, Gabriel Byrne and Juliette Binoche this film is Directed by Patricia Riggin and based on the book 'Deep Down Dark' by Hector Tobar.

THE CHOICE (Rated PG) - Directed by Ross Katz and based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks we are introduced to Travis Shaw (Benjamin Walker) - an easy going non-committal ladies man who's world is turned upside down when feisty, out there medical student Gabby Holland (Teresa Palmer) moves in next door with the intention of settling down with her boyfriend. But, fate draws Travis and Gabby together and as their lives are turned upside down unexpectedly. As their relationship grows, so decisions need to be made on just how far they are prepared to go to keep their love alive. Also starring Tom Wilkinson and Tom Welling.

LIFE OFF GRID (Rated PG) - for two years from 2011 to 2013 Director Jonathan Taggart and Producer Phillip Vannini travelled across Canada to find 200 'off-gridders' and learn more of their lives without connection to the electricity or natural gas grid infrastructure. Those that have chosen to opt out of the energy sources we traditionally take for granted often live in remote rural areas and have found alternative ways of sustaining themselves and their way of life with often innovative, inventive and imaginative ways, but also often grounded in tradition. Chronicling along the way the experiences, challenges, hopes & dreams of those 'off-gridders' in their new lives, this will reveal what is possible and that it is still possible to live with the creature comforts but in new & different ways.

Whatever film you decide upon in the coming week tell us what you thought of you cinematic experience, and then tell a friend and encourage them to get to the movies and enjoy a big screen experience . . . it's the only way! See you at the Odeon!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE HATEFUL EIGHT : Saturday 30th January 2016.

Quentin Tarantino's 8th film - 'THE HATEFUL EIGHT' is set in Wyoming, in the depths of Winter around Christmastime, about ten miles or so from the town of Red Rock and for the most part in a little mountain stagecoach stopover called Minnie's Haberdashery. Plagued by some controversy early on this QT penned and Directed film was leaked to the media in script form in January 2014 having announced some months earlier that his next film had been written and it would be another Western, but not, as many had thought, a follow up to 'Django Unchained'. As a result QT cancelled the movie and let it be known in a lawsuit against those who leaked his screenplay, that they were to blame and that he was none too pleased! However, time is a great healer, and within a year, and after a successful live read of the script to a gathered audience in LA, filming began near Telluride in Colorado in early December 2014. Made for US$44M and so far raking in US$103M after its release in the US in late December, in the UK on 8th January and here in Australia on 21st January, the film has already scored 22 award wins and 70 nominations including three Oscar and three BAFTA nods still pending for Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, Best Score and Best Cinematography.

With a running time of almost three hours, this is a long drawn out film, but rest assured your patience will be rewarded. Split into six distinct chapters and featuring frequent collaborators including Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, Zoe Bell and James Parks, the first half of the film is a characters study where little happens other that learning about the characters back stories, what drives them, and how they all come to be together at Minnie's Haberdashery caught in a blizzard that prevents their onward journey. Set sometime in the mid 1870's this is post US Civil War - but only recently, and the scars of that war still run deep amongst those we are about to meet.

In a snow covered mountain landscape we are introduced first up to a six horse drawn stagecoach where driver O.B.Jackson (James Parks) is at the reins, with only John Ruth a.k.a 'The Hangman' (Kurt Russell) inside and he is shackled to Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who he intends to bring to justice at the end of the hangmans noose in Red Rock and collect his $10,000 bounty reward on her head. En route the Stage encounters Major Marquis Warren a.k.a. 'The Bounty Hunter' (Samuel L. Jackson) on the road having lost his horse but sitting atop three dead bodies he is taking to Red Rock to claim an $8,000 bounty reward. He negotiates with John Ruth to let him aboard to escape the bitter cold and continue the journey, and it turns out they share some history going back eight months or so to a dinner party.

As the three get acquainted along the way and exchange war stories and tales of bounty collection, because the two are in the same business after all, it turns out that Warren is the recipient of a personal letter from President Abraham Lincoln that instantly makes him a point of interest as a black man in a white mans world. Later on through some mishap involving the letter and Domergue, the Stage comes to an abrupt halt and they find themselves with another stray caught in the snow and a long way from home - Chris Mannix 'The Sheriff' (Walton Goggins), who is seeking a ride to Red Rock where he will be sworn in as the new Sheriff. Reluctantly Ruth agrees, and again further back story is revealed of Mannix's family history and his war time stance against the blacks, and despite his ill feeling toward Warren, he is grateful for the ride.

