MARRIAGE STORY : Tuesday 26th November 2019.

'MARRIAGE STORY' which is an M Rated American comedy drama film which I saw earlier this week, is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Noah Baumbach, whose previous Directorial outings include 'The Squid and the Whale', 'Greenberg', 'Frances Ha', 'While We're Young', and 'The Meyerowitz Stories' most recently. The film saw its World Premier screening at the Venice International Film Festival in late August, and also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September where it was first runner-up for the People's Choice Award, was in the Centrepiece selection at the New York Film Festival in early October and the BFI London Film Festival at the same time. It cost just US$9M to make, and has received universal Critical acclaim so far, and is released on a limited theatrical run before digital streaming on 6th December through Netflix. 'Marriage Story' has so far picked up five award wins and another eleven nominations from around the awards and festival circuit.

The film opens up with the voiceover of Charlie Barber (Adam Driver) speaking about the things he likes most about his wife Nicole (Scarlett Johansson), and in turn then cuts to Nicole speaking about the things she likes about her husband Charlie. We then cut to the room of a mediator, as this couple is experiencing marital challenges, who has suggested they each write down what they like about one another, but Nicole is too embarrassed to read hers aloud and they decide to forego the counselling. Charlie is a successful theatre Director in New York City. His theatre company is currently producing a play that stars Nicole, a former moderately successful teen film Actress.

Nicole is offered a starring role in a TV pilot programme to be shot in Los Angeles, and she decides to leave the theatre company and temporarily move in with her mother Sandra (Julie Hagerty) in West Hollywood, taking the couple’s eight year old son Henry (Azhy Robertson) with her. Charlie elects to remain in New York, as the play is in the process of moving to Broadway. When he flies out to Los Angeles to visit his family, he is served with divorce papers by Nicole's sister Cassie (Merritt Weaver) in the kitchen of the family home.

The pair initially agree to separate amicably and forego lawyers, but Nicole then hires family lawyer Nora Fanshaw (Laura Dern), who urges her to pressure Charlie into seeing his own legal counsel. Charlie first meets with Jay (Ray Liotta), a brash and expensive lawyer who charges US$900 an hour, plus an up front retainer of US$25K, and who strongly recommends Charlie to fight dirty, because the whole affair is going to end up 'somewhere between reasonable and crazy'. Baulking at the cost of hiring Jay, he decides to hire Bert Spitz (Alan Alda) instead, a retired family lawyer who is more in favour of a civil and conciliatory approach, and charges just US$450 an hour with a US$10K up front retainer.

Upon Bert's expert advice, Charlie rents an apartment in Los Angeles to be closer to his family and strengthen his custody case for Henry. Charlie wants to avoid having to appear in court, so Bert arranges a meeting with Nora and Nicole. Nora claims that Charlie refused to respect Nicole’s several wishes over the period of their marriage to move back to Los Angeles, and that Henry would prefer to stay with his mother than fly back and forth between coasts, particularly now that he is settled at a new (temporary) school, has made new friends, and is engaged in several extra curricular activities. In a private meeting, Bert advises Charlie to drop his New York residency altogether, but a frustrated and increasingly anxious Charlie refuses and decides to fire him.

Charlie wins a MacArthur Fellowship grant of US$625K (which is paid in quarterly instalments over five years) and uses his first payout to hire Jay on a retainer. The case moves to court where things turn ugly. Nora and Jay argue aggressively on behalf of Nicole and Charlie and try to show the other party in a negative light. Nora highlights Charlie’s past infidelity and emotional distance, while Jay exaggerates Nicole’s drinking habits as alcoholism. The presiding Judge is new to the area, and so seeks an adjournment while the feuding couple and their son are properly evaluated by a third party expert for a final determination over custodial rights. Meanwhile, Charlie and Nicole remain friendly out of court and share time with Henry, who is becoming frustrated and tired with the toing and froing.

