THE NIGHTINGALE : Tuesday 3rd September 2019.

'THE NIGHTINGALE' which I saw earlier this week, is an MA15+ rated Australian period piece thriller Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written by Jennifer Kent in only her second film making outing following 2014's highly acclaimed horror offering 'The Babadook'.  This film saw its World Premier screening at the Venice International Film Festival back in September 2018 where it won the Special Jury Prize, had its Australian Premier at the 2018 Adelaide Film Festival, saw its US release earlier in August and in Australia last week after its screening at the recent Sydney Film Festival too. It has so far received generally positive Reviews, although has divided audiences with its graphic depictions of rape and murder. Kent subsequently defended the decision to depict such violence, claiming that the film contains historically accurate representations of the colonial violence and racism that took place against the Australian Indigenous people of that time (circa 1825). The film was produced in collaboration with Tasmanian Aboriginal elders who feel that this is an honest and necessary depiction of their history, and a story that needs to be told.

Set in Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land) in 1825 and the early on-set of the Black War, Clare Carroll (Aisling Franciosi), a 21-year-old Irish convict is serving out her time working as a servant in some remote British military outpost overseen by Lieutenant Hawkins (Sam Claflin) and Sergeant Ruse (Damon Herriman). The unit is being visited by a commanding officer to determine if Hawkins is fit to be considered for promotion to the rank of Captain.

After her night shift has finished, with Clare serving the soldiers drinks and singing them a few songs, she asks Hawkins about her now long overdue letter of recommendation that would allow the family, husband Aidan (Michael Sheasby) and their baby child, their freedom. Hawkins takes her request as insolence and consequently rapes and beats her. The next night Aidan, liquored up, gets into a brawl with Hawkins, Ruse and a Private Jago (Harry Greenwood) while asking for the same letter of recommendation that Clare had enquired about the previous day. The commanding officer walks in on the brawl unfolding and bears witness to the whole sorry affair and determines that this, along with other acts of misconduct and inappropriate behaviour displayed by Hawkins and his small group of soldiers, deem him unfit for promotion.

Mightily pissed-off by this turn of events, Hawkins commands Ruse and Jago to gather supplies, a few extra convict men to help fetch and carry and a local black tracker named Charlie (Charlie Jampijinpa Brown) for an impromptu five day journey on foot through dangerous and near impenetrable bushland to the town of Launceston in order to secure his promotion via an officer contact he has there, and with whom he seems to have some sway. Before they leave early the next morning, the soldiers intercept the Carroll family attempting to flee. Hawkins taunts Aiden about the many occasions he’s had sex with Clare before he and Ruse gang rape Clare, shoot Aiden at point blank range in the neck, and Jago kills their baby and then knocks Clare unconscious with the butt end of his rifle. Clare comes round the next morning with the sight of her dead husband lying in a pool of blood and her baby's lifeless body on the hard stone floor by the door.

The next day Clare reports the incident to a suspicious Royal Military Police official, carrying the dead body of her baby, who is less than sympathetic - after all why should he believe the rantings of a convict woman over the story of Officers in the Army. She decides to seek out revenge for herself with a help of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy (Baykali Ganambarr) whom she entices with the promise of two shillings in payment. Clare is guarded about her motives and states that she wishes to catch-up with her soldier husband en route to Launceston. The travelling pair initially share a mutual hostility towards one another but begin to bond over stories about their tragic upbringings and shared hatred of the English.

Hawkins meanwhile en route with his small party takes a liking to one of the convicts, an eight year old orphan child named Eddie (Charlie Shotwell), and Ruse kidnaps an Aboriginal woman named Lowanna (Magnolia Maymuru) that he stumbled across in the bushland, to be used as a sex slave. The next day when a small group of Aboriginal men have located their missing Lowanna, they kill one of the convicts and injure Jago with a spear in the leg, in a rescue mission, but their attack proves unsuccessful as Hawkins shoots Lowanna in the back in retaliation. Clare and Billy stumble upon a limping and delirious Jago, and Clare corners and brutally kills him by stabbing him several times in the chest and smashing his face to a pulp with the butt-end of her rifle.

