What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 14th December 2023

The 15th edition of the Les Arcs Film Festival this year runs from Saturday 16th through until Saturday 23rd December. Founded in 2009, the festival takes place every year in December, during the opening week of the ski season, in Les Arcs ski resort located in Bourg-Saint-Maurice in the French department of Savoie in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region of southeastern France. The theme of this year's festival is 'Cinema as therapy: mental health, in front of and behind the screen'. It's an opportunity to find out more about and understand this subject, which is emerging in all areas of our society. The Arcs Film Festival is also a socially committed festival, with social issues at the heart of its programming. Debates on gender equality and the ecological transition in cinema will be at the heart of the festival. 

With over one hundred films being showcased, this years Opening Night film is 'Making Of', from France and Directed by Cedric Kahn and centres around Simon as he begins shooting a movie about a workers’ struggle to save their factory. He soon feels overwhelmed by the sneaky Producer, the capricious Actors, and the angry technical team. His only ally in this chaotic shooting is the young extra in charge of the making-of of the film. The Closing Night film is 'Vivants' from Belgium and France and Directed by Alix Delaporte and charts the story of Gabrielle who has joined a prestigious news programme. With no formal training, she must prove herself and find a place among an experienced team of special correspondents.

This year there are nine feature films in Official Competition, these being :-

* 'Animal' from Greece and Written and Directed by Sofia Exarchou. National Premiere.

* 'Explanation For Everything' from Hungary and Co-Written, Directed, Co-Edited and Co-Scored by Gabor Reisz.

* 'Holly' from Belgium and Written and Directed by Fien Troch.

* 'The Teachers' Lounge' from Germany and Co-Written and Directed by Ilker Catak.

* 'The Successor' from France and Co-Written and Directed by Xavier Legrand. National Premiere.

* 'Through the Night' from Belgium and Written and Directed by Delphine Girard. 

* 'Slow' from Lithuania and Written and Directed by Marija Kavtaradze.

* 'The Hypnosis' from Sweden and Co-Written and Directed by Ernst De Geer.

* 'Sweet Dreams' from the Netherlands and Written and Directed by Ena Sendijarevic.

For the synopsis of the nine aforementioned films in Official Competition, plus the other film strands being showcased; the two Guests of Honour attending this years festival, the French Argentine Actress Berenice Bejo and the Swedish film maker Ruben Ostlund; and Alice Rohrwacher announced as the winner of the 2023 Sisley-les Arcs 'Femme de Cinema' Award!, you can go to the official website at : https://lesarcs-filmfest.com/en

This week there are just three new movies gracing your local Odeon before the slew of new Christmas week releases, launching with a musical fantasy offering focusing on a young chocolate-maker extraordinaire, and how he came to meet the Oompa-Loompas on one of his earliest adventures. Then we have an action thriller film about a former FBI agent who left to become a bricklayer, and is asked to step in and help stop a criminal operation who are demanding a series of ransom payments; before closing out the week with a Chinese remake centring around a young businessman who wakes up in a locked hotel room next to the body of his dead lover, and then hires a prestigious lawyer to defend him, and over the course of one night, they work together to find out what happened.

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.

'WONKA' (Rated PG) - this musical fantasy film is Co-Written, based on a story and Directed by Paul King in his fourth feature film outing following his 2009 debut with 'Bunny and the Bull' then 'Paddington' in 2014 and 'Paddington 2' in 2017. This film tells the origin story of Willy Wonka, a character in the 1964 novel 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' by Roald Dahl. It will have its World Premiere showcasing in London on 28th November, and is scheduled to be released in the UK on 8th December and in the US on 15th December, and cost US$125M to produce.

Based on the extraordinary character at the centre of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', Roald Dahl’s most iconic children's book and one of the best-selling children's books of all time, 'Wonka' tells the wondrous story of how the world's greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka (Timothee Chalamet) - chock-full of ideas and determined to change the world one delectable bite at a time, proving that the best things in life begin with a dream. Also starring Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Matt Lucas, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Olivia Colman and Hugh Grant. 

'THE BRICKLAYER' (Rated MA15+) - is an action thriller film Directed by Renny Harlin whose previous screen credits take in the likes of 'Die Hard 2' in 1990, 'Cliffhanger' in 1993, 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' in 1996, 'Deep Blue Sea' in 1999, 'Driven' in 2001, 'Cleaner' in 2007, 'Skiptrace' in 2016 and 'The Misfits' in 2021. This film is based on the 2010 novel of the same name by Noah Boyd, and follows a rogue insurgent blackmailing the CIA by assassinating foreign journalists and making it appear the agency is responsible. As other nations begin turning against the US the CIA must lure Steve Vail (Aaron Eckhart) - their most brilliant and rebellious operative out of semi-retirement working as a bricklayer. With an elite and deadly skill set, Vail is tasked with helping clear the agency's name, forcing him to confront his checkered past while unraveling an international conspiracy. Also starring Nina Dobrev, Tim Blake Nelson and Clifton Collins Jnr. The film is slated for a US release sometime early next year.

'THE INVISIBLE GUEST' (Rated M) - this crime fiction drama film is a Chinese remake of the Spanish film of the same name from 2016 and is Directed by Raymond Yip Wai-man and Cheng Wei-hao. Here, young and beautiful entrepreneur Joanna (Janine Chang) is accused of being the culprit in a locked-room murder case, where the victim is her lover Minghao, during a time when her life and career are flourishing. In order to clear her name, she slowly gathers clues with the police officer Zheng Wei (Greg Hsu). As they investigate the case together, they discover another murder case that Joanna and Minghao had committed together. The truth gradually comes to light . . . 

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-