Completely at odds with the legal process, the couple decides to meet in private away from the lawyers in Charlie's modest rented apartment. What starts out to be a friendly enough discussion quickly dissolves into a bitter very heated argument in which Nicole claims he doesn’t care about her and Charlie punches a wall and says he wishes she would die. He then breaks down in a flood of tears out of shame for what he just said, and for his anger and resentment towards her and apologises. Nicole consoles him. The pair after agree to relax their demands and reach an amicable agreement to finalise the divorce. Nora negotiates slightly better terms for Nicole on the basis of a 55/45 custody split over Henry in Nicole's favour.

Fast forward twelve months or so and Charlie’s play closed prematurely on Broadway, while Nicole’s pilot (which she has also Directed several episodes for) is nominated for a number of awards. Charlie informs Nicole that he’s taken a one-year UCLA residency working on two stage Productions, and as such will be living in Los Angeles full-time for the foreseeable future to be closer to Henry. Later, he discovers Henry sitting at the end of his Mum's bed reading Nicole’s list of things she likes about Charlie that she’d been too embarrassed to read. Henry asks Charlie to read it aloud to him as he is struggling with some of the words, and Charlie does so, becoming emotional as Nicole watches from the bedroom door, unknown to her ex-husband.

Adam Driver has had a busy twelve months or so it seems putting out 'BlacKkKlansman', 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote', 'The Dead Don't Die', 'The Report', this film, and the upcoming 'Star Wars : The Rise of Skywalker' due in December. Here Writer and Director Baumbach has crafted perhaps his most personal story yet, pulled together on screen by two gut wrenching, heartfelt, powerful and emotional performances from Johansson and Driver who imbue the characters with an all too grounded realism that pulls you into the centre of their personal anguish, frustrations and battle with each other. And a special mention should also go to the three lawyers as portrayed by Dern, Liotta and Alda who each come at the divorce proceedings from a different angle, and are all relatable in someway. Anyone who has been through a divorce, particularly one involving the custody of a child or children, will find something to relate to in this film as it lurches from two people who still care and have a degree of affection for each other to the depths of despair, anger and denial as experienced by that same couple. Despite the darkness of the subject matter, Baumbach also offers up some real moments of levity, zippy one liners and a sense of humour that ultimately anchors the whole sorry sad affair. The film goes to prove that in a divorce, ultimately its the lawyers who win, and whilst the feuding couple will eventually go their separate ways and settle down into new lives, the emotional scars of that deep rooted personal upheaval will always remain.

'Marriage Story' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, out of a possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 28th November 2019

The 45th People's Choice Awards were held on the evening of Sunday 10th November 2019 at the Barker Hangar at Santa Monica Airport, Santa Monica, California. Honouring the best in film, television, music and popular culture over the last twelve months, this years awards ceremony like the 2019 Academy Awards and 2019 Emmy Awards, the People's Choice Awards had no designated Host. Instead, a good number of celebrities graced the stage to not only present but walk audience members and viewers through highlights of pop culture's biggest moments of the year.

You can get the full low down on all the awards categories, the winners and the also-rans, the photo's and the glamour at the official website, at : https://pca.eonline.com

In terms of the film awards, the winners and grinners on the night were as follows :-
* The Movie of 2019
Awarded to 'AVENGERS : ENDGAME' beating out 'Captain Marvel', 'Fast & Furious Presents : Hobbs & Shaw', 'John Wick : Chapter 3 – Parabellum', 'The Lion King', 'Spider-Man : Far From Home', 'Toy Story 4' and 'Us'.

* The Action Movie of 2019
Awarded to 'AVENGERS : ENDGAME' beating out 'Captain Marvel', 'X-Men : Dark Phoenix', 'Godzilla : King of the Monsters', 'Fast & Furious Presents : Hobbs & Shaw', 'John Wick : Chapter 3 – Parabellum', 'Shazam!' and 'Spider-Man : Far From Home'.

* The Comedy Movie of 2019
Awarded to 'MURDER MYSTERY' beating out 'Good Boys', 'The Hustle', 'Little', 'Long Shot', 'Men in Black : International', 'The Upside' and 'Yesterday'.

* The Drama Movie of 2019
Awarded to 'AFTER' beating out 'Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile', 'Five Feet Apart', 'Glass', 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood', Rocketman', 'Triple Frontier' and 'Us'.

