What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 4th January 2024

The 35th edition of the Palm Springs International Film Festival begins on Thursday 4th January and runs through until Monday 15th January. Launched in 1990, the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is a premier presenter of world cinema located in the beautiful Coachella Valley at the base of Mt. San Jacinto in southern California. The Festival brings together a sophisticated and diverse audience, including industry, film aficionados from across the country and filmmakers from around the world.

This years Opening Night Film is 'Wicked Little Letters' from the UK and Directed by Thea Sharrock and starring Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley and is set in the 1920's in Littlehampton, a British seaside town, and the residents are anonymously receiving shocking, creatively expletive-laden letters. Righteous churchgoer Edith is neighbour to free spirit Rose who is arrested for the crime. As the scandal escalates, the women of the town band together to solve the mystery. The Closing Night Film is 'Ex-Husbands' from the USA and Directed by Noah Pritzker and starring Griffin Dunne and James Norton, and here a newly divorced Dad finds himself at a Mexican beach resort where his about-to-be-married son has gathered his friends for a bachelor party that goes awry.

The 2024 Award Recipients are as follows :-

* The Vanguard Award goes to Martin Scorsese for 'Killers of the Flower Moon'.

* The Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress goes to Emma Stone for 'Poor Things'.

* The Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor goes to Cillian Murphy for 'Oppenheimer'.

* The Breakthrough Performance Award goes to Da'Vine Joy Randolph for 'The Holdovers'.

* Director of the Year Award goes to Greta Gerwig for 'Barbie'.

* Career Achievement Award goes to Jeffrey Wright for 'American Fiction'.

* International Star Award goes to Carey Mulligan for 'Maestro'. 

* Spotlight Award, Actor goes to Colman Domingo for 'Rustin'.

* Spotlight Award, Actress goes to Danielle Brooks for 'The Color Purple'.

* Chairman's Award goes to Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell for 'Barbie'.

* Icon Award goes to Paul Giamatti for 'The Holdovers'. 

For the complete run down of all the feature films, documentaries, events and awards at this years PSIFF you can go to the official website at : https://www.psfilmfest.org/

This week then we have three new movies coming to your local big screen Odeon, kicking off with a biographical drama offering from an acclaimed  Director that is set in the summer of 1957, with Enzo Ferrari's auto empire in crisis, the ex-racer turned entrepreneur pushes himself and his drivers to the edge as they launch into the Mille Miglia, a treacherous one thousand mile race across Italy. Then we have a biographical sports drama film set in the 1930's of how the University of Washington's rowing team, from their Depression-era beginnings went on to win gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. And closing out the week there is a supernatural horror offering about a woman who swims in her pool at night and is terrorised by an evil spirit. 

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.

'FERRARI' (Rated MA15+) - this American biographical sports drama film is Directed by Michael Mann and is based on the 1991 biography 'Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races, the Machine' by motorsport journalist Brock Yates. Michael Mann's prior feature film making credits take in his Directorial debut in 1981 with 'Thief' which he would follow up with the likes of 'Manhunter' in 1986, 'The Last of the Mohicans' in 1992, 'Heat' in 1995, 'The Insider' in 1999, 'Ali' in 2001, 'Collateral' in 2004, 'Miami Vice' in 2006 and 'Public Enemies' in 2009. 'Ferrari' was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival, where it Premiered at the end of August last year, before its wide cinema release in the US on 25th December, having so far grossed close to US$15M from a production budget of US$95M and garnering generally favourable reviews. 

The film follows the personal and professional struggles of Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver), the Italian founder of the car manufacturer Ferrari S.p.A., during the summer of 1957. Reeling from the death of his son Dino (Benedetto Benedettini), the deteriorating marriage with his wife Laura (Penelope Cruz), his struggled acknowledgement of his second son Piero (Giuseppe Festinese) with his mistress Lina (Shailene Woodley), and his company's impending bankruptcy, he enters his racing team to the 1957 Mille Miglia - the 24th edition of the auto race held on a course totalling 992.332 miles (1,597.004 km), made up entirely of public roads around Italy, mostly on the outer parts of the country on 11th and 12th May 1957. The route was based on a round trip between Brescia and Rome, with start/finish in Brescia. Also starring Patrick Dempsey and Jack O'Connell.

'THE BOYS IN THE BOAT' (Rated PG) - is an American biographical sports drama film Co-Produced and Directed by George Clooney and is based on the 2013 book of the same name by Daniel James Brown. Clooney's previous feature film Directorial credits take in his debut with 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind' in 2002 then 'Good Night, and Good Luck' in 2005, 'Leatherheads' in 2008, 'The Ides of March' in 2011, 'The Monuments Men' in 2014, 'Suburbicon' in 2017, 'The Midnight Sky' in 2020 and 'The Tender Bar' in 2021. This true story is about the 1936 University of Washington rowing team that competed for gold at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. The film follows a group of underdogs at the height of the Great Depression including the coach Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton), boatbuilder George Pocock (Peter Guinness), and the working class student athletes involved, especially rower Joe Rantz (Callum Turner), who was effectively abandoned by his family and left to fend for himself at a young age,  as they are thrust into the spotlight and take on elite rivals from around the world. The film saw its official World Premiere screening in LA on on 11th December, went on wide release in the US from 25th December, is released this week here in Australia and in the UK from 12th January, having so far grossed US$25M from its production budget of US$40M, and generated mixed or average reviews.

'NIGHT SWIM' (Rated M) - this supernatural horror film is written for the screen and Directed by Bryce McGuire in his feature film Directing debut, and is based on the low-budget five minute 2014 short film of the same name by McGuire and Rod Blackhurst. Forced into early retirement by a degenerative illness, former baseball player Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell) moves into a new house with his wife Eve (Kerry Condon) and two children Izzy and Elliot (Amelie Hoeferie and Gavin Warren respectively). He hopes that the backyard swimming pool will be fun for the kids and provide physical therapy for himself. However, a dark secret from the home's past soon unleashes a malevolent force that drags the family into the depths of inescapable terror. The film is released Stateside this week too. 

With 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-