THE FABELMANS : Tuesday 10th January 2023.

I saw the M Rated 'THE FABELMANS' earlier this week. This American coming-of-age drama film is Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Steven Spielberg, who needs no introduction. The film saw its World Premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival in mid-September last year, where it won the People's Choice Award, and its wide US release in late November. The film received widespread critical acclaim for the performances of the cast, Spielberg's Direction, the screenplay, cinematography, and John Williams' musical score, and was named one of the top ten films of 2022 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute. However, it has grossed just US$17M from a production budget of US$40M. It has so far collected twenty award wins and another 183 nominations (many of which are still pending a decision) from around the awards and festivals circuit. This is a semi-autobiographical story loosely based on Steven Spielberg's adolescence and first years as as aspiring filmmaker, and is dedicated to the memories of Spielberg's real-life parents Leah Adler and Arnold Spielberg, who died in 2017 and 2020, respectively.

The film opens up on the evening of 10th January 1952, and a young Sammy Fabelman (Mateo Zoryan Francis-DeFord) is going out with his parents Mitzi (Michelle Williams) and Burt Fabelman (Paul Dano) to the movie theatre to see Cecil B. DeMille's 'The Greatest Show on Earth'. It is young Sammy's first experience of seeing a movie on a big screen and he is very apprehensive and a little anxious about the pending experience. His parents reassure him however, and we next see him staring wide eyed up at the screen, sitting almost motionless with his mouth agape. He is transfixed by the images presented in front of him, and in particular the scene involving a spectacular train crash. Asked by his parents what he would like for a gift to celebrate Hanukkah, he at first cannot think, and then the next day or so, pipes up with a train set. Late one night, while his parents are sleeping, Sammy crashes the train set trying to replicate the scene from the film. While his father is somewhat angered by Sammy's disregard for looking after his toys, Mitzi's understands her son's intentions. 

Mitzi allows Sammy to borrow Burt's 8mm camera to shoot the train crash scene again, just once, so that he can watch it over and over again, but not to tell his father. Sammy, with his new found love of the 8mm camera, soon begins making short films often involving his sisters Reggie (Birdie Borria, and played by Julia Butters as a teenager), Natalie (Alina Brace, and played by Keeley Karsten as a teenager) and Lisa (Sophia Kopera) in scenes set around the domestic household. In early 1957, Burt is offered a new job, and so he and the family, along with his best friend and business partner Bennie Loewy (Seth Rogen), move to Phoenix, Arizona.

Fast forward five years, and a now teenage Sammy (Gabriel LaBelle) continues with his passion for film making, shooting a short Western film with his friends from his Boy Scout troop, which ultimately garners him a badge for photography. Later, the Fabelmans, and Bennie, take a camping trip with Sammy capturing footage of their vacation. Shortly thereafter, Mitzi's mother dies with the whole family by her bedside, leaving Mitzi especially distraught. Providing him with enough film editing equipment, Burt recommends that Sammy should turn the camping trip footage into a film in an effort to cheer Mitzi up. Sammy objects over the scheduling of his next film which is planned for two days time with forty of his friends taking part, but Burt, who sees Sammy's passion for film as nothing more than a hobby, argues that the home movie is more important, and that he can shoot his war film the following weekend.

The next day, the Fabelmans receive a surprise visit from Mitzi's uncle Boris (Judd Hirsch), a former circus lion tamer and film worker. That night, he speaks with Sammy about compromising his family with his art, telling him that both aspects will continue to be at odds with each other. After Boris leaves, Sammy begins editing the camping trip film, during which he observes footage of Mitzi and Bennie sharing feelings for one another. This needless to say upsets him. After weeks of harsh treatment toward her and Bennie, Sammy and Mitzi have a heated argument, during which she slaps him across the back in a fit of rage, leaving a big red hand print. Distraught, Sammy shows Mitzi the footage on a separate reel of film. He promises to keep it a secret between them. 

In early 1964 Burt receives a promotion from work, requiring his family to move with him to northern California for a job with IBM. In order to keep their marriage intact, Bennie stays in Phoenix, but not before gifting Sammy a new film camera, which he promises never to use. Soon after arriving in his new neighbourhood and school, Sammy becomes targeted by students Logan (Sam Rechner) and Chad (Oakes Fegley), who say they hate Jews, blame him for the death of Jesus Christ and call him Bagelman. Sammy also begins dating the overtly-Christian Monica (Chloe East). While having dinner with the Fabelmans, Monica suggests that Sammy should film their upcoming Ditch Day at the beach. An argument erupts around the dinner table between Mitzi and Burt over the proposal, with Sammy abruptly standing up and banging the table with his fists for the commotion to stop. He accepts Monica's suggestion after she tells him her father owns a 16mm Arriflex camera that he would let him use, and the requisite editing machine.

