What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 16th February 2017.

Continuing with all the glitz and glamour of Awards Season, Sunday evening 12th February saw the 70th BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards hosted for the twelfth year by Stephen Fry from The Royal Albert Hall in London, England. Attended by the Who's Who of the movie industry and a couple of Royal Blue Bloods as well (HRH Prince William and Kate Middleton), this years winners and grinners who walked away with the golden mask were :-

* Best Film : 'LA LA LAND'
* Best British Film : 'I, DANIEL BLAKE'
* Best Animated Film : 'KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS'
* Best Film not in the English Language : 'SON OF SAUL'
* Best Director : DAMIEN CHAZELLE for 'La La Land'
* Best Actor : CASEY AFFLECK for 'Manchester By The Sea'
* Best Actress : EMMA STONE for 'La La Land'
* Best Supporting Actor : DEV PATEL for 'Lion'
* Best Supporting Actress : VIOLA DAVIS for  'Fences'
* Best Original Screenplay : KENNETH LONERGAN for 'Manchester By The Sea'
* Best Adapted Screenplay : LUKE DAVIS for 'Lion'
* Best Original Music : JUSTIN HURWITZ for 'La La Land'
* The EE Rising Star Award : TOM HOLLAND
* BAFTA Fellowship Award : MEL BROOKS

In other categories 'Jackie' picked up Best Costume Design; 'Hacksaw Ridge' won Best Editing; 'La La Land' Best Cinematography; Best Hair and Make-Up went to 'Florence Foster Jenkins'; Special Visual Effects went to 'The Jungle Book'; Best Production Design was awarded to 'Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them'; Best Sound went to 'Arrival', and Best Documentary Film went to '13th'.

Turning to this week, we have five new cinematic offerings to tease you out to your local multiplex or independent movie theatre. We start off with a highly acclaimed feel good movie of the '60's Space Race era and how three coloured women proved that they were better than any computer of the time, and so rewrote the history books in the process by putting an man in orbit and ensuring his safe return. The stuff of legend! We then have another historical drama but this time of the Chinese fantasy adventure kind that sees a European arrow slinging warrior face off against the might of an ancient marauding creature foe. Next up is a passion project by a renowned Director taking us on a 17th Century tale of Catholicism in a far way land where it is forbidden, and our two protagonists have their faith tested to the limit as they search for their learned colleague and mentor. We then turn attention to the streets of Las Vegas in a crime drama that pits an undercover cop against the underworld mob as family, work and loyalty collide. Wrapping up is an English crime story of three generations of a crime family and the passing of the baton from father to son to grandson amidst a conflict of interest and a new way of thinking for the younger generation keen on escaping that old way of life.

Remember that you are warmly invited to share your thoughts, observations and personal critique with your fellow readers here at Odeon Online, when you have sat through your film of choice in the coming week. Leave you constructive, relevant and pertinent thoughts in the Comments section below this or any other Post - as always - we'd love to hear from you. Meanwhile, enjoy your film experience in the coming week.

'HIDDEN FIGURES' (Rated PG) - this highly acclaimed historical biographical drama film is Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written for the screen by Thoedore Melfi, is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly and so far has gained three Academy Award nominations whose winners are yet to be announced, as well as a haul to date of 25 wins and a further sixty-one nominations. The film cost US$25M to make, and has so far grossed US$141M since its release Stateside at Christmas.

Beginning in 1961 at the start of the Space Race, mathematician Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) works as a human computer in a division of Langley Research Centre in Hampton, Virginia with her two colleagues Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) an engineer, and Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) another mathematician and unofficial supervisor. After the Russians successfully launch a space satellite, so the race hots up to put a man into orbit. Katherine is quickly assigned by her supervisor Vivian Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst) to support the Space Task Group headed up by Al Harrison (Kevin Costner) and become the first coloured woman on the team. Over time the three woman prove their worth to the space race by helping to launch John Glenn into space and his successful and safe return after the newly installed and trusted IBM 7090 computer shows flaws in its calculations and Katherine has to step in with her brain power to save the day, and win the confidence of the nation, and indeed the world. These unsung heroes of the early days of space exploration crossed political, race and gender lines to create something bigger, more valuable and more important than they ever could have imagined and inspired a generation that came after, to dream big. Also starring Mahershala Ali and Jim Parsons, this is a crowd pleasing, uplifting, heart warming not to be missed true story and one to watch.

'THE GREAT WALL' (Rated M) - representing the most expensive Chinese movie ever made at a budget of US$150M, this film is the first English film Directed by Zhang Yimou and is best described as an epic historical action adventure fantasy monster film. It was released in China in mid-December and has so far grossed US$225M before its release in Australia on 16th and the US on 17th February. Set in the China of about a thousand years ago, European mercenary warrior William Garin (Matt Damon) is searching for black powder to secure his wealth, but is subsequently held captive within the Great Wall of China. He quickly becomes caught up in an epic battle with ancient marauding creatures who attack just once every sixty years and so his search for fame and fortune turns into a journey of strength, heroics and survival as he joins an elite team of highly trained warriors to thwart a formidable and seemingly unstoppable enemy. Also starring Willem Dafoe, Pedro Pascal, Andy Lau and Tian Jing. This film has received mixed Reviews and perhaps some unfair criticism but for an epic English language Chinese production the like of which we have never seen before, I think it's gotta be worth a look!

