What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 23rd February 2017.

The 89th Academy Awards Ceremony hosted by television personality Jimmy Kimmel will be held on Sunday evening 26th February 2017 at the Dolby Theatre, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California to a packed audience of the worlds cinematic screen personalities and a worldwide television audience of several hundred million viewers. Jimmy Kimmel for the previous eleven years has hosted a special edition of his late night 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' television show 'After the Oscars' lampooning the awards ceremony and the entertainment industry using various awards recipients and attendees in both live and pre-recorded sketches.

The nominations for the major categories look like this :-
* Best Picture : 'Arrival', 'Fences', 'Hacksaw Ridge', 'Hell of High Water', 'Hidden Figures', 'La la Land', 'Lion', Manchester by the Sea' and 'Moonlight'.
* Best Director : Damien Chazelle for 'La La Land', Mel Gibson for 'Hacksaw Ridge', Barry Jenkins for 'Moonlight', Kenneth Lonergan for 'Manchester by the Sea', and Denis Villeneuve for 'Arrival'.
* Best Animated Feature Film : 'Kubo and the Two Strings', 'Moana', 'My Life as a Zucchini', 'The Red Turtle' and 'Zootopia'.
* Best Foreign Language Film : 'Land of Mine' (from Denmark), 'A Man Called Ove' (from Sweden), 'The Salesman' (from Iran), 'Tanna' (from Australia) and 'Toni Erdmann' (from Germany).
* Best Actor : Casey Affleck for 'Manchester by the Sea', Andrew Garfield for 'Hacksaw Ridge', Ryan Gosling for 'La La Land', Viggo Mortensen for 'Captain Fantastic' and Denzel Washington for 'Fences'.
* Best Actress : Isabelle Huppert for 'Elle', Ruth Negga for 'Loving', Natalie Portman for 'Jackie', Emma Stone for 'La La Land', and Meryl Streep for 'Florence Foster Jenkins'.
* Best Supporting Actor : Mahershala Ali for 'Moonlight', Jeff Bridges for 'Hell or High Water', Lucas Hedges for 'Manchester by the Sea', Dev Patel for 'Lion', and Michael Shannon for 'Nocturnal Animals'.
* Best Supporting Actress : Viola Davis for 'Fences', Naomi Harris for 'Moonlight', Nicole Kidman for 'Lion', Octavia Spencer for 'Hidden Figures', and Michelle Williams for 'Manchester by the Sea'.
* Best Original Screenplay : 'Hell or High Water' by Taylor Sheridan, 'La La Land' by Damien Chazelle, 'The Lobster' by Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Fillipou, 'Manchester by the Sea' by Kenneth Lonergan and '20th Century Women' by Mike Mills.
* Best Adapted Screenplay : 'Arrival', 'Fences', 'Hidden Figures', 'Lion', and 'Moonlight'.
* Best Original Score : 'Jackie', 'La La Land', 'Lion', 'Moonlight', and 'Passengers'.
* Best Visual Effects : 'Deepwater Horizon', 'Doctor Strange', 'The Jungle Book', 'Kubo and the Two Strings' and 'Rogue One : A Star Wars Story'.

All told, 'La La Land' is nominated in a record matching fourteen categories, 'Arrival' and 'Moonlight' are nominated in eight categories, 'Hacksaw Ridge', 'Lion' and 'Manchester by the Sea' are nominated for six each, 'Fences' and 'Hell of High Water' for four each, and 'Hidden Figures' and 'Jackie' for three apiece. For the full list of the winners and grinners from Hollywood's night of nights, watch out for next weeks latest release update.

This week we have four new films to entice you out to your local movie theatre, starting off with a long awaited sequel follow up to a much loved cult classic from 20 years ago that reunites this same characters twenty years on when so much but so little has changed in their lives in the ensuing years. We then have another sequel to a popular watch it and you die horror franchise based on a Japanese horror franchise; and then a true life telling of a Soviet programme only uncovered in 1991 to exterminate millions of Ukrainians in the 1930's; before wrapping up with a school yard showdown as two teachers go head to head, toe to toe and fist to fist after school on the last day of the year.

As is usually the case, your are warmly invited to share your movie going observations, thoughts and musings after you have sat through your film of choice in the coming week. Leave your constructive, relevant and current Comments blow this or any other Post - we'd love to hear from you. Meanwhile, enjoy your cinematic experience.

'T2 : TRAINSPOTTING' (Rated R18+) - eight years ago in early 2009 Danny Boyle made it known that he wanted to film a follow up to his 1996 cult classic 'Trainspotting' based on the Irvine Welsh follow up novel 'Porno' and set nine years after that original film. At that time Ewan McGregor was already keen. In the ensuing years Boyle always kept his follow up film on the back burner as other projects took hold, but in 2014 it was confirmed that Welsh and Boyle had spent a week together discussing script options that would do justice to the 1996 film, and the following year it was reported that 'Trainspotting 2' would be released to coincide with the 20th anniversary of that first film in 2016. Released in the UK in late January 2017, Directed and Co-Produced by Danny Boyle, reuniting the original cast of Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller and Kelly Macdonald and costing US$18M the film has so far made US$21M. By comparison the highly acclaimed 'Trainspotting' back in 1996 cost US$2.25M to make and it grossed at the Box Office US$72M.

And so twenty years have past since the first film as have the lives of the principle characters. We see Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) living in Amsterdam where he has resided with his wife and children for many years. He dreams of those bygone days and his exploits back home. We then move back to Edinburgh where Renton visits the only true place he can ever call home, and hoping to renew acquaintances with Frank Begbie (Robert Carlyle) serving time in prison for 25 years, Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller) now the owner of a city bar but still carrying on with his petty crimes and dodgy deals, and Spud (Ewan Bremner) trying to reconcile with his wife but suicidal. Even though much has changed in their lives, much still remains the same and so as the four old friends get to know each other again, so emotions run strong putting them on a path to potential self destruction and mortal danger.

'RINGS' (Rated M) - the original premise for this successful horror film franchise dates back to the Japanese mystery horror novel published in 1991 and written by Koji Suzuki set in modern day Japan. It was first committed to the big screen in 1995 and that film is said to be the most faithful to the original script. It was remade as a Japanese psychological horror film in 1998 which prompted an American remake in 2002 as Directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Naomi Watts and Brian Cox. That initial remake returned US$250M from its US$48M budget outlay and spawned a sequel in 2005 'Rings Two' Directed by Hideo Nakata who also Directed the original two Japanese films. This second American instalment yielded US$162M from a budget of US$50M. Now in 2017 'Rings' is released as the third instalment and is Directed by F. Javier Gutierrez for US$25M and follows the same premise whereby a cursed videotape is circulated and upon watching it you have seven days to live, by which time you are more than likely to have come to a grizzly end. This film regurgitates all of that for a modern era of social media, instant communication, and multi-media. Staring Matilda Lutz, Alex Rose, Vincent D'Onofrio and Johnny Galecki the film has so far taken US$58M, and has received so far generally poor Reviews.

'BITTER HARVEST' (Rated M) - is the true story of Joseph Stalin's genocidal pact against the Ukraine in the 1930's, and would rank as one of the most neglected and forgotten tragedies of the last century. This tragic truth only came to light in 1991 after the fall of the former Soviet Union and was obscured for decades by Soviet propaganda and denial by Stalin right up to his death. Directed and Co-Written by George Mendeluk the story unfolds between two lovers as they fight against Stalins advances of his communist ambitions in the Kremlin. Yuri (Max Irons) is a young artist who struggles against famine, torture and imprisonment to save his childhood love Natalka (Samantha Barks) from the 'Holodomor' - the extermination by famine programme that killed millions of Ukrainians between 1932 and 1933. Escaping from a Soviet prison, Yuri joins the anti-Bolshevik resistance as he fights to be reunited with his true love, and for the freedom of the Ukraine. Also starring Barry Pepper and Terence Stamp. The film cost US$21M to make and is released internationally this week.

'FIST FIGHT' (Rated MA15+) - this comedy offering is Directed by Richie Keen and tells the story of two teachers at Roosevelt High School on the last day of the school year on 'Prank Day'. Here mild-mannered English teacher Andy Campbell (Charlie Day) and History teacher Ron Strickland (Ice Cube) face off in the classroom over their students pranks, resulting in both of them being hauled in front of the Principal Richard Tyler (Dean Norris) and consequently Strickland getting fired for his violent classroom outburst. As a result Strickland challenges Campbell to an after school playground fist-fight to settle the score, but being the toughest, meanest most feared teacher on campus, Campbell starts back peddling quickly to avoid his appointment with a near certain beating as news of the pending showdown spreads across campus and beyond and expectations and emotions run high. Also starring Dennis Haysbert, Christina Hendricks, Tracy Morgan and Jillian Bell. The film was made for US$25M and has so far taken US$16M since its release Stateside last week, and has received mixed Reviews so far.

Four films offering a long awaited sequel to a '90's classic, horror, historical drama and comedy for your choosing this week. Get yourself off to your local picture house, catch a movie and then share your movie experience with us here afterwards, and in the meantime, I'll see you somewhere, sometime at the Odeon in the week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-