What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 4th December 2025

This years Sun Valley Film Festival (SVFF) takes place between Wednesday 3rd and Sunday 7th December in the resort city of Sun Valley in the western USA, in Blaine County, Idaho. Since 2012, the Sun Valley Film Festival has invited fans and filmmakers to connect through the power of cinema in Hollywood’s original ski Shangri-la. Annually, SVFF celebrates with a slate of cutting-edge film and television premieres, engaging Coffee Talks with entertainment luminaries, thought-provoking discussions and unforgettable parties. Outside of the Festival, SVFF enhances the cultural fabric of the community through its Monthly Movies, filmmaker discussions and educational programmes. In 2025 SVFF moves to December, and positions itself as a 'must-stop' on the industry awards circuit and not-to-be missed kick off for the holiday season.

The festival will screen sixteen narrative and documentary features and thirty-two shorts, including the Opening Night Film presentation 'The Brotherhood' from the US and Directed by Mandon Lovett this documentary feature film follows the trailblazing National Brotherhood of Snowsports – the first all-Black ski group. Once shut out of a sport built for the privileged, Black athletes carved their own path and created a thriving community that now spans 50+ chapters and thousands of members. The Closing Night Film 'Is This Thing On?' from the US and Co-Written, Co-Produced, Directed and starring Bradley Cooper. As their marriage quietly unravels, Alex (Will Arnett) faces middle age and an impending divorce, seeking new purpose in the New York comedy scene while Tess (Laura Dern) confronts the sacrifices she made for their family forcing them to navigate co-parenting, identity, and whether love can take a new form.

The other titles in the Narrative Feature strand are :

* 'Above the Line' - from the US and this action comedy is Co-Written and Directed by Jeffrey Scott Collins. On Christmas Eve, six fledgling Hollywood hopefuls get a mysterious knock at their door and an envelope of $$$ at their feet. It contains the 'opportunity of a lifetime' - to go burglarise a mutually despised Producer that once screwed them over. Who organised this holiday heist? Who will go through with this preposterous plan? Will these desperate idiots pull it off? World Premiere.

* 'Carolina Caroline' - from the US this romantic action thriller is Co-Produced and Directed by Adam Carter Rehmeier. Samara Weaving stars as Caroline, living her small life in a small town, caring for her father. When she observes a handsome drifter pulling a sly con for a few bucks, her curiosity sparks an introduction which begins as an apprenticeship and soon blooms into a passionate romance. The duo leave a wave of crime and passion behind them as they hustle their way through the Southeast, robbing banks. Starring Kyle Gallner, Kyra Sedgwick and Jon Greis.

* 'Dead Man's Wire' - from the US and this action thriller film is Directed by Gus Van Sant. On the morning of 8th February 1977, Indianapolis entrepreneur Anthony G. 'Tony' Kiritsis entered the office of Richard O. Hall, President of the Meridian Mortgage Company, and took the man hostage with a sawn-off 12-gauge shotgun wired to his head, and follows Tony’s misbegotten attempt to seek retribution from the Hall family for cheating him out of what he felt he was owed. Starring Bill Skarsgard, Al Pacino, Cary Elwes, Dacre Montgomery, Colman Domingo and Myha'la. 

* 'Is This Thing On?' - refer above.

* 'The Plague' - from Romania and the USA and this thriller is Written and Directed by Charlie Polinger. At an all-boys water polo camp, a socially anxious twelve-year-old is pulled into a cruel tradition targeting an outcast with an illness they call 'The Plague'. But as the lines between game and reality blur, he fears the joke might be hiding something real. Starring Joel Edgerton, Everett Blunck, Kayo Martin and Kenny Rasmussen.

* 'The Testament of Ann Lee' - from Hungary, Sweden and the USA this docu drama is Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Mona Fastvold. The extraordinary true legend of Ann Lee, founder of the devotional sect known as the Shakers, stars Amanda Seyfried as the Shaker's irrepressible leader, who preached gender and social equality and was revered by her followers. The film captures the ecstasy and agony of her quest to build a utopia. Also starring Thomasin Mckenzie, Lewis Pullman, Stacy Martin, Matthew Beard, Scott Handy, Viola Prettejohn and Jamie Bogyo.

* 'Train Dreams' - from the US and this drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Clint Bentley. Orphaned at a young age, Robert Grainier grows into adulthood (Joel Edgerton) among the towering forests of the Pacific Northwest, where he helps expand the national railroad empire during the early 20th Century, alongside men as unforgettable as the landscapes they inhabit. After a tender courtship, he marries Gladys (Felicity Jones) and they build a home together, though his work often takes him far from her and their young daughter. When his life takes an unexpected turn, Robert finds beauty, brutality and newfound meaning for the forests and trees he has felled. Also starring Nathaniel Arcand, Clifton Collins Jr., John Diehl, Paul Schneider, Kerry Condon, William H. Macy and narrated by Will Patton. US Premiere.