'SILENCE' (Rated MA15+) - this film has been a passion project for Martin Scorsese since reading the book back in 1988 and acquiring the film rights back in 1990. After approaching thirty years in gestation, this historical drama film is Directed by Martin Scorsese, Co-Written and Co-Produced by him too, and is based on the 1966 book of the same name by Shusaku Endo. Costing US$40M to make, the film was released in the US at Christmas and has so far earned back US$14M. The film follows two 17th Century Portuguese Jesuit Priests - Sebastiao Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Francisco Garupe (Adam Driver) who travel from their home country to Japan to search for their mentor Father Cristovao Ferreira (Liam Neeson) who has renounced his faith after being tortured. At a time when Catholicism was outlawed and their very presence in Japan was forbidden, the two must face physical dangers and a test of their own faith in God before their journey and their quest can be complete. Also starring Ciaran Hinds as Father Alessandro Valignano who first hears news of Father Cristovao Ferreira. The film has a Cinematography nomination at the upcoming Academy Awards, and has so far picked up six award wins and another 35 nominations.

'SLEEPLESS' (Rated MA15+) - is a crime drama film Directed by Baran bo Odar, made on a budget of US30M, released Stateside mid-January, has so far recovered US$21M with generally poor Reviews along the way. Starring Jamie Foxx as Vincent Downes a Las Vegas Police Department undercover cop who partners up with Sean Cass (T.I.) to rob an incoming shipment of cocaine, belonging to Stanley Rubino (Dermot Mulroney) whose in cahoots with Rob Novak (Scoot McNairy) who happens to be the son of a powerful underworld king pin. Rubin quickly establishes that Downes did the thieving and so kidnap his son, Thomas (Octavius J. Johnson) while dad is driving his son to soccer practise, demanding the return of his cocaine in exchange for the life of Thomas. What ensues is a high stakes game of corrupt cops, revengeful mobsters and internal affairs as the clock ticks down on a sleepless night to save himself, his son and ensure that justice is served.

'TRESPASS AGAINST US' (Rated MA15+) - Directed by Adam Smith this family crime drama film has had a limited release in the US and opens in the UK on 3rd March. The film is set across three generations of the Cutler family, outlaws living in their own anarchic corner of Britain's richest countryside. Chad Cutler (Michael Fassbender) is heir apparent to his over bearing and dominant criminal father, Colby (Brendan Gleeson) and has been groomed to spend his life hunting, thieving and tormenting the Police. However, when his own son Tyson (Georgie Smith) steps over into adulthood, Chad soon finds himself at odds with his father over what the future holds for his young family. When Colby learns of Chad's dreams and aspirations for another life he sets out to tie his son and grandson into the archaic order that has shaped the Cutler family for generations and made them in to what they are today. Also starring Sean Harris, Rory Kinnear and Lyndsey Marshal.

With three historical and two crime dramas to choose from this week there's no better way to escape the record breaking heat of a scorching Australian Summer than to retreat to an air conditioned comfort of a movie theatre. Share your views afterwards with us here, and in the meantime I'll see you sometime, somewhere in the week ahead at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

GOLD : Tuesday 7th February 2017.

'GOLD' which I caught last week is Directed and Co-Written by Stephen Gaghan, Co-Produced and starring Matthew McConaughey and as the opening credits would indicated is inspired by true events. Those true events, are that of the biggest mining scandal of all time - associated with Bre-X Minerals Ltd., a Canadian based mining and exploration company in Calgary that was involved in a major gold mining scandal when it reported it had struck a significant gold deposit at Busang, Indonesia (Borneo). Bre-X purchased the Busang location in early 1993 and by late that same year had announced significant reserves of gold had been discovered, sending its stock price into the stratosphere. Originally a penny stock, its stock price reached a peak at C$286.50 in May 1996 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with a total market capitalisation of over C$6B. Bre-X Minerals collapsed in 1997 after the gold samples were found to be fake. This is that story derived from the Bre-X scandal for this drama adventure film, although for legal reasons the Producers deny any claim to a connection with these events, changing the names of the individuals, company's and decade in which they occurred for the purposes of our entertainment.

The film launches in 1981 with Kenny Wells (Matthew McConaughey) in the offices of clearly successful metals prospecting and mining company (Washoe Mining Corporation) owned by his father Kenny Wells (Craig T. Nelson), strategising about a suspected minerals deposit and whether or not to jump in headlong to its exploration. Kenny Senior gives Kenny Junior the thumbs up, and as dad gazes out of his office window Scotch Whisky in hand, so son beams a smile that says 'I love you dad'! Fast forward seven years, and Kenny Junior has inherited the company from his father who died back in 1981 and who built up the company from his Grandfather. But the economic downturn has seen the company land on hard times and now operating out of bar where Kenny's girlfriend, Kay (Bryce Dallas Howard) works. Kenny has also lost his home and resides with Kay, and the financiers whom Kenny courts for capital funding won't give him the time of day.

