THE SMASHING MACHINE : Tuesday 14th October 2025

I saw the M Rated 'THE SMASHING MACHINE' earlier this week at my local multiplex, and this American biographical sports drama film is Written, Co-Produced, Directed and Edited by Benny Safdie whose previous feature film Directing credits, with his brother Josh, are their debut 'Daddy Longlegs' in 2009, 'Lenny Cooke' in 2013, 'Heaven Knows What' in 2014, 'Good Time' in 2017 and 'Uncut Gems' in 2019. This film is Benny Safdie's first solo Directing feature. The film had its World Premiere showcasing in the main competition of this years Venice International Film Festival in early September where it won the Silver Lion. It was released in the US and here in Australia on 2nd October, cost US$50M to produce, has so far recouped US$17M in Box Office receipts and has generated positive critical reviews. 

The film opens with Mark Kerr being interviewed, who explains to the interviewer his success in Ultimate Fighting Championship, before he leaves for his next bout. Based on the true story of pioneering mixed martial arts/UFC fighter Mark Kerr (Dwayne Johnson, who also Co-Produces here), who helped grow the sport’s popularity in its early days, this film is set between 1997 and 2000. In 1999, Mark is at home with his girlfriend, Dawn Staples (Emily Blunt), with whom he shares a complicated and frequently fractured relationship. Mark scolds her lightly for making a bulking shake incorrectly by using skimmed milk instead of his recently switched to full cream milk and only using half a banana instead of the two that he demands, but then apologises. He prepares for a fight while being coached by his very good friend and mixed martial artist and pro-wrestler Mark Coleman (Ryan Bader), and stumbles in and out of drug use while meeting Japanese officials regarding his pay.

Mark sits in his locker room with Mark Coleman in Tokyo under the influence and in anticipation of his imminent bout with Igor Vovchanchyn (Oleksandr Usyk), when Dawn arrives unexpectedly. They begin to argue as Kerr ignores her, while trying to focus intently on his bout. After losing his latest fight drastically, he quietly leaves and returns downtrodden to his locker room and begins sobbing. It is his first loss. 

Back home, his relationship with Dawn further deteriorates and he overdoses the next morning. Dawn frantically calls Coleman, who jumps on the first available flight to visit his friend in hospital. Coleman tells him that he needs to change, which Mark agrees with. He enters rehab, and upon his finishing the course he collects up his syringes, his injectable substances and his painkillers and promptly discards them in a dumpster. However, his rehab only added further strain to his relationship with Dawn, eventually resulting in her leaving and Mark leaving to train with Bas Rutten (Bas Rutten), a mixed martial artist, kickboxer and professional wrestler. 

Mark performs extremely well under Bas' coaching, getting back into the peak of physical fitness, and winning his first fight. He later reconciles with Dawn, which to the chagrin of Bas, results in Mark leaving camp. 

Mark and Dawn have another falling out over her hedonistic habits, and they have a big tit-for-tat argument resulting in Mark breaking up with Dawn and asking her to go the bedroom, pack a bag and leave. A distraught Dawn tries to shoot herself in the head but is prevented from doing so by Mark, who holds her tightly until she calms down. A couple of days later in Japan, at the 2000 Pride Grand Prix semi-finals, a distracted Mark loses his next fight brutally against Igor Vovchanchyn, as he has flashbacks of Dawn and other moments throughout his life and career, and is unable to focus, both physically and mentally, on the bout. 

Coleman eventually wins the 2000 Pride Grand Prix, while Mark receives stitches to his chin. He sits in the shower, smiling and laughing before it cuts to the present day, showing the real Mark Kerr shopping at a grocery store. It is revealed that Mark and Dawn reconciled their differences and got married in Las Vegas ten days after his loss at the 2000 Grand Prix, and that they were married for six years and share a son together. He retired in 2009, and while mostly unknown today, is one of the biggest pioneers in the MMA world.

With 'The Smashing Machine' Writer and Director Benny Safdie has crafted a sports biographical drama offering that certainly looks the part, is high on emotion, and offers two standout performances from Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, but sadly this is where the positives draw to an abrupt halt. Aside from being a pioneer of early MMA/UFC Mark Kerr led what appears to be a fairly unremarkable life to the point where today he is virtually unknown for his contribution to the sport. He had a fairly comfortable life it seems living in a modest, but by no means a palatial home, while frequented by his on again off again relationship with Dawn, and his regular substance abuse and addiction to pain killers all of which contributed to his volatile personality. He was always polite, courteous and selfless when in the public eye, but behind closed doors - often a different story, and Johnson captures these traits perfectly within the film. But, I came away feeling just a little shortchanged by the repetitive nature of this film, and the underwhelming story that centred on just three years of this mans life when he had achieved much before 1997 and after 2000, up until his eventual retirement in 2009. 