Billy has witnessed this and considers leaving Clare to her own devices in the dense forest, but works out her revenge motivations and decides to stay. Charlie meanwhile as the trusted tracker to Hawkins party, and as revenge for the soldiers' inhumanity, diverts the journey to a dead end on the summit of a mountain. Ruse kills Charlie but Hawkins chastises the rash decision and forces Ruse to be their guide on the way back down the mountain, handing over Ruse's former responsibilities to the eight year old Eddie. Clare and Billy come across Charlie’s body while tracing their steps, and Billy performs customary burial rites and informs Clare that he now seeks
revenge too for killing his Uncle figure.

Clare and Billy catch up with the group of four and hide behind a rocky outcrop. Armed with her rifle pointing directly at Hawkins, Clare freezes when she sees him, allowing Hawkins to retaliate fire grazing her shoulder with a shot from his rifle. Clare flees and the pair split up and are separated. Billy, however, is found and forced to be the new guide, replacing Charlie and a clueless Ruse. Billy reluctantly leads the soldiers to the main path to Launceston, at which point Hawkins commands Eddie to shoot Billy. The eight year old Eddie naturally hesitates, so allowing Billy to escape. Hawkins berates Eddie and turns his back on him saying that when he arrives in Launceston he will advise the local Police that there is a convict child running wild on the path into town. Eddie gets very upset by this threat and cries out for a second chance to prove his worth. Hawkins turns and shoots the boy dead to shut him up.

Having spent the night nestled under a tree in the forest hinterland of Launceston, Clare the next morning finds her way back onto the main path and reunites with Billy. While on their way, they come across what looks like an abandoned house. Entering they see a recently murdered couple in their bed having both suffered several gunshot wounds to the chest. From the house they take a rifle, some food and a change of clothes. Walking towards Launceston they encounter a chain gang of Aboriginals, led by three armed white fellas. In their native tongue Billy speaks of his origin and that he is seeking to reunite with his people in the north. One of the chained Aboriginals informs Billy that he is the last of his people, they had been wiped out and all killed. When the prisoner yells at his captors for their callousness, they shoot him and the others dead. Clare and Billy pass, on the pretext that Billy is Clare's prisoner and she is taking him to Launceston to see that justice is served on him.

In Launceston, Clare and Billy are sighted in the street by Hawkins and Ruse. Hawkins orders Ruse to notify the Police that a black boy is on the loose in town, and tells Clare that if he ever sees her again, he will have no hesitation in killing her. The newly promoted Hawkins joins his commanding officer in a men only bar for a welcome drink, at which point Clare bursts in and confronts Hawkins about his war crimes in front of a now silent bar full of fellow soldiers and officers all looking on. Billy watches through the window from a hiding spot. The two then flee town for the night. During the night while Clare is sleeping, Billy covers himself with white war paint and has carved two spears. He makes his way back to Launceston. By this time Clare has woken up and has given chase arriving in Launceston just as she spies Billy entering the hostel where Hawkins and Ruse are lodged. Billy first spears Hawkins right through the heart killing him instantly and then drives his second spear though Ruse's throat pinning him to a wall. Ruse however, before he died got off a single rifle shot wounding Billy in the stomach. Claire and Billy flee the commotion at the hostel on the back of Clare's horse which Hawkins has previously stolen from her. In time following the river, they arrive at a beach where Billy dances and declares himself a free man before slumping down on the wet sand as Clare sings a folk song and the two watch the sun rise over the horizon.

'The Nightingale' is a confronting film and at times an uneasy watch for its repeated rape scenes, violence and callous cold blooded murders of men, women and children mostly of native Australian origin, but also of white convicts for simply speaking up or being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But, in choosing to depict such scenes of human depravity Director and Writer Jennifer Kent has captured the essence of that era in a story that has to be told as it resonates as much today as it did back then. Aisling Franciosi and Baykali Ganambarr give powerful and convincing performances, and Sam Claflin is definitely playing against type here and does so with a disturbing intensity. It's interesting to note that the depiction of the horrors that befell Australia's Indigenous population back in the days of early white settlement is particularly apposite given last weeks Reviewed 'The Australian Dream'. Kent has here shown that she is an Australian film maker to watch and that this is a very noteworthy follow up to her debut of five years ago, that will further cement her position as a master of her craft. My only criticism is that at a running time of 136 minutes, the film drags on for a little too long and consequently becomes a tad repetitive and predictable especially in the last half an hour, when shaving off 15 or 20 minutes in the editing suite would perhaps have served for greater coherence and less monotony.

'The Nightingale' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, from a potential five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 29th August 2019.

