OF GODS AND MEN (THE ODYSSEY & CRIME 101)

THE ODYSSEY

If someone had told you five years ago that an almost three hour film adaptation of Homer's 'The Odyssey' would take over $1 billion at the box office, you might have thought they were crackers.

Yet here we are in August 2026 with Christopher Nolan's star studded, swords and sandals adaptation doing exactly that.

Few filmmakers could have pulled off this feat.

However Nolan is well up to the task, having proven many times before he is able to deliver jaw dropping cinematic adventures.

Here he delivers a stunning adaptation of Homer's poem with an epic movie that has not only enticed audiences in huge numbers but is also mesmerising.

Matt Damon takes on the lead role as Odysseus, the king of Icatha and master military strategist, whose failure to make it back from the Siege of Troy sparks speculation over his 20 year absence that he and his men have perished.

Back in Ithaca, his wife Anne Hathaway's Penelope has kept the faith despite dozens of suitors gathering in their castle and leeching off her hospitality in the hope that one day she'll relent and marry one of them.

Among the suitors is Robert Pattinson's scheming Antinous who is plotting his way to the throne with the help of Mia Goth's Melantho, a disloyal maidservant to Penelope.

As the suitors sponge off Penelope with raucous feasts every night, Antinous and Corey Hawkins' Polybus are among the most arrogant and insufferable.

They are particularly dismissive of Penelope and Odysseus' son, Tom Holland's Telemachus and John Leguizamo's faithful blind slave, Eumaeus.

Telemachus pines for the return of his father who he hasnever met and even travels to Sparta in a bid to gauge from Jon Bernthal's king and comrade of his father's, Menelaus if he thinks Odysseus is still alive.

Nolan, who wrote the screenplay, also charts Odysseus' adventures in Troy and his epic 20 year attempt to get back home.

Along the way he and his troops, who include Himesh Patel's second in command Eurylochus and Andrew Howard's Polites, have a traumatic encounter with Bill Irwin's cyclops and son of the sea god Poseidon, Polyphemus.

Along the way, they also stumble across sea monsters, savage storms, the deadly enchanting sound of the sirens and are hoodwinked by Samantha Morton's witch Circe.

Odysseus also falls under the spell of Charlize Theron's nymph Calypso and is haunted for much of the journey by Zendaya's goddess of wisdom, warfare and handicraft, Athena.

But even if he makes it back to Ithaca, can Odysseus reassert his authority?

How will he also get Penelope and others to recognise him?

Nolan delivers a rollicking adventure which remains largely faithful to Homer's tale.

While the running time is just shy of three hours, it certainly doesn't feel that way, as we lap up every arrow fired, every crashing wave, every mesmerising act of screen sorcery.

Damon is everything you want Odysseus to be, grounding the film with an old fashioned sense of decency, humility, vulnerability and bravery.

Hathaway is well cast as his loyal Queen, while Holland turns in a suitably earnest performance as a son desperate to finally meet his legendary father.

Pattinson does a good line in portraying a sneaky, snarling villain.

Everyone, though from Leguizamo to Bernthal, Zendaya to Goth, Hawkins to Patel plays their part in an immensely satisfying blockbuster.

That also applies to Benny Safdie as Agamemnon, Elliot Page as the sacrificed soldier Sinon and Lupita N'yongo in the dual roles of Helen of Troy and her twin half-sister, Clytemnestra.

Theron almost steals the show with an enchanting performance as Calypso.

Morton definitely steals it in a superb sequence where her character takes advantage of Odysseus' weary, starving troops.

Along with Damon, it's a performance that should garner a lot of awards season attention.

Breathtakingly shot on IMAX cameras by Nolan's frequent cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, with superb production and costume design by Ruth de Jong and Ellen Mirojnick who worked with them on 'Oppenheimer'.

The film is also dazzlingly edited by Jennifer Larne.

Boasting a robust Ludwig Grandson score, Nolan's film at times conjures up memories of the great sword and shield epics like Richard Fleischer's 1958 classic 'The Vikings' and Ray Harryhausen movies like 'Jason and the Argonauts' as well as the gloss of Ridley Scott's 'Gladiator' and Wolfgang Petersen's 'Troy'.

Nolan has cited the epic sweep of Akira Kurosawa's 'Ran' and Andrei Tarkovsky's 'Andrei Rublev' also as inspirations.

