What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 30th October 2025.

The 48th Denver Film Festival this year runs from Friday 31st October through until Sunday 9th November. Founded in 1978, the Denver Film Festival was one of the first film festivals in the country. Now, in its 48th year, the Festival is an annual celebration of cinema that takes place in the vibrant city of Denver, Colorado, USA. As one of the region’s premier film events, the Festival showcases an exceptional lineup of thought-provoking, innovative, and diverse films from around the world. With a history spanning over four decades, the Denver Film Festival has established itself as a destination for film enthusiasts, industry professionals, and cultural explorers alike. It provides a platform for emerging filmmakers to showcase their work, while also featuring acclaimed films from established Directors. In addition to the outstanding film screenings, the Denver Film Festival presents a range of Red Carpet presentations, special events, including filmmaker Q&A sessions, panel discussions, workshops, receptions, and industry networking opportunities . . . . . so reads the official website. 

This years Opening Night Presentation is 'Wake Up Dead Man : A Knives Out Mystery' Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Rian Johnson and is the third film in the 'Knives Out' series. Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) returns for his darkest case yet when a murder in a small upstate New York church challenges faith, reason, and everything in between. With an ensemble cast including Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church, the film weaves suspense with sharp humour and gothic overtones. 

The six films in Competition for the Krzysztof Kieslowski Award for Best Feature Film are as detailed below :-

* 'Left-Handed Girl' - from Taiwan and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Shih-Ching Tsou. Single mother Shu-Fen returns to Taipei with her two daughters to open a stall at a vibrant night market. Each must readapt to the city’s rhythm while keeping the family together. But when her traditional grandfather forbids his youngest, left-handed granddaughter from using her ‘devil hand’, buried generational secrets begin to unravel.
* 'The Love That Remains' - from Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and France and Written, Directed and photographed by Hlynur Palmason. Across the changing seasons, artist Anna and her husband Magnus navigate the aftermath of separation while raising three children. Playful, tender moments slip into surreal ruptures as their home life teeters between routine and unraveling. 

* 'My Father's Shadow' - from Nigeria, the UK and Ireland and Co-Written and Directed by Akinola Davies Jnr. During the upheaval of Nigeria’s 1993 election crisis, two young brothers spend a day in Lagos with their estranged father, experiencing the city’s vastness for the first time. 

* 'The President's Cake' - from Iraq, the USA and Qatar and Written and Directed by Hasan Hadi. While people across 1990's Iraq struggle to survive war and food shortages, the President orders every school in the country to prepare a cake for his birthday. Despite her efforts to escape notice, nine-year-old Lamia is chosen by her classmates and must summon her wits and imagination to find the impossible ingredients. 

* 'Sirat' - from Spain and France and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Olivier Laxe. In the Moroccan desert, a middle-aged father searches for his missing daughter, only to stumble into a nomadic rave community on the edge of collapse.

* 'Sound of Falling' - from Germany and Co-Written and Directed by Mascha Schilinski. Four girls, Alma, Erika, Angelika, and Lenka, each spend their youth on the same farm in northern Germany. As the home evolves over a century, echoes of the past linger in its walls, and though separated by time, their lives begin to mirror one another.

For the details of the five films in the American Independent Competition, and the eleven films in the Maysles Brothers Award for Best Documentary, plus a whole bunch of other good stuff, you can visit the official website at : https://www.denverfilm.org

Turning the attention then back to this weeks seven new release movies coming to your local big screen Odeon, we launch with an absurdist black comedy offering centering on two conspiracy-obsessed men and the CEO of a major company who they kidnap, after becoming convinced that she's an alien who wants to destroy our little blue and green planet. Next up we have a thriller about a close-knit family who is caught in the turmoil of a controversial rising movement known as 'The Change'. Then we turn to dark comedy body horror film about society's obsession with youth and good looks, as a once beloved actress challenges a beauty firm CEO. Following on we have a Aussie doco about intrepid explorer Richard Harris, key in the Thai cave rescue, who risks all diving New Zealand's potentially deepest cave system. Up next is a supernatural comedy film about a well-meaning but inept angel, who swaps the lives of a struggling gig worker and a wealthy venture capitalist. This is followed by a musical drama offering about a political prisoner who shares a cell with a window dresser convicted of public indecency, and the two form an unlikely bond. And closing out the week we have another Aussie doco about Italian women in 1940's Australia who faced family separation, yet they persevered alone, later helping rebuild post-WWII lives and influencing Australian culture in fashion, business, and leadership.

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

'BUGONIA' (Rated MA15+) - this absurdist black comedy film is Co-Produced and Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos who made his feature film Directorial debut with 'My Best Friend' in 2001 and would make his English language debut with 'The Lobster' in 2015 which he would follow up with 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer' in 2017, 'The Favourite' in 2018, 'Poor Things' in 2023 and 'Kinds of Kindness' in 2024. This film is an English-language remake of the 2003 South Korean film 'Save the Green Planet!' Written and Directed by Jang Joon-hwan. It had its World Premiere in the main competition of this years Venice International Film Festival at the end of August and was released in the US last week, has so far grossed US$2M on a production budget of about US$50M, and has garnered generally positive critical reviews.

Two conspiracy-obsessed young men Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and his cousin Don (Aidan Delbis) kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major pharmaceutical company, Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth. Also starring Alicia Silverstone and Stavros Halkias. 

'ANNIVERSARY' (Rated CTC) - is an American thriller film Directed by Jan Komasa whose previous big screen output includes 'Suicide Room' in 2011, 'Warsaw 44' in 2014, 'Corpus Christi' in 2019, 'The Hater' in 2020 and 'Good Boy' in 2025. When Ellen (Diane Lane) and Paul's (Kyle Chandler) son Josh (Dylan O'Brien) introduces his new girlfriend one lovely afternoon at their 25th anniversary party, no one suspects that it is the beginning of the end for this happy family. The new girlfriend is Liz (Phoebe Dynevor), Ellen's former student expelled from the university some years before for her radical views. Also starring Zoey Deutch, Mckenna Grace, Daryl McCormack and Madeline Brewer. The film is released this week too in the US.

