What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 9th December 2021.

The 24th British Independent Film Awards were presented on Sunday 5th December to highlight and reward the best, most innovative, and creative independent filmmaking and filmmakers in the UK. Identifying and encouraging emerging talent, the BIFA supports and celebrates the independent film community and promotes British film and talent to the public. Each year, the BIFA voters view the 300+ entered films. After a rigorous discussion-based selection process the long list and nominations are decided by confidential vote. The winners in most categories are decided by independent juries, newly appointed each year and not involved in the nominations process. These juries, comprised of leading professionals and talent from the British film industry, meet to discuss the nominated films and the winners are decided by secret ballot.

The winners, grinners and nominees in each category, are as given below :-

Best British Independent Film

* Awarded to 'AFTER LOVE', beating out 'Ali & Ava', 'Boiling Point', 'The Nest' and 'The Souvenir Part II'. 

Best Director

* Awarded to ALEEM KHAN for 'After Love', beating out Clio Barnard for 'Ali & Ava', Philip Barantini for 'Boiling Point', Sean Durkin for 'The Nest' and Joanna Hogg for 'The Souvenir Part II'.

Best Actor

* Awarded to ADEEL AKHTAR for 'Ali & Ava', beating out Riz Ahmed for 'Encounter', Stephen Graham for 'Boiling Point', Jude Law for 'The Nest' and James Norton for 'Nowhere Special'.

Best Actress

* Awarded to JOANNA SCANLAN for 'After Love', beating out Caitriona Balfe for 'Belfast',  Carrie Coon for 'The Nest', Claire Rushbrook for 'Ali & Ava' and Ruth Wilson for 'True Things'.

Best Supporting Actor

* Awarded to TALID ARISS for 'After Love', beating out Richard Ayoade for 'The Souvenir Part II', Lucian River-Chauhan for 'Encounter', Ciaran Hinds for 'Belfast' and Ray Panthaki for 'Boiling Point'.

Best Supporting Actress

* Awarded to VINETTE ROBINSON for 'Boiling Point', beating out Judi Dench for 'Belfast', Jo Hartley for 'Sweetheart', Nathalie Richard for 'After Love' and Tilda Swinton for 'The Souvenir Part II'.

Breakthrough Performance

* Awarded to NELL BARLOW for 'Sweetheart', beating out Lauryn Ajufo for 'Boiling Point', Max Harwood for 'Everybody's Talking About Jamie', Jude Hill for 'Belfast' and Ellora Torchia for 'IN THE EARTH'.

Best Screenplay

* Awarded to 'AFTER LOVE' by Aleem Khan, beating out 'Ali & Ava' by Clio Barnard, 'The Nest' by Sean Durkin, 'Benediction' by Terence Davis and 'The Souvenir Part II' by Joanna Hogg.

Best Documentary

* Awarded to 'POLY STYRENE : I AM A CLICHE', beating out 'Cow', 'Dying to Divorce', 'I Am Belmaya' and 'Keyboard Fantasies'. 

Best International Independent Film

* Awarded to 'FLEE', beating out 'Compartment No. 6', 'First Cow', 'Petite Maman' and 'Pleasure'. 

Cinematography

* Awarded to MATTHEW LEWIS for 'Boiling Point', beating out Matyas Erdely for 'The Nest', Magda Kowalczyk for 'Cow', Annika Summerson for 'Censor' and Haris Zambarloukos for 'Belfast'.

Best Editing

* Awarded to HELLE LE FEVRE for 'The Souvenir Part II', beating out 'Cow, 'Belfast', 'Censor' and 'IN THE EARTH'.  

Best Effects

* Awarded to STEVEN BRAY and MIKE KNIGHTS for 'DASHCAM', beating out 'Censor' and 'The Electrical Life of Louis Wain'. 

Best Music

* Awarded to CONNIE FARR and HARRY ESCOTT for 'Ali & Ava', beating out 'Pirates', 'Encounter', 'IN THE EARTH' and 'Belfast'.

Best Sound

* Awarded to JAMES DRAKE, ROB ENTWISTLE and KIFF MCMANUS for 'Boling Point', beating out 'Cow', 'Censor', 'IN THE EARTH' and 'Encounter'.

Best Production Design

* Awarded to STEPHANE COLLONGE for 'The Souvenir Part II', beating out 'Boiling Point', 'Belfast', 'The Electrical Life of Louis Wain' and 'Censor'. 

The Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director

* Presented to ALEEM KHAN for 'After Love', beating out Prano Bailey-Bond for 'Censor', Cathy Brady for 'Wildfire', Celeste Bell for 'Poly Styrene : I Am a Cliche' and Marley Morrison for 'Sweetheart'.

Best Debut Screenwriter

* Awarded to CATHY BRADY for 'Wildfire', beating out Prano Bailey-Bond for 'Censor', Aleem Khan for 'After Love', Marley Morrison for 'Sweetheart' and Reggie Yates for 'Pirates'.

In addition RIZ AHMED was named the recipient of the Richard Harris Award back in late November. The Richard Harris Award honours an Actor or Actress who has contributed significantly to British films throughout their career. It has previously been bestowed upon, amongst others, Kristin Scott Thomas, Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Daniel Day-Lewis, Helena Bonham Carter, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julie Walters, John Hurt, Emma Thompson, Jim Broadbent and Glenda Jackson.

