THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2 : Tuesday 5th May 2026

I saw the M Rated 'THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2' earlier this week, and this eagerly awaited and much hyped American comedy drama film is Directed by David Frankel, who made his feature film debut with 'Miami Rhapsody' in 1995, and would follow this up with the likes of 'The Devil Wears Prada' in 2006, 'Marley & Me' in 2008, 'Hope Springs' in 2012, 'Collateral Beauty' in 2016, and 'Jerry & Marge Go Large' in 2022. This film is a direct sequel to the 2006 film 'The Devil Wears Prada' and saw its World Premiere screening in New York City on 20th April, and was released in all major territories from last week. The film has generated largely positive critical acclaim and has so far grossed US$254M from a production budget of US$100M. The 2006 film grossed worldwide US$327M from a production budget of US$40M. 

The film opens up on a beautiful sunny day in New York City, and its now been twenty years since Andrea 'Andy' Sachs (Anne Hathaway)  left her position as Second Assistant to Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) at Runway magazine. In the intervening years she has become a respected journalist and reporter for New York newspaper 'Vanguard'. We join Andy as she and her colleagues sit around a table at a New York awards gala luncheon, just as Andy is called out as the recipient of a prestigious journalism award. Before she can stand up and walk to the lectern to collect her award and say a few words all of the mobile phones at her table receive the same text message - they have all been fired with immediate effect, and Vanguard has gone into receivership. 

Meanwhile, Miranda, Andy's former boss, is seemingly under attack from all sides for her failure to short circuit an on-line news piece about a fashion brand heavily promoted by Runway that uses Asian sweatshop labour. The news breaks just as Miranda arrives at a high-end fashion event and is greeted by her right-hand man Nigel (Stanley Tucci), and they both put on a brave face and carry on regardless. In an attempt to make the magazine respectable again Irv Ravitz (Tibor Feldman), the owner of Runway's parent company Elias-Clarke and Miranda's boss, calls Andy out of the blue and offers her a job as Features Editor at Runway without Miranda's knowledge or approval, much to her chagrin.

In a meeting with her team, a listless Miranda has trouble navigating modern fashion media. Although some of her autocratic office behaviours remain, complaints to Human Resources have blunted her almost trademark pretentiousness. Nigel explains to Andy over lunch in the office cafeteria that nobody reads Runway's print edition anymore and the brand has been forced to embrace online clickbait and cheaply-made short-form content that most people read while sat on the toilet, to maintain profit and relationships with advertisers. One key advertiser is Dior, which employs Andy's former co-worker and Miranda's First Assistant Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt). Emily leverages the controversy over the Runway scandal piece to secure her own advertising terms, key Editorial content and a one on one interview, which Miranda handballs straight to Andy. During the interview, Emily and Andy argue about how modern fashion raises prices and shuts out middle-class consumers, with Emily saying that super high-end luxury fashion is the only fashion that makes money these days.

After penning serious articles that receive praise for the writing and content, yet gain minimal traction, and after getting shut down by Miranda in a team meeting, Andy rescues her flagging reputation at Runway by brokering a coveted interview with Sasha Barnes (Lucy Liu), the reclusive divorcee of Silicon Valley billionaire Benji Barnes (Justin Theroux). Irv promises to make Miranda Elias-Clarke's global head of content, but before he can make the promotion official, he dies from a heart attack during his lavish 75th birthday party. His son, Jay (B.J. Novak), lacks Irv's sentimental attachment to both any sense of fashion or Runway. Jay puts Miranda's promotion on hold while engaging management consultants to recommend cost cuts and business efficiencies. Much to Andy's surprise, Miranda seems to go with the flow. Meanwhile, Andy's relationship with her new boyfriend Peter (Patrick Brammall) sours when she unintentionally insults his job as an apartment renovator while sat in an apartment she purchased from the same renovator, while also fretting she may lose her own position, as part of the major shake-up at Runway. Considering her options, Andy explores writing a tell-all book about Miranda with a publisher, who offers her a lucrative US$350K advance, but Andy is torn by this prospect, and ultimately declines the offer.

And so Miranda, Nigel, Andy and Miranda's current First Assistant Amari Mari (Simone Ashley) jet off to Milan Fashion Week, where Nigel throws what may be his last big Runway gala, starring Lady Gaga (Lady Gaga). Andy devises a plan to save Runway by convincing a wealthy patron to buy it outright from Jay. That patron is Benji Barnes, Sasha's ex-husband and Emily’s current boyfriend. When Andy and Emily reveal the plan, Miranda is furious, because she knows Emily is going to take over Runway and fire her, which Emily openly admits. Miranda admits that she pushed Emily out of fashion journalism because Emily lacks creative vision, and is just a 'vendor'. Miranda tries to take the loss with grace, but while having a private conversation with Benji, she is alarmed by his vision of an AI-driven world.