Down on his luck and quickly running out of money, one night Kenny has a whisky induced dream of hitting a substantial gold strike in some faraway verdant jungle. He digs out the business card of a once before met guru geologist who has an ability to sniff out precious metal deposits where no on else can, and so travels to Indonesia to meet with Michael Acosta (Edgar Ramirez). After an initial frosty meeting in which Acosta claims to have heard it all before from Kenny, the couple pair up and head up river. They then trudge through the lush jungle undergrowth until Acosta determines the spot where there's gold in them thar hills! With hired help in the form of the willing locals they set up a makeshift mining camp with a drill and begin to take core samples, sending the fruits of their findings off for testing. This goes on seemingly for months in the hot sun drenched tropical forest, with those core samples drawing up blanks time after time.

In between time Kenny returns home to the US to raise more funds to underpin their ongoing search for the elusive gold deposit, and then returns to join Acosta at the mine site. But samples, wages, infrastructure and the location all costs money and quickly their finances are slipping through their fingers. To make matters worse Kenny catches a dose of malaria and is holed up in his jungle home on a camp bed for weeks, while his local mining crew up sticks and leave because of non-payment of wages and doubtless various other gripes associated with their working conditions. Emerging from his malaria stupor seemingly recovered, he is greeted by the news from Acosta that they have struck gold, and it's on!

Meanwhile back on Wall Street, investment banker Brian Woolf (Corey Stoll) gets wind of this gold strike and hastily engineers a meeting with Kenny and Acosta at their plush city offices. Kenny refuses to succumb to the allure of instant wealth at the hands of the investment bank and commands that representatives from the bank travel to the deepest darkest Indonesian jungle to see their stake for themselves first hand. This they do, and whilst they don't witness any gold coming out of the ground, they do pan for nuggets in the river upstream, and strike it lucky - providing all the evidence needed to satisfy themselves that there is indeed gold in them thar hills! Soon afterwards there's an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange that sees the stock value in Washoe skyrocket on its opening day of trading and as a result Kenny and Acosta's fortunes are reversed overnight, and they become the darlings of Wall Street with investors falling over themselves to buy in on what is described as the 'biggest gold find of the decade'!

Against this back drop we have the ongoing romance between Kay and Kenny that hits hard times as Kenny's rise to riches and fame take hold, and Kay struggles to reconcile this with her simple life back home. It all goes pear shape at a lavish dinner held in their honour after the floating of their company, and Kay walks out on Kenny claiming that he cannot see that he is being taken for a ride by the Wall Street powerbrokers who all want a piece of the action and will take no prisoners in doing so.

Enter Mark Hancock (Bruce Greenwood) a gazillionaire mining company owner who with the help of Brian Woolf offers Kenny US$300M for his company, walk away, never worry about money again for yourself, your children and your children's children! Kenny declines the offer when he notices on the draft contract that Washoe's name doesn't appear anywhere, and nor does Kenny's or his 50/50 partner Acosta. Having unceremoniously turned down the offer, he heads for his own office where he receives an urgent telephone call from Acosta at the minestite saying that the Indonesian authorities have seized the camp, evacuated all the workers and revoked their license to mine. The share price plummets, and any wealth that Kenny and Acosta had is now all gone, in an instant, whereas 24 hours earlier they could have been richer to the tune of US$300M. Gee, life sucks!

At this point the FBI arrive on the scene and seize all company records and documents smelling the proverbial rat given the billions of dollars that have been lost by thousands of now very angry investors. Paul Jennings (Toby Kebbel) heads up the investigation interviewing Kenny overnight in his hotel room. Meanwhile, Kenny is awarded the golden pick axe - the highest accolade that can be bestowed upon any prospector/miner by the #1 industry magazine. He attends a lavish awards ceremony, collects his gong, makes a speech honouring his father and his grandfather before him, at which point Acosta slinks out of the room, never to be seen again except in flashback as Kenny recounts his story.

It seems that Acosta had a plan to gain back a stake in their mine by infiltrating President Suharto's estranged son. A deal that would give back the lion share to Indonesia with Kenny and Acosta retaining a 15% stake in their company, and a deal that would demonstrate to the President that his son could broker a good deal that was good for the Government, good for the country and good for them personally. When news of this deal hit Wall Street, the share price instantly rebounded. But when proper due diligence was conducted around the site the gold claim was found to be fraudulent and therefore in fact no gold deposits existed, and nor had there ever been. A fact known to Acosta who quickly dumped his shareholding for a cash windfall of US$164M, thanks very much. Kenny maintained his innocence throughout this and claims that he was also duped on a massive scale by his partner whom he trusted and whom he thought he knew, despite the evidence that the FBI confronted him with. Acosta returned to Indonesia and wound up very dead (allegedly) having 'jumped' out of a helicopter at a thousand feet, only to be eaten by wild pigs and discovered days later. In the final analysis Kenny is allowed to walk free absolved of any criminal intent and as broke as the day he started . . . although there is a silver lining!