'SHELL' (Rated MA15+) - this American black comedy body horror film is Co-Produced and Directed by Max Minghella in only his second Directorial outing following 'Teen Spirit' in 2016, although he has acted in numerous films and TV series including perhaps his most noteworthy role as Nick Blaine in 'The Handmaids Tale'. Desperate to reclaim her career, once-beloved actress Samantha Lake (Elisabeth Moss) gets drawn into the glamorous world of wellness mogul Zoe Shannon (Kate Hudson) the CEO os wellness company Shell, only to uncover a monstrous truth beneath the seemingly flawless surface. The film had its World Premiere at TIFF in mid-September 2024, was released in the USA in early October this year, and has generated mixed or average reviews.

'DEEPER' (Rated M) - is an Australian action adventure documentary film Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Jennifer Peedom whose previous credits include the BAFTA nominated doco's 'Sherpa' in 2015, 'Mountain' in 2017 and 'River' in in 2021. Here, she follows Richard 'Harry' Harris, one of the heroes of the Thai cave rescue, as he attempts to enter a cold, dark and mysterious cave system in New Zealand - one that has the potential to be the deepest dived cave in the world. There’s no question that this is the highest stakes dive he has ever attempted. Underground, underwater, with a finite amount of gas to breathe, it’s a dangerous game to play, and as he pushes limits underground with limited air, he questions his motivations and impact on loved ones. 

'GOOD FORTUNE' (Rated M) - this American supernatural comedy film is Written, Co-Produced, Directed and stars Aziz Ansari in his feature film making debut. A well-meaning but rather inept budget guardian angel named Gabriel (Keanu Reeves) meddles in the lives of a struggling gig worker Arj (Aziz Ansari) and a wealthy venture capitalist Jeff (Seth Rogen). The film premiered at TIFF in early September, was released in the US two weeks ago, has so far grossed US$13M off the back of a US$30M production budget, and has generated largely favourable reviews. 

'KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN' (Rated M) - is an American musical drama film written for the screen and Directed by Bill Condon and is based on the 1976 novel of the same name by the Argentinian author Manuel Puig. It is the second big screen adaptation following the critically acclaimed and multi-award winning 1985 film which was Directed by Hector Babenco and starred William Hurt, Raul Julia and Sonia Braga. Bill Condon's previous feature film making credits include his debut with 'Sister, Sister' in 1987 and then 'Gods and Monsters' in 1998, 'Kinsey' in 2004, 'Dreamgirls' in 2006, 'The Twilight Saga : Breaking Dawn - Parts 1 and 2' in 2011 and 2012, 'The Fifth Estate' in 2013, 'Beauty and the Beast' in 2017, and 'The Good Liar' in 2019. Here then, Valentin Arregui (Diago Luna), a political prisoner, shares a cell with Molina (Tonatiuh), a window dresser convicted of public indecency. The two form an unlikely bond as Molina recounts the plot of a Hollywood musical starring his favourite silver screen diva, Ingrid Luna (Jennifer Lopez). The film saw its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in late January this year, and was released Stateside in mid-October having so far grossed US$2M from a production budget of US$30M and has garnered generally positive critical reviews.

'SIGNORINELLA : LITTLE MISS' (Rated PG) - this Australian documentary is Written, Produced and Directed by Jason David McFadden, Angelo Pricolo and Shannon Swan and celebrates the indomitable women who did everything from harvesting cane fields when the men were rounded up and placed in internment camps during WWII, to back-breaking factory work, founding restaurant and fashion empires, radio stations and representing their communities in parliament. These people include game-changing fashionistas Carla Zampatti and Mariana Hardwick, revered foodie Olimpia Bortolotto, NSW politician Franca Arena and Young Talent Time-turned internationally treasured pop singer Tina Arena, who share their stories of hardship, resilience and triumph. Through personal narratives and historical insights, this documentary is a tribute to the power of determination, creativity, and the enduring spirit of women who dared to dream, and who helped shape the Italian-Australian community.

With seven 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 week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE GOOD LIAR : Tuesday 17th December 2019.

I saw 'THE GOOD LIAR' earlier this week, which is an MA15+ rated American crime thriller and is Directed and Co-Produced by the Oscar winning Bill Condon whose previous Directing credits take in the likes of 1987's 'Sister, Sister' (his debut feature film), 1998's 'Gods and Monsters', 2004's 'Kinsey', 2006's 'Dreamgirls', 'The Twilight Saga : Breaking Dawn - Parts 1 and 2', 2013's 'The Fifth Estate', 2015's 'Mr. Holmes' and 2017's Disney's live action remake of 'Beauty and the Beast'. Here Condon collaborates with Sir Ian McKellen for the third time in the male leading role opposite female lead Helen Mirren. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Searle, was released in the UK in early November, in the US in mid-November, and in Australian cinemas at the end of November having taken US$28M off the back of a Production Budget of US$10M, and has garnered mixed or average Reviews along the way so far.

The film opens up with two unconnected ageing people keying in their personal details, likes and dislikes into the same online dating service. It is 2009. Sometime later and a connection has been made, a remote relationship has been established and a rapport has been built. The next step is to meet in person, face to face, and so a date is set over dinner. Here we are introduced to Roy Courtnay (Ian McKellen) and Betty McLeish (Helen Mirren) who have enjoyed a successful first lunch date, during which we learn that Roy's wife passed away three years ago and Betty's husband one year ago. Upon exiting the restaurant, Betty is picked up by her grandson Steven (Russell Tovey) and Roy says he'll catch a train back to his apartment in the city. When Betty is out of view, Roy's friend and colleague Vincent (Jim Carter) picks him up and they drive off together.