Arnold and Patrick Schwarzenegger will be among the honourees at this year’s Festival. The father and son duo will receive the Vision Award and Rising Star Award, respectively; Gus Van Sant will also receive the Vision Award; while Clint Bentley and Co-Writer Greg Kwedar will be honoured with the Disruptor Award for 'Train Dreams'.

For more information on the other film strands being showcased, and a whole lot of other good stuff, you can visit the official website at : https://www.sunvalleyfilmfestival.org

Turning the attention then back on this weeks five new release movies coming to your local big screen Odeon, we kick off with a psychological thriller historical drama offering that tells the story as the Nuremberg trials are set to begin, with a US Army psychiatrist locking horns in a dramatic psychological showdown with accused Nazi war criminal Hermann Goring. This is followed by a fantasy RomCom about a woman who must choose between two men with whom to spend eternity in the afterlife. Next up we have a supernatural horror offering that is a sequel set one year after the original film that finds young Abby Schmidt sneaking out to reconnect with her animatronic friends, leading to events that reveal the true origin of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Then we turn to a UK doco about a UK model and cultural icon, real name Lesley Lawson, whose career kickstarted in the swingin' '60's; and closing out the week we have a musical comedy spanning three decades, about the turbulent relationship between a composer and his two lifelong friends, a writer and a lyricist and playwright.

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.

'NUREMBERG' (Rated M) - is an American psychological thriller historical drama film that is Written for the screen, Co-Produced and Directed by James Vanderbilt in only his second Directorial outing following his 2015 'Truth', although he is perhaps best known as a prolific script writer and Producer of many Hollywood blockbusters and has worked with numerous top Directors. This film is based on the 2013 book 'The Nazi and the Psychiatrist' by Jack El-Hai. The film had its World Premiere in the Gala Presentations section of the Toronto International Film Festival in early September this year where it received a four-minute standing ovation, one of TIFF's longest standing ovations ever, and was released theatrically in the US in early November having received generally positive reviews from critics, and so far taking US$16M at the Box Office.

The film tells the story of the eponymous Nuremberg trials held by the Allied Forces against the defeated Nazi regime between 20th November 1945 and 1st October 1946 in which twenty-two of the most important surviving leaders of Nazi Germany in the political, military, and economic spheres, as well as six German organisations were tried. Centering on American psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek), who is tasked with determining whether Nazi prisoners are fit to stand trial for their war crimes and finds himself in a complex battle of wits with Hermann Goring (Russell Crowe), Hitler's right-hand man. Also starring Michael Shannon, Richard E. Grant, Colin Hanks, John Slattery, Leo Woodall, and Lydia Peckham. 

'ETERNITY' (Rated M) - this American fantasy romantic comedy film is Co-Written and Directed by David Freyne who made his feature film Directorial debut with 2017's 'The Cured' and would follow this up with 'Dating Amber' in 2020. In an afterlife where souls have one week to decide where to spend eternity, Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) is faced with the impossible choice between the man she spent her life with Larry Cutler (Miles Teller) and her first love and husband Luke (Callum Turner), who died young in war and has waited decades for her to arrive. The film had its World Premiere screening at TIFF in early September this year, was released Stateside last week, has so far grossed US$5.5M and has garnered generally favourable reviews.

'FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S 2' (Rated M) - is an American supernatural horror film based on the video game series 'Five Nights at Freddy's' and is the sequel to the 2023 film adaptation. The film is Directed by Emma Tammi who also Directed the first film and who made her feature film making debut in 2018 with 'The Wind'. Here, one year has passed since the supernatural nightmare at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. The stories about what occurred there have been twisted into a campy local legend, inspiring the town's first ever Fazfest. Former security guard Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson) and Police Officer Vanessa Shelly (Elizabeth Lail) have kept the truth from Mike's 11-year-old sister, Abby (Piper Rubio), concerning the fate of her animatronic friends. But when Abby sneaks out to reconnect with Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy, it will set into motion a terrifying series of events, revealing dark secrets about the true origin of Freddy's, and unleashing a long-forgotten horror hidden away for decades. Also starring Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard and Mckenna Grace. The film cost US$51M to produce and is released this week too in the US.

'TWIGGY' (Rated M) - this UK documentary film is Co-Produced and Directed by Sadie Frost in only her second feature length film offering following 'Quant' in 2021, although she has acted in and Produced numerous movies, TV series and short films in her decades long career. An intimate, star-studded dive into the birth of an icon, born Lesley Hornby in a working class home, and everything that followed. A look inside the life of the greatest it-girl of all time, who changed her name to Twiggy as a teenager and whose career began in the swingin'-'60's in the world of fashion, that morphed into movies and back again. Featuring contributions from Dustin Hoffman, Paul McCartney, Lulu, Joanna Lumley, Sienna Miller, Brooke Shields, Zandra Rhodes and many more, the film is an exploration of the model's upbringing, career, relationships, and everything else that has made her the woman she is today, and the first time the icon has told her story first-hand. The film saw its World Premiere showcasing at the BFI London Film Festival in mid-October 2024 before going on general release in the UK and Ireland in early March this year, and only now is it released here in Australia having generated largely positive critical acclaim.

'MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG' (Rated M) - is an American musical comedy film Directed by Maria Friedman. Spanning three decades, and told in reverse order, the film charts the turbulent relationship between composer Franklin Shepard (Jonathan Groff) and his two lifelong friends - Writer Mary Flynn (Lindsay Mendez) and lyricist and playwright Charley Kringas (Daniel Radcliffe), as he abandons his career and friends in New York and heads to Hollywood to Produce movies. The 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, and originally adapted into a Broadway stage production in 1981, then becoming an inventive cult classic ahead of its time, the musical features some of Stephen Sondheim's most celebrated and personal songs. The 2023-2024 Broadway production, directed by Maria Friedman, redefined the show for a new era, bringing Stephen Sondheim's intricate score and George Furth's book to vivid life with extraordinary depth and clarity. This film is not to be confused with another film based on the success of the 2022 Off-Broadway production of 'Merrily We Roll Along' which led Director Richard Linklater to undertake a film adaptation, of the same name starring Paul Mescal, Beanie Feldstein, and Ben Platt, and which is currently in production and is being filmed over the course of twenty years.

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 week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

NOW YOU SEE ME : NOW YOU DON'T : Tuesday 25th November 2025

I saw the M Rated 'NOW YOU SEE ME : NOW YOU DON'T' earlier this week, and this American heist film is Directed by Ruben Fleischer, and is the sequel to 2016's 'Now You See Me 2' which was Directed by Jon M. Chu and is the third instalment in the 'Now You See Me' film franchise. Those first two films in the series grossed worldwide US$687M off the back of combined production budgets of US$165M. Ruben Fleischer's prior feature film output takes in his 2009 debut with 'Zombieland' which he would follow up with the likes of 'Gangster Squad' in 2013, 'Venom' in 2018, 'Zombieland : Double Tap' in 2019, 'Venom : Let There Be Carnage' in 2021 and 'Uncharted' in 2022. The film was released here in Australia and the US on 13th and 14th of this month respectively, has so far grossed US$150M off the back of a US$90M production budget and has generated mixed critical reviews. It has been reported that a fourth film is already in development, and is set to be Directed by a returning Ruben Fleischer.  

Set some ten years after the events of the second film, a trio of young magicians - Charlie (Jutice Smith), Bosco LeRoy (Dominic Sessa), and June Rouclere (Ariana Greenblatt) put on a fake Four Horsemen magic show via deepfakes and holograms, where they drain the mobile phone wallets of the corrupt owners of a cryptocurrency exchange and distribute the stolen funds among the attendees. After the show when they have decamped back to their secret loft apartment, they are unexpectedly approached by J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), one of the original Horsemen. He recruits them in a plot apparently given to him by the Eye, the secret magic society, via a tarot card. Their mission, simply to steal 'the Heart', the largest diamond in the world. The diamond is in the possession of Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike), the ruthless head of a South African diamond company started by her father, a former Nazi who uses the business to launder money for war criminals. Soon after, while preparing for a private viewing and auction of the diamond in Antwerp, Veronika receives a phone call from an unknown man using a voice changer, who threatens to expose her company's illegal activities if she does not give him the diamond. Needless to say she brushes him off but is nonetheless left a little rattled.

At that private party in Antwerp, Daniel and the three recently recruited young magicians execute the heist through a combination of disguises, switching props, and misdirection to seize the diamond from Veronika. Her security and Police fail to pursue them as Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), and Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), the remaining members of the original Four Horsemen, arrive to assist them in evading capture by the local Police and Veronika's own security team. Having escaped capture by exiting from the roof via a zip line down to a waiting boat, the other three Horsemen explain that they have also received messages on tarot cards from the Eye. The Horsemen later reveal that a heist had gone wrong that resulted in their leader, Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo), being arrested and held in a Russian prison, resulting in the group's split and subsequent disappearance until now.

The group travels on to an estate owned by the Eye in France, where they meet Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), the former grandmaster of the Eye, who also received a card telling him to assist the Horsemen. Thaddeus says that Veronika's secrets were hidden within the estate and implores them to find it. The Police, who are on Veronika's payroll, arrive to raid the estate, forcing the group to split up and use the illusory rooms within the estate to disorient and take down the Police. Charlie and Bosco manage to find a set of seemingly secret documents exposing Veronika's client list and her company's illegal activities, and escape with Daniel and Henley, while Merritt, Jack, and June are captured by the Police. While trying to escape, Thaddeus is fatally shot and dies inside the escape tunnel with Charlie, Bosco, Daniel and Henley bidding him a tearful farewell before fleeing the scene.

