ANT-MAN AND THE WASP : QUANTUMANIA - Tuesday 21st February 2023.

I saw 'ANT-MAN AND THE WASP : QUANTUMANIA' this week, and this M-Rated American superhero film is based on the Marvel Comics characters of Scott Lang (aka Ant-Man) and Hope van Dyne (aka The Wasp) and is the direct sequel to 2015's 'Ant-Man' and 2018's 'Ant-Man and The Wasp', is the 31st entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the lunching film of Phase Five of the MCU. As with the two previous films, Peyton Reed returns as Director for this third instalment. The film saw its Premier screening in Los Angeles on the 6th February, before its worldwide release last week, having gained mixed Reviews from critics, although it has so far earned US$288M off the back of a production budget of US$200M, making it the third highest grossing film of 2023 so far. 

The film begins with the back story of Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) trapped for some thirty years in the Quantum Realm, where one day she encounters Kang (Jonathan Majors) an exiled traveller who crash lands his craft, and who explains that they can both escape from the Realm if she helps him repair the Multiversal Power Core that is necessary for him to leave and for Janet to return to Earth to be reunited with her daughter. After many attempts to repair it have failed they one day have success but as Janet plugs in the power core she sees a vision of Kang conquering and destroying entire timelines. Kang reveals he was exiled by his own variants out of fear, which leads Janet to turn on him. Outmatched, Janet uses her Pym Particles to enlarge the Power Core and therefore render it useless.

Back in the present day and following the Battle of Earth, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) has become a successful memoirist having penned a best selling autobiography titled 'Look Out For The Little Guy' which charts his adventures with The Avengers, and has been living happily with his girlfriend, Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly). Scott's now-teenage daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) has become a political activist, resulting in her doing jail time before being bailed out by her father. While visiting Hope's parents, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet, Cassie reveals that she has been working on a mechanism that can establish a link to the Quantum Realm. 

When demonstrating how the device works, Janet panics and shuts it down, but contact had already been established so opening up a portal which sucks Janet, Hank, Cassie, Hope and Scott down into the Quantum Realm. Scott and Cassie land together and are found by natives who are rebelling against their ruler, while Hope, Janet, and Hank land in close proximity elsewhere and set off to a sprawling city to find Scott and Cassie. 

Hope, Janet, and Hank meet with Lord Krylar (Bill Murray), a former close friend of Janet's, who explains that things have changed since she left, and that he now answers to Kang, who is now the Realm's ruler. The three are forced to flee and steal Krylar's ship. The Langs, meanwhile, are told by rebel leader Jentorra (Katy O'Brian) that Janet's involvement with Kang is indirectly responsible for his rise to power. The rebels soon come under attack by Kang's forces led by M.O.D.O.K. (Mechanised Organism Designed Only for Killing), who is revealed to be Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), having survived his apparent death at Scott's hands when he was unevenly shrunken to subatomic size in the Quantum Realm and became a mutated, cybernetically enhanced individual with an oversized head. 

Scott and Cassie are taken to Kang, who has them detained in cells. He demands that Scott helps get his power core back and restore it to its normal workable size or else he will kill Cassie. Scott is taken to the core's location and shrinks down. Once inside he is overwhelmed by a mass of variants of himself, but Hope arrives and helps him gain the power core and using several Pym Particles reduces it in size. Kang, surprise surprise, reneges on his deal with Scott, and captures Janet and destroys her ship with Hank on it. 

After being rescued by his ants, who were also pulled into the Quantum Realm, they evolved rapidly, and became hyper-intelligent, Hank helps Scott and Hope as they make their way to Kang, aided in vast numbers by an army of ants, and Scott who has grown to an enormous size that he towers over Kang's domain. Cassie rescues Jentorra and they begin an offensive uprising against Kang and his army. During the fight, Cassie convinces Cross to turn sides and fight Kang, though he sacrifices his own life in the process.

Janet is able to fix the power core as she, Hank, Hope, and Cassie jump through a portal home, but Kang appears before Scott is able to make the jump and attacks him nearly beating him into submission. Hope returns and, together with Scott, destroy the power core and knock Kang into it, causing him to be pulled into oblivion. Cassie reopens the portal at her end for Scott and Hope to return home. As Scott happily resumes his life, he begins to rethink what he was told about Kang's death being the start of something terrible happening, but quickly dismisses the notion as he joins the family to celebrate Cassie's unbirthday at a restaurant, making up for all her birthday's that Scott missed. Remember to remain in your seat for the customary mid-credits and end credits sequences. 