In time with the blizzard conditions worsening, the Stage draws up at Minnie's Haberdashery which is known to Warren, but not the others. Minnie is however, nowhere to be seen which raises the suspicions of Warren instantly, but he is accepting (for now) of the explanation of the man left in charge, Bob, a.k.a. 'The Mexican' (Demian Bichir). Whilst O.B. and Warren tend to the horses with Bob outside, Ruth and his hostage Domergue and Mannix take refuge inside. Here we are introduced to Englishman Oswaldo Mowbray a.k.a.'The Little Man' (Tim Roth), Joe Gage a.k.a 'The Cow Puncher' (Michael Madsen) and General Sanford Smithers a.k.a. 'The Confederate' (Bruce Dern). And now our eight, are assembled!

Again, our characters stories are explored and unfolded as pieces of the jigsaw puzzle come together and we learn more of the dynamic of these eight individuals thrown together by circumstance and chance. The slow burning unfolding storyline continues as Ruth sets his ground rules for bringing Domergue to justice at Red Rock. Mowbray we learn is the official hangman who will see Domergue swing in a few days time once the blizzard eases, by which time Mannix will be instituted as Sheriff of Red Rock to oversee the proceedings, and pay out the rewards owing to Ruth and Warren for their collective $18,000 for which the two have made their own pact to safeguard each other to protect their investments. Who can they all trust and are there hidden agendas amongst this bunch of miscreants thrust together?  Ruth is very untrusting of just about everyone, and Warren has his suspicions already with Minnie being absent from her beloved mountain Haberdashery - where ordinarily Mexican's are not allowed to tread, yet there is a Mexican in charge!

As we ease in to the second half of the film cowpoke Gage has been alienated by Ruth, Warren has fallen out with 'The Confederate' because they were on different sides of the field at the Battle of Baton Rouge during the Civil War, Mannix has a distrust for Warren because he's black and believes his letter from Lincoln is a forgery, Warren's suspicions of Mexican Bob grow deeper, and Domergue needles away at Ruth, Warren, Mannix and Mowbray because they all potentially have a hand in her upcoming hanging. As the tension rises, sides are taken, truths are revealed and personalities exposed so there is the first blood letting, but, in self defence, which makes it OK in such august law abiding upstanding company!

By now the tension is ramped up as the body count slowly but surely begins to rise and Warren's suspicions are confirmed over Mexican Bob, Gage and Mowbray but to what end he still does not know except that they all seem to be in that one place at that one time with Domergue, so who is she in cahoots with?

At this point after further bloodletting, we have to go back to earlier in the day with a voice over narrated by QT himself to plug in some story gaps and introduce us to several new characters. These too have a major part to play in the story that unfolds later that day and some of which we have already seen, but this time from a different perspective. Here as the Stagecoach rolls in to Minnie's with Six Horse Judy at the reins (Zoe Bell) complete with Kiwi accent which is quickly explained, and Jody Domingray (Channing Tatum) the agenda slots into place as does the connection with Domergue and those others in the Haberdashery that we have met already.  Here once more the tension mounts and the body count rises leaving just three standing (well, hardly, as they all have bullet wounds that in fact prevent them from standing!), but ultimately justice is served but not in the way that was originally intended, and an unlikely bond is forged, but, will it stand the test of time given the wounds inflicted . . . fade to black!

Once again QT has delivered a great story with razor sharp dialogue, quick wit, and strong performances from Russell who chews up the first half, giving way to Jackson who owns the second half. Each character is allowed the time to evolve and unfold as we become acquainted with their history, personalities, motivation and incentives, and each is as colourful and diverse as the next. Goggins as Mannix is your archetypal cowboy that he portrayed also in 'Django Unchained' and looked at ease in his role and delivers it with conviction, Madsen as Gage as is laid back as ever and plays the smiling assassin, and Roth grated on me a little and was trying too hard for my money to emulate 'Dr. King Schultz' - the Christoph Waltz character from 'Django Unchained' but with an English aristocratic accent and mannerisms, that I though was just too familiar! Jennifer Jason Leigh as Domergue spends the whole film chained to the arm of Ruth and is well & truly put thorough the wringer at his hands being punched, smashed with a rifle butt, scalded with a bowl of steaming hot stew, shot, and mostly blood soaked with either her own, or someone else's. Worthy of all the Best Supporting Actress nominations she has so far garnered - she plays it stoic, menacing and emotional all at once.

With Ennio Morricone's score (his first Western soundtrack in 35 years), stunning snow scenes, his trademark eye for detail, award worthy dialogue, a rich story, strong performances and believable characters, QT has crafted another great film that you should see on the big screen while you can. With two Westerns in the can, will he surprise and delight us with a third - this Reviewer certainly hopes so!

-Steve, at Odeon Online