PENGUIN BLOOM : Wednesday 27th January 2021.

'PENGUIN BLOOM' is a PG Rated Australian film which I saw at my local independent movie theatre earlier this week, and is Directed by Glendyn Ivin in only his second feature film outing following 'Last Ride' in 2009, although he has directed a number of TV series and mini-series including 'Puberty Blues', 'Gallipoli', 'Safe Harbour' and 'The Cry' most recently. This family drama film is based on the 2016 book of the same name by Cameron Bloom and Bradley Trevor Greive, saw its World Premier screening at TIFF back in September last year, and was released theatrically last week in Australia and in the US, UK, France and a number of Asian countries on 27th January on Netflix. The film has generated mixed or average Reviews, and taken US$2M at the Australian Box Office so far. 

The film opens up with the outdoorsy adventurous Bloom family enjoying a holiday in Thailand, with the oldest son Noah (Griffin Murray-Johnston) providing the voiceover narration saying that he and his two younger brothers wanted to go to Disneyland but instead their parents decided on Thailand instead - not that the boys weren't enjoying themselves traipsing through the jungle, enjoying the surf, the markets, the unusual foods, the evening fireworks and spending time with their fun loving outgoing parents. That is to say that 'everything was pretty much perfect, until last year happened' comments Noah. We see Noah and his Mum Sam (Naomi Watts, who also Co-Produces here) climb the steps up onto the rooftop of their hotel to take in the views, with Dad Cameron (Andrew Lincoln) trailing behind with his camera - he's a professional photographer. In an unguarded moment, Sam leans against a railing to pose for a photo and the wooden supports holding the railing in place give way causing Sam to fall to the ground two storeys below. 

We then fast forward several months to the family back home on Sydney's Northern Beaches where Sam is wheelchair bound having suffered severe damage to her spinal cord leaving her paralysed from the waist down. Sam is feeling sorry for herself (understandably), angry, frustrated and depressed - so much so that she spends much of her time in bed, with the curtains drawn blocking out the Australian sunshine and the sweeping views out across the ocean and to Barrenjoey Lighthouse in the middle distance. She longs to be the woman and the mother she once was - enjoying the surf and being in the water rather than being a burden on the whole family and practically unable to do anything for herself. 

Then one day while the young boys were out playing at their local beach Noah happens to come across a young Magpie chick that had fallen out of its nest from a tree high above, and had injured itself. Noah picks up the young chick and with his two younger brothers Rueben (Felix Cameron) and Oli (Abe Clifford-Barr) they take the injured bird back home. Cameron agrees to let it stay in the house and for the family to nurse it back to health, but Sam is much more reluctant seeing the Magpie as just another unnecessary distraction to add to the mounting chores and familial responsibilities now firmly resting on Cam's shoulders. Noah hits upon the name Penguin, because of its black and white markings, and so Penguin Bloom is welcomed into the family unit.

When the kids go off to school, and Dad is out on a photographic assignment, Sam is left home alone to fend for herself while Penguin becomes increasingly annoying cheeping and chirping craving attention and when it doesn't get it jumps out of its basket and parades around the house knocking over vases, pecking at a sock monkey, picking out the teabag from Sam's hot cuppa and leaving a trail of bird poop wherever she goes. However, as time progresses and the bird begins to heal and grow, so Sam's attitude to Penguin begins to change, as she begins to play a more active role in caring for the bird and nurturing it. Sam starts to see in Penguin a common connection and her mood changes for the better as a result, and often Penguin is the first one to alert the rest of the family when Sam is in difficulty or distressed. 

In the meantime, Sam's Mother Jan (Jacki Weaver) is on hand to help out with chores around the house and provide some light relief, but more often that not tends to nag at her daughter and son-in-law by providing good intentioned but useless advice rather than offer a sympathetic ear and an understanding point of view. One day Cameron comes home to find that Sam, who has had a particularly bad day, has smashed all the wall mounted photographs of her and her family that were a throwback of the outdoor pursuits she once enjoyed in her former able bodied life. After clearing up the mess Cam suggests that she should get into kayaking as a means to get back in the water and give her some focus. Sam initially dismisses the notion and berates her husband for even suggesting the idea. 