'The Smashing Machine' warrants three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 16th October 2025

This years Adelaide Film Festival (AFF) runs from Wednesday 15th through until Sunday 26th October in the South Australian capital city of Adelaide. AFF is South Australia’s premier screen event and one of Australia’s leading film festivals. It’s a celebration of courageous cinema where filmmakers and audiences come together for two weeks of local and international film premieres, art, talks and parties in October. Named as one of the top fifty film festivals in the world by Variety, and winner of the 2021 Ruby Award for Best Festival, AFF has a reputation for being distinct and innovative. AFF screens features, shorts, documentaries and moving image projects you can’t see anywhere else - from both emerging and established Australian and global talent. AFF is renowned for its warmth and inclusivity, welcoming new audience members and industry guests alike to South Australia and its eclectic cinema theatres . . . so reads the official website.

This years Opening Night Gala film presentation is 'Jimpa' from Australia, Netherlands and Finland and Directed by Sophie Hyde. In Amsterdam, an Adelaide filmmaker Hannah (Olivia Colman) and their non-binary teen Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde) reconnect with the family’s flamboyant patriarch known as Jimpa (John Lithgow). As old tensions resurface, Jimpa becomes a tender, emotionally precise portrait of queer family, care and the shifting boundaries between generations. The Closing Night Gala feature film is 'Wolfram' from Australia and Directed by Warwick Thornton and set in 1932 in Central Australia, marking the follow up to his acclaimed 'Sweet Country'. Aboriginal children are forced into wolfram (tungsten) mining until violence entangles them with ruthless outlaws. At the heart of the story is Pansy (Deborah Mailman), longing for her stolen children in a tightly wrought western of reckoning.

This years Feature Fiction Film Competition sees the following entries :-

* 'Vanilla' - from Mexico and Directed by Mayra Hermosillo. In late-1980's Mexico, Vanilla is a textured family drama told through the eyes of a young girl raised by seven formidable women. As debt threatens their home, she witnesses resilience, tenderness and struggle that reshape her sense of belonging and the meaning of family. Australian Premiere.

* 'Reedland' - from the Netherlands and Belgium and Directed by Sven Bresser in his feature film debut. Johan harvests reeds in the Dutch marshlands. When he discovers the body of a girl, he embarks on a search for the killer. Australian Premiere.

* 'Perla' - from Austria and Slovakia and Directed by Alexandra Makarova. In 1981 Vienna, a Slovakian exile struggles to support her daughter. When the child’s father re-appears in her life, Perla makes the dangerous journey back to communist Czechoslovakia, where she is torn between the demands of conflicting loves that threaten to pull her life apart. Australian Premiere.

* 'Phantoms of July' - from Germany and Directed by Julian  Radlmaier. When Ursula and Neda embark on a ghost hunt, their encounter becomes a story of eccentric locals, spectral rumours and the surprising connections strangeness can spark. Australian Premiere.

* 'A Useful Ghost' - from Thailand, France, Singapore and Germany and Directed by Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, here we have a politically tinged, absurdist comedy/drama in which the ghost of a young woman returns to her husband as a bright-red vacuum cleaner, determined to prove herself a loving ghost.

For the details of the Feature Documentary Film Competition, plus all the other film strands being showcased, and a whole lot of other good stuff, you can go to the official website at : https://www.adelaidefilmfestival.org

Homing in on this weeks five new release movies coming to your local big screen Odeon, we kick off with a psychological thriller in which a college professor finds herself at a personal and professional crossroad when a star student levels an accusation against one of her colleagues, threatening to expose a dark secret from her own past. This is followed by another psychological thriller telling the story of when his past and his debts start to catch up with him, a high-stakes gambler laying low in Macau encounters a kindred spirit who might just hold the key to his salvation. Then we turn to a supernatural horror film sequel that sees this young man, now 17, struggling with life after his captivity and subsequent escape having killed his abductor, when his sister begins receiving calls in her dreams from the black phone and seeing disturbing visions. Next up is a crime comedy drama offering based on an unbelievable true story, the film follows a former Army Ranger and struggling father who turns to robbing McDonald’s. And closing out the week we have a drama film telling the story of a group of troubled boys who are kidnapped, abandoned and forced into a ruthless 'Wilderness Therapy' programme in the Utah desert, and cut off from the world, they must survive both the elements and the mind games of a director who may not be trying to save them at all.