To prevent Benji and Emily from ultimately destroying Runway, Miranda instructs Andy to find a competing buyer. Andy convinces Sasha to buy not just Runway but all of Elias-Clarke, and Jay accepts her offer, pulling out of his deal with Benji while he, Benji and Emily are sat around a table at Benji's private villa on the edge of Lake Como. Needless to say Benji and Emily are left completely gobsmacked by this sudden turn of events having come so close to finalising the deal. Later that evening Miranda realises she has taken Nigel for granted for almost the whole time they have worked side by side. To make amends, she invites him to deliver the gala's keynote speech instead of her, so she and Andy can fly back to the US to finalise the deal in person with Sasha. At first he is very reluctant, but Miranda responds saying that he wrote the speech anyway, so he'll know it, and he nails it.

After the Runway team return to New York, Sasha gives Miranda the promotion Irv had previously promised her. Andy reconciles with Peter, and a defeated Emily who has subsequently been ditched by Benji and lost her job at Dior, and now has a job at Coach. Nigel reveals he was the one who prompted Irv to rehire Andy, as he has always liked her. Miranda admits to Andy that the latter's idealism inspired her to dig in, grit her teeth and fight back. She also reveals that she knew about Andy's proposed tell-all book, but encourages Andy to write it, and include the negative aspects of Miranda's life, saying that she loves her career, but there is a cost, and people should know that. Miranda gives Andy a nicer office and returns to work with a renewed smugness. The film also stars Kenneth Branagh as Miranda's new husband Stuart Simmons.

With 'The Devil Wears Prada 2' here returning Director David Frankel has reassembled the core team from the 2006 movie and added a whole bunch of other A-list talent from the cinema and fashion worlds, and adorned them all in the most stunning haute couture outfits seen possibly in any film since the original graced our screens twenty years ago. Whilst this film doesn't reach the lofty heights that the first instalment did, it is nonetheless a respectable sequel that has some pointed messages about fast fashion, the decline in print media, the reliance we have on social media and emerging AI, career dynamics, and the cut throat world of big business. Streep, Tucci, Hathaway and Blunt are all on top form and its good to see them all back together riffing off each other and delivering some notable one liners along the way. The production values are also top notch, and its easy to see where the US$100M budget went as both New York City and Milan are presented in all their sun drenched glistening city tower blocks and ancient buildings will attest to. All that said, an enjoyable time at the Odeon, but please, lets end on a high note and we don't need 'The Devil Wears Prada 3'. 

'The Devil Wears Prada 2' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

LITTLE WOMEN : Thursday 6th February 2020.

I saw the G Rated 'LITTLE WOMEN' at the Open Air cinema at Mrs. Macquarie's Point in Sydney last week and this American coming-of-age period drama film is written for the screen and Directed by Actress, Screenwriter and now second time film maker following 2017's highly acclaimed 'Lady Bird', Greta Gerwig. This is the eighth big screen adaptation of the 1868 novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott. The film cost US$40M to produce, has so far grossed US$177M, was released in the US on Christmas Day, and has garnered universal acclaim from Critics. The film has so far picked up 67 award wins and a further 177 nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit including Six Academy Award nods, two Golden Globe nominations, and a BAFTA win and four other nominations.

The film opens up in 1868 and we see Jo March (Saoirse Ronan) as a New York teacher and budding writer. She visits Mr. Dashwood (Tracy Letts) and presents him with an article she has written that she is looking to have published in his magazine. Mr. Dashwood scans the article and agrees to publish her work but not until Jo has done some considerable editing to the piece to make it more reader friendly. He pays her US$25, and Jo leaves very happy.

Her sister Amy (Florence Pugh), is in Paris with their Aunt March (Meryl Streep), and notices childhood friend Laurie (Timothee Chalamet) one day walking through a park. She invites him to a party. At the party, she becomes angry over Laurie's drunken behaviour and he scolds her in front of all the other invited guests for spending time with wealthy businessman, Fred Vaughn (Dash Barber).

In New York, Jo meets with Friedrich Bhaer (Louis Garrel), a professor infatuated with her. Jo asks Friedrich to critique her work and when he offers constructive criticism Jo takes it personally and ends their friendship. Following this, Jo receives a letter saying that her younger sister Beth (Eliza Scanlen) has become more sick, and so she returns home to be at her side and help nurse her back to health.

We then go back to 1861 in Concord, Massachusetts, and Jo and her older sister Meg (Emma Watson) go to a party where Jo meets Laurie, the grandson of their neighbour Mr. Laurence (Chris Cooper). On Christmas morning, their mother 'Marmee' (Laura Dern) persuades the girls to give their lavish breakfast to their poor neighbour, Mrs. Hummel and her four starving young children. They do so, albeit somewhat reluctantly, and when they return to their own home, the girls see their table full of food, provided by Mr. Laurence, together with a letter from their father fighting in the American Civil War, saying, amongst other things, how he misses his four 'little women'.

