MEN : Tuesday 21st June 2022

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'MEN' and my local independent movie theatre this week, and this folk horror film is Written and Directed by Alex Garland whose previous two feature film making credits are 'Ex Machina' in 2014 and 'Annihilation' in 2018, although he has also written the screenplays for Danny Boyle's '28 Days Later' and 'Sunshine', plus 'Never Let Me Go' and 'Dredd', with 'The Beach' and 'The Tesseract' movies based on novels written by Garland. This film screened at the Cannes Film Festival in the Directors' Fortnight section in May, was released in the US in late May and in the UK in early June, and last week was released in Australia having so far grossed US$9.5M and garnered generally favourable critical reviews. It was also selected as opening film at 26th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea to be screened on July 7th.

Harper Marlowe (Jessie Buckley), a recent widow, takes a two week break from her haunted life in London in the remote English countryside village of Cotson after the apparent suicide of her husband James (Paapa Essiedu). Seen in flashback throughout the film, it is revealed that Harper, had become tired and overwrought with James' emotional abuse and manipulation. She made her intentions known to divorce him, leading James to threaten her with his suicide. Things boil over between the couple when he eventually strikes her when she continues to reject him. Harper locks James out of their apartment overlooking the River Thames before witnessing him fall from an upstairs balcony to his death and being impaled on a wrought iron fence.

Sometime later, Harper arrives at the house, having made the four hour car journey from London to Cotson, that she is renting, where she is met by its owner Geoffrey (Rory Kinnear). Later that day she goes for a walk in the woods and comes across an old, unused railway tunnel. A figure appears at the end of the tunnel and begins chasing her, but she manages to evade it. Reaching an open field, Harper takes a picture with her phone, inadvertently capturing a naked man standing near an abandoned building. The next day, as Harper is video chatting with her friend Riley (Gayle Rankin), she observes the man in her garden, having followed her from the previous day. Harper calls the Police, and the man is duly arrested, stark naked and determined to be a vagrant probably living in the railway tunnel. 

Afterwards, Harper visits the local fifteenth century church where she meets a young boy (Rory Kinnear) and a vicar (Rory Kinnear) who both share an uncanny likeness to Geoffrey. The boy invites her to play a game of hide and seek, but when she politely declines he calls her a fucking bitch and is promptly asked to leave by the vicar. Sharing a private moment together in reflective conversation, the vicar insinuates Harper is to blame for James' death, asking how she may have provoked him and if she even allowed him to apologise. She stands up now even more distraught and tells the vicar to promptly fuck off as she leaves.

Harper visits the local village pub later that night on Geoffrey's advice. The pub is far from busy, but the customers that are in attendance (all of whom are men) also bear that same uncanny appearance to Geoffrey. Geoffrey is also there, as is the policeman (Rory Kinnear) who arrested the naked intruder (Rory Kinnear). The policeman informs Harper that the man was released as they had no legal grounds to keep him detained as he didn't steal anything, didn't break in, and didn't hurt anyone, much to Harper's chagrin as he stalked her following their encounter in the forest.

Harper contacts Riley about the day's developments, and she agrees to drive over in the morning so Harper can continue her time away. As Harper attempts to send Riley the address, her mobile phone service is repeatedly interrupted. She observes the policeman standing in the back garden under an apple tree but as the security lights flicker on and off, he changes into one of the pub occupants, who then chases her inside the house. Harper defends herself with a kitchen knife before a window is smashed in the kitchen. Geoffrey arrives a short time later and finds that the kitchen window breaking was due to a crow flying into it, which is still alive but with broken wings. He then puts the bird out of its misery by breaking its neck. As Geoffrey goes into the garden to scare away any would-be intruders the security lights flick off and then on again and he is replaced with the naked man, who chases her again. When he tries to reach her through the letter box, Harper stabs him cleanly through the forearm. He manages to pull his arm free, the stuck knife ripping his arm and hand in two in an injury resembling the one received by James during his partial impalement on the wrought iron fence. Both the boy and the vicar appear in the house, each of them now similarly injured. The vicar attempts to rape Harper, but she stabs him in the stomach and leaves the house.

While attempting to get the hell outta Dodge in her car, Harper runs over Geoffrey sending him flying over the bonnet and the roof and landing in a crumpled heap several metres behind. He gets up seemingly unhurt and in a fit of rage he throws Harper out of her car and drives away. Harper, now on foot decides to walk it as headlights are seen approaching at speed. Geoffrey has circled back around, and chases Harper down before crashing the car into a stone wall in front of the house. The naked man, approaches Harper, his ankle now severely broken which also matches James after his death. The naked man gives birth to the young boy, who in turn gives birth to the vicar, who in turn gives birth to Geoffrey, who in turn gives birth finally to James.

