What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 6th April 2023.

Since 2012 the Sun Valley Film Festival has invited fans and filmmakers to America’s first ski resort to celebrate the magic of storytelling. Every (Northern Hemisphere) Spring the Festival celebrates with a slate of cutting-edge films, industry panels, engaging Coffee Talks with entertainment luminaries, a Screenwriters Lab led by award-winning writers, and a series of parties culminating with the spectacular SVFF Awards Bash. This years Festival ran from Wednesday 29th March through until Sunday 2nd April and is held in the ski resort town of Sun Valley, Idaho. The Sun Valley Film Festival invites guests to be a part of the legacy of storytellers, artists and filmmakers that have defined the town’s rich cinematic history. From screenings in the snow to an unforgettable reception at Hemingway’s restored hunting lodge, SVFF captures the spirit of a bygone era, one that comes alive for one magical weekend each March as it celebrates the shared wonder of film. In tandem with the town’s cinematic past, the Festival’s intimate accessibility attracts industry icons who return year after year, creating a community of artists that define the Festival’s unique atmosphere. With over 4,000 annual attendees, SVFF is quickly becoming known as the Festival for Filmmakers - a boutique event beloved by film fans and auteurs alike.

This years slate of feature films included the following titles :-

* 'Air' - from Director, Co-Producer and star Ben Affleck, with Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Viola Davis, Chris Tucker, Chris Messina and Marlon Wayans.

* 'Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out' - from Director and Co-Producer Jake van Wagoner and starring Emma Tremblay, Jacob Buster and Will Forte.

* 'Bad Press' - from Directors Rebecca Landsberry-Baker and Joe Peeler and starring Angel Ellis, Jerrad Moore and Lanzy Krehbiel-Burton.

* 'Birth/Rebirth' - from Director Laura Moss and starring Marin Ireland, Judy Reyes, A.J. Lister and Breeda Wool.

* 'Bobi Wine : The People's President' - this Documentary from Directors Christopher Sharp (who also Co-Produces) and Moses Bwayo (who is also Co-Cinematograhper).

* 'Deep Rising' - is a Documentary from Director Matthieu Rytz and is narrated by Jason Momoa.

* 'Dreamin' Wild' - from Director, Co-Producer and Co-Writer Bill Pohlad and starring Casey Affleck, Zooey Deschanel, Walton Goggins, Noah Jupe, Beau Bridges and Chris Messina.

* 'Fancy Dance' - from Director, Co-Producer and Co-Writer Erica Tremblay and starring Lily Gladstone, Isabel Deroy-Olson, Ryan Begay, Crystle Lightning, Audrey Wasilewski and Shea Whigham.

* 'Flamin' Hot' - from Director Eva Longoria in her feature film making debut, and starring Jesse Garcia, Annie Gonzalez, Dennis Haysbert, Matt Walsh and Tony Shalhoub.

* 'Fremont' - from Director Babak Jalali and starring Anaita Wali Zada, Jeremy Allen White and Gregg Turkington.

* 'Joyland' - from Director and Writer Saim Sadiq and starring Ali Junejo and Alina Khan.

* 'King Coal' - from Director, Co-Producer, Co-Writer and Co-Editor Elaine Sheldon and narrated by Elaine Sheldon. 

* 'Land of Gold' - from Director, Writer, Co-Producer and star Nardeep Khurmi and also starring Pallavi Sastry and Caroline Valencia.

* 'The Longest Goodbye' - this Documentary is from Director and Co-Writer Ido Mizrahy.

* 'Midday Black Midnight Blue' from Directors, Co-Producers and Co-Writers Samantha Soule and Daniel Talbott and starring Chris Stack, Samantha Soule, Will Pullen, Addie Johnson Talbott, McCaleb Burnett, Shane McRae, Dale Soules, and Merritt Wever.

* 'Nascondino' - this Documentary is Directed by Victoria Fiore.

* 'Showing Up' - from Director, Co-Writer and Editor Kelly Reichardt and starring Michelle Williams, Hong Chau, Maryann Plunkett, John Magaro, Andre Benjamin, James Le Gros, and Judd Hirsch.

* 'Surrounded' - from Director and Co-Producer Anthony Mandler and starring Letitia Wright, Jamie Bell, Jeffrey Donovan, Brett Gelman and Michael K. Williams.

* Wild Life' - this Documentary is Directed and Co-Produced by E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin and stars Kristine Tompkins, Rick Ridgeway, Jimmy Chin and Yvon Chouinard. 

This years Honourees for the Vision Award was presented to Actor and Producer Josh Brolin; the Pioneer Award was presented to Actor, Writer, Producer and Director Emilio Estevez; with the Rising Star Award being presented to Sophie Thatcher.

For the full run-down on the aforementioned films, plus all the details of the SVFF Short Films and a whole lot more good stuff, you can visit the official website at : https://sunvalleyfilmfestival.org/

This week then we have seven new release movies coming to a big screen Odeon near you, kick starting with a sports bio drama that follows the history of a shoe salesman and how he led Nike in its pursuit of the greatest athlete in the history of basketball. This is followed by a big screen adaptation of the popular tabletop role playing game that sees a charming and handsome thief and a band of would-be adventurous types join forces to find a long lost relic, but things don't go quite according to plan when they cross paths with various miscreants. Next up and based on a true story, we follow the Chief Exorcist of the Vatican as he investigates a young boy's terrifying possession and ultimately uncovers a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep covered up. Then we turn to a story of a geriatric ward in a small Yorkshire hospital that is threatened with closure, and how the local community come together to fight back. Following on from this we have a film that charts the travels of a curious grey Sardinian donkey across the Polish and Italian countryside, as he experiences the highs and lows of society, all the while never losing his innocence. Next is an Aussie offering that follows a high schooler and talented dancer who rebels against the discipline required for her to succeed following an unexpected accident. And closing out the week we have an animated film telling the story of The Super Mario Bros. on their journey through the Mushroom Kingdom.

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 week ahead.

'AIR' (Rated M) - this American biographical sports drama film is Directed by and stars Ben Affleck whose previous film making credits take in 'Gone Baby Gone' in 2007, 'The Town' in 2010, 'Argo' in 2012 and 'Live by Night' in 2016. This film saw its World Premier screening as the Closing Night film of SXSW in mid-March recently, has so far garnered generally positive reviews and is released Stateside this week too.

The film reveals the unbelievable game-changing partnership between a then-rookie Michael Jordan and Nike's fledgling basketball division which revolutionised the world of sports and contemporary culture with the Air Jordan brand. This story follows the career-defining gamble of an unconventional team with everything on the line, the uncompromising vision of a mother who knows the worth of her son’s immense talent, and the basketball phenom who would become the greatest of all time. Starring Matt Damon as Sonny Vaccaro, the Nike shoe salesman who ultimately signs the young rookie Michael Jordan to a deal to wear their shoes; Ben Affleck as Phil Knight the Co-Founder of Nike; Viola Davis as Deