What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 20th February 2020.

In the unlikely event that you missed out on all the glitz and glamour, the news and the views, and what's hot and what's not from this years 92nd Academy Awards, held on Sunday 9th February at the Dolby Theatre, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, shown below is a summary of the winners and grinners together with the also rans of the major categories awarded. Honouring the best films from 2019, the awards were once again conducted without a specific host, rather relying on individuals from the world of cinema to make the award presentations once again, as was the case last year too.

* Best Picture
Awarded to 'PARASITE', beating out 'Ford v. Ferrari', 'The Irishman', 'Jojo Rabbit', 'Joker', 'Little Women', 'Marriage Story', '1917', and 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'.
* Best Director
Awarded to BONG JOON-HO for 'Parasite', beating out Martin Scorsese for 'The Irishman', Todd Phillips for 'Joker', Sam Mendes for '1917' and Quentin Tarantino for 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'.
* Best International Feature Film
Awarded to 'PARASITE' from South Korea, beating out 'Corpus Christie' from Poland, 'Honeyland' form North Macedonia, 'Les Miserables' from France and 'Pain and Glory' from Spain.
* Best Actor
Awarded to JOAQUIN PHOENIX for 'Joker', beating out Antonio Banderas for 'Pain and Glory', Leonardo DiCaprio for 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood', Adam Driver for 'Marriage Story' and Jonathan Pryce for 'The Two Popes'.
* Best Actress
Awarded to RENEE ZELLWEGER for 'Judy', beating out Cynthia Erivo for 'Harriet', Scarlett Johansson for 'Marriage Story', Saoirse Ronan for 'Little Women' and Charlize Theron for 'Bombshell'.
* Best Supporting Actor
Awarded to BRAD PITT for 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood', beating out Tom Hanks for 'A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood', Anthony Hopkins for 'The Two Popes', Joe Pesci for 'The Irishman' and Al Pacino for 'The Irishman'.
* Best Supporting Actress
Awarded to LAURA DERN for 'Marriage Story', beating out Kathy Bates for 'Richard Jewell', Scarlett Johansson for 'Jojo Rabbit', Florence Pugh for 'Little Women' and Margot Robbie for 'Bombshell'.
* Best Original Screenplay
Awarded to 'PARASITE', beating out 'Knives Out', 'Marriage Story', '1917', and 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'.
* Best Adapted Screenplay
Awarded to 'JOJO RABBIT', beating out 'The Irishman', 'Joker', 'Little Women' and 'The Two Popes'.
* Best Cinematography
Awarded to ROGER DEAKINS for '1917', beating out 'The Irishman', 'Joker', 'The Lighthouse' and 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'.
* Best Visual Effects
Awarded to '1917', beating out 'Avengers : Endgame', 'The Irishman', 'The Lion King' and 'Star Wars : The Rise of Skywalker'.







* Best Production Design
Awarded to 'ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD', beating out 'The Irishman', Jojo Rabbit', '1917' and 'Parasite'.
* Best Animated Feature Film
Awarded to 'TOY STORY 4', beating out 'How To Train Your Dragon : The Hidden World', 'I Lost My Body', 'Klaus' and 'Missing Link'.
* Best Documentary Feature Film
Awarded to 'AMERICAN FACTORY', beating out 'The Cave', 'The Edge of Democracy', 'For Sama' and 'Honeyland'.
* Best Original Score
Awarded to 'JOKER' and Hildur Guonadottir, beating out 'Little Women', 'Marriage Story', '1917' and 'Star Wars : The Rise of Skywalker'.
* Best Original Song
Awarded to '(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again' from 'ROCKETMAN' with Music by Elton John and Lyrics by Bernie Taupin.
In other categories Best Sound Editing went to 'FORD V FERRARI'; Best Sound Mixing went to '1917'; Best Film Editing went to 'FORD V FERRARI'; Best Costume Design went to 'LITTLE WOMEN'; and Best Make-Up and Hairstyling went to 'BOMBSHELL'.