Jo later visits their Aunt March, who invites Jo to travel to Europe with her on an extended stay. One evening Meg, Jo, Laurie and John Brooke (James Norton), Laurie's tutor and Meg's eventual husband, go out to the theatre, leaving a jealous Amy behind at home. Jo hides the manuscript of a novel she has been working on in her bedroom in a chest of drawers. An angry Amy go searching for the manuscript, finds it and burns it out of spite, upsetting Jo when she discovers it missing. The pair get into a fight after Amy admits burning it, which is quickly broken up by their sisters and mother. Amy attempts to apologise but Jo will have none of it. The next day Amy, wanting to make amends with Jo, chases her onto a frozen over lake where Jo and Laurie are ice skating. The two skate over to rescue Amy when the ice breaks below her feet and she falls into the frozen water. That night, Jo expresses guilt to her mother over what happened to Amy.

We then fast forward back to 1868 and Laurie visits Amy to apologise for his behaviour at the party. Subsequently he urges Amy not to marry Fred Vaughn, but to marry him instead. Amy is upset at playing second fiddle to Jo for just about everything, including Laurie. Amy later turns down Fred's proposal only to learn that Laurie has left for London.

Back in the past, Marmee, is informed by letter that her husband and the girls father is ill from the effects of the Civil War. She reluctantly visits their father, for fear of leaving the four girls to fend for themselves. Beth is given the piano from Mr. Laurence, as her playing reminds him of her dead daughter, and he cannot abide to see the piano at which she used to play go to waste. Beth soon afterwards contracts scarlet fever. Amy, who has not had the disease before, is sent to stay with Aunt March. Marmee comes home early when Beth gets worse, but she recovers in time for Christmas, with their father (Bob Odenkirk) returning home too, surprising the girls. However, in the present, Beth's condition starts to deteriorate, and she dies.

On Meg's wedding day Jo tries to convince her to run away, and not proceed with the wedding, but Meg tells her she is happy getting married, opting for a life of security, stability and the love of a good man. Aunt March announces her trip to Europe, but decides to take Amy instead of Jo. After the wedding, Laurie opens up about his feelings for Jo, but she insists she does not feel the same way, and that their marriage would never work.

Soon afterwards Jo begins to wonder if she was too quick in turning Laurie down and writes him a letter, expressing her change of heart. On their way back from Europe with a sick Aunt March, Amy tells Laurie she turned down Fred's proposal of marriage. The two kiss and soon after marry on the journey home. Returning home, Laurie catches up with Jo and breaks the news. Jo is inwardly devastated but outwardly as stoic as ever, and they agree to just be friends. Jo returns to the letterbox and retrieves the letter she wrote for Laurie, tears it up and tosses it into the stream beside the house.

The next day, Jo starts work on a novel based on the lives of her and her sisters. She dispatches the initial chapters to Mr. Dashwood, who is seemingly unimpressed. Bhaer turns up at the March house to bid the family and Jo in particular farewell, as he is on his way to California to teach. Mr. Dashwood in the meantime has agreed to publish her book, but finds it unacceptable that the main character was unmarried. Jo amends her ending so that the main character, herself, chases after Bhaer in the rain and catches up with him at the Concord railway station, and stops him from going to California. She successfully negotiates copyright and royalties with Mr. Dashwood.

Later, after the death of Aunt March, Jo inherits her house and decides to open it as a school. Meg teaches acting and Amy teaches art to the young schoolchildren. Bhaer is also seen to be teaching children. Jo looks on at a printing and binding press as printers run off the first editions of her book, titled 'Little Women'.

It's easy to see why and how Great Gerwig's adaptation of the classic 'Little Women' novel has garnered such widespread critical acclaim. The production values are top notch from the horse drawn carriages, the grand piano's, the wide skirts and dresses and the detail in the homes of that era to the outstanding performances of the principle cast noting especially Ronan, Pugh and Chalamet, with honourable mentions going to Dern, Streep, Cooper and Letts also in the limited screen time they do have, but which make their performances no less effective. And the story is handled with a deft touch by Gerwig whose modern interpretation of the timeless classic presents us with an up to date coming of age story, female empowerment, endearing sisterhood and the power of a tight knit family unit, all wrapped up in a period piece set some 150 years ago. Despite all these positives and those thrust upon the film from Critics the world over, I found the time shifting premise of the film a little confusing and irritating, not knowing if I was watching a scene from 1861/2 or 1868/9 at times. That said, if you are able to get over this, then this is a smart, modern and creative retelling of a nostalgic period in American (fictional) history, that should easily delight the young and old, both the female and male audience, and those familiar with the source material, or those viewing for the first time.

'Little Women' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard out of a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 19th July 2018.

With the release of the Dwayne Johnson starring disaster epic feature flick 'Skyscraper' last week that cost the best part of US$130M to bring to the big screen and has so far received mixed Critical Reviews, as well a being widely likened to a mash up of 'Die Hard' meets 'The Towering Inferno' got me to thinking about classic '70's disaster movies, of which 'The Towering Inferno' would rank right up there amongst the best of 'em. Here's a trip down memory lane then to recount that genre that largely came into its own in the '70's and has barely looked back since. In date of release order, here are the disaster epic milestone's of the '70's, according to this humble Critic.