As it turns out we quickly discover that Roy is in fact a long term conman who has a successful track record in convincing people to part company with their money off the back of some financial investment scam through deception, creating fake identities and misinformation. Betty is a former Oxford Professor, who has an accumulated wealth of 2.7 million pounds sterling, and as such Roy is practically salivating at the prospect of these easy pickings.

Having spent a day together, Roy puts on a convincing act that he has a dodgy knee, and can barely make it up the stairs to his apartment. Betty takes pity and encourages Roy to stay at her place in the spare room, much to Steven's chagrin, and Betty's disapproval of Steven's mistrust of Roy.

Meanwhile, Roy and Vincent run an investment scam with their mark Bryn (Mark Lewis Jones) and his partner Beni (Lucian Msamati) - using fake Russian investors to part company with UK£800K while the other four each put in a combined UK£200K. The fake Russians however, reneg on the deal as a result of a comment made by Bryn, setting up another meeting at a later date in which Bryn apologises and the four agree to up their investment from UK£50K each to UK£100K as a gesture of their commitment. After the funds are transferred via a sharing of accounts using keypads connected to a bank, and the group are about to toast their success, the meeting is raided by Police leaving Bryn and his colleague to flee the scene. The Police raid is revealed to also be a scam, leaving the group to share the spoils of a UK£200K confidence trick.

One day later on when Roy has seemingly taken up permanent residence in Betty's house, she collapses from a mini-stroke. Her Doctor pays a house visit and says she needs to take it easy, and having suffered a series of these mini-strokes over time, needs bed rest or she could possibly be dead within a year. To aid her recovery, Betty suggests a European holiday taking in Berlin, France and Italy, but kicking off in Berlin. Roy eventually agrees. During the trip, during which time Steven is studying in Berlin and acts as their surrogate tour guide, he speaks in German which Roy seems to understand - and then claims ignorance. Steven takes the couple to a flat that Roy instantly recognises although doesn't let on, and reveals that 'Roy Courtnay' was a young British Army officer who was killed there in 1948 by a Nazi war criminal he was tracking, according to Soviet records. This causes Roy to explain that his real name is/was Hans Taub (Laurie Davisdon), who was Roy's German translator, and that he stole Roy's identity so that he could leave Germany and pass himself off as a British citizen. Betty appears to accept his explanation and dismisses Steven's objections.

Whilst in Berlin, one afternoon when Roy is feeling tired, Betty takes her leave and goes off exploring alone. We see here walk up to an old looking house, that is now a library. Upon her return to the hotel she reveals cuts and grazes to her hands where she seemingly took a fall on a gravel pathway. Roy attended to her bloodied hands, and they agree to return home to England ending their holiday prematurely.

For a while now Roy has been attempting to convince Betty that she should invest some of her money into a sure fire double your money offshore trading account, so that he can secretly scam her out of her life savings. Vincent has been masquerading as Roy's financial advisor and has had several meetings to establish the scam at Betty's home. After returning from Berlin, Roy and Betty plan to transfer their money and to pool their resources into an offshore joint account as recommended by Vincent. Vincent, on the eve of the transfer, suggests to Roy that he should leave at least some of the money for Betty to help with her medical condition, but Roy dismisses the idea and insists that he'll leave Betty financially defrauded just like his previous victims. Vincent reluctantly agrees and the next day bears witness to the couple transferring their money into the joint offshore account, totalling in excess of UK£5M.

As they celebrate their financial union over a glass of champagne, Roy takes a message from his son Robert who is attending a trade fair in London from his home in Australia, and wants to meet with his dad later that evening for dinner. Roy is estranged from his son, disapproving of his lifestyle and the fact that he designs kitchens for a living, but agrees to go and meet his son.

Betty sees Roy off at the train station, and he goes to his apartment and polishes off a bottle of Scotch, with no sign of his son Robert, whom we've worked out by now doesn't really exist. Roy discovers that he no longer has the keypad needed to access their joint account and that he must have left it at Betty's house. He calls the bank seeking to have the funds transferred to another account, but is told that the only way of transferring funds securely is via the keypad, and that the bank will happily dispatch a new keypad but that will take three days to arrive at least. By now Roy is panicking. Roy returns to Betty's house to reclaim it, only to find that the house has been stripped bare of all fixtures and furnishings and Betty waiting for him in a lone armchair in the lounge holding his lost keypad. Betty confronts Roy with the keypad by siphoning off UK£50K into her own private account each time he tells a lie, with the account balance declining rapidly before Roy's very eyes as the untruths come blurting out.

It is at this point that Betty reveals her history to Roy, that including her medical condition, is all fake. Her real name is Lili, and she and Roy have met six decades before as German teenagers in 1943 - when Hans was tutoring her in English. During their last session, however, the fifteen year old Hans raped Lili following a humiliating encounter with her three older sisters a short time earlier. After her parents dismissed Hans from continuing his tutoring lessons, he denounced Lili's father to the German authorities as a traitor for which he was executed for treason - the result of which drove Lili's mother to commit suicide. Following the deaths of their parents, Lili's sisters were killed in an explosion just two weeks before the suicide of Adolf Hitler in a Berlin bunker. After these tragic events, Lili made her own way to England once the war had ended.

