What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 9th May 2019.

The 18th annual Tribeca Film Festival has just this past weekend on 5th May wrapped up for another year. Before doing so however, on 2nd May the Festival announced the winning filmmakers, storytellers, and actors in its competition categories at this year’s awards ceremony at the Stella Artois Theatre at the BMCC TPAC (Borough of Manhattan Community College Tribeca Performing Arts Centre) with a total prize pool of US$165K awarded to those winners and grinners in the categories as given below. You can get the entire low down on this years Festival from the official website at : https://www.tribecafilm.com/

In the US Narrative Competition :-
* Founders Award for Best US Narrative Feature : awarded to 'Burning Cane' Directed by Phillip Youmans.

* Best Actress : awarded to Haley Bennett for 'Swallow'.

* Best Actor : awarded to Wendell Pierce for 'Burning Cane'.
* Best Cinematography : awarded to Phillip Youmans for 'Burning Cane'.

* Best Screenplay : awarded to Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy for 'Blow the Man Down'.

In the International Narrative Competition :-

* Best International Narrative Feature : awarded to 'House of Hummingbird' ('Beol-sae') from South Korea and USA, and Directed and Written by Bora Kim.
* Best Actress : awarded to Ji-hu Park for 'House of Hummingbird' ('Beol-sae') from South Korea and USA.
* Best Actor : awarded to Ali Atay for 'Noah Land' ('Nuh Tepesi') from Germany, Turkey and USA.
* Best Cinematography : awarded to Kang Gook-hyun for 'House of Hummingbird' ('Beol-sae') from South Korea and USA.

* Best Screenplay : awarded to Cenk Ertürk for 'Noah Land' ('Nuh Tepesi') from Germany, Turkey and USA.

In the Documentary Competition :-

* Best Documentary Feature : awarded to 'Scheme Birds' from Scotland and Sweden and Directed and Written by Ellen Fiske and Ellinor Hallin.
* Best Cinematography : awarded to Yang Sun and Shuang Liang for 'Our Time Machine' from China.
* Best Editing : awarded to Jennifer Tiexiera for '17 Blocks' from USA.

Best New Narrative Competition : awarded to 'The Gasoline Thieves' ('Huachicolero') from Mexico, Spain, UK and USA and Directed by Edgar Nito.

Best New Documentary Director Competition : awarded to 'Scheme Birds' from Scotland and Sweden and Directed by Ellen Fiske and Ellinor Hallin.

The Nora Ephron Award : won by Rania Attieh for 'Initials S.G.' ('Iniciales S.G.') from Argentina, Lebanon and USA and Directed by Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia.

This week there are five latest cinematic releases coming to your local Odeon. We kick off with a Shakespeare biopic charting the last three years of the Bard's life after he retired back to Stratford to rekindle his relationship with his wife and two daughters and face his failings as a husband and father. Next up we have a remake of a remake but this time with two female protagonists intent on exacting out their sweet revenge on two men who had previously done them wrong. Then we turn to an American comedy about starting over in your twilight years by forming a cheerleading troupe in the retirement village where this happy group of female residents all live. This is followed up by a French zombie offering about a man who goes into hiding in a Paris apartment having woken up after a wild party to find the world had changed forever - but how long can he stick out the solitude before he goes mad, or help comes, or he dares to venture outside. We wrap up the week with a live action video game adaptation of a much loved and globally popular character, as this wise-cracking yet cute character interacts with the only human who can understand him, and they both go in search for a man who mysteriously disappeared.

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

'ALL IS TRUE' (Rated M) - this British offering is Directed by Kenneth Branagh and Written by Ben Elton and stars the famed Actor and Director Branagh as William Shakespeare. The film takes it title from an alternative name for his play 'Henry VIII'. The film was shot without any fanfare and featured as the Opening Night Gala film at the Palm Springs Film Festival in early January this year after its very limited release over Christmas 2018 and before its release in the UK in early February. It gets a limited re-release in Los Angeles and New York this week too, after which a wider US release is planned. The film has so far grossed US$1.5M and has garnered generally favourable Reviews.

