What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 18th November 2021.

The 27th Geneva International Film Festival ran from the 5th through until 14th November. The official website reads, 'founded in 1995, the Geneva International Film Festival (GIFF) is Geneva’s oldest film festival and one of the first in the world to include television in its programmes. A crossroads of genres and disciplines, a place of experimentation, encounters and celebration, it offers every year for ten days, films, series, interactive installations and virtual reality works to some 40,000 festival-goers. The largest space in Switzerland dedicated to immersive arts, the GIFF has become one of the major events in Europe in this field'. 

The International Features Competition showcases a selection of ten films that turn stylistic conventions upside down and pave the way for the cinema of tomorrow. The titles, all Swiss Premieres, compete for the Reflet d’Or with a cash prize worth CHF10K awarded by a Jury composed of a renowned filmmaker accompanied by film students. Those films in competition are :-

* 'Costa Brava, Lebanon' - this internationally co-produced drama film is Directed and Co-Written by Mounia Akl. Through the repeated crises that affect Lebanon, the Badri family takes refuge in a small corner of paradise. One day, trucks arrive to unload piles of rubbish in front of their windows. Surrounded, they will have to rethink the world of their tomorrows. This film took out the 2021 Reflet D'Or Award for the Best Feature Film.

* 'El Planeta' - from the USA this is Directed, Written, Co-Produced and stars Amalia Ulman. Fragile, funny, inseparable, a mother and daughter flee reality after a tragic event. In a ghostly Gijon, surviving as best they can the torments of the post-2008 crisis, they escape through jokes and magical thoughts. The multidisciplinary artist, who is also the lead actress, has cast her own mother in this memorable duo.

* 'Ghost Song' - from France, this music drama documentary is Directed and Co-Written by Nicolas Peduzzi. Houston City, Sodom and Gomorrah style. In a twilight atmosphere, OMB, rapper and ex-gang leader, hides herself away, while William, shattered and broken, drags his sadness through the streets. In a world on the verge of disintegration, hurricane Harvey approaches the city in 2017.

* 'I'm Fine (Thanks for Asking)' - from the US this dramatic thriller is Directed, Co-Written and Co-Produced by Angelique Molina and Kelley Kali. Since the pandemic hit, the streets of Los Angeles have filled with many precarious workers and their children. In order to find her home, a young sunny woman will rollerblade through the streets of the San Fernando Valley to raise a handful of dollars that could change everything.

* 'Medusa' - from Brazil this fantasy drama is Directed and Written by Anita Rocha da Silveira. During devastating nightly sprees, masked evangelists stalk sinners. By day, they are 'Michelle and the precious ones' and produce goofy hits and dumb tutorials. Somewhere between giallo and political satire, behold a resolutely feminist fable.

* 'Mighty Flash' - from Spain and is Directed, Written and Co-Produced by Ainhoa Rodriguez. In a small, deserted village in Extremadura, trapped by patriarchal traditions and the weight of religion, women await a resounding event that promises to challenge their lives, even save them.

* 'Petrov's Flu' - from Russia, Germany, France and Switzerland, this drama film is Directed and Co-Wriiten by Kirill Serebrennikov. In this virtuoso trip, the Director unfolds long sequence shots, live light changes, without recourse to any computer-generated images, to totally immerse the viewer in a reconstruction of his Soviet childhood. A punk opera from a filmmaker under house arrest.

* 'Poulet Frites' - from France and Belgium this documentary thriller is Directed and Written by Jean Libon and Yves Hinant. In this unusual, dramatic and staggering chess game, each character’s survival is at stake. The Police pose questions, the suspects are dodgy. Whatever the cost, the intrepid Judge Anne Gruwez leads the investigation. Direct, intuitive, terribly human. In her hands lies the fate of a man accused of a crime…

* 'The Great Movement' - is an international co-produced drama film Directed, Written, Co-Produced and Co-Edited by Kiro Russo. A seven-day hike takes miners to La Paz, Bolivia, the highest capital in the world at 3,600 metres above sea level. Dazed, they come across a shaman, a white wolf, and the legend of the black panther. This mesmerising, hybrid collage is a mystical ode to 'Nuestra Amada Senora de la Paz' and the city’s invisible workers.

* 'Theo and the Metamorphosis' - from France and Switzerland, this drama is Directed and Written by Damien Odoul. Reinventing one’s life, running the ultimate risk of changing, the risk of complete imbalance. Theo is on a path to become a samurai in a secret training camp for peaceful warriors in the heart of a forest populated by animals. Theo is free as a bird! A shattering poetic odyssey.