After finally moving from a rental home to their brand new purchased home, Mitzi and Burt announce their divorce following the discovery of Mitzi's affair by Sammy, and Burt's suspicions, leaving the family heartbroken. At prom night, Sammy declares his love for Monica and asks her to come with him to Hollywood after graduating from high school. Unable to throw away her own life's goals to attend Texas A&M University, Monica breaks up with him. Meanwhile, the Ditch Day film is played in front of Sammy's peers, where it receives a rapturous response, seemingly praising Logan for his sporting prowess and denigrating Chad as a loser. Logan confronts Sammy, confused over his positive portrayal in the film, but the two reach an understanding when Chad attacks Sammy and Logan fights Chad off. The next morning, arriving back from the prom, Mitzi and Sammy talk about their future together, with Mitzi explaining that she cannot give up her love for Bennie, and that he should also not give up his love for filmmaking.

The next year, 1965, Sammy is living with Burt in an apartment in Hollywood. Unable to find work in the field of TV or film, Sammy considers dropping out of college because he hates it anyway, but Burt, reluctantly accepts his son's passion after seeing a photograph of Mitzi and Bennie together at a house party back in Phoenix, tells him to keep on his path if it makes him happy. Sammy finally receives a letter from CBS, offering him work on the upcoming sitcom 'Hogan's Heroes'. Knowing that Sammy is more interested in filmmaking, a network executive invites Sammy to meet acclaimed film Director John Ford (David Lynch), who has an office just across the hallway, and who is one of his greatest filmmaking influences. After lighting up a big fat cigar, Ford offers Sammy some sage advice about framing a scene. Newly encouraged by his brief five minutes with Ford, Sammy walks through the studio backlot on a warm sunny day, as the camera frames the horizon to the centre, contrary to Ford's advice which he said is 'boring', before ending by taking the Director's advice and re-framing the horizon at the far bottom, which is much more 'interesting', or at the top. 

'The Fabelmans' is Steven Spielberg's most intimate, heartfelt and insightful film yet, and here, once again, he has demonstrated his deft touch to be able to weave a personal story, keep it grounded and tell it in such a way that it will maintain your interest for all of its 151 minute run time. This film is a solid mix of family oriented drama, coming of age comedy, and part documentary that celebrates the early influences and inspirations that moulded Steven Spielberg into one of the greatest living film makers who over the course of thirty-four feature films and 50+ years has consistently taken his audience on a roller coaster ride exploring just about every film genre and the full gamut of emotions along the way. The cast here are on top form, including relative newcomer Gabriel LaBelle and also Michelle Williams (who endows her son Sammy with her creative side), Paul Dano (who endows his son with his work ethic) and Judd Hirsch (who offers up some pearls of wisdom in the less than ten minutes of screen time he has), and in defining their characters we learn what made the aspiring film maker come to master his craft, the personal challenges he experienced along the way and his motivations for never letting go of his dream. 'The Fabelmans' would easily rank amongst one of the top films of 2022, and is deserving of the accolades bestowed upon it. 

'The Fabelmans' merits five claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

AN AMERICAN PICKLE : Tuesday 29th September 2020.

'AN AMERICAN PICKLE' which I saw at my local multiplex this week is a PG Rated American comedy drama offering Directed by first timer Brandon Trost, although he was worked as Cinematographer on numerous other Hollywood films including 2009's 'Halloween II', 'Ghost Rider : Spirit of Vengeance', 'This is the End', 'Neighbors', 'The Interview', 'Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse', 'Neighbors 2 : Sorority Rising', 'The Disaster Artist', 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?' and 'Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile'. Based on the 2013 short story 'Sell Out' by Simon Rich, it seems that Seth Rogan (who appears in dual roles and also Co-Produces here) and Rich began discussing the concept for a film back in 2007. Released digitally in the US in early August, and in theatres in the UK shortly thereafter, the film cost US$20M to produce, has so far taken just US$168K, and has received mostly mixed or average Reviews. 

