ANOTHER ROUND : Tuesday 16th March 2021.

'ANOTHER ROUND' which I finally got around to seeing this week following its Australian release on 11th February, is an M Rated Danish comedy drama film Directed and Co-Written by Thomas Vinterberg whose previous film making credits include 'Kursk' in 2018, 'Far from the Madding Crowd' in 2015 and 'The Hunt' in 2012. This film saw its World Premier screening at TIFF back in early September 2020, was released in its native Denmark at the end of that same month, has so far accumulated thirty-five award wins and a further fifty-one nominations from around the awards and festival circuit and has garnered universal critical acclaim. The film has been selected as the Danish entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, and so far taken just over US$2M at the Box Office off the back of a US$4M production budget.

Teachers, colleagues and long term friends Martin (Mads Mikkelsen), Tommy, Peter and Nikolaj ((Thomas Bo Larsen, Lars Ranthe and Magnus Millang respectively) all work at the same Copenhagen High School for fifteen to nineteen year old students. All four of them have become jaded to say the least and struggle in their tuition of the seemingly unmotivated student cohort, believing that over the years they have become boring and stale in both their professional and personal lives. Martin lives with his wife Anika (Maria Bonnevie) and two teenage sons, but hardly sees or speaks with his wife because she works at night, and he during the daytime, and when he asks her outright if he has become boring, she replies saying that he is not the Martin that she met and fell in love with years ago, before hurriedly rushing out the door to go to work.

One day while at work Martin is told that a delegation of parents and their sons and daughters want to meet with him later that afternoon. Martin teaches modern history and his students feel that his teaching style and the learnings he is trying to convey aren't working, are confusing, and thus failing to register with the largely uninterested class. Something has got to change. One night over dinner to celebrate Nikolaj's 40th birthday, at which an opening bottle of expensive Champagne is first cracked followed by caviar and an equally expensive Vodka, Martin says that he'll stick with mineral water as he has a busy day at school tomorrow and he has still to prepare when he gets home that night. However, Nikolaj starts to discuss the noted Norwegian psychiatrist, psychotherapist, author and Professor Finn Skarderud, who theorises that having a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.05 makes you more creative and relaxed. Martin soon gets into the vodka, and the red wine and opens up to his friends about the situation he was confronted with earlier in the day and the troubles in his marriage. His friends tell him not worry, that he is made of sterner stuff and how everything will work out just fine. 

Initially, the group dismissed the notion of Skarderud's theory but Martin is inspired and the next day takes a bottle of vodka into school, and downs a couple of nips before his morning class. And the end of that day Martin feels he cannot drive home as he would be over the limit and has Nikolaj drive him home instead. En route Martin mentions to his friend that he had several drinks during the course of the day and he feels great as a result, and his students have become more participative. Upon hearing this, Nikolaj calls Peter and Tommy and the four meet. Ultimately they decide to join in, considering the ordeal an experiment to test Skarderud's theory, and write a paper which they will later publish with their test results. They agree to a set of rules, namely that their BAC should never be below 0.05 and that they should not drink after 8:00pm weekdays and not at all at weekends. 

Within a short period of time, all four members of the group find both their work and private lives more enjoyable. Martin's class have become more responsive, more motivated, and more interested in his teachings and he also finally manages to reconnect with his wife and children, taking them on a canoeing trip and camping out in tents at night by the edge of a lake. Such is the success of their experiment, that they all agree it should be taken to the next level and so they increase their daily BAC limit to 0.10. 

With their lives continuing to improve, the group decides to attempt binge drinking to observe how their bodies and minds respond. Initially Martin is reluctant and says that he is done with their experiment while the other three prepare an Absinth based cocktail and start to dance around the room in Nikolaj's house. Preparing to leave, Martin turns and sinks an Absinth cocktail, then another, then something else. The group has a fun filled night, ending up in a bar, with Peter playing the piano almost naked, Martin dancing on the tables, and Tommy stealing two bottles from behind the bar to send them on their way. After coming home totally wasted, both Martin and Nikolaj are confronted by their families early the next morning. Martin's family state their worries that he is descending into alcoholism, revealing that he has been visibly drunk for weeks. After a heated argument, during which Anika admits to an affair, Martin demands the she leaves the house and the pair separate. The group as a consequence abandon the experiment on the basis that it is leading to alcoholism. 