'Ant-Man and The Wasp : Quantumania' is everything you have come to expect from a big budget, big spectacle MCU offering, with its heavy handed use of CGI to build a world and all the fantastical creatures and structures contained within it, to its use of A-list acting talent to give the film gravitas, to the introduction of a new cosmic villain that we are likely to see across multiple MCU films into the future in Kang the Conqueror all wrapped up with Scott Lang's quirky and not too serious take on his world and his new found place as an Avenger. All of that said, there is so much seemingly endless spectacle on screen here, that at times it's difficult to keep track of exactly what is going on. The story is also pedestrian and predictable and the plot is thin on the ground and seems to serve no other purpose than to introduce us to a new super villain and establish the next phase of the MCU. However, at a lean 123 minutes running time it doesn't outstay its welcome.

'Ant-Man and The Wasp : Quantumania' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 16th February 2023.

The Advanced Imaging Society 13th Annual Lumiere Awards took place at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Friday 10th February. The official website reads 'The Advanced Imaging Society was formed in 2009 by our industry’s creative stakeholders including The Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, DreamWorks Animation, Sony, Paramount, IMAX, Dolby, Panasonic, MasterImage and others to advance the creative arts and sciences of stereoscopic 3D. As new cutting edge technologies come to the forefront, the Society has been charged with “informing the content pipeline” of professionals on these emerging innovations. The organisation serves thousands of professional participants in over twenty countries active in improving the arts and technologies of advanced imaging'. 

The Lumiere Awards recognise outstanding international achievement in the creation of immersive storytelling using advanced visual technologies including Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, High Dynamic Range, Stereo 3D, 360 Video, High Frame Rate, Artificial Intelligence, Real-Time Rendering and more. The list of winners in the feature film categories, are as given below :-

* Best Feature Film – Live Action - awarded to 'Avatar: The Way of Water'.
* Best Feature Film – Animated - presented to 'Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio'.
* Best Documentary - presented to 'Good Night Oppy'.

* Best Motion Picture – Musical - awarded to 'Elvis'.
* Best Audio – Theatrical - presented to 'The Batman'.
* Best Use of VR - awarded to 'Gorilla Trek'.
* Best Original Song - awarded to 'Top Gun: Maverick' for “Hold My Hand”.
* Best Use of High Dynamic Range – Feature Film - presented to 'Lightyear'.

* Best 2D to 3D Conversion - awarded to 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'.
* Best Musical Scene or Sequence - presented to 'Elvis'.
* Best Scene or Sequence in a Feature Film - presented to 'Top Gun: Maverick'.

In addition, the following other awards were presented :-

* Sir Charles Wheatstone Award for Creative Excellence in Visual Effects - to Weta FX.
* Innovation in Technology Award - to Microsoft.
* Innovation in Post Production Tools - to Adobe.

* Voices For The Earth Award presented to James Cameron and Jon Landau for 'Avatar: The Way of Water'.

* Gene Kelly Visionary Award presented to Damien Chazelle for 'Babylon'.
* Harold Lloyd Award presented to Baz Luhrmann for 'Elvis'.

For the official word on the 13th Lumiere Awards plus the TV episodic winners, you can visit the official website at : https://theadvancedimagingsociety.com/

This week there is plenty of new cinematic content to coax you out to your local big screen Odeon, and we kick start with the 31st film in the MCU and the launch of Phase Five that sees our two protagonists enter the Quantum Realm with other family members where they interact with strange creatures, witness things they never thought possible and face off against a most notable and powerful villain. This is followed by a true story of how the women of an isolated religious community grapple with reconciling a brutal reality with their faith; and next up is a film about an intense friendship between two thirteen year-old boys that suddenly gets disrupted, and the fall out that occurs as a consequence. Then we turn to a horror film based on a beloved children's character and how now feral and bloodthirsty, Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet terrorise Christopher Robin and a group of young women at a remote house; before turning to a film spanning a thousand years and telling eight stories of grief and resilience as experienced by the indigenous peoples of New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific Islands. Next is an Australian classical music documentary that reveals two key themes - the long struggle for gender parity in the high art of classical music and the heart breaking struggle for artists to be valued in times of crisis, or sometimes even at all, before closing out the week with an animated feature about a cheeky fairy who gets lost in the human world, and so to find her way back to the fairy world, she teams up with the human girl and discovers her true destiny in the process.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the seven latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead. 

