What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 19th January 2023.

The 23rd annual American Film Institute (AFI) Awards were presented on Friday 13th January at the Four Seasons Hotel, Beverly Hills, LA over the course of an exclusive invitation only luncheon held for 250 select attendees from the world of American film and television. Presented by the American Film Institute to recognise the Top 10 films and television programmes of the year, these awards, unlike other accolades about the cinema and TV art form, acknowledge the film and television productions deemed culturally and artistically representative of the year's most significant achievements in the art of the moving image in American cinema. Media that does not fit the AFI's conventional eligibility criteria for the main categories, such as non-American productions as well as other types of media, are given recognition through the AFI Special Award. The American Film Institute is an American nonprofit film organisation that educates filmmakers and honours the heritage of the motion picture arts in the US.

Those ten award winners in the film category are as follows :-

* 'Avatar : The Way of Water' - Directed by James Cameron and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet and Cliff Curtis.

* 'Elvis' - Directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

* 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' - Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert and starring Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu. 

* 'Nope' - Directed by Jordan Peele and starring Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yuen, Michael Wincott and Brandon Perea.

* 'She Said' - Directed by Maria Schrader and starring Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher and Tom Pelphrey. 

* 'The Fabelmans' - Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen and Judd Hirsch.

* 'The Woman King' - Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and starring Viola Davis, Lashana Lynch, Thuso Mbedu, John Boyega and Hero Fiennes Tiffin.

* 'Top Gun : Maverick' - Directed by Joseph Kosinski and starring Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connolly, Val Kilmer and Jon Hamm.

* 'Tar' - Directed by Todd Field and starring Cate Blanchett, Noemie Merlant, Nina Hoss and Mark Strong.

* 'Women Talking' - Directed by Sarah Polley and starring Frances McDormand, Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley and Ben Whishaw.

With the AFI Special Award being presented to 'The Banshees of Inisherin' as Directed by Martin McDonagh and starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan.

For the ten winners of the television category, plus a whole lot more good stuff, you can visit the official website at : https://www.afi.com

Turning the attention then back to this weeks four new movies coming to a big screen Odeon near you, we launch with a story of how decadence, depravity, and outrageous excess lead to the rise and fall of a number of ambitious dreamers in 1920's Hollywood. Then we have a UK doco that charts the true story of how in 1993, a boy named Brandon Lee enrols at the Bearsden Academy Secondary School in Glasgow, Scotland, and over time, it is revealed that Brandon Lee is not who he claims to be. Next up is a Spanish offering about two sisters who set up a bakery on the island of Mallorca together, that they inherited from a benefactor that they didn't know. And, closing out the week is a Russian family animated film about a grumpy bear who must bring a cute grizzly cub to America by flying on an airship with his friends, avoiding snowy disasters and an evil vulture along the way.

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 coming week.

'BABYLON' (Rated MA15+) - is an American epic period comedy-drama film Written and Directed by Damien Chazelle, whose prior film making credits take in the highly acclaimed and multi-award winning 'Whiplash' in 2014, 'La La Land' in 2016 and 'First Man' in 2018. 'Babylon' saw its World Premier in Los Angeles in mid-December before its US release on 23rd December, and has divided critics with those who generally praised the cinematography, editing, score, and performances, but were split on its screenplay, direction, graphic content, and runtime. The film cost about US$80M to produce and has so far recouped just US$15M but received five nominations for the 80th Golden Globe Awards and won one for Best Original Score, and nine nominations at the 28th Critics' Choice Awards winning one for Best Production Design. The film has a run time of three hours and nine minutes.

The film follows the rise and fall of multiple characters during Hollywood's transition from silent films to talkies during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in the late 1920's, including Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) - a popular silent film star known for his flamboyant parties; Manny Torres (Diego Calva) - a Mexican-American film assistant who aspires to have a larger role within the film industry; Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) - an aspiring actress and Manny's love interest; Elinor St. John (Jean Smart) - a sensationalist journalist; Lady Fay Zhu (Li Jun Li) - a Chinese-American cabaret singer who also writes intertitles for films; and Sidney Palmer (Jovan Adepo) - a jazz trumpet player with Max Minghella, Lukas Haas, Tobey Maguire, Flea, Eric Roberts, Ethan Suplee, Samara Weaving, Olivia Wilde, Spike Jonze, Katherine Waterstone and Phoebe Tonkin. 

'MY OLD SCHOOL' (Rated M) - this UK documentary film is Directed, Written and Co-Edited by Jono McLeod in his feature film making debut. The film saw its virtual World Premier screening at the January 2022 Sundance Film Festival, was released in the US in late July last year, and only now is it released here in Australia. It tells the story of how in 1995, it was discovered that 'Brandon Lee', who had a year earlier enrolled as a fifth-year student at Bearsden Academy secondary school in Bearsden, Glasgow, Scotland, had actually been a thirty-year-old former student, Brian MacKinnon, posing as a seventeen-year-old. The story attracted widespread and sensational news coverage at the time. McLeod, the film's Director, was one of MacKinnon's peers at Bearsden Academy. The story of MacKinnon's time at Bearsden and his unmasking are told through a combination of present-day interviews with MacKinnon's classmates and teachers, cartoon recreations, and archival footage. MacKinnon agreed to be interviewed for the film, but did not wish to appear on camera, so Actor Alan Cumming appears as an avatar for MacKinnon, lip syncing to the audio of his interviews. The film has so far grossed US$280K and has generated largely positive press.

'LEMON AND POPPY SEED CAKE' (Rated M) - is a 2021 Spanish-Luxembourg film Directed and Co-Written by Benito Zambrano, based on the novel of the same name by Cristina Campos. The film saw its World Premier showcasing at the Valladolid Film Festival in Spain in late October 2021 before its release in Spain in mid-November 2021, and only now does it get a limited release in Australia. In the small town of Valldemosa located on the Spanish island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean, Anna (Eva Martin) and her sister Marina (Elia Galera), who were separated when they were teenagers, meet again to sell a bakery they've inherited from a mysterious woman they know nothing about. The two sisters have led very different lives. Anna has barely left the island and is unhappily married to a man she no longer loves. Marina travels the world working as a doctor for an NGO. As the sisters try to uncover the secrets hidden behind their enigmatic benefactor and her property, they are forced to confront old family disputes and make up for lost time.

'BIG TRIP 2 : SPECIAL DELIVERY' (Rated PG) - is a Russian and Hungarian Co-Produced animated family adventure comedy film Directed by Natalya Nilova and Vasiliy Rovenskiy. After a big trip, Mic Mic the bear (voiced by Daniel Medvedev) just wants to relax. Unfortunately, another stork mishap means he must care for an adorable baby grizzly – and bring it all the way to America! As Mic Mic and his zany friends travel by airship, devious vulture Billy tries to sabotage the mission. Can the brave crew survive a lightning storm, crash-landing, ice flood, snowy avalanche – and Billy’s traps – to bring the cute cub to America, and keep the forest there free from evil’s rule? 

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 week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-