What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 12th December 2024

The 16th edition of the Les Arcs Film Festival this year takes place from Saturday 14th through until Saturday 21st December. The official website reads 'A major cultural event, the festival's aim is to promote the diversity of European cinema and showcase the many talents on our continent. Set in the heart of the Alps, in one of the most beautiful ski resorts in the world, the festival is an opportunity to enjoy the first snows and film screenings throughout the day in the presence of filmmakers and actors. All this in a festive atmosphere with unforgettable evenings, entertainment, concerts and DJs!'

There are eight films in competition for the Crystal Arrow Award which reveal the many facets of European Cinema today. These films are :-

* 'The New Year That Never Came' - from Romania and Directed by Bogdan Muresanu. Romania stands on the brink of revolution. It is 20th December 1989. Authorities are preparing for New Year’s festivities as if nothing is amiss, yet the official facade is beginning to crack. Amidst the fervour of protest, six lives intersect over the course of an extraordinary day. 

* 'Kneecap' - from Ireland and Directed by Rich Peppiatt. There are 80,000 native Irish speakers in Ireland. 6,000 live in the 'North of Ireland'. Three of them became a rap group called Kneecap. This is the real life story of how this anarchic Belfast trio became the unlikely figureheads of a civil rights movement to save their mother tongue.

* 'Loveable' - from Norway and Directed by Lilja Ingolfsdottir. Approaching her forties, Maria's world falls apart when her husband asks for a divorce. She will have to learn to reconcile with herself and seize the opportunity for self-discovery, growth, and confronting the unconscious and dysfunctional patterns within her.

* 'Moon' - from Austria and Directed by Kurdwin Ayub. Former martial artist Sarah leaves Austria to train three sisters from a wealthy family in the Middle East. What sounds initially like a dream job soon becomes unsettling - the young women are cut off from the outside world and under constant surveillance. Sport doesn’t seem to interest them. So why has Sarah been hired?

* 'Peacock' - from Austria and Germany and Directed by Bernhard Wenger. Matthias is a master of his profession. Do you need a 'cultured boyfriend' to impress your friends? A 'perfect son' to influence your business partners’ opinion of you? Or maybe just a sparring partner to rehearse an argument? Whatever it is, just rent Matthias! While he excels at pretending to be someone else every day, just being himself is the real challenge.

* 'Toxic' - from Lithuania and Directed by Saule Bliuvaite. Abandoned by her mother, 13-year-old Maria is forced to live with her grandmother in a bleak industrial town. During a violent clash on the street, Maria meets Kristina, a girl of the same age who is striving to become a fashion model. Trying to get closer to her, Maria enrols in a mysterious modelling school, where the girls are preparing for the biggest casting event in the region. Her ambiguous relationship with Kristina and the intense, cult-like environment of the modelling school force Maria on a quest to discover her own identity.

* 'Vittoria' - from Italy and Directed by Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman. Jasmine is 40 and has everything she ever wanted. But after her father’s death, she experiences a recurring dream in which a young girl runs into her arms, offering Jasmine a new sense of fulfilment and completeness she can’t ignore. She decides to follow her dream of a daughter and dives headfirst into the challenging world of international adoption – risking her marriage, her sons’ well-being, and her own moral compass along the way. The entire family is in crisis, until they finally realise that the only way out is together.

* 'When the Light Breaks' - from Iceland, France, Netherlands and Croatia and Directed by Runar Runarsson. Day breaks on a long summer's day in Iceland. From one sunset to the next, Una, a young art student, encounters love, friendship, grief and beauty.