Some months down the track, all the members of the group have stopped drinking during the day except for Tommy, who has become an alcoholic. Martin has reached out to Anika seeking a reconciliation, but she is seemingly not interested. A few days later Tommy arrives at work under the influence and is barely able to stand up or string a sentence together. Martin helps Tommy home that night, puts him to sleep, and cleans up his apartment of empty beer bottles and spent wine bottles and prepares a pasta meal for the both of them. Tommy is grateful but after tells Martin that he and his friends don't need to come around every day and check in on him - he's fine. Tommy boards his boat with his dog, gets frustrated trying to put on a life jacket so discards it and motors out on the ocean. The next time we see the boat bobbing up and down in the harbour later that evening, only the dog is on board whining and there is no sign of Tommy. 

The three remaining members of the group go out to dinner after Tommy's funeral and toast their departed friend with a beer. They ask themselves what Tommy would do under such circumstances, and so they go back to the restaurant where their experiment kicked off several months ago, and order that same Champagne to kick off with. While dining, Martin receives a text message from his wife who states that she misses him and says 'a lot' in a subsequent text and appears willing to give their marriage a second chance. In the meantime the recently graduated students drive by in an open top bus. Martin, Peter and Nikolaj join them in celebrating, dancing and drinking down by the harbour side. 

Martin, who in a previous life trained as a jazz ballet dancer, dances with the rest of the partying students, which he had refused up to this point despite the repeated requests to do so by his colleagues. As his dance moves become more and more frenetic he is last seen diving head first into the harbour, fully clothed.

It is easy to see why 'Another Round' ('Druk' in its native Denmark) has garnered such widespread critical acclaim. On the one hand this tragicomedy speaks to four friends all dealing with a mid-life crisis in their own way but connected through alcohol; it also deals with loss - of a marriage (well almost!), and the death of a close friend; and how a bunch of male friends behave when they come together with a joint goal in mind. On the other hand, it also deals with the excesses of drinking culture on the student age group depicted in this film from the opening scene to the closing sequence; and finally it tells a story of how with every action there must be a reaction, as the lives of these four men (and their students) are changed forever as a result of their drinking experiment. The four principle characters all give top notch performances that are believable, relatable, credible and confronting - especially Mads Mikkelsen who always gives his all with his grounded, nuanced and keeping it real portrayal of a man at a cross-roads in his life. Director and scribe Vinterberg has here crafted a thought provoking film that won't be for everyone (given its at times confronting subject matter), but nonetheless this is an emotional, sobering and heartfelt film that is sure to lift the spirits, and raise a smile without detracting from the ills caused by over consumption. I'll drink to that, cheers!

'Another Round' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 11th February 2021.

The 2021 Sundance Film Festival took place from 28th January to 3rd February. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival combined in-person screenings at the Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah with screenings held online as well as on screens and drive-ins in twenty-four states and territories across the United States. The culmination of the Sundance Film Festival is the awards ceremony that was presented by Actor and Comedian Paton Oswalt where seventy-three feature length and fifty short films — selected from more than 14,000 submissions — were showcased. Winning a Festival award can be life changing for a filmmaker and can bring attention to the impactful stories that might not have otherwise reached wider audiences. Films in both the documentary and dramatic competition categories are eligible for a variety of prestigious awards bestowed by the juries, made up of individuals with original and diverse points of view from the worldwide film community. Robert Redford founded the Sundance Institute in 1981 to foster independence, risk-taking, and new voices in American film, and the festival has grown over the intervening years to become the largest independent festival in the USA.

This years winners of this films in competition, are as given below :-

GRAND JURY PRIZES

* The US Grand Jury Prize : Documentary was presented to Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson, for 'Summer Of Soul' (or, 'When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised')  from the USA and Directed by Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson.

* The US Grand Jury Prize : Dramatic was presented to Sian Heder, for 'CODA' ('Children of Deaf Adults') from the USA and Directed and Written by Sian Heder.

* The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize : Documentary was presented to Jonas Poher Rasmussen, for 'Flee' from Denmark, France, Sweden and Norway and Directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen.

* The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize : Dramatic was presented to Blerta Basholli, for 'Hive' from Kosovo, Switzerland, Macedonia and Albania and Directed and Written by Blerta Basholli.

AUDIENCE AWARDS

* The Audience Award : US Documentary was presented to Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson for 'Summer Of Soul' (or, 'When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised') from the USA and Directed by Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson.

* The Audience Award : US Dramatic was presented to Sian Heder, for 'CODA' ('Children of Deaf Adults') from the USA and Directed and Written by Sian Heder.

* The Audience Award : World Cinema Documentary was presented to Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, for 'Writing With Fire' from India and Directed and Produced by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh.

* The Audience Award : World Cinema Dramatic was presented to Blerta Basholli, for 'Hive' from Kosovo, Switzerland, Macedonia and Albania and Directed and Written by Blerta Basholli.

* The Audience Award : NEXT, was presented to Marion Hill, for 'Ma Belle, My Beauty' from the USA and France and Directed and Written by Marion Hill.

DIRECTING, SCREENWRITING and EDITING AWARDS

* The Directing Award : US Documentary was presented to Natalia Almada, for 'Users' from the USA and Mexico and Directed by Natalia Almada.

* The Directing Award : US Dramatic was presented to Sian Heder, for 'CODA' ('Children of Deaf Adults') from the USA and Directed and Written by Sian Heder.

* The Directing Award : World Cinema Documentary was presented to Hogir Hirori, for 'Sabaya' from Sweden and Directed and Written by Hogir Hirori.

* The Directing Award : World Cinema Dramatic was presented to Blerta Basholli, for 'Hive' from Kosovo, Switzerland, Macedonia and Albania and Directed and Written by Blerta Basholli.

* The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award : US Dramatic was presented to Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch, for 'On the Count of Three' from the USA and Directed by Jerrod Carmichael, and Written by Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch.

* The Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award : US Documentary was presented to Editors Kristina Motwani and Rebecca Adorno, for 'Homeroom' from the USA and Directed by Peter Nicks.

SPECIAL JURY AWARDS

* A US Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast was presented to the cast of 'CODA' ('Children of Deaf Adults') from the USA and Directed and Written by Sian Heder. Cast : Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, and Marlee Matlin.

* A US Dramatic Special Jury Award for Best Actor was presented to  Clifton Collins Jr. for 'Jockey' from the USA, Directed, Co-Written and Co-Produced by Clint Bentley.

* A US Documentary Special Jury Award : Emerging Filmmaker was presented to Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt, for 'Cusp' from the USA Directed and Co-Produced by Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt.

* A US Documentary Special Jury Award : Nonfiction Experimentation was presented to Theo Anthony, for 'All Light, Everywhere' from the USA and Directed by Theo Anthony.

* A World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award : Verite Filmmaking was presented to Camilla Nielsson, for 'President' from Denmark, the USA and Norway and Directed by Camilla Nielsson.

* A World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award : Impact for Change was presented to Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, for 'Writing With Fire' from India and Directed and Produced by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh.

* A World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award : Acting was presented to Jesmark Scicluna, for 'Luzzu' from Malta and Directed, Written and Co-Produced by Alex Camilleri.

* A World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award : Creative Vision was presented to Baz Poonpiriya, for 'One for the Road' from China, Hong Kong and Thailand and Directed and Co-Written by Baz Poonpiriya.

For the complete list of films, winners, grinners, runners-up and festival insights, you can visit the official Sundance Film Festival website at : https://www.sundance.org

This week we have six latest release new films coming to your local Odeon, kicking off with a highly acclaimed Danish film about four high school teachers who decide to consume alcohol on a daily basis to see how it affects their social and professional lives. Next up we turn to an Aussie comedy romance about a man who wakes up the morning after his wedding to discover that every few minutes he's jumping forward to the next year of his life. Following this comes a story about a fussy celebrity caterer, a blind woman, a tour-bus guide and an inexperienced wedding planner all in search of love. We then have a Spanish offering about two couples who are neighbours in an apartment black, exploring the complexities of modern relationships over dinner; followed by a Sci-Fi horror drama surrounding two New Orleans paramedics' lives that are torn apart after they encounter a series of horrific deaths linked to a designer drug with bizarre, otherworldly effects. And we close out the week with a documentary examining how zoological organisations around the world are working to prevent one million species from becoming extinct.