The film opens up in 1919 with a man digging a long road side ditch, with grey skies overhead and looked upon by his horse nonchalantly. At first the wooden handle of the shovel he is using snaps. Then the wooden blade of the shovel breaks in two, leaving the man to get down on his knees and shovel out the wet dirt with his bare hands - such is his commitment to his task. He then returns home to his village of Slupsk where we see him digging another trench along the side of the road, when his eye is caught by a woman attempting to haggle with a market vendor over the price of smoked fish. Instantly we learn that the man, whose name is Herschel Greenbaum (Seth Rogen) is captivated by the fair maiden that in time he asks for her hand in marriage. And so Sarah (Sarah Snook) becomes Mrs. Greenbaum, and on the occasion of their wedding day in front of the gathered citizens of Slupsk, the Russian Cossacks invade the village killing almost everyone in sight and burning down many buildings. Only Herschel and Sarah seem to survive. 

As a result, the pair of struggling Jewish labourers, albeit happily married, decide to emigrate to America. Herschel lands a job at a pickle factory, with the task of killing as many of the rats that infest the property as he can possibly find. One day however, the rats appear to turn on him, and out of fright he falls backwards from on high into a vat of pickles immediately before the factory is condemned and closed down. The vat is sealed with a lid, and all the workers in the factory down tools and exit the premises as it is sealed shut. Before doing so however, Herschel was able to make one of Sarah's dreams come true, and that was that he was able to save up enough money to buy two grave plots at a Jewish cemetery. 

One hundred years later two lads while flying a drone, lose control of it and it flies into the now long abandoned derelict pickling factory. Venturing inside searching for their lost drone, they happen across the vat and lift off the lid. Almost immediately springing to life is Herschel, who has been pickled in brine for the past one hundred years, and as such is perfectly preserved just as the day he fell in. Having undergone a series of tests and attracted much media attention in the process, Herschel learns that Sarah died in 1939, but that he has one sole surviving relative living in Brooklyn - his great grandson Ben (Seth Rogen). 

Ben takes Herschel back to his apartment where he works from home as a freelance app developer and has been developing his own app 'Boop Bop' for the past five years. The app provides a service that checks companies' ethics when buying their products, and Ben is on the cusp of securing funding to take his app to the next level. Ben reluctantly agrees to go with Herschel to the cemetery where Sarah and his son are buried, together with Ben's parents also buried close by. Herschel is disgusted to find that the cemetery was left in complete disrepair and is now located underneath a freeway flyover along with a Russian vanilla vodka billboard overlooking it. This causes him to assault the construction workers putting up the billboard believing them to be Cossacks, which ultimately results in his and Ben's arrest.

Ben bails them out of jail using what little inheritance he has left over from his parents however, the investors he was courting for his app now withdraw their funding due to his new criminal record, causing him to disown Herschel, as that is five years of work down the drain. Herschel storms out of the apartment and decides to begin a pickle business in order to buy and take down the billboard overlooking the cemetery. Herschel's business in no time becomes a big success over social media, aided by his hipster looks and his real unique artisanal pickling and bottling process. 

However, Ben secretly calls the New York health department and tells them that Herschel has been using produce found in grocery store garbage bins, causing him to be forbidden from trading and fined US$12,000. A couple of local supporters, Christian and Kevin (Eliot Glazer and Kalen Allen respectively) tell Herschel that he could utilise the assistance of unpaid interns to pickle, bottle, promote and sell his briny cucumbers resulting in his business becoming even more successful and allowing him to upgrade the cemetery and remove the offensive billboard. Herschel's greater success leads to Ben envying him even more.

Next up Ben then taunts Herschel about Twitter, which Herschel is completely ignorant about, but his curiosity is sparked. And so he begins tweeting controversial statements, which he has his intern Assistant Clara (Molly Evensen) post on his behalf verbatim. While initially met with protests and boycotts, Herschel is quickly regarded as a master of free speech and empowerment. One day while Herschel is hosting a friendly debate, Ben shows up in disguise and using a false tone of voice questions his thoughts on Christianity. This leads Herschel to rant about Christianity, causing the public to turn on him and chase him down the street. His immigration papers also appear lost in time, causing the government to try and deport him.