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

'AFTER THE HUNT' (Rated MA15+) - is a psychological thriller film Co-Produced and Directed by Luca Guadagnino who prior feature film making credits include his debut offering in 1999 with 'The Protagonists' and which he would follow up with the likes of 'I Am Love' in 2009, 'A Bigger Splash' in 2015, 'Call Me by Your Name' in 2017, 'Suspiria' in 2018, 'Bones And All' in 2022, and both 'Challengers' and 'Queer' in 2024. This film had its World Premiere showcasing out of competition in this years Venice International Film Festival in late August, where it received mixed reviews from critics. It saw a limited released last week in the USA, before going wide from this week. 

Alma Olsson (Julia Roberts) is a respected, well-liked professor at Yale University, who is forced to grapple with her own secretive past after one of her colleagues Henrik 'Hank' Gibson (Andrew Garfield) is faced with a sexual abuse allegation involving one of her students, Margaret 'Maggie' Resnick (Ayo Edebiri). Also starring Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloe Sevigny. 

'BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER' (Rated MA15+) - this British psychological thriller film is Directed by Edward Berger whose most recent feature film making credits are the two critically lauded films 'All Quiet on the Western Front' and 'Conclave'. This film is based on the 2104 novel of the same name by Lawrence Osborne. Here, Lord Doyle (Colin Farrell) is laying low in Macau, spending his days and nights on the casino floors, drinking heavily and gambling what little money he has left. Struggling to keep up with his ever mounting debts, he is offered a lifeline by the mysterious Dao Ming (Fala Chen), a casino employee with secrets of her own. However, in hot pursuit is Cynthia Blithe (Tilda Swinton), a private investigator ready to confront Doyle with what he is running from. As Doyle tries to climb to salvation, the confines of reality start to close in. The film saw its World Premiere screening at the Telluride Film Festival on 29th August, will have a limited release in the USA, UK and here in Australia from this week before streaming on Netflix from 29th October. 

'BLACK PHONE 2' (Rated MA15+) - is an American supernatural horror film Co-Written for the screen, Co-Produced and Directed by Scott Derrickson and is a sequel to the 2021 film that took US$162M at the global Box Office off the back of a US$17M production budget, and was also Directed by Scott Derrickson. Bad dreams haunt fifteen-year-old Gwen (Madeleine McGraw, reprising her role from the first film) as she receives calls from the black phone and sees disturbing visions of three boys being stalked at a winter camp. Accompanied by her brother, Finn (Mason Thames, also reprising), they head to Alpine Lake Camp to solve the mystery, only to confront the Grabber (Ethan Hawke, reprising), a killer who's grown even more powerful in death. Also starring Demian Bichir, Jeremy Davies and Arianna Rivas. The film Premiered at Fantastic Fest on 20th September, is released in the US and here in Australia this week, and has garnered generally favourable critical reviews. 

'ROOFMAN' (Rated M) - this American crime comedy drama film is Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Derek Cianfrance who made his Directorial debut with 'Brother Tied' in 1998 and would follow this up with 'Blue Valentine' in 2010, 'The Place Beyond the Pines' in 2012, and 'The Light Between Oceans' in 2016. The film is a biopic of the fugitive Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum), a former United States Army Reserve officer and struggling father, known colloquially as Roofman due to his propensity to steal from branches of McDonald's after entering their premises via the roof. After escaping prison, he secretly lives inside a Toys 'R' Us store for six months, surviving undetected while planning his next move. But when he falls for Leigh (Kirsten Dunst), a divorced mum drawn to his undeniable charm, his double life begins to unravel, setting off a compelling and suspenseful game of cat and mouse as his past closes in. The film had its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September, was released in the US last week and has generated largely positive press. Also starring Ben Mendelsohn, Peter Dinklage, Juno Temple, LaKeith Stanfield and Tony Revolori.

'THE WILDERNESS' (Rated CTC) - is an American drama film that is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Spencer King who made his feature film debut in 2016 with 'Black Petunia' and would follow this up with the documentary 'Death on Me : The Story of Dex Osama' in 2020 and 'Time Now' in 2021. In this story, a group of troubled teenage boys are kidnapped from their homes and taken deep into the unforgiving Utah desert and forced to attend a wilderness therapy programme. Cut off from the outside world, their only path home lies in gaining the favour of the cryptic programme director, whose intentions are anything but healing. As rehabilitation slips into manipulation, the boys must choose to either endure the programme or find a way out. Starring Hunter Doohan, Lamar Johnson, Vinessa Shaw, Sam Jaeger, Sean Avery and Liana Liberato. This film is released Stateside this week too.