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

'ANOTHER ROUND' (Rated M) - Directed and Co-Written by Thomas Vinterberg whose previous film making credits include 'Kursk' in 2018, 'Far from the Madding Crowd' in 2015 and 'The Hunt' in 2012. Here this Danish comedy drama film saw its World Premier screening at TIFF back in early September 2020, was released in its native Denmark at the end of that same month, has so far accumulated twenty-six award wins and a further twenty-nine nominations from around the awards and festival circuit and has garnered universal critical acclaim. The film has been selected as the Danish entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, and so far taken approaching US$6M at the Box Office. 

There’s a theory that we should be born with a small amount of alcohol in our blood, and that modest inebriation opens our minds to the world around us, diminishing our problems and increasing our creativity. Heartened by that theory, Martin (Mads Mikkelsen) and three of his friends Tommy, Peter and Nikolaj (Thomas Bo Larsen, Lars Ranthe and Magnus Millang respectively), all weary high school teachers, embark on an experiment to maintain a constant level of drunkeness throughout their workday. Initial results are positive, and the teachers’ little project turns into a genuine academic study. Both their classes and their results continue to improve, and the group steadily begins to feels alive again! As the units are knocked back, some of the participants see further improvement and others go off the rails. It becomes increasingly clear that while alcohol may have fueled great results in world history, some bold acts carry consequences. 

'LONG STORY SHORT' (Rated M) - this Australian comedy romance film is Directed, Written, Co-Produced and stars Josh Lawson in only his second feature filmmaking outing after 2014's 'The Little Death' although he has thirteen Writer credits and fifty-six as an Actor to his name. Here, serial procrastinator Teddy (Rafe Spall) thinks he has all the time in the world, until he wakes up the morning after his wedding to discover that every few minutes he’s jumping forward to the next year of his life. He must therefore learn, and very quickly, to use every precious moment wisely to keep from losing the love of his life, and to learn to love the life he's losing. Also starring Zahra Newman, Ronny Chieng and Noni Hazlehurst. 

'LOVE, WEDDINGS AND OTHER DISASTERS' (Rated M) - is an American romantic comedy film Directed, written for the screen and based on a story co-written by Dennis Dugan who is perhaps best known for his collaborations with Adam Sandler having Directed him in  'Happy Gilmore', 'Big Daddy', 'I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry', 'You Don't Mess with the Zohan', 'Grown Ups', 'Just Go with It', 'Jack and Jill', and 'Grown Ups 2'. This multi-story film is about the people who work on weddings to create the perfect day for a loving couple - while their own relationships are outlandish, odd, crazy and a long way from being perfect. Starring Jeremy Irons as the perfectionist and very demanding wedding planner Lawrence Phillips, Diane Keaton, Maggie Grace, Diego Boneta and Andrew Bachelor. The film was released Stateside on 4th December last year and has been demolished by Critics. 

'THE PEOPLE UPSTAIRS' (Rated M) - is a Spanish comedy film Directed and Written by Cesc Gay which saw its World Premier screening at the San Sebastien International Film Festival back in September last year before its wide release in its native Spain at the end of October. In the meantime the film has picked up one award win and another twenty-one nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit. And so Julio (Javier Camara) and Ana (Griselda Siciliani) are a couple who spend most of their time arguing. One night, Ana decides to invite their upstairs neighbours, Salva (Alberto San Juan) and Laura (Belen Cuesta), for dinner, despite the fact that Julio is not their biggest fan, not least because of the noise they make while having sex. As the night goes on, various secrets about the couple come to light. 

'SYNCHRONIC' (Rated MA15+) - this American Sci-Fi horror film is Directed, Co-Produced, and Edited by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, while Benson also wrote the film and Moorhead was Cinematographer. The film saw its World Premier showcasing at TIFF back in early September 2019, went of release in the US in late October 2020, has so far grossed US$1M, and has generated mostly favourable Reviews. And so when New Orleans paramedics and longtime best friends Steve Denube (Anthony Mackie) and Dennis Donnelly (Jamie Dornan) are called to a series of bizarre and gruesome accidents, they chalk it up to a mysterious new designer drug found at the scene, called Synchronic. But after Dennis' oldest daughter Brianna (Ally Ioannides) disappears, Steve stumbles upon a terrifying truth about the supposed psychedelic that will challenge everything he knows about reality, and the flow of time itself. 