However, in time, she relents and agrees to give it a go. And so the family go down to kayak rental place and meet with instructor Gaye (Rachel House) the no nonsense instructor who takes Sam through her paces before announcing that she needs to capsize the kayak, and if she doesn't do it herself then she'll do it for her. Sam at first refuses point blank but when Gaye tells her that she still has her arms and her ability to breathe to keep her afloat, she relents and voluntarily capsizes the kayak. From that point forward there is no looking back.

One year on from her accident and on the occasion of Sam's birthday, Jan invites the family around for lunch. Gaye is in attendance with Sam's sister Kylie (Leeanna Walsman) and while Jan is nagging Sam and Cam, Penguin who also came around has walked out onto the balcony and has been attacked by two other very territorial Magpies. With the family shouting from the deck above at the birds in an attempt to stop their fighting, Cam rushes downstairs to disperse the birds and in doing so Penguin flies off. So begins a fruitless search. After several days, with still no sign of Penguin, Cam arranges for a makeshift chair to be constructed with which they will carry Sam up to the top of the Barrenjoey Lighthouse look out, using the brute strength of Gaye, Kylie, Cam and a former nursing colleague of Sams, Bron (Lisa Hensley) with Jan in tow. After a heartfelt reconnection between Sam and Cam in which she announces 'I'm back' they return home to the familiar chirping of Penguin who has also returned home for one final time to bid her fond farewells before flying the nest for good. 

'Penguin Bloom' is a feel good family orientated movie that tugs at the heartstrings and leave you with at least a lump in your throat or even a tear in your eye by the time the end credits roll, and we see those credits accompanied by stills taken by the real Cameron Bloom of the real Sam Bloom and their family and the ubiquitous Penguin. Naomi Watts delivers another first rate authentic performance as the initially broken woman and mother who clambers herself away from the edge of the abyss thanks to a Magpie whose performance almost matches her own (although to be fair there were several Magpies, a CGI version and an animatronic one used in the making of this film apparently), and the sweeping vistas of Sydney's Northern Beaches is also quite spectacular. Andrew Lincoln is solid enough, Jacki Weaver's talents are under utilised and Griffin Murray-Johnston as the eleven year old Noah is quite a revelation. Despite being just a tad predictable and sticking to the formula, this is a well crafted tale of over coming adversity and having faith in the loved ones around you to help and guide you through those difficult times. All credit must also go to the real Bloom family for allowing Glendyn Ivin such unrestricted access to their own home for the shoot and for allowing him to tell their emotional story with aplomb.

'Penguin Bloom' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 28th January 2021.

On January 9th this year, the first awards were presented of the season at the 55th National Society of Film Critics Awards honouring the best in film for the 2020 year. The National Society of Film Critics was founded in 1966 in New York City, with the original founding film critics, who were overwhelmingly based in New York, called their new group a 'national' organisation because they wrote for a number of magazines and newspapers with a national circulation. The organisation is known for its highbrow tastes, and its annual awards are one of the more prestigious film critics awards in the United States. In past years, many of its Best Picture winners have been foreign films, and the choices rarely parallel the Academy Awards. It has agreed with the Oscar in eight instances over the past 43 years however,  with 1977's 'Annie Hall', 1992's 'Unforgiven', 1993's 'Schindler's List', 2004's 'Million Dollar Baby', 2009's 'The Hurt Locker', 2015's 'Spotlight', 2016's 'Moonlight', and 2019's 'Parasite'. The NSFC have about sixty members who write for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers along with major publications and media outlets. Any film that opens in the U.S. during the 2020 year, in theatres or on streaming platforms, is worthy of consideration. There is no nomination process and voting is conducted using a weighted ballot system. There is no awards party.

This years winners and grinners, together with the also rans, are as given below :

* Best Picture - awarded to 'Nomadland' beating out 'First Cow' and 'Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always'.

* Best Director - awarded to Chloe Zhao for 'Nomadland', beating out Steve McQueen for 'Small Axe' and Kelly Reichardt for 'First Cow'. 

* Best Actor - awarded to Delroy Lindo for 'Da 5 Bloods', beating out Chadwick Boseman for 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' and Riz Ahmed for 'Sound of Metal'. 

* Best Actress - awarded to Frances McDormand for 'Nomadland', beating out Viola Davis for 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' and Sidney Flanigan for 'Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always'.

* Best Supporting Actor - awarded to Paul Raci for 'Sound of Metal' beating out Glynn Turman for 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' and Chadwick Boseman for 'Da 5 Bloods'.