* 'Airport' (1970) - Directed by George Seaton, starring Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, Jacqueline Bisset, Helen Hayes, Van Heflin and George Kennedy. Made for just over US$10M the film grossed over US$100M, won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Helen Hayes plus nine other nominations amidst a total haul of four award wins and another nineteen nominations. The plot surrounds a bomber aboard an aeroplane, an airport snowed in and various emotional and personal problems faced by the airline crew and some of its select passengers. The film spawned numerous sequels, including the comedy classic 'Airplane'.
* 'The Poseidon Adventure' (1972) - Directed by Ronald Neame and staring Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Roddy McDowell, Red Buttons, Leslie Nielsen, Shelley Winters and Stella Stevens. Made for less than US$5M the film grossed US$127M, won two Academy Awards and was nominated in seven other categories from a total haul of five award wins and another thirteen nods. The film centres around the S.S. Poseidon, a luxury liner that capsizes mid ocean when struck by a tsunami and a group of surviving passengers struggling to survive and escape when the ship turns upside down with only their wits to save them. The film saw a sequel in 1979 and a remake in 2006.
* 'The Towering Inferno' (1974) - Directed by John Guillermin and starring Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Richard Chamberlain, O.J. Simpson, Robert Vaughan, Robert Wagner and Dabney Coleman. The film cost US$14M to make and grossed close to US$160M, picking up three Academy Award wins plus five other nominations from a total awards haul of twelve wins and another thirteen nominations. The film tells the story of a newly completed skyscraper, the world tallest at the time, and how the construction company took short cuts with the architects plans too save money. These short cuts lead to a fire which breaks out and rapidly takes hold that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it. This film inspired 'Skyscraper'.
* 'Earthquake' (1974) - Directed by Mark Robson and starring Charlton Heston, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene, Richard Roundtree, Walter Matthau, Victoria Principal, Ava Gardner and Genevieve Bujold. Made for US$7M the film grossed US$85M, and collected two Academy Awards and three other nominations form a total haul of three award wins and seven other nominations. This film, as the name implies, centres on an earthquake of colossal magnitude that hits Los Angeles, and the aftermath of various interconnected people all struggling to survive. This film inspired 'San Andreas'.
* 'The Swarm' (1978) - this disaster horror offering was Directed by Irwin Allen and stars Michael Caine, Richard Widmark, Richard Chamberlain, Henry Fonda, Slim Pickens, Fred MacMurray, Ben Johnson, Katherine Ross, Olivia de Havilland and Lee Grant. The film cost US$21M to make and grossed just about one-third of that sum and has been hailed as one of the worst movies of all time - so bad it's good in fact! The film tells the story of a rampant swarm of killer bees that have made their way to Texas from Africa via South America. The said pesky bees in question have a deadly venom and attack randomly and without reason. It rests with a scientist type and the military might of Uncle Sam to destroy the bees before they destroy us.
* 'Meteor' (1979) - Directed by Ronald Name and starring Sean Connery, Karl Malden, Henry Fonda, Martin Landau, Trevor Howard, Richard Dysart and Natalie Wood, the film cost US$16M to make and just about recovered that sum and was poorly received by Critics. Here scientists discover an asteroid on a collision course with Earth, who in turn struggle with Cold War politics in their efforts to destroy the asteroid and prevent a disaster of Earth shattering consequence from occurring. This film inspired 'Armageddon' and 'Deep Impact'.
* 'The China Syndrome' (1979) - Directed by James Bridges and Produced and starring Michael Douglas, Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda, Peter Donat and Wilfred Brimley, the film cost US$6M to make, grossed US$52M and picked up seven award wins and another 15 monitions including four Oscar nods, five Golden Globe nods, two BAFTA wins for Jack Lemmon and Jane Fonda and two other nominations, and was hailed a success by Critics. This film's story concerns a news reporter and her cameraman who are unintentional witnesses to a SCRAM incident, an emergency core shutdown procedure at a nuclear power plant in California. The crew helps prevent a disaster, but the plant supervisor begins to fear that the plant is contravening safety standards, and tries desperately to bring it to the attention of the public, believing that another such incident will result in an atomic melt down.

Turning attention to this weeks latest release movies of which there are three coming to an Odeon near you, these are categorised as two sequels and a remake. We kick off with the sequel to the big screen adaptation of a popular 80's small screen television series in which a one man vigilante army with 'a particular set of skills' seeks his very own brand of justice on those who would do wrong on the helpless and innocent. We then turn to a song and dance number set in the idyllic Greek isles that is another sequel to a massively popular first instalment ten years ago based on the back catalogue of songs put out by one of the world's most popular groups that were at the height of their fame in the '70's and '80's, but have since endured to be as popular now as they were back then. And then we wrap up with a remake of another '80's comedy featuring back then a real life couple who well & truly fall overboard for each other, although one is clueless as to the how and why and is being played along by the other.