McConaughey for his role transformed himself once again with a pot belly piling on 47lbs, balding comb over and crooked teeth demonstrating his commitment to his craft once more following his dramatic weight loss for 'The Dallas Buyers Club'. Here he dominates every scene with his larger than life, greed is good, shit or bust attitude to life. When he doesn't have a cigarette in his hand, he's downing a glass of Whisky whilst chewing up his lines and bringing real life grittiness to his character. But he overshadows all other players, including his number one guy and partner Edward Ramirez, and Bryce Dallas Howard as Kay is left wanting on the sidelines and under utilised, as is Toby Kebbel's investigative FBI Agent. The film for all its based on real life events, is an enjoyable caper portrayed by loveable rogues but the movie lacked any chemistry between the principle Actors and plodded along predictably playing out as one would expect from these couple of unlikely lads chasing their hopes and dreams and suffering the consequences as a result. Stacey Keach and Rachael Taylor also star.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 12th - 18th February 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Mahershala Ali does on 16th February - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 43, at the end of this feature.

Do you also share your birthday with a well known, highly regarded & famous Actor or Actress; share your special day with a Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer, Singer/Songwriter or Composer of repute; or share an interest in whoever might notch up another year in the coming seven days? Then, look no further! Whilst there will be too many to mention in this small but not insignificant and beautifully written and presented Blog, here are the more notable and noteworthy icons of the big screen, and the small screen, that you will recognise, and that you might just share your birthday with in the week ahead. If so, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online!

Sunday 12th February

• Joe Don Baker - Born 1936, turns 81 - Actor
• Michael Ironside - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Josh Brolin - Born 1968, turns 49  -Actor | Producer
• Darren Aronofsky - Born 1969, turns 48 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Christina Ricci - Born 1980, turns 37 - Actress | Producer

Monday 13th February

• Kim Novak - Born 1933, turns 84 - Actress
• Stockard Channing - Born 1944, turns 73 - Actress
• Mena Suvari - Born 1979, turns 38 - Actress
• George Segal - Born 1934, turns 83 - Actor
• Neal McDonough - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actor | Producer  

Tuesday 14th February

• Alan Parker - Born 1944, turns 73 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Simon Pegg - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Freddie Highmore - Born 1992, turns 25 - Actor  

Wednesday 15th February

• Matt Groening - Born 1954, turns 63 - Producer | Writer | Animator | Actor | Singer
• Claire Bloom - Born 1931, turns 86 - Actress
• Jane Seymour - Born 1951, turns 66 - Actress | Producer
• Jessica De Gouw - Born 1988, turns 29 - Actress  

Thursday 16th February

• Elizabeth Olsen - Born 1989, turns 28 - Actress
• Ice-T (aka Tracy Lauren Marrow) - Born 1958, turns 59 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• Christopher Eccleston - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actor
• Mahershala Ali - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actor   

Friday 17th February

• Hal Holbrook - Born 1925, turns 92 - Actor
• Lou Diamond Phillips - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Michael Bay - Born 1965, turns 52 - Director | Producer | Actor | Cameraman
• Dominic Purcell - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actor | Producer
• Jerry O'Connell - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Rory Kinnear - Born 1978, turns 39 - Actor
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Born 1981, turns 36 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer
• Renee Russo - Born 1954, turns 63 - Actress
• Denise Richards - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actress | Producer  

Saturday 18th February

• Cybill Shepherd - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Greta Scacchi - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actress
• Molly Ringwald - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actress
• Milos Forman - Born 1932, turns 85 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• John Travolta - Born 1954, turns 63 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Matt Dillon - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actor | Producer | Writer

Mahershalalhashbaz 'Mahershala' Gilmore was born in Oakland, California and was raised in Hayward, California in the East Bay area of San Francisco Bay. His mother Willicia Goines, was an ordained Christian Church Minister, and his father Phillip F. Gilmore, appeared in stage plays on Broadway. Raised a Christian, he converted to Islam and in so doing changed his surname from Gilmore to Ali. He attended St. Mary's College of California, a small private co-educational college in Moraga, about 15kms east of Oakland, on a basketball scholarship from which he graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in mass communication. He became disillusioned with a career in sport however, and so developed an interest in Acting after earning a role in 'Spunk' that led to him gaining an apprenticeship at the California Shakespeare Theatre upon graduating from St. Mary's. Having taken  a year off he landed a job at the long established 'Gavin Report' - a San Francisco based radio industry trade publication which subsequently closed down in 2002. He then enrolled in the New York University Graduate Acting Programme gaining a Masters Degree in 2000.

His first screen break came in 2001 scoring the role of Dr. Trey Sanders on nineteen episodes of 'Crossing Jordan'. This was quickly followed up with single episodes on television shows 'Haunted', 'NYPD Blue', 'CSI : Crime Scene Investigation', and 'The Handler'. Fifteen episodes on Homeland Security drama thriller series 'Threat Matrix' and 32 episodes on Sci-Fi drama mystery series 'The 4400' with comedy film offering 'Making Revolution' coming in between time.