Herschel breaks into Ben's apartment through the window, and pleads with Ben to get him across the border into Canada. Ben reluctantly agrees. Ten miles from the border with Canada and now on foot traipsing thorough the snow covered woodland, Ben and Herschel begin to reconcile their relationship. Ben comes clean that he deliberately sabotaged Herschel's business on three separate occasions, causing Herschel to admit that he is saddened that Ben is more committed to his app than his family's legacy. This leads to the pair getting into a fist fight. Herschel steals Ben's backpack, and uses his razor to shave and puts on his spare packed clothes to pose as Ben, alerting the police that the real Ben is Herschel. This causes the real Ben's arrest and deportation back to Slupsk.

Taking up residence at Ben's apartment, Herschel one evening is looking through an old photograph album of Ben's when out falls a picture hand drawn by a much younger Ben. On the picture he learns that the app's name, 'Boop Bop', was actually the nickname Ben gave to his late parents, leading Herschel to realise that family was in fact always close to Ben's heart. He returns to his home country to find Ben, who had taken refuge at a local synagogue. They reconcile, and sometime later return to Brooklyn, hoping to develop a pickle-selling website and take their salty pickled cucumber sales worldwide.

I have to say that I was a little surprised by 'An American Pickle' in that my fairly low expectations going in were easily surpassed. The satirical moments right from the opening frames is on point and made me chuckle to myself on numerous occasions. Whilst this film won't go down in history as one of the great comedies of our time, Seth Rogen here more than proves his acting chops in dual roles playing opposite sides of the same Yiddish coin creating two very different characters each with their own distinct idiosyncrasies. The script labours at times in its preposterousness, but is saved by the strong performances, the humour (which at times is far from PC), the sight gags and the questions it asks about the importance of family, their legacy and tradition, and how can we in the present learn from the lessons of the past to shape our future.  

'An American Pickle' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE LION KING : Tuesday 30th July 2019.

I finally got around to seeing 'THE LION KING' this week some two weeks after its Australian release. Rated PG this photorealistic computer animated remake of Disney's 1994 traditionally animated musical feature film 'The Lion King' was made for US$45M and grossed worldwide US$969M and spawned a whole industry for the next 25 years. This included a whole raft of derived works, such as a hugely successful Broadway adaptation which has toured the world and still is; two direct-to-video follow-ups being the sequel, 'The Lion King II:Simba's Pride' in 1998, and the prequel 'The Lion King 1½' in 2004; two television series, 'Timon and Pumbaa' and 'The Lion Guard'; a 3D re-release in 2011, a video game release and of course the obligatory merchandise. 'The Lion King' garnered two Academy Awards for its achievement in music, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy among its total awards haul of 36 wins and a further 29 nominations. And so here hot on the heels of his success with the live action version of 'The Jungle Book' in 2016, Director and Co-Producer Jon Favreau is back in the chair for this version of the timeless Disney classic. This film cost US$260M to make and has so far grossed US$1.025B worldwide and has received generally mixed Reviews.

The story here will be familiar to adults and kids alike unless you have been living under Pride Rock all your life. The recently born lion cub Simba (voiced by Danny Glover as the grown up Simba and J.D. McCrary as the young Simba) is presented to the animal kingdom from Pride Rock by Rafiki (John Kani) - a wise mandrill monkey who serves as the shaman of the Pride Lands, and a close friend of King Mufasa (voiced once more by James Earl Jones) the ruler of the Pride Lands and father of young Simba. The next day Mufasa shows Simba the Pride Lands and explains to him the responsibilities of being the King and the 'circle of life' which connects all living things.

Mufasa's younger brother, Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is jealous of Mufasa and Simba and wants the throne for himself and plots to eliminate his older brother and the young heir to the throne so he can become King. Scar, one day while out roaming with Simba, tricks the lion cub and his best friend Nala (Beyonce) into exploring a forbidden elephants' graveyard in the out of bounds Shadow Lands, where they are attacked by spotted hyenas led by Shenzi, Kamari, and Azizi (Florence Kasumba, Keegan-Michael Key, and Eric Andre respectively). Mufasa meanwhile had been alerted to the cubs whereabouts by the hornbill concierge Zazu (John Oliver), and arrives just in time before the pack of hyenas were poised to pounce on Simba and Nala. Afterwards, Scar visits the hyenas and manages to persuade them to help him overthrow Mufasa in exchange for hunting rights in the Pride Lands where the prey will be so much easier for them.