'ESCAPE FROM EXTINCTION' (Rated PG) - released in the US in mid-October last year, this documentary film is Directed and Co-Produced by Matthew R. Brady and narrated by Helen Mirren. This film features rare footage of endangered animals and interviews with the world’s leading animal welfare specialists and conservation scientists, exploring the critical efforts of zoos and aquariums across the globe as they race to protect and preserve one million species on the brink of extinction from Earth's seven continents, its oceans, lakes and rivers.

With six 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- 

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 29th August 2019.

Continuing with the coverage of the 76th Venice International Film Festival which launched on 28th August and runs through until 7th September, it was announced in the months preceding the festival that the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement by a Director would be awarded to Spanish Director Pedro Almodovar whose film making credits include his international break out film in 1983 'Dark Habits' and then over the following years 'Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown' in 1988, 'Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down' in 1989, 'All About My Mother' in 1999, 'Talk to Her' in 2001, 'Bad Education' in 2003, 'Volver' in 2006, 'The Skin I Live In' in 2011 and 'Julieta' in 2016. The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement by an Actor or Actress is awarded to English Actress, Singer and Author Julie Andrews whose film acting credits include 'My Fair Lady' and 'The Americanisation of Emily' both in 1964, 'The Sound of Music' in 1965, 'Torn Curtain' and 'Hawaii' both in 1966, 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' in 1967, 'Star!' in 1968, 'The Tamarind Seed' in 1974, '10' in 1979, 'S.O.B.' in 1981, 'Victor/Victoria' in 1982, 'Duet for One' in 1986, 'The Princess Diaries' in 2001 and its sequel in 2004 and from there she lent her voice talents to the animated 'Shrek' and 'Despicable Me' film franchises.

This years Out of Competition entries take in works of fiction and non-fiction and special screenings. Included in these are :-
Out of Competition : Fiction 
* 'SEBERG' - from the USA and Directed by Benedict Andrews and starring Kristen Stewart, Jack O’Connell, Anthony Mackie and Vince Vaughn.
* 'THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY' - from the UK and Italy and Directed by Giuseppe Capotondi and starring Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki, Donald Sutherland and Mick Jagger.
* 'MOSUL' from the USA and Directed by Matthew Michael Carnahan and starring Suhail Dabbach, Adam Bessa and Is’Haq Elias.




* 'ADULTS IN THE ROOM' - from France and Greece and Directed by Costa-Gravas and starring Christos Loulis, Alexandros Bourdoumis, Ulrich Tukur, Daan Schuurmans, Josiane Pinson, and Aurelien Recoing.
* 'THE KING' - from the UK and Hungary and Directed by David Michod and starring Timothee Chalamet, Joel Edgerton, Sean Harris, Tom Glynn-Carney, Lily-Rose Depp, Thomasin McKenzie, Robert Pattinson and Ben Mendelsohn.

Out of Competition : Non-Fiction 
* 'ROGER WATERS US + THEM' - from the UK and Directed by Sean Evans and Roger Waters. The former Pink Floyd man toured across North America, the UK and Europe throughout 2017 and 2018, which saw Waters perform to over two million people worldwide. The film was captured during his four-night stop at Amsterdam's Ziggo Dome on June 18th, 19th, 22nd and 23rd 2018, and features songs from his legendary Pink Floyd albums 'The Dark Side Of The Moon', 'The Wall', 'Animals' and 'Wish You Were Here', and from his last album, 'Is This The Life We Really Want?'
* 'CITIZEN K' - from the UK and USA and Direcetd by Alex Gibney and starring Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Vladimir Putin, Leonid Nevzlin, Boris Berezovsky, Igor Malashenko, Anton Drel and Boris Yeltsin. In 2003, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, one of the richest men in Russia, began a ten-year sentence for tax evasion. Many believed his downfall was challenging then newly elected president Vladimir Putin. During his time in a Siberian prison, Khodorkovsky became a world-famous dissident. Today, exiled in London, he continues to battle Putin’s 19-year hold on power.
* 'STATE FUNERAL' - from Holland and Lithuania and Directed by Sergei Loznitsa. Using mostly unseen archival footage from March 1953, the funeral of Joseph Stalin is seen as the culmination of the Dictator’s personality cult. The news of Stalin’s death on March 5, 1953, shocked the entire Soviet Union. The burial ceremony was attended by tens of thousands of mourners. This film bears witness to every stage of the funeral spectacle, and receives unprecedented access to the dramatic and absurd experience of life and death under Stalin’s reign.
* 'WOMAN' - from France and Directed by Anastasia Mikova and Yann Arthus-Bertrand. 'Woman' is a worldwide project giving a voice to some two thousand women across fifty different countries.  Based on first-person encounters, the project deals with topics such as motherhood, education, marriage or financial independence but also menstruations or sexuality discovering the voices of women as you have never heard them before.
* 'COLLECTIV' - from Romania and Luxembourg and Directed by Alexander Nanau and starring Narcis Hogea, Catalin Tolontan, Mirela Neag, Camelia Roiu, Razvan Lutac and Tedy Ursuleanu. In the aftermath of a tragic fire in a Romanian music club, more burn victims begin dying in hospitals from wounds that were not life threatening. A team of investigative journalists move into action to uncover massive corruption in the health system and other state institutions.
* '45 SECONDS OF LAUGHTER' - from the USA and Directed by Tim Robbins. A group of incarcerated men from Calipatria State Prison participate in a theatrical workshop with Tim Robbins’ theatre company, The Actors’ Gang. Defying racial barriers and gang affiliations, the men tap into emotions that have long been dormant while unexpected bonds emerge between former enemies, as they work towards a transformation and liberation unknown to their life behind bars.