With five 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-

HIM : Tuesday 7th October 2025

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'HIM' earlier this week, and this American supernatural psychological sports horror film that is Co-Written and Directed by Justin Tipping in only his second feature film Directing outing following 2016's 'Kicks'. He has Directed a number of TV series episodes including four episodes of 'Twenties' in 2020, three each of 'Flatbush Misdemeanours' and 'Run the World' in 2021, and four of 'Joe vs. Carole' in 2022. The film is Produced by Jordan Peele's ('Get Out', 'Us' and 'Nope') Monkeypaw Productions. The film was released in the US on 19th September, and here in Australia last week, has so far grossed US$26M off the back of a US$27M production budget and has generated less than favourable critical reviews.

The film opens with a young Cameron 'Cam' Cade (Austin Pulliam) sat patiently in front of his big screen TV waiting for the American football final to begin. His favourite football team, the San Antonio Saviors win the league championship, but his joy turns to sadness when his quarterback idol, Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans) suffers a compound fracture to his leg while scoring the game winning touchdown. Cam's father, Cam Snr. (Don Benjamin) tells him that real men are willing to make sacrifices. We then fast forward fourteen or so years and Cam (Tyriq Withers) is now a rising football star in his own right, and his father has passed away. Encouraged by his mother Yvette (Indira G. Wilson) and his girlfriend Adrienne (Tierra Whack) he trains for the league combine (a week-long showcase occurring every February where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Football League coaches, general managers, and scouts). One evening, while practicing late on an empty field, Cam is approached from behind but someone wearing a goat costume, who beats him over the head with a blunt instrument causing a head injury that has the potential to end his career aspirations.

Spurred on by his agent, Tom (Tim Heidecker), Cam plans to attend the combine to pursue the Saviors' quarterback position, despite the risk of permanent brain damage if he succumbs to another head injury. While overstimulated due to his concussion, Cam lashes out at his cousin and Tom, and refuses to take part in the combine. Tom later reveals that Isaiah is considering retirement with his contract due to expire at the end of the year, and has offered to train Cam for a week at a remote desert compound to prove himself a worthy successor. Cam accepts and travels there, encountering crazed Isaiah fans led by Marjorie (Naomi Grossman), who attempt to intimidate him out of replacing their hero. Cam meets Isaiah for the first time in person, and after introducing themselves and each bestowing complements on the other, they get down to the serious business of why Cam is there. 

At the compound, Isaiah puts Cam through disturbing challenges each day - with day #1 being Fun, Day #2 Poise, Day #3 being Respect, Day #4 being Leadership, Day #5 Vision and Day #6 Sacrifice. On one such day this includes a practice drill where a jugs machine repeatedly hits a player in the face causing a seriously blackened eye, a knocked out tooth and a lot of blood, but nonetheless seemingly pleased and honoured to have been of service. And on another occasion during a drill Cam severely headbutts another player, where that other player ends up writhing around on the ground concussed. 

Cam secretly receives shots of Isaiah's blood, which he is led to believe will boost his energy, and he subsequently experiences frequent hallucinations of masked figures, which he attributes to his own concussion. While in a sauna, Cam is attacked by Marjorie and overpowers her by almost choking her to death, before Isaiah arrives and emotionlessly kills her, much to Cam's consternation. As Cam tries to leave, Isaiah's wife, Elsie (Julia Fox), apologises for her husbands actions, and seduces him. Cam wakes the next morning to Isaiah holding him at gunpoint, demanding to know if Cam and Elsie slept together, which he denies. Isaiah ridicules Cam for feeling guilty about his girlfriend, telling him that winners have no remorse.

On the Thursday evening Elsie invites Cam to a secret party to meet the owners of the Saviors. Upon arrival, Marco (Jim Jefferies), the team doctor, whispers to Cam to 'run' before leaving. The owners toast Cam and give him a glass of a strange red liquid, which he knocks back in one go, unaware that it is in fact Isaiah's blood. A disoriented Cam wanders into a side room and finds Marco's severed head perched up on a table. Elsie comforts him as he loses consciousness. Cam wakes up later in an ice bath at Isaiah's compound, connected to an IV of Isaiah's blood. He rips out the IV, injects a syringe with the word 'run' handwritten on the side left by Marco, and grabs a heavy glass trophy, with the intent on killing Isaiah and escaping. 

