What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 24th September 2020.

In recent weeks two major film festivals have been held - the Venice International Film Festival which ran from 2nd through 12th September, and the Toronto International Film Festival which ran from 10th until 20th September. Both festivals this year were in an abridged format, and relied heavily on the online delivery of its filmed content, and interactive digital experiences and events.  

For this years 77th annual Venice International Film Festival, the opening night film was the Italian romantic drama film 'The Ties' and the closing night film, also Italian, the drama thriller 'You Came Back'. The Jury President for this years selected films in Main Competition was the Australian Actress Cate Blanchett, ably supported in her role by American Actor Matt Dillon, British Director and Screenwriter Joanna Hogg, Austrian Director and Screenwriter Veronica Franz, German Director and Screenwriter Christian Petzold, Italian author Nicola Lagioia and French Actress and model Ludivine Sagnier. 

The winners and grinners, carrying off the prestigious awards were as follows :-

* The Golden Lion - awarded to the American drama 'Nomadland' Directed, Written, Co-Produced and Edited by Chloe Zhao and starring Frances McDormand and Davis Strathairn. 

* The Grand Jury Prize - awarded to the Mexican/French art dystopian thriller 'New Order' Directed, Written, Co-Produced and Co-Edited by Michel Franco and starring Naian Gonzalez Norvind and Diego Boneta.

* The Silver Lion - awarded to the Japanese Historical romantic drama 'Wife of a Spy' Directed and Co-Written by Kiyoshi Kurosawa and starring Yu Aoi and Issey Takahashi. 

* The Volpi Cup for Best Actress - awarded to Vanessa Kirby for the American/Canadian drama 'Pieces of a Woman' Directed by Kornel Mundruczo and also starring Shia LaBeouf, Sarah Snook, Molly Parker, Benny Safdie and Ellen Burstyn.

* The Volpi Cup for Best Actor - awarded to Pierfrancesco Favino for the Italian coming of age drama 'Padrenostro' Directed and Co-Written by Claudio Noce.

* The Special Jury Prize - awarded to the Russian historical drama 'Dear Comrades' Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written by Andrei Konchalovsky. 

* The Marcello Mastroianni Award - awarded to the child Actor Rouhollah Zamani for the Iranian drama 'The Sun', Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written by Majid Majidi. 

* The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement - awarded to the Scottish Actress Tilda Swinton and the Hong Kong Director, Producer, Writer and Actress Ann Hui. 

For this years 45th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the opening night film was the American concert film 'American Utopia' by Spike Lee. The closing night presentation was the BBC Television UK /India drama miniseries 'A Suitable Boy' Directed by Mira Nair. 

The winners and grinners in a reduced line up of awards this year, were :

* The People's Choice Award - went to the American drama 'Nomadland' Directed, Written, Co-Produced and Edited by Chloe Zhao and starring Frances McDormand and Davis Strathairn.

* The People's Choice Award : First Runner-Up - awarded to the American drama 'One Night in Miami' Directed by Regina King and starring Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jnr., Lance Reddick and Beau Bridges. 

* The People's Choice Award : Second Runner-Up - awarded to the Canadian drama 'Beans' Directed and Co-Written by Tracey Deer and starring Kiawenti:io Tarbell and Paulina Jewel Alexis and Violah Beauvais. 

* The People's Choice Award : Documentaries - awarded to the Canadian documentary 'Inconvenient Indian' Directed and Written by Michelle Latimer.

* The People's Choice Award : Midnight Madness - awarded to the American action horror 'Shadow in the Cloud' Directed and Co-Written by Roseanne Liang and starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson and Callan Mulvey. 

* Best Canadian Feature Film : awarded to the Canadian documentary 'Inconvenient Indian' Directed and Written by Michelle Latimer.

For more information on all the news and views from this years Venice International Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival, you can visit the official websites at : https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2020 and, https://www.tiff.net

This week, to tempt you out to your local Odeon, we have three new release films coming your way. We kick start the week with a music scene comedy drama about a hugely successful albeit ageing singer in the twilight of her career and her young PA who has dreams of breaking into music production and the lifeline they are both thrown that could change the lives forever. Next up we have the third instalment in a film franchise that sees the truce that exists between cats and dogs potentially cast asunder by the machinations of a rogue parrot intent on both species of our favoured domestic pets going back to their old habits as sworn enemies. And we close out the week with a documentary charting the life and times, and message for future generations, from an icon of the natural world who over six decades has visited every corner of the globe from land, sky and sea to bring us awe inspiring documentary films and TV series from the plant and animal kingdom.  

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 or 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.

'THE HIGH NOTE' (Rated M) - this American comedy drama film is Directed by Nisha Ganatra whose previous feature film credits take in 'Chutney Popcorn', 'Cake' and 'Late Night' last year with Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling, plus a number of short films, made for TV movies and single episodes on multiple TV series. Released in the US in selected cinemas and through Premium Video On Demand at the end of May this year, the film now gets a limited release in Australia having taken US$2.1M at the Box Office off the back of a circa US$20M budget investment and has garnered mixed or average Reviews so far. 

Set in the dazzling world of the Los Angeles music scene comes the story of Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross), a superstar whose talent, and ego, have reached unbelievable heights even though she has not released any new material for the past ten years or so. Maggie Sherwoode (Dakota Johnson) is Grace's overworked personal assistant who's stuck running chores and errands for the singer, but has her own aspirations of becoming a music producer. When Grace's manager Jack Robertson (Ice Cube) presents her with an option that could alter the course of her career, Maggie and Grace come up with a plan that could change their lives forever. Also starring Kelvin Harrison Jnr., Bill Pullman, Eddie Izzard, Diplo and Melanie Griffith. 

'CATS & DOGS 3 : PAWS UNITE' (Rated G) - Directed by Sean McNamara who has amassed fifty-two Producer credits, seventy-three Director credits, twenty-six as an Actor and twelve as a Writer, this third instalment in the franchise follows on from 2001's 'Cats & Dogs' and 2010's 'Cats & Dogs 2 : The Revenge of Kitty Galore'. Here Gwen the Cat (voiced by Melissa Rauch) and Roger the Dog (voiced by Max Greenfield) are secret agents who covertly protect and save the world without humans ever finding out. Their partnership is due to the Great Truce, which put an end to cat and dog hostility for the past ten years. But the long-established peace regime is threatened when a supervillain parrot called Pablo (voiced by George Lopez) discovers a way to manipulate wireless frequencies that only dogs and cats can hear. It's down to our canine and feline heroes to prevent a cat-as-trophic event from unfolding thanks to the nefarious deeds of a foul fowl. 

'DAVID ATTENBOROUGH : A LIFE ON OUR PLANET' (Rated PG) - in a broadcasting career spanning more than six decades, one man has seen more of the natural world than any other. This unique feature documentary is his witness statement. In his 93 years, David Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of our planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and grandeur for us to watch in wonder from the comfort of our own homes. Now, for the first time he reflects upon both the defining moments of his lifetime as a naturalist and the devastating changes he has seen. Honest, revealing and urgent, this film is a powerful first-hand account of humanity's impact on nature and a message of hope for future generations. Created by award-winning natural history filmmakers and global conservation organisation WWF, the film is Directed by Alastair Fothergill, Jonnie Hughes and Keith Scholey. The film gets its worldwide cinematic release on Monday 28th September for a limited time only, before being released on Netflix shortly thereafter. 

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-