Inside the local Police station, Veronika questions Merritt, who turns the tables and rattles her by deducing that, after her father's affair with their housekeeper resulted in her mother's suicide, Veronika planned the murder of her housekeeper and half-brother. Lula May (Lizzy Caplan), another Horseman, arrives heavily disguised and helps Jack and June escape, but Merritt is recaptured. The group, now reunited, begins planning to rescue Merritt, as Veronika receives another phone call from the unknown man, pressuring her to retrieve the diamond.

Veronika and the Horsemen agree to arrange a meet in Abu Dhabi at the Yas Marina Circuit, where a party is being held for the Formula 1 team Veronika owns. During the swap - the Heart Diamond in exchange for Merritt, Bosco and Charlie create a distraction by stealing the F1 car on display at the party and driving off, starting a Police chase. Meanwhile, having swapped Merritt for the diamond, Veronika traps the Horsemen in a completely sealed glass cube. Veronika reveals her plans to bury them alive as sand fills up the cube. Veronika leaves with the diamond and arranges to meet with the unknown man in her vault, located out in the depths of the desert. The Horsemen manage to escape by breaking a water pipe directly above the cube and flooding it, and using Henley's diamond ring to ultimately shatter the glass. 

Veronika arrives at her vault and takes a gun from a guard. Upon entering, she learns that the unknown caller is Charlie, who is actually Veronika's long-lost half-brother, and that his mother saved him from the drowning orchestrated by her some fifteen years ago. A tearful Veronika apologises and hands Charlie the diamond, then walks away a few paces, turns and shoots him. As Charlie lays on the ground seemingly dead, she motions to take the diamond, but as she does so, Charlie moves, rises to his feet uninjured, revealing a bullet caught in his teeth. Veronika attempts to shoot again, only to discover that she was firing blanks. The vault walls open, revealing that Veronika is actually on the Horsemen stage with a live audience back at the Yas Marina Circuit. It is revealed that the car Veronika got in was driven by Charlie, the security guard whom she took the gun from was Bosco, the car went into the rear of a truck driven by June, and that the elevator ride in the vault was actually the Horsemen rolling a box onto the stage. 

Charlie tells the gathered audience that he in fact orchestrated and planned every aspect of the heist, including bringing the Horsemen together in the first place. He also admits that he created every clue to exact revenge on Veronika, ultimately leading to her arrest. Charlie tells the crowd that every client of the Vanderberg company involved in its illegal activities will be arrested, and that the proceeds of the diamond mining and the Heart itself will be given back to the people of South Africa. Some time later, the Horsemen gather at Charlie, June, and Bosco's hideout. A package arrives at the door containing a hologram of Dylan, having faked his imprisonment, who officially inducts Charlie, Bosco, and June to the Eye, and tells the group that there is more to be done. 

You really have to go in to this film having suspended all belief in the magicians art, and by that I mean the ability to pull of such intricate heists, misdirections, and illusions in just a matter of a couple of days as is the case here, in what would otherwise take months for any other self respecting magician to pull off with such aplomb. And, who's funding these guys that they can afford to pull of these amazing feats, and travel from France to the UAE in a private Lear Jet. That said, 'Now You See Me : Now You Don't' is an enjoyable and entertaining enough romp back into the world of the Four Horsemen, that is made memorable by the strong cast, in which it is good to see three new young fresh faces join The Horsemen so paving the way for more of them in instalment #4. However, the film is let down by the heavy reliance on CGI spectacle, and a silly and convoluted plot that has so much going on on screen that you need to really lean into it to keep track. You can leave your brain at the front door of your local cinema, and just go along for the ride and be entertained for a couple of hours.

'Now You See Me : Now You Don't' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 27th November 2025.

The King's Lynn Film Festival (KLFF) runs this year from Thursday 27th until Sunday 30th November in the port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. Founded in 2015, the festival grew out of the King’s Lynn Community Cinema Club - a thriving, non-profit membership organisation that continues to host monthly screenings at the historic Guildhall on King Street. KLFF was established to give audiences in King’s Lynn, West Norfolk and beyond the chance to experience a broader variety of films, while dedicating an annual occasion to celebrating cinema and the impact it has on our lives. Our mission is to promote appreciation and education in the art and craft of cinema and moving images. We achieve this by staging our annual film festival, along with educational events and activities that connect audiences with the creative and cultural power of film . . . . so reads the official website.

This years Opening Film presentation is 'Strangers on a Train' from 1951, and this American psychological thriller film noir was Produced and Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and based on the 1950 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith. The story centres on two strangers who meet on a train, one of whom is a psychopath who suggests that they 'exchange' murders so that neither will be caught. Starring Farley Granger, Ruth Roman and Robert Walker.