Both James and Harper sit on a sofa inside the house, with James still blaming Harper for his death, which she continues to reject. When Harper asks him what he wants from her, James responds that he 'wants her love', which she appears to refuse. The next morning Riley arrives at the house and is revealed to be pregnant. Shocked at the blood trail leading into the house, she notices Harper in the garden sat on some stone steps, alive and smiling.

'Men' won't be for everyone that's for sure, but for me, I found this British horror film wrapped up in the seemingly peaceful and gentile English countryside a refreshing take on the genre that these days seems all to preoccupied with zombie flicks or alien movies. The film is unsettling and hammers home the trials and tribulations that women are confronted with every day by men who have a very different view of their world and clear opinions of their place within it . . . and not in a good way either! Jessie Buckley is on top form as the fractured and haunted Harper, and Rory Kinnear who is playing so out of character, seems to relish in the numerous roles he is given here, and who really shines in all his toxic masculinity. As for Alex Garland, he has crafted a film that is at times bizarre, scary, humorous, emotional and horrific that will divide audiences just as much as it has critics, but will stay with you long after the end credits have rolled, and at least will prompt some interesting post-screening conversations. 

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

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 23rd June 2022.

The 69th Sydney Film Festival came to a close on Sunday 19th June after twelve days and nights of showcasing inspiring and entertaining premieres, talks and parties, and the greatest, strangest and most exciting work that cinema has to offer. Sydney Film Festival is supported by the NSW Government through Screen NSW; the Federal Government through Screen Australia and the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund; and City of Sydney the Festival’s Principal Local Government Partner. Sydney Film Festival also runs the Travelling Film Festival year-round, taking the best of international and Australian cinema to twenty-two regional centres around the country.

Twelve films are selected for the Official Competition, which celebrates 'courageous, audacious and cutting-edge' cinema with an AU$60K cash prize. Sydney Film Festival also presents eight other cash awards over the course of the festival. This years winners and grinners in those categories are :-

The Sydney Film Prize for the Best Film in Official Competition, was awarded to 'Close' from Belgium and Directed by Lukas Dhont. Winner of the Grand Prix Award at Cannes earlier this year, the film tells the story of two thirteen-year-olds Leo and Remi who are best friends. We meet them running happily through vast fields of flowers. They dream of unimaginable wealth, of being stars on YouTube. Remi is an aspiring musician, and Leo is his greatest fan. Theirs is a loving and genuine friendship. And then they start high school. For the very first time, their closeness comes into question as they are teased and taunted by their schoolmates. Gradually a rift develops between the friends, with tragic consequences.

The Documentary Australia Award for Australian Documentary is 'Keep Stepping', Directed by Luke Cornish. On Sydney’s urban fringe, two young women battle for a better life in the underground world of competitive street dance. Patricia, Romanian-born and hanging out for a visa, is a breakdancer. Gabi, of Chilean-Samoan heritage, pops with power. Both dream of escaping the rough hand they’ve been dealt. Will a win at Australia’s biggest dance competition Destructive Steps – in which 60 contestants compete in the preliminary rounds - be their golden ticket? Or will the external pressures of financial hardship and volatile relationships stop them from even reaching the dancefloor?

The Dendy Awards for Best Australian Short Films sponsored by Dendy Cinema's offers two awards - The Dendy Live Action Short Award and the Rouben Mamoulian Award (named after the Director who first presented the award in 1974). The former was presented to 'The Moths Will Eat Them Up' Directed by Luisa Martiri and Tanya Modini, and the latter was awarded Luisa Martiri and Tanya Modini for 'The Moths Will Eat Them Up'. This fourteen minute short film tells the story of a woman’s ordinary train ride home at night which turns into a terrifying game of cat and mouse with a stranger until an unforeseen force is summoned.

The Sustainable Future Award is presented to a narrative or documentary film of any length that deepens our knowledge and awareness of the impact of the global climate emergency. The winner of this award is 'Delikado', Directed by Karl Malakunas. A tourist destination and home to one of the world’s most diverse rainforests, the island of Palawan in the Philippines is a dangerous place for land defenders. Bobby Chan, a local environmental lawyer, leads a group of renegade land protectors who confiscate the chainsaws of illegal loggers. Up for re-election, local Mayor Nieves Rosento is the focus of a dirty campaign supported by land developers and President Rodrigo Duterte. Along with ex-illegal logger Tata, they confront murder and betrayal in their efforts to preserve this precious environment.