Continuing with the coverage of the 76th Venice International Film Festival which launched on 28th August and runs through until 7th September, it was announced in the months preceding the festival that the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement by a Director would be awarded to Spanish Director Pedro Almodovar whose film making credits include his international break out film in 1983 'Dark Habits' and then over the following years 'Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown' in 1988, 'Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down' in 1989, 'All About My Mother' in 1999, 'Talk to Her' in 2001, 'Bad Education' in 2003, 'Volver' in 2006, 'The Skin I Live In' in 2011 and 'Julieta' in 2016. The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement by an Actor or Actress is awarded to English Actress, Singer and Author Julie Andrews whose film acting credits include 'My Fair Lady' and 'The Americanisation of Emily' both in 1964, 'The Sound of Music' in 1965, 'Torn Curtain' and 'Hawaii' both in 1966, 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' in 1967, 'Star!' in 1968, 'The Tamarind Seed' in 1974, '10' in 1979, 'S.O.B.' in 1981, 'Victor/Victoria' in 1982, 'Duet for One' in 1986, 'The Princess Diaries' in 2001 and its sequel in 2004 and from there she lent her voice talents to the animated 'Shrek' and 'Despicable Me' film franchises.

This years Out of Competition entries take in works of fiction and non-fiction and special screenings. Included in these are :-
Out of Competition : Fiction 
* 'SEBERG' - from the USA and Directed by Benedict Andrews and starring Kristen Stewart, Jack O’Connell, Anthony Mackie and Vince Vaughn.
* 'THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY' - from the UK and Italy and Directed by Giuseppe Capotondi and starring Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki, Donald Sutherland and Mick Jagger.
* 'MOSUL' from the USA and Directed by Matthew Michael Carnahan and starring Suhail Dabbach, Adam Bessa and Is’Haq Elias.




* 'ADULTS IN THE ROOM' - from France and Greece and Directed by Costa-Gravas and starring Christos Loulis, Alexandros Bourdoumis, Ulrich Tukur, Daan Schuurmans, Josiane Pinson, and Aurelien Recoing.
* 'THE KING' - from the UK and Hungary and Directed by David Michod and starring Timothee Chalamet, Joel Edgerton, Sean Harris, Tom Glynn-Carney, Lily-Rose Depp, Thomasin McKenzie, Robert Pattinson and Ben Mendelsohn.

Out of Competition : Non-Fiction 
* 'ROGER WATERS US + THEM' - from the UK and Directed by Sean Evans and Roger Waters. The former Pink Floyd man toured across North America, the UK and Europe throughout 2017 and 2018, which saw Waters perform to over two million people worldwide. The film was captured during his four-night stop at Amsterdam's Ziggo Dome on June 18th, 19th, 22nd and 23rd 2018, and features songs from his legendary Pink Floyd albums 'The Dark Side Of The Moon', 'The Wall', 'Animals' and 'Wish You Were Here', and from his last album, 'Is This The Life We Really Want?'
* 'CITIZEN K' - from the UK and USA and Direcetd by Alex Gibney and starring Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Vladimir Putin, Leonid Nevzlin, Boris Berezovsky, Igor Malashenko, Anton Drel and Boris Yeltsin. In 2003, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, one of the richest men in Russia, began a ten-year sentence for tax evasion. Many believed his downfall was challenging then newly elected president Vladimir Putin. During his time in a Siberian prison, Khodorkovsky became a world-famous dissident. Today, exiled in London, he continues to battle Putin’s 19-year hold on power.
* 'STATE FUNERAL' - from Holland and Lithuania and Directed by Sergei Loznitsa. Using mostly unseen archival footage from March 1953, the funeral of Joseph Stalin is seen as the culmination of the Dictator’s personality cult. The news of Stalin’s death on March 5, 1953, shocked the entire Soviet Union. The burial ceremony was attended by tens of thousands of mourners. This film bears witness to every stage of the funeral spectacle, and receives unprecedented access to the dramatic and absurd experience of life and death under Stalin’s reign.
* 'WOMAN' - from France and Directed by Anastasia Mikova and Yann Arthus-Bertrand. 'Woman' is a worldwide project giving a voice to some two thousand women across fifty different countries.  Based on first-person encounters, the project deals with topics such as motherhood, education, marriage or financial independence but also menstruations or sexuality discovering the voices of women as you have never heard them before.
* 'COLLECTIV' - from Romania and Luxembourg and Directed by Alexander Nanau and starring Narcis Hogea, Catalin Tolontan, Mirela Neag, Camelia Roiu, Razvan Lutac and Tedy Ursuleanu. In the aftermath of a tragic fire in a Romanian music club, more burn victims begin dying in hospitals from wounds that were not life threatening. A team of investigative journalists move into action to uncover massive corruption in the health system and other state institutions.
* '45 SECONDS OF LAUGHTER' - from the USA and Directed by Tim Robbins. A group of incarcerated men from Calipatria State Prison participate in a theatrical workshop with Tim Robbins’ theatre company, The Actors’ Gang. Defying racial barriers and gang affiliations, the men tap into emotions that have long been dormant while unexpected bonds emerge between former enemies, as they work towards a transformation and liberation unknown to their life behind bars.

