What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 20th May 2021.

'Reimagining the Future of Film and TV' is the theme behind the inaugural Restart Conference that runs in the UK from Tuesday 18th May through until Thursday 20th May and has been launched to bring together the TV and film industries after a year of unprecedented disruption caused by the pandemic. During the three days, attendees will hear exclusive insight into the challenges and opportunities facing the industry from an unrivalled panel of speakers.

Taking place on the virtual events platform 'Hopin', some of the content highlights include : the audience – now and in the future; diversity and talent development; funding and financing; keynotes – senior producers talk about their key challenges and opportunities; Production – the latest on how content is being made in the pandemic era; and data led insight on the latest industry trends. 

Sessions over the three days include :

Tuesday 18th May

* All you need to know about the UK Global Screen Fund - how can UK filmmakers and companies get the most out of the new £7M UK Global Screen Fund? Financed by the DCMS (Department of Culture, Media and Sport) and administered by the BFI (British Film Institute), the Fund aims to help UK content and companies reach international audiences.

* Opening the International Production Floodgates - in light of all of the hurdles that the industry has faced over the last twelve months and the potential of the production floodgates likely to burst open as a backlog of film and TV projects get up and running, what are the options around filming in the here and now within the production landscape, how will things be different on set, and what lessons have been learned from these extraordinary times?

Wednesday 19th May

* Director's Masterclass - An in-depth conversation with two of the UK's most talented Directors, Penny Woolcock and Douglas Mackinnon.

* The path ahead for the UK's public film funds - bringing together the heads of BBC Film and Film4 with a top commissioner at the BFI Film Fund to talk about how each are developing slates and working with filmmakers to help create a dynamic and sustainable UK film industry.

* Fuelling Growth : the evolution of supply and demand in film and TV production - join the British Film Commission to explore developments in the UK film and HETV (High End Television) production sector, including a focus on the growing importance of sustainability and social responsibility in content creation.

* UK distribution in a rapidly changing landscape - the past year has forced distributors to adapt like never before, with cinema closures, accelerated shrinking of windows, and the ongoing rise of streamers.

Thursday 20th May

* What lies ahead for the Box Office - looking across UK & Ireland and other international territories, how will this year’s reopening compare to 2020, and what is the outlook for 2021 - the speed of market recovery, top titles and the impact of more flexible windowing?

* The future of cinema-going - as cinemas across the UK prepared for reopening on 17th May, two leading lights of the UK exhibition sector are coming together to discuss how they are both working to attract audiences back to cinemas - and keep them there.

* Taking Charge : Women in Entertainment - a spotlight on some of the women who are leading in their roles within the film and TV industry, featuring Cara Sheppard, Managing Director - Twickenham Studios, Emma-Rosa Dias, Managing Director - Afro-Mic Productions and Uzma Hasan, Producer - Little House Productions.

For the complete programme and more on the first Restart Conference, you can go to the official website at : https://restartconference.com

This week we have six new films to tempt you out to your local Odeon on a cold autumnal evening, kick starting with a film about a carousing college professor's life that takes a series of unimaginable twists when he begins to have surreal hallucinations, some of which are inspired by the songs of Leonard Cohen. This is followed by a Sci-Fi thriller about a courier, who is immune to the COVID-23 virus, who races against time to save the woman he loves from a quarantine camp; and next up we have the true story of the grandson of a Klansman who comes of age in the deep south in the early 1960's and eventually joins the Civil Rights Movement. Then, we have a French comedy drama about a middle-aged Police interpreter who switches sides to become a wholesale narcotics trafficker; and another French offering that sees two female pensioners who have hidden their deep and passionate love for each other for many decades, but their bond is put to the test when they are suddenly unable to move freely between each other's apartments; before closing out the week with an animated film about an intelligent mid-teenage high school student who is unexpectedly transferred to a boarding school where he opens a portal of monsters from another dimension. 

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

'DEATH OF A LADIES MAN' (Rated MA15+) - this Canadian and Irish Co-Produced comedy drama film is Directed and Written by Matt Bissonnette whose previous film making credits take in 'Looking for Leonard', 'Who Loves the Sun' and 'Passenger Side' being his last film in 2009 before this one. The film saw its premiere in late September last year as part of the online component of the Calgary International Film Festival, and went on general release in Canada in theatres and through VoD platforms in mid-March of this year. The film's themes are reflected through the use of seven Leonard Cohen songs in its musical soundtrack, with the use of Cohen's literary or musical work being a recurring element in Bissonnette's work, as seen in his 2002 filmmaking debut 'Looking for Leonard' and his 2009 film 'Passenger Side'.