For details of the other award winners, and the SFF Audience Awards (announced one week after the close of the festival), plus details of the upcoming SFF Travelling Film Festival, you can visit the official website at : https://www.sff.org.au/

Turning attention back to this weeks upcoming new release movies, of which there are seven, we kick off with a drama biopic of the King of Rock 'n' Roll who rose to fame in the 1950's while maintaining a complex relationship with his Manager. This is followed up by doco chronicling the tumultuous - yet creatively fruitful - period of this British singer and songwriters life and career following the release of his 1987 solo debut, 'Faith', then through the creation and release of his 1990 follow-up 'Listen Without Prejudice, Vol.1'. Next up we have a French drama offering telling the story of the rise and the fall of a young man in Paris who dreamed to be a writer and became a journalist. Then we turn to an American action drama about a burlesque dancer who must go on the run to save a neighbour boy whose life is threatened by her ex-lover. Following on, we have a New Zealand comedy romance film about a suburban couple who make a last ditch attempt to salvage their marriage by going to a new age retreat on a remote island where they hope to reconnect. Up next is the first of two animated features closing out the week, with an origin story of one twelve-year-old's dream to become the world's greatest supervillain, followed by a Russian family action adventure film of a princess who is captured by a robber in the woods, and so she takes it upon herself to turn his world upside down.

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.

'ELVIS' (Rated M) - is an Australian and US Co-Produced biographical musical drama film Co-Written for the screen, based on a story, Directed and Co-Produced by Baz Luhrmann whose previous film making credits take in his debut 'Strictly Ballroom' in 1992, 'Romeo + Juliet' in 1996, 'Moulin Rouge!' in 2001, 'Australia' in 2008 and 'The Great Gatsby' in 2013. The film had its World Premier screening at the Cannes Film Festival on 25th May where it received a twelve minute standing ovation. Released in Australia and worldwide this week, it was originally scheduled to be released in early October 2021, before being delayed to early November 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and then later to this week. It cost US$85M to produce and has garnered generally positive critical acclaim.

The film chronicles the life and career of singer and actor Elvis Presley, from his early days as a child (played by Chaydon Jay) growing up in Tupelo, Mississippi to becoming a rock and roll star and movie star (played by Austin Butler) in Memphis, Tennessee and his conquering of Las Vegas, Nevada, as well as his complex relationship with his Manager Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks). Also starring Richard Roxburgh, Olivia DeJonge, Luke Bracey, David Wenham, Xavier Samuel, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Dacre Montgomery, Kate Mulvany, Josh McConville and Anthony LaPaglia.

'GEORGE MICHAEL : FREEDOM UNCUT' (Rated MA15+) - Directed by George Michael and David Austin this career-spanning documentary marks the final work from the internationally renowned superstar and features incredible, unseen archival and private home footage, taken before his untimely death at the age of 53 on Christmas Day 2016. Giving the audience a first-person account of this dramatic period in his life from his debut solo album 'Faith' and following the making of his acclaimed, best-selling album 'Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1' it reveals how he became one of the most influential recording artists of all time, who alone fought a corner for all artists by challenging the standard recording contract and helped to rewrite the rules of the music industry. Featuring interviews with some of Michaels’ most famous friends and music legends, including Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Ricky Gervais, Nile Rogers, Mark Ronson, Liam Gallagher, Mary J. Blige, Jean Paul Gaultier, James Corden and Tony Bennett. This documentary is narrated by the singer, who was heavily involved in the making of the film that serves as his final work, and why he stepped out of the limelight and turned his back on celebrity.

'LOST ILLUSIONS' (Rated M) - is a French drama film Co-Written and Directed by Xavier Giannoli whose previous feature film making credits include his debut in 2003 with 'Eager Bodies' then 'When I Was a Singer', 'In the Beginning', 'Superstar', 'Marguerite' and 'The Apparition' in 2018. This film is based on the serial novel of the same name written by Honore de Balzac between 1837 and 1843, and saw its World Premier showcasing at the Venice Film Festival back in September last year, before its release in its native France towards the back end of October. Costing US$17.5M to produce the film has so far taken US$8M and has garnered largely positive Reviews. In 1821, Lucien de Rubempre (Benjamin Voisin) arrives in Paris as a sensitive, and idealistic young poet determined to write a reputation-making novel. Instead, he finds himself swept into journalism, whose influence and reach is booming with the help of the printing press, recently having become widely available. Under the mentorship of cynical editor Etienne Lousteau (Vincent Lacoste), Lucien agrees to write glowing theatre reviews for bribes, achieving material success at the expense of his conscience. Also starring Xavier Dolan, Gerard Depardieu and Cecile de France. 

