NEWSTALK 1010: WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO WATCH “THE ODYSSEY”?
I sit with NewsTalk 1010 afternoon host Jim Richards to talk about the various formats available to view “The Odyssey” and why large and loud is the best.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Posts Tagged ‘Christopher Nolan’
CTV ATLANTIC: RICHARD AND TODD BATTIS ON NEW MOVIES IN THEATRES!
I join CTV Atlantic’s Todd Battis to talk about Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” the psychological drama “Steal Away” and the thriller “Rose Of Nevada.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
CTV NEWSCHANNEL: RICHARD’s MOVIE REVIEWS FOR FRIDAY JULY 17, 2026!
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Renée Rodgers to talk about the new releases in theatres, including Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” the psychological drama “Steal Away” and the thriller “Rose Of Nevada.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
YOU TUBE: THREE MOVIES/THIRTY SECONDS! FAST REVIEWS FOR BUSY PEOPLE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make the bed. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” the psychological drama “Steal Away” and the thriller “Rose Of Nevada.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
THE VASSY KAPELOS SHOW: VASSY ASKS ME WHAT TO EXPECT FROM “THE ODYSSEY”
I join “The Vassy Kapelos Show” on the iHeartRadio network to talk about my reaction to Christopher Nolan’s much-anticipated “The Odyssey.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
THE ODYSSEY: 4 STARS. “when its great, which is often, it’s exhilarating filmmaking.”
SYNOPSIS: Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s ancient Greek epic “The Odyssey,” now playing in theatres, sees Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca, use cunning and courage to defeat mythical beasts on his ten-year journey home after the Trojan War. “After years of war, no one could stand between my men and home. Not even the gods.”
CAST: Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, Charlize Theron. Directed by Christopher Nolan.
REVIEW: Large in scale, but personal in nature, “The Odyssey” is an epic tale of what it means to be human. A study of survival, homecoming and family, it breathes the same air as old school Hollywood epics like “Ben-Hur” and “Spartacus” but feels undeniably modern, blending bravado filmmaking with dynamic, psychologically dense storytelling.
Director Christopher Nolan alters story elements from the original epic poem but keeps the core narrative and spirit of Homer’s 2,775-year-old original alive. That includes the ancient text’s nonlinear “in medias res” (starting in the middle of the action), style, flashbacks and parallel storylines. It’s familiar ground for Nolan, whose films “Memento,” “Inception,” “Dunkirk” and “Tenet” tinkered with time and works effectively here, helping to build suspense that pays off in the film’s final act.
The story begins after the fall of Troy. On his ten-year maritime journey home Greek hero King Odysseus (Matt Damon) encounters mythical monsters, like the one-eyed Cyclops, the alluring-but-deadly Sirens, and Circe, a sorceress who turns his men into swine.
He returns to find his kingdom in shambles, his palace overrun with mobs of suitors pressuring his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) into marriage while son Telemachus (Tom Holland) searches for his lost father. “You’re pining for a daddy you didn’t even know,” taunts Antinous (Robert Pattinson. “Like some sniveling bastard.”
Reclaiming his throne and family will test Odysseus’s cunning and courage in ways not even the gods could.
Among the first things you’ll notice about “The Odyssey” is a lack of antiquated language. Purists may rankle as Telemachus calls Odysseus “dad,” familiar, modern curse words are placed in the soldier’s mouths and Odysseus yells, “Let’s go,” instead of the Homeric “draw back” or “give way,” but the vernacular, in the style of Emily Wilson’s lauded modern translation, is accessible, without the theatrics of vintage sword and sandal epics.
It takes some getting used to, and for some will break the immersive historical effect of the larger-than-life IMAX images—this is the first feature film shot entirely on IMAX 70mm film cameras—but once the anachronistic language settles, it lends a naturalism to a story that features fantastical creatures like a Cyclops and witches. Although, it must be said that the second time Odysseus hollers, “Let’s go,” as a call to retreat, it borders on parody, as if the king and his men are racing away from a Scooby-Do villain and not giant, man-eating Laestrygonians.
The topline cast, Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, and Tom Holland deliver topflight work, but Nolan is the film’s star.
He crams a lot into the film’s episodic, three hour run time. After a slow start, the action picks up with a heart-pounding scene, the first of two that can comfortably be described as horror.
In search for food Odysseus and his crew land on an island presided over by a 60-foot one-eyed giant shepherd (Bill Irwin). What begins as a hunt turns into a desperate attempt to survive as the Cyclops defends his flock after an ambush in a claustrophobic cave. Nolan stages the scene largely without the use of CGI, instead opting for a massive puppet with voice and movements provided by Irwin. Nolan is notoriously allergic to CGI, but here using practical effects is absolutely the right decision. It feels organic, and not like Damon and the other actors are staring at a tennis ball to get the right eyeline. It’s the Ray Harryhausen effect, the Cyclops’s tangible nature brings a sense of scale that adds to the terror of the scene.