Lili goes onto explain that she has been fully aware of his plan to con her out of her savings all along, and how Steven, who is in fact the partner of Lili's real grandson Michael, is quite the private investigator and had managed to track Roy/Hans' criminal history, aided by Lili confirming his identity based on an old locket containing a snippet of Hans' hair and comparing the DNA to a cut of hair she took from Roy, when she was cutting his hair one time. Additionally, she reveals that Vincent had betrayed Roy after being confronted with her knowledge of their crimes, and how as a result, if reported to the authorities, he would languish in jail. A situation that Vincent was understandably keen to avoid. Roy begs for forgiveness and states how much he genuinely loves her. Having transferred all of Roy's money to her own account, Lili prepares to leave the house only for Roy to attack her after locking the door. She manages to ward him off just long enough for her to make a quick phone call alerting Beni and a colleague whom he previously cheated, who were waiting outside. Upon leaving the house, she says that she has left UK£100K in Roy's offshore account, which will reimburse the sum he swindled out of Beni, leaving Roy penniless. Roy is then heard being beaten up by the pair of men.

'The Good Liar' has a plot that is far too convoluted, too complicated and way too detailed to sit within the realms of anything resembling realistic, but is elevated by the noteworthy pairing of McKellen and Mirren whose simple and grounded riffing off each other provides for some moments of levity, emotion and depth that anchors the otherwise implausible cumbersome cat-and-mouse storyline. Ultimately it's a film about buried secrets, lies and deception, revenge and double-cross with moments of unexpected violence thrown in for good measure that for the most part is good fun, but, a far cry from the Hitchcock influences it attempts to emulate. Don't expect too much from this film, and you can easily wait for this one to come along on your small screen streaming service and save yourself the price of cinema entry.

'The Good Liar' warrants three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, from a potential five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 5th December 2019.

In November, the world bid a fond farewell to a number of stars of the silver screen and the small screen. In brief, shown below, is my passing tribute to those stars who leave an indelible mark on the entertainment industry, and in particular the world of film and television. May you all Rest In Peace, and thanks for the memories . . . . Brian Tarantina, Virginia Leith, William Wintersole, Lawrence G. Paull, Niall Toibin, Branko Lustig and Michael J. Pollard.

* Brian Tarantina - born March 27th 1959, died November 2nd 2019, aged 60. Tarantina was an Actor of the stage, television and cinema who amassed 88 screen acting credits from 1984 appearing in his debut big screen role in 'The Cotton Club' right up to the present day in the recently released 'The Kitchen'. In between time there were big screen roles in the likes of 'The January Man', 'Uncle Buck', 'Born on the Fourth of July', 'Jacob's Ladder', 'Carlito's Way', 'Donnie Brasco', 'Summer of Sam', 'The Talented Mr. Ripley', 'City by the Sea', 'The Brave One', 'Knight and Day' and 'BlacKkKlansman'. There were also one off guest appearances and regular slots on prime time TV shows including 'The Equaliser', 'Miami Vice', 'Spin City', 'Oz', 'NYPD Blue', 'The Sopranos', 'Law & Order', 'Gilmore Girls', 'Heroes', 'The Black Donnelly's', 'The Good Wife', 'Elementary', 'Blacklist', 'Blue Bloods', 'Madam Secretary' and 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'.

* Virgina Leith - born October 15th 1925, died November 4th 2019, aged 94. Leith was an American television and film Actress who had just 26 acting credits to her name, with her most productive period coming in the 1950's. Her debut in 1953 was also the first film directed by Stanley Kubrick, a self-financed art house film, 'Fear and Desire'. She signed a contract with 20th Century-Fox in 1954 and had leading roles in films such as 'On the Threshold of Space', 'Toward the Unknown' with William Holden, 'Violent Saturday' with Victor Mature and 'White Feather' and 'A Kiss Before Dying' both with Robert Wagner. She left show business following her 1960 marriage to actor Donald Harron, and divorced him in 1968. In the '70's Leith resumed her career and appeared in a few films and on television shows, including 'Starsky and Hutch', 'Barnaby Jones', and 'Baretta'. She left the screen again in the early '80's. Her most recognisable role may have been that of a decapitated woman whose head is kept alive in 1962's 'The Brain That Wouldn't Die'.

* William Wintersole - born July 30th 1931, died November 5th 2019, aged 88. Wintersole was an American Actor of television and film who had 87 actings credits to his name, from his TV debut on 'The Outer Limits' in 1964, right up to fifty episodes on 'The Young and the Restless' from 1986 through to 2011. In between time there was uncredited roles on 'Valley of the Dolls' in 1967, 'The Hindenburg' in 1975, 'W.C. Fields and Me' in 1976, and credited bit parts on 'Moonfire', 'Squares', 'Leadbelly', and 'Coma'. His more notable small screen appearances took in the likes of  'Rawhide', 'Peyton Place', 'The Fugitive', 'The Invaders', 'Star Trek', 'The Mod Squad', 'Lancer', 'I Dream of Jeannie', 'McCloud', 'Mission : Impossible', 'The Partridge Family', 'Gunsmoke', 'Bonanza', 'The Waltons', 'Columbo' and 'Kojak'.

* Lawrence G. Paull - born April 13th 1938 died November 10th 2019, aged 81. Paull was an American neofuturistic film Production Designer and Art Director who amassed 35 Production Design credits and twenty Art Director credits during his career that launched in 1971 with 'The Hired Hand' Directed and starring Peter Fonda, and then took in the likes of 'The Naked Ape', 'Blade Runner', 'Romancing the Stone', 'Back to the Future', 'American Flyers', 'Cocoon : The Return', 'Harlem Nights', 'Predator 2', 'City Slickers', 'Sgt. Bilko', 'Escape from L.A.' and TV movie 'Murder in the Mirror' in 2000 which was to be his last film. Paul collected two award wins and two nominations including an Oscar nod for his work on 'Blade Runner', a BAFTA and a London Critics Circle win for 'Blade Runner', and a BAFTA nod for 'Back to the Future'.