For further details and the complete list of all winners and nominees, you can go to the official website at : https://www.bifa.film/

Turning attention to this weeks five new films coming to an Odeon near you, we kick off with an anthology story set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional twentieth century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in a magazine. Next up is a coming of age tale about a high school senior who embarks on a journey of self-discovery when a letter he wrote for a writing exercise falls into the hands of a grieving couple whose son took his own life. This is followed by a film based on truly possible events as two low-level astronomers embark on a grand scale media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet heading directly for Earth. Then there is a reboot of a highly successful action horror franchise set in 1998, and exploring the secrets of the mysterious Spencer Mansion and the ill-fated Raccoon City. And closing out the week we have a Japanese anime film about a high school student who struggles to survive with a young swordsman after it's revealed that she is trapped inside an online game, where if your hit points drop to zero, your brain will be destroyed in real life.

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.

'THE FRENCH DISPATCH' (Rated M) - is an anthology comedy film Directed, Written and Co-Produced by Wes Anderson whose previous film making credits take in his feature length debut with 'Bottle Rocket' in 1996, then 'The Royal Tenenbaums', 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou', 'The Darjeeling Limited', 'Fantastic Mr. Fox', 'Moonrise Kingdom', 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' and 'Isle of Dogs'. Following a delay from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film saw its World Premiere screening at the Cannes Film Festival in mid-July this year, and was released in the US in late October. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, and has thus far grossed US$38M exceeding its production budget of US$25M.

A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper - Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun - in a fictional 20th-century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in 'The French Dispatch' where Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Bill Murray), the editor of the newspaper dies suddenly of a heart attack. According to the wishes expressed in his will, publication of the newspaper is immediately suspended following one final farewell issue, in which three articles from past editions of the paper are republished, along with an obituary. The film stars an ensemble cast taking in Owen Wilson, Elisabeth Moss, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Lea Seydoux, Henry Winkler, Frances McDormand, Timothee Chalamet, Cecile de France, Christoph Waltz, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Liev Schreiber, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe and Saoirse Ronan. 

'DEAR EVAN HANSEN' (Rated M) - is an American coming of age musical film Directed by Stephen Chbosky whose previous film making credits take in 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' in 2012 and 'Wonder' in 2017, and is based on the 2015 stage musical of the same name by Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul. The film saw is World Premier at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September as the opening night film and was released in the US later on that same month having received negative reviews from critics, who compared it unfavourably to the stage musical. Here then, Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award winner Ben Platt reprises his role from the successful Broadway stage show as Evan Hansen, a high school senior with Social Anxiety disorder who aches for understanding and belonging following the suicide of a classmate amid the chaos and cruelty of the social-media era. Also starring Julianne Moore, Amy Adams and Kaitlyn Dever, the film has so far grossed US$17M off the back of a US$28M production budget. 

'DON'T LOOK UP' (Rated M) - this American satirical Sci-Fi black comedy is Directed, Written and Co-Produced by Adam McKay whose prior film making credits include 'Anchorman : The Legend of Ron Burgundy' and its sequel 'Anchorman 2 : The Legend Continues', 'Talladega Nights : The Ballad of Ricky Bobby', 'Step Brothers', 'The Other Guys' and then a change of tack to more dramatic territory with 'The Big Short' and 'Vice'. Here then, two low level astronomers Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Dr. Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) attempt to bring to the attention of mankind, via a media tour to raise awareness, of an impending disaster that will destroy Earth, by way of an approaching comet. The film stars an ensemble cast taking in Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Timothee Chalamet, Cate Blanchett, Rob Morgan, Tyler Perry, Ron Perlman, Matthew Perry, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Himesh Patel, Ariana Grande and Gina Gershon. This has a limited cinema release from this week before streaming on Netflix from 24th December, and cost somewhere in the region of US$75M.

'RESIDENT EVIL : WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY' (Rated MA15+) - this action horror film is Written and Directed by Johannes Roberts whose previous films include 2016's 'The Other Side of the Door', 2017's '47 Metres Down', and 2019's '47 Metres Down : Uncaged'. This film serves as a reboot of the 'Resident Evil' film series and the seventh live-action film overall, which was loosely based on the video game series of the same name. Since 'Resident Evil' first appeared in 2002, this franchise has seen 'Apocalypse' in 2004, 'Extinction' in 2007, 'Afterlife' in 2010, 'Retribution' in 2012 and 'The Final Chapter' in 2017, and together with this latest instalment the series has so far racked up US$1.253B at the global Box Office from combined production budgets of US$313M. Once the booming home of pharmaceutical giant Umbrella Corporation, Raccoon City is now a dying Midwestern town. The company’s exodus left the city a wasteland, with great evil brewing below the surface. When that evil is unleashed, a group of survivors must work together to uncover the truth behind Umbrella and make it through the night. Starring Kaya Scodelario, Hannah John-Kamen, Robbie Amell, Tom Hopper and Neal McDonough, the film saw its World Premier in Paris in mid-November, went on release in the US on 24th November, in the UK last week, has so far grossed US$25M off the back of a US$25M production budget and has garnered mixed Reviews. 

'SWORD ART ONLINE PROGRESSIVE : ARIA OF A STARLESS NIGHT' (Rated M) - is a Japanese animated science fiction action adventure film based on the 'Sword Art Online : Progressive' light novels written by Reki Kawahara which serve as an expanded retelling of Sword Art Online's Aincrad storyline. The film is Directed by Ayako Kono, and is the second film after 'Sword Art Online The Movie : Ordinal Scale' of the Sword Art Online series. The film depicts the story of the encounter between young swordsman Kirito and high school student Asuna, covering the events on Aincrad's first floor, and in particular Asuna's initial struggle to cope with the realities of being trapped inside her new world - that of the game of Sword Art Online where thousands of players have already died. The film Premiered in Japan in late October. 

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 at your local Odeon in the week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-