Cam finds Isaiah watching a video of his adoring cheering fans. Isaiah reveals he is part of a line of manufactured 'Greatest of All Time' (GOAT) players who gain enhanced abilities from ritual blood transferred down a lineage from one GOAT player to the next. Isaiah tells Cam they must fight to the death with one GOAT transfusion victor. After a struggle, Cam beats Isaiah unconscious with a helmet which he repeats twice more before dropping the helmet and finishing the job with his bare fists.

Cam leaves the room bloodied, and steps onto a football field in the bright sunlight where he finds Elsie, the Saviors' owners, and Tom, all wearing animal masks. They present him with a contract to sign, sight unseen, revealing that Cam's father arranged for him to be the next GOAT. They explain that the earlier masked attack was staged to lead Cam to the Saviors. Cam refuses to sign the contract and, in a violent outburst, kills Elsie, all the owners, and the masked attacker, who is revealed to be Isaiah and Cam's trainer, Malek, using a dual hammer and spike, and sword. However, he spares Tom, who is subsequently dragged into a pentagram and destroyed by some unseen force. A blood soaked Cam walks past masked cheerleaders and marching band members and out of the compound. 

There's not too many films out there that attempt to blend a sport with the horror genre, and on this basis Director and Co-Writer Tipping and Writers Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie deserve kudos for giving it a go, and trying to deliver us something relatively new and fresh. The first two acts are solid enough, but by the time the third act ratchets into gear it's lost its way and the film gives way to an over the top violent bloodfest that we have seen hundreds of times before and that begs more questions than answers. Marlon Wayans carries this film on his broad shoulders and Tyriq Withers gives a more than passable performance, and as for Jordan Peele's contribution as Producer, lets just say that when the team doctor Marco tells Cam to 'run' he could just as well have said 'Get Out' and we would have known we were watching a Peele production! The film looks good, makes the most of its relatively modest budget of US$27M, but in the final analysis is all style over substance, and certainly won't go down in history as one of the GOAT.

'Him' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 9th October 2025

The 69th BFI London Film Festival this years takes place between Wednesday 8th and Sunday 19th October at several South Bank and West End cinema venues and select partner cinema venues across the UK. The twelve
-day programme is jam-packed with the world’s best new films, series and immersive storytelling, presenting your opportunity to delight in the undiscovered, as all feature films and series are being shown in the UK for the first (and sometimes the only) time. 

The festival will showcase 247 films from seventy-nine countries. The Opening Night Gala presentation is the American mystery film 'Wake Up Dead Man : A Knives Out Mystery', Written and Directed by Rian Johnson, and the Closing Night Gala film is the UK and US Co-Produced historical fantasy film '100 Nights of Hero' Written and Directed by Julia Jackman.

This years Headline Gala section features twenty-one films, and these are outlined in brief as below :-

* 'After the Hunt'  - from the USA and Directed by Luca Guadagnino.

* 'Ballad of a Small Player' - from the UK and Directed by Edward Berger.

* 'Blue Moon' - from the USA and Ireland and Directed by Richard Linklater.

* 'Bugonia' - from the UK and Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.

* 'The Choral' - from the UK and Directed by Nicholas Hytner.

* 'Christy' - from the USA and Directed by David Michod.

* 'Die, My Love' - from Canada and Directed by Lynne Ramsay.

* 'Frankenstein' - from the USA and Directed by Guillermo del Toro.

* 'H is for Hawk' - from the UK and Directed by Philippa Lowthorpe.

* 'Hamnet' - from the UK and Directed by Chloe Zhao.

* 'The History of Sound' - from the USA, the UK and Italy and Directed by Oliver Hermanus.

* 'Is This Thing On?' - from the USA and Directed by Bradley Cooper.

* 'It Was Just an Accident' - from Iran, France and Luxembourg and Directed by Jafar Panahi.

* 'Jay Kelly' - from the USA, the UK and Italy and Directed by Noah Baumbach.

* 'The Mastermind' - from the USA and Directed by Kelly Reichardt.

* 'No Other Choice' - from South Korea and Directed by Park Chan-wook.

* 'Nouvelle Vague' - from France and Directed by Richard Linklater.

* 'Pillion' - from the UK and Directed by Harry Lighton.

* 'Roofman' - from the USA and Directed by Derek Cianfrance.

* 'Sentimental Value' - from Norway, France and Germany and Directed by Joachim Trier.

* 'Springsteen : Deliver Me from Nowhere' - from the USA and Directed by Scott Cooper.