* Niall Toibin - born November 21st 1929 died November 13th 2019, aged 89. Toibin was an Irish Comedian and Actor of film and television who amassed 64 acting credits throughout his career which launched in 1967 on an Irish mini-series and then started to take off with Disney's 'Guns in the Heather' with a young Kurt Russell, before 1970's David Lean Directed 'Ryan's Daughter' and then the first Irish feature film shot entirely in Ireland and in the native Irish tongue 'Poitin' in 1978. This was followed up by 'The Outsider', 'The Sleep of Death', 'Lovespell', 'Reflections', 'Rawhead Rex', 'Eat the Peach', 'Far and Away', 'Rat' and 'Veronica Guerin' in 2003 which was to be his last big screen role. In the meantime, there were turns on TV series including 'Brideshead Revisited', eleven episodes of 'Bracken', the mini-series 'Caught in a Free State', 'Wagner', and 'The Detective', sixteen episodes on 'The Irish R.M.', 22 episodes on 'Stay Lucky', 52 episodes on 'Ballykissangel' as Father MacAnally and nine epodes on 'The Clinic'. Toibin received an Honorary Doctor of Arts Degree from University College Cork in June 2010 and he was also honoured with the Irish Film and Television Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award at a ceremony at the Irish Film Institute in November 2011. In May 2015, he was awarded the Freedom of Cork (the city in which he was born) in recognition of his film, television and stage work.

* Branko Lustig - born June 10th 1932, died November 14th 2019 aged 87. Lustig was a Croatian film Producer best known for winning Academy Awards for Best Picture for 'Schindler's List' and 'Gladiator'. He is the only person born in the territory of present day Croatia to have won two Academy Awards. Lustig began his film career in 1955 as an assistant director at Jadran Film, a state-owned Zagreb-based film production company. He was the location manager for 1971's 'Fiddler on the Roof' and in the '80's he worked on the TV miniseries 'The Winds of War' in 1983 and its sequel 'War and Remembrance' in 1988. He moved to the United States in 1988. Other major Hollywood films that Lustig worked on as a Producer or Executive Producer include 'The Peacemaker', 'Hannibal', 'Black Hawk Down', 'Kingdom of Heaven', 'A Good Year', and 'American Gangster'. Lustig celebrated his bar mitzvah on 2nd May 2011 at Auschwitz, in front of barrack No. 24a. He missed his rite of passage as a thirteen year-old because at the time he was a prisoner in the very same barrack, having been deported from his birth town of Osijek when he was ten years old. A year earlier in September 2010, he was awarded honorary citizenship of Osijek. Aside from his two aforementioned Academy Award wins, Lustig also won a Primetime Emmy, two BAFTA's, two DGA and two PGA awards amidst a total haul of thirteen award wins and another three nominations.

* Michael J. Pollard - born May 30th 1939, died November 20th 2019, aged 80. Pollard was an American Actor and Comedian, whose screen acting career spanned seven decades, in which he amassed 116 acting credits. Following a number of small screen appearances from 1958 onwards, he scored his first credited big screen role in 1963's 'The Stripper' with Joanne Woodward followed by 'Summer Magic' that same year with Hayley Mills. 'The Wild Angels' followed in 1966 with Peter Fonda and Bruce Dern, and then 'Caprice' in 1967 with Doris Day and Richard Harris, and 'Bonnie & Clyde' that same year with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. 'Little Fauss and Big Halsy' with Robert Redford, 'Petroleum Girls' with Brigitte Bardot, 'Dirty Little Billy', Sunday in the Country' with Ernest Borgnine, 'Melvin and Howard', 'The American Way', 'Roxanne', 'American Gothic', 'Scrooged', 'Next of Kin', 'Tango & Cash', 'Dick Tracy', 'Split Second', 'Arizona Dream', 'Mad Dog Time', 'The Debtors', 'House of a 1000 Corpses', with 'The Next Cassavettes' currently in Post-Production all followed up to the present day. Many of these films starred A-list acting talent and ensemble casts but aside from a few failed to make any significant impact either critically or commercially. Pollard was nominated for six awards all for his work on 'Bonnie & Clyde' including Academy Award, a Golden Globe and BAFTA nods for Best Supporting Actor.

This week there are six latest release cinematic offerings to tease you out to your local Odeon. We start with a tale of deception on the part of an ageing confidence trickster to manipulate his way into the life of a widow with a small fortune, only to have the tables turned on him. Next is a story of a rookie New Orleans cop who goes on the run after filming other dirty cops murder a young guy, as she now seeks refuge from those cops hunting her down before she can expose their nefarious deeds. We then turn to an animated CGI film about an age old classic yet somewhat spooky and mysterious family whose home comes under threat from a reality TV presenter who wants to redevelop their land. These are followed up with two doco's - the first from the US about an unscrupulous, ruthless yet powerful lawyer and political Mr. Fixit who was very active for the 25 years leading up to his death in 1986; and a perhaps infamous race along 230 kms of dirt tracks in the desert outback of Australia's Northern Territory where any motor vehicle with wheels can enter, and all walks of life do, every year. And we wrap up the week with another doco helmed by a first time Director but a legend of the music industry as he performs his 19th album and reflects on the American way of life, and his earlier influences.

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 GOOD LIAR' (Rated MA15+) - this American crime thriller is Directed and Co-Produced by  the Oscar winning Bill Condon whose previous Directing credits take in the likes of 1987's 'Sister, Sister' (his debut feature film), 1998's 'Gods and Monsters', 2004's 'Kinsey', 2006's 'Dreamgirls', 'The Twilight Saga : Breaking Dawn - Parts 1 and 2', 2013's 'The Fifth Estate', 2015's 'Mr. Holmes' and 2017's Disney's live action remake of 'Beauty and the Beast'. Here Condon collaborates with Sir Ian McKellen for the third time in the male leading role opposite female lead Helen Mirren. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Searle, was released in the UK in early November, in the US in mid-November, and now it arrives in Australian cinemas having taken US$22M off the back of a Production Budget of US$10M and garnered mixed or average Reviews along the way so far.

