What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 24th March 2022.

The 74th Directors Guild of America Awards were presented on 12th March at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, California in front of a gathered audience of some eight hundred guests. and hosted by the American Writer, Director, Producer and comedian Judd Apatow, who had hosted previously in 2018 and 2020. The awards honour the outstanding directorial achievement in feature films, documentary, television and commercials of 2021. Guest presenters included Kathryn Bigelow, Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin, Julie Delpy, Kirsten Dunst, Andrew Garfield, Ken Jeong, Natasha Lyonne, Michael Mann, Christopher Nolan, Jesse Plemons, Martin Scorsese, Sarah Snook and Chloe Zhao.

In the three feature film award categories, the winners and nominees were as follows :-

Feature Film : awarded to Jane Campion for 'THE POWER OF THE DOG', beating out Paul Thomas Anderson for 'Licorice Pizza', Kenneth Branagh for 'Belfast', Steven Spielberg for 'West Side Story' and Denis Villeneuve for 'Dune'. 

Documentary : presented to Stanley Nelson Jnr. for 'ATTICA', beating out Jessica Kingdon for 'Ascension', Raoul Peck for 'Exterminate All the Brutes', Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson for 'Summer of Soul (... Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)' and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin for 'The Rescue'.

First-time Feature Film : awarded to Maggie Gyllenhaal for 'THE LOST DAUGHTER', beating out Rebecca Hall for 'Passing', Tatiana Huezo for 'Prayers for the Stolen', Lin-Manuel Miranda for 'Tick, Tick . . . Boom!', Michael Sarnoski for 'Pig' and Emma Seligman for 'Shiva Baby'.

In addition, Spike Lee was presented with the Lifetime Achievement in Feature Film Award.

For all the other winners, and also rans in the Television and Commercials categories, plus a whole lot more besides, you can go to the official website at : https://www.dga.org/awards/annaul.aspx

This week with just three new movies coming to an Odeon near you, we kick off with an American slasher horror offering about a group of young adult film makers who venture out to rural Texas in 1979 to make their pornographic offering, but get more than they bargained for when they come up against the elderly couple who own the farmhouse where the cast intend to shoot their film. This is followed by a story of a mid-thirty year old man who is given a short time to live as he tries to find the perfect new family for his four year old son to live with after he's gone. And we close out the week with a documentary about mans connection with some of the great rivers of the world.

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

'X' (Rated R18+) - is an American slasher film Written, Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Edited by Ti West whose feature film making credits include his debut 'Roost' in 2005, then 'The House of the Devil' in 2009, 'Cabin Fever 2 : Spring Fever' also in 2009, 'The Innkeepers' in 2011, 'The Sacrament' in 2013 and 'In a Valley of Violence' in 2016. The film had its World Premier screening at South by South West on 13th March this year, before its release in the US on 18th March. It has so far taken US$4.5M at the Box Office, and has garnered generally positive critical acclaim. Earlier this month, it was revealed that a prequel film was shot back-to-back in secret with the first film. Also Written and Directed by Ti West, photography took place again in New Zealand, and upon official announcement was already in the post-production stage. 

In 1979, a group of young filmmakers set out to make an adult film in rural Texas, but when their reclusive, elderly hosts catch them in the act, the cast find themselves fighting for their lives. Starring Mia Goth as both Maxine Minx, the pornographic actress and the elderly Pearl, her boyfriend and producer Wayne (Martin Henderson), fellow actors Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow), Jackson Hole (Scott Mescudi), Director RJ (Owen Campbell) and his girlfriend Lorraine (Jenna Ortega) and Stephen Ure as Howard, the husband of Pearl.

