What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 24th March 2022.

The 74th Directors Guild of America Awards were presented on 12th March at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, California in front of a gathered audience of some eight hundred guests. and hosted by the American Writer, Director, Producer and comedian Judd Apatow, who had hosted previously in 2018 and 2020. The awards honour the outstanding directorial achievement in feature films, documentary, television and commercials of 2021. Guest presenters included Kathryn Bigelow, Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin, Julie Delpy, Kirsten Dunst, Andrew Garfield, Ken Jeong, Natasha Lyonne, Michael Mann, Christopher Nolan, Jesse Plemons, Martin Scorsese, Sarah Snook and Chloe Zhao.

In the three feature film award categories, the winners and nominees were as follows :-

Feature Film : awarded to Jane Campion for 'THE POWER OF THE DOG', beating out Paul Thomas Anderson for 'Licorice Pizza', Kenneth Branagh for 'Belfast', Steven Spielberg for 'West Side Story' and Denis Villeneuve for 'Dune'. 

Documentary : presented to Stanley Nelson Jnr. for 'ATTICA', beating out Jessica Kingdon for 'Ascension', Raoul Peck for 'Exterminate All the Brutes', Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson for 'Summer of Soul (... Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)' and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin for 'The Rescue'.

First-time Feature Film : awarded to Maggie Gyllenhaal for 'THE LOST DAUGHTER', beating out Rebecca Hall for 'Passing', Tatiana Huezo for 'Prayers for the Stolen', Lin-Manuel Miranda for 'Tick, Tick . . . Boom!', Michael Sarnoski for 'Pig' and Emma Seligman for 'Shiva Baby'.

In addition, Spike Lee was presented with the Lifetime Achievement in Feature Film Award.

For all the other winners, and also rans in the Television and Commercials categories, plus a whole lot more besides, you can go to the official website at : https://www.dga.org/awards/annaul.aspx

This week with just three new movies coming to an Odeon near you, we kick off with an American slasher horror offering about a group of young adult film makers who venture out to rural Texas in 1979 to make their pornographic offering, but get more than they bargained for when they come up against the elderly couple who own the farmhouse where the cast intend to shoot their film. This is followed by a story of a mid-thirty year old man who is given a short time to live as he tries to find the perfect new family for his four year old son to live with after he's gone. And we close out the week with a documentary about mans connection with some of the great rivers of the world.

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

'X' (Rated R18+) - is an American slasher film Written, Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Edited by Ti West whose feature film making credits include his debut 'Roost' in 2005, then 'The House of the Devil' in 2009, 'Cabin Fever 2 : Spring Fever' also in 2009, 'The Innkeepers' in 2011, 'The Sacrament' in 2013 and 'In a Valley of Violence' in 2016. The film had its World Premier screening at South by South West on 13th March this year, before its release in the US on 18th March. It has so far taken US$4.5M at the Box Office, and has garnered generally positive critical acclaim. Earlier this month, it was revealed that a prequel film was shot back-to-back in secret with the first film. Also Written and Directed by Ti West, photography took place again in New Zealand, and upon official announcement was already in the post-production stage. 

In 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in rural Texas, but when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act, the cast find themselves fighting for their lives. Starring Mia Goth as both Maxine Minx, the pornographic actress and the elderly Pearl, her boyfriend and producer Wayne (Martin Henderson), fellow actors Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow), Jackson Hole (Scott Mescudi), Director RJ (Owen Campbell) and his girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega) and Stephen Ure as Howard, the husband of Pearl.

'NOWHERE SPECIAL' (Rated M) - this Italian, Romanian and UK Co-Produced drama film is Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Umberto Pasolini in his third feature film making offering following 'Machan' in 2008 and 'Still Life' in 2013 with Eddie Marsan and Joanne Froggatt. This film saw its World Premier screening at the Venice Film Festival in mid-September 2020, was released in the UK in mid-July 2021 and only now does it gain a release in Australia. Here then, set in Northern Ireland where John (James Norton) a thirty-five year old window cleaner is only given a few months to live. He attempts to find a new perfect family for his four year old son Michael (Daniel Lamont) who he has brought up alone after his mother left them immediately after his birth, whilst determined to shield the young lad from the realities of a dire situation. The film has garnered widespread critical acclaim and has collected four award wins and another eight nominations from around the awards and festival circuit. 

'RIVER' (Rated E) - this Australian documentary film is Co-Directed and Co-Written by Jennifer Peedom and Joseph Nizeti and is narrated by Willem Dafoe who has also narrated several of Peedom's other documentary features including 'Mountain' in 2017 and 'Mountain Quest' in 2018. This documentary explores the timeless relationships between humans and rivers. Starting at Mount Kailash, where four of the world’s most sacred rivers are born of melting ice, and ending in the great Sundarban mangrove deltas of Bangladesh and India, where fresh becomes salt, the film traces a songline from source to sea. Accompanied by a score by the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the audience will be taken on a journey through space and time in this orchestral and atmospheric concert film. Spanning six continents, and drawing on extraordinary contemporary cinematography, including satellite filming, the film shows rivers on scales and from perspectives never before seen.

With just three 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-