'NINE BULLETS' (Rated MA15+) - this American action drama film is Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Gigi Gaston whose prior feature film credits take in her debut in 2001 with 'Rip It Off', then 'The Nanny Murders' in 2020, and 'Fatal Memory' this year, before the release of this film. Here then, a former burlesque dancer turned author named Gypsy (Lena Headey) discovers a second chance at life and redemption when she risks everything to rescue her young neighbour Sam (Dean Scott Vazquez) after he witnesses his parents' murder. Now on the run from the local crime boss Jack (Sam Worthington), who happens to be her longtime ex, she makes a desperate attempt to get the boy to safety. Also starring Cam Gigandet and Barbara Hershey, the film has garnered less than favourable press. 

'NUDE TUESDAY' (Rated MA15+) - is a New Zealand comedy drama romance film Co-Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Armagan Ballantyne in only his second feature film outing following 'The Strength of Water' in 2009. When middle-aged suburban couple, Laura (Jackie van Beek) and Bruno (Damon Herriman) are gifted a remote couples’ retreat for their anniversary, they decide to give their failing marriage one last shot before calling it quits. Arriving in an idyllic sanctuary nestled in the snow capped mountains of a fictional island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, Laura and Bruno uncomfortably enter a world of laughter workshops, tantric dance, sexual liberation and emotional animals, helmed by the charismatic guru Bjorg Rassmussen (Jermaine Clement), who all communicate with each other in complete made up language 'gibberish'.  When new temptations start to take hold, the couple are pushed to the brink forcing them to look within to find what they really want. The film has so far generated much critical praise.

'MINIONS : THE RISE OF GRU' (Rated PG) - this American CGI action comedy films is the sequel to the spin-off prequel 'Minions' from 2015, and the fifth entry overall in the 'Despicable Me' film franchise. Directed by Kyle Balda who Co-Directed 'The Lorax' in 2012, 'Minions' in 2015 and 'Despicable Me 3' in 2017. This film saw its World Premier screening at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on 13th June before its release in Australia this week and the US from 1st July. Set following the events of the first film in the 1970's, a young twelve year old Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) tries to join a group of supervillains known as the Vicious 6 after they oust their leader - the legendary fighter Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin). When the interview turns disastrous, Gru and his Minions (all voiced by Pierre Coffin) go on the run with the Vicious 6 hot on their tails. Luckily, he finds an unlikely source for guidance in Wild Knuckles himself, and soon comes to learn that even bad guys need a little help from their friends. Also starring the voice talents of Michelle Yeoh, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, Danny Trejo, Russell Brand and Julie Andrews.

'MY SWEET MONSTER' (Rated PG) - is a Russian animated family action adventure film and Directed by the the pairing of Viktor Glukhushin and Maksim Volkov. Here, the 16-year-old Princess Barbara (Haylie Duff) throws a tantrum at her birthday party. While everybody is distracted, the throne is seized from her father King Elijah (Martin Cooke) by a sneaky post clerk Weasel. However, unsatisfied with being the sole ruler of the Kingdom, he also plans to marry Barbara. Princess Barbara runs away from the palace and finds herself deep in the woods. She bumps into Bogey the Outlaw (John Heder) and his friend the Wicked Rabbit (Josh Wilson). Barbara's interference wreaks havoc into the ordinary bachelor-style life of the two friends, which sees her meddling into everything, arranges her own set of rules, and keeps getting on their nerves with her assumptions about the dashing Prince Edward. To get rid of Barbara, Bogey decides to go as far as to find the Prince Edward, stop the Weasel and restore the world of some semblance of order. Also starring the voice of Pauly Shore.

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-

JURASSIC WORLD : DOMINION - Tuesday 14th June 2022.

I saw the M Rated 'JURASSIC WORLD : DOMINION' at my local multiplex this week and this American Sci-Fi action film is Directed and Co-Written for the screen and based on a story developed by Colin Tervorrow and based on characters created by Michael Chrichton. It is the sequel to 2018's 'Jurassic World : Fallen Kingdom', the sixth instalment in the 'Jurassic Park' franchise, the final film in the Jurassic World trilogy, and the conclusion to the storyline started in the original 'Jurassic Park' trilogy released in 1993, 1997 and 2001. This film saw its World Premier in Mexico City on 23rd May and went on worldwide release from last week. The film cost US$185M to produce, has so far grossed US$450M and has generated largely negative critical Reviews.