For the full run down on all the screenings, the news and views from the 76th Venice International Film Festival, you can go to the official website at : https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2019

This week coming to your local Odeon, we have six new release movies starting off with an Australian period piece set back in 1825 that sees a young convict girl join forces with an Aboriginal tracker to hunt down a British Officer who raped her and killed her husband and young child. We then move to a story set in the '70's in New York's Hell's Kitchen of three wives who take on the mob to earn a crust while their husbands are locked up in prison serving time. This is followed by a modern day cops & robbers caper where two hardened career Detectives are suspended for their strong arm antics who jump to the other side of the fence in a bid to make some much needed cash until their suspensions are lifted. Next up is a true story of the failed attempts to rescue the crew of a stricken Russian nuclear submarine that sank to the bottom of the Berents Sea in 2000. We then move to an Italian foreign language crime drama telling the story of a meek and mild dog salon owner who goes up against the local petty crime bully with unexpected consequences, before closing out the week with a documentary of the 1972 recording of a live gospel album by a world renowned singer and songwriter who died last year.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the six latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are 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.

'THE NIGHTINGALE' (Rated MA15+) - this Australian thriller is a period piece Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written by Jennifer Kent in only her second film making outing following 2014's highly acclaimed horror offering 'The Babadook'.  This film saw its World Premier screening at the Venice International Film Festival back in September 2018, its US release earlier this month and in Australia this week after its screening at the recent Sydney Film Festival, and has so far received generally positive Reviews, although has divided audiences with its graphic depictions of rape and murder. Kent subsequently defended the decision to depict such violence, claiming that the film contains historically accurate representations of the colonial violence and racism that took place against the Australian Indigenous people of that time. The film was produced in collaboration with Tasmanian Aboriginal elders who feel that this is an honest and necessary depiction of their history and a story that needs to be told.

Set in Tasmania in 1825, Clare (Aisling Franciosi), a 21-year-old Irish convict, is brutally raped and witnesses the murder of her husband and baby by Hawkins (Sam Claflin), a British officer, and his cohorts. Unable to find justice, she takes Billy (Baykali Ganambarr), an Aboriginal tracker, with her through the harsh and unforgiving wilderness to seek revenge on the soldiers, and gets much more than she bargained for. Also starring Damon Herriman and Ewen Leslie.

'THE KITCHEN' (Rated MA15+) - here we have an American crime film Written and Directed by Andrea Berloff, in her Directorial debut but whose previous film writing credits include 2006's 'World Trade Centre', 2015's 'Straight Outta Compton', '2016's 'Blood Father' and 2017's 'Sleepless'. It is based on the Vertigo comic book miniseries of the same name. The story here is of  the wives of three Irish mobsters, who take over organised crime operations in New York's Hell's Kitchen in the late '70's, after the FBI arrests their husbands while getting caught red handed robbing a convenience store, and they are sent down for three years apiece. The wives in question here are Kathy Brennan (Melissa McCarthy) married to Jimmy (Brian d'Arcy James), Ruby O'Carroll (Tiffany Haddish) married to Kevin (James Badge Dale) and Claire Walsh (Elisabeth Moss) married to Rob (Jeremy Bobb). Also starring Domhnall Gleeson, Bill Camp, Margo Martindale and Common, the film was made for US$38M, has so far recouped US$14M since its release Stateside earlier this month, and has received mostly negative Reviews. Sounds like a lot lesser version of Steve McQueen's 2018 film 'Widow's'.

'DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE' (Rated R18+) - this American neo-noir crime thriller is Directed and Written by Steven Craig Zahler whose previous Directing credits are 'Bone Tomahawk' and 'Brawl in Cell Block 99'. The storyline here follows two police detectives Brett Ridgeman (Mel Gibson) and Anthony Lurasetti (Vince Vaughn) who find themselves suspended by their Chief, Lieutenant Calvert (Don Johnson) without pay when a video of their strong-arm tactics is leaked to the media. With little money and no options, the embittered Policemen decide to use the criminal connections they have developed through their time in law enforcement to make cash that will sustain them until their suspensions are lifted, but as they descend into the criminal underworld they discover more than they wanted lurking in the shadows. Also starring Tory Kittles, Michael Jai White, Jennifer Carpenter, Udo Kier and Thomas Kretschmann, the film was made on a Budget of US$15M, saw its release at the Venice International Film Festival in September last year, a limited US release in March, has so far taken just US$306K and has garnered mixed or average Reviews so far.

'KURSK' (Rated M) - this French and Belgian Co-Produced English language drama film is Directed by Denmark's Thomas Vinterberg based on Robert Moore's book 'A Time to Die', surrounding the true story of when disaster struck the K-141 Kursk Oscar II-class nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine of the Russian Navy on 12th August 2000. The Kursk sank during a Russian naval exercise in the Barents Sea after two explosions within the submarine. Twenty-three sailors survived those initial explosions who desperately waited for help to arrive while their oxygen ran out steadily minute by minute. The Russian government refused help from foreign governments for five days before agreeing to aid from the British and Norwegian governments, by which time all 118 seamen on board had perished. This is that story, and features Matthias Schoenaerts, Colin Firth, Lea Seydoux, Max von Sydow and Michael Nyqvist. This film saw its World Premier screening at TIFF in early September last year, went on release in France in November, in the US at the end of June and now gets a limited run in Australia following its showing at the recent Sydney Film Festival. The film costs US$40M and has garnered mixed or average Reviews.

'DOGMAN' (Rated MA15+) - is a 2018 Italian crime drama film Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written  by Matteo Garrone. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival where Marcello Fonte as the lead Actor won the award for Best Actor. Inspired by real events, it was selected as the Italian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. In a coastal village on the outskirts of an Italian city, where the only law seems to be survival of the fittest, Marcello (Marcello Fonte) is a slight, mild-mannered man who divides his days between working at his modest dog grooming salon (called 'Dogman'), caring for his daughter Alida, and being coerced into the petty criminal schemes of the local bully Simoncino (Edoardo Pesce), an ex-boxer who terrorises the neighbourhood. When Simoncino's abuse finally brings Marcello to a breaking point, he decides to stand up for his own dignity through an act of vengeance, with unintended consequences. The film was released in Italy in May 2018 and now sees a limited run in Australia having generated largely favourable Reviews.

'AMAZING GRACE' (Rated G) - American singer songwriter Aretha Franklin records her gospel album 'Amazing Grace' live at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles in 1972. She is accompanied by the Southern California Community Choir. Directed by Sydney Pollack the 'Amazing Grace' film was not released on schedule in 1972 due to difficulties syncing the audio tracks with the visual print and was relegated to a vault at Warner Bros. until 2007 when Producer Alan Elliott purchased the raw footage and attempted to sync it. The pared-down footage, now 87 minutes in length, was planned for a 2011 release. Franklin sued Elliott for appropriating her likeness without permission, however, and the release date passed. Elliott made another attempt to premiere the film in 2015 at the Telluride, Toronto and Chicago Film Festivals, but Franklin sued him again for unpublished reasons. After Franklin's death in 2018, her family made an arrangement to release the film which saw its Worldwide release back in April this year, and only now does it arrive in Australia, to widespread Critical acclaim.

With six new release movies 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 in the week ahead, at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 22nd May 2014.

Following last weeks mega haul of new releases, we have a more subtle offering this week to tempt you out and in front of the big screen for a very diverse offering of celluloid delight. Once again, those lads at Marvel have gone large with this next offering in the X-Men franchise and this time it's bigger, bolder, badder and budget busting in every way, and you've got to give it to Marvel - they know how to deliver Superheroes to our senses in spades! Next up, we have a small Australian made psychological horror film that shows lots of promise in its menacing premise and execution. Then there is the religious offering - a retelling of a story you know well re-presented for an audience who may have lost touch . . . ! And finally, what week would be complete without a foreign language offering set in the 60's and treading the line between the calling of the church and the nazi legacies of WWII.