'ANT-MAN AND THE WASP : QUANTUMANIA' (Rated M) - this American superhero film is based on the Marvel Comics characters of Scott Lang (aka Ant-Man) and Hope van Dyne (aka The Wasp) and is the direct sequel to 2015's 'Ant-Man' and 2018's 'Ant-Man and The Wasp' and is the 31st entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the lunching film of Phase Five of the MCU. As with the two previous films, Peyton Reed returns as Director for this third instalment. The film saw its Premier screening in Los Angeles on the 6th February, before its worldwide release this week, having gained positive Reviews from critics. 

Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and Hope van Dyne, aka The Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), along with Hope's parents, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Lang's now 18 year-old daughter, Cassie (Kathryn Newton), find themselves exploring the Quantum Realm that pushes the limits of what they thought possible and pits them against Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). Also starring David Dastmalchian, Bill Murray, Randall Park and Corey Stoll. 

'WOMEN TALKING' (Rated M) - is an American drama film written for the screen and Directed by Sarah Polley, the Canadian Director, Writer, Producer and former Actress, and is based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Miriam Toews. Polley's previous feature film credits take in her debut in 2006 with 'Away from Her', then 'Take This Waltz' in 2011 and the documentary 'Stories We Tell' in 2012. This film had its World Premiere screening at the Telluride Film Festival in early September last year and was released in the US in late January, having generated largely positive Critical Reviews and so far taking US$4.1M at the Box Office. Here then, and inspired by real-life events that occurred at the Manitoba Colony, a remote and isolated Mennonite community in Bolivia, the women of this religious colony reveal a shocking secret about the colony's men. For years between 2005 and 2009, the men have occasionally drugged the women and then raped them at night, as many as one hundred young girls and women. The truth comes out and the women talk about their new situation and to decide on a course of action which centres on three alternatives - stay and do nothing, stay and fight, or leave. The film stars Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Frances McDormand, Judith Ivey, Sheila McCarthy and Ben Whishaw. 

'CLOSE' (Rated M) - is a Belgium, Netherlands and France Co-Produced coming of age drama film Co-Written and Directed by Lukas Dhont in only his second feature film making outing following 2018's 'Girl' which won the Camera d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival. This film saw its World Premiere showcasing in competition for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in late May last year where it was later awarded the Grand Prix. It also played in the Official Competition at the 2022 Sydney Film Festival, where it also won the Sydney Film Prize. Here, a pair of thirteen year olds Leo (Eden Dembrine) and Remi (Gustav De Waele) spend the long summer holidays in innocent intimacy, but come the school year, their seemingly unbreakable bond is thrown into disarray as their relationship is noticed and commented on by their contemporaries. In reaction to their sometimes insulting or intrusive comments, Leo attempts to distance himself from Remi. The film was released in France on 1st November, and in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg on 2nd November and in the US at the end of January having garnered universal critical acclaim, so far winning thirty awards and another forty-five nominations, and having taken US$3.8M at the Box Office. Also starring Lea Drucker. 

'WINNIE-THE-POOH : BLOOD AND HONEY' (Rated R18+) - this British independent fantasy slasher film is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield in his film making debut, and is a horror retelling based on the beloved children's books by A.A. Milne and E.H. Shepard 'Winnie-the-Pooh'. The film follows Pooh (Craig David Dowsett) and Piglet (Chris Cordell) who have now become feral and bloodthirsty murderers and embark on a killing spree as they terrorise a group of young university women and a now adult Christopher Robin (Nikolai Leon) when he returns to the Hundred Acre Wood five years later after leaving for college. The film saw its World Premier in Mexico at the end of January and goes on release in its native UK and other worldwide territories from this week too. A sequel is already in development, and the film has so far grossed US$550K.

'WE ARE STILL HERE' (Rated M) - is an Australian-New Zealand anthology film that was created as a response to the 250th anniversary of the second voyage of James Cook to Australia in 1772. The project consists of ten linked short films by each of ten Indigenous Australian and Maori filmmakers about the impact of settler colonialism on the region's indigenous cultures. The films were Written and Directed by Beck Cole, Dena Curtis, Tracey Rigney, Danielle MacLean, Tim Worrall, Renae Maihi, Miki Magasiva, Mario Gaoa, Richard Curtis and Chantelle Burgoyne, and span a range of approaches including historical war drama, futuristic speculative fiction and animation. The film saw its World Premier as the Opening Film of the 2022 Sydney Film Festival, and had its North American Premiere in the Contemporary World Cinema program at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival in mid-September last year. 