* Best Supporting Actress - awarded to Maria Bakalova for 'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm' beating out Amanda Seyfried for 'Mank' and Youn Yuh-jung for 'Minari'.

* Best Screenplay - awarded to Eliza Hittman for 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always' beating out Jonathan Raymond and Kelly Reichardt for 'First Cow' and Charlie Kaufman for 'I'm Thinking of Ending Things'.

* Best Cinematography - awarded to Joshua James Richards for 'Nomadland' beating out Shabier Kirchner for 'Lovers Rock' and Leonardo Simoes for 'Vitalina Varela'.

* Best Foreign Language Film - awarded to 'Collective' from Romania and Directed by Alexander Nanau, beating out 'Beanpole' from Russia and Directed by Kantemir Balagov which tied with 'Bacurau' from Brazil and France and is Directed by Kleber Mendonca Filho and Juliano Dornelle.

* Best Non-Fiction Film - awarded to 'Time' Directed by Garrett Bradley, beating out 'City Hall' Directed by Frederick Wiseman and 'Collective' Directed by Alexander Nanau.

You can visit the NSFC official web pages for more information at : https://nationalsocietyoffilmcritics.com/about/

This week we have four new release movies to tempt you out to your local air conditioned Odeon on a hot balmy Summer's evening, comprising two Aussie films, one American and one British offering. Launching with the first of the Australian films, we have a story of a massacre of an Aboriginal tribe soon after the end of WWI, but twelve years later the only survivor of that massacre is now a tracker hunting down one of his own attacking white settlers together with the Policeman who saved him all those years ago - with dire consequences for them both. Next up we have a heist road movie of three people on the lam across Ireland trying to evade a small time crim, a gun totting Priest and a dead body to boot. Then we have a Western set some time shortly after the end of the American Civil War that sees a former Captain agreeing to escort a young ten year old girl across the sometimes treacherous and deadly plains of Texas to reunite her with her aunt and uncle. And we conclude this weeks latest cinematic release with the sequel to a 2018 Australian Sci-Fi actioner that sees some familiar faces team up with a bunch of new ones in defending Earth from marauding aliens determined to make our humble little blue planet their own and wiping out all of mankind in the process - except them pesky alien types didn't count on mankind's secret weapon!

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 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.

'HIGH GROUND' (Rated MA15+) - is an Australian action thriller film that is Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written by Stephen Maxwell Johnson in only his second feature film outing since 2001's 'Yolngu Boy', although he has Directed a number of episodes for the TV series 'Legacy of the Silver Shadow', 'Out There' and 'Dead Gorgeous' in the meantime. The film saw its World Premier showcasing at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival back in late February last year and was due to go on release in Australia in early July 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic put pay to that, and its release was subsequently delayed to this week. 

After fighting in World War I as a sniper, Travis (Simon Baker), now a Policeman in the Northern Territory of Australia, loses control of an operation that results in the massacre of an Aboriginal Australian tribe in 1919 at an picturesque watering hole deep within Arnhem Land. After his superiors insist on burying the truth, Travis leaves in disgust, only to be forced back twelve years later to hunt down Baywara (Sean Mununggur), an Aboriginal warrior whose attacks on new white settlers are causing havoc. When Travis recruits mission-raised Gutjuk (Jacob Junior Nayinggul), the only known massacre survivor of now twelve years ago, as his tracker, the truth of the past is revealed and Travis becomes the hunted. Also starring Jack Thompson, Callan Mulvey, Caren Pistorius, Ryan Corr and Aaron Pedersen. 

'PIXIE' (Rated MA15+) - this British comedy thriller is Directed by Barnaby Thompson in only his third film making outing following 'St. Trinian's' in 2007, and 'St. Trinian's II : The Legend of Fritton's Gold' in 2009, although Thompson has spent much of his time in the last twenty years Producing feature films and TV movies. Released in the UK in late October, the film has garnered generally positive Reviews so far. Here, Pixie O'Brien (Olivia Cooke) is the daughter of a small-town gangster Dermot O'Brien (Colm Meaney) in the west Ireland town of Sligo, looking to start a new life by any means necessary. To avenge her mother's death, Pixie masterminds a heist but must flee across Ireland from gangsters, take on the patriarchy, and choose her own destiny, which becomes more of challenge than she initially thought when a dead body lands on her doorstep and she embarks on a road trip with a couple of strangers - Frank (Ben Hardy) and Harland (Daryl McCormack) but a gangster priest, Father Hector McGrath (Alec Baldwin) isn’t far behind. Also starring Dylan Moran.

