What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 10th April 2025

The 23rd annual Boston International Film Festival this year runs from Thursday 10th April until Tuesday 15th April and is a film festival in the USA held in Boston, Massachusetts which showcases over ninety films annually. Established in 2003 by film Producer Patrick Jerome, the festival features independent films from around the world and the US. The programme includes feature films, short films and documentaries. The BIFF is proud to be able to serve the city of Boston, by sharing films from over sixty countries, and enabling filmmakers from every continent to come together to share their art.

This years Opening Night movie screening is 'Monsieur Aznavour' Written for the screen and Directed by Mehdi Idir and Grand Corps Malade (aka Fabien Marsaud). The film follows the beginnings of the iconic French-Armenian singer, songwriter and Actor, Charles Aznavour, from zero to fame, and stars Tahar Rahim as Charles Aznavour. 

The other feature films being showcased take in the following titles :-

* 'One Stupid Thing' - from the USA and Co-Written and Directed by Linda Yellen. A harmless game takes a fatal turn, and the course of their lives change forever. They keep what they did a secret until the following winter break when they meet a girl who helps them uncover what really happened that night.

* 'Thirsty' - from the USA and Written and Directed by Emily Abt and starring Kyra Sedgewick, Thora Birch and Sung Kang. A tenacious woman embarks on a high stakes campaign with her complicated family in tow. As election day approaches, she must reconcile the seduction of the political game with her own moral compass or risk losing it all.

* 'Urban Ed' - from the USA and Written and Directed by Wade Wofford. When their charter school is shut down in the middle of the year, a group of inner city students comes up against America’s broken education system and a world full of contradicting lessons.

* 'Reading Lolita in Tehran' - from Italy and Directed by Eran Riklis and starring Golshifteh Farahani. Azar Nafisi, a former professor at Tehran University, secretly gathers seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden western classics. As fundamentalists seize control, the women remove their veils, speak about their intimate hopes, loves and disappointments, their femininity and their search for a place in an increasingly oppressive society. By reading Lolita in Tehran, they celebrate the liberating power of literature in revolutionary Iran and form their own future.

For the full list of all the short films being showcased, plus a whole bunch of other good stuff, you can visit the official website at : https://www.bostoniff.com/biff-2025

Turning attention then back to this weeks six new movies coming to a big screen Odeon near you, we kick off with an action spy thriller that sees a CIA cryptographer who manages to blackmail his agency into training him to let him go after a group of terrorists who killed his wife. This is followed by a historical drama film telling the story of how in 1985 a local coal merchant uncovers disturbing secrets in a small Irish town that's controlled by the Roman Catholic Church. Next up is a comedy horror offering that has a father and daughter pairing hit a unicorn with their car en route to the wilderness retreat of a mega-wealthy pharmaceutical CEO. Then we turn to a thriller in which a group of seniors of an entrepreneurial high school team up to take down a rigged college admissions system. Following on we have a French historical action adventure offering that after escaping from an island prison where he spent fourteen years for being wrongly accused of state treason, Edmond Dantes returns to exact revenge on the men who betrayed him; before closing out the week with an animated Christian film about the story of our Lord Jesus Christ as told by Charles Dickens and seen through the innocent eyes of a child.

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

'THE AMATEUR' (Rated M) - is an American vigilante action spy thriller film Directed by James Hawes and is based on the 1981 novel of the same name by Robert Littell, which was previously adapted into a Canadian film that same year with John Savage, Christopher Plummer and Marthe Keller. James Hawes previous feature film making effort was 'One Life' in 2023, although he has Directed numerous TV series since the early 2000's, including multiple episodes of 'Doctor Who', 'Merlin', 'Penny Dreadful', 'Black Mirror', 'Snowpiercer' and 'Slow Horses'. The film is released in the US this week too.