'KNOWING THE SCORE' (Rated PG) - this Australian biographical documentary is Written and Directed by Janine Hosking and is Executive Produced by Cate Blanchett (drawing parallels with her award winning role in 'Tar' recently) and tells the story of Australian symphony conductor Simone Young, an inspiring, brilliant woman who made it to the top in a man’s world wielding her wit, determination, sense of humour and a baton. New York, London, Paris, Vienna, Simone Young has conquered them all in the most male dominated of professions, conducting opera and classical music, and she now is Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The girl from Manly, on Sydney's Northern Beaches, the film captures the career of an extraordinary conductor, its challenges and triumphs, past, present and into the future.

'MY FAIRY TROUBLEMAKER' (Rated G) - is an animated family adventure comedy film from Luxembourg and Germany and is Directed by Carline Origer in her feature film making debut, although she has previously Directed fifty-two episodes of the kids animated TV series 'Polo' in 2014. Violetta (Jella Haase) is in training to become a tooth fairy, but instead of conjuring up fun toys like a real tooth fairy all she manages is...violets. Now the annual exam is coming up, and only the fairies that pass it receive the gem that transports them to and from the human world in order to collect the milk teeth and leave a magic toy. Of course, Violetta fails the exam. However, not be left out she steals another fairy’s mission and gem and smuggles herself into the human world. There she ends up in Maxie‘s (Lisa-Marie Koroll) new room in her new city dwelling that she has just recently moved into from the countryside with her Mum. The film was released in Germany in mid-October last year and has so far grossed US$1.6M. 

With seven new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP : Tuesday 10th July 2018.

'ANT-MAN AND THE WASP' which I saw this week keeps the Marvel machine grinding forever onwards churning out superhero fare for us to spend our $20 or so on at the local multiplex. And so it is too with this sequel to 2015's 'Ant-Man', which off the back of a US$110M Budget grossed US$520M at the global Box Office, was generally well received by Critics and audiences alike, and picked up three award wins and another 33 nominations from around the circuit. This 20th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Directed by Peyton Reed once again, who came on board one month after the release of the first instalment. This film was released in the US last week too, but not in the UK until early August. Paul Rudd, who plays Ant-Man/Scott Lang also takes a Co-Writer credit this time around. The film cost US$162M to make, has so far grossed US$185M and has been generally well received. This is the first MCU film to have the name of a female Superhero protagonist in its title . . . . about time methinks!

Set two years following the events that unfolded with 'Captain America : Civil War' and prior to the events that came to pass just recently in 'Avengers : Infinity War' and now under house arrest (explaining his absence from 'Avengers : Infinity War') Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) struggles with balancing his choices as both a father to young Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) and a responsible superhero. Having had to put his mantle of 'Ant-Man' on ice for the last two years for being caught in the middle of the Avengers fight which was in violation of the Sokovia Accords, Lang is now only three days away from being able to step foot outside his own home. He has been patient, compliant and responsible, while Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and her father Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) - a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, entomologist, and physicist who became the original Ant-Man way back when, have gone underground, are also in hiding and have cut all ties these past years with Lang.

Then one day, Hope and Pym are able to open a portal through to the Quantum Realm where Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) was lost back in 1987, has not been seen since and is presumed dead. At that same precise moment Lang has a vision of Janet with whom he became entangled when he himself was in the Quantum Realm two years earlier and from which he was able to successfully return. Lang calls Pym for the first time in two years to explain his vision, but gets Hank's voicemail. A short time later Hope kidnaps Lang, miniaturises them and sets a decoy back at his house so as not to arouse suspicion by the FBI Agent Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) that he has broken the terms of his house arrest.

Pym believes that Lang's vision was a message that Janet is still alive, albeit trapped within the Quantum Realm. Needing a piece of hi-tech equipment to create a stable tunnel through which to access the Quantum Realm, Hope meets with her 'supplier' - a black market arms trader named Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins). But Burch has other plans for Hope when he realises the potential of what she is working on, and he wants in on the action. A fight breaks out between Hope, who by now has assumed the powers of her alter-ego 'The Wasp' and is able to thwart Burch and his goons, but not so with a mysterious figure come to be known as 'Ghost' (Hannah John-Kamen) for her power to be able to travel through solid matter.

