What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 18th October 2018.

As reported a couple of weeks ago now, the Adelaide Film Festival is now in full swing running from 10th through until 21st October 2018. The official website reads that the 'Adelaide Film Festival (ADL Film Fest) is an eleven-day celebration and exploration of Australian and international screen culture with a unique program of screenings, forums and special events. The event has rapidly established itself as one of the boldest and most innovative in the country and has made a name for itself internationally as a platform for exciting new talent in the Australian industry'. It goes on further to add 'the youngest but most dynamic national screen event, Adelaide Film Festival was established in 2003 and was placed in Variety’s list of “50 Unmissable Film Festivals”. It is Australia’s premier film event, launching new films, art and interactive projects to national and international audiences'. 

This year’s Adelaide Film Festival showcases seventeen World Premier screenings and thirty Australian Premieres, including four Venice Award Winners & Grinners and a solid representation of films from Australia's emerging talent pool of Directors. The full festival schedule consists of over 130 feature films, animated features, documentaries, short films, virtual-reality works and various installations, with well over forty percent of films being presented having been Directed by women.

The opening night film on 10th October was 'Hotel Mumbai' based on the 2008 terror attacks in that Indian city, with the closing night screening on 21st being 'Can You Ever Forgive Me' with Melissa McCarthy playing agents type as celebrity writer turned forger Lee Israel.

Other noteworthy screenings garnering much buzz around the festival circuit are : 

* 'Arctic' - Directed by Joe Penna and starring Mads Mikkelsen.
* 'At Eternity's Gate' - Directed by Julian Schnabel and starring Willem Dafoe, Mads Mikkelsen and Oscar Isaac.
* 'The Ballad of Buster Scruggs' - Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring an ensemble cast.
* 'Beautiful Boy' - Directed by Felix Van Groeningen and starring Timothee Chalamet and Steve Carell, and released in Australia next week.
* 'Celeste' - Directed by Ben Hackworth and starring Radha Mitchell.
* 'Emu Runner' - Directed by Imogen Thomas in her feature film debut and starring Rhae-Kye Waites.
* 'Ghost Stories' - Directed by Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson and starring Andy Nyman and Martin Freeman, and released in Australia next week.
* 'I Am Mother Work In Progress' - Directed by Grant Sputore and starring Hilary Swank.
* 'Knife + Heart' - Directed by Yann Gonzalez and starring Vanessa Paradis.
* 'Lean on Pete' - Directed by Andrew Haigh and starring Charlie Plummer and Steve Buscemi, and released in Australia next week.
* 'Leave No Trace' - Directed by Debra Granik and starring Thomasin McKenzie and Ben Foster.
* 'The Nightingale' - Directed by Jennifer Kent and starring Aisling Franciosi and Sam Claiflin.
* 'The Old Man & the Gun' - Directed by David Lowery and starring Robert Redford, Casey Affleck and Sissy Spacek.
* 'Puzzle' - Directed by Marc Turtletaub and starring Kelly Macdonald and Irrfan Khan.
* 'Roma' - Directed by Alfonso Cuaron and starring Yalitza Aparicio.
* 'Shoplifters' - Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda and starring Lily Franky and Sakura Ando.

You can of course gain a far greater insight into all the goings on at this years ADL Film Fest, and the full lo-down on the aforementioned films and all the others too, by checking out the official website at : https://adelaidefilmfestival.org/

Coming to your local Odeon in the week ahead then, we have three new release movies to tease you out to your nearby multiplex or independent theatre. We kick off the week with the fourth big screen adaptation of this film after the 1937 original and remakes in 1954, 1976 and now in 2018. Helmed by a first time Director and seasoned Actor and co-starring a hugely successful singer in her screen debut this film tells the story of a star that begins to shine brightly for one whilst it fades for the other and the life altering consequences for both. We then turn to a gritty Aussie drama about an outlaw motorcycle gang and the fallout after the leader is released from prison to discover a very different club to the one he left behind when he was sent down. And finally this week we wrap up with a documentary about a British fashion icon still going as strong today as she did when she helped ignite the Punk Rock scene in mid-'70's Britain.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three latest release new movies 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 most welcome 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 outing during the coming week.

'A STAR IS BORN' (Rated M) - this much hyped musical romantic drama film is Directed by first timer Bradley Cooper who also Co-Produced, Co-Wrote and stars alongside Lady Gaga in her big screen debut. This is the fourth version of the original 1937 film production of the same name and starred Janet Gaynor and Frederic March, with remakes coming in 1954 by Director George Cukor with Judy Garland and James Mason in the lead roles, and then again in 1976 Directed by Frank Pierson and starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. The 1976 version of the film made US$80M from its US$6M Production Budget and won one Oscar and was nominated for three others, collected five Golden Globe wins and two BAFTA nominations amongst others. This film Premiered at the Venice Film Festival in late August, went on general release in the US two weeks ago, cost US$36M, and has received widespread Critical acclaim with particular praise for Cooper's and Gaga's performances and the chemistry between the pairing, the cinematography, the musical score and Cooper's Direction.  Box Office receipts currently stand at US$136M.

Here seasoned and successful musician Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) discovers and ultimately falls in love with struggling singer Ally (Lady Gaga). She has just about given up on her dream to make it big as a singer until Jackson coaxes her out of a drag bar where she moonlights as a singer and into the spotlight at one of his own concerts. But, as Ally's career takes off and success comes knocking, the personal side of their relationship is taking its toll, as Jackson fights an ongoing battle with his own internal demons. Also starring Sam Elliott, Dave Chappelle, Andrew Dice Clay and Alec Baldwin.

'1%' (Rated MA15+) - Written and starring Matt Nable, this outlaw motorcycle gang drama is Directed in his debut feature by Stephen McCallum and was first screened at the Toronto International Film Festival back in August 2017, and only now does it get its homegrown release in Australia. Filmed in Perth, Western Australia, the film tells the story of of hard as nails gang leader Knuck (Matt Nable) who is released from prison after serving three years. He returns as President of the Copperheads Motorcycle Club expecting to just pick up where he left off three years ago. But, in the intervening years, things have changed. The new pretender Paddo (Ryan Corr) is a generation younger than the old school Knuck, and has turned around the club from a raw, rough and tumble outfit to a well oiled smooth running and viable criminal business. With Knuck back on the scene and trying to stamp his Presidential authority on the gang once more, friendships will be tested, loyalties divided and the scene set for bloodshed, betrayal and a battle for supremacy. Also starring Aaron Pedersen, Abbey Lee, Simone Kessell and Josh McConville.

'WESTWOOD : PUNK, ICON, ACTIVIST' (Rated M) - here this Documentary feature film is Directed by Lorna Tucker and charts the life and times of British fashion icon Vivienne Westwood. Released in the UK back in March this year and having been screened both at the Sydney and Melbourne Film Festivals, the film now gets a limited release in Australia. Credited with lighting the touch paper in the mid-'70's on the British Punk Rock movement with ex-partner and Sex Pistols' Manager Malcolm McLaren, Dame Vivienne Westwood has been reworking and reinventing the British fashion scene ever since with many of the more distinctive looks of our time. Blending archival footage, thoughtful reconstruction, and revealing testimonials with Westwood's fascinating network of contributors we are taken on a journey from her years growing up in postwar Derbyshire to the runways of Paris and Milan that have coloured her success, whilst at the same time she fights to protect the integrity of the brand she has created, her unwavering principles and her legacy in a business driven by consumerism, profit and global expansion.

With three new release films this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-