Long term career con man Roy Courtnay (Ian McKellen) can hardly believe his luck when in 2009 he meets well-to-do widow Betty McLeish (Helen Mirren) online. As Betty opens her life and home to him, having lost her husband a year ago with savings in excess of two million pounds, Roy is surprised to find himself caring about her, turning what should be a cut-and-dry swindle of an ageing widow out of her small fortune, into the most treacherous tightrope walk of his life. Also starring Russell Tovey and Jim Carter.

'BLACK AND BLUE' (Rated CTC) - this American action thriller is Directed by Deon Taylor whose previous Directorial outings include 'Chain Letter', 'Supremacy', 'Traffik' and 'The Intruder'. The film was released in the US at the end of October, cost US$12M to make, has so far grossed US$23M and has generated mixed or average Reviews so far. Here, a rookie policewoman Alicia West (Naomi Harris) in New Orleans inadvertently captures the shooting death of a young drug dealer on her body cam. After realising the murder was committed by corrupt cops Deacon, Terry and Smitty (James Mosese Black, Frank Grillo and Beau Knapp respectively), she teams up with the only person from the community who's willing to help her, Milo Jackson (Tyrese Gibson). Now, she finds herself on the run from both the vengeful criminals and the lawmen who desperately want to destroy the incriminating footage, before she is able to upload it to her superior officers. Mike Colter also stars.

'THE ADDAMS FAMILY' (Rated PG) - this time around after many iterations over the decades we have a new computer animated supernatural comedy feature film based on the characters created by Charles Addams way back in 1938. This offering is Directed by the pairing of Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan with the former also acting as Co-Producer and Co-Writer of the story upon which the film is based. Vernon also Co-Directed 'Shrek 2', 'Monsters vs. Aliens', 'Madagascar 3 : Europe's Most Wanted', and with Tiernan, 2016's 'Sausage Party'. Members of the mysterious and spooky Addams family - Gomez (voiced by Oscar Isaac), Morticia (Charlize Theron), Pugsley (Finn Wolfhard), Wednesday (Chloe Grace Moretz), Uncle Fester (Nick Kroll) and Grandma (Bette Midler) are all busily preparing for a visit from their even creepier relatives. But trouble soon arises when shady reality TV personality Margaux Needler (Allison Janney) realises that the Addams' eerie hilltop mansion is standing in the way of her dream to sell all the houses in the neighbourhood, and build her planned community. The film also features the voice talents of Conrad Vernon, Snoop Dogg, Martin Short and Catherine O'Hara amongst others, was made for US$24M, has so far grossed US$180M since its release in the US in early October, has received generally mixed or average Reviews, and a sequel is already in the works scheduled for a 22nd October 2021 release date.

'WHERE'S MY ROY COHN' (Rated PG) - is an American documentary film Directed and Produced by Matt Tyrnauer and is an insightful exploration into the life and times of Roy Cohn - one of the most controversial and influential American men of the 20th Century. He was a ruthless and unscrupulous lawyer and political power broker and top fixer whose 28-year career ranged from acting as chief counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Army–McCarthy hearings in 1954, for assisting with McCarthy's investigations of suspected communists, and to forging the career of a young Queens real estate developer named Donald Trump, as his personal lawyer. Cohn died in 1986 at the age of 59 of complications from AIDS. The film Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back in January this year, has so far taken about US$700K at the Box Office and has received generally favourable Press. The title of the film is reported to be a quote from President Donald Trump, as he discussed Attourney General Jeff Sessions's withdrawal from the Meuller Investigation.

'FINKE : THERE AND BACK' (Rated M) - the Finke Desert Race is the largest off-road motorsport event in the Southern Hemisphere and Australia’s fastest, deadliest, toughest and dustiest race, covering 230kms of dirt track for multi terrain bikes, cars, buggies and quads through desert country from Alice Springs to the small Aputula (Finke) community. The race is held each year on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in June over two days. Filmed over three years, 'Finke' explores the race from within - its competitors, organisers, paramedics, and the drive to win against the desert at all costs, delivering a visual adventure of inspiration and danger, excitement, thrills and spills. Directed by Dylan River who also wrote this documentary and acted as Cinematographer.

'WESTERN STARS' (Rated PG) - is the nineteenth studio album by American Singer/Songwriter Bruce Springsteen. The album marks Springsteen's first new studio album of solo material since 2012's 'Wrecking Ball'. This documentary film, which marks Springsteen's Directorial debut, features a full performance of the album, which Premiered at the TIFF in September 2019, with a wide theatrical release in October 2019 along with an accompanying soundtrack for the film. Weaving archival footage and Springsteen's personal narration with song to tell the story, upon announcing the album in April 2019, he called it 'a return to my solo recordings featuring character-driven songs and sweeping, cinematic orchestral arrangements', with a press release characterising it as about a 'range of American themes, of highways and desert spaces, of isolation and community and the permanence of home and hope'. 

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-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 23rd March 2017.

With the release of the next Disney animated classic in full live action mode this week - see my Preview of 'Beauty and the Beast' below, it is no wonder this Production Company has a strategy in mind given the pay dirt they have hit since embarking on this renewed focus. Following hot on the heels of the other classic animated features given the live action or full CGI makeover, that were Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland' in 2010 taking US$1.03B; 'Maleficent' in 2014 which took US$786M; Kenneth Branagh's 'Cinderella' in 2015 which grossed US$544M and last years 'The Jungle Book' Directed by Jon Favreau with receipts of US$967M, it is hardly surprising that Disney is green lighting its animated classics for the live action treatment. 'Mulan' is up next in November 2018.