For the full details of the other competitions which ran at the 27th Geneva International Film Festival, plus a whole lot more besides, you can got to the official website at : https://2021.giff.ch/en/

To tempt you out to your local Odeon in the coming week we have four new cinematic releases to whet the movie going appetite. We kick off with a British drama mystery horror offering about an aspiring fashion designer who can mysteriously enter 1960's London where she encounters a dazzling wannabe singer, but the glitz and glamour is not everything it appears to be and the dreams of the past start to crack and splinter into something darker. Next up is an American offering about a Detroit waitress and part time stripper who, with a new friend in tow, embark on a wild road trip to sunny Florida for a weekend of stripping to earn some quick cash. This is followed up by a NatGeo doco about the daring rescue attempt of twelve boys and their coach from a flooded underwater cave in Northern Thailand just three years ago. And closing out the week is a life story of the famed Canadian songstress Aline Dieu based loosely on the life of Celine Dion. 

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the four latest release new movies 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.

'LAST NIGHT IN SOHO' (Rated MA15+) - this British psychological horror film is Directed, Co-Produced, Written and based on a story by Edgar Wright, whose previous film making credits are 'A Fistful of Fingers' - his Directorial debut in 1995, then 'Shaun of the Dead', 'Hot Fuzz', 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World', 'The World's End', 'Baby Driver', and the doco 'The Sparks Brothers' released earlier this year. The film saw its World Premiere screening at this years Venice International Film Festival on 4th September 2021, before its release in the UK and US on 29th October, having been originally slated for release at the end of September 2020, but was delayed to 23rd April 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before being delayed again to 22nd October, then again to the following weekend. So far the film has grossed US$13M off the back of a US$43M production budget and has garnered generally favourable Reviews. 

Here, an aspiring fashion designer Eloise 'Ellie' Turner (Thomasin McKenzie) relocates from her home town of Redruth in Cornwall to London to attend the London College of Fashion. Moving into a bedsit owed by a Ms. Collins (Diana Rigg in her final role before her death in 2020) Ellie has a vivid dream and is mysteriously taken back to the 1960's, where she encounters a dazzling aspiring singer Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy). However, the glamour is not all it appears to be, and the dreams of the past start to crack and splinter into something far darker. Also starring Matt Smith, Terence Stamp, Sam Claiflin, Rita Tushingham, James and Oliver Phelps and Margaret Nolan (also in her final film role before her death in 2020). 

'ZOLA' (Rated MA15+) - this American black comedy crime film is Directed and Co-Written by Janicza Bravo and is based on a viral Twitter thread from 2015 by Aziah 'Zola' King and the resulting Rolling Stone article 'Zola Tells All: The Real Story Behind the Greatest Stripper Saga Ever Tweeted' by David Kushner. The film saw its World Premiere screening at the Sundance Film Festival way back in late January 2020, was released in the US in late June this year following a year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Zola received positive reviews from critics, and has so far grossed US$5M from a production budget of US$5M. Here then, Zola (Taylor Paige), a Detroit waitress and part-time stripper, is seduced by her new friend Stefani (Riley Keough) into a weekend of stripping in Tampa, Florida for some quick cash, but the trip becomes a sleepless 48-hour odyssey involving a nefarious friend, her pimp and her idiot boyfriend. Also starring Nicholas Braun and Colman Domingo. 

'THE RESCUE' (Rated M) - this National Geographic documentary film is Co-Directed and Co-Produced by Academy Award winners Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. This film chronicles the enthralling, against-all-odds story that transfixed the world in 2018 through the daring rescue of twelve boys and their coach from deep inside a flooded cave in Northern Thailand. Featuring never-before-seen footage and exclusive interviews the film makers piece together the high stakes mission, highlighting the efforts of the Royal Thai Navy SEALs and U.S. Air Force Special Tactics and details the expert cave divers' audacious venture to dive the boys to safety. The film has garnered critical acclaim. 

'ALINE' (Rated M) - this unofficial music biopic is Directed, Co-Written and stars Valerie Lemercier in this quasi life story of the Canadian super songstress Celine Dion. Here the 57 year old singer, Actress and Film maker Valerie Lemercier plays Aline Dieu at all ages in her life span from twelve years of age onwards from which point she is taken under the wing of Producer Guy-Claude Kamar (Sylvain Marcel) who in the fullness of time becomes her husband. The film centres on the singers residency in Las Vegas, her marriage to Guy-Claude and her mother Sylvette (Danielle Fichaud) furiousness at their whole affair, her wild eating habits, her Academy Awards performance and the time when she was not permitted to speak due to her damaged vocal chords, and much more besides. The film saw its World Premier screening at this years Cannes Film Festival and has not surprisingly divided audiences. 