It is 1613, and William Shakespeare (Kenneth Branagh) is acknowledged as the greatest writer of the age. But disaster strikes when his renowned Globe Theatre burns to the ground. Devastated, Shakespeare returns to Stratford,-upon-Avon where he must face a troubled past and a neglected family. Haunted by the death of his only son, Hamnet, he struggles to repair the broken relationship with his wife Anne Hathaway (Judi Dench) and his two daughters Susanna and Judith (Lydia Wilson and Kathryn Wilder respectively). In so doing, he is ruthlessly forced to examine his own failings as a husband and father. Also starring Ian McKellen as the Earl of Southampton.

'THE HUSTLE' (Rated M) - here we have a female orientated remake of that classic 1988 comedy 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' with Steve Martin and Michael Caine, which in turn was remake of the 1964 movie 'Bedtime Story' with Marlon Brando and David Niven. This time around, Directed by Welshman Chris Addison in his feature film debut, here we have Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson as two women, both from opposite sides of the tracks - one high brow, the other low rent, who get tricked each by two men. And so coming together, the pair plot their revenge against the men who wronged them. Also starring Alex Sharp, Tim Blake Nelson and Dean Norris, the film gets its theatrical run this week too in the US.

'POMS' (Rated PG) - here this American comedy dance offering is Directed by usual Documentarian Zara Hayes and Co-Written by her too. Rather than reporting on real world events, people and places, here she turns attention to a small group of residents living in a retirement community, and in particular one Martha (Diane Keaton) who has recently moved in. Martha decides that it would be a good idea to start a cheerleading squad with fellow residents Sheryl (Jacki Weaver), Olive (Pam Grier) and Alice (Rhea Perlman) just to prove the point that it's really never too late to follow your dreams. The film is released Stateside this week too.

'THE NIGHT EATS THE WORLD' (Rated MA15+) - this French zombie movie is Directed by Dominique Rocher and is based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Pit Agarman. The film first Premiered at the Angers Film Festival way back in January 2018, before going on release in its native France in March 2018 and only now does it get a very limited look in here in Australia. After waking up in an apartment the night after a raucous party in a Paris apartment which he didn't want to attend anyway, Sam (Anders Danielsen Lie) comes face to face with his new reality. The walls are spattered with blood stains, there isn't a living being anywhere to be seen, an army of zombies has invaded the streets of Paris, and he appears to be one of the lone survivors. Petrified with fear, he barricades himself inside the building to survive, hunkering down for the long haul. He wonders how long he can last in silence and solitude as the undead congregate outside. Sam passes the lonely months by entertaining himself however possible, but there’s only so long he can hold on to his sanity - and he may not be entirely alone.

'POKEMON DETECTIVE PIKACHU' (Rated PG) - based on the 2016 video game 'Detective Pikachu' this fantasy mystery film offering is Directed by Rob Letterman whose previous film-making credits include 'Shark Tale', 'Monsters vs. Aliens', 'Gulliver's Travels' and 'Goosebumps'. He also Co-Wrote the Screenplay. When Harry Goodman (Paul Kitson) goes mysteriously missing, this stirs his 21-year-old son Tim (Justice Smith) into action in an attempt to find out what happened. Aiding in the investigation is Harry’s former Pokémon partner, Detective Pikachu (voiced by Ryan Reynolds), a hilariously wise-cracking, adorable super-sleuth who is a bewilderment even to himself. Finding that they are uniquely equipped to communicate with each other, Tim and Pikachu join forces  to unravel the web of intrigue and mystery. Hunting down clues together through the neon-lit streets of Ryme City, a sprawling, modern metropolis where humans and Pokémon characters live in harmony in a hyper-realistic live-action world—they uncover a shocking plot that could destroy this peaceful co-existence and threaten the whole Pokémon universe. Also starring Ken Watanabe, Bill Nighy, Suki Waterhouse and Rita Ora the film is released in the United States this week also.

With five new release movies 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-