Upcoming from Disney over the next several years, we can expect to see, 'The Lion King' which has been announced with Jon Favreau Directing given his success as mentioned previously, although a release date is unknown. Favreau is also Directing 'The Jungle Book 2' to follow on from last years success. Tim Burton is said to be Directing a live action version of the 1941 classic 'Dumbo', and Guy Ritchie is rumoured to be Directing 'Aladdin'. Angelina Jolie will reprise her 'Maleficent' role in a sequel, Reece Witherspoon is attached to 'Tink' as 'Tinkerbell', a spin off from the world of 'Peter Pan' and David Lowry who Directed 'Pete's Dragon' is attached to 'Peter Pan' on Directorial duties. Emma Stone is set to play Cruella De Vil in an origin story spin off from the 1961 animated film and the 1996 live action '101 Dalmatian's'. Others on the slate to get the full live action/CGI treatment include 'Pinocchio', 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' it's first full length animated feature film, 'The Little Mermaid', 'The Sword in the Stone', 'Winnie the Pooh', and the follow-up from the 1964 'Mary Poppins' film, 'Mary Poppins Returns' with Emily Blunt playing Poppins, is scheduled for a Christmas release 2018.

This week there are four new film offerings to tempt and tease you out to your local multiplex or independent theatre. We kick off with a much loved and hugely successful Disney animated classic getting the full 21st Century live action makeover. We then move to an outer space alien horror story involving a quickly evolving Martian life form, an International Space Station, the six man crew and the fate of our fragile little green planet. We then have the launch of a possible new Superhero franchise that is not of the Marvel or DC kind, but will be known to many of us as an existing popular long running television series that sees five unsuspecting teenagers brought together to save the world with their particular set of skills, and their brightly coloured threads! Wrapping up we have a young childhood based animated feature from those people at DreamWorks that sees a baby taking charge on the home front to reunite a family and thwart a potentially epic struggle involving a manipulative company CEO.

When you have fulfilled your opportunity to watch a film of choice in the week ahead, from any one of those Previewed below, or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog posts, be sure to drop us a line detailing your relevant, constructive and unbiased opinions. Simply leave your views in the Comments section below this or any other Post - we'd love to hear from you! In the meantime, enjoy your movie.

'BEAUTY AND THE BEAST' (Rated PG) - this Walt Disney Pictures latest live action release of its much loved animated film of the same name from 1991, spawned a whole industry in itself in the wake of its release. The original animated feature which picked up multiple awards and nominations including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globes and five Grammy Awards and took US$425M at the Box Office, gave rise to three straight to video sequels, a television series which ran for 65 episodes, and a hugely successful Broadway musical which toured through thirteen countries and took US$1.4B between its release in 1994 and when the curtain finally came down in 2007. There has also been a bunch of video games over the years.

Directed by Bill Condon and with an ensemble cast that features Emma Watson as Belle an avid bookworm, who's independent and a beautiful young woman, and Dan Stevens as The Prince/Beast, an egotistical handsome prince who is cursed into a reclusive bestial creature by The Enchantress as punishment for his arrogance. The story, which you'll know already, features Belle who is taken prisoner by the fearsome Beast in his enchanted castle. There, she learns that the castle's residents were once humans and are cursed into their current states as household objects. Belle also tries to evade a fiendish former soldier-turned hunter, Gaston (Luke Evans) who seeks to have Belle as his trophy wife. Despite her fears, she soon becomes friends with the castle's welcoming enchanted staff and learns to look deeper beyond the beast's ugly exterior, allowing her to see the kind heart and soul of the true prince on the inside. Also starring Kevin Kline, Ewen McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson, Josh Gad and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. This production cost US$160M to bring to the big screen, and it has so far recouped US$393M since it release in the US last week.

'LIFE' (Rated MA15+) - Directed by Daniel Espinosa this Horror Sci-Fi is set aboard an International Space Station where the six-man crew successfully intercept a probe returning from Mars with a sample inside. The crew is tasked with analysing that sample for what may prove to be the first signs of extra terrestrial life. As the crew celebrate their discovery and settle down to conduct their research, the primitive life form ultimately proves to be not so primitive as was thought as it rapidly evolves and proves to be much more intelligent, menacing and deadly that they could have imagined. The race is on to destroy it, before the crew are all destroyed, and the ISS returns to Earth with a deadly cargo capable of wiping out all humanity, if life on Mars, or lack of it, is anything to go by. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds and Rebecca Furgusson. The film was made for US$58M and is released Stateside this week also.

'POWER RANGERS' (Rated M) - after 24 years, 24 television seasons and now three cinema released films, this teen Superhero film gets a reboot with the Red, Pink, Blue, Black and Yellow Power Rangers saving the world for a cool budget of US$105M. Directed by Dean Israelite, this film features many of the characters as seen on the television series 'The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers' albeit updated for a whole new audience brought up on a diet of Marvel and DC animated adaptations. Here five teenagers with attitude are thrust together either by design or by coincidence to become the newest line of warriors, crime fighters and protectors of the Earth, known as 'Power Rangers'. Quickly putting their real life teenage issues behind the them, the newly formed Power Rangers must assimilate quickly to each other, their new powers and their new responsibilities to protect their own small town of Angel Grove, and the world at large, from an alien attack, launched by Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks), a powerful witch and former Green Power Ranger, with an army of stone golems and a giant golden monster. Starring Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, R.J. Cyler, Becky G and Ludi Lin as our titular young heroes with a particular set of skills, with Bill Hader and Bryan Cranston too.

'THE BOSS BABY' (Rated G) - this DreamWorks CGI animated feature is based on the 2010 picture book of the same name by Marla Frazee and is Directed by Tom McGrath. Here, the arrival of a new baby impacts a family, told from the perspective of a unreliable, albeit delightful narrator -- a wildly imaginative 7-year-old named Tim (Miles Bakshi, and narrated by Tobey Maguire as his adult self). The most unusual Boss Baby (Alec Baldwin) arrives at Tim's home in a taxi, wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase. Their sibling rivalry must soon be put aside when Tim discovers that Boss Baby is in fact a spy on a secret mission to win back the affection of his parents (Jimmy Kimmel and Lisa Kudrow), and thwart a plot that involves the CEO of Puppy Co. Francis E. Francis (Steve Buscemi) in an epic battle between puppies and babies. The film is released in the US on 31st March.