2008 saw his first major big screen role in David Fincher's 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' alongside Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. The film won three Oscar's and was nominated for another ten with an all up awards haul of 76 wins and 146 other nods. 'Crossing Over' followed in 2009 with Harrison Ford, Ashley Judd, Ray Liotta and Jim Sturgess with Sci-Fi actioner 'Predators' with Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburn, Danny Trejo, Topher Grace and Walton Goggins in 2010. In between time there had been more television work on 'Lie to Me' with Tim Roth, 'Law & Order : SVU', 'Lights Out' with Stacy Keach, and 'Alcatraz' with Sam Neill.

The Derek Cianfrance Directed crime drama thriller about a bank robbing motorcycle stunt rider 'The Place Beyond the Pines' with Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Ben Mendelsohn and Eva Mendes was released in 2012, before John Sayles Written and Directed 'Go for Sisters' and 'Supremacy' in 2014. 'The Hungers Games : Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2' released in 2014 and 2015 saw Ali play Colonel Boggs. These two films returned a Box Office haul of US$1.41B off a budget of US$285M.



In between big screen appearances there were further small screen roles on six episodes of post Hurricane Katrina drama 'Treme', and twelve episodes on Sci-Fi action drama series about humans with enhanced abilities 'Alphas', and then 33 episodes of the highly acclaimed, very popular and much awarded 'House of Cards' as Remy Danton with Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright.

'Kicks' came next in 2016 with the Gary Ross Directed 'Free State of Jones' with Matthew McConaughey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and then the universally acclaimed 'Moonlight' which is nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Supporting Actor for Ali, Best Picture and Best Directing for Barry Jenkins. It is also up for four BAFTA Awards including again the Best Supporting Actor nod for Ali. Both the BAFTA and Academy Awards are yet to be presented at the time of writing. In the meantime Ali won the SAG Award for his Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role and was nominated for a Golden Globe in the same category. The film cost just US$5M to make and has so far taken US$20M at the Box Office.

Since, he has starred in seven episodes of the Netflix small screen Marvel adaptation of 'Luke Cage' as Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes, before the pending release of the highly anticipated 'Hidden Figures' due in cinemas in Australia on 16th February and is also nominated for three Oscars and has so far picked up 25 wins and a total 64 nominations form around the traps. Next up is 'Roxanne Roxanne' due later this year and then Robert Rodriguez Directed and James Cameron Co-Written 26th Century action adventure offering 'Alita : Battle Angel' with Jennifer Connelly, Christoph Waltz, Ed Skrein and Jackie Earle Hayley bringing us up to date.

All up Ali has 37 Acting credits to his name so far, he has an outstanding nomination for this years Academy Awards and BAFTA's for his role in 'Moonlight' and he has 46 award wins in total and another 30 nominations. Not bad for someone you've probably only very recently heard of, or perhaps not at all! He married Amatus Sami-Karim in 2013, and in December 2016 the couple announced the pending arrival of their first child together.

Mahershala Ali - whose name hails from the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible and is a combination of four words 'Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz' meaning 'hurry to the spoils' or 'he has made haste to the plunder'. He is also a respected rapper in the hip-hop world, and aside from big and small screen appearances has appeared in numerous stage roles in both contemporary and classic plays. Get used to the name and seeing more of Mahershala as his star continues to rise and the spotlight is turned firmly in his direction. A very Happy Birthday to you Mahershala, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 9th February 2017.

The 70th British Academy Film Awards will be presented on Sunday evening 12th February at London's Royal Albert Hall with Stephen Fry hosting the ceremony for the twelfth time. Those up for the prized BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards, in the major categories are :-

* BEST FILM : 'Arrival', 'I, Daniel Blake', 'La La Land', 'Manchester By The Sea' and 'Moonlight'.
* BEST DIRECTOR : Dennis Villeneuve for 'Arrival', Ken Loach for 'I, Daniel Blake', Damien Chazelle for 'La La Land', Kenneth Lonergan for 'Manchester By The Sea' and Tom Ford for 'Nocturnal Animals'.
* BEST LEAD ACTOR : Ryan Gosling for 'La La Land', Casey Affleck for 'Manchester By The Sea',  Jake Gyllenhaal for 'Nocturnal Animals', Andrew Garfield for 'Hacksaw Ridge' and Viggo Mortensen for 'Captain Fantastic'.
* BEST LEAD ACTRESS : Amy Adams for 'Arrival', Emma Stone for 'La La Land', Emily Blunt for 'Girl On The Train', Natalie Portman for 'Jackie' and Meryl Streep for 'Florence Foster Jenkins'.
* BEST SUPPORT ACTOR : Aaron Taylor Johnson for 'Nocturnal Animals', Mahershala Ali for 'Moonlight', Hugh Grant for 'Florence Foster Jenkins', Dev Patel for 'Lion' and Jeff Bridges for 'Hell or High Water'.
* BEST SUPPORT ACTRESS : Hayley Squires for 'I, Daniel Blake', Michelle Williams for 'Manchester By The Sea', Naomie Harris for 'Moonlight', Nicole Kidman for 'Lion' and Viola Davis for 'Fences'.
* BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY : Paul Leverty for 'I, Daniel Blake', Damien Chazelle for 'La La Land', Kenneth Lonergan for 'Manchester By The Sea', Barry Jenkins for 'Moonlight' and Taylor Sheridan for 'Hell or High Water'.
* OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM : 'American Honey', 'Denial', 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them', 'I, Daniel Blake', 'Notes on Blindness' and 'Under the Shadow'.
* BEST SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS : 'Arrival', 'Doctor Strange', 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them', 'The Jungle Book' and 'Rogue One : A Star Wars Story'.
* BEST ANIMATED FILM : 'Finding Dory, 'Moana', 'Kubo and the Two Strings' and 'Zootopia'.
* BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM : 'Dheepan', 'Julieta', 'Mustang', 'Son of Saul' and 'Toni Erdmann'
* RISING STAR AWARD : Laia Costa (seen recently in 'Victoria' and soon in 'Newness'), Lucas Hedges (seen most recently in 'Manchester By The Sea'), Tom Holland (about to be seen in 'The Lost City of Z' and 'Spider-Man : Homecoming'), Ruth Nega (about to be seen in 'Loving'), and Anya Taylor Joy (seen recently in 'The Witch', 'Morgan' and 'Split')