* The Family Movie of 2019
Awarded to 'ALADDIN' beating out 'The Angry Birds Movie 2', 'How to Train Your Dragon : The Hidden World', 'The Lego Movie 2 : The Second Part', 'The Lion King', 'Pokémon : Detective Pikachu', 'The Secret Life of Pets 2' and 'Toy Story 4'.

* The Male Movie Star of 2019
Awarded to Robert Downey Jnr. for 'AVENGERS : ENDGAME'.
* The Female Movie Star of 2019
Awarded to Zendaya for 'SPIDER-MAN : FAR FROM HOME'.
* The Male Action Movie Star of 2019
Awarded to Tom Holland for 'SPIDER-MAN : FAR FROM HOME'.
* The Comedy Movie Star of 2019
Awarded to Noah Centineo for 'THE PERFECT DATE'.
* The Drama Movie Star of 2019
Awarded to Cole Sprouse for 'FIVE FEET APART'.
* The Animated Movie Star of 2019
Awarded to Beyonce for 'THE LION KING'.
* The People's Icon Award for 2019
Presented to Jennifer Aniston.

This week we have five latest release new movies coming to your local Odeon in the week ahead. We start off with a murder mystery whodunit from an acclaimed Director, with an all star cast and a premise that is straight out of classic genre playbook from the '70's and '80's and promises to be a whole lotta fun. We then turn to a British biographical drama telling the story of an acclaimed northern English painter of the first half of the last century renowned for his bleak industrial landscapes, and pictures of 'matchstick' men and women. Next up is an animated feature from the House of the Mouse that is a sequel to its most commercially successful animated film ever from 2013 inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale 'The Snow Queen'. We  then have a French foreign language offering recounting the true story of three men who as young boys were physically abused by their local Catholic Priest, and now in their adult years they seek justice to be served for his wrongdoing. And in closing the week we have a much lauded Senegalese supernatural drama rooted in real world social commentary about a rising skyscraper, a discontented workforce, young love and an arranged marriage.

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

'KNIVES OUT' (Rated M) - here with a change of pace and genre compared to his last mega budget space opera epic that was 2017's 'Star Wars : The Last Jedi', Rian Johnson writes, Directs and Co-Produces this throw back to the murder mystery whodunit's of yesteryear. Aside from the aforementioned 'Star Wars' instalment, Johnson has also Directed and Written 'Brick' (his big screen debut in 2005), then 'The Brothers Bloom', 'Looper' and helmed several episodes of 'Breaking Bad' in between. In wanting to craft an Agatha Christie inspired type film, Johnson sought the influences from such classic comedic murder mystery crime stories as 'Murder on the Orient Express', 'Murder by Death', 'Death on the Nile', 'The Mirror Crack'd', 'Evil Under the Sun', 'Deathtrap' and 'Clue'. With a budget of US$40M, the film saw its World Premier at TIFF in early September, goes on general release this week, and has generated widespread Critical acclaim.

And so, here we have renowned and wealthy crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) who invites his extended dysfunctional family to his remote mansion on his 85th birthday in hopes of reuniting them all. However, the day after the birthday party, Harlan is found dead by members of the family. The Police, along with experienced Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), are called in to investigate. Pretty soon, it becomes clearly evident that everyone in the family is a suspect in his death. With an ensemble cast that also takes in Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Ana de Armas, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, Lakeith Stanfield, Frank Oz, Noah Segan and Riki Lindhome.

'MRS. LOWRY & SON' (Rated PG) - here we have a British biographical drama film Directed by British theatre and film Director Adrian Noble in only his third big screen outing following 1996's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and 2015's 'The Importance of Being Earnest'. Timothy Spall is renowned English artist L.S. Lowry who lived from 1887 until 1976 and is famous for painting scenes of life in the industrial districts of North West England in the mid-20th century. Many of his drawings and paintings depict Pendlebury in Lancashire, where he lived and worked for more than forty years, and also Salford and its surrounding areas. This film charts the story of how Lowry lived with his overbearing mother, Elizabeth (Vanessa Redgrave), until her death in 1939. Bed-ridden and bitter, Elizabeth actively tries to dissuade her bachelor son from pursuing his artistic ambitions, whilst never failing to voice her opinion at her disappointment in him. Spall previously played J. M. W. Turner, also a famous painter in the 2014 biographical film 'Mr. Turner' which won him the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. This film costs US$1.5M to make, saw its Premier screening at the Edinburgh Film Festival in late June, went on general release in the UK at the end of August, and now gets its release in Australia having garnered mixed Review along the way.