For the details of the ten films in Official Competition, plus the Special Presentations section, the First Feature Competition, the Documentary Competition and the Thematic Strands, plus a whole heap of other good stuff, you can visit the official website at : https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff/Online/default.asp

Looking forward to this weeks seven new movies coming to a big screen Odeon close to you, we kick off with a political thriller in which US government officials must deal with a single nuclear missile attack on the city of Chicago. This is followed by a Sci-Fi action film that is the third in the series, and this time mankind encounters AI beings for the first time when a highly sophisticated programme, leaves the digital world for a dangerous mission in the real world. Next up we have a WWII action horror drama which finds a group of young soldiers, who become stranded on a raft in the middle of the ocean after their ship is sunk by the enemy and must battle for their lives against a giant hungry great white shark. Then we turn to an Aussie drama about a stage designer who returns to Australia to bid farewell to his dying mother, however, his planned quick trip descends into chaos, drama, and funny moments. Following on, we have a drama film from a first time Director that tells the story of how after seventy years with her best friend, this old lady moves to New York City for a fresh start, but making new friends at ninety-four years of age proves difficult. Up next is an Aussie survival thriller where after her husband goes missing in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment, a woman joins a body retrieval unit in the hopes of finding him alive; before closing out the week with a doco in which archival footage and interviews provide insight into the partnership, both professional and personal, between film Director James Ivory and film Producer Ismail Merchant.

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 coming week.

'A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE' (Rated M) - this American political thriller film is Co-Produced and Directed by Kathryn Bigelow who made her feature film Directorial debut in 1981 with 'The Loveless' and which she would follow up with other titles including 'Blue Steel' in 1990, 'Point Break' in 1991, 'Strange Days' in 1995, 'K-19 : The Widowmaker' in 2002, 'The Hurt Locker' in 2008, 'Zero Dark Thirty' in 2012, and 'Detroit' in 2017. This film saw its World Premiere showcasing in the main competition at this years recent Venice International Film Festival in early September where it was nominated for the Golden Lion.

This film based at the White House, where US government officials scramble to deal with an incoming single nuclear missile launched by an unidentified enemy at the city of Chicago. It boasts an ensemble cast taking in Idris Elba as the American President, with Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Moses Ingram, Jonah Hauer-King, Greta Lee, Jason Clarke and Kaitlyn Dever. It will have a limited cinema release in the UK on 3rd October and here in Australia and the USA this week, before streaming globally on Netflix from 24th October. 

'TRON : ARES' (Rated M) - is an American Sci-Fi action film Directed by Joachim Ronning, whose previous feature length Directing credits are 'Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead me Tell No Tales' in 2017, 'Maleficent : Mistress of Evil' in 2019, and 'Young Woman and the Sea' in 2024. This film is the third instalment in the 'Tron' series following the original 'Tron' in 1982 and a sequel to 2010's 'Tron : Legacy', and this film follows a highly sophisticated programme, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind's first encounter with A.I. beings. The film has an ensemble cast including Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Jodie Turner-Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, and Gillian Anderson, with Jeff Bridges reprising his role as Kevin Flynn from the previous films. The first two films in the series scored a worldwide Box Office haul of US$450M off the back of combined production budgets of US$187M, with this third offering coming in at a budget of US$150M. The film is released this week too in the USA.

'BEAST OF WAR' (Rated MA15+) - this Australian WWII action horror drama film is Written, Directed and Co-Edited by Kiah Roache-Turner whose prior feature film output takes in 'Wyrmwood : Road of the Dead' in 2014, 'Nekrotronic' in 2018, 'Wyrmwood : Apocalypse' in 2022 and 'Sting' in 2024. Here, and based on actual events, a group of young soldiers, fresh out of boot camp, during World War II in 1942, when a Japanese fighter sinks an Australian warship in the Timor Sea. Clinging to a makeshift raft, a handful of soldiers soon find themselves in a desperate fight for survival as a giant and very hungry great white shark circles in the water. Starring Mark Coles Smith, Joel Nankervis, Sam Delich and Steve Le Marquand. The film saw its World Premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival in mid-August and is released Stateside in mid-October. 