Scar sets a trap for Mufasa and his son, coaxing Simba into a gorge and having the hyenas chase a large herd of wildebeest into a stampede that will trample and kill him. Feigning ignorance, he advises Mufasa that Simba is in grave danger, knowing that the King will rush to save his son. Mufasa saves Simba but escaping the herd winds up dangling from the edge of the gorge. Scar refuses to help his brother consequently sending him falling to his death. He then convinces Simba that the tragedy was Simba's own fault and advises him to leave the kingdom and never return. Scar tells Mufasa's pride that both Mufasa and Simba were killed in the stampede, and assumes the mantle of King.

Simba, now exiled, begins the long journey to find a new place to call home. He collapses under the heat of the blistering desert sun and is happened upon by Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth Rogen), a meerkat and a warthog, both outcasts too. The pair revive Simba who grows up in an idyllic jungle setting with his two new friends and other animals, living a carefree life, away from any danger and feeding on insects and grubs under the motto 'hakuna matata' (translated to 'no worries' in Swahili).

Grown into a young adult, Simba rescues Timon and Pumbaa from a hungry lioness, who turns out to be Nala. She and Simba rekindle their friendship and fall in love, and she pleads with him to return home, advising him that the Pride Lands have turned into a drought-stricken barren wasteland under Scar's rule with the ever scavenging hyenas by his side. Still wracked with guilt over his father's death, Simba refuses and storms off. He then encounters Rafiki, who caught wind that Simba was still alive and tells him that Mufasa's spirit lives on in him. After seeing a vision of his father in the night sky, Simba comes to the realisation that he can no longer turn his back on his past and so returns to the Pride Lands with Nala.

With the help of his friends Timon and Pumbaa who have followed, Simba sneaks past the hyenas at Pride Rock and confronts Scar, who was about to fight Sarabi (Alfre Woodard) - the Queen of the Pride Lands, Mufasa's wife and Simba's mother. Scar reminds Simba over his role in Mufasa's death much to the surprise of the pride, and backs him to the edge of the rock, where he reveals to him that he in fact sent Mufasa crashing to his death. Enraged, Simba reveals the truth to the rest of the pride. Timon, Pumbaa, Zazu, Rafiki and the lionesses go head to head, toe to toe and tail to tail with the hyenas while Scar, trying to escape, is cornered by Simba at the top of Pride Rock. Scar begs for mercy and attempts to blame the hyenas for his actions. Simba, showing compassion as taught by his father, spares his life, but orders him to leave the Pride Lands forever and never return. Scar refuses and jumps to the attack, but Simba is able to toss him from the top of the rock. Scar survives the fall, but is attacked and killed by the hyenas, who overheard his attempt to betray them. 

Afterwards, Simba takes over as King and makes Nala his Queen and in due course with Pride Rock restored to its former state after some much needed rains, Rafiki presents Simba and Nala's newborn cub to the assembled animals, continuing the circle of life as told by Mufasa some years ago.

I have to say that I was just a tad disappointed by this retelling of the classic Disney animated feature film of 'The Lion King' as seen some 25 years ago first time around. Sure enough the voice cast is terrific, there are some laugh out loud moments, and the CGI really is first rate photo realism at its very best. The film is beautifully rendered in every minute detail and its easy to immerse yourself in the realistic portrayal of African native animals, flora and fauna until those native animals burst into song. The film is almost a frame by frame remake of the original and for this reason I found it a by the numbers predictable offering with little new to offer other than cutting edge CGI, which carries the film only so far. If you are seeing 'The Lion King' for the first time then this is likely to please audiences, but for those of us who remember the first hand drawn animated film from 1994, then this is likely to be seen as a technologically updated money grab by the Mouse House . . . . . that has clearly paid off!

'The Lion King' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, out of a possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 11th August 2016.

With this weeks release of yet another 'Bad . . . ' movie, I got to thinking that surely those Screen Writers in Hollywood must be able to come up with some more original titles rather than those that seem to plague our cinemas with ever increasing regularity. So, I searched through the archives, to see how far back 'Bad . . . ' movies go, and it does seem to be a more recent phenomenon, although there are plenty of earlier films too with 'Bad' in the title, as the below list will demonstrate. Check them out if you will, and they're not all bad either! Let's us know too if there are some that you think have been missed off this list.

• 'Too Bad She's Bad' - 1955, starring Sophia Loren
• 'Tribute to a Bad Man' - 1956, starring James Cagney
• 'The Bad Seed' - 1956, starring Nancy Kelly
• 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' - 1966, starring Clint Eastwood
• 'Badlands' - 1973, starring Martin Sheen
• 'The Bad News Bears' - 1976, starring Walter Matthau
• 'Bad Blood' - 1982, starring Jack Thompson
• 'Bad Boys' - 1983, starring Sean Penn
• 'Bad Taste' - 1987, starring Peter Jackson
• 'Bad Influence' - 1990, starring James Spader
• 'Bad Lieutenant' - 1992, starring Harvey Keitel
• 'Bad Boy Bubby' - 1993, starring Nicholas Hope
• 'Bad Girls' - 1994, starring Madeline Stowe
• 'Bad Boys' - 1995, starring Will Smith
• 'Bad Day on the Block' - 1997, starring Charlie Sheen
• 'Bad Company' - 2002, starring Anthony Hopkins
• 'Bad Boys II' - 2003, starring Will Smith
• 'Bad Santa' - 2003, starring Billy Bob Thornton
• 'Bad Eggs' - 2003, starring Mick Molloy
• 'Bad Education' - 2004, starring Gael Garcia Bernal
• 'The Bad News Bears' - 2005, starring Billy Bob Thornton
• 'Superbad' - 2007, starring Jonah Hill
• 'Bad Lieutenant : Port of Call-New Orleans' - 2009, starring Nicolas Cage
• 'Bad Teacher' - 2011, starring Cameron Diaz
• 'Bad Words' - 2013, starring Jason Bateman
• 'Bad Grandpa' - 2013, starring Johnny Knoxville
• 'Bad Neighbours' - 2014, starring Seth Rogen
• 'Bad Neighbours 2 : Sorority Rising' - 2016, starring Seth Rogen
• 'Bad Moms' - 2016, starring Mila Kunis
• 'Bad Santa 2' - 2016, starring Billy Bob Thornton
• 'Bad Boys III' - 2017, starring Will Smith
• 'Bad Blood' - 2018, starring Jennifer Lawrence
• 'Bad Boys IV' - 2019, starring Will Smith

This week then to tease you out to your local Odeon, we have five new filmic offerings, starting with a trio of Mum's going off the rails to escape the routines of their seemingly otherwise perfect worlds with dramatic and comedic consequences for all, and those closest to them. Then an animated feature aimed squarely at the fifteen and above demographic that sees our humble grocery store supplies take on a life of their own as they wage war against mankind for fear of being eaten! Following on from this is a family reunion brought about by the death of the family wife and mother leaving the grieving father and sons to relive past memories and confront their feelings for each other. We then move to an Aussie dramedy set amidst the back drop of racial tensions in Sydney's south and the aftermath in the day that followed between two rival gangs on a collision course hellbent on retaliation . . . sounds hilarious! Then we wrap up the week with a foreign language film and one mans journey to get his affairs in order before he succumbs to cancer, aided by a mans best friend, and his best friend.

Remember too that when you have sat through your film of choice in the week ahead, that you are warmly invited to share your views and opinions of your movie going experience by leaving a Comment below this or any other Post. We look forward to hearing from you. In the meantime, enjoy your film.

'BAD MOMS' (Rated MA15+) - over the years Hollywood has churned out plenty of 'Bad . . .' films of which only some have been 'good'! The likes of 'Bad Girls', 'Bad Boys', 'Bad Lieutenant', 'Bad Teacher', 'Bad Santa', 'Bad Neighbours', 'Bad Grandpa', and now we have the next offering in a long line of 'Bad . . . ' films with 'Bad Moms' made for US$20M, Directed and Written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore and so far returning US$57M since its Stateside release towards the end of July.

The story here is such that Amy (Mila Kunis) has a happy marriage, a loving husband, kids doing well at school, a great home, a successful career and the looks as well, but, behind all of that there is stress, exhaustion, anxiety and overbearing responsibilities. Something's gotta give! And it does when she discovers her husband cheating on her and promptly throws him out. Then she quits the school PTA in which she was an active member and heads off to a local bar for some well needed refreshment. There Amy meets up with two other mothers in a similar state - Kiki (Kristen Bell) and Carla (Kathryn Hahn) and the trio of new friends hang an all night bender which leads them to reassess their lives, commitments and priorities in favour of a more relaxed easy going approach. Along the way there are tussles with the PTA's domineering head and near perfect mother Gwendolyn (Christina Applegate) and her followers Stacy (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Vicky (Annie Mumolo). Clearly there'll be messages in here about the power of friendships, parenting, forgiveness, doing the right thing with a few comedic laughs in there too no doubt. Bad . . . you decide!

'SAUSAGE PARTY' (Rated MA15+) - this computer animated adult feature film is based on a story by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and Jonah Hill, Written for the screen and Produced by the former two, is Directed by Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon and stars an ensemble voice cast. Here we have a supermarket called 'Shopwell' in which reside groceries of all kinds dreaming of the day they will be handpicked and taken home by humans. However, one fine day the terrible truth will come crashing down on those groceries that they are destined to be consumed by those humans, and it falls at the feet of humble hot dog sausage, Frank (Seth Rogen) to forewarn his many grocery friends at the store of their frightening future outlook, and declare war on humans. Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader, Michael Cera, James Franco, Danny McBride, Paul Rudd, Edward Norton and Salma Hayek amongst others lend their considerable voice talents.

'LOUDER THAN BOMBS' (Rated M) - this French/Danish/Norwegian co-production was entered into competition at Cannes in May 2015, shown at TIFF in September last year, and released in France, Norway and Denmark in December before the end of last year. Now eight months later it lands on Australian shores having cost US$11M to make, and so far having recovered just US$602K. Directed by Joachim Trier in his English language debut, it stars an impressive cast and has been positively received by critics despite its mediocre Box Office results so far. We join the Reed family as father Gene (Gabriele Byrne) prepares for a retrospective exhibition of his dead wife, Isabelle (Isabelle Huppert) acclaimed work as a war photographer, three years after her untimely death.  In so doing his two sons Jonah (Jesse Eisenberg) returns home and is forced to spend more time with dad and younger brother Conrad (Devin Druid) than he has in many years. In turn the three of them must reunite as new details surrounding Isabelle's death come to light, and they are forced to confront their differing feelings and memories that each of them hold for their departed wife and mother. Amy Ryan and David Strathairn also star.

'DOWN UNDER' (Rated MA15+) - back at Christmas 2005 the Cronulla Riots were beamed across the world as true blue Aussies clashed violently with largely Lebanese locals at the beachside suburb of Cronulla in southern Sydney. It was bloody and ugly with Riot Police in full force, drunken brawls, insults, jeering, flag waving, smashed up cars, homes attacked and roadside arrests. Hardly the best image of our beloved Sydney that we want beamed across the world's media, and at Christmas time too. Now, Abe Forsythe has turned that dark episode into a black comedy drama that he has both Written and Directed. Set the day after the riots two separate gangs in different parts of the city are preparing themselves for retaliation. In the Shire, the 'Skips' and in Lakemba, the 'Lebs' - two gangs of bumbling half arsed dim witted no hopers prepare to man up, boot up and tool up for a night of unadulterated violence amidst questions from gang members as to why, what and when with comedic overtones and the cost of racism and discrimination on human lives when the two groups do inevitably clash. Starring Lincoln Younes, Rahel Romahn, Michael Denkha, Alexander England, Damon Herriman, David Field, Fayssal Bazzi and Chris Bunton.

'TRUMAN' (Rated MA15+) - and so to our foreign language offering this week - that of Spanish/Argentian co-production 'Truman' as Directed and Co-Written by Cesc Gay which was shown at TIFF in September last year, the San Sebastian International Film Festival and the winner of five Goya Awards at Madrid earlier this year including Best Director, Best Film, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. The story here centres around Tomas (Javier Camara) who visits his long term friend Julian (Ricardo Darin) in Madrid. Julian is dying of cancer and has limited time left, and has resigned himself to his fate, refusing further treatment. Over the course of Tomas' visit the pair travel around Madrid as Julian seeks to put his affairs in order. One such detail is that of Julian's boxer dog, 'Truman' who is to be put up for adoption post his death, and for whom Julian seems to bestow much grater importance than on his own situation. Needless to say for the pair it's an emotional rollercoaster of a ride who along with loyal hound Truman will share moments of emotion, pathos, and reckoning brought on by Julian's complicated situation. The film has received positive reviews and has won 28 awards with a further 28 nominations from around the circuit, and also stars Dolores Fonzi and Eduard Fernandez.

With five more great reasons to get out to your local cinema in the week ahead, what's not to like here? Remember to share your cinematic thoughts when you have done so, and as always, I'll see you at the Odeon.

-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-