For the details of the other film strands being showcased, plus a whole bunch of other good stuff, you can visit the official website at : https://lesarcs-filmfest.com/en/festival/les-arcs-film-festival

This weeks four new movies coming to a big screen Odeon close to home, kick starts with a visceral stand-alone story about how and why one of Marvel's most iconic villains came to be, and what motivated him to become the greatest and most feared hunter. Next up we have a Chinese drama offering about a man who, following a period of incarceration, comes home and takes a job ridding a town of stray dogs in time for the Olympic Games. This is followed by an Irish set film centering around two estranged cousins who never knew each other, but try to make amends for many generations of family dispute, before closing out the week with an anime fantasy film about the untold story behind Helm's Deep, nearly two hundred years before the fateful war, telling the life and bloodsoaked times of its founder, Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan.

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.

'KRAVEN THE HUNTER' (Rated MA15+) - this American Superhero film features the Marvel Comics characters of the same name and is the sixth film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe. It is Directed by J.C. Chandor who made his feature film making debut with 'Margin Call' in 2011 and would follow this up with 'All Is Lost' in 2013, 'A Most Violent Year' in 2014, and 'Triple Frontier' in 2019. 

Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Sergei Kravinoff aka Kraven, a man whose complex relationship with his ruthless gangster and crime-lord father, Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe), starts him down a path of vengeance with brutal consequences, motivating him to become not only the greatest hunter in the world, but also one of its most feared. Also starring Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola and Christopher Abbott. The film is released in the US this week too, and cost a reported US$130M to produce. 

'BLACK DOG' (Rated M) - is a Chinese drama film Co-Written and Directed by Guan Hu and saw its World Premiere screening at this years Cannes Film Festival in mid-May where it won the Un Certain Regard award. Here former stunt motorcyclist and musician Lang (Eddie Peng) returns to his hometown on the outskirts of the Gobi Desert, where he was a local celebrity prior to his imprisonment on a manslaughter charge ten years previously. Now residing with his father, Lang must avoid the spiteful local gangster 'Butcher Hu', who aims to take revenge on Lang for his role in his nephew's death. Lang decides to seek the bounty placed on a wild dog as part of a larger programme to remove unwanted animals in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and eventually strikes up an unlikely friendship with the canine. The film was released in its native China in mid-June, in Singapore at the end of July and only now is released in Australia, having so far grossed US$4.6M at the Box Office, garnered generally favourable reviews and collected twelve award wins and another eight nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit. 

'THE PROBLEM WITH PEOPLE' (Rated M) - this Irish set buddy comedy film is Directed by Chris Cottam and is Co-Written, Co-Produced and also stars Paul Reiser. Here then, honouring his father’s dying wish to reconnect with the American side of the family, Irishman Ciaran (Colm Meaney) reaches out to his cousin Barry (Paul Reiser), inviting him to visit Ireland. Eager to escape the daily grind of his New York real estate job, Barry agrees to make the long trip. After an initially warm reunion, tensions quickly escalate when it's revealed that Barry has unexpectedly been left half of Ciaran’s father’s inheritance. The discovery sparks a bitter feud fuelled by greed and jealousy, leading to a series of petty squabbles and comedic misadventures. As the situation spirals out of control, the question remains—will these two stubborn cousins ever find a way to make peace? The film had its World Premiere at the Austin Film Festival in October 2023, was released Stateside in early October and in Ireland in early November.

'THE LORD OF THE RINGS : THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM' (Rated M) - is an anime fantasy Directed by Kenji Kamiyama and is based on the characters created by J.R.R. Tolkein. Set 183 years before the events of the Peter Jackson's 2001-2003 'The Lord of the Rings' film trilogy, 'The War of the Rohirrim' tells the story of Helm Hammerhand (voiced by Brian Cox), a legendary king of Rohan, and his family (most notably his daughter Hera voiced by Gaia Wise) as they defend their kingdom against an army of Dunlendings (led by Wulf voiced by Luke Pasqualino). Helm goes on to be the namesake for the stronghold Helm's Deep. Also starring the voice of Miranda Otto as Eowyn who narrates the film. Peter Jackson and his Co-Writer and wife Fran Walsh are credited as Executive Producers. 

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-