What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 21st December 2017.

The lesser known British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) this year celebrated its 20th year with its awards ceremony on 10th December, hosted by Writer, Producer and Actor Mark Gatiss at Old Billingsgate in London. BIFA celebrates, supports and promotes British independent cinema and film making talent by recognising merit and achievement in independently funded British films, honouring new talent and promoting British films and filmmaking to a wider public audience. There are sixteen award categories and three honorary awards given each year. For 2017, the main winners and grinners were :-

* Best British Independent Film awarded to : 'God's Own Country' beating out 'The Death of Stalin', 'I Am Not A Witch', 'Lady Macbeth' and 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'.
* Best Foreign Independent Film awarded to : 'Get Out' beating out 'The Florida Project', 'I Am Not Your Negro', 'Loveless' and 'The Square'.
* Best Director : Rungano Nyoni for 'I Am Not a Witch'.
* Best Actress : Florence Pugh for 'Lady Macbeth'.
* Best Actor : Josh O'Connor for 'God's Own Country'.
* Best Supporting Actress : Patricia Clarkson for 'The Party'.
* Best Supporting Actor : Simon Russell Beale for 'The Death of Stalin'.
* Most Promising Newcomer : Naomi Ackle for 'Lady Macbeth'.
* Best Screenplay : Alice Birch for 'Lady Macbeth'.
* Best Cinematography : Ari Wegner for 'Lady Macbeth'.
* Best Music : Carter Burwell for 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'.
* The BIFA Richard Harris Award : Vanessa Redgrave.
* The BIFA Variety Award : Gary Oldman.

'Lady Macbeth' walked away with five awards in total, 'God's Own Country' and 'The Death of Stalin' each took home four with 'I Am Not A Witch' clinching three and 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' two. Congratulations to those award winners and nominees. For more information, you can go to : www.bifa.film

This week in the lead up to the mega haul of new releases in Christmas week, we have just two new offerings to tease you out to you local Odeon, independent theatre or multiplex. We kick off with the sequel to a 2014 live action/CGI animated film about a cute and cuddly bear with a marmalade addiction, who this time around lands himself in hot water and the wrong side of the law and winds up in jail, leaving his adoptive family to do what they must to prove his innocence, clear his name and send down the real perp. Then we have a critically acclaimed small independent feature about the manager of a budget hotel and his dealings with a young mother and her young daughter living hand to mouth and trying to make ends meet in the shadow of the seemingly utopian Disney World Resort in Florida.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the two latest release films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are here cordially invited 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 experience during the week ahead.

'PADDINGTON 2' (Rated G) - the story of Paddington the Bear first emerged onto our big screens as a live action/CGI animated comedy offering back in 2014. Telling the story of a cute Peruvian native bear with a penchant for marmalade, transplanted into modern day London based on the much loved children's books by Michael Bond, that film grossed US$268M at the global Box Office from its US$50M budget outlay. That film, about a bear character with the name of Paddington because he was discovered by the Brown family at London's Paddington Station, was Directed, written for the screen and based upon a story by Paul King, and was nominated for two Academy Awards. Now some three years later, we have this sequel that is again Co-Written and Directed by Paul King and once again stars an ensemble cast, was released in the UK in early November, has so far taken US$77M at the Box Office and has been universally acclaimed by Critics and audiences alike.

Here Paddington Bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) has settled into life with the Brown family in London's Windsor Gardens and has become a popular figure in the local community. Wanting to purchase a rare book for Aunt Lucy's 100th Birthday, Paddington finds himself on the wrong side of the law and in the process gets himself thrown in jail for a crime he did not commit. On the outside, it falls down to the Brown family to find the real perpetrator of said crime, clear Paddington's name, and effect his release from prison while sending down the actual criminal. Also starring  Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Brendan Gleeson, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi, Hugh Grant, Imelda Staunton, Michael Gambon, Joanna Lumley, Noah Taylor, Tom Conti and Richard Ayoade. A third instalment has already been confirmed by Production Company StudioCanal.

'THE FLORIDA PROJECT' (Rated MA15+) - here Sean Baker Directs, Co-Produces and Co-Wrote this independent film which Premiered during the Directors Fortnight at this years Cannes Film Festival and was released Stateside in early October. Costing just US$2M the film has so far taken almost US$5M and has garnered widespread universal acclaim picking up numerous award wins and nominations for Best Director, Best Film, and for Willem Dafoe as Best Supporting Actor. The film tells the story of six year old Moonee (Brooklyn Prince) who lives with her young mother Halley (Bria Vinaite) in a budget motel called The Magic Castle located in Kissimmee, near Orlando in Florida on a stretch of freeway not far from Disney World. The Hotel is managed by Bobby Hicks (Willem Dafoe). Halley is the rebellious type, and unemployable and depends on petty scams and schemes to make a buck to help ends meet whilst trying to stay out of trouble. However, whilst Moonee's days are filled with childhood innocence, big adventures, day dreams and all the joy of Summer making the best of the world they have been thrust into, her mother is forced to explore more dangerous means of keeping the small family unit afloat in order to provide for her daughter. The films title is derived from the early name for the Walt Disney World Resort and Theme Park which is located close by to where the film is set.

With two new release films this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, with the continuing tale of everyone's favourite marmalade munching bear and his exploits now that he has settled into the domestic world of a kindly London family; and followed up by the Summertime exploits of a young mother and daughter settled into a budget motel struggling to make ends meet. Remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephiles afterwards here at Odeon Online, and meanwhile, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-