In the fracas Ghost escapes with Pym's miniaturised laboratory causing him, Hope and Lang to visit the one man they think can help them retrieve it - Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburn), a former partner of Pym's but they fell out decades before and had not spoken in thirty years. Reluctantly, Foster helps Pym locate his lost laboratory at Ghosts place of residence. Gaining entry Ghost is able to easily overpower the threesome and reveals that her name is Ava Starr and she has suffered from molecular instability since she was a child when her father, also a former partner of Pym's, died in an explosion with her mother too, while conducting a Quantum experiment which resulted in Ava's unstable condition. Foster reveals that his is in cahoots with Ava and is in fact her guardian, and is determined to make Ava better by harnessing Janet's Quantum energy. But Pym will have none of this as he believes that this would kill Janet, and so they escape with the aid of some giants ants.

With their laboratory back Pym and Hope resume their plan to fire up the tunnel. They are able to contact Janet through Lang, who gives them detailed coordinates with which to locate her in the Quantum Realm. But time is of the essence and they only have a limited window of two hours before the opportunity is lost for a century or so. Burch meanwhile has reassembled his gang of goons and through Lang's security company 'X-Cons' and his partners Luis (Michael Pena), Dave (Tip 'T'.I.' Harris) and Kurt (David Dastmalchian) are able to locate Pym's lab. Burch calls an FBI Agent he has on the payroll, who in turns contacts Woo and alerts them to Lang's presence while supposedly under house arrest. Lang hot foots it back to his house just in time for Woo to walk in expecting to catch him out - but not so. However, with Ant-Man indisposed, the FBI converge on Pym's lab and arrest him and Hope leaving Ghost to once again steal the miniaturised lab.

Lang let off the hook by Woo, is able to come to the rescue of Pym and Hope and help them escape custody, and they locate the lab in a well executed and at times completely over the top car chase sequence through the streets of San Francisco as Ant-Man goes from being very little to very large. Lang and Hope divert Ava while Pym enters the Quantum Realm to retrieve Janet. Luis, Dave, and Kurt help apprehend Burch, so Lang and Hope can stop Ava who has already begun sapping Janet of her energy. Pym and Janet arrive back safe from the Quantum Realm, and Janet voluntarily grants some of her energy to Ava to temporarily stabilise her.

Lang returns home once again, just in time for a now suspicious Woo to unbuckle his ankle bracelet at the end of his house arrest period. Ava and Foster go into hiding, with Foster vowing to find a cure for her. Wait for the mid-credits sequence, which brings us right up to date, and naturally Stan Lee's obligatory laugh out loud one liner cameo.

It's good to see some levity arriving in the MCU in the form of 'Ant-Man and The Wasp' after the more depressing and distressing 'Captain America : Civil War' and 'Avengers : Infinity War' episodes. Here the more light handed approach works well with the storyline that is not overly complicated and delivers just the right amount of humour to keep it grounded. The action set pieces are well executed and work best when Ant-Man and The Wasp are reduced down to their insect size or conversely Ant-Man grows to be a towering giant of some sixty feet. Both Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly have settled well into their roles and despite their occasional verbal sparring, feel comfortable around each other and with their gifted super powers. Michelle Pfeiffer's role is a little under cooked, and Walton Goggins is half baked, but these are minor criticisms of a worthy and respectable sequel that is fast paced, good humoured, light hearted and still packs a punch.

'Ant-Man and The Wasp' merits four claps of the clapperboard, from a possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 5th July 2018.

In June, the world bid a fond farewell to number of stars of the silver screen and the small screen. In brief, shown below, is my passing tribute to those stars who leave an indelible mark on the entertainment industry, and in particular the world of film and television. May you all Rest In Peace, and thanks for the memories Anthony Bourdain, Leslie Grantham and Stanley Anderson.