'NOWHERE SPECIAL' (Rated M) - this Italian, Romanian and UK Co-Produced drama film is Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Umberto Pasolini in his third feature film making offering following 'Machan' in 2008 and 'Still Life' in 2013 with Eddie Marsan and Joanne Froggatt. This film saw its World Premier screening at the Venice Film Festival in mid-September 2020, was released in the UK in mid-July 2021 and only now does it gain a release in Australia. Here then, set in Northern Ireland where John (James Norton) a thirty-five year old window cleaner is only given a few months to live. He attempts to find a new perfect family for his four year old son Michael (Daniel Lamont) who he has brought up alone after his mother left them immediately after his birth, whilst determined to shield the young lad from the realities of a dire situation. The film has garnered widespread critical acclaim and has collected four award wins and another eight nominations from around the awards and festival circuit. 

'RIVER' (Rated E) - this Australian documentary film is Co-Directed and Co-Written by Jennifer Peedom and Joseph Nizeti and is narrated by Willem Dafoe who has also narrated several of Peedom's other documentary features including 'Mountain' in 2017 and 'Mountain Quest' in 2018. This documentary explores the timeless relationships between humans and rivers. Starting at Mount Kailash, where four of the world’s most sacred rivers are born of melting ice, and ending in the great Sundarban mangrove deltas of Bangladesh and India, where fresh becomes salt, the film traces a songline from source to sea. Accompanied by a score by the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the audience will be taken on a journey through space and time in this orchestral and atmospheric concert film. Spanning six continents, and drawing on extraordinary contemporary cinematography, including satellite filming, the film shows rivers on scales and from perspectives never before seen.

With just three 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-

SHERPA : Monday 11th April 2016.

'SHERPA'- unlike last years 'Everest' movie starring an impressive cast of A-listers facing closing storms and tragedy on the mountain top, this documentary film tells a very different story of that same mountain and the same era i.e. our very recent past, but from the other side of the mountaineering fence. Directed by Australian Jennifer Peedom who intended to make a film in the wake of the 2013 violent confrontations that took place between Sherpa's and adventure seeking tourists - the aptly named 'Everest Brawl' that was beamed around the world's TV channels and made international headlines. Looking to follow the 2014 season from the Sherpa's perspective and how their 'employment rights' are suffering at the hands of wealthy thrill seekers, Peedom and her crew were unexpectedly confronted with tragedy when a massive avalanche at Khumbu Icefall took the lives of sixteen Sherpa's, changing the multi-million Mount Everest Climbing industry forever. Released at TIFF in September 2015, the film picked up three awards and nine other nominations, including a win for Jennifer Peedom for Best Documentary at the British Film Institute London Film Festival.

This film centres around Phurba Tashi, a Sherpa who over the last twenty years has made 21 summits of Everest - and is seeking in 2014 to make a record breaking 22nd, despite the inherent dangers associated with scaling this unpredictable mountain, and the wishes of his wife and children living in the mountain village of Khumjung. Exploring the culture and history of the mountain climbing Sherpa's together with their spiritual connection with Everest we also see archival footage of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay to give some context of how the Sherpa's have been disadvantaged since that first ascent of the peak in 1953. As the pack horse of the mountain, all supplies upto Base Camp and Camp's 1, 2, 3 and 4 must be manually lifted and carried, and it is the Sherpa's who do this, as the government have forbidden helicopter flights to drop off supplies up the mountain. Needless to say they do this for the money and their livelihood largely depends on it, because they are strong, lithe and able to withstand the altitude. Needless to say the thrill seeking bucket list adventurers who look to climb Everest are wholly dependant on the Sherpa's, as are the expedition companies who bring those individuals to climb in ever increasing numbers and for huge sums of money.

The commercialisation of Everest is writ large here as we witness 'traffic jams' up the snowy mountain side as literally hundreds of climbers at a time wait to inch ever closer to the summit. Then there are the creature comforts of Base Camp to accommodate the tourists who may have parted company with up to US$75K for the privilege of making the ascent, and then there is a major Hollywood motion picture being filmed, and then there are guys who want to summit and jump off Everest wearing a wing suit. All of these groups and individuals have to be accommodated, and more often than not it is the Sherpa's who do the heavy lifting, fetching and carrying over dangerous terrain, putting their own lives at risk, and for very little reward or recognition in the grand scheme of things. They are in many respects taken for granted.

