What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 27th January 2022

The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) announced its thirteenth awards winners on 17th January. Originally established in 2003, the AAFCA is the premiere body of Black film critics in the world, actively reviewing film and television, with a particular emphasis on entertainment that includes the Black experience and storytellers from the African Diaspora. The organisation’s primary focus is to cultivate understanding, appreciation and advancement of the contributions of African descended talent to cinematic and television culture – from the artistic and technical legends of the past to the still unimagined breakthroughs of future generations. AAFCA members are a geographically diverse cross-section of journalists, covering all genres of the cinematic arts, while representing multiple mediums – including print, TV, radio broadcast and online. Collectively, they reach a worldwide audience in excess of 100 million.

Given below is the list of winners and grinners as announced last week :-

* Best Picture awarded to 'The Harder They Fall'

* Best Director awarded to Jeymes Samuel for 'The Harder They Fall'

* Best Screenplay awarded to Adam McKay for 'Don’t Look Up'

* Best Actor awarded to Will Smith for 'King Richard'

* Best Actress awarded to Jennifer Hudson for 'Respect'

* Best Supporting Actor awarded to Corey Hawkins for 'The Tragedy of Macbeth'

* Best Supporting Actress awarded to Aunjanue Ellis for 'King Richard'

* Breakout Actor awarded to Saniyya Sidney for 'King Richard'

* Best Ensemble awarded to 'The Harder They Fall'

* Emerging Director awarded to Reinaldo Marcus Green for 'King Richard'

* Best Music awarded to Jeymes Samuel, Kid Cudi, Jay-Z for 'The Harder They Fall' 

* Best Documentary awarded to 'Summer of Soul (. . . Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)'

* Best Independent Feature awarded to 'Who We Are'.

* Top 10 Films of the Year : 'The Harder They Fall', 'King Richard', 'Respect', 'The Tragedy of Macbeth', 'Passing', 'Belfast', 'Who We Are', 'House of Gucci', 'The Power of the Dog' and 'West Side Story'.

For the full details of this awards, the film and TV awards ceremonies and a whole lot more besides, you can go to the official website at : https://www.aafca.com/

Coming then to an Odeon near you, we begin with a biopic that takes an intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of a televangelist during the 1970's who built a massively successful religious network in 1974 and a theme park in 1978 before it all came crashing down in 1989. Next up we have an acclaimed Spanish offering about two mothers who give birth on the same day and the subsequent bond that is forged between them. This is followed up with a RomCom about a pair of co-workers at each other's necks for the same position, who find their professional rivalry further complicated by a different kind of passion in this workplace; and we close out the week with the story of a woman who after reluctantly agreeing to move in to a senior's home, encounters a clique of mean-spirited women and an amorous widower.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the four latest release new films 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.

'THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE' (Rated M) - is an American biographical drama film Directed by Michael Showalter whose prior screen Directing credits include his debut 'The Baxter' in 2005 in which he also starred along with Elizabeth Banks, Peter Dinklage and Paul Rudd, then 'Hello, My Name Is Doris' in 2015 with Sally Field, 'The Big Sick' in 2017 with Kumail Nanjiani and Holly Hunter and 'The Lovebirds' in 2020 with Kumail Nanjiani again. All up Showalter has twenty Directing credits to his name, plus twenty-four as Producer, twenty-eight as Writer and fifty-three as Actor. This film is based on the 2000 documentary film of the same name Directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato and had its World Premier showing at the Toronto International Film Festival in September of last year. It was released in the US later that same month, having garnered mixed Reviews from Critics and taken so far just US$2.5M at the Box Office. 

Set in the 1970's, Tammy Faye Bakker (Jessica Chastain, who also Co-Produces here) and her husband Jim (Andrew Garfield), rise from humble beginnings to create the world's largest religious broadcasting network and theme park. Tammy Faye becomes legendary for her indelible eyelashes, her idiosyncratic singing, and her eagerness to embrace people from all walks of life. However, financial improprieties, scheming rivals and a scandal soon threaten to topple their carefully constructed empire. Also starring Cherry Jones and Vincent D'Onofrio.

'PARALLEL MOTHERS' (Rated M) - this Spanish drama film is Written and Directed by Pedro Almodovar whose filmography includes 'Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown' in 1988, 'Talk To Her' in 2002, 'Volver' in 2006, 'Broken Embraces' in 2009, 'The Skin I Live In' in 2011, 'Julieta' in 2016 and 'Pain and Glory' in 2019. Here, once again he works with frequent collaborator Penelope Cruz, as one of two single women who meet in a hospital room where they are both going to give birth. Janis (Cruz) is middle aged and does not regret it, while Ana (Milena Smit) is adolescent and scared. The two women form a strong bond with one another as they both confront motherhood. The film saw its World Premier screening at the Venice International Film Festival in early September last year where Penelope Cruz was awarded the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, and where the film received a nine minute standing ovation, went on release in its native Spain in early October, and the US on Christmas Eve, has so far grossed US$12M and has garnered universal critical acclaim.

'THE HATING GAME' (Rated M) - is an American RomCom Directed by Peter Hutchings based on the novel of the same name by Sally Thorne. This is Hutchings fourth film making offering following his debut in 2012 with 'Rhymes with Banana', then 'The Outcasts' in 2017, followed by 'Then Came You' in 2018. Here then, resolving to achieve professional success without compromising her ethics, Lucy Hutton (Lucy Hale) embarks on a ruthless game of one-upmanship against cold and efficient nemesis Joshua Templeman (Austin Stowell), a rivalry that is complicated by her growing attraction to him. The film was released Stateside in early December last year, has so far grossed just US$295K, but has garnered generally positive critical Reviews. 

'QUEEN BEES' (Rated PG) - this American romantic comedy offering is Directed by Michael Lembeck who has sixty-eight TV and movie Directing credits to his name and sixty as an Actor. While her house undergoes repairs for a kitchen fire that will take a month to fix, fiercely independent senior Helen Wilson (Ellen Burstyn) temporarily moves into a nearby retirement community, where she encounters lusty widows, cutthroat bridge tournaments and a hotbed of bullying 'mean girls', but a budding relationship with a new resident Dan Simpson (James Caan) makes life more tolerable, until she learns of Dan's secret. Also starring Ann-Margaret, Christopher Lloyd and Elizabeth Mitchell. The film was released Stateside in mid-June last year, has so far grossed US$2M and has generated mostly mixed or average Reviews.

With four new release movie offerings 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 coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-