* Anthony Michael Bourdain - born 25th June 1956, died 8th June 2018, aged 61. An American celebrity Chef, writer, travel documentarian, television personality and regarded as one of the most influential Chef's in the world. Graduating in 1978 from the Culinary Institute of America he went on to become the Executive Chef for many years at the famed Manhattan French eatery Brasserie Les Halles, upon which he based many of his culinary exploits in his first book 'Kitchen Confidential : Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly' in 2000. From there he went on to host his first food and world-travel television show, 'A Cook's Tour' which coincided with the release of his second book of the same name, and ran for 35 episodes on the Food Network in 2002 and 2003. In 2005, he began hosting the Travel Channel's culinary and cultural adventure programs 'Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations' running from 2005 through to 2012 and then 'The Layover' from 2011 to 2013. In 2013, he began a three-season run as a judge on the cooking themed reality TV competition 'The Taste', and that same year hosted the award winning food and travel show 'Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown' for CNN. In the meantime, he also published other non-fiction books including 'The Nasty Bits' in 2006, 'No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach' in 2007, and 'Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook' in 2010. His articles and essays appeared in many national and international magazines, newspapers and periodicals over the years and in 2015 he appeared as himself in the highly acclaimed film 'The Big Shout' in which he used seafood stew as an analogy for a collateralised debt obligation. Also the recipient of numerous awards and accolades for his writing and television work over the years, Bourdain was the Keith Richards of the food service industry, outspoken, adventurous, a lovable rogue, and coming from the industry myself, a personal favourite who has read all his books, and watched many a TV show of his with avid interest.

* Leslie Michael Grantham - born 30th April 1947, died 15th June 2018, aged 71. An English Actor of stage and screen Grantham will be forever etched in the subconscious minds of a loyal fan base of that long running British television soap 'EastEnders' as 'Dirty' Dennis Watts, the former landlord of the Queen Victoria Public House. Over the years he appeared in 562 episodes from the series launch in 1985 through to 1989 and then in a comeback running from 2003 to 2005. Aside from his regular turn on 'EastEnders' Grantham had regular work over his career including recurring appearances on television series such as 'Doctor Who', 'Winners and Losers', 'The Paradise Club', 'Cluedo' (based on popular whodunit board game in which he starred as Colonel Mustard), '99-1', 'Woof' and 'The Uninvited', as well as feature films taking in 'Waiting for Godot', 'Shadow Run', 'Crow's Nest', 'Lava', 'Charlie', 'Deadtime', 'The Factory', 'Mob Handed' and the recently completed awaiting release 'The Krays : Dead Man Walking'. All up Grantham had 48 Acting credits.

* Stanley Anderson - born 23rd October 1939, died 24th June 2018, aged 78. An American Actor of both stage and screen and perhaps best known for his role as Drew Carey's Dad in the 'Drew Carey Show'. Anderson's career started in 1967, two years after his return from military service in Korea. For the next 23 years he appeared in over two hundred stage productions at Arena Stage, the American Conservatory Theatre and The Actors Company amongst several others. In 1991 he got his television break through in mini-series 'Son of the Morning Star' as Ulysses S. Grant. From there and over the years he appeared in many notable Hollywood features including 'Deceived', 'RoboCop 3', 'The Pelican Brief', 'Primal Fear', 'The Rock', 'Armageddon', 'Proof of Life', 'Spider-Man', 'S1mOne', 'Red Dragon', and 'Runaway Jury'. In between time, there were also numerous television series appearances on the likes of 'L.A. Law', 'Seinfeld', 'Just Shoot Me!', 'The X Files', 'Ally McBeal', 'Law & Order', 'The Practice', and 'NYPD Blue'. He also lent his voice talents to numerous documentaries, education and lifestyle channels including 'National Geographic', 'The Discovery Channel', 'The History Channel' and 'The Learning Channel'. All up, Anderson had 52 Acting credits.

This week coming to an Odeon near you, we have four new release films. Launching with another MCU Superhero offering that is a sequel to the first instalment from 2015, this time the lead character who can shrink to a tiny insect size or upscale to larger than life, forms a crime fighting dynamic duo with another winged insect with a sting in her tail, all with the aid of Mum & Dad in whose footsteps they follow. Next is a historical biographical drama charting the life, love and one particularly world renowned work of literary art, by the troubled author of the novel 'Frankenstein'. We then turn to a comedy of a talking dog having to buddy up with an FBI Agent to thwart an animal smuggling ring at a world famous dog show event; before wrapping up with three largely estranged siblings returning to their vineyard home in France to ponder over what should become of their late father's winery.