The film’s most memorable moments reveal themselves in a tour de force body horror sequence. On another island, and still in search of food, Odysseus and his men encounter Circe (Samantha Morton), a witch and goddess who turns unwanted visitors to her home into animals. Once again, using practical effects, alongside clever camera placement by cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, the horror is vividly brought to life as Circe transforms them. Beautifully choreographed, it is as impressive as any of Nolan’s large-scale battle sequences.
A bonus is Morton’s detailed, humanizing work as Circe, a character generally played as a villain or seductress. Here she’s more emotionally complex, almost sympathetic.
And then there’s the claustrophobic dread of the Trojan Horse sequence that sees Odysseus and soldiers inside the wooden horse, placed on top of one another like Tetris pieces. The Trojan Horse is the most famous example of Odysseus’s cunning, but Nolan visualizes it in a way that shows the cramped reality of his plan.
Ultimately, “The Odyssey” is a bit of a Trojan Horse itself. It’s a big, flashy package stuffed with surprises. Nolan delivers on the spectacle you expect, but he is more concerned with what’s inside, the unexpected attack of thematic discussions on intergenerational trauma, obsession, grief and the psychological toll of war.
Nolan fans know what to expect. His trademark murky audio is in place, occasionally making the dialogue difficult to understand and, at 2 hours and 50 minutes, it’s a bladder bursting effort, but despite the knocks, when “The Odyssey” is great, which is often, it’s exhilarating filmmaking.
CTVNEWS.CA: ‘The Odyssey’ an epic tale of what it means to be human
I wrote about “The Odyssey” for CTVNews.ca:
“Large in scale, but personal in nature, “The Odyssey” is an epic tale of what it means to be human. A study of survival, homecoming and family, it breathes the same air as old-school Hollywood epics like “Ben-Hur” and “Spartacus” but feels undeniably modern, blending bravado filmmaking with dynamic, psychologically dense storytelling…” Read the whole thing HERE!
OPPENHEIMER: 4 ½ STARS. “a personal story of responsibility made epic.”
“Oppenheimer,” the story of the father of the atomic bomb, isn’t exactly a biopic of scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer. In his twelfth film, director Christopher Nolan includes biographical details in the telling of the tale of the man who invented the first nuclear weapons but the movie is more about consequences than creation. “Just because we’re building it doesn’t mean we get to decide how it’s used,” he says of the Atomic Bomb.
Nolan divides the story into two sections. The brightly colored “Fission” portrays the prickly Oppenheimer’s (Cillian Murphy) life as a tortured genius who overcame anti-Semitism to rise through the ranks of the European and American scientific elite to be recruited by the gruff Lieutenant General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) as the director of the Manhattan Project. Charged with beating the Nazis and the Russians in a race to build a weapon of mass destruction, he became, by his own words, “the destroyer of worlds.”
His close ties to the Communist Party, through his ex-girlfriend, psychiatrist Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh) and brother Frank (Dylan Arnold), is just one element of the left-leaning beliefs that eventually got his security clearance revoked. His political views, and second-thoughts about the destructive power he unleashed on the world, pitted him against his military bosses and founding commissioner of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.). Those events provide fodder for the film’s other section, the austere black-and-white “Fusion.”
An adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” by Martin Sherwin and Kai Bird, the three-hour “Oppenheimer” is as downbeat as its weekend competition “Barbie” is upbeat.
Nolan takes his time with the telling of the tale, weaving together the scientific, psychological and political story threads to create rich tapestry that transcends the talky nature of the script. He teases great drama and tension out of a story that is essentially, a retelling of two tribunals, punctuated by the big bang that would change history.
Much of the film’s success is owed to Murphy, who, despite reciting teams of dialogue, goes internal to portray Oppenheimer’s towering intellect. Cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema frames Murphy’s stoic face in wide screen close-ups that showcase the actor’s ability to expose not only the character’s great intelligence, but also the realization that the power he spearheaded wouldn’t be fully understood until it was too late.
The Trinity Test sequence, the depiction of first detonation of a nuclear weapon, is a masterclass of less is more filmmaking. Nolan expertly builds tension with a countdown clock and Ludwig Göransson’s anxiety inducing soundtrack, but it is the look of scientific accomplishment tempered by an accompanying moral reckoning that spreads across Murphy’s face the moment the bomb goes off that cuts to the film’s core theme of innovation vs. consequences.
Murphy is supported by an a-list cast, including Matt Damon, who exudes movie star charisma and Downey Jr, who erases memories of Tony Stark with a blustery performance that, Marvel aside, is his most interesting since “Zodiac.”
