What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 25th March 2021.

The 26th Critics' Choice Awards were presented on 7th March 2021, at the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport, California, together with its television awards, honouring the finest achievements of 2020 filmmaking. The ceremony saw American Actor, Singer and Producer Taye Diggs return to host for the third consecutive time. 

Better late than never, the winners of this years film awards are as shown below :-

Best Picture

* Awarded to 'NOMADLAND' beating out 'Da 5 Bloods', 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom', 'Mank', 'Minari', 'News of the World', 'One Night in Miami', 'Promising Young Woman', 'Sound of Metal' and 'The Trial of the Chicago 7'.

Best Director

* Awarded to CHLOE ZHAO for 'Nomadland', beating out Lee Isaac Chung for 'Minari', Emerald Fennell for 'Promising Young Woman', David Fincher for 'Mank', Regina King for 'One Night in Miami', Spike Lee for 'Da 5 Bloods' and Aaron Sorkin for 'The Trial of the Chicago 7'.

Best Actor

* Awarded to CHADWICK BOSEMAN for 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' beating out Ben Affleck for 'The Way Back', Riz Ahmed for 'Sound of Metal', Tom Hanks for 'News of the World', Anthony Hopkins for 'The Father', Delroy Lindo for 'Da 5 Bloods', Gary Oldman for 'Mank' and Steven Yeun for 'Minari'.

Best Actress

* Awarded to CAREY MULLIGAN for 'Promising Young Woman', beating out Viola Davis for 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom', Andra Day for 'The United States vs. Billie Holiday', Sidney Flanigan for 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always', Vanessa Kirby for 'Pieces of a Woman', Frances McDormand for 'Nomadland' and Zendaya for 'Malcolm & Marie'.

Best Supporting Actor

* Awarded to DANIEL KALUUYA for 'Judas and the Black Messiah', beating out Sacha Baron Cohen for 'The Trial of the Chicago 7', Chadwick Boseman for 'Da 5 Bloods', Bill Murray for 'On the Rocks', Leslie Odom Jr. for 'One Night in Miami' and Paul Raci for 'Sound of Metal'.

Best Supporting Actress

* Awarded to MARIA BAKALOVA for 'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm', beating out Ellen Burstyn for 'Pieces of a Woman', Glenn Close for 'Hillbilly Elegy', Olivia Colman for 'The Father', Amanda Seyfried for 'Mank' and Youn Yuh-jung for 'Minari'.

Best Young Actor/Actress

* Awarded to ALAN KIM for 'Minari' beating out Ryder Allen for 'Palmer', Ibrahima Gueye for 'The Life Ahead', Talia Ryder for 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always', Caoilinn Springall for 'The Midnight Sky' and Helena Zengel for 'News of the World'.

Best Acting Ensemble

* Awarded to 'THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7' beating out 'Da 5 Bloods', 'Judas and the Black Messiah', 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom', 'Minari' and 'One Night in Miami'.

Best Original Screenplay

* Awarded to EMERALD FENNELL for 'Promising Young Woman' beating out Lee Isaac Chung for 'Minari', Jack Fincher for 'Mank', Eliza Hittman for 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always', Darius Marder and Abraham Marder for 'Sound of Metal' and Aaron Sorkin for 'The Trial of the Chicago 7'.

Best Adapted Screenplay

* Awarded to CHLOE ZHAO for 'Nomadland' beating out Paul Greengrass and Luke Davies for 'News of the World', Kemp Powers for 'One Night in Miami', Jonathan Raymond and Kelly Reichardt for 'First Cow', Ruben Santiago-Hudson for 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' and Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton for 'The Father'.

Best Cinematography

* Awarded to JOSHUA JAMES RICHARDS for 'Nomadland'.

Best Editing

* Awarded to ALAN BAUMGARTEN for 'The Trial of the Chicago 7' tied with MIKKEL E.G. NIELSEN  for 'Sound of Metal'.

Best Costume Design

* Awarded to ANN ROTH for 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'.

Best Production Design

* Awarded to DONALD GRAHAM BURT and JAN PASCALE for 'Mank'.

Best Hair and Make-Up

* Awarded to 'MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM'.

Best Score

* Awarded to JON BATISTE, TRENT REZNOR, and ATTICUS ROSS for 'Soul' beating out Alexandre Desplat for 'The Midnight Sky', Ludwig Goransson for 'Tenet', James Newton Howard for 'News of the World', Emile Mosseri for 'Minari' and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for 'Mank'.

Best Visual Effects

* Awarded to 'TENET' beating out 'Greyhound', 'The Invisible Man', 'Mank', 'The Midnight Sky', 'Mulan' and 'Wonder Woman 1984'.

Best Comedy

* Awarded to 'PALM SPRINGS' beating out 'The 40-Year-Old Version', 'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm', 'The King of Staten Island', 'On the Rocks' and 'The Prom'.

Best Foreign Language Film

* Awarded to 'MINARI' being out 'Another Round', 'Collective', 'La Llorona', 'The Life Ahead' and 'Two of Us'.

For the complete run down of the 26th Critics Choice Awards including the Television category winners, grinners and also rans, you can visit the official website at : https://www.criticschoice.com/

This week there are five latest release new movies to tease you out to your local Odeon, and we kick start with an epic battle royale as a giant ape and a colossal lizard go head to head for supremacy. This is followed up by a story of a vigilante border patrol that turns fatal, with a man fleeing on horseback to Mexico, seeking forgiveness from the victim's father. Next up is a true story of a soldier who investigates a renowned Dutch artist who is accused of conspiring with the Nazis; and then there is a Russian-Jewish couple whose work dries up in the early '90's and so they immigrate to Israel to find a better life. And we close out the week with a classic tale of a mischievous rabbit who bored with life in the garden, goes to the big city, where he meets shady characters and ends up creating chaos for his whole family.