'FROZEN II' (Rated PG) - with the massive success of Disney's 2013 animated feature film 'Frozen' which cost US$150M to make and raked in US$1.28B at the global Box Office and picked up a whole swathe of award wins, nominations and records along the way, I guess it was inevitable that a sequel would come along eventually. And so, here we have it! Once again Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, here three years after the events of the first film, Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel) starts to hear a strange sound from the north calling her. Together with her sister Anna (Kristen Bell), Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and his reindeer Sven, and Olaf (Josh Gad), they embark on a new journey beyond their homeland of Arendelle in order to discover the origin of Elsa's magical powers and to save their kingdom. Also staring the voice talents of Santino Fontana, Evan Rachel Wood, Alfred Molina, Sterling K. Brown, Jason Ritter and Martha Plimpton. The film saw its Premier screening in Hollywood earlier this month, before its US release last week, and its Australian release this week, having so far taken US$372M at the Box Office.

'BY THE GRACE OF GOD' (Rated CTC) - this French and Belgian Co-Produced drama film is Directed by the much awarded film Director and Screenwriter Francois Ozon. It premiered at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival in February this year and won the Jury Grand Prix, before going on general release in France and Belgium in the latter half of February. It has received generally favourable Reviews and has so far earned US$8M off the back of a US$6.8M Production Budget. The film tells the story of Alexandre (Melvil Poupaud), François (Denis Menochet) and Emmanuel (Swann Arlaud) who were each victimised as children by the venerable and predatory, yet highly respected Father Bernard Preynat (Bernard Verley). As adults, when they discover that their former tormentor has been reassigned and has apparently been shielded all along by a heavenly institution determined on silence, the men, still emotionally wounded and facing near-insurmountable challenges to their faith, begin a movement to bring the Catholic Church to account. Apparently, the Priest portrayed in the film, Bernard Preynat, attempted without success to block the films release in France. In July this year, an ecclesiastical tribunal of the Archdiocese of Lyon announced it had determined that Preynat was 'guilty of criminal acts of a sexual character on minors younger than sixteen' and applied its maximum penalty by defrocking him.

'ATLANTICS' (Rated CTC) - is a Senegal, French and Belgian Co-Produced supernatural romantic drama film made by French Director and Actor Mati Diop in her feature film debut outing. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where Diop made history at Cannes, becoming the first black woman to Direct a film featured In Competition. At Cannes, the film won the Grand Prix and has been selected as the Senegalese entry for the Best International Feature Film at next years Academy Awards. In a Senegalese suburb of Dakar that lies along the Atlantic coast, a futuristic-looking tower is about to be officially inaugurated. The construction workers have not been paid for months. One night, the workers decide to leave the country by sea, in search of a brighter future. Among them is Souleiman (Ibrahima Traore), the lover of seventeen year old Ada (Mame Bineta Sane). However, Ada is betrothed to another man. Days later, a fire ruins Ada's wedding and a mysterious fever starts to spread. Ada is unaware Souleiman has returned, and of the implications of his return upon the girlfriends those constructions workers left behind. The film was initially released in Senegal in early August, in France in mid-October and airs on Netflix from this week onwards, having gained universal acclaim along the way. The film is spoken in Wolof - the native tongue of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania.

With five 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-

FORD V. FERRARI : Tuesday 19th November 2019.

'FORD v FERRARI' is an M-Rated American biographical drama film which I saw earlier this week, and is Directed and Co-Produced by James Mangold, whose previous film making credits include 'Cop Land', 'Girl, Interrupted', 'Walk the Line', '3:10 to Yuma', 'Knight and Day', 'The Wolverine' and 'Logan'. In early stages of development, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt were cast in the starring roles, but those plans fell through, paving the way for Matt Damon and Christian Bale to take on the two leads. The film cost US$98M to make, was released in the US last week too having seen its World Premier showing at Telluride in late August, then at TIFF in September, has garnered widespread Critical acclaim, and has so far recouped US$63M of its initial budget outlay.