'NEWS OF THE WORLD' (Rated M) - is an American Western drama offering Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Paul Greengrass whose previous filmography takes in 'Bloody Sunday', 'The Bourne Supremacy', 'United 93', 'The Bourne Ultimatum', 'Green Zone', 'Captain Phillips', and 'Jason Bourne', and is based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Paulette Jiles. Released in the US on 25th December last year and on Netflix in selected international markets the film has so far recovered US$9M from its US$38M production budget and has garnered generally favourable Reviews. Set some five years after the end of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) crosses paths with a ten year-old girl taken by the Kiowa people - Johanna Leonberger (Helena Zengel). Forced to return to her aunt and uncle, Kidd agrees to escort the child across the harsh and unforgiving plains of Texas. However, the long journey soon turns into a fight for survival as the traveling companions encounter danger - both human and natural - at every turn. Also starring Neil Sandilands, Ray McKinnon and Bill Camp. 

'OCCUPATION : RAINFALL' (Rated M) - Written, Executive Produced, Directed and Edited by Luke Sparke this Australian sequel to 2018's 'Occupation' (also Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Sparke) saw its World Premier screening at Monster Fest on 30th October 2020, and gets a limited release across 120 theatres in Australia from this week. Two years into an intergalactic invasion of Earth, survivors in Sydney, Australia, fight back in a desperate ground war. As casualties mount by the day, the resistance and their unexpected allies, uncover a plot that could see the war come to a decisive end. With the Alien invaders hell-bent on making Earth their new home, the race is on to save mankind. Starring once again Temuera Morrison and Dan Ewing this time joined by Ken Jeong, Daniel Gillies, Vince Colosimo and Jason Isaacs.

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-

SHADOW IN THE CLOUD : Tuesday 19th January 2021.

'SHADOW IN THE CLOUD' which I saw at my local multiplex earlier this week, is an MA15+ Rated New Zealand American fantasy action adventure Co-Production Directed by Roseanne Liang, in only her second full length feature film outing following 2011's 'My Wedding and Other Secrets'. Co-Written by her and Max Landis, the film saw it's World Premier showing at TIFF back in September last year where it won the People's Choice Award in the Midnight Madness stream of underground and cult films, and went on limited release in the US (because of COVID-19) on 1st January. It has so far taken just US$40K at the Box Office and has generated largely positive Reviews. 

The film opens in mid-1943 with Flight Officer Maude Garrett (Chloe Grace Moretz) walking down the runway of a military base in Auckland, New Zealand at night, in the rain and fog. She shouts to a member of the ground crew that she is looking for the 'The Fool's Errand' when that crew member suddenly disappears into the mist, only to leave her standing right next to her transport - a B-17 Bomber, poised ready for take-off. She clambers aboard carrying a brown leather rectangular document bag, and is instantly met with a barrage of questions from the all male and very opinionated crew as to what the Hell she thinks she's doing boarding their plane and to get off straightaway. But Garrett produces a set of papers that confirm her authorisation to be on that plane by a high ranking officer, and that her document bag contains something highly confidential and it is not to be opened by anyone under any circumstances. 

Having received a very frosty reception from the crew, she is ordered by the flight Captain John Reeves (Callan Mulvey) to hunker down for takeoff in the Sperry (which was a spherical ball shaped gun turret fitted to the undercarriage of some American built aircraft during WWII which held the gunner, two heavy machine guns, ammunition and sights, and was designed by the Sperry Corporation, hence the name). Needless to say the seated position in the Sperry leaves very little room for anything else, and so Garrett is forced to leave her document bag with the only crew member who showed her any respect and kindness - Staff Sergeant Walter Quaid (Taylor John Smith), who is under strict instructions to keep the bag upright, not to open it and to keep it secure and in his sights at all times. 

While stuck in the turret Garrett spies a movement of some sort of animal hanging underneath the wing. She reports it over the radio to the rest of the crew who all dismiss it as the rantings of an inexperienced nervous female - all except Private Stu Beckell (Nick Robinson) the tail gunner who also saw it. She is given the all clear to exit the Sperry, but in attempting to do so, one of the welded latches breaks off in her hand jamming her inside. The crew attempt to retrieve her, all the while spewing coarse remarks at her and the situation she finds herself in. She gives back as good as she gets, and at that the crew give up trying to retrieve her and cut off the comms to boot. She then spies a Japanese spy plane flying about 400 meters below and disappearing into the clouds. At that moment the creature she saw earlier springs a surprise attack on the turret, which she is able to fend off with a gun shot wound but is injured in the shoulder by its piercing claw in the process. 