Set some four years after Isla Nublar had been destroyed and the events that subsequently unfolded at the Lockwood Estate, dinosaurs now live, and hunt, alongside humans the world over. Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), the former Operations Manager at Jurassic World, works for the Dinosaur Protection Group. She and Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) have been living in a remote cabin in the Sierra Nevada mountains where they are secretly raising and caring for the now fourteen year old Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon), Benjamin Lockwood's cloned granddaughter. Owen's previously trained Velociraptor, Blue, one day arrives at the cabin with an offspring that was reproduced asexually, and whom Maisie names Beta.

Meanwhile, Biosyn Genetics which have grown to be a globally domineering and highly profitable company conducts medical research on dinosaurs, seeking cures for all manner of human ailments. Unknown to Claire and Owen, Biosyn is very keen on studying Maisie's DNA and have been searching for her for the last four years. When Maisie, frustrated with living in seclusion with no other human interaction other than Claire and Owen, sneaks away to a nearby town, Biosyn operatives, led by Rainn Delacourt (Scott Haze) kidnap her and also Beta. Owen and Claire immediately give chase to rescue them. 

Elsewhere, swarms of formerly extinct giant locusts have inexplicably appeared across huge swathes of the southern United States laying waste to valuable crops and so threatening the world's food supply. Paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) upon examining a captured live specimen discovers they avoid eating crops grown with Biosyn seed, leading her to suspect that Biosyn created them. Believing the locust's DNA dates to the Cretaceous period, Ellie approaches former partner and paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), who is on a dig in Utah, and who agrees to help her infiltrate and investigate Biosyn.

With help from Franklin Webb (Justice Smith), a contact within the CIA and former dinosaur rights activist who has previously worked with Claire, Claire and Owen track Maisie and Beta to Malta where they visit a black market trading in live dinosaur specimens. When undercover agents raid the market led by Barry Sembene (Omar Sy) dinosaurs are unintentionally released, creating havoc with Delacourt subsequently eaten alive together with various others caught in the fracas. Soyona Santos (Dichen Lachman), a Biosyn employee and dinosaur smuggler, having been captured by Sembene, informs Claire and Owen that Maisie and Beta are being transported to Biosyn's headquarters and dinosaur valley in Italy's Dolomites mountain range. They meet Kayla Watts (DeWanda Wise), a sympathetic cargo pilot with access to the valley, who agrees to fly Owen and Claire there.

Chaos theorist Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), who now works for Biosyn as a contractor, invites Alan and Ellie to the headquarters to help him uncover Biosyn CEO Lewis Dodgson's (Campbell Scott) illegal activities. Ian's ally, Communications Director and apparent right hand man to Dodgson, Ramsay Cole (Mamoudou Athie) assists. As it turns out geneticist Dr. Henry Wu (B D Wong) genetically engineered the locusts to only consume rival companies' crops so that Biosyn will dominate the global agricultural market. The locust plague has subsequently spread worldwide. Wu meets Maisie and explains she is not a clone. Instead, her mother, Charlotte Lockwood (Elva Trill, seen through archive video footage only), Benjamin Lockwood's daughter and Wu's former colleague, used her own DNA to create Maisie asexually as her child. Charlotte died from a genetic disease shortly after Maisie was born, but she had altered Maisie's DNA so making her immune. Wu believes that Maisie's and Beta's DNA are the keys to creating a pathogen that can halt the escalating locust outbreak. 

Upon reaching Biosyn airspace, a group of giant pterosaurs attack Kayla's cargo plane, ripping a gaping hole in the body of the aircraft and taking out its two engines. Claire ejects while Owen and Kayla survive crash landing on a frozen water reservoir. Following their separate encounters with various dinosaurs, and not of the good kind, the three manage to regroup. Inside the Biosyn facility, Ian and Ramsey allow Ellie and Alan access to a restricted lab where the giant locusts are being bred. They steal a locust DNA sample and come across Maisie, who has escaped and released Beta in the process. After seeing them on security footage some twelve minutes later, Dodgson torches the locust laboratory to destroy all evidence but in the process swarms of burning locusts burst through a ventilation shaft and out into the surrounding woodland, inadvertently starting a forest fire. Dodgson also terminates Ian's employment for exposing his operation. 

Alan, Ellie, and Maisie escape with Ramsay's assistance through a defunct subterranean amber mine, but not before having various close encounters with several dinosaurs  of their own. After finding Ian, they meet up with Owen, Claire, and Kayla. Meanwhile, Dodgson attempts to leave with dinosaur embryos via a hyperloop underground train, but when the power fails, he becomes trapped and subsequently killed by a group of three Dilophosaurus. Electronic devices retrieve the dinosaurs to the Biosyn headquarters to protect them from the fire. Owen, assisted by Maisie and Alan, captures Beta. 