The film opens up with Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) competing in, and ultimately winning the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race when he co-drove the Aston Martin DBR1 beating out fierce rivals Ferrari. Due to an emerging heart condition that made it riskier for him to race, Shelby retires from racing following his Le Mans victory but kept his motivation very much alive to beat the Ferrari's, who had previously turned him down for a driving position. We then fast forward four years to 1963, and  the Ford Motor Company Vice President Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal) proposes to Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) to purchase the cash-strapped Ferrari as a means to boost their flagging car sales by participating in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in order to attract the emerging younger more affluent customer demographic. On a trip to Maranello in Italy - the Ferrari HQ, Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone), turns his back on the deal, as Fiat counter offers him a much more attractive deal that allows him to retain his ownership of his racing team and pride and joy, Scuderia Ferrari.

Enzo Ferrari insults Henry Ford II and puts a slur on him personally and his company, which Iacocca takes back to Detroit and recounts to Fords face. As a result of this, a furious Ford II orders his racing division to build a car to defeat Ferrari at Le Mans. For this project, Iacocca hires Shelby American owner Carroll Shelby, who at first is very reluctant and sceptical, but when told by Iacocca that money is no object, he relents. In turn, Shelby enlists the help of Ken Miles (Christian Bale), a hot-tempered and highly opinionated British racing car driver and cash strapped motor mechanic relocated to southern California from his native Birmingham in England, with his wife Mollie (Catriona Balfe) and young son Peter (Noah Jupe).

Miles is also very sceptical of Ford's intentions at first and takes some convincing by Shelby to come on board, but eventually does so, with the promise of US$200 a day plus expenses as an inducement - much needed under his dire financial circumstances at the time, with the IRS having recently repossessed his mechanical workshop.

Shelby and Miles test drive the Ford GT40 Mk I prototype at Los Angeles International Airport, putting the new vehicle through its paces and one by one ironing out all of its design flaws until it is race ready. Deeming that Miles is not their ideal driver on the grounds of his outspokenness and unpredictability to mouth off, Ford opts to send Phil Hill and Bruce McLaren to the 1964 Le Mans race instead, who are much better versed in the marketing and PR protocols likened by Ford. As predicted by Miles, none of the Fords finish the race. Shelby is summonsed by Henry II who sees this result as a humiliating defeat. However, Shelby explains to him that the GT40 instilled fear in Ferrari, as it reached a record breaking 218 mph on the Mulsanne straight before it broke down.

Shelby and Miles continue working on the development of the GT40 Mk II, but Miles is nearly killed when the car's brakes fail during testing. In 1966, Ford Senior Vice President Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas) takes over the racing division, with the intent to continue the program without Miles.

On a trip out to Shelby's HQ to see for himself where his US$9M race car investment is being spent, Shelby gives Henry II a ride in the car around the test track at top speed. Henry II has never experienced anything like this before, and is an emotional wreck when Shelby brings the car to an abrupt halt. To make Henry II see sense, he bets his own company, Shelby American, on the line to convince him that if Miles wins the 24 Hours of Daytona race, then he will be granted to race at Le Mans later in the year.

Shelby American enters Daytona with Miles behind the wheel. Beebe puts a second Ford team in the race with a proven NASCAR crew supporting them in the pits. While the second team has quicker pit stops, Shelby has Miles push his car's limit to 7,000 RPM, which sees him winning the race, much to the chagrin of Beebe, and the tongue in cheek disappointment of Henry II for not winning Shelby American.

And so the 1966 Le Mans race day arrives. During the opening lap Miles has problems with his door, which won't close and so pits at the end of the first lap, and so team engineer Phil Remington (Ray McKinnon) fixes the door with a mallet. Thereafter, Miles begins to set lap records while catching up with the Ferrari's. While racing with Ferrari driver Lorenzo Bandini (Francesco Bauco), Miles experiences brake failure and has his whole brake system replaced during his pit stop. Enzo Ferrari protests the move, but Shelby convinces the race officials that there is nothing written in the race rule book that says a team cannot replace the whole brake system, at which point the official backs down.