With four new release films 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-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 24th January 2019.

As awards season ramps up, the 24th annual 'Critics Choice Awards' were held on Sunday 13th January 2019 at the Barker Hanger at the Santa Monica Airport, California. Honouring the finest achievement in 2018 film making, the ceremony was Hosted by American Actor and Singer Taye Diggs. And so the Critics have spoken, voiced their opinion, and selected their picks of the top films that graced our screens in 2018. Here, are the list of the main winners and grinners that took out the awards.

* Best Picture : won by 'ROMA' beating out 'Black Panther', 'BlacKkKlansman', 'The Favourite', 'First Man', 'Green Book', 'If Beale Street Could Talk', 'Mary Poppins Returns', 'A Star Is Born' and 'Vice'.
* Best Foreign Language Film : won by 'ROMA' beating out 'Burning' (South Korea), 'Capernaum' (Lebanon), 'Cold War' (Poland), and 'Shoplifters' (Japan).
* Best Action Movie : won by 'MISSION : IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT', beating out 'Avengers : Infinity War', 'Black Panther', 'Deadpool 2', 'Ready Player One' and 'Widows'.
* Best SciFi or Horror Movie : won by 'A QUIET PLACE', beating out 'Annihilation', 'Halloween', 'Hereditary' and 'Suspiria'.
* Best Comedy : won by 'CRAZY RICH ASAINS' beating out 'Deadpool 2', 'The Death of Stalin', 'The Favourite', 'Game Night' and 'Sorry to Bother You'.
* Best Animated Feature : won by 'SPIDER-MAN : INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE', beating out 'The Grinch', 'Incredibles 2', 'Isle of Dogs', 'Mirai' and 'Ralph Breaks the Internet'.
* Best Director : won by Alfonso Cuaron for 'ROMA' beating out Damien Chazelle for 'First Man', Bradley Cooper for 'A Star Is Born', Peter Farrelly for 'Green Book', Yorgos Lanthimos for 'The Favourite', Spike Lee for 'BlacKkKlansman' and Adam McKay for 'Vice'.
* Best Actor : won by Christian Bale for 'VICE' beating out Bradley Cooper for 'A Star Is Born', Willem Dafoe for 'At Eternity's Gate', Ryan Gosling for 'First Man', Ethan Hawke for 'First Reformed', Rami Malek for 'Bohemian Rhapsody', and Viggo Mortensen for 'Green Book'. 
* Best Actress : won by Glenn Close for 'THE WIFE', and Lady Gaga for 'A STAR IS BORN' in a tie, beating out Yalitza Aparicio for 'Roma', Emily Blunt for 'Mary Poppins Returns', Toni Collette for 'Hereditary', Olivia Colman for 'The Favourite' and Melissa McCarthy for 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?'

* Best Supporting Actor : won by Mahershala Ali for 'GREEN BOOK', beating out Timothée Chalamet for 'Beautiful Boy', Adam Driver for 'BlacKkKlansman', Sam Elliott for 'A Star Is Born', Richard E. Grant for 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?' and Michael B. Jordan for 'Black Panther'.

* Best Supporting Actress : won by Regina King for 'IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK', beating out Amy Adams for 'Vice', Claire Foy for 'First Man', Nicole Kidman for 'Boy Erased', Emma Stone for 'The Favourite' and Rachel Weisz for 'The Favourite'.

* Best Actor in a Comedy : won by Christian Bale for 'VICE', beating out Jason Bateman for 'Game Night', Viggo Mortensen for 'Green Book', John C. Reilly for 'Stan & Ollie', Ryan Reynolds for 'Deadpool 2' and Lakeith Stanfield for 'Sorry to Bother You'.

* Best Actress in a Comedy : won by Olivia Colman for 'THE FAVOURITE', beating out Emily Blunt for 'Mary Poppins Returns', Elsie Fisher for 'Eighth Grade', Rachel McAdams for 'Game Night', Charlize Theron for 'Tully' and Constance Wu for 'Crazy Rich Asians'.

* Best Original Screenplay : won by Paul Schrader for 'FIRST REFORMED',

* Best Adapted Screenplay : won by Barry Jenkins for 'IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK'.

* Best Cinematography : won by Alfonso Cuaron for 'ROMA'.

* Best Visual Effects : won by 'BLACK PANTHER' beating out 'Avengers : Infinity War', 'First Man', 'Mary Poppins Returns', 'Mission : Impossible – Fallout' and 'Ready Player One'.