In the meantime Kayla has run off to a helicopter to get the group the hell outta Dodge when a Giganotosaurus terrorises the group until the Therizinosaurus and the Tyrannosaurus rex kill it. The group escapes with Kayla at the controls of the helicopter, taking Wu, who claims to be able to eradicate the locusts, with them. Ellie and Alan renew their romantic relationship prior to joining Ian and Ramsay in testifying against Biosyn. Sometime later Wu releases a locust carrying the pathogen he discovered while studying Maisie and Beta, ultimately destroying the locusts within one season. Owen, Claire, and Maisie return home to their cabin in the Sierra Nevada and reunite Beta with Blue. Around the world, dinosaurs adapt to co-exist with modern bird, sea and wildlife while the United Nations declares Biosyn Valley a dinosaur sanctuary. 

I went in to see 'Jurassic World : Dominion' with fairly low expectations and came out fairly surprised that the Critics had been so harsh on this final instalment of the second trilogy. Sure, it rehashes everything that has gone before including the ultimate destruction of every dino enclosure from Isla Nublar right through to the Lockwood Estate; and when it comes down to it the story has come full circle from harnessing dino DNA from mozzies through to creating dino sized crop busting locusts by manipulating their DNA. The action sequences and the spectacle of dinosaurs living amongst us is impressively handled, but this film is more about combating a plague of locusts than it is about marauding dinosaurs chomping and stomping up the scenery and any mere mortal who dare get in their way. Reuniting Neill, Dern and Goldblum from the original trilogy doesn't really add any weight to the storyline other than to connect the dots back to the 'Jurassic Park' series. And so in these respects 'Jurassic World : Dominion' is predictable and by the numbers, devoid of any emotion, and a storyline that for the most part we have seen before. It is entertaining enough, and at a run time of two and a half hours it moves along at a good enough pace, but I think it's time that this franchise goes the way of the dinosaurs, and is finally declared extinct!

'Jurassic World : Dominion' 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 June 2022

The Tribeca Film Festival kicked off on Wednesday 8th June and runs through until Sunday 19th June. This years Opening Night Film is 'Halftime' - the American Netflix original documentary Directed by Amanda Micheli and charts the career of the singer, actress, dancer and businesswoman Jennifer Lopez, with a heavy focus on her performance at the Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show in 2019. The Closing Night film is 'Loudmouth' Written and Directed by Josh Alexander that documents the winding road that is American civil rights activist, Baptist Minister, talk show host and politician Al Sharpton's life story. This festival has 110 feature films from 150 filmmakers across forty countries, including eighty-eight World Premier screenings and forty-three shorts in competition from twenty-five countries. Tribeca Enterprises is a multi-platform storytelling company, founded in 2003 by the American Actor, Director and Producer Robert De Niro; the American film Producer Jane Rosenthal and the American real estate investor and philanthropist Craig Hatkoff. It provides artists with unique platforms to expand the audience for their work and broadens consumer access to experience storytelling, independent film, and media. 

Tribeca's US Narrative Competition showcases extraordinary World Premieres that will vie for the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, and the Awards for Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Performance. Those in competition are :-

* 'Allswell' from the US and Co-Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Ben Snyder. World Premiere.

* 'The Drop' from the US and Mexico and Co-Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Sarah Adina Smith. World Premiere.

* 'Four Samosas' from the US and Co-Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Ravi Kapoor. World Premiere.

* 'God's Time' from the US and Written and Directed by Daniel Antebi. World Premiere.

* 'Good Girl Jane' from the US and Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Sarah Elizabeth Mintz. World Premiere.

* 'The Integrity of Joseph Chambers' from the US and Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Robert Machoian. World Premiere.

* 'Next Exit' from the US and Directed and Written by Mali Elfman. World Premiere.

* 'Three Headed Beast' from the US and Co-Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Fernando Andres. World Premiere.

* 'Wes Schlagenhauf Is Dying' from the US and Co-Written, Directed, Co-Produced and starring Parker Seaman. World Premiere. 

* 'The Year Between' from the US and Written and Directed by Alex Heller. World Premiere. 

The New-York based Festival breaks its geographical boundaries with the International Narrative Competition, welcoming filmmakers from abroad to join a global platform for contemporary world cinema. These films will compete for Best Narrative Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Performance. Those in competition are :-

* 'Blaze' from Australia and Written and Directed by Del Kathryn Barton. World Premier.

* 'January' from Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Written and Directed by Viesturs Kairiss. World Premiere.

* 'Karaoke' from Israel and Written and Directed by Moshe Rosenthal. World Premiere.