Miles and Bandini once again battle it out on the Mulsanne Straight until Bandini blows his engine, completely eliminating Ferrari in the race. About 21 hours into the race, Miles has driven convincingly amassing a significant lead, leaving three Ford teams in the top-three positions. Beebe hits upon an idea and orders Shelby to have Miles slow down for the other two Fords to catch up with him and provide the press with a three-car photo finish. Miles is initially against this decision, continuing to set new lap records towards the end of the race, but decides to let Ford have their way on the final lap. 

The French race officials, after initially agreeing to Ford's dead-heat 'photo-finish', reneged after the fact, stating that as the McLaren/Amon #2 car had started some 20 yards behind the Miles/Hulme #1 car, it had travelled a farther distance, and as such Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon were declared the winners on a technicality, with Miles and Hulme being awarded second place. Miles is however, graceful in his defeat and grateful to Shelby for giving him the chance to race at Le Mans.

Two months after Le Mans and following almost a day of testing the new model J-car at Riverside International Raceway in the blisteringly hot Southern California desert summer weather, Miles approached the end of the track's one mile, downhill back straight at a top speed of 200+ mph when the car suddenly looped, flipped, crashed and exploded in a ball of flame. The car broke into pieces and ejected Miles, killing him instantly. Miles was aged 47 when he died on August 17th 1966.

You don't have to be a petrol-head die hard fan of motor sport to like 'Ford v. Ferrari'. The film has a true story to tell, that Director Mangold keeps grounded in the truth and the facts surrounding these moments in motor sporting history that saw the true underdog of American motor manufacturing defeat the Italian Goliath's dominance on the race track over successive years. The pairing of Damon and Bale is well matched as two close friends who overcome adversity both on and off the race track, frustrations with the corporate establishment, numerous roadblocks and questionable decisions to ultimately win through yet pay the ultimate price in doing so. The story line is compelling, well scripted, the race sequences are very well realised, the performances strong and as an overall package it's a real crowd pleaser and a throw back to those films of yesteryear of a similar ilk - 1966's 'Grand Prix' and 1971's 'Le Mans' - in terms of spectacle and emotion, but updated with all the modern gloss that Hollywood can throw at it.

'Ford v. Ferrari' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 21st November 2019.

Heralding in the movie industry's 2019 awards season, the 23rd annual Hollywood Film Awards took place earlier this month on Sunday 3rd November at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Santa Monica, California, and this year Hosted by American comedian and Actor Rob Riggle. 

In brief, this years winners and grinners and proud recipients of a Hollywood Film Award were :

* Hollywood Career Achievement Award, presented to Charlize Theron

* Hollywood Actor Award, presented to Antonio Banderas for 'Pain and Glory'

* Hollywood Actress Award, presented to Renee Zellweger for 'Judy'

* Hollywood Supporting Actor Award, presented to Al Pacino for 'The Irishman'

* Hollywood Supporting Actress Award, presented to Laura Dern for 'Marriage Story'

* Hollywood Blockbuster Award, presented to Kevin Feige and Victoria Alonso for 'Avengers: Endgame'

* Hollywood Song Award, presented to Pharrell Williams for 'Letter to My Godfather', from 'The Black Godfather'

* Hollywood Film Composer Award, presented to Randy Newman for 'Marriage Story'

* Hollywood Filmmaker Award, presented to Bong Joon Ho for 'Parasite'

* Hollywood Producer Award, presented to Emma Tillinger Koskoff for 'The Irishman'

* Hollywood Director Award, presented to James Mangold for 'Ford v. Ferrari'

* Hollywood Screenwriter Award, presented to Anthony McCarten for 'The Two Popes'

* Hollywood Breakout Actor Award, presented to Taron Egerton for 'Rocketman'

* Hollywood Breakout Actress Award, presented to Cynthia Erivo for 'Harriet'

* Hollywood Breakthrough Director Award, presented to Olivia Wilde for 'Booksmart'

* Hollywood Breakthrough Screenwriter Award, presented to Shia LaBeouf for 'Honey Boy'

* Hollywood Animation Award, presented to 'Toy Story 4'

* Hollywood Cinematography Award, presented to Mihai Malaimare Jnr. for 'Jojo Rabbit'