Four films this week offering the usual range of genres and tastes from epic big budget Disney live action retelling, to an updated teenage Superhero offering, to an ET alien running rampant on an International Space Station, and wrapping up with an animated family offering with a message. Share your thoughts with us here at this Blog, and in the meantime, I'll see you somewhere, sometime in the coming week at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 23rd July 2015.

In deepest darkest Adelaide it's mid-Winter, the temperatures are in the lower half of single digits, we relish clear blue skies during the warm day time but it's freakin' cold at night. With the shortest days of the year behind us now it's all down hill to Summer, but in the meantime we can retreat to a warm movie theatre and catch a new film released this week, or any of the other great cinematic content still out there on general release.

This week then there are five new movies to whet your film going appetite with an ageing super sleuth looking back on his life and an unsolved mystery; then an account of a brief time and a singular man who almost changed the course of history back in 1939; next a high school supernatural horror thriller; a Sci-Fi self-help experiment that may not be all its cracked up to be; and in closing a mistaken identity blind date BritRomCom.

As always, you are cordially invited after your filmic experience this coming week to share your personal movie critique with your fellow film fans here at Odeon Online, by recording your comments below this, or any other Post. In the meantime, enjoy your movie.

MR. HOLMES (Rated M) - This crime drama stars the titular Mr. Sherlock Holmes but not of the Robert Downey Jnr. type or out of the Guy Ritchie mould. Instead, this version is based on the 2005 novel 'A Slight Trick of the Mind' written by Mitch Cullin and based on the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle hero and is Directed by Bill Condon. What we have here though is an ageing Sherlock Holmes (Ian McKellen) now in his early nineties, and set in 1947 when the great detective is no longer living in London's Baker Street, but settled down in his retirement in a Sussex farm house shacked up with his housekeeper (Laura Linney) and her young son.

All is not well though as Holmes is unhappy about a recently published article by his former partner Dr. Watson regarding his last case which remains unsolved after many years. Holmes though in his later years has failing memory and is seeking to record his own account of that same case which he knows is different to Watson's version. Along the way as he uncovers the truth through flashback, natural remedies to restore his memory, and his powers of deduction he comes to realise that there is more to life than pure logic and science and sometimes you need to make a human and emotional connection to get to the bottom of things.

SELF/LESS (Rated M) - Here we have a Sci-Fi thriller Directed by Tarsem Singh and made for US$26M and stars Ben Kingsley as big time real estate tycoon billionaire Damian Hayes, who has everything anyone could possibly ask for . . . except his health, because he is dying of cancer. Help is at hand though in the form of a radical medical operation known as 'shedding' in which his consciousness is transplanted into a new healthy body. That body belongs to Mark (Ryan Reynolds) and Damian's newly located consciousness now adopts the alias Edward Hale for his new younger self. As Edward starts his new life in New Orleans he is plagued by flashes of someone else's life. As he digs deeper & deeper into the origins of his new body, he learns that there are those that we going to almost any length to keep it all a secret.

13 MINUTES (Rated MA15+) - Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel who brought us the excellent 'Downfall' in 2004 has returned to the world of Nazi Germany once again in this true story of a man who nearly changed the course of world history back in 1939. Johann Georg Elser (Christian Friedel) was a carpenter who set a bomb in a Munich beer hall to take out Adolf Hitler during an assembly he was to hold there. Acting alone Elser set his bomb to explode at a given time, but on the day in question Hitler departed the assembly hall thirteen minutes ahead of schedule, and so lived to live another day . . . and the rest is history that did change the world forever. Eight people were killed however, and another sixty injured, and for the following five years Elser was held in captivity, tortured and then executed at Dachau Concentration Camp for his failed assassination attempt. Ever since then those that know of this man ask 'what if?', and to have this story finally told on the big screen as one of the greatest resistance fighters will help keep his memory and his belief alive.

THE GALLOWS (Rated M) - Here we have another found footage supernatural horror thriller Directed by Travis Cluff and Chris Lofing starring a bunch of largely unknown  wannabes and made for just US$100K and so far grossing in excess of US$22M. The story surrounds a twenty year anniversary of a school play tragedy in which a student actor was killed accidentally on stage while play acting his death by hanging. Looking to mark the anniversary of the tragedy a group of young students re-enact the school play in a misjudged and misguided attempt to mark the occasion. Soon though thing begin to go bump in the night and all is not as it seems in this sleepy small town school and the fight meter ratchets up a few notches and the scares come thick & fast, as the friends come to the realisation that some things should just be left alone.

MAN UP (Rated M) - This BritRomCom is Directed by Ben Palmer and stars affable Simon Pegg as 40 year old recently divorced Jack who in a case of mistaken identity winds up with wrong blind date - Nancy (Lake Bell) - a 34 year old partying happy-go-lucky single girl he meets on a train and mistakes for his 24 year blind date Jessica (Ophelia Lovibond). Deciding to go with the rouse Nancy and Jack hit it off and embark on a whirlwind chaotic, funny, drunken, playful romance before Jack discovers the truth that Nancy was not his intended blind date. What follows is a journey of discovery, choices, decisions, and accepting the consequences of your actions. Rory Kinnear and Olivia Williams also star.

That's it then for the week ahead with horror, comedy, Sci-Fi, wartime drama, and crime drama coming to a movie theatre near you. Get out amongst it over the coming seven days, do yourself a favour and splash out $20 for a movie ticket . . . only at the cinema.

See you at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-