'THE TRAVELLERS' (Rated M) - is an Australian drama film that is Written and Directed by Bruce Beresford who made his feature film Directing debut in 1972 with 'The Adventures of Barry McKenzie', and would follow this up with the likes of 'Don's Party' in 1976, 'Breaker Morant' in 1980, 'Puberty Blues' in 1981, 'Her Alibi' and 'Driving Miss Daisy' both in 1989, 'Paradise Road' in 1997, 'Double Jeopardy' in 1999, 'Mao's Last Dancer' in 2009 and 'Ladies in Black' in 2018. Here then, Stephen Seary (Luke Bracey), a charismatic and successful stage designer, returns to Australia to say goodbye to his dying mother. What was to be a quick trip descends into a frustrating and sometimes quirky challenge as family responsibilities, a difficult relationship with his curmudgeonly father Fred (Bryan Brown), unresolved conflicts with long-forgotten antagonists, romantic interludes, and the presence of an annoying sister make his return to Europe and the opera he has contracted to design increasingly problematic. Also starring Susie Porter and Nicholas Hammond. 

'ELEANOR THE GREAT' (Rated PG)  - this American drama film is Co-Produced and Directed by Scarlett Johansson in her feature film making debut. Here, Eleanor Morgenstein (June Squibb), a 94-year-old Floridian woman, strikes up an unlikely friendship with a 19-year-old student Nina (Erin Kellyman) in New York City, after she tries to rebuild her life following the death of her best friend of seventy years. The film saw its World Premiere screening at this years Cannes Film Festival in late May where it was nominated in the Un Certain Regard and Camera d'Or categories. The film was released in the USA on 26th September and early critical reviews has rated this mixed or average. The film also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Jessica Hecht.

'WE BURY THE DEAD' (Rated MA15+) - is an Australian and US Co-Produced survival thriller film Written and Directed by Zak Hilditch, who made his feature film debut in 2003 with 'Waiting for Naval Base Lilly', and which he would follow up with his better known projects including 'These Final Hours' in 2013, '1922' in 2017 and 'Rattlesnake' in 2019. Here then, Ava Newman (Daisy Ridley), a desperate woman, searches for her husband in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment. Hoping to find him alive, Ava joins a 'body retrieval unit', but her search takes a chilling turn when the corpses she's burying start showing signs of life. Also starring Mark Coles Smith, Brenton Thwaites and Matt Whelan, the film had its World Premiere at SXSW in March this year, is released here in Australia this week, but not in the US until sometime in 2026, and has generated largely positive critical reviews.

'MERCHANT IVORY : THE DOCUMENTARY' (Rated PG) - this 2023 doco is Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Stephen Soucy and documents the history of Merchant Ivory Productions, which produced films such as 'A Room with a View' in 1985, 'Howards End' in 1992 and 'The Remains of the Day' in 1993. It covers the partnership between Ismail Merchant, an Indian-born Producer, and James Ivory, an American Director, from their meeting in 1961 through their collaboration on over forty films. The documentary addresses their focus on literary adaptations and period dramas, as well as challenges like financial constraints and cultural differences. It includes interviews with Actors such as Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins, Hugh Grant and Vanessa Redgrave, and other associates of Merchant Ivory Productions. The film saw its World Premiere at DOC NYC Festival in November 2023, went on limited release in the US at the end of August 2024 and only now is it released here in Australia. 

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 week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER : Tuesday 30th September 2025

I saw the M Rated 'ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER' this week, and this American action thriller film is Written, Co-Produced, and Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, and is loosely based on the 1990 novel 'Vineland' by Thomas Pynchon. Anderson made his feature film debut with 'Hard Eight' in 1996, which he would follow up with the likes of 'Boogie Nights' in 1997, 'Magnolia' in 1999, 'There Will Be Blood' in 2007, 'Inherent Vice' in 2014, 'Phantom Thread' in 2017 and 'Licorice Pizza' in 2021. His accolades include a BAFTA Award, and nominations for eleven Academy Awards, three Golden Globes, and a Grammy. He is also the only person to have won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival, the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and the Silver and Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. This film was released here in Australia and Stateside last week, has garnered universal critical acclaim and has so far grossed US$66M against a production budget of somewhere between US$130 and US$175M.

The film opens with Pat 'Ghetto' Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) who are both very active members of the far-left revolutionary group known as the French 75, busting out detained illegal immigrants from a detention centre in California undercover of darkness. Perfidia wakes the snoozing commanding officer, Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn) and humiliates him, while also stealing his cap and his sidearm. Lockjaw develops a sexual fascination with her. Pat and Perfidia become lovers as the French 75 carry out attacks on politicians' offices, banks, and the electricity supply grid. Sometime later Lockjaw catches Perfidia planting a bomb inside a toilet cubicle in a government building, but lets her go after she agrees to have sex at a motel. 