* Hollywood Editor Award, presented to Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland for 'Ford v. Ferrari'

* Hollywood Production Design Award, presented to Ra Vincent for 'Jojo Rabbit'

* Hollywood Visual Effects Award, presented to Pablo Helman for 'The Irishman'

This week, there are six latest release new movies coming to your local Odeon, kicking off with a autobiographical drama of a now British Actor's true life troubled mid-teenage years growing up with Nigerian parentage in a white working class family in Tilbury (25 miles east of London) and joining a white supremacist skin-head gang. Next up we have a documentary drama recounting the story of a leaked top secret memo from the US by a British Government intelligence operative in the wake of 9/11 and which may have contributed to the start of the War in Iraq. We then turn attention to an action drama film of an unorthodox cop who makes the decision to put Manhattan Island into complete lock down by sealing off all the bridges connecting it to the mainland as he goes in search of a pair of ruthless cop killers. This is followed by an Australian offering of a husband and wife pair of puppeteers in the 17th Century for whom tragedy and loss has irreversible consequences. Next is  feel good musical biographical comedy drama about a bunch of singing fishermen in England's South West who are given the chance of fame and fortune by a Record Exec., but do they really want it, and at what costs ultimately to all concerned. We close the week with an intimate look inside the lives of six die hard fans of a hugely influential British electronic rock band still going strong after nearly forty years combined with live recorded footage from a famed Berlin concert in 2018, and released in select cinemas worldwide for one night only.

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.

'FARMING' (Rated MA15+) - this British autobiographical coming of age drama film is Directed and Written by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, the British Actor, former Model and now turned Director in this his debut feature. The film charts the story of his own life based on his early childhood up until his late teen years. The film has divided audiences and critics, and while the film first Premiered at 2018's Toronto Film Festival it went on to win the Best British Feature Film Award at this years Edinburgh Film Festival back in June this year. Akinnuoye-Agbaje's previous Acting credits take in the likes of 'Congo' (his big screen debut in 1995), 'Ace Ventura : When Nature Calls', 'The Mummy Returns', 'The Bourne Identity', 'Killer Elite', 'The Thing', 'Bullet to the Head', 'Thor : The Dark World', 'Pompei', 'Trumbo', 'Concussion', 'Suicide Squad' as well as appearances on numerous TV shows including 'Lost' and 'Game of Thrones'. The film was released in the UK in early October and in the US in late October.

Akinnuoye-Agbaje was born in Islington, London, to Nigerian parents of Yoruba origin, who were students in the UK. When he was six weeks old, his biological parents gave him up to a white working-class family in Tilbury, Essex. This was a common practice in this era among Nigerian families, when parents sent young children to live in the UK (farmed out) with white foster parents in the hopes their children would have better lives. When he was eight years old, his biological parents brought him back to Nigeria but, as he was unable to speak the Yoruba language and forbidden by his parents to speak English, he was returned to Tilbury shortly thereafter. The brief exposure to Nigeria left him struggling to reconcile his heritage with the distinctly British culture and environment he was raised in. As a young boy, facing a cultural identity crisis, he joined a local skinhead gang led by a white supremacist in order to escape racial persecution at their hands. At 16 years old, having become a thief, his foster parents sent him to a boarding school in Surrey where he ultimately attempted suicide before coming to terms with his background and turning his life around. Also starring Damson Idris, Kate Beckinsale, John Dagleish, Jaime Winstone and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

'OFFICIAL SECRETS' (Rated MA15+) - this British and American Co-Produced documentary drama offering is Directed and Co-Written for the screen by Gavin Hood whose previous film making credits include 'Tsotsi', 'Rendition', 'X-Men Origins : Wolverine', 'Ender's Game' and 'Eye in the Sky' more recently. In 2003, in the lead up to the Iraq War, British intelligence specialist Katharine Gun (Keira Knightley) working for GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) located in Cheltenham, England, receives a memo from the NSA (National Security Agency of the US) with a shocking directive: the United States is enlisting Britain's help in collecting compromising information on U.N. Security Council members to blackmail them into voting in favor of an invasion of Iraq. Unable to stand by and watch the world be rushed into war, Gun makes the gut-wrenching decision to defy her government and leak the top-secret memo to the press. The film also stars Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Rhys Ifans, Ralph Fiennes and Jeremy Northam. The film saw its World Premier screening at Sundance back in January this year, had its US release at the end of August, its UK release in  mid-October and now it finally arrives onto Australian shores. The film has so far taken close to US$6M.