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

'THE EQUALISER 2' (Rated MA15+) - in 2014 Antoine Fuqua Directed the first big screen adaptation of the popular '80's TV series 'The Equalizer' with Denzel Washington portraying the one man army out of retirement vigilante Robert McCall (played by Edward Woodward in the television series of the same name). That film cost US$73M to make and grossed US$193M at the global Box Office, and even before its release this sequel had already been announced.

In this follow on offering Denzel Washington once again portrays Robert McCall who wakes up one day to learn that one of his long term friends and former colleague Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo) has been murdered. Armed with a very particular set of skills, McCall embarks on a journey of revenge dishing out his own brand of vigilante justice to the crims who perpetrated the crime, and any other miscreants who happen to get in the way. Also starring Pedro Pascal as a former CIA partner of McCall's, and Bill Pullman as the husband to the murdered Susan Plummer. The film's release was pushed back form a September 2017 scheduled date, eventually ending up at this mid-July date for release in the US this week also.

'MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN' (Rated PG) : ten years ago, 'Mamma Mia' the song and dance musical based on the hugely popular stage show of the same name based on a whole collection of ABBA songs from yesteryear took a staggering US$616M off the back of a US$52M Budget. Hardly any surprise then that in 2018 it's time to launch a sequel to an eagerly awaiting audience of die hard ABBA fans the world over. This time Directed and Written for the Screen by Ol Parker sees the familiar cast members return reprising their roles together with a few new additions. Set ten years after the events of the first film and back on the Greek island of Kalokairi, Sophie Sheridan (Amanda Seyfried) is pregnant expecting Sky's (Dominic Cooper) child while running the villa for her mother, Donna Sheridan-Carmichael (Meryl Streep). Her relationship with Sky has been far from ideal and she expresses self doubt about bringing up a child without her mother around. However, help is at hand but with Tanya (Christine Baranski) and Rosie (Julie Walters) to guide and advise her, but in so doing Sophie will find out more of Donna's past - how she fronted 'The Dynamos', came to set up her villa on the island from scratch, met each one of Sophie’s dads Harry Bright, Sam Carmichael and Bill Anderson (Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Stellan Skarsgard respectively), and raised a daughter as a single Mum without a mother to guide her. And to cap it all an unexpected visit from someone she had never met: her grandmother, Ruby Sheridan (Cher). Also starring Andy Garcia, Lily James and Celia Imrie, this film cost US$70M to bring to the big screen, and is released in the US and UK this week too.

'OVERBOARD' (Rated PG) - thirty one years ago way back in 1987, real life partners in love and life Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell under the Directing stewardship of Garry Marshall released the original film upon which this remake is based. That film cost US$22M to make and recovered that sum and then some, and now in 2018 we have that same story that has been dusted off, repolished and presented in a nice little gift box for an unknowing audience. This time around Rob Greenberg Directs and he also Co-Wrote the Screenplay, but put out this movie for less than half the sum of its original. At $12M the film has so far grossed US$87M and has received mixed Critical feedback for really adding nothing new to the already tried and tested storyline which centres around Kate Sullivan (Anna Faris) who is a single, working-class Mum of three who's hired to clean a luxury yacht that is owned by Leonardo Montenegro (Eugenio Derbez) a selfish, spoiled and very rich Mexican playboy. After firing Kate for some petty misdemeanour, Leonardo falls off the boat and wakes up with no recollection of who he is. To get payback and seizing the opportunity, Kate rocks up to the hospital and convinces the confused amnesiac that they are in fact husband and wife. As Leonardo attempts to realign his life to one of manual labour and his new found family, Kate starts to ponder just how long she can maintain the ruse with her new fake husband. Also starring Eva Longoria and John Hannah.

With three new release films out 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-

THE POST : Tuesday 30th January 2018.

I caught the much praised historical political thriller 'THE POST' earlier this week as Directed and Co-Produced by Steven Spielberg. This film tells the story of The Washington Post newspaper and how, together with The New York Times, exposed the Pentagon Papers in 1971. Officially titled 'United States – Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense', this serves as a United States Department of Defence history of the United States' political-military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. The papers were released by a former Pentagon staffer, who had worked on the study which were first brought to the attention of the public on the front page of The New York Times in 1971, and immediately thereafter by The Washington Post. The film saw its Premier and limited release in the US just before Christmas, and went on wide release in the US and Australia in mid-January. Costing US$50M to make, the film has so far recovered US$86M and has picked up in total so far twelve award wins and another 79 nominations including two yet to be announced Academy Award nods for Best Film and Best Lead Actress.

The film opens up in 1966, in Vietnam, as a platoon of American Troops set off for the jungle, accompanied by military analyst Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) who is there to observe and document the progress (or not) of the American military activities in the region for his boss, Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara (Bruce Greenwood). En route back to the US after a tour of reporting duty, McNamara states to President Lyndon Johnson and Ellsberg that the War in Vietnam is a lost cause, that no progress is being made and that their efforts are near hopeless. Upon landing however, McNamara expresses to the gathered throng of reporters a completely different story citing that they have seen very positive strides forward, and that he is encouraged by the progress being made.