The programme list of feature films being showcased are as given briefly below : - 

* 'Late Shift' - from Switzerland and Germany this drama film is Written and Directed by Petra Volpe. The film focuses on a young nurse, Floria (Leonie Benesch), who works with unwavering dedication in an understaffed hospital ward, but on this day, her shift turns into a nerve-wracking race against time.

* 'A Private Life' - from France and this black comedy mystery film is Co-Written and Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski. The renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner (Jodie Foster) mounts a private investigation into the death of one of her patients, whom she is convinced has been murdered. Also starring Daniel Auteuil, Virginie Efira, Mathieu Amalric, Vincent Lacoste and Luana Bajrami.

* 'No Other Choice' - from South Korea and this satirical black comedy thriller film is Co-Written, Produced, and Directed by Park Chan-wook. The film follows a desperate paper industry expert Yoo Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) who decides to kill off his competition to be assured of the job he seeks to maintain his way of life.

* 'Blue Moon' - from the USA and this biographical comedy drama film is Co-Produced and Directed by Richard Linklater. The film follows songwriter Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) as he reflects on himself on the opening night of 'Oklahoma!', a new musical by his former colleague Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott). Also starring Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale and Jonah Lees.

* 'After the Tide' - from the UK and this documentary film is Directed by Joseph Harrington. The film explores the pressing issue of coastal erosion and how the idyllic village of Happisburgh in Norfolk, UK, is threatened by a new wave of government policy.

* 'The Golden Spurtle' - from the UK and Australia this documentary film is Written and Directed by Constantine Costi. In the Scottish Highland village of Carrbridge, competitors gather for the World Porridge Championships' final year under Charlie Miller's leadership, celebrating tradition and community through the art of perfect porridge-making using only oatmeal, salt and water. 

* 'H is for Hawk' - from the UK and the USA, this biographical drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Philippa Lowthorpe. The film tells the true story of a woman Helen Macdonald (Claire Foy) who tends to a Goshawk after the death of her father Alisdair Macdonald (Brendan Gleeson).

* 'Sentimental Value' - from Norway, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and the UK and Co-Written and Directed by Joachim Trier. It follows a fractured relationship between an acclaimed Director Gustav Borg (Stellen Skarsgard) and his two estranged daughters Nora Borg (Renate Reinsve) and Agnes Borg Pettersen (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), which becomes even more complicated when he decides to make a personal film about their family history. Also starring Elle Fanning. 

* 'It Was Just an Accident' - from Iran, France and Luxembourg, and this thriller film is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Jafar Panahi. The film follows a group of former Iranian political prisoners who face the question of whether to exact revenge on their tormentor.

* 'The Secret Agent' - from Brazil, France, Germany and the Netherlands, and Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Kleber Mendonca Filho. Set in 1977, the film follows Armando (Wagner Moura), a former teacher caught in the political turmoil of the final years of the Brazilian military dictatorship, attempting to flee persecution and resist an authoritarian deceitful regime.

For the other films being screened, you can visit the official website at : https://www.klfilmfestival.uk

Turning then attention then back to this weeks slew of eight new release movies coming to your local big screen Odeon, we kick off with the third instalment in this mystery franchise in which Detective Benoit Blanc sifts through a series of suspects when a monsignor turns up dead. Next up is an action thriller where a woman, travelling alone through snowbound northern Minnesota, interrupts the kidnapping of a teenage girl, and realises that she is the young girl's only hope. Then we have an action crime drama based upon extensive research with law enforcement, gangs, inmates, migrants, and addicts, offering up an expose on fentanyl trafficking, and its effect on all walks of life. This is followed by a psychological thriller film about a cunning wannabe who enters the orbit of an ascendant pop star and charts the story about the hunger for, and hollowness of, celebrity. Next we turn to a Christmas musical comedy where the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future take a modern-day British refugee Scrooge on an unforgettable journey of discovery. Following on we have a documentary film about an 85-year-old man and comedy legend, five countries, sixteen cities, twenty-six shows in six weeks - will he make it home, or is this the end of the road? Then we have another doco, about a Chinese woman who hires someone to secretly end her husband's extramarital relationship in an attempt to save her marriage; before closing out the week with an animated sequel to an earlier hugely successful 2016 film, as Detectives Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde find themselves on the twisting trail of a mysterious reptile. 

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

'WAKE UP DEAD MAN' (Rated M) - this American mystery film is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Rian Johnson and serves as a standalone sequel to 2022's 'Glass Onion' and is the third offering in the 'Knives Out' movie franchise, both of which were also helmed by Rian Johnson. Johnson's previous feature film credits take in his debut with 'Brick' in 2005, which he would follow up with 'The Brothers Bloom' in 2008, 'Looper' in 2012 and 'Star Wars : The Last Jedi' in 2017. This film had its World Premiere showcasing at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September, is released for a limited time in Odeon's from this week, before being released on Netflix on 12th December. The film has received positive reviews from critics.

Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) takes on a new case that brings him into the orbit of a charismatic priest, Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), and his devout congregation. When a mysterious death occurs, Blanc must navigate a complex web of secrets and simmering tensions within the community to uncover the truth. Also starring Josh O'Connor, Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Thomas Haden Church, Jeffrey Wright and Daryl McCormack. 

'DEAD OF WINTER' (Rated MA15+) - is an American and German Co-Produced action thriller film Directed by Brian Kirk whose previous feature film Directing credits are 2019's '21 Bridges' in Chadwick Boseman's last cinema released film before his death in August 2020, and 'Middletown' in 2006. Hit by a blizzard, a grief-stricken loner woman Barb (Emma Thompson) gets lost among backroads near a North Minnesotan lake where she wants to scatter the ashes of her late husband. She stops for help at a remote cabin in the woods. Here she discovers a young woman Leah (Laurel Marsden) kidnapped by a desperate couple (Judy Greer and Marc Menchaca) who are armed and intent on murder. Isolated and without mobile phone service, this unlikely hero realises she is the woman's only hope of survival. The film had its World Premiere at this Locarno Film Festival in early August, was released in the US at the end of September, has generated largely positive critical reviews and has so far grossed US$2M.

'KING IVORY' (Rated MA15+) - this American action thriller film is Written and Directed by John Swab whose prior feature film making credits take in his 2016 debut with 'Let Me Make You a Martyr', which he would follow up with other titles including 'Run with the Hunted' in 2019, 'Body Brokers' in 2021, 'Candy Land' in 2022, and 'Little Dixie' in 2023. From civilians to criminals to addicts to law enforcement, and everyone in between, all walks of life intersect in this thriller about the epidemic that is fentanyl, aka by its street name - King Ivory. It is business as usual for Tulsa drug cop, Layne West (James Badge Dale), battling the local criminal element, which hits too close to home when his son, Jack (Jasper Jones), gets hooked on fentanyl. In conjunction with his partner, Ty (George Carroll), and FBI counterpart, Beatty (Rory Cochrane), West makes it his mission in life to take down those responsible, including the Mexican cartel's local shot-caller, Ramon Garza (Michael Mando), Indian Brotherhood War Chief, Holt Lightfeather (Graham Greene), who controls state-wide trafficking while serving life inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester aka 'Big Mac', and the local Irish Mob family outfit, led by George 'Smiley' Greene (Ben Foster), along with his mother, Ginger (Melissa Leo), and uncle, Mickey (Ritchie Coster). The film had its World Premiere showcasing as the Venice International Film Festival in early September 2024, and was released in the US on 14th of this month, having cost under US$7.5M to produce and generating mixed or average reviews.

'LURKER' (Rated M) - is an American psychological drama thriller film that is Written and Directed by Alex Russell in his feature film making debut. When twenty-something Los Angeles retail clerk and loner Matthew (Theodore Pellerin) encounters rising pop star Oliver (Archie Madekwe, who also Co-Produces here), he takes the opportunity to edge his way into the in-crowd. But staying there isn't easy. With an entire entourage (Havana Rose Liu, Zack Fox, Daniel Zolghadri and Sunny Suljic) vying for attention, Matthew must prove himself to Oliver as more than just a follower. As their bond grows strained and mainstream fame appears within reach, access and proximity become a matter of life and death. The film saw its World Premiere screening at this years Sundance Film Festival at the end of January, was released Stateside at the end of August having garnered generally positive critical reviews and so far grossing US$634K.

'CHRISTMAS KARMA' (Rated PG) - this British Christmas musical comedy drama film is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Gurinder Chadha and is a Bollywood musical-inspired adaptation of the 1843 Charles Dickens book 'A Christmas Carol'. Set in vibrant, multicultural London, a hard-nosed businessman, Mr. Sood (Kunal Nayyar), is forced to confront his past, present, and future over one fateful Christmas Eve, guided by three unforgettable spirits, on a journey toward compassion and redemption. Also starring an ensemble cast comprising Leo Suter, Charithra Chandran, Pixie Lott, Danny Dyer, Boy George, Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter and Eva Longoria. The film was released in the UK on 14th of this month.

'JOHN CLEESE PACKS IT IN' (Rated M) - Directed by Andy Curd this UK Documentary film follows the Ex-Monty Python John Cleese as he embarks on his 2025 tour as he travels to sixteen European cities to perform twenty-six shows in six weeks. At the age of eighty five, this doco is a wry, behind-the-scenes portrait of a comedy legend on the road, battling various ailments, chaotic travel, and his own stubborn refusal to stop. Spanning six weeks on the road, the film captures Cleese unfiltered and on the move - riffing on life, fame, and the absurdity of getting old in front of thousands of fans. As he reflects on a stage career that began in 1963, the question lingers - is this the end of the road? With unique and intimate access and showing unexpected tenderness, this is a documentary about legacy, laughter, and the dignity of bowing out, however reluctantly.