The crew come back on line having heard a single gun shot and ask her why she smuggled a gun on aboard and what she thought she was firing at? Shortly after, clarification comes back from the Auckland air base that Maude Garrett does not exist and that she was not authorised to board the plane. When they attempt to release her from the turret again and question her she deliberately jams the gear mechanism and sets to defend herself and the crew when the Japanese plane reappears and begins to fire on them. Taking control of the two machine guns, she fires on the advancing enemy aircraft shooting it down, and in the process gains the respect of the crew, albeit somewhat grudgingly. 

Garrett comes clean that she is actually married and boarded the bomber under her maiden name, but refuses to tell the men about her mission, reaffirming its confidentiality. Then she sees the creature again, which by now is determined to be a gremlin, as it continues to play havoc with the plane, and eventually Private Tommy Dorn (Benedict Wall) sees it too, but the others disregard him. Suspecting Garrett's confidential assignment to be the cause for their misfortunes, Reeves gives the order to open the bag, which is revealed to contains a sedated baby. With no option now but to confess, Garrett explains that she married at a young age and was severely mistreated by her husband. She had an affair with Quaid and unwillingly got pregnant from it. She never expected to keep the child, but after its birth she couldn't give it up. She decided not to tell Quaid, and so Garrett faked her papers and her mission to get away from her husband before he would kill her in his anger.

Captain Reeves advises that he is turning back to the Auckland air base where Garrett and Quaid will face Court Marshall. Just then three Japanese fighters close in, and the gremlin boards the bomber, injures Quaid and takes the bag holding the now whimpering baby. When the gremlin appears before her with the baby in the bag, Garrett exits the turret and fires her handgun at it, driving it off but leaving the bag hanging precariously from the damaged underside of the wing. 

Risking a perilous climb outside the plane and high altitude, Garrett retrieves her child and clambers back inside the plane through the opening of the now blown-off Sperry. The gremlin attacks again, throwing Technical Sergeant Terrence Taggart (Byron Coll) the radio operator, out of the plane. Garrett is able to eject the gremlin off the plane by chopping off its claw as it clung to the undercarriage, only to see it spread its wings and take flight. When Reeves, Lieutenant Bradley Finch (Joe Witkowski) the navigator, and Dorn are killed by Japanese gunfire, Garrett takes command with the injured RNZAF Co-Pilot Flight Lieutenant Anton Williams (Beulah Koale) and brings the plane roughly but safely down to the ground.

Garrett, Williams, Quaid and Beckell as the only survivors, exit the plane all bloodied and injured carrying the baby in the bag, just as the bomber explodes in a ball of flame. The gremlin reappears and snatches the baby once more. Garrett by this time is mightily pissed off and determined to see an end to their unwelcome very troublesome gremlin. She catches it up and the pair fight with Garrett landing several punches to its head. 

She retrieves the bag, returns it to Quaid and goes back and finally kills the gremlin. She opens the bag and pulls out the now screaming baby, who is obviously by now very hungry. She plugs in the baby to her breast as she and the other survivors watch as the Fool's Errand burns up.

The term 'gremlin' denotes a mischievous creature that sabotages aircraft or other machinery and originates in Royal Air Force slang in the 1920's among the British pilots stationed in Malta, the Middle East, and India. Often they are described or depicted as animals with spiky backs, large strange eyes, and small clawed frames that feature sharp teeth, and in this respect Director Liang has done a pretty good job in capturing that image of the antagonist in this film. Of course the plot here is so over the top ridiculous that you can't help but be swept along by the relentless action, the cutting dialogue and the committed performance of our number one protagonist, Moretz. Playing like an episode straight out of 'The Twilight Zone' this film offers a bonkers mixture of WWII drama, creature feature, and feminist action hero that offers Moretz one of her most meaty roles in years. 'Shadow in the Cloud' is pure pulp, heaps of fun and genre B-movie film making escapism in the finest sense of the phrase, and at a brisk 83 minutes running time does not outstay its welcome. Catch it on the big screen if you can - you won't be disappointed if this sort of film is up your street.

'Shadow in the Cloud' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 21st January 2021.