Fast forward some years, Ellsberg now works for a private military contractor, and he takes it upon himself to begin photocopying the entire 7,000 page Top Secret and highly Classified Report that documents in every detail the progress, or lack of it, of the Vietnam War, dating back to President Truman's time. Once copied he distributes these documents to The New York Times, spelling out clearly over two decades worth of under the radar, confidential activities and brutally truthful admissions of just how poorly the war had been going for the Americans. Meanwhile Katherine Graham (Meryl Streep) as the owner and publisher of The Washington Post is seen to be busy juggling her social calendar with preparations for an imminent float of her company on the Wall Street Stock Exchange, whilst keeping a watchful eye on her newspapers content, dwindling readership and the fact that it is still seen as a small local newspaper. Plus, the fact that she is very much a woman all alone in a mans world, and lacks the confidence in herself and her abilities as a result of being looked down upon and frequently overruled for many years by her more assertive advisors and Board Members.

Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) is her Editor-in-Chief, and while struggling to find any real newsworthy stories to cover, notes that the top investigative reporter over at The New York Times, Ed Sheehan, has been uncharacteristically quiet for sometime. Bradley surmises that he must be working on something big, and so sends an intern over to the offices of The Times to conduct some undercover investigating. In the meantime, McNamara who is also a long time friend of Katherine Graham and a trusted advisor confides in her that in tomorrows New York Times there will be published a very unflattering exposé into the US Government's long running lies and deceit to the American public into the affairs surrounding the Vietnam War. After a number of days of sensational reporting by The Times blowing the lid off the whole long running sordid, sorry and mismanaged affair, the series is halted in its tracks by a Court Injunction banning any further publications of such stories.

At the same time, a shoe box wrapped in plain brown paper and tied with string winds up on the desk of a Post staffer. Curious he unwraps the box and inside finds a sample of the leaked documents and takes these around to Bradlee's office all post haste. The Post's Assistant Editor and former associate of Ellsberg, Ben Bagdikian (Bob Odenkirk) believes that Ellsberg is the sources of the leaked documents so begins tracking down his old friend who has gone under deep cover for fear of being hunted down and persecuted by the Government for crimes against the state and treason. However, he is able to track down Ellsberg, who provides him with copies of the same material that he provided to The New York Times.

Back at the Bradlee household, a small team of his reporters convene to sift through 4,000 or so jumbled up pages that Bagdikian sourced from Ellsberg in two archive boxes. While trying to piece together the disorganised and random pages to make a bigger picture story, the Post's legal team have been made aware and advise Bradlee against publishing, for fear that Nixon's administration will bring the full force of the Government down upon them and file criminal charges, which could shut down the newspaper and throw Graham, Bradlee, the Board and the Reporters in jail.

With the clock ticking on their print deadline to make the next morning's newsstands, Graham deliberates long and hard on whether to publish or not. She seeks the counsel of the men around her, including McNamara, Bradlee and various Board Members. All of those except Bradlee coach Graham not to publish for fear that the legal and political fall out would ruin the newspaper and destroy her deep rooted family legacy. On the flip side, if she stands her ground and successfully defends any legal proceedings, she could propel The Post into the realms of a relevant and important news publication on the national stage. She opts for the latter and decides to publish, while The Times remains inactive under its Court Injunction.

The day of publication the White House sends an opening salvo by summonsing both The Post and The Times together before the Supreme Court to plead their First Amendment right for the freedom to publish the leaked documents. Meanwhile, all around the country, other local and State news publications have picked up the story too, made it their front page headlines and come out in support of The Post and The Times. The court determines in favour of both newspapers so validating Graham's decision to publish. Bradlee and the entire office team gather around a small screen to hear the outcome of the determination. In closing President Nixon is seen talking on the telephone banning any representative from The Washington Post ever stepping foot inside the White House again, or attending any Presidential or Governmental event whether at the White House or elsewhere. The final scene, sees a night-time Security Guard interrupting a break-in in progress at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters housed in the Watergate Office complex. The rest as they say, is history!

The film also stars Tracy Letts as Fritz Beebe (Chairman of the Board at The Washington Post); Bradley Whitford as Arthur Parsons (Board Member), Alison Brie as Lally Graham (Katherine's daughter), Sarah Paulson as Antoinette Bradlee (Ben's wife) and Jesse Plemmons as Roger Clark (Legal Counsel to The Post).

