What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 8th December 2016.

With Christmas upon us once more, I got to thinking about festive film fare over the years, and if Box Office receipts are a gauge of a films success, here, according to Box Office Mojo, are the Top Ten major players in Christmas themed films over the years :-
#1 : 'Home Alone' - 1990 - Worldwide Gross of US$477M from a US$18M budget. Starring Macaulay Caulkin, Directed by Chris Columbus.
#2 : 'Home Alone 2 : Lost in New York' - 1992 - Worldwide Gross of US$359M from a US$20M budget. Starring Macaulay Caulkin, Directed by Chris Columbus.
#3 - 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' - 2000 - Worldwide Gross of US$345M from a US$123M budget. Starring Jim Carrey, Directed by Ron Howard.
#4 : 'A Christmas Carol' - 2009 - Worldwide Gross of US$325M from a US$175M budget. Starring Jim Carrey, Directed by Robert Zemeckis.
#5 : 'The Polar Express' - 2004 - Worldwide Gross of US$308M from a US$165M budget. Starring Tom Hanks, Directed by Robert Zemeckis.
#6 : 'Elf' - 2003 - Worldwide Gross of US$221M from a US$33M budget. Starring Will Ferrell, Directed by Jon Favreau.
#7 : 'The Santa Clause' - 1994 - Worldwide Gross of US190M from a US$22M budget. Starring Tim Allen, Directed by John Pasquin.
#8 : 'The Santa Clause 2' - 2002 - Worldwide Gross of US$173M from a US$65M budget. Starring Tim Allen, Directed by Michael Lembeck.
#9 : 'Four Christmases' - 2008 - Worldwide Gross of US$164M from a US$80M budget. Starring Vince Vaughn, Directed by Seth Gordon.
#10 : 'The Santa Clause 3 - The Escape Clause' - Worldwide Gross of US$111M from a US$12M budget. Starring Tim Allen, Directed by Michael Lembeek.

Sitting on the edge of this list are 'Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas', 'Christmas with the Kranks', 'Fred Clause', 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation', 'Jingle All The Way', 'Scrooged', and 'Bad Santa' and a whole Christmas Socking load of others enough to fill any Santa sack. And let's not forget those others that have the story set around Christmas time, but are not specifically themed around the Yuletide Season, including 'Die Hard', 'Die Hard 2: Die Harder', 'Trading Places', 'Gremlins', 'Love Actually', and 'Lethal Weapon'. Revisit any of these festive films and you won't be disappointed. Compliments of the Season!

This week there are just two films to choose from in the early lead up to the big releases of the Season coming next week and of course the week after. We kick off with another Christmas offering of an office festive party on a scale the like of which few of us are likely to ever see, and that's probably no bad thing as a corporate manager is out to prove himself, rally his Team and win a Client in the process. This is then followed up by a drama of relationships and how the actions of adults can have dramatic consequences on young impressionable teenagers when least expected.

With two films following on from last weeks seven new releases, there is still ample time and opportunity to catch a film as Previewed below, or as Previewed and Reviewed here in previous weeks. When you have done so, remember we welcome all relevant, constructive, thought provoking and insightful feedback from you as to your views, opinions and observations of your filmic experience. Share a Comment below this or any other Post - we'd love to hear from you. Meanwhile, enjoy your movie!

'OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY' (Rated MA15+) - this is the second Christmas themed movie to emerge this festive season so far following 'Bad Santa 2' released and Previewed a couple of weeks ago. Directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon this film is released Stateside this week also, and sees the Christmas Party to end all Christmas Parties, or as the tag line goes 'Party like your job depends on it'. With a big name cast getting up to all sorts of big name party antics, festive fun and frivolity is sure to ensue even if the plot is a little thin.

And so we have high flying corporate CEO Carol Vanstone (Jennifer Aniston) who heads up Zenotek. When Carol tries to close the branch of Zenotek managed by her party-hard brother Clay Vanstone (T.J.Miller), he enlists the support of his Chief Technical Officer Josh Parker (Jason Bateman) to rally their fellow employees by hosting the mother of all Office Christmas Parties in an attempt to impress a potential Client, to close a deal that will save their branch from closure, to have an over the top good time needless to say, and convince the sister Boss that the business is in safe hands. Also starring Kate McKinnon and Olivia Munn.

'LITTLE MEN' (Rated PG) - this little drama film was made for just US$2M, had its Premier screening at the Sundance Film Festival in January this year and went on release in the US in early August, so it has been doing the rounds before arriving Down Under. So far making back about US$1M of that initial investment, this film is Directed, Co-Produced and co-Written by Ira Sachs and tells the story of how adult conflict can impact young and impressionable lives. When the Grandfather of 13 year old Jake Jardine (Theo Taplitz) dies the family move from their Manhattan home into their inherited Brooklyn home, previously owned and occupied by the Grandfather. There Jake soon becomes good friends with Tony Calvelli (Michael Barber) who lives in the same block, and the two share similar interests and aspirations - the former wanting to become an artist and the latter, an actor, and they both wish to attend the same notable arts high school together. However, Jake's parents Brian (Greg Kinnear) and Kathy (Jennifer Ehle) seek new lease terms from Tony's single mother Leonor (Paulina Garcia) who runs a dress shop within the building. Leonor believes the lease terms and rental hike is untenable, and consequently a heated dispute erupts between the adults. Whilst the boys at first ignore their feuding parents, its not long before they are drawn in putting their own friendship at risk.

Just two films this week to lure you into your local movie theatre. If either of these spark your interest and grab your attention to tease you out to your nearby cinema, remember to share your views afterwards with us here. In the meantime, I'll see you in the week ahead, at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-