Nine months later and Perfidia gives birth to a baby girl, Charlene, but Pat is unable to convince her to live as a family, saying that he is more interested in baby Charlene that he is in her, and that his revolutionary leanings having given way to fatherhood. She walks out on them both them to continue her revolutionary activities. After Perfidia is captured at a botched bank robbery in which she shoots dead a security guard, Lockjaw arranges for her to avoid prison in exchange for information about the French 75. She enters witness protection as Lockjaw hunts down her comrades and shoots many of them on sight, forcing the others to go on the run. As Pat and Charlene are forced to live in hiding with new assumed identities as Bob and Willa Ferguson, Perfidia escapes Lockjaw's custody and flees across the border into Mexico.

We then fast forward sixteen years, and living in the sanctuary city of Baktan Cross, Bob has become a paranoid drug addict. He is overprotective of Willa (Chase Infiniti), who has grown into a self-reliant and spirited teenager. Through his vigorous anti-immigrant efforts, Lockjaw has gained promotion to the rank of Colonel, and is invited to join the Christmas Adventurers Club, a covert society of white supremacists. He hunts for Willa to cover up his interracial relationship, which is forbidden by the club. He hires an Indigenous bounty hunter, Avanti Q (Eric Schweig), who captures Bob's comrade Howard Sommerville (Paul Grimstad), triggering a distress signal to the remaining French 75. 

Under the auspices of an immigration and drug enforcement operation, Lockjaw dispatches his troops to Baktan Cross to find Bob and Willa. Deandra (Regina Hall), a trusted member of the French 75, rescues Willa before her school dance is raided. Lockjaw's men attack Bob's home while he is high, but he manages to evade capture by escaping through a tunnel and calls the French 75 for help, but is unable to remember the password to mobilise their assistance. 

He seeks out Willa's karate teacher and community leader Sergio St. Carlos (Benicio Del Toro) who evacuates a stream of immigrants through a hidden tunnel. Fleeing with Sergio's skateboarding students across the rooftops, Bob falls while jumping from building to building with only the branches of a tree breaking his fall, and is immediately tasered and arrested. Deandra brings Willa to a convent of revolutionary nuns, where she learns the truth about her mother's betrayal.

The Christmas Adventurers uncover evidence of Lockjaw's relationship with Perfidia, and send a member, Tim Smith (John Hoogenakker), to eliminate him and Willa. Raiding the convent, Lockjaw forcibly tests Willa's DNA, confirming he is her biological father. Her being his biological daughter makes his membership in the Christmas Adventurers Club impossible and he decides to eliminate her. Had she not been his daughter he might have let her go free. 

Sergio arranges for Bob to escape custody and drives him to the convent, throwing him from the car before being pulled over by Police. Hot-wiring another car, Bob reaches the convent but fails to kill Lockjaw with Sergio's rifle. The colonel hires Avanti to kill Willa but he refuses saying that he doesn't kill children and so he agrees to take her to a group of mercenaries, who will kill her. Smith tracks Lockjaw down and shoots him, causing him to crash his car over a ravine at speed, and leaves him for dead hanging upside down and bleeding heavily.

Avanti delivers Willa to the mercenaries, but frees her and dies gunning the others down. Willa takes Avanti's car and pistol and is chased by Smith until she lures him into a crash by exploiting a blind summit along the road. He stumbles out of his car and she shoots him dead when he does not know the revolutionary countersign, and tearfully reunites with Bob who arrives a minute or so later and observes the carnage. An injured and bloodied Lockjaw is seen walking at pace from the scene of his crash, and is later on badly scarred and is seemingly welcomed into the Christmas Adventurers Club. Having been welcomed to his new corner office overlooking the city he sits back in his chair with his feet upon his new desk, and is instead gassed to death and his body immediately cremated in an incinerator. Returning home with his daughter, Bob gives Willa a letter of hope from her mother, and his blessing as she sets off to join a protest some three hours away in Oakland, no longer stressful about his daughter's future. 

There a lot going on in 'One Battle After Another', from the nuances of a father and daughter relationship, to the political machinations that mirror what is going down in the US currently, to the covert operations of an out of control Police force, to the secret cabal of white supremacists, to immigration, revolutionaries, mercenaries for hire and just about everything in between it seems. Here PTA has delivered us the entire package of action, laughs, great characters, a flawless script, and outstanding performances most notably from DiCaprio, Penn, Taylor, Hall and first-timer Chase Infiniti. Make no mistake this would rank as one of the best movies of the year so far, easy Academy Award bait, and even at its lengthy 161 minute run time it will not leave you wanting.

'One Battle After Another' merits five claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-