 * Best Song : won for 'Shallow' from 'A STAR IS BORN'.

This week there are just three new release movies coming to your local Odeon. The first is an already highly acclaimed semi-biographical comedy drama offering recounting a road trip back in 1962 involving an Italian decent driver and his Client - a world class Jamaican decent jazz pianist as they tour America's deep south with all the prejudices, and cultural and racial intolerances that existed back in the day, and how this unlikely pairing forged a bond because of it. We then turn to a true story of an octogenarian drug courier who began transporting across US state lines for a Mexican drug cartel in order to make ends meet at home, and he got away with it - for a while. And we wrap up the week with a doco about a record breaking free climb ascent of a Yosemite Park sheer rock face that is not for those suffering from vertigo.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release and 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.

'GREEN BOOK' (Rated M) - this highly acclaimed comedy drama offering is Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written for the screen by Peter Farrelly. The film had its World Premiere showing at the Toronto International Film Festival in September last year, where it won the People's Choice Award, and was released in the US in mid-November. It has received positive Reviews and was selected by the National Board of Review as the best film of 2018, as well as one of the Top 10 by the American Film Institute, and, has so far won 43 awards and a further 83 nominations from around the awards and festival circuit, including five Oscar nods and four BAFTA nods. For some historical context, the film is named after 'The Negro Motorist Green Book', that was published from 1936 through to 1966 and was a guidebook for African-American road trippers written by Victor Hugo Green, to help them find motels and restaurants that would accept them in an age when in America's deep south especially, open and often legally prescribed discrimination against non-whites was widespread. The film has garnered generally positive Reviews and has grossed US$46M from its US$23M production budget so far.

Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) is a world-class Jamaican-American jazz pianist and composer, who is about to embark on an eight week concert tour in America's Deep South in 1962, with a plan to return home by Christmas Eve. In need of a driver and protection, Shirley recruits Frank 'Tony Lip' Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen), a tough-talking bouncer from an Italian-American neighbourhood in the Bronx. Despite their cultural and racial differences, the two men soon develop an unexpected bond while confronting racism and danger in an era of segregation. The film was also scripted by Vallelonga's son, Nick Vallelonga, based on interviews with his father and Shirley, as well as letters his father wrote to his mother during the period of that 1962 tour. Also starring Linda Cardellini.

'THE MULE' (Rated M) - Clint Eastwood here Directs, Co-Produces and stars in this American crime drama film based on the New York Times article 'The Sinaloa Cartel's 90-Year-Old Drug Mule' written by Sam Dolnick. That article tells the true story of Leo Sharp, a World War II veteran in his twilight years who became a drug courier for the Sinaloa Cartel. The film was released in the US in mid-December, cost US$50M to make, has so far grossed US$102M and has garnered generally mixed or average Reviews. That said, broke, alone and facing foreclosure on his business, 90-year-old WWII veteran and world renowned horticulturist Earl Stone (Clint Eastwood playing the real Leo Sharp) takes a job as a drug courier for the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel running cocaine through Illinois. His immediate success (for he faces little suspicion due to his age, race, spotless criminal history and strict adherence to the rules of the road) leads to easy money and increasingly larger shipments that soon draws the attention of hard-hitting DEA agent Colin Bates (Bradley Cooper). When Earl's past mistakes start to weigh heavily on his conscience, he must decide whether to right those wrongs before law enforcement and the Cartel henchmen catch up to him. Also starring Michael Pena, Andy Garcia, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Weist, Alison Eastwood and Taissa Farmiga.

'FREE SOLO' (Rated M) - this highly acclaimed multi-award winning American National Geographic documentary film is Directed and Co-Produced by Documentarian Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and professional climber, mountaineer, skier, Director and photographer Jimmy Chin who also stars and was also one of three Cinematographers on this film. 'Free Solo' saw it Premier screening at the Telluride Film Festival back in late August, went on a limited release in the US in late September and has so far taken US$15M at the Box Office. The film profiles 31 year old American rock climber Alex Honnold, on his quest to perform a free solo climb of El Capitan in June 2017. Free Solo climbing is a form of free climbing and solo climbing where the climber (or free soloist) performs alone and without using any ropes, harnesses or other protective equipment, relying entirely on his or her ability instead. El Capitan is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith is about 3,000 feet from base to summit along its tallest face. Alex Honnold was the first free solo ascent on El Capitan on June 3, 2017 in a time of three hours and 56 minutes - this is his story of that climb.

With three new release films 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 in the week ahead at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-