And so here, Samuel O'Shea (Gabriel Byrne), a Montreal University literature Professor, cheerful womaniser and keen drinker has seen better days. His second marriage is about to end, and his wife and children have reached their wits' end with him. More disturbingly, he has begun seeing things - Frankenstein sidles up to the bar and strangers sing and dance to Leonard Cohen tunes. His much missed father, who died when Samuel was just a boy, crops up for chats. At first Samuel thinks it could be the drink, or perhaps he's just crazy or over-imaginative, but then learns he has an inoperable brain tumour.  Samuel retreats to his family shack in remote Ireland, where he begins work on that great novel he always meant to write, and generally take stock of his life. Surprisingly, or not, he meets and falls in love with a local woman, who is full of unexpected ideas. All this leads Samuel to an utterly unforeseeable happy ending. Also starring Jessica Pare, Brian Gleeson and Joel Bissonnette. This film has received positive Critical acclaim.

'SONGBIRD' (Rated MA15+) - is an American dystopian Sci-Fi thriller based on the COVID-19 pandemic. Directed and Co-Written by Adam Mason who previous outings in the horror thriller genre take in the likes of 'Broken', 'The Devil's Chair', 'Blood River', 'Pig', 'Luster', 'Hangman' with 'Black Antenna' currently in post-production. Co-Produced by Michael Bay who also Directed the films action scenes, it was the first film to go into production following the shutdowns of 2020. The project was announced in May 2020, with screenwriters Adam Mason and Simon Boyes having come up with the idea in March, shortly after the pandemic stopped all film production. The cast joined in June, and filming took place around Los Angeles over July and August and released in the US through Premium VoD in mid-December. And so here, by 2024, the COVID-19 virus has mutated into COVID-23 and the world is in its fourth pandemic year. In the United States, people are required to take temperature checks on their cell phones while those infected with COVID-23 are taken from their homes against their will and forced into quarantine camps, also known as 'Q-Zones' or concentration camps. In these camps, those infected are left to die or to forcibly get better. Immune to the COVID-23 virus, a courier Nico Price (K.J. Apa) races against time to save the woman he loves, Sara Garcia (Sofia Carson), from a quarantine camp. Also starring Peter Stormare, Demi Moore, Paul Walter Hauser and Bradley Whitford, the film has so far grossed US$410K at the Box Office and has been universally panned by Critics. 

'SON OF THE SOUTH' (Rated M) - this American biographical historical drama film, is Written, Directed and Edited by Barry Alexander Brown, and based on Bob Zellner's autobiography, 'The Wrong Side of Murder Creek : A White Southerner in the Freedom Movement'. In this true story set during the 1960's Civil Rights Movement, a Klansman's grandson, Bob Zellner (Lucas Till) is a senior attending the all-white Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama in 1961 who is forced to face the rampant racism of his own culture. Defying his family and white Southern norms, he embraces the fight against social injustice, repression and violence to change the world he was born into. Also starring Julia Ormond, Brian Dennehy (in his final film role) and Cedric the Entertainer, the film has garnered mixed Critical Reviews following its World Premier screening at the American Black Film Festival in August 2020 and its US release in early February this year. 

'THE GODMOTHER' (Rated M) - this French comedy crime drama offering is Directed and Co-Written by Jean-Paul Salome based on the novel 'La Daronne' by Hannelore Cayre. Here Isabelle Huppert is Patience Portefeux, a middle-aged underpaid, overworked French Arabic translator for the Police in charge of phone surveillance for a narcotics unit, who switches sides to become a wholesale narcotics trafficker. Armed with her insider knowledge of the law, the resources of the Police at her disposal, and a striking wardrobe of Hermes head scarves, Patience reinvents herself as a drug lord to build her own crime network, whilst becoming known as 'Mama Weed' by the local law enforcement authorities. The film has received generally favourable Reviews.

'TWO OF US' (Rated M) - is another French film released this week, this time a drama offering Directed and Co-Written by Filippo Meneghetti in his feature film making debut. The film saw its World Premier showcasing at TIFF back in early September 2019, went on release in its native France in mid-February 2020 and only now gets a limited release in Australia having garnered universal Critical acclaim and taken just US$210K at the Box Office. Here, Nina Dorn (Barbara Sukowa) and Madeleine Girard (Martine Chevallier), two retired women, have been secretly deeply in love for decades. From everybody's point of view, including Madeleine's family, they are simply neighbours living on the top floor of their building. They come and go between their two apartments, sharing the tender delights of everyday life together. Until the day their relationship is turned upside down by an unexpected event leading Madeleine's daughter to slowly unveil the truth about them. Also starring Lea Drucker, the film has picked up eleven award wins and a further twenty-two nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit. 

'CRANSTON ACADEMY : MONSTER ZONE' (Rated PG) - is a Mexican, American, British and Canadian animated horror-comedy film Directed by Leopoldo Aguilar. First released in Portugal in mid-March 2020, then Mexico in late June followed up by the USA in late October, the film now goes on general release in Australia from this week, having grossed US$527K so far. The story here surrounds maverick fifteen-year-old high school student, Danny (voiced by Jamie Bell), who is transferred to a secret boarding school where he opens a portal of monsters from the fifth dimension. To save the school from the havoc of the monsters, he must work with his more-successful rival, Liz (voiced by Ruby Rose), and their moth-human hybrid professor.

With six 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-