In addition, AMPAS held its 11th Annual Governors Awards ceremony in the Grand Ballroom of the Hollywood and Highland Centre on October 27, 2019, and presented the following four awards:
* Academy Honorary Award
Presented to DAVID LYNCH - the American filmmaker, painter, musician, singer, sound designer, photographer, and actor. He is best known for Writing and Directing films such as 'Eraserhead', 'Blue Velvet' and 'Mulholland Drive' and for his successful television series 'Twin Peaks'.
Presented to WES STUDI - the Cherokee American actor and film Producer who has won critical acclaim and awards, particularly for his portrayal of Native Americans in film. He has appeared in 'Dances with Wolves', 'The Last of the Mohicans', 'Geronimo: An American Legend' and 'The New World', as well as 'Heat', 'Mystery Men', 'Avatar' and popular TV series 'Penny Dreadful'.
Presented to LINA WERTMULLER - the Italian Screenwriter and film Director. She was the first woman nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for 'Seven Beauties' in 1977.
* The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award 
Presented to GEENA DAVIS - the American actress and activist has received numerous accolades for her acting work in both film and television, and is noted for her portrayals of strong and authentic female characters as well as her involvement in advocacy for women in the industry. Her film credits include 'Tootsie', 'The Fly', 'Beetlejuice', 'The Accidental Tourist', 'Thelma & Louise', 'Speechless', 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' and the 'Stuart Little' franchise.

You can get even more details from this years Oscar's ceremony, by visiting the official website at : https://www.oscar.go.com

Turning attention back to this weeks latest release new movies, of which there are six coming to an Odeon near you, we kick off with the biographical drama story tracing the origins of the Oxford English Dictionary back to its inception in 1879 largely at the hands of two singularly focused men - one a highly educated cleric and the other a diagnosed lunatic schizophrenic. Next we have a revenge offering with a woman investigating the death of her husband and child in a plane crash, uncovering an awful truth that sees her turn assassin against the perpetrators of that 'accident'. We then turn to a tale of an uprooted dog packed off to the Yukon during the time of the Klondike Gold Rush only to embark on an epic adventure with its new found friend and owner. This is followed by a horror tale of isolation, dread and ghoulish spectres manifesting themselves in a snowbound wintry lodge in the middle of nowhere as two young children and their fathers girlfriend are left home alone to cope with the things that go bump in the night! Then we have another horror offering, this time a sequel about a young lad who finds a doll buried in the backyard of his new home with whom he bears an uncanny life like appearance, and comes menacingly to life when no one is watching, but wreaks havoc on the young lads family who grow increasingly suspicious. And with a complete change of pace, we close out the week with a contemporary retelling of a classic Shakespeare play of young love recorded live for the big screen at a famed London theatre.

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 PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN' (Rated M) - this biographical drama film is Directed and Co-Written for the screen by Iranian/American Farhad Safinia under the pseudonym P. B. Shemran, and is based on the 1998 novel 'The Surgeon of Crowthorne' by Simon Winchester. Mel Gibson worked on adapting the book for over twenty years before production began in 2016. Gibson, who originally intended to Direct, hired his 'Apocalypto' Co-Screenwriter Farhad Safinia to replace him, while he remained in the role of James Murray. Sean Penn entered early talks to join the film as William Chester Minor in August 2016. The film was released in the US back in May 2019, cost US$25M to produce, has so far grossed US$6M and has been marred by legal issues after Gibson and Safinia distanced themselves from the finished project calling it 'a bitter disappointment' because the production company wanted to control certain aspects of the production, refused final cut privileges and also cut an additional five days of filming in Oxford. Neither of them took part in the promotion of the film.

And so this true story centres around the Scottish Professor James Murray, who in 1879 began compiling the Oxford English Dictionary and led the overseeing committee, and W. C. Minor, an American doctor who submitted over 10,000 entries while he was incarcerated and undergoing treatment at Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum for the shooting murder of an alleged thief although he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Murray lived from 1837 until 1915 and was the primary Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary from 1879 until his death. Minor lived from 1834 until 1920 and was released from Broadmoor in 1910 and returned to the US thereafter in poor health and being diagnosed with schizophrenia. The film also stars Natalie Dormer, Eddie Marsan, Jennifer Ehle, Ioan Gruffudd, Steve Coogan, Stephen Dillane and Anthony Andrews.