Working with New Zealander Russell Brice, a seasoned Everest expedition company owner since 1994, Phurba Tashi is the expedition team leader.  In 2013 things comes to  head up at Base Camp when a US tourist turns on a Sherpa and calls him something less than complimentary, at which point a brawl breaks out, and the otherwise spiritual, docile, peaceful Sherpa's turn on the tourists and tempers, fists and rocks fly.

In 2014 with the season about to start and the 'Everest Brawl' now behind them although not forgotten, tragedy strikes on the Khumbu Icefall - when a 14,000 ton slab of ice breaks off and creates an avalanche down the mountain side killing sixteen Sherpa's. Never before has a tragedy of this magnitude been seen, and whilst Brice, Tashi and his team went unscathed the loss has a significant impact on all. In the days that follow, the Sherpa's gather threatening to close down climbing for the remainder of the year out of respect for the dead and for the mountain, and for wanting better working conditions and reward for the risks they take every day during the climbing season.

Brice as the seasoned respected elder statesman of the mountain acts as middleman and lobbies the government for change trying to bring about a compromise that will get the Sherpa's to see out the season. We see the differences of opinion unfold and the varying perspectives of the mountain side stakeholders - the Sherpa's, the expedition companies, the tourists all have different motivations in the days after the tragedy, and all of which are understandable and valid. In the end the Sherpa's stand firm and the season is closed down. Tashi never makes his 22nd summit and instead retires and returns home to his family having helped pack up Base Camp. A year later in April 2015, another tragedy strikes when the Nepalese earthquake kills 7,000 and creates another avalanche on Everest killing ten more Sherpa's - that climbing season is also cancelled.

Despite this tragedy that unfolded all around them that changed the direction of the originally intended film completely, Peedom has crafted a grounded responsive unbiased documentary that has a respect for the often taken for granted Sherpa community, the beautiful yet hostile environment, and the dangers and the realities of the world highest peak all paired together with breathtaking cinematography courtesy of Renan Ozturk and Hugh Miller. Educational, poignant, breathtaking, relevant and considered - see it on the big screen.

-Stev, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 31st March 2016.

Last week I introduced you to the first six of my Top 12 movies likely to bust a block at our cinema screens for the balance of 2016, and that didn't include 'Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice' released just one week ago and already notching up globally US$469M and rising. Here then are the final six in the movies to watch out for in the latter half of 2016 counting down all the way to Boxing Day, with SciFi, further comic book adaptations from both Marvel and DC, a further outing from a much loved CIA Agent, a video game adaptation that we hope will break the mould of previous dodgy video game adaptations, and a fantastic story from an acclaimed author who already has a pretty good track record on the silver screen with a certain young wizard. Check these out, and mark the date.

• July 21st - 'STAR TREK : BEYOND' - Directed by Justin Lin and co-written by Simon Pegg with J.J.Abrams taking a Producer credit this time around, we have here the third instalment in this rebooted franchise, that sees Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S.Enterprise stranded on a lonely planet and under attack from a powerful and relentless wave of alien foes.
• July 28th - 'JASON BOURNE' - he's back, and once more Directed by Paul Greengrass in the fifth film in this hugely successful franchise and the follow up to 2012's 'The Bourne Legacy' with Matt Damon back as our titular hero with Acting, Producing and Screenwriting credits.
• August 4th - 'SUICIDE SQUAD' - Directed by David Ayer and the second outing of the year in the DC Extended Universe sees a secret government agency hiring incarcerated supervillains  to undertake potentially deadly missions in exchange for a pardon of their past crimes. Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Jai Courtney, Viola Davis and Joel Kinnaman star.
• October 27th - 'DOCTOR STRANGE' - the final Marvel Cinematic Universe offering of the year sees us introduced to a new character as portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in the role of top neurosurgeon Stephen Strange who after a car accident that brings his brilliant career to an end encounters the magical and mystical Ancient One, who sets the Doctor on a whole new path. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tilda Swinton and Rachel McAdams also star in the Scott Derrickson Directed offering.
• November 17th - 'FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM' - Written by one J.K. Rowling, Directed by David Yates and starring Eddie Redmayne, this 1920's story tells us of a young magic zoologist in New York who needs to recover an array of escaped  fantastical creatures. Intended to be the first in three films this also stars Colin Farrell, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Jon Voight and Ron Perlman.
• December 26th - 'ASSASSINS CREED' - this has all the makings of a successful video game crossover into a mainstream movie with Justin Kurzel Directing Michael Fassbender as Callum Lynch the direct descendant of a 15th Century secret society of Assassins who through revolutionary new technology is unable to unlock his ancestral past to thwart a powerful enemy in the present day. Also starring Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson.