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

'ANT-MAN AND THE WASP' (Rated PG) - and so the Marvel machine keeps grinding away churning out superhero fare for us to spend our $20 or so on at the local multiplex. And it is too with this sequel to 2015's 'Ant-Man', which off the back of a US$110M Budget grossed US$520M at the global Box Office, was generally well received by Critics and audiences alike, and picked up three award wins and another 33 nominations from around the circuit. This 20th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Directed by Peyton Reed once again, who came on board one month after the release of the first instalment. This film is released in the US this week too, but not in the UK until early August. Paul Rudd, who plays Ant-Man/Scott Lang also takes a Co-Writer credit this time around.

Set two years following the events that unfolded with 'Captain America : Civil War' and prior to the events that unfolded just recently in 'Avengers : Infinity War' and now under house arrest (explaining his absence from 'Avengers : Infinity War') Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) struggles with balancing his choices as both a father to young Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) and a responsible superhero. Approached by Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and her father - a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, entomologist, and physicist who became the original Ant-Man way back when, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), Lang must once again put on the Ant-Man suit and fight alongside the new Wasp (aka Hope van Dyne). The urgent mission soon leads to secret revelations from the past as the dynamic pairing find themselves in a battle against a powerful new enemy, known as Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). Also starring Walton Goggins, Michael Pena, Bobby Cannavale, Laurence Fishburn and Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet van Dyne (the wife of Pym, mother of Hope, and the original Wasp back in the day), and of course keep an eye out for Stan Lee's obligatory cameo.

'MARY SHELLEY' (Rated PG) - this internationally Produced romantic historical period drama is Directed by Saudi Arabian Haifaa al-Mansour, had its World Premier screening at TIFF back in September last year, went on release in the US in late May and gets its Australian and UK release this week. The film has received mixed or average Reviews at best, and has so far grossed just US$193K. The story surrounds Mary Wollstonecraft (Elle Fanning) whose family staunchly disapproves when she and poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (Douglas Booth) announce their love for each other. The family is mortified upon discovering that the couple has eloped, together with Mary's half-sister, Claire (Bel Powley). While staying in the home of Lord Byron (Tom Sturridge) at Lake Geneva, the guests are challenged to write a ghost story, which leads Mary to conceive her novel 'Frankenstein'. Also starring Stephen Dillaine, Maisie Williams, Ben Hardy and Joanne Froggatt.

'SHOW DOGS' (Rated PG) - here we have an American buddy-cop family comedy that was mired in controversy after its opening weekend. So research advises, a week after its initial release in the US in mid-May, several movie Critics and parental groups accused the Producers of the film of including a scene that normalised child grooming. Resulting from this outcry, the Studio re-edited the film and re-released it for its second weekend. Directed by Raja Gosnell the film cost a mere US$5.5M to make and has so far grossed US$29M although the film has received largely unfavourable Reviews. The story here takes place in a world where humans co-exist with talking dogs (of course!) and following a thwarted attempt to recover a stolen baby panda, Police dog Max (voiced by Ludacris) reluctantly buddies up with human FBI agent Frank (Will Arnett). A hot lead takes Max and Frank to the Canini Invitational Dog Show in Las Vegas for the world's most exclusive event of its kind. To locate the panda, Max goes under cover as a furry contestant to get the lowdown from his fellow four legged friends, and Max must pose as his trainer. With help from their new pooch buddies, this dynamic crime-fighting duo must now foil another kidnapping plot and rescue other various other furry and valuable animals from a gang of greedy smugglers. Also starring Stanley Tucci, Alan Cumming, RuPaul and Shaquille O'Neal. You'ld be forgiven for drawing similarities with 'Turner & Hooch' or 'K-9' already!

'BACK TO BURGUNDY' (Rated M) - this French foreign language drama film is Directed and Co-Written by Cedric Klapisch, was released just over a year ago in its native France, and only now does it get a limited showing in Australia. The film costs just over US$9M to make, and it has so far made just a tad over US$9M, garnering mixed or average Reviews along the way. The story here tells of three siblings who are reunited for the first time in a very long time at their family home in the picture perfect environs of Burgundy, France to save the family vineyard. Jean (Pio Marmai), is the black sheep of the family who unexpectedly returns home from a decade abroad in Australia to reconnect with his hospitalised father. He is welcomed by his sister, the tough and uncompromising Juliette (Ana Girardot), who took over the task of managing the vineyard after their father became ill. And then there is Jeremie (Francois Civil), the youngest of the three who has recently married into one of the region’s more prestigious wine families, and is expected, in time, to take the reins there. Their father dies shortly after Jean’s return, leaving them with the estate and a huge inheritance tax bill that they can ill afford. As a year goes by, Jean, Juliette, and Jeremie must learn to reinvent their relationship and build trust and gain confidence in each other as they toil to safeguard the 'terroir' that inextricably binds them together. Eric Caravaca plays the father who we see throughout the film in flashback.