This week there are four new release films to tempt you out to your local air conditioned multiplex. Kicking off with big screen adaptation of a successful stage play adapted from a early '80's novel, this film has created much buzz for its award winning Director and Star who appeared on the Broadway stage with this in 2010 and now sits in front of, and behind the camera to bring us this story of 1950's era dreams, disappointments and decisions that have far reaching implications for one man and those closest to him. We then switch to a #1 best selling erotic novel - the first in a trilogy that just had to be committed to the big screen, and after the commercial success of that first cinematic outing here comes the second instalment. Then this weeks foreign language offering sees a German comedy drama that has won much critical acclaim for this story of a fractured father and daughter relationship that takes the fathers alter ego to patch things up. We wrap up the week with a British comedy drama about a drug addicted busker trying to break his habit, by teaming up with a stray ginger feline that sees a reversal of fortune for the former, and a home and all the attention for the latter.

When you have sat in a darkened enclosed space with a bunch of complete strangers for two hours all looking in the same direction, then you are warmly invited to share your movie going experience with your like minded Cinephiles here in the Blogosphere. Leave your relevant, brief and thoughtful observations in the Comments section below this or any other Post - as always we'd love to hear from you. In the meantime, enjoy your movie, wherever it takes you.

'FENCES' (Rated PG) - the screen adaptation of this film started its life as a Pulitzer Prize winning 1983 stage play of the same name written by August Wilson who died in October 2005 aged sixty. Wilson died having written the screenplay. The stage play Premiered on Broadway back in 1987 with James Earl Jones in the lead role, won much critical applause then and was highly awarded. Fast track to 2010 and the revival of the Broadway stage show saw Denzel Washington and Viola Davis as the two lead husband and wife characters in a limited season of thirteen weeks. That stage production was nominated for ten Tony Awards, winning three - for Best Revival of a Play, Best Actor in a Play for Washington, and Best Actress in a Play for Davis. In 2013 in an interview with a well known movie magazine, Washington expressed his desire to star in and Direct a big screen adaptation of the play. In early 2016 it was announced that Washington would Direct, Co-Produce and star in that big screen adaptation with Scott Rudin also Co-Producing, as he did with the successful stage play. And here now in our cinemas are the fruits of those efforts with many of those stage Actors reprising their roles for this film production, which has thus far received positive critical recognition, four Oscar and one BAFTA nomination, a Golden Globe win for Viola Davis, a SAG win for Davis and Washington and all up a tally of 39 award wins and 96 further nominations. From its US$24M budget it has so far recovered US$53M.

The story here is set in 1950's Pittsburgh and Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) lives with his wife Rose (Viola Davis) and their son Cory (Jovan Adepo). Troy works as a waste collector, dreams of the life that may have been as a professional in the Negro Leagues baseball but failed to graduate to Major League Baseball, because of his colour or his advancing years, or both. As the years begin to catch-up on Troy he makes decisions that have far reaching implications upon his family life - impacting his son, his wife, his mentally impaired older brother Gabriel (Mykelti Williamson), and ultimately himself.

'FIFTY SHADES DARKER' (Rated MA15+) - 2015's 'Fifty Shades of Grey' was based on the hugely successful novel of the same name by British author E. L. James, and the first in her erotic romantic drama trilogy of books to be adapted for the big screen.  That first instalment saw a return on a production budget of US$40M of US$571M, despite its generally poor Reviews. Now two years later we have this follow up Directed by James Foley taking over from Sam Taylor-Johnson, that sees the two principal characters of Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) and Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) reprise their roles as the events of this film follow on from where its predecessor left off. Here we have Anastasia trying to move on from her relationship with Christian, but a wounded and forlorn Christian convinces his former lover to resume their romance but under whatever terms Anastasia deems appropriate. As they begin their so called 'normal' relationship, Christian's past resurfaces that might just tear the couple apart. Also starring Kim Basinger, Luke Grimes and Marcia Gay Harden. The third instalment in the film franchise ('Fifty Shades Freed') was shot back to back with 'Fifty Shades Darker', and is due for release on 9th February 2018.

