What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 10th March 2022.

In case you missed it, the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards were held at the Barker Hangar, Santa Monica Airport, in California on 27th February. Since making its debut in 1995, the SAG Awards have become one of the industry’s most prized honours. The only televised awards ceremony to exclusively recognise performers, it presents thirteen awards for the outstanding performances of the year in film and television. The awards focus on both individual performances as well as on the work of the entire ensemble of a drama series and comedy series, and the cast of a motion picture.

In the film category, the winners and nominees for the 2021 year, were as follows :-

* Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture - awarded to 'CODA', beating out 'Belfast', 'Don't Look Up', 'House of Gucci' and 'King Richard'.

* Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role - presented to Jessica Chastain for 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye', beating out Olivia Colman for 'The Lost Daughter', Lady Gaga for 'House of Gucci', Jennifer Hudson for 'Respect' and Nicole Kidman for 'Being the Ricardos'.

* Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role - presented to Will Smith for 'King Richard', beating out Javier Bardem for 'Being the Ricardos', Benedict Cumberbatch for 'The Power of the Dog', Andrew Garfield for 'Tick, Tick . . . Boom!' and Denzel Washington for 'The Tragedy of Macbeth'.

* Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role - awarded to Ariana Debose for 'West Side Story', beating out Catriona Balfe for 'Belfast', Ruth Negga for 'Passing', Cate Blanchett for 'Nightmare Alley' and Kirsten Dunst for 'The Power of the Dog'. 

* Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role - awarded to Troy Kotsur for 'CODA', beating out Ben Affleck for 'The Tender Bar', Bradley Cooper for 'Licorice Pizza', Jared Leto for 'House of Gucci' and Kodi Smit-McPhee for 'The Power of the Dog'.

* Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture - awarded to 'NO TIME TO DIE', beating out 'Black Widow', 'Dune', The Matrix Resurrections' and 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'. 

For all the details of the 28th SAG Awards and the winners and nominees in the TV category, you can go to the official website at : https://www.sagawards.org/

This week then and with five new movies to tempt you out to your local Odeon, we kick off with a married couple of filmmakers spending a working retreat on the island of Faro in the Baltic Sea where cracks begin to appear in their marriage; which is followed by a movie about an ambitious film student who enters an intoxicating world of unpredictable romantic entanglements in 1980's London. Next up is a story of three fifty-something women who set out to repeat the European inter-railing adventures of their youth, after their close friend passes away leaving them rail tickets, and a final request - to take her teenage daughter with them. We then turn to a film that sees sparks fly between an uptight English writer and a Spanish translator who rewrote his failed book into an erotic novel, before wrapping up the week with screen legend Bill Murray, cellist Jan Vogler, violinist Mira Wang and pianist Vanessa Perez who gather for an evening of music, literature and poetry.

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

'BERGMAN ISLAND' (Rated M) - is a French, German, Mexican and Brazilian Co-Produced dramatic romance film that is Written and Directed by Mia Hansen-Love whose previous film making credits include her Directorial debut with 2007's 'All Is Forgiven', then 'Father of My Children' in 2009, 'Things to Come' in 2016 and 'Maya' in 2018. The film saw its World Premier screening at the Cannes Film Festival in mid-July last year, before its release in its native France a few days later, and only now does it gain a showing in Australia, having thus far taken just US$602K at the Box Office, but garnering universal critical acclaim. 

The film charts a couple of American filmmakers, Chris (Vicky Krieps) and Tony Sanders (Tim Roth), who retreat to the mythical Faro island for the summer. In this wild, breathtaking landscape where Ingmar Bergman lived, worked and filmed his most celebrated pieces, they hope to find inspiration for their upcoming films. As days spent separately pass by, the fascination for the island impacts on Chris and souvenirs of her first love resurface. Lines between reality and fiction will then progressively blur and tear our couple even more apart. Also starring Mia Wasikowska and Anders Danielsen Lie. 

'THE SOUVENIR PART II' (Rated MA15+) - this drama film is Directed, Written and Co-Produced by Joanna Hogg whose prior film making credits take in 'Unrelated' in 2007, 'Archipelago' in 2010, 'Exhibition' in 2013 and 'The Souvenir' in 2019, of which this film is the sequel. The first film won seven awards and was nominated another thirty-seven times. It saw its World Premier screening at last years Cannes Film Festival, went on release in the US at the end of October and in the UK in early February. Here then, in the aftermath of her tumultuous relationship, Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne) begins to untangle her fraught love for him in making her graduation film, sorting fact from his elaborately constructed fiction. Also starring Tilda Swinton, Charlie Heaton and Richard Ayoade.

'OFF THE RAILS' (Rated M) - is a comedy drama film Directed by Jules Williamson in her feature film making debut, although she has Directed a number of TV docu-series and TV shows. Here, three best friends from college recreate their post-graduation trip across Europe to honour the memory of their friend Anna. Joining Kate (Jenny Seagrove), Liz (Sally Phillips) and Cassie (Kelly Preston in her final film role) is Anna's 18-year-old daughter Maddie (Elizabeth Dormer-Phillips) fulfilling her mother's last wish to have them take this trip with her. When lost passports, train strikes and romantic entanglements get in their way, they put old feuds aside to complete the journey and remind themselves that they are still at their peak. Also starring Judi Dench, Ben Miller, Franco Nero, and Peter Bowles. 

'BOOK OF LOVE' (Rated M) - Directed and Co-Written by Analeine Cal y Mayor whose previous film making credits include 2013's 'Treading Water' with Douglas Smith and Zoe Kravitz, this film sees young, uptight and unsuccessful English writer Henry Copper's (Sam Claflin) novel as an abject failure. But when his book is suddenly a surprise hit in Mexico, his publicist insists he travel there on a promotional tour. Upon arrival, a confused Henry discovers the reason behind his novel's popularity - Mexican translator Maria Rodriguez (Veronica Echegui) has rewritten his dull book as a steamy erotic novel. Henry, furious, and Maria, reluctant, must now travel together on a book tour across Mexico. As tempers flair and sparks begin to fly, the pair find that opposites attract as they begin to find love and lust despite themselves.

'BILL MURRAY'S NEW WORLDS' (Rated Exempt) - Directed by Andrew Muscato whose previous documentary film credits take in 'Doped : The Dirty Side of Sports' in 2015, 'Muhammad Ali : A Life' in 2016 and 'Mooch' in 2018, here he turns to a glorious Greek evening, where screen legend Bill Murray and world-renowned cellist Jan Vogler are joined by Vanessa Perez (piano) and Mira Wang (violin) to rock the Acropolis with a timeless mix of music, literature and poetry. Spanning from Bach to Van Morrison, Whitman to West Side Story, the wildly entertaining, humorous and deeply touching program is infused with the one-of-a-kind charm of Bill Murray. The New Worlds project emerged from a chance encounter between Murray and Vogler, who met on a flight from Berlin to New York in 2013, with Murray amused that Vogler’s cello was taking up the window seat. The pair forged a strong friendship founded upon a deep curiosity for each other’s artistic worlds. The ancient Acropolis is the perfect setting for this night of artistic exploration blending classical music, literature, and quintessential standards – all tied together with the wit, humour, and deadpan sincerity that Murray is known for. 

With five 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-