The 30th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards were held on 11th January 2021 in New York City. Originally scheduled to take place on 20th November 2020, the ceremony was pushed back by two months due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Independent Film Project Gotham Awards, selected by distinguished juries, are the first honours of the film awards season. This public showcase honours the filmmaking community, expands the audience for independent films, and supports the work that IFP does behind the scenes throughout the year to bring such films to fruition.

To be eligible for the film awards, the films must be over seventy minutes in length, have a budget of under US$35M and must have been Written, Directed, and Produced by a United States citizen (except for films qualifying for the Best International Feature category). Actors Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis, Director Steve McQueen, Writer Ryan Murphy and the cast of 'The Trial of the Chicago 7' all received Gotham Tribute Awards.

In the feature film and documentary categories, the winners are as follows :-

* Best Feature - awarded to 'Nomadland', beating out 'The Assistant', 'First Cow', 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always' and 'Relic'.

* Best Documentary - awarded to 'A Thousand Cuts' tied with 'Time', beating out '76 Days', 'City Hall' and 'Our Time Machine'. 

* Best International Feature - awarded to 'Identifying Features' beating out 'Bacurau', 'Beanpole', 'Cuties', 'Martin Eden' and 'Wolfwalkers'. 

* Best Actor - awarded to Riz Ahmed for 'Sound of Metal' beating out Chadwick Boseman (posthumously) for 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom', Jude Law for 'The Nest', John Magaro for 'First Cow' and Jesse Plemons for 'I'm Thinking of Ending Things'.

* Best Actress - awarded to Nicole Beharie for 'Miss Juneteenth', beating out Jessie Buckley for 'I'm Thinking of Ending Things', Carrie Coon for 'The Nest', Frances McDormand for 'Nomadland' and Yuh-jung Youn for 'Minari'.

* Best Screenplay - awarded to Radha Blank for 'The Forty-Year-Old Version' tied with Dan Sallitt for 'Fourteen' beating out Mike Makowsky for 'Bad Education', Jon Raymond and Kelly Reichardt for 'First Cow' and James Montague and Craig W. Sander for 'The Vast of Night'.

* Breakthrough Actor - awarded to Kingsley Ben-Adir for 'One Night in Miami' beating out Jasmine Batchelor for 'The Surrogate', Sidney Flanigan for 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always', Orion Lee for 'First Cow' and Kelly O'Sullivan for 'Saint Frances'.

* Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award - presented to Andrew Patterson for 'The Vast of Night' beating out Radha Blank for 'The Forty-Year-Old Version', Channing Godfrey Peoples for 'Miss Juneteenth', Carlo Mirabella-Davis for 'Swallow' and Alex Thompson for 'Saint Frances'.

* Audience Award - presented to 'Nomadland'.

For the complete synopsis of the 30th IFP Gotham Awards, you can go to the official website at : https://awards.thegotham.org/

This week there are four latest release new movies coming to an Odeon near you, and we kick off with a true story of a Sydney dwelling family who encounter a tragedy while holidaying abroad that sees the mother paralysed from the waist down, only to find her path to recovery aided by an injured baby bird that ultimately has a long lasting impact on the family's healing process. We then turn to an American film that sees a man with a very particular set of skills go head to head with a Mexican drug cartel while trying to escort an orphaned young lad back to his family in Chicago. Next up is a French mystery drama surrounding five individuals all of whom share a connection and secrets over the disappearance of a woman on a remote plateau. And wrapping up the week we have a doco about a famed New Zealand record label that from humble beginning in South Auckland hit the big time both at home and overseas. 

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 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 week ahead.

'PENGUIN BLOOM' (Rated PG) - Directed by Glendyn Ivin in only his second feature film outing following 'Last Ride' in 2009 although he has directed a number of TV series and mini-series including 'Puberty Blues', 'Gallipoli', 'Safe Harbour' and 'The Cry' most recently. This Australian family drama film is based on the 2016 book of the same name by Cameron Bloom and Bradley Trevor Greive, saw its World Premier screening at TIFF back in September last year, and is released theatrically this week in Australia and in the US, UK, France and a number of Asian countries on 27th January on Netflix. 

