What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 22nd April 2021.

The 73rd Directors Guild of America Awards were held on 10th April this year to honour the outstanding Directorial achievement in feature films, documentary, television and commercials of 2020. 

This years winners and nominees in the film category are as given below :-

Feature Film

* Awarded to CHLOE ZHAO for 'NOMADLAND', beating out Lee Isaac Chung for 'Minari', Emerald Fennell for 'Promising Young Woman', David Fincher for 'Mank' and Aaron Sorkin for 'The Trial of the Chicago 7'.

Documentaries

* Awarded to MICHAEL DWECK and GREGORY KERSHAW for 'THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS', beating out Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed for 'My Octopus Teacher', David France for 'Welcome to Chechnya', Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss for 'Boys State' and Benjamin Ree for 'The Painter and the Thief'.

First-Time Feature Film

* Awarded to DARIUS MARDER for 'SOUND OF METAL', beating out Radha Blank for 'The 40-Year-Old Version', Fernando Frias de la Parra for 'I'm No Longer Here', Regina King for 'One Night in Miami...' and Florian Zeller for 'The Father'.

For the full run down on the television and commercials awards too as presented at this years 73rd annual DGA Awards, you can go to the official website at : https://www.dga.org

Turning back to this weeks five latest release new films coming to your local Odeon, we kick off with the third instalment in a martial arts fantasy offering based on a hugely popular video game, that sees an MMA fighter join forces with the greatest warriors in a high stakes battle for the universe. Next up is a story of a psychiatrist whose life gets turned upside down when a patient takes her own life and he introduces her brother to his own family. This is followed by a film set seventeen days before WWII, when an English teacher and his camera disappear on a coastal boarding school with twenty German teenage girls, and six days later, an agent posing as a teacher secretly attempts to find out what happened. Then we have a biographical drama film concerning the Federal Bureau of Narcotics who launch an undercover sting operation against famed jazz singer Billie Holiday during the 1940's. And we close out the week with a documentary about a Washington Post journalist who disappeared in Istanbul, with his fiancee and dissidents around the world piecing together the clues to a murder and expose a global cover up.

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 week ahead.

'MORTAL KOMBAT' (Rated R18+) - is an American martial arts fantasy film directed by Simon McQuoid, in his feature film making debut, from a screenplay by Greg Russo and Dave Callaham and a story by Oren Uziel and Russo. It is based on the video game franchise of the same name created by Ed Boon and John Tobias, serving as a reboot to the 'Mortal Kombat' film series which first launched with 'Mortal Kombat' in 1995 and Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and 'Mortal Kombat : Annihilation' in 1997 Directed by John R. Leonetti. This third instalment in the franchise languished in development hell for almost twenty years before James Wan was announced as a Producer in August 2015 and McQuoid was hired to Direct in November 2016. Production took place at Adelaide Studios in Adelaide and at other locations in South Australia during the last three months of 2019. The film saw its international release in early April, in the US and Australia from this week, has so far taken US$20M off the back of a production budget somewhere between US$50 and $95M and has generated mixed Reviews.

And so, here MMA fighter Cole Young (Lewis Tan), is accustomed to taking a beating for money, but is unaware of his heritage, or why Outworld's Emperor Shang Tsung (Chin Han) has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim), an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt Cole down. Fearing for his family's safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) at the direction of Jax (Mehcad Brooks), a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. Soon, he finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano), an Elder God and the protector of Earthrealm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark. Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano (Ludi Lin, Max Huang and Josh Lawson respectively), as he prepares to stand with Earth's greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe. But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock the immense power from within his soul, in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all?

'EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE' (Rated MA15+) - this American thriller offering is Directed by Vaughn Stein in only his third film making outing after 2018's 'Terminal' and 2020's 'Inheritance'. And so here we have psychiatrist Phillip (Casey Affleck), whose career is thrown into jeopardy when his patient takes her own life. When he invites his patient's surviving brother James (Sam Claflin) into his home to meet his wife Grace (Michelle Monaghan) and daughter, his family life is suddenly torn apart. The film was released in the US earlier this month to largely unfavourable Reviews.

'SIX MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT' (Rated M) - here we have a British WWII drama film Directed by Andy Goddard in his third feature film offering following 2014's 'Set Fire to the Stars' and 2016's 'A Kind of Murder', and over the last twenty years or so he has directed numerous TV shows including 'Taggart', 'Torchwood', 'Law & Order : UK', 'Downton Abbey', 'Daredevil', 'Luke Cage', 'The Punisher' and 'Altered Carbon'. This film is based on a screenplay by Goddard, Eddie Izzard and Celyn Jones. In the summer of 1939, influential families in Nazi Germany have sent their daughters to a finishing school in an English seaside town to learn the language and be ambassadors for a future looking National Socialist. The establishment is under surveillance by the British secret service, with a British agent Thomas Miller (Eddie Izzard), masquerading as a school teacher,  who is looking to uncover a plot to repatriate the pupils and discover what happened to his predecessor, who has disappeared. He also sees what is coming and is trying to raise the alarm, but the authorities believe he is the problem. Also starring Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, James D'Arcy and David Schofield. Released in the UK in late March, the film has so far grossed US$362K and has generated mixed or average Reviews so far. 

'THE UNITED STATES vs. BILLIE HOLIDAY' (Rated MA15+) - is an American biographical film based on the 2015 book 'Chasing the Scream : The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs' by Johann Hari, and is Directed and Co-Produced by Lee Daniels whose prior film making credits take in 2005's 'Shadowboxer', 2009's 'Precious', 2012's 'The Paperboy' and 2013's 'Lee Daniels' The Butler'. The legendary Billie Holiday (Andra Day), one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time, spent much of her career being adored by fans across the globe. During the 1940's the Federal Department of Narcotics targeted her with an undercover sting operation led by black Federal Agent Jimmy Fletcher (Trevante Rhodes), with whom she had a tumultuous affair, ultimately aiming to stop her from singing her controversial song 'Strange Fruit'. Inspired by her life story, the film intimately examines her struggles with addiction, fame and heartbreaking love. This film was released Stateside in late February, has so far collected six award wins and another twenty nominations including an Oscar nod for Andra Day for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, and has garnered mixed or average Reviews. 

'THE DISSIDENT' (Rated M) - this American documentary film is Directed, Written and Co-Produced by Bryan Fogel who also performed the same three roles on his previous two features 2012's comedy romance 'Jewtopia' and 2017's doco 'Icarus'. The film follows the assassination of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in early October 2018 in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and Saudi Arabia's effort to control international dissent. Central to the documentary is the story of the Saudi activist and video blogger, Omar Abdulaziz. While a CIA report released by the Biden administration implicated Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the death of Khashoggi, the Director believes the prince will never face an Interpol arrest warrant or formal investigation considering the vast amount of wealth he owns. This film saw its World Premier screening at the Sundance Film Festival back in January 2020, was released in the US at Christmas 2020 and now gets a limited showing in Australia having taken just US$62K at the Box Office but has received widespread critical acclaim. It has also picked up four award wins and another ten nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit. 

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 coming week, at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-