'THE RHYTHM SECTION' (Rated CTC) - is an American action drama film Directed by Reed Morano who has previously Directed episodes of TV series 'Halt and Catch Fire', 'Billions', 'The Handmaid's Tale' and the feature films 'Meadowland' in 2015 and 'I Think We're Alone Now' in 2018. This film is based on Mark Burnell's book of the same name, for which he also wrote the Screenplay. Here Stephanie Patrick (Blake Lively) is a woman who seeks to uncover the truth behind a plane crash that killed her family three years earlier. Patrick was also meant to be on that same flight. After she finds out that the crash was not accidental, she embarks on a mission to track down those responsible by assuming the identity of an assassin. Also starring Jude Law and Sterling K. Brown, the film was released Stateside on 31st January, cost US$50M to make, and has so far grossed just US$3M making it a Box Office bomb, with it generating mixed or average Reviews.

'THE CALL OF THE WILD' (Rated PG) - this American adventure film is Directed by Chris Sanders in his live action Directorial debut, and based on the 1903 book of the same name by Jack London, and the 1935 big screen adaptation also of the same name starring Clark Gable. A domesticated St. Bernard/Scotch Collie dog named Buck (Terry Notary standing in for the CGI creation of this dog) is stolen from his Santa Clara, California home and sold to freight haulers. Buck is a big-hearted dog whose blissful domestic life gets turned inside out when he is suddenly uprooted from his comfortable and cared for home and transplanted to the exotic wilds of the American Alaskan and Canadian Yukon border in the 1890's. As the newest rookie on a mail-delivery dog sled team, Buck crosses paths with a man named John Thornton (Harrison Ford), and the two embark on an adventure of a lifetime as he ultimately finds his true place in the world. Also starring Omar Sy, Dan Stevens, Karen Gillan and Bradley Whitford, the film is released in the US this week too, and cost US$109M to produce.

'THE LODGE' (Rated MA15+) - is a horror film Directed and Co-Written by Veronica Franz and Severin Fiala, that saw its World Premier screening way back at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2019, and only now does it get a release in the US earlier this month and this week in Australia. During a family retreat to a remote winter cabin over the holidays, the father Richard (Richard Armitage) is forced to abruptly depart for work, leaving his two children Aidan and Mia (Jaeden Martell and Lia McHugh respectively) in the care of his new girlfriend, Grace (Riley Keogh). Isolated and alone, a blizzard traps them inside the lodge locked away to dredge up the mysteries of Grace's dark past as terrifying events summon spectres that haunt them all. The film also stars Alicia Silverstone, and has received generally positive Reviews.

'BRAHMS : THE BOY II' (Rated M) - is an American supernatural horror offering Directed by William Brent Bell whose previous film making credits all take in the horror genre 'Stay Alive', 'The Devil Inside', 'Wer' and 2016's 'The Boy' of which this film is a stand alone sequel. Unaware of the terrifying history of Heelshire Mansion located in a small rural UK community, the young family of mother Liza (Katie Holmes), Sean (Owain Yeoman) moves into a guest house on the estate where their young son Jude (Christopher Convery) soon makes an unsettling new friend, an eerily life-like doll he calls Brahms. Also starring Ralph Ineson the film is released in the US this week also.

'MATTHEW BOURNE'S ROMEO & JULIET' (Rated NR) - Matthew Bourne is an English choreographer. His work includes contemporary dance and dance theatre. He has received multiple awards and nominations, including the Laurence Olivier Award, Tony Award and Drama Desk Award, and he was knighted in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to dance. Here he presents a passionate and contemporary re-imagining of Shakespeare’s classic story of love and conflict, repressed emotions and teenage discovery, filmed live at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London especially for the big screen. Bursting with youth, vitality and Matthew Bourne’s trademark storytelling, the UK’s brightest young dance talent join Bourne's New Adventures Company, with Direction and choreography by Bourne. Starring Cordelia Braithwaite as Juliet, Paris Fitzpatrick as Romeo, Dan Wright as Tybalt and Ben Brown as Mercutio.

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-