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 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.

'GODZILLA vs. KONG' (Rated M) - Directed by Adam Wingard this American monster film is a sequel to 2019's 'Godzilla : King of the Monsters' and 2017's 'Kong : Skull Island' and is the fourth film in Legendary Pictures MonsterVerse. The film is also the 36th film in the Godzilla franchise, the 12th film in the King Kong franchise, and the fourth Godzilla film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio. Wingard's previous film making outings usually revolve around the horror genre and take in the likes of his 2007 debut 'Home Sick' and 'Pop Skull', 2010's 'A Horrible Way to Die', 2011's 'You're Next', 2016's 'Blair Witch' and 2017's 'Death Note'. After being delayed from a November 2020 release date due to the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the film is scheduled to be released in international theatres from this week, and in the US on 31st March where it will be released simultaneously in theatres and on HBO Max. The film cost in the region of US$180M to produce.

And so, here legends collide as these mythic adversaries meet in a spectacular battle for the ages, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Kong and his protectors undertake a perilous journey to find his true home, and with them is Jia (Kaylee Hottle), a young orphaned girl with whom he has formed a unique and powerful bond. But they unexpectedly find themselves in the path of an enraged Godzilla, cutting a swath of destruction around the world. The epic clash between these two titans, initiated by unseen forces, is only the beginning of the mystery that lies deep within the core of the Earth. Starring Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Julian Dennison, Demian Bechir and Kyle Chandler.

'NO MAN'S LAND' (Rated M) - is an American modern day Western film Directed and Co-Produced by Conor Allyn whose prior film making credits take in 'Java Heat' in 2013 with Mickey Rourke, 'Pocket Listing' in 2015 with Burt Reynolds and Rob Lowe, 'Forsaken', 'ExPatriot' and 'Walk. Ride. Rodeo'. Here, US and Mexican border vigilante Bill Greer (Frank Grillo) and his son Jackson (Jake Allyn) are on patrol when Jackson accidentally kills a Mexican immigrant boy. Bill tries to take the blame but Texas Ranger Ramirez (George Lopez) sees through the lie, spurring Jackson to flee south on horseback across the Rio Grande to become a gringo 'illegal alien' in Mexico. Chased by Texas Rangers and Mexican federal law enforcement, Jackson journeys across deserts and mountains to seek forgiveness from the dead boy's vengeful father Gustavo (Jorge A. Jimenez), as he falls in love with the land he was raised to hate. Also starring Andie MacDowell and Alex MacNicoll. The film was released Stateside at the end of January, has so far taken US$140K at the Box Office and has garnered mixed or average Reviews along the way. 

'THE LAST VERMEER' (Rated M) - this American drama film is Directed by Dan Friedkin and is based on the book published in 2008 'The Man Who Made Vermeers' by Jonathan Lopez. The film saw its World Premier screening at the Telluride Film Festival way back in August 2019, was released in the US in November 2020, and now gets a limited showing in Australia. It has so far grossed US$684K and has generated largely mixed or average Reviews. While Joseph Piller (Claes Bang), a Dutch Jew, was fighting in the Resistance during the Second World War, the witty, debonair art lover Han van Meegeren (Guy Pearce) was hosting hedonistic parties and selling Dutch art treasures to Hermann Goring and other top Nazis. Following the war, Piller becomes an investigator assigned the task of identifying and redistributing stolen art, resulting in the flamboyant van Meegeren being accused of collaboration — a crime punishable by death. But, despite mounting evidence, Piller, with the aid of his assistant Minna Holberg (Vicky Krieps), becomes increasingly convinced of Han's innocence and finds himself in the unlikely position of fighting to save his life.

'GOLDEN VOICES' (Rated M) - this Israeli romantic dramedy is Directed, Co-Written and Edited by Evgeny Ruman and tells the story of Victor and Raya Frenkel (Vladimir Friedman and Mariya Belkina) who were the golden voices of Soviet film dubbing for decades. All the western movies that reached Soviet screens were dubbed by them. In 1990, with the collapse of Soviet Union, the Frenkels decided to immigrate to Israel, just like hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews. There's no need in Israel for Russian speaking dubbing artists, and Victor's and Raya's attempts to use their talent will cause bizarre and unexpected events during their first months in Israel, and turn the beginning of the new chapter of their life into an amusing, painful, and absurd experience. Released in Israeli cinemas in late September 2019, in the USA in early November 2020 and now on limited screens in Australia from this week, the film has so far picked up six award wins and another thirteen nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit. 

'PETER RABBIT 2 : THE RUNAWAY' (Rated G) - this computer animated and live action comedy sequel to 2018's successful 'Peter Rabbit' which grossed US$351M off the back of a US$50M budget investment, is once again Directed, Co-Produced, and Co-Written for the screen by Will Gluck, and is based on the beloved characters created by Beatrix Potter at the turn of the twentieth century. Here live action characters Bea (Rose Byrne), Thomas (Domhnall Gleeson) and Percy McGregor (David Oyelowo) and the rabbits have created a makeshift family, but despite his best efforts, Peter Rabbit (voiced by James Cordon) can’t seem to shake off his mischievous reputation. Adventuring beyond the garden, Peter discovers a world where his mischief is appreciated, but when his family risks everything searching for him, Peter must figure out what kind of bunny he really wants to be. Also starring the voice talents of Margot Robbie as Flopsy, Elizabeth Debicki as Mopsy, Colin Moody as Benjamin, Lennie James, Sia, Sam Neill, Ewen Leslie and Damon Herriman. After facing numerous delays from its original February 2020 release date due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film is finally released in Australia this week, and in the US and the UK on 14th May.

With five 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-