'21 BRIDGES' (Rated MA15+) - here Irish television Director Brian Kirk directs only his second feature film after directing turns on such notable TV shows as 'Game of Thrones', 'The Tudors', 'Murphy's Law', 'Dexter', 'Luther' and 'Boardwalk Empire' amongst others. Andre Davis (Chadwick Boseman) a seasoned New York Police Department Detective takes the somewhat unorthodox approach of shutting down all twenty-one bridges that connects Manhattan Island with the mainland, as he locks down the city and goes on the hunt for a pair of cop killers. Also starring J.K. Simmons, Sienna Miller, Taylor Kitsch, Stephan James and Keith David, this film is released Stateside this week too.

'JUDY AND PUNCH' (Rated MA15+) - this Australian drama film is Directed and Written by Aussie film and TV Actress Mirrah Foulkes in her feature film Directorial debut. It's the mid-17th century in the anarchic town of Seaside which has spiralled into violence, mob rule and God-fearing hysteria. Amongst the chaos, one glimmer of artistry remains, that is, Punch and Judy's puppet theatre. Once a master puppeteer, the charismatic Punch (Damon Herriman) has fallen too much under the sway of whiskey, but his wife Judy (Mia Wasikowska) is a puppeteering genius and ensures that their shows are a hit with the baying crowds, whilst playing the dutiful and caring mother to their baby daughter. The story ratchets up a notch when a Punch bender goes disastrously and violently wrong, which results in Judy being beaten to near death, and presumed dead after an argument regarding their missing child. And so abandoned by Punch and his crime all but covered up, she seeks vengeance against her former husband and those that have wronged her, and the whereabouts of their daughter. The film saw its World Premier showing at Sundance Film Festival back in January this year.

'FISHERMAN'S FRIENDS' (Rated M) - here we have a British biographical comedy drama film Directed by Chris Foggin based on a true story about Port Isaac's 'Fisherman's Friends', a group of Cornish fishermen who were signed by Universal Records in 2010 and achieved a Top 10 hit with their debut album of traditional sea shanties. A fast living, cynical London music executive reluctantly heads to Cornwall on a colleague’s stag weekend where he’s pranked by his boss into trying to sign a group of sea shanty-singing fishermen. He becomes the ultimate ‘fish out of water’ struggling to gain the respect or enthusiasm of the unlikely ten piece (ageing) boy band who value friendship and community over fame and fortune. Attempting to overcome the fishermen’s scepticism about the music business, he finds himself drawn into their local community, has his integrity tested and ultimately is shown the meaning of loyalty, love and friendship, forcing him to take stock of what really matters in life. Starring Daniel Mays, James Purefoy, David Hayman, Noel Clarke and Tuppence Middleton.

'DEPECHE MODE : SPIRITS IN THE FOREST' (Rated CTC) - during 2017/2018 Depeche Mode embarked on their Global Spirit Tour, in which they performed to more than three million fans at 115 shows around the world. Directed by award-winning filmmaker and longtime artistic collaborator Anton Corbijn,  he here captures the energy and spectacle of the band’s performance from the tour along with a deeper look into how their music and shows have been woven into the fabric of their fans’ lives. Through the deeply emotional stories of six special Depeche Mode fans, the film shows not only how and why the band’s popularity and relevance has continued to grow over the course of their career, but provides a unique look into their music’s incredible power to build communities, enable people to overcome adversity, and create connections across the boundaries of language, location, gender, age, and circumstance. 'Depeche Mode: SPIRITS in the Forest' goes beyond the typical concert film, weaving together exhilarating musical performances, filmed at the final shows of the Global Spirit Tour in Berlin’s famed Waldbuhne ('Forest Stage'), with intimate documentary footage filmed in fans’ hometowns across the globe. Released in cinemas worldwide for one night only, on 21st November 2019.

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-