'TONI ERDMANN' (Rated M) - this German/Austrian Co-Produced comedy/drama had its world Premier at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, has been nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the upcoming Oscars, and it won five major awards at the 29th European Film Awards held in Poland just before Christmas. The film was released in Germany and Austria in mid-July last year and finally arrives in Australian cinemas this week. Costing US$3.2M to make, it has so far taken US$8.3M, and is Directed, Written and Co-Produced by German film Director Maren Ade. The story here is one of estranged father and daughter relationship, with Winfried Conradi (Peter Simonischek) an ageing divorced music teacher who upon the death of his beloved pet dog decides to reconnect with his daughter Ines (Sandra Huller) who is working the corporate life in Bucharest, Romania. Winfried is a practical joker and he annoys his daughter with corny pranks, hi-jinks and jibes about her corporate lifestyle and everything associated with it. When father and daughter reach an impasse, Winfried agrees to go home to Germany. But soon afterwards emerges Toni Erdmann, Winfried's flashy alter ego - disguised in a tacky suit, ill fitting wayward wig and fake teeth. Toni then infiltrates Ines' work circle, claiming to be her CEO's life coach. As Toni, Winfried isn't backward in coming forward, and Ines rises to the challenge as laid down by her father, which helps her see him in  totally different light. In all the madness, Ines begins to see that her eccentric father might just warrant a place in her life after all. A highly acclaimed foreign language offering with a three hour running time.

'A STREET CAT NAMED BOB' (Rated PG) - a British family comedy drama featuring a cat called Bob, Directed by Roger Spottiswoode, and based on the best selling book of the same name by James Bowen. This film was released in the UK in early November, and stars Luke Treadaway as James Bowen - a recovering drug addict who is down on his luck while trying to pick up his life again. With the aid of his trusting support worker Val (Joanne Frogatt) he secures a permanent address. All he needs now is to secure a regular income which he does by busking at Covent Garden, but with very little traction from the thousands of daily passers-by. One day, Bob (Bob the Cat) enters his life, which James assumes to be a lost stray and tries to find its owner without any success. When the cat becomes more of a feature on the housing estate where James lives, the two get to know each more and more, with their lives eventually becoming more and more closely linked with results that James never thought possible.

With four very different films to choose from this week, as well as a raft of other compelling cinema content still out on general release as Reviewed and Previewed between these humble Blog pages, you've got every reason to watch your movie of choice in the week ahead and catch some of that BAFTA and Oscar buzz. When you have done so, share your thoughts! Meanwhile, I'll see you somewhere sometime in the week ahead at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

LA LA LAND : Tuesday 31st January 2017.

I finally got around to seeing the much acclaimed 'LA LA LAND' six weeks after its Australian release date. Having sat in a half packed theatre, it seemed as though the Australian cinema going public had also been carried along on the furore of the recently announced BAFTA and Oscar buzz, prompting still a decent viewing this far out. This musical romantic dramedy Written and Directed by Damien Chazelle whose last Directorial outing was the highly acclaimed 'Whiplash' seems to have struck pay-dirt again with this follow up. Praised for its Direction, praised for its two principle leads and praised for its musical numbers, this film harking back to a bygone era of song & dance musicals, cost US$30M to make, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August last year, and saw its US release in early December so far taking US$232M at the global Box Office. The film has been nominated in a record equalling fourteen categories in the upcoming Academy Awards (matched only with 1997's 'Titanic' and 1950's 'All About Eve') including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Music. It is also up for eleven BAFTA Awards, and it picked up a record breaking seven Golden Globes. All up 'La La Land' has amassed 144 award wins and another 214 nominations with the Oscar's and the BAFTA winners yet to be announced.

The film opens with a stirring song and dance routine set amidst traffic congestion on the on-ramp to a busy freeway into LA. With the traffic banked up on a hot day, it's down to the young and old to jump readily out of their cars and burst into song, dancing with each other amongst the parked cars, and adorned in the brightest most colourful dresses and figure hugging T-shirts that are orange, yellow, blue, red, green - all the colours of the rainbow in fact. It sets the tone for the film to follow. And here our two later-on would be star crossed lovers Mia Dolan (Emma Stone) and Sebastian Wilder (Ryan Gosling) suffer some minor road rage with each other which is their first interaction but certainly not their last.

Sebastian Wilder is an aspiring jazz pianist who has dreams of opening his own Jazz Club and Mia Dolan is an aspiring actress who makes espresso's in a Cafe at the Warner Brothers Studio lot where she works to make ends meet, in between the endless drudgery of auditions, whilst doting on the famous Actors she has to serve whilst on duty. After the road rage incident, Mia arrives back at her  apartment which she shares with three other girls. Cue for another song and dance routine as the girls make themselves up ready to hit a lavish party somewhere in the Hollywood Hills. Needless to say the girls are dressed in bright yellow, red, blue and green for the occasion. Leaving the party early she goes in search for her car, only to find it has been towed away, so begins the long trudge home in the early hours.