With four 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-

'ANT-MAN' : Monday 20th July 2015.

I like a Marvel film, and so I saw the latest offering in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the just released 'ANT-MAN' earlier this week. Introducing us to a not seen before comic book hero but referencing many a character from the MCU that we have come to know and love, this film stands alone from the eleven films that have gone before but ties in to those that we have so far followed, and it does so well. Made for US$130M and at the time of writing has brought in US$120M this film has been a long time in gestation having been in development since early 2006 when Edgar Wright was hired to write a script with Joe Cornish. Fast forward to late 2013 and the film went finally into pre-production with Edgar Wright Directing and Paul Rudd set to play Scott Lang (aka Ant-Man). By May 2014 Edgar Wright had left the Director's chair citing creative differences with the Studio. The next month Peyton Reed was introduced as the new Director, with Wright & Cornish still gaining a storyline and screenplay credit.

The film opens in 1989 when a young Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) quits S.H.I.E.L.D. as Howard Stark (John Slattery) makes attempts to replicate his Ant-Man shrinking technology for other means. Vowing to keep his technology a secret until his dying day we fast forward to the present day and Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), a former protege of Pym has forced him out of his own company with designs on finalising his own shrinking technology - and it seems that Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Pym's estranged daughter, is part of Cross' grand plan to militarise the technology.

Meanwhile Scott Lang is about to be released from a stint in San Quentin prison where he served time for robbery. His ex-wife Maggie (Judy Greer) and young daughter now live with Paxton (Bobby Cannavale), a police officer, who are both reluctant to let Lang access to his daughter until he gets a home, gets a job, gets a life and gets the means to support his young daughter. Trying to get on the straight and narrow and leave his cat burgling life behind, after a string of failed jobs in his wake he agrees to a home robbery that should be an easy bust. But of course it's not, and this 'robbery' is in fact a set-up by Hank Pym to snare Lang for his own means, and whom he has been watching for sometime now. During the household heist however, Lang recovers what looks like an old motorcycle suit & helmet.

Back home, Lang out of curiosity tries on the suit, presses a few buttons and in an instant is shrunken to the size of an insect. What follows is a montage of a tiny Scott Lang battling all the elements of a suddenly very big world - getting trampled underfoot, washed down a drain, and other terrifying larger than life experiences that he would rather forget. These effects by the way are handled very well with just the right amount of humour to add levity to the action, and create a degree of realism to the new world that Lang is confronted with.

This in turn leads to Lang's introduction to Pym, at which he is given the low-down on the shrinking suit, the ins & outs of the technology, the do's and dont's of the outfit, and what it is that Pym wants of Lang. The bottom line is that Darren Cross is developing his own shrinking technology and is inching ever closer to perfecting the procedure. Cross has developed a 'yellowjacket' suit which he has weaponised and militarised and is seeking to sell to the highest bidder once his own technology is perfected . . . but for now Pym has the upper hand for a short while longer.

With a sequence of 'training' that is conducted by Pym's not so estranged daughter Hope, who is using her estrangement as a front to win the confidence of Darren Cross, we see the new Ant-Man put through his strength paces, his at will shrinking ability, and his control of the ant kingdom to use as necessary to thwart the enemy foe. When Lang is able to control his new found abilities and his ant colleagues at will, he is given his mission to infiltrate Cross HQ, overpower him, and prevent him from using the 'yellowjacket' suit, but Ant-Man is just too late, leading to the final showdown.

As Ant-Man and Yellowjacket collide in both large and small form with an impressive enough fight sequence coupled with some laugh out loud moments that largely take place around a Thomas the Tank Engine train track, it all comes down to survival of the fittest, fastest and smallest. As good conquers evil, the little guy kicks the big guys ass, and old tech beats new tech so all's well that ends well. As the credit's roll stay seated for the mid-credits scene that help sets up the next instalment and then stay seated until the end credits for The Avengers 'The Falcon' and 'Captain America' leading us into the upcoming 'The Avengers : Civil War' . . . maybe!

Ant-Man is a welcome addition to the Marvel big screen canon and is certainly worth the price of your ticket and worth catching on the big screen.

  

-Steve, at Odeon Online-