'Penguin Bloom' tells the true story of Sam Bloom (Naomi Watts, who also Co-Produces here) a young mother whose world is turned upside down after a near-fatal accident while holidaying in Thailand with her family leaving her unable to walk. Sam’s husband Cameron (Andrew Lincoln), her three young boys Noah, Rueben and Oli (Griffin Murray-Johnston, Felix Cameron and Abe Clifford-Barr respectively) and her mother Jan (Jacki Weaver), are struggling to adjust to their new situation when an unlikely ally enters their world in the form of an injured baby magpie they name Penguin. The bird’s arrival is a welcome distraction for the Bloom family, eventually making a profound difference in the family’s life.

'THE MARKSMAN' (Rated M) - is an American action thriller Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written by Robert Lorenz who has twenty-seven credits to his name as Second Unit Director or Assistant Director, seventeen as Producer and four as Director, with this film being only his second film making outing in his own right after 2012's 'Trouble with the Curve'. Here retired U.S. Marine Jim Hanson (Liam Neeson) lives along the Arizona-Mexico border, reporting attempted illegal crossings. One day while on patrol he encounters Rosa (Teresa Ruiz) and her son Miguel (Jacob Perez), Mexican citizens on the run from a drug cartel. After a shootout with several cartel members led by Maurico (Juan Pablo Raba), Rosa is killed and Hanson reluctantly agrees to take Miguel to his family in Chicago. Also starring Katheryn Winnick, the film has garnered mixed or average Reviews thus far.  

'ONLY THE ANIMALS' (Rated M) - here this French mystery crime drama film is Directed by Dominik Moll whose previous film making credits take in 'Harry, He's Here to Help' in 2000, 'Lemming' in 2005, 'The Monk' in 2011 and 'News from Planet Mars' in 2015, and is based on the novel 'Seules les betes' by Colin Niel. The film saw its World Premier screening at the Venice International Film Festival way back in late August 2019, and only now does it go on release in Australia. A woman is missing. Following a snowstorm, her car is found on the road up to a plateau where a few isolated farms barely manage to survive. While the local Police have no leads, five people know that they are linked to this disappearance. They all have their secrets, but no one suspects that the whole story began far from this mountain swept by winter winds, on another continent where the sun beats down and where poverty does not prevent desire from dictating its laws. The film has generated mostly positive Press so far. Starring Laure Calamy, Denis Menochet, Damien Bonnard and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi. 

'DAWN RAID' (Rated M) - this New Zealand biographical film is Directed by Oscar Kightley in his debut feature film and tells the extraordinary untold story of acclaimed New Zealand music label Dawn Raid Entertainment and its two founders, Andy Murnane and Brotha D. From humble beginnings selling T-shirts on the streets of South Auckland, this unlikely duo formed a legendary partnership that would defy the odds and become music royalty both at home and across the world. The film explores the incredible challenges and struggles that were buried deep beneath the glamour of chart-topping hits with the hottest local and international talent – rifts between artists, unpaid tax debts, feelings of failure and betrayal – and the immeasurable musical legacy that was created in spite of this. Featuring some of New Zealand’s biggest hip-hop and RnB artists including Savage, Mareko, Adeaze and Aaradhna, this is an inspirational, heart pounding celebration of local home grown talent who not only gave a voice to their local community, but paved the way for a future generation of artists.

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 coming week, at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

NOMADLAND : Tuesday 12th January 2021.

I saw 'NOMADLAND' at my local independent movie theatre earlier this week and this highly acclaimed M Rated American drama film is Directed, Written, Co-Produced and Edited by the Chinese movie maker Chloe Zhao in only her third Directorial outing after 'Songs My Brother Taught Me' in 2015 and 'The Rider' in 2017. In September 2018, Marvel Studios hired her to direct 'Eternals', based on the comic book characters of the same name, which is set for a release in early November 2021. This film is based on the 2017 non-fiction book 'Nomadland : Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century' by Jessica Bruder. The film saw its World Premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September last year, goes on general release in the US on 19th February 2021, has generated universal Critical acclaim, and has so far collected seventy-nine award wins and another fifty-four nominations from around the awards and festival circuit. All off a budget of a mere US$6M. 

The film opens up with a brief history of the town Empire, in Nevada where the US Gypsum plant closed down in January 2011 after 88 years of operations, and by July of that same year the post code, 89405, is discontinued, rendering the once populated town of some 750 residents practically a ghost town as businesses closed and people left their homes in search of better prospects and employment elsewhere. One such resident is Fern (Frances McDormand who also Co-Produces here) who worked in Human Resources at the gypsum plant for a number of years alongside her husband who was a long serving employee and who passed away sometime recently. In the grips of winter with a thick blanket of snow on the ground, Fern is seen in a lock up garage packing up various essentials into a van which she has modified for a road trip, turning her back on Empire once and for all it seems. She intends to travel the country in search of employment, and lands a job at an Amazon fulfilment centre during the winter in the lead up to the busy Christmas and New Year season. 

