What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 13th December 2018.

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards were held at Sydney's Star Hotel and Casino on Wednesday 5th December 2018, and as the official website states, these are a continuum of the AFI Awards, which have honoured screen excellence in Australia since 1958. The AACTA Awards recognise film, television and documentary screen craft excellence - including Directing, Producing and Acting, through to Cinematography, music and score composition and costume design - across more than fifty Awards each year. The AACTA's are Australia's highest film and television Awards which began in their now current format in August 2011, following the AFI's launch of the Australian Academy. and are held annually in Sydney, Australia in recognition and celebration of Australia’s highest achievements in film and television, as judged by the industry itself.

This year, amidst all the glitterati, glamourati, and the paparazzi the proud winners and grinners of the big screen awards were presented to the following :-

* AACTA Award for Best Feature Film : 'Sweet Country'
* AACTA Award for Best Indie Film : 'Jirga'
* AACTA Award for Best Direction : Warwick Thornton for 'Sweet Country'
* AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor : Hamilton Morris for 'Sweet Country'
* AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress : Angourie Rice for 'Ladies in Black'
* AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor : Simon Baker for 'Breath'
* AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actress : Nicole Kidman for 'Boy Erased'
* AACTA Award for Best Original Screenplay : David Tranter and Steven McGregor for 'Sweet Country'
* AACTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay : Joel Edgerton for 'Boy Erased'
* AACTA Award for Best Cinematography : Warwick Thornton for 'Sweet Country'
* AACTA Award for Best Original Musical Score : Christopher Gordon for 'Ladies in Black'
* AACTA Award for Best Sound : 'Breath'
* AACTA Award for Best Costume Design : Wendy Cork for 'Ladies in Black'
* AACTA Award for Best Feature Documentary : Paul Damien Williams for 'Gurrumul'
* AACTA Award for Best Visual Effects or Animation : Animal Logic for 'Peter Rabbit'
and, The AACTA Longford Lyell Award for Lifetime Achievement was awarded to Bryan Brown.

This week then sees the release of four new films coming to your local Odeon. We launch off with a re-cut, re-edited, and partially re-shot version of a strictly adults only anti-hero superhero film of earlier this year that re-wrote the rule book in all of its bloody violence, foul mouthed, wise arsed glory. This version has been toned down for a family audience this festive season, whilst still retaining many of the touchstones that has made this franchise so popular. Next up is a tale of mid-nineteenth century Ireland with the backdrop of the Great Famine and one mans struggle to seeks justice, or revenge or both on those that did him, and his family, wrong. We then go to a revenge action thriller concerning a one woman army out to wreak bloody vengeance on those that killed her husband and her daughter - and there's plenty of miscreants lining up it seems on both sides of the law. Wrapping up the week is an animated feature film concerning multiple web-slinging superheroes with arachnid like tendencies who inhibit an alternate universe to their live action counterparts.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the four 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 week ahead.

'ONCE UPON A DEADPOOL' (Rated M) - in 2016 the Marvel character of Deadpool aka Wade Wilson burst onto our screens in this origin feature of the fourth wall breaking potty-mouthed wise-cracking indestructible anti-hero superhero. A huge financial success raking in a Box Office haul of US$783M off the back of a US$58M Budget, critically acclaimed, multi-award winning and record breaking 'Deadpool' was Directed by Tim Miller and starred Ryan Reynolds as our titular hero who hunts down the man who gave him mutant abilities and caused his scarred physical appearance. Of course, off the back of this success came 'Deadpool 2' earlier this year as Directed by David Leitch for US$110M and bringing home US$734M in which our hero forms the team X-Force to protect a young mutant from the time-travelling soldier, Cable. 'Deadpool 3' is currently in development.

And so 'Once Upon a Deadpool' is a re-cut PG version of 'Deadpool 2' said to be more family friendly and less potty-mouthed with a Christmas twist, that also includes twenty minutes of new footage not previously seen. Those scenes mostly take in Deadpool's bedside dialogue with Fred Savage in a homage to Savage's starring role as the Grandson in the 1987 bedtime-story classic 'The Princess Bride'. Other than these additions to frame the story, and some additional light hearted child friendly themeing, the bulk of the film is a re-edited, supposedly toned down version of 'Deadpool 2'.

'BLACK '47' (Rated MA15+) - this Irish historical period offering is Directed and Co-Written for the screen by Lance Daly and is based on a short story made into a short film called 'An Ranger' by Pierce Ryan and P.J. Dillon. The film saw its World Premier screening at the Berlin Film Festival back in March this year, was released in Ireland in September and now goes on a limited release here is Australia this week. Telling the story set in 1847 during the Great Famine of 1845-1849, of an Irish Ranger Martin Feeney (James Frecheville) who returns from war to find that his mother has died in the famine of starvation, and his brother has been hanged by the British having stabbed a bailiff during the family's eviction from their home. When his plans to emigrate to America fails, he starts a vendetta against the establishment in Ireland. Also starring Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, Jim Broadbent, Freddie Fox and Barry Keoghan the film has received generally positive Reviews and has so far grossed US$2M.

'PEPPERMINT' (Rated MA15+) - here French film Director and Cinematographer Pierre Morel, whose previous Directing credits include 'District 13', 'Taken', 'From Paris With Love' and 'The Gunman', delivers us an American action vigilante movie that has been described by one Critic as 'Death Wish' on steroids'. Released in the US in early September, the film cost US$25M, has so far recovered US$49M but has received generally negative Press along the way. In this story Riley North (Jennifer Garner) awakens from a coma after surviving a brutal attack that killed her husband and daughter. When the system shields the murderers from justice, Riley sets out to transform herself over  a period of five years, from law abiding citizen to urban killing machine using all the close quarter combat tactics in the guerrilla playbook. Channelling her frustrations at the system and the injustice served into motivation, the young widow spends years in hiding teaching her mind, body and spirit to become an unstoppable force. Eluding a drug cartel underworld headed up by Diego Garcia (Juan Pablo Raba), the Police in the form of Detectives Stan Carmichael and Moises Beltran (John Gallagher Jnr. and John Ortiz respectively) and the FBI Agents Lisa Inman and Barker (Annie Illonzeh and Method Man respectively), Riley embarks on a deadly quest to deliver her own personal form of justice by utilising her own set of very particular skills.

'SPIDER-MAN : INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE' (Rated PG) - here we have a computer animated feature film based on the famed Marvel Comics character and produced by Columbia and Sony in association with Marvel. Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman the film cost US$90M to make, is released Stateside this week too and has generated widespread Critical acclaim for the quality of innovative animation, the story line, humour and voice acting. The film is set in a shared multiverse called the 'Spider-Verse', which features different alternate universes. Bitten by a radioactive spider, teenager Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) suddenly develops mysterious powers that transform him into Spider-Man. Juggling his high-school demands with his new found super powers, he must now use his new skills to battle the Kingpin, aka Wilson Fisk (Liev Schreiber), a hulking madman who can open portals to other dimensions. Miles however, is one only of many Spider-Men (or Spider-Persons to be PC), including Peter Parker (voiced by Jake Johnson). Hailee Steinfeld voices Gwen Stacey aka Spider-Gwen, Lily Tomlin is May Parker, Zoe Kravitz is Mary Jane Watson and Nicolas Cage, Brian Tyree Henry, Oscar Isaac, Mahershala Ali, Kathryn Hahn and of course the obligatory cameo by the late great Stan Lee. A sequel is already in the early stages of development together with several potential spin-offs based on the buzz surrounding this feature. The film has been nominated for an early 2019 Golden Globe Award in the Best Animated Feature category.

With four 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-