* 'A Matter Of Trust' from Denmark and Written and Directed by Anette K. Olesen. World Premiere. 

* 'My Love Affair with Marriage' from the US, Latvia and Luxembourg and Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Signe Baumane. World Premiere.

* 'Pink Moon' from Italy, Netherlands and Slovenia and Directed by Floor van der Meulen. World Premiere. 

* 'Two Sisters and a Husband' from India and Co-Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Shlok Sharma. World Premiere.

* 'The Visitor' from Bolivia and Uruguay and Written and Directed by Martin Boulocq. World Premier.

* 'We Might As Well Be Dead' from Germany ad Romania and Written and Directed by Natalia Sinelnikova. International Premier.

* 'Woman on the Roof' from Poland, France and Sweden and Written and Directed by Anna Jadowska. World Premier.

For the other films in competition, the other strands playing at this years Tribeca Film Festival, plus all the details on how you can be entertained during the festival, you can visit the official website at : https://www.tribecafilm.com/festival

Turning the attention then back to this weeks three new movies coming to an Odeon near you, we kick off with a horror drama about a young woman who goes on a solo holiday to the English countryside following the death of her ex-husband, only to be confronted by various men who all share one thing in common. This is followed by a French film about a middle aged woman who is a sous-chef wanting to open her own restaurant, but when financial difficulties set in she accepts a job at a shelter for young migrants, which at first she hates, then her passion for cuisine starts to change children's lives. And closing out the week we have an American animated Sci-Fi action adventure film that is an origin story of a much loved test pilot and astronaut from four 'Toy Story' films. 

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

'MEN' (Rated MA15+) - is a folk horror film Written and Directed by Alex Garland whose previous two feature film making credits are 'Ex Machina' in 2014 and 'Annihilation' in 2018, although he has also written the screenplays for Danny Boyle's '28 Days Later' and 'Sunshine', plus 'Never Let Me Go' and 'Dredd' as well as the two aforementioned films Directed by him, with 'The Beach' and 'The Tesseract' movies based on novels written by Garland. This film was released in the UK in late May and in the US in early June, and this week is released in Australia having so far grossed US$8M and garnered generally favourable critical reviews.

Following a personal tragedy, Harper (Jessie Buckley) retreats alone to the beautiful English countryside, to the small village of Colston, hoping to find a place to heal. However, someone or something from the surrounding woods appears to be stalking her. What begins as simmering dread soon becomes a fully formed nightmare, inhabited by her darkest memories and fears. Also starring Rory Kinnear as Geoffrey and the various other 'men' that Harper encounters throughout the village, Paapa Essiedu, Gayle Rankin and Sonoya Mizuno. 

'THE KITCHEN BRIGADE' (Rated M) - this French comedy offering is Co-Written and Directed by Louis-Julien Petit whose prior Directorial efforts include 'Discount', 'Carole Matthieu' and 'Invisibles'. Here then, Cathy Marie (Audrey Lamy) is a forty-year-old headstrong sous-chef wanting to open a gastronomic restaurant. But of course nothing here goes according to her grand plan. With financial difficulties, Cathy accepts a job at a shelter for young migrants run by Lorenzo (Francois Cluzet). At first she hates the job then her passion for cuisine starts to change children's lives, while at the same time the children have a thing or two to teach Cathy. 

'LIGHTYEAR' (Rated PG) - is an American computer-animated science fiction action-adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It is a spin-off of the 'Toy Story' film series, serving as an origin story for the fictional test pilot/astronaut character, Buzz Lightyear, who featured in the main films as a toy/action figure. It is Co-Written and Directed by Angus MacLane in his feature film making debut, although he did Co-Direct 2016's 'Finding Dory'. The film tells the story of young astronaut Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Chris Evans), who, after being marooned on a hostile planet some 4.2 million light years from Earth with his commander and crew, tries to find a way back home through space and time. To make matters worse, Emperor Zurg (James Brolin) arrives with an imposing army of ruthless robots and an agenda that poses a threat to the universe's safety. Also starring the voices of Keke Palmer, Taika Waititi, Peter Sohn and Isiah Whitlock Jnr. The film is released in the US and here in Australia this week.

With three 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-

THE LOST CITY : Tuesday 7th June 2022

I saw the M Rated 'THE LOST CITY' at my local multiplex this week some seven weeks after its release date in Australia of 14th April. This American action adventure comedy film is Co-Written and Directed by Adam and Aaron Nee whose previous feature film credits take in their debut offering in 2006 with 'The Last Romantic' and 'Band of Robbers' in 2015. This film saw its World Premier at South by Southwest in mid-March before its cinema release Stateside at the end of March, having so far grossed US$186M off the back of a US$68M production budget and garnering mixed or average Reviews along the way.

Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock, who also Co-Produces here) is an acclaimed author who writes fictional romantic-adventure novels based around a heroine, Dr. Angela Lovemore (also played by Sandra Bullock), and her romantic interest, Dash McMahon (Channing Tatum). To promote the latest and twentieth book in the series, her publisher, Beth Hatten (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), insists that Loretta embark on a book tour with Alan Caprison (also played by Channing Tatum), the book's cover model for Dash, despite her reclusiveness since the death of her husband. Sage has grown tired of turning out 'schlock' novels featuring Lovemore and McMahon despite the obvious benefits that the trappings of her success has brought her, and so she decides it's time to kill off Dash. On the book tour, Dash is asked to remove his shirt by several women in the audience, much to Sage's chagrin, and needless to say their exploits onstage does not end well for either of them.

And so, following a less than successful start to their book tour Loretta is kidnapped by Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe), a billionaire who has deduced that Loretta based her books on actual historic research conducted with her late archaeologist husband. He discovered a lost city on a remote island in the Atlantic and is convinced the 'Crown of Fire', a priceless crown of sixty encrusted red diamonds, is located there. When she declines to help decipher part of an ancient map believed to pinpoint the treasure, Fairfax, fearing an active volcano will destroy the site within days potentially, chloroforms and takes Loretta to the island aboard his private jet. 

Alan, who is secretly infatuated with Loretta, witnesses her kidnapping. He recruits Jack Trainer (Brad Pitt), a former Navy SEAL turned CIA operative and now a seemingly one man army for hire, whom he met at a mind and body retreat to connect with one's inner being, to meet him on the island and coordinate a rescue. Jack, with absolutely no help from Alan, breaches Fairfax's compound and overcome's many of Fairfax's henchmen singlehandedly in close quarter hand to hand combat, and frees Loretta, but is shot in the head before they can make it to the airport, forcing Loretta and Alan to flee into the jungle.

After leaving Alan where he fell, and fleeing in his Baja Qute car which ends up falling over a cliff, and then camping out in a hammock overnight, Loretta and Alan spend the next day fending off Fairfax's henchmen before reaching a nearby village, where Loretta calls Beth and leaves a message for her to tell her she's alive, and Alan dances with the locals. Upon hearing an old folk song from a local, Loretta deduces that the crown is hidden in a sinkhole somewhere in the jungle. Before they can leave however, Fairfax captures her again. Alan gives chase to save Loretta on a old motorcycle that he traded his wrist watch for, and catches them up. The pair then fight and struggle to gain the upper hand, before  being forced to share the treasure's location with Fairfax.

Upon reaching the location within the sinkhole, they discover the tomb is not a monument to Taha and Calaman's power, but a hiding place for the queen to grieve over her husband. Her Crown of Fire was made of red seashells gathered by him as a sign of his love for her. The actual treasure of the legend was not a priceless diamond encrusted jewel but the inseparable love between the king and his queen. Angered beyond belief, Fairfax forces Loretta and Alan into the tomb and closes it firmly shut as the volcano erupts, but Rafi (Hector Anibal), one of the henchmen and an island local, has a change of heart and leaves a crowbar to help them escape. Running ahead of Fairfax to escape the molten lava floe, Rafi abandons Fairfax on the island by heading off on his motor boat. Beth arrives with the local coast guard and rescues Loretta and Alan who swam underwater through a series of tunnels to safety, and Fairfax is duly arrested having been picked up looking lost and innocent. Loretta's next book, based on her adventure with Alan, is a hit, as they kiss at the end of their next book tour. 

Remain in your seat for a mid-credits sequence in which Jack, having survived the bullet to his head and having been presumed very dead, attends a yoga class with Loretta and Alan, surprising them both. 

'The Lost City' is almost an updated version of 1984's 'Romancing the Stone' with Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito and so in that respect this film offers up nothing particularly new that we haven't seen before. However, that said, this film will be aimed at a whole new audience unfamiliar with that earlier film, and in that respect the chemistry that obviously exists between Bullock, Tatum, Radcliffe and Pitt (for the brief scenes that the latter plays out) helps elevate this feature above the also-rans. The script is a little thin on the ground, but the sense of humour and the quips often delivered in dead-pan fashion make up for this, while some of sweeping vistas of the Dominican Republic (where this movie was filmed) all add up to a film that is greater than the sum of its parts. Sure, its not going to reinvent the action adventure Rom-Com genre but it does at least provide a satisfying screwball comedy that reminds us why we go to the movies.

'The Lost City' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-