Walking home Mia come across a bar from which she can hear a pianist tickling the ivories, and she is drawn to enter by the playing. Sebastian Wilder is sat at the piano in the centre of the crowded room playing a pre-determined Christmas set-list as ordered to do so by the Club's owner Bill (J.K.Simmons) who demands Sebastian not to veer from his set-list of songs, or be fired. Sebastian can't help himself and he bursts into a jazz improvisation and is promptly dismissed by Bill. Storming out, Mia attempts to compliment him on his playing, but he brushes her off in his rage and exits the building.

Some months later, Mia is at another day time party at which Sebastian is playing electronic key board for an '80's cover band. She recognises him and ask that he play 'I Ran' that Flock of Seagulls classic to tease him for sinking to such depths and compromising his artistic integrity. After the party they leave together to walk to their cars decrying being in each others company despite the attraction they clearly feel for each other. Cue another song and dance routine with the backdrop of LA at dusk.

As time marches on the two fall for each other (cue romantic interludes that include a walk around the Warner Brothers Lot where Mia describes her acting ambitions and Sebastian outlines his jazz club aspirations; a trip to the movie theatre to see 'Rebel Without a Cause'; and a romantic dance at the Griffith Observatory as seen in 'Rebel Without a Cause'). Following more failed auditions Sebastian persuades Mia to write her own personal one-woman stage play, as Sebastian scores a regular gig playing jazz piano at a local Club. The happy couple move in together.

Soon afterwards Sebastian is approached by an old school mate, Keith (John Legend) who has his own jazz band but is in need of a keyboard player. At first Sebastian declines the offer, but then agrees - tempted by a regular salary of $1,000 per week and a percentage of all merchandise sales. At their first full rehearsal though Sebastian is taken aback by the pop-oriented approach to the bands jazz style, but he decides to stick with it - appreciating the lure of a steady income over his own dream. The band subsequently enjoy some success and go on a tour across the US which takes Sebastian away from home, and Mia, for prolonged periods.

One evening Mia comes home to find that Sebastian is there and has organised a surprise dinner for her. They talk and eat, and then he announces that he has to leave early in the morning to rejoin the band and how she should get used to his prolonged periods away from home. He envisages a studio album after this tour and then another tour to promote the album - a two year time line. They argue with Mia confronting Sebastian over his goals and dreams to own his own Club, which now seems farther away than ever. They argue more, at which point Mia leaves.

On the night of Mia's one woman self funded stage show opening, Sebastian fails to show up due to a forgotten Band photo shoot clashing with her Premier. Only a handful of people attend, and Mia from the wings hears dismissive comments from the audience. Despondent, after Sebastian finally shows up after the show has closed, she says she is leaving for her parents home at Boulder City, Nevada, to take stock of her acting aspirations. Later home alone Sebastian receives a call from a Casting Director looking for Mia, asking her to appear the next day for a movie audition, based on what she saw of Mia at her show recently. Sebastian drives to Boulder City to find Mia and bring her back to LA for the audition. Mia is reluctant at first given her previous experiences with auditions, but relents and drives back with Sebastian the next day. Needless to say Mia gets the part after singing her way through a personal and heartfelt audition. The film is to be rehearsed for there months and shot in Paris over four months, separating the couple again. Despite their uncertain future together, they profess their undying love for each other - for always.

Fast forward five years and Mia is a successful Actress in her own right, and married to another man, with whom she has a young daughter. One evening after dinner they stumble across a jazz bar in downtown LA somewhere and enter, take a seat and listen to the jazz musicians. The sign above the door welcomes them to 'Seb's' - a logo that Mia recognises because she designed it years earlier. Eventually Sebastian emerges and thanks his musicians and recognises Mia sat in the audience. Their eyes meet, and Sebastian is unsettled by the sudden appearance of his love after all these years. He sits at the piano and plays their theme, after which she leaves, turning back one more time before exiting the door. Their eyes meet once more and they give a knowing smile to each other. Fade to black!

In this era dominated by animation blockbusters, epic comic book adaptations, Superhero and Sci-Fi stories writ large, it is good to see a song and dance throw back to the films of yesteryear that revitalises the genre for a whole new audience, that clearly has struck a chord commercially and critically. There is no sex, no violence, no drugs, no car chases, no explosions, no deaths, and from memory not even any coarse language muttered in this film - it's just good honest to goodness entertainment. The film is well crafted, colourful, has a reasonable if simple storyline interspersed with reasonable song & dance routines. But, for me the flaw is in the singing and dancing abilities of the two lead characters - neither Stone of Gosling have the strongest voices you have ever heard, and the dancing is simply choreographed and not over complicated. I too would question its worthiness for fourteen Oscar, eleven BAFTA nods and even a record breaking seven Golden Globes wins. 'La La Land' is good solid nostalgic entertainment showcasing a genre that is seldom seen these days, so good on Damien Chazalle for giving it another crack, and for reigniting our interest with his assured Direction, colour, heartfelt passion, and a simple story well told.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-