To this weeks films then and there are just two to tempt you out in the week ahead, and both are very different. Both are however, based on real life events - one dramatised, and the other very dramatic. The first is a German foreign language offering set in the aftermath of WWII and the repercussions of bringing those to justice for their war crimes whilst serving in the concentration camps, and the efforts of one young man to do so. Then there is a dramatic turn of events on the world tallest peak as the intentions behind one film become the realities of another as tragedy strikes.

As always, we would love to hear your views and observations of any movie you have seen in the past week or any as Reviewed and Previewed here at Odeon Online. Feel free to leave a Comment in the box below this or any other Post, and share with your friends and like minded cinephiles. In the meantime, enjoy your movie.

LABYRINTH OF LIES (Rated M) - This German film is based on real events and was Written and Directed by Giulio Ricciarelli and screened at TIFF in early September last year ahead of its German premier in early November. It was shortlisted down to the final nine films for the Best Foreign Language Film at this years Academy Awards but failed to make the final cut. Set in 1958, thirteen years after the end of WWII and Germany is booming - rebuilding itself and looking ahead to a bright future where the past can be easily forgotten about. And the horrors for many are becoming a distant memory, not spoken of, kept quiet and almost brushed under the carpet for fear of reprisal. 

Until that is, Thomas Gnielka (Andre Szymanski) recognises a school teacher who was a former Commander at Auschwitz and Johann Radmann (Alexander Fehling) takes up the case as a young Prosecutor to bring the former Commander to justice for his war crimes. Along the way though, those efforts are often thwarted by Government officials who served in those same prison camps during the war and close ranks to protect their own now, even though to do so violates German law. Radmann's further investigations reveal many thousands of former Nazi's were allowed to return to their pre-war lives with no fear of penalty, but with youthful determination and ambition on his side, he perseveres and ultimately brings many to trial. A film that has received critical acclaim and that is as relevant today as it was sixty years ago.

SHERPA (Rated M) - unlike last years 'Everest' movie starring an impressive cast of A-listers facing closing storms and tragedy on the mountain top, this documentary film tells a very different story of that same mountain and the same era i.e. our very recent past, but from the other side of the mountaineering fence. Directed by Australian Jennifer Peedom who intended to make a film in the wake of the 2013 violent confrontations that took place between Sherpa's and adventure seeking tourists - the aptly named 'Everest Brawl' that was beemed around the world's TV channels and made international headlines. Looking to follow the 2014 season from the Sherpa's perspective and how their 'employment rights' are suffering at the hands of wealthy thrill seekers, Peedom and her crew were unexpectedly confronted with tragedy when a massive avalanche at Khumbu Icefall took the lives of sixteen Sherpa's, changing the multi-million Mount Everest Climbing industry forever. Despite this tragedy that unfolded all around them that changed the direction of the originally intended film completely, Peedom has crafted a grounded responsive documentary that has a respect for the often taken for granted Sherpa community, the beautiful yet hostile environment, and the dangers and the realities of the world highest peak all paired together with breathtaking cinematography courtesy of Renan Ozturk and Hugh Miller. A must see for a whole raft of reasons.

Just two films this week to join the great cinema content already out there and doing the rounds still, and as Reviewed and Previewed between these pages. Share your thoughts here at Odeon Online when you have sat through your movie of choice in the week ahead, and in the meantime, I'll see you at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-