As is usually the case, something for (almost) everyone, so on a cool winter's evening somewhere in Australia, get your self out from in front of the small screen and perch in front of the big screen for a few hours of drama, escapism, emotion, excitement and sheer entertainment. Then - let me know what you thought!

X-MEN : DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (Rated M) - Bryan Singer is back in the Director's chair of this franchise that he kick started well & truly in 2000 with 'X-Men' and in 2003 with 'X2'. This is the seventh outing of these titular mutant heroes, and 'Days of Future Past' marks the most ambitious yet. With a budget of a staggering US$230M and a cast that boasts the likes of Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Peter Dinklage, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry and various others this story is set needless to say in the future . . . and the past! Ten years from now and mutants have been hunted down and are on the verge of extinction largely at the hands of huge robotic hunting killing machines called 'Sentinels'. In 2023 Magneto (McKellen) and Professor X (Stewart) hatch a plan to send Wolverine (Jackman, unless you've been asleep these past 14 years!) back to 1973 to hook up with the younger Magneto (Fassbender) and Professor X (McAvoy) to thwart the plans of the Sentinel inventor Trask (Dinklage) from destroying mutant life as we know it in the future! Along the way all manner of mutant men & women appear to support the cause and defend themselves from annihilation ultimately. This is effects laden, mega-budget story telling on a grand scale thats should be sure to please the fans of the genre and the series. With such a huge production cost you had better go see it to support 'X-Men : Apocalypse' slated for a May 2016 release.

THE BABADOOK (Rated M) - First time Director, Jennifer Kent has also penned the screenplay of this Australian psychological horror thriller. The story surrounds the struggling relationship between mother Amelia (Essie Davis) and her six year old son (about to turn seven) Samuel (Noah Wiseman). Samuel's seventh birthday happens to coincide exactly with the date that husband to Amelia and father to Samuel was killed horrifically in a car accident six years earlier, and so Samuel doesn't celebrate his birthday on his birth date for this reason. Samuel is having dreams (more like nightmares) in which he sees a monster who is coming to kill both he and his Mum, but the stories he retells to his Mum of these dreams are just the ramblings of an out-of-control kid . . . she thinks. Then one day a book is uncovered at the house called 'The Babadook' and in it we see the story of the monster that Samuel believes is coming to kill them both. When Samuel begins to visualise 'The Babadook' in the house and outside taunting him, stalking him and threatening all manner of harm it is only a question of time before Amelia herself begins to catch glimpses of this malign force present in their home and then the real psychological horror begins to unfold. Strong reviews received so far, and it's about time we had a nail biting, seat gripping, tension grabbing horror offering that is well conceived, delivered and believable.

SON OF GOD (Rated M) - Directed by Christopher Spencer with a cast that you will largely not recognise this is a large scale effects heavy epic retelling of the life of one Mr. J. Christ. Tracing the story from his birth in a humble stable through his earlier life as a carpenter, onto his teachings in the way of God, healing, forgiveness and sanctity, and culminating in his crucifixion and ultimate resurrection some thirty years later, there will be no surprises here! You know the story of course, and it has been told a gazillion times on the small and big screen alike with equal biblical proportions. What makes this any different - I dunno! You'll have to check it out and decide for yourself . . . and then let me know!

IDA (Rated M) - set in a 1962 Poland a beautiful 18 year old novice nun (Anna) is living in a convent where she has resided since becoming orphaned as a young child. Before taking her vows she is told she must first find her mothers sister (Wanda) whom she has not met before, let alone knew existed. Upon doing so, the pair embark upon a journey of discovery that reveals that Wanda was in fact a hardline judge and prosecutor for the Stalin regime who would sentence priests and other miscreants to death in her former life . . . and she is also Jewish. As such it transpires that so too is Anna, and in fact her real name is Ida Lebenstein, and her parents were killed during the war. What follows is Ida's search for her true identity, her parents resting place, answers to her past, and the questions that will shape her future.

Four films then to tease, tempt and tantalise your tastebuds and ensure you are once again spoilt for choice. Every good reason to get out to your nearby multiplex this coming week, or support your local independent theatre with your movie going dollar. Enjoy the experience and then tell us at Odeon Online all about it.

Movies . . . see as many as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-