But what really impresses is not just the scale and ambition of the storytelling but Nolan's ability to tap into modern day sensibilities - particularly around the impact pf colonisation and the lingering trauma of war.

As Odysseus juggles with the guilt of savage acts of violence perpetrated by him and his comrades on the citizens of Troy, you can't help but feel this has resonance for what is happening in Gaza, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Balkans and countless other conflicts around the globe.

It provides a sobering subtext for an enjoyable movie that feels even more accomplished than Nolan's Oscar winning 'Oppenheimer'.

It also cements Nolan'a place among the elite as one of Hollywood's smartest and most gifted storytellers.

('The Odyssey' opened in UK and Irish cinemas on July 17, 2026)

CRIME 101

There's a time for big sprawling blockbusters.

But there's also, of course, a place for more modest, more contained movies.

Bart Layton's 'Crime 101' is that sort of movie.

Even with a generous $90 million budget, it feels like a throwback to the gritty urban neo-noir thrillers of the 1970s, 80s and 90s from the likes of Sidney Lumet, William Friedkin and Michael Mann.

You know the type of movie - ones that feature noble thieves and grizzled cops trying to do their best in a corrupt, callous city.

Chris Hemsworth is Mike (or is he?), a jewel thief in Los Angeles who steals to order and is really good at his job.

Mike is always a cool head in a volatile situation.

He has a knack of avoiding violence during his heists and he never leaves behind his DNA.

Mark Ruffalo is Detective Lou Lubesnik, a smart cop who has fallen out of favour with his colleagues.

Fascinated by the robberies that Mike has been carrying out, he notes the thief tends to use Route 101 to flee the scene of each crime.

However his theory that this can enable the cops to predict his next heist and apprehend him is dismissed by lazy fellow cops.

Stealing $3 million in one diamond heist, Mike is rattled when he is grazed by a bullet when it nearly goes off awry.

The incident causes him to reassess his life, with Mike deciding to call off a robbery in Santa Barbara.

Disappointed by this decision, Mike's fence, Nick Nolte's Money turns to Barry Keoghan's trigger happy biker Ormon instead.

Not surprisingly, the heist Ormon carries out is a violent mess, with a disgusted Mike informing Money that he will have no truck with a criminal who tolerates such savagery.

Informing Money he is severing his ties, the fence asks Ormon to keep tabs on Mike and swipe the proceeds of his next heist.

As he plans his next steal, Mike engages Devon Bostick's hacker Devon to help him gain information about Halle Berry's high end insurance broker Sharon who has fallen out with partners in her firm because they take her for granted.

Sharon is persuaded by Mike to assist him in planning a raid that will embarrass the company featuring a client involved in an illicit diamond deal in a LA hotel.

With Ormon waiting to pounce and Mike aware that the biker is stalking him, the raid is definitely high risk.

But little does he know that Lou is also on his scent, despite being suspended for refusing to help his colleagues' attempt to cover up a fatal shooting of an unarmed jewel thief.

Adapted from Don Winslow's 2020 novella of the same name, writer director Layton delivers a sleek, stylish thriller that revels in its characters' flaws and the moral compromises they make.

Hemsworth is good value for money and has a Steve McQueen like presence as the principled criminal.

But he is outgunned in the acting stakes by Ruffalo who elevates Lou from being the kind of stock super smart detective in a sea of fools we have seen in a scores of neo noir movies before.

Keoghan is twitchy as the psychotic young buck, while Berry and Nolte turn in decent performances.

Corey Hawkins pops up as Lou's bemused partner in the LAPD, while Jennifer Jason Leigh makes an appearance as his ex wife.

Tate Donovan is well cast as an arrogant client of Sharon's, while Monica Barbaro plays Mike's love interest.

While it is not in the Champions League of neo noir movies, 'Crime 101' is nevertheless a rewarding watch.

Layton's film has sufficient swagger, thanks to cinematographer Erik Wilson's sleek visuals and Julian Hart and Jacob Secher Schulsinger's assured editing.

But it is Ruffalo who really carries the movie with an intelligent performance that keeps us invested.

As a follow up to 2008's 'American Animals,' which also featured Keoghan, it's a movie that confirms Layton is a director worth keeping an eye on and who could really prosper with the right investment.

('Crime 101' was released in UK and Irish cinemas on February 13, 2026 and has been available to stream on Amazon Prime since April 1, 2026)