The real star, however, is Nolan. “Oppenheimer” is the director firing on all cylinders, delivering a personal story of responsibility made epic. The brainiest blockbuster of the season is a period piece about a man who moral conundrums regarding power and the way it is wielded, that resonates just as loudly today as they did when the events took place.
TENET: 4 STARS. “delivers the kind of spectacle we’re used to seeing in the summer.”
“We’re living in a twilight world.” That’s the password The Protagonist (John David Washington) and Company use in “Tenet,” the new Christopher Nolan mind-bender, now playing only in theatres, but the movie’s premise is more “Twilight Zone” than twilight world.
The movie opens with a breathless and loud rescue sequence in an opera house in Ukraine, the first of the movie’s several eye-and-ear-popping action sequences. At stake is a mysterious component, part of a much larger device, with the power to end the world. A nuclear holocaust? “No, something worse.”
The Protagonist is tasked with piecing together the potentially world ending puzzle. “Your duty transcends national interest,” says his handler Victor (Martin Donovan). All he has to go on is a gesture and a code word, Tenet. “It will open some of the right doors,” Victor says, “but some of the wrong ones too.”
So far, “Tenet” feels like an elaborate James Bond style story, complete with exotic locations, enigmatic characters and a world that needs saving.
Then things get complicated.
The Protagonist isn’t simply dealing with the usual spy stuff, like international intrigue, a Russian oligarch or femme fatales. He’s fighting against “inversion,” a disturbance in the very fabric of time, that sees material running backwards through time, while the rest of the world moves forward. So, in the upside-down story of “Tenet,” an “inverted” weapon could affect the past as well as the present.
It’s a reversal of the way we think of linear time. It’s not time travel. The Protagonist doesn’t jump back to ancient Egypt for a quick chat with Cleopatra or zip forward to talk to his 100-year-old self. When he inverts, he is in the moment, but running counter to everyone else. “You’re not shooting the bullet,” he’s told by a researcher (Clémence Poésy). “You’re catching it.” Then, by way of clarity, she adds, “don’t try and understand it,” which may be the best advice The Protagonist has received to this point.
Teamed with shadowy operative Neil (Robert Pattinson), The Protagonist enters a topsy-turvy world of high-end art, down-and-dirty dealings with strongman Andrei Stor (Kenneth Branagh) and a clock that is moving backwards and forwards simultaneously. “You have a future in the past,” Neil says to The Protagonist.
At the centre of the action is John David Washington, hot off his Golden Globe Best Actor nomination for “BlacKkKlansman.” He’s in every scene, and whether wearing a Brooks Brother suit (in one of the film’s funniest exchanges) or hanging off the side of a building, he’s a convincing action hero with acting chops. It’s a demanding role and he pulls it off with equal parts bravado and restraint. It takes swagger to anchor a movie like this but in his relationship with Kat (Elizabeth Debicki) he reveals a flirtier, more tender side. The protagonist is a well-rounded character and, if they don’t do a “Tenet 2: Time Gone Wild” perhaps his name could be added to the list of 007 candidates.
The supporting cast, Branagh as the “all our lives in his hands” villain and Debicki as his beleaguered wife and Pattinson as the calm, cool and collected mercenary, all acquit themselves well but “Tenet’s” real star, however, is Christopher Nolan.
For blockbuster starved audiences Nolan delivers the kind of spectacle we’re used to seeing in the summer months. As per usual, he avoids CGI wherever possible in favor of practical effects. The results are eye-popping. The big set pieces—like an airplane driving through a building—don’t have the kind of digital disconnect that often comes with computer generated action. The show-stopping sequences are busy, exciting but most of all, organic, and the sense of peril (and pageantry) that comes with that is undeniable. Add to that Nolan’s use of IMAX cameras and you have wild action that fills the big screen in every way.
With a complicated story comes drawbacks. In the first hour there is a lot of exposition. People ask questions—Do you know what a free port is? How does inversion work?—while others take the time to answer them all in an effort to keep the audience in the loop. There’s a lot of talk about theories and plans but Nolan keeps things lively with lightning fast—with a capital “F”— pacing.
Will you understand the puzzles of “Tenet’s” time manipulation story? Maybe, maybe not. It’s definitely a movie that will hold up to multiple viewings, revealing new info and fostering more understanding of the plot each time. The trippy last hour is jam packed with artfully arranged action scenes that manipulate time in increasingly psychedelic ways. While you may feel lost in time as the movie careens toward the end of its 150-minute running time with an involved and inversive climax that weaves the past into the fabric of The Protagonist’s mission, you may wish you could invert time and relive the story again. And you can, for the price of a ticket.
“Tenet” opens in over 70 countries worldwide, including Europe and Canada, starting on Wednesday, August 26.