For the full run down on all the screenings, the news and views from the 76th Venice International Film Festival, you can go to the official website at : https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2019

This week coming to your local Odeon, we have six new release movies starting off with an Australian period piece set back in 1825 that sees a young convict girl join forces with an Aboriginal tracker to hunt down a British Officer who raped her and killed her husband and young child. We then move to a story set in the '70's in New York's Hell's Kitchen of three wives who take on the mob to earn a crust while their husbands are locked up in prison serving time. This is followed by a modern day cops & robbers caper where two hardened career Detectives are suspended for their strong arm antics who jump to the other side of the fence in a bid to make some much needed cash until their suspensions are lifted. Next up is a true story of the failed attempts to rescue the crew of a stricken Russian nuclear submarine that sank to the bottom of the Berents Sea in 2000. We then move to an Italian foreign language crime drama telling the story of a meek and mild dog salon owner who goes up against the local petty crime bully with unexpected consequences, before closing out the week with a documentary of the 1972 recording of a live gospel album by a world renowned singer and songwriter who died last year.

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

'THE NIGHTINGALE' (Rated MA15+) - this Australian thriller is a period piece Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written by Jennifer Kent in only her second film making outing following 2014's highly acclaimed horror offering 'The Babadook'.  This film saw its World Premier screening at the Venice International Film Festival back in September 2018, its US release earlier this month and in Australia this week after its screening at the recent Sydney Film Festival, and has so far received generally positive Reviews, although has divided audiences with its graphic depictions of rape and murder. Kent subsequently defended the decision to depict such violence, claiming that the film contains historically accurate representations of the colonial violence and racism that took place against the Australian Indigenous people of that time. The film was produced in collaboration with Tasmanian Aboriginal elders who feel that this is an honest and necessary depiction of their history and a story that needs to be told.

Set in Tasmania in 1825, Clare (Aisling Franciosi), a 21-year-old Irish convict, is brutally raped and witnesses the murder of her husband and baby by Hawkins (Sam Claflin), a British officer, and his cohorts. Unable to find justice, she takes Billy (Baykali Ganambarr), an Aboriginal tracker, with her through the harsh and unforgiving wilderness to seek revenge on the soldiers, and gets much more than she bargained for. Also starring Damon Herriman and Ewen Leslie.

'THE KITCHEN' (Rated MA15+) - here we have an American crime film Written and Directed by Andrea Berloff, in her Directorial debut but whose previous film writing credits include 2006's 'World Trade Centre', 2015's 'Straight Outta Compton', '2016's 'Blood Father' and 2017's 'Sleepless'. It is based on the Vertigo comic book miniseries of the same name. The story here is of  the wives of three Irish mobsters, who take over organised crime operations in New York's Hell's Kitchen in the late '70's, after the FBI arrests their husbands while getting caught red handed robbing a convenience store, and they are sent down for three years apiece. The wives in question here are Kathy Brennan (Melissa McCarthy) married to Jimmy (Brian d'Arcy James), Ruby O'Carroll (Tiffany Haddish) married to Kevin (James Badge Dale) and Claire Walsh (Elisabeth Moss) married to Rob (Jeremy Bobb). Also starring Domhnall Gleeson, Bill Camp, Margo Martindale and Common, the film was made for US$38M, has so far recouped US$14M since its release Stateside earlier this month, and has received mostly negative Reviews. Sounds like a lot lesser version of Steve McQueen's 2018 film 'Widow's'.

'DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE' (Rated R18+) - this American neo-noir crime thriller is Directed and Written by Steven Craig Zahler whose previous Directing credits are 'Bone Tomahawk' and 'Brawl in Cell Block 99'. The storyline here follows two police detectives Brett Ridgeman (Mel Gibson) and Anthony Lurasetti (Vince Vaughn) who find themselves suspended by their Chief, Lieutenant Calvert (Don Johnson) without pay when a video of their strong-arm tactics is leaked to the media. With little money and no options, the embittered Policemen decide to use the criminal connections they have developed through their time in law enforcement to make cash that will sustain them until their suspensions are lifted, but as they descend into the criminal underworld they discover more than they wanted lurking in the shadows. Also starring Tory Kittles, Michael Jai White, Jennifer Carpenter, Udo Kier and Thomas Kretschmann, the film was made on a Budget of US$15M, saw its release at the Venice International Film Festival in September last year, a limited US release in March, has so far taken just US$306K and has garnered mixed or average Reviews so far.

'KURSK' (Rated M) - this French and Belgian Co-Produced English language drama film is Directed by Denmark's Thomas Vinterberg based on Robert Moore's book 'A Time to Die', surrounding the true story of when disaster struck the K-141 Kursk Oscar II-class nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine of the Russian Navy on 12th August 2000. The Kursk sank during a Russian naval exercise in the Barents Sea after two explosions within the submarine. Twenty-three sailors survived those initial explosions who desperately waited for help to arrive while their oxygen ran out steadily minute by minute. The Russian government refused help from foreign governments for five days before agreeing to aid from the British and Norwegian governments, by which time all 118 seamen on board had perished. This is that story, and features Matthias Schoenaerts, Colin Firth, Lea Seydoux, Max von Sydow and Michael Nyqvist. This film saw its World Premier screening at TIFF in early September last year, went on release in France in November, in the US at the end of June and now gets a limited run in Australia following its showing at the recent Sydney Film Festival. The film costs US$40M and has garnered mixed or average Reviews.

'DOGMAN' (Rated MA15+) - is a 2018 Italian crime drama film Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written  by Matteo Garrone. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival where Marcello Fonte as the lead Actor won the award for Best Actor. Inspired by real events, it was selected as the Italian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. In a coastal village on the outskirts of an Italian city, where the only law seems to be survival of the fittest, Marcello (Marcello Fonte) is a slight, mild-mannered man who divides his days between working at his modest dog grooming salon (called 'Dogman'), caring for his daughter Alida, and being coerced into the petty criminal schemes of the local bully Simoncino (Edoardo Pesce), an ex-boxer who terrorises the neighbourhood. When Simoncino's abuse finally brings Marcello to a breaking point, he decides to stand up for his own dignity through an act of vengeance, with unintended consequences. The film was released in Italy in May 2018 and now sees a limited run in Australia having generated largely favourable Reviews.

'AMAZING GRACE' (Rated G) - American singer songwriter Aretha Franklin records her gospel album 'Amazing Grace' live at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles in 1972. She is accompanied by the Southern California Community Choir. Directed by Sydney Pollack the 'Amazing Grace' film was not released on schedule in 1972 due to difficulties syncing the audio tracks with the visual print and was relegated to a vault at Warner Bros. until 2007 when Producer Alan Elliott purchased the raw footage and attempted to sync it. The pared-down footage, now 87 minutes in length, was planned for a 2011 release. Franklin sued Elliott for appropriating her likeness without permission, however, and the release date passed. Elliott made another attempt to premiere the film in 2015 at the Telluride, Toronto and Chicago Film Festivals, but Franklin sued him again for unpublished reasons. After Franklin's death in 2018, her family made an arrangement to release the film which saw its Worldwide release back in April this year, and only now does it arrive in Australia, to widespread Critical acclaim.

With six new release movies 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-