This is the first time that Hollywood heavyweights Hanks, Streep and Spielberg have worked together on a film, and judging by the quality of this offering, hopefully it won't be the last. Of course Hanks and Spielberg have plenty of history together, most recently on 'Bridge of Spies' and before that on 'Terminal', 'Catch Me If You Can' and 'Saving Private Ryan'. The quality of the performances from the principle cast, most notably Hanks, Streep and Odenkirk is top notch as you would expect, as is the quality of filmmaking also first rate with Spielberg's deft touch at capturing the real sense of urgency, the power struggle, and the relevance with the political machinations between then and now - albeit with a smattering of poetic license along the way! For equally compelling viewing of this same story you can check out 'The Pentagon Papers' from 2003 - a historical television film about Daniel Ellsberg (portrayed by James Spader here) and the events leading up to the publication of the Pentagon Papers in 1971, or 'The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers' - a 2009 documentary film based on the same course of events. This is a good solid film, up there with other investigative journalism films including 2014 'Kill The Messenger', but lacking the greatness of 'All The President's Men' from 1976, 'The Killing Fields' from 1984, and more recently 'Spotlight' from 2015 to name but a few investigative journalism offerings.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 5th May 2016.

This Sunday - 8th May - it is 'Mother's Day' - the day we celebrate our Mothers and the valuable contribution they make to our lives, our love for them, and how on this one day of the year they get the attention and the recognition they so rightly deserve, and which we often neglect for the other 364 days. With this in mind, if you want some 'me & my Mum' time, what better way than to curl up on the sofa at home and watch a feel good movie for a few hours on Sunday afternoon. Here's a few suggestions, in no particular order :-

• 'STEPMOM' - 1998 - Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, Ed Harris.Nominated for one Golden Globe.
• 'TERMS OF ENDEARMENT' - 1983 - Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson  and five Academy Awards and four Golden Globes including Best Picture.
• 'THE PARENT TRAP' - 1998 and a remake of the 1961 original. Starring Lindsay Lohan, Natasha Richardson and Dennis Quaid.
• 'THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT' - 2010 - Mark Ruffalo, Julianne Moore, Annette Benning, Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson. Nominated for four Academy Awards, four BAFTA's, three SAG's, and won two Golden Globes including Best Picture.
• 'MERMAIDS' - 1990 - Cher, Bob Hoskins, Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci. Nominated for one Golden Globe.
• 'MAMMA MIA' - 2008 - Meryl Streep, Julie Walters, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard and all the ABBA music you can muster and an idyllic Greek island. Nominated for two Golden Globes and three BAFTA's.
• 'THE SOUND OF MUSIC' - 1965 - Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer and rolling Austrian mountains. Winner of five Academy Awards and nominated for five others; winner of two Golden Globes and two further nominations, and nominated for one BAFTA.
• 'STEEL MAGNOLIAS' - 1989 - Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Julia Roberts, Daryl Hannah, Tom Skerritt, Dylan McDermott, and Sam Shepard. Nominated for one Academy Award, one Golden Globe and won one too, and one BAFTA.
• 'FREAKY FRIDAY' - 1976 or 2003. Go the original for a very young Jodie Foster switching bodies with Mum Barbara Harris, or Lindsay Lohan doing so with Jamie Lee Curtis in the more updated version.
• 'BEACHES' - 1988 - Bette Midler, Barbara Hershey and Directed by Garry Marshall who has just released 'Mother's Day'. Nominated for one Academy Award.
• 'MOTHERS DAY' - 2016 - Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson, Jason Sudeikis, Timothy Olyphant and Directed by Garry Marshall - on general release now at the Odeon.
• 'AUGUST : OSAGE COUNTY' - 2013 - Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Juliette Lewis, Chris Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ewan McGregor and Sam Shepard. Nominated for two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes, three SAG's and one BAFTA.

This week there are five new release movies to get you out on an Autumnal night, and if none of these appeal then there are plenty of others to choose from still out on general release and as Previewed and Reviewed within these Posts. First ups we have two bio-pics recounting the stories of two extraordinary individuals from the same era that couldn't be more different if they tried. First up was an opera singer wannabe who believed she was great - but alas, no one else did, but, she still managed to sell out a famed Concert Hall; an then an Indian maths genius relocated to an English University whose legacy still lives on today. Coming back down to Planet Hollywood is a sequel to a successful comedy of two years back featuring new parents, rowdy student types, and a once peaceful neighbourhood. Then our foreign language film featuring a named Hollywood star that is a film within a film and how art and life collide with the Director on the edge; and wrapping up a nostalgic documentary about a man who saved a horse from the knackers yard and both rose to fame and fortune as a result.

Let your fellow readers and cinephiles know what you thought when you have sat through this weeks film of choice, by leaving a Comment below this or any other Post. In the meantime, enjoy the movies - and see as may as you can.

'FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS' (Rated PG) - the lady upon whom this film is based was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in July 1868 and she died in New York City aged 76 in November 1944. She is described as an American socialite and amateur operatic soprano who was known and ridiculed for her lack of rhythm, pitch, and tone; her aberrant pronunciation; and her generally poor singing ability . . . but it nonetheless made her famous and the subject of two movies released within a matter of weeks of each other. This one, and the French feature released in Australia on April 21st 'Marguerite' with Catherine Frot in the lead role playing a character based loosely on FFJ. This film version is Directed by Stephen Frears and stars Meryl Streep in the title role and Hugh Grant as stage actor, manager and partner of 36 years St. Clair Bayfield. Simon Helberg plays Cosme McMoon who was a pianist and composer and musical accompaniment to FFJ from the late 1920's onward. The film premiered in London in early April, is released in the UK this week too, and gets its US release in August.