'MISTRESS DISPELLER' (Rated PG) - is an American Chinese Documentary film that is Co-Produced, photographed and Directed by Elizabeth Lo, who also helmed the doco 'Stray' in 2020. Here, for the innovative service providers of China’s booming romance economy, infidelity presents just another business opportunity. When she discovers that her husband is being unfaithful, Mrs Li enlists a ‘mistress dispeller’, Wang Zhenxi, to unravel the affair and save her marriage. In no time, Wang ingratiates herself with Mr Li and the young Fei Fei in search of any fissures that could drive them apart. Far from being a cheap chronicle of messy infidelity, however, what emerges is an empathetic study of individuals trying their best to heed what their hearts are telling them. The film saw its World Premiere screening at the Venice International Film Festival in early September 2024, was released in the USA towards the end of October this year, and now gets a limited release here in Australia, has so far grossed US$70K and has garnered widespread critical acclaim.

'ZOOTOPIA 2' (Rated PG) - this American animated buddy cop comedy film is produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and is Written by Jared Bush and is also Directed by him and Byron Howard. It is the sequel to 2016's 'Zootopia' which grossed US$1.03B off the back of a US$150M production budget. Rookie animal cops Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) are sent on a make or break mission by Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) that has them coming face-to-face with mysterious pit viper Gary De'Snake (Ke Huy Quan), whose arrival disrupts the balance of the metropolis. To solve the case while contending with the Zootopia Police Department and other parties, they must go undercover to new parts of town, testing their partnership while dealing with a conspiracy regarding the other reptiles near Zootopia. Also starring the voice talents of Andy Samberg, David Strathairn, Shakira, Patrick Warburton, Macaulay Culkin, Jean Reno, Danny Trejo, John Leguizamo, Alan Tudyk, Josh Gad, June Squibb, Michael J. Fox, Rachel House, Dwayne Johnson, Ed Sheeran and Robert Irwin, amongst others. The film is released this week too in the US.

With eight 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-

THE RUNNING MAN : Tuesday 18th November 2025

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'THE RUNNING MAN' this week at my local multiplex cinema, and this American dystopian action thriller film is Co-Written for the screen, Co-Produced and Directed by Edgar Wright, and is based on the 1982 novel written by Stephen King under his pseudonym Richard Bachman. It is also the second big screen adaptation following the 1987 film of the same name that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Directed by Paul Michael Glaser. Edgar Wright's previous feature film output takes in his feature debut with 1995's 'A Fistful of Fingers' and then 'Shaun of the Dead' in 2004, 'Hot Fuzz' in 2007, 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World' in 2010, 'The World's End' in 2013, 'Baby Driver' in 2017, and 'Last Night in Soho' in 2021. The film was released here in Australia, the UK and the US last week, cost US$110M to produce, has so far grossed US$31M and has garnered mixed critical acclaim.

In the near future, the USA is a dystopian authoritarian state ruled over by a major media Network, where the majority of the population live in poverty with little access to even basic healthcare. The Network appease people with their trashy, violent reality and game shows through their FreeVee TV's, which are literally everywhere. The Network's most popular show is 'The Running Man', where three 'Runners' are selected from literally hundreds of other wannabes, and can win US$1B if they survive for thirty days while the Network's 'Hunters', led by the mysterious Evan McCone (Lee Pace), and ordinary citizens try to hunt and kill them, by any means possible. Given US$1K and a twelve-hour headstart, Runners are required to film themselves for ten minutes every day and post in their recoded message which is then played on air the next day, or else they'll forfeit the contest. 

Ben Richards (Glen Powell), is a blue-collar worker living in the slums of Co-Op city, is unable to afford influenza medicine for his two year old daughter, Cathy, after being fired from several of his former jobs for insubordination and is blacklisted. Over his wife, Sheila's (Jayme Lawson), objections, Ben tries out for the Network and following exhaustive physical and mental testing is selected for 'The Running Man'. 

Ben agrees to participate when Executive Producer Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), who can be very persuasive, offers him an advance for Cathy's medication and a safe house for his family. As the show begins with great fanfare, Ben acquires fake IDs and two disguises - one as an Executive Manager and the other as a Priest, from his associate Molie (William H. Macy). Ben travels to New York, where he watches live coverage on his TV from his hotel room where is is holed up as Runner Tim Jansky (Martin Herlihy) is found seemingly flaunting the rules and is gunned down in the street and killed by the Hunters.