Here then, after Charles Heller (Rami Malek, who also Co-Produces here), a brilliant yet deeply introverted CIA cryptographer, loses his wife in a London terrorist attack, he realises his bosses will not act due to conflicting internal priorities. Having blackmailed the agency to train him as a field operative, he embarks on a one-man mission to hunt down his wife's killers. Also starring Laurence Fishburne, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitriona Balfe, Jon Bernthal, Michael Stuhlbarg, Holt McCallany. Julianne Nicholson and Adrian Martinez.

'SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE' (Rated M) - this Irish and Belgian Co-Produced historical drama film is Directed by Tim Mielants who made his feature film debut with 'Patrick' in 2019 and would follow this up with 'Wil' in 2023. This film is based on the 2021 novel of the same name written by Claire Keegan. The film takes place over Christmas in 1985, when devoted father and coal merchant Bill Furlong (Cillian Murphy, who also Co-Produces here, alongside Matt Damon and Ben Affleck) discovers startling secrets kept by the convent in his town, along with some shocking truths of his own. The film reveals truths about Ireland's Magdalene Laundries, horrific asylums run by Roman Catholic institutions from the 1820's until 1996, ostensibly to reform 'fallen young women'. Also starring Eileen Walsh, Michelle Fairley and Emily Watson, saw its World Premiere showcasing at the Berlin International Film Festival back in February 2024, was released in Ireland, the UK and the USA in early November, has so far grossed US$11M and has generated universal critical acclaim.

'DEATH OF A UNICORN' (Rated MA15+) - is an American comedy horror film Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Alex Scharfman in his feature film Directorial debut. Here, a father Elliot Kintner (Paul Rudd) and his daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) accidentally hit and kill a unicorn while en route to a weekend retreat, where his billionaire boss Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant) seeks to exploit the creature's miraculous curative properties - only to be hunted down by the parents of the downed unicorn with horrific results. The film saw its World Premiere screening at SXSW in early March, has garnered mixed critical reviews and has so far grossed US$11M form a production budget of US$15M since its release Stateside at the end of March. Also starring Tea Leoni and Will Poulter.

'BAD GENIUS' (Rated M) - this American heist thriller film is Co-Written and Directed by J.C. Lee in his Directorial debut, and is an English language remake of the 2017 Thai film of the same name. The film follows Lynn Kang (Callina Liang), a brilliant scholarship student, who devises an ingenious cheating scheme to help her friends ace their exams. As their underground cheating operation expands, Lynn finds herself at the centre of a high-stakes game that tests her morals and pits her against the American education system. Also starring Benedict Wong. The film was released in the US in mid-October last year and has received generally positive reviews.

'THE COUNT OF MONTE-CRISTO' (Rated M) - is a French historical action adventure film based on the 1844 novel by Alexandre Dumas, and is written for the screen and Directed by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patelliere. Edmond Dantes (Pierre Niney) becomes the target of a sinister plot and is arrested on his wedding day for a crime he did not commit. After fourteen years in the island prison of Chateau d'If, he manages a daring escape. Now rich beyond his dreams, he assumes the identity of the Count of Monte-Cristo and exacts his revenge on the three men who betrayed him. The film saw its World Premiere showcasing at last years Cannes Film Festival in in late May, before its release in its native France towards the end of June, having so far grossed US$100M and receiving generally favourable reviews.

'THE KING OF KINGS' (Rated PG) - this American animated Christian film is Written, Co-Produced, Directed and Edited by Seong-ho Jang, and is loosely inspired by the children's book 'The Life of Our Lord' by Charles Dickens. The film follows Charles Dickens, (voiced by Kenneth Branagh) a young author who narrates the biography of Lord Jesus Christ (Oscar Isaac). Together, he and Walter Dickens (Roman Griffin David) embark on an adventure as the master storyteller engages his youngest son's vivid imagination. Also starring the voice talents of Uma Thurman, Mark Hamill, Pierce Brosnan, Forest Whitaker and Ben Kingsley. The film is released in the US this week too.

With six 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-