FFJ firmly believes she is a good enough opera singer to wow a paying audience at New York's Carnegie Hall. She takes regular singing lessons, engages a pianist to provide the necessary accompaniment and would often entertain at home to gathered guests, or in recital halls to a growing audience captivated and secretly very amused by her tone deaf, rhythmless, pitchless rendition of some of opera's greatest aria's. No one had the gall to tell her just how bad she was - least of all her husband who would go along with her dreams and even bribe the critics to publish positive reviews of her latest performances. Reaching notoriety for all the wrong reasons she did sell out Carnegie Hall - this is the story of how she got there and why despite her complete lack of musical talent, which not even money could buy her.

'THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY' (Rated PG) - Directed by Matthew Brown this biographical telling of Indian mathematician genius Srinivasa Ramanujan is based on the book of the same name released in 1991 and written by Robert Kanigel. The man in question played by Dev Patel was born in Madras, India in December 1887 and died there aged 32 in April 1922. In the meantime, he earned a place an Trinity College, at Cambridge University during WWI where he became a pioneer of mathematical theories under the tutelage of mathematician G. H. Hardy (Jeremy Irons), and whose work remains as relevant today as it did one hundred years ago. Also starring Toby Jones, Stephen Fry and Jeremy Northam this is likely to do for maths on the big screen what 'A Beautiful Mind' and 'Good Will Hunting' did before it.

'BAD NEIGHBOURS 2 : SORORITY RISING' (Rated MA15+) - in 2014 the original film was released at a cost of US$18M with Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne, James Franco and Christopher Mintz-Plasse in the lead roles, and the movie walked away with a Box Office haul of US$271M. Therefore, it was just a question of time before that band wagon came rolling by once again, and so here just two short years later, is the follow-up. Directed once again by Nicholas Stoller, and starring largely the same crew except for Mintz-Plasse who has been replaced with Grace-Moretz. This time with their second child on the way, Mac & Kelly Radner (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne) go head to head with the sorority sisters who have moved next door headed up by Shelby (Chloe Grace-Moretz). Enlisting the help of Teddy (Zac Efron) with whom Mac is now on good terms, the three need to devise whatever schemes they can to get the party-hard disruptive girls off the block so that peace can be restored and the young parents can enjoy a quiet life. But of course, the sorority girls next door won't go lightly into the night but will do so kicking & screaming and not without a fight.  Sounds hilarious!

'MIA MADRE' (Rated M) - this French/Italian drama offering is Directed, Produced, Written and stars Nanni Moretti and was released in France in December, in Italy in April and is selected in completion for the Palme D'Or at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival later this month. So far the film has picked up eight award wins and another 24 award nominations from around the circuit. Margherita (Margherita Buy) is a film Director working on her next project - a social-realist film about a factory strike. The film stars American/Italian Actor Barry Huggins (John Turturro) as the owner of the factory. Margherita is in conflict with Barry because he keeps fumbling his lines and is proving unreliable; the other Actors in the cast are anxious because they get poor Direction; she splits from her boyfriend who is also an Actor in the film; she is divorced from the father of her daughter; and her brother Giovanni (Nanni Moretti) has quit work to care for their hospitalised mother who has failing health issues. In crisis mode where life imitates art (or is it the other way round?) Margherita is torn between the busy unrelenting demands of her work and her beloved mother who may not be around for too much longer. Highly acclaimed combining sadness, humour, pathos, and emotional turmoil, this is described as Moretti's best film in years.

'HARRY AND SNOWMAN' (Rated G) - the Harry of this documentary is Dutch immigrant to the US Harry deLeyer who travelled there after WWII  having grown up on a family farm in Holland. He was offered a job as a riding instructor at the exclusive Knox School on Long Island, New York. By chance Harry happened on an Amish plough horse who was on its way to the glue factory, and so Harry purchased the old nag for just $80 and called him 'Snowman'. Within two short years, Snowman won the show jumping Triple Crown in 1958, appeared on the Johnny Carson show thereafter, had a growing fan club, was profiled in 'Life' magazine, had three best selling books written about him and in 1992 was inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame - eighteen years after his death. Harry went on to become one of the most respected trainers and riders in the country, represented his country in Sweden in 1983, and today aged 85 is still active working out of his Virgina farm and affectionally known as the 'Galloping Grandfather'. This is their story, and is Written and Directed by Ron Davis, and so far has won six awards.

With five new offerings coming your way in the week ahead, and a whole bunch of other great content still out there, as always, feel free to share your comments and observations when you have sat through your movie of choice in the coming week - we'd love to hear from you. In the meantime, I'll see you at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-