He then flees to Boston and hides out at a hostel, but is soon afterwards located by the Hunters. An intense firefight ensues, which leads to an explosion that takes out the entire hostel block and kills eight network soldiers. Ben escapes through a sewer and is found and sheltered by Bradley Throckmorton (Daniel Ezra) and his family. Bradley, an anti-network activist, teaches Ben about the network's propaganda and deceit, which Ben relays in his next recording. Instead, the Network replaces him with a foul-mouthed deepfake, resulting in Ben being kicked out of the house by Bradley's mother. Bradley then directs Ben to a fellow activist in Derry, Maine, where he says he'll be safe. 

During his journey, he learns that second runner Jenni Laughlin (Katy O'Brian) has been killed having narrowly escaped from a casino in a pink convertible car but then crashing it into a barn whereupon she was torched by two flamethrower wielding young kids. Ben is now the sole remaining runner, and he has earned the support of the poor and working-class who plaster the slogan 'Ben Lives' on walls and placards, almost everywhere. On the fourteenth day, Ben arrives at the home of Bradley's friend, Elton Parrakis (Michael Cera), who believes Ben's survival can help fuel a rebellion against the Network. Elton gives Ben a map to a bunker built by his late father, where he can survive the full thirty days, even though its designed to sustain a life for three years. 

As he tries to leave early one morning, Ben is alerted by Elton's aged mother Victoria (Sandra Dickinson) who recognises Ben from her ardent watching of his TV programme and wants to alert the Network. He successfully averts her from doing so, but Elton alerts them anyway and within under five minutes the property is swarming with Hunters. However, Elton has booby trapped the entire house and successfully dispatches many of them. Ben and Elton escape in a buggy filled with explosives, but McCone kills Elton with a single shot to the head from a helicopter above, and another Hunter confronts Ben on a bridge. Driving towards each other at speed, Ben crashes the buggy into the Hunter which erupts in a ball of flame, while he escapes by jumping into the river below.

Traveling north as per the map provided by Elton, Ben discovers that the location of the bunker has been covered over by a new housing development still under construction. Ben is later caught on surveillance but escapes using the car of upperclass woman Amelia Williams (Emilia Jones), taking her hostage. Amelia initially believes the propaganda about the Hunters being there to safeguard her kind from Ben's violent unruly kind, until she witnesses on her in-car TV screen how the show's content differs from reality. They travel to an airfield guarded by McCone and the Network, where Killian instructs McCone to let them pass. Ben commandeers a plane on the pretext that he is wearing a suicide vest of Black Irish high explosive that would incinerate everyone within a half mile radius. and he want's it to take him and Amelia across the border into Canada. On the flight, Killian calls Ben to offer him a contract for his own network show and to become Hunter 6. When Ben refuses, Killian shows footage of McCone and the Hunters murdering Sheila and Cathy, which is played on the show to give him the audience's sympathy.

Ben realises the flight crew are McCone's remaining Hunters and fights them in the cockpit eventually killing them. When he fights McCone, he learns that the latter is a former runner who survived 29 days during the show's first season, having taken Killian's deal. After a violent fight, Ben kills McCone and gives a parachute to Amelia so she can escape. Killian again offers Ben his own show and a chance to speak on live TV, but Ben refuses again and tries to convince viewers to turn off their FreeVee. The Network redirects the plane to their headquarters and runs a deepfake of Ben threatening to crash into the building. The plane is shot down by a missile before it hits the building. Ben survives the attack by escaping in the plane's auto-eject pod, and later reunites with Sheila and his daughter, whose deaths were faked by Killian.

Sometime later, Amelia recovers the plane's black box flight recorder and leaks the uncensored recordings to the public. This turns public opinion against the Network and ultimately leads to a rebellion. As the next season of The Running Man begins, host Bobby Thompson (Colman Domingo) senses the hostility in the audience and quits on the spot after leading the show for twenty years, leaving Killian to very reluctantly take over as host - to which he lasts less than a minute after the a riot breaks out among the audience. Running to get away, Killian looses his way during the audience frenzy and crashes through a screen backdrop onto the main stage. Lying flat on the ground watching the melee unfolding before him, Ben emerges from the crowd, and points McCoon's gun (inscribed with word 'Destiny' in block capitals) at him. Counting down 5-4-3-2-1 and Action, Ben shoots Killian, whom he had sworn at their very first meeting that he would fuck him over.

My two other movie buddies and I came away from 'The Running Man' having enjoyed Edgar Wright's apparently more faithful adaptation of the Stephen King novel, and praising Glen Powell's performance as the put-upon but nonetheless undefeated Ben Richards. This movie has something to say about out of control corporate capitalism, society's insatiable appetite for in your face and outlandish media offerings, and the great divide that exists between the wealthy and those living on or below the poverty line. Throw into the mix a good dose of well executed action sequences, a strong supporting cast, a fast paced thrill ride that will not leave you wanting, and the charm and charisma of the film's leading man, and you have a movie that is well worth the price of cinema entry, and is an improvement on the 1987 original. 

'The Running Man' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-