A friend and fellow work mate named Linda (Linda May) invites Fern to visit a desert winter gathering in Quartzsite, Arizona organised by Bob Wells, which provides a support system and community for fellow nomads and vandwellers. When the seasonal work at Amazon ends and Linda leaves, Fern, who initially declined the invitation, changes her mind as the weather turns much colder and she struggles to find work in the area. At the gathering, Fern reconnects with Linda and meets fellow nomads and learns basic survival and how to become self-sufficient whilst travelling the long and winding road. 

After the gathering has ended and most of the other nomads have moved on, Fern remains in no hurry to go anywhere. She gets to know Swankie, a fellow nomad who has also stayed behind to repaint her own van before hitting the road again. Some days later, Fern's notices a blown tyre on her van, so she asks Swankie for a ride into town to buy a spare. Swankie berates Fern for not being better prepared, and invites her to learn more road survival skills, during which time the pair bond. Swankie tells Fern about her cancer diagnosis and shortened life expectancy of about eight months, and her plan to make good memories on the road rather than waste away in a hospital. They eventually go their separate ways.

Fern later takes a job as a camp host at an RV park. There she comes across David (David Strathairn), another nomad she met and danced with back at the desert community. She cares for David when he falls ill, accompanying him to the hospital for emergency surgery, and bringing him food. Upon his release, seemingly fully recovered, the two of them later take casual work at a local restaurant - Wall Drug Store, in Wall, South Dakota. One night David's adult son visits the restaurant looking for him, informing David that his wife is pregnant and asking him to come meet his future grandchild. David is hesitant, but Fern encourages him to go. David asks her to come with him, but she declines.

Fern lands a new job at the beet harvest, but her van breaks down and the cost of the repairs comes to US$2,300 which she can't afford. After calling friends to ask to borrow money and drawing a resounding blank, she visits her sister and her husband at their home. Her sister loans her the money, but questions why Fern was never around in their life and why Fern stayed in Empire after her husband died. Fern later visits David and his son's family - the grandchild is now five months old and she learns that David has elected to stay with them for the long-term. He offers her a room to stay in permanently in a guest house on the property, but she decides to leave after only a few days, becoming uncomfortable in a real bed with a solid roof over her head.

A year has now passed and Fern returns to her seasonal job at Amazon and when that stint comes to an end she revisits the Arizona commune. There she learns that Swankie has died, and she and the other nomads pay tribute to her life around the camp fire at night. Fern later opens up with Bob about her relationship with her husband, and Bob shares the story of his adult son's suicide five years ago at the age of 28. This particular day would have been his 33rd birthday. Bob expresses a love for the fact that goodbyes are not final in the nomad community, as they always promise to see each other again 'down the road'. Later, Fern returns to the ghost town of Empire and clears out the lock up garage of all her possessions saying to the manager that she no longer has any use for them. She visits the now vacant factory and the home she shared with her husband before getting back on the road again, and continuing with her journey wherever the road takes her. 

Apart from a small handful of professional Actors, the nomads in 'Nomadland' are real vandwellers and nomads living on the fringe of society and who have turned their back on consumerism, commercialism and the very culture that has rejected them. Make no mistake, in case you were unaware there is no sex, no violence, no explosions, or car chases, no gun play or close quarter hand to hand toe to toe head to head combat in this film. Instead what Zhao and McDormand, who is in every scene, manage so deftly to do is capture the spirit, the empathy and the imagery in a completely understated way to propel the viewer right into the very heart of Fern for all her regrets, her struggles and her dogged resilience for the first time in her life to be free and to make the most of the open road and explore the vast wide expanse of the American mid-west. This is a slow, meandering, thought provoking film from a Director standing on the edge of greatness, an Actress who is already there combined with non-Actors portraying fictionalised versions of themselves, impressive cinematography and a haunting piano soundtrack that all add up to a film that is worthy of the many accolades already bestowed up on it, and the early Oscar buzz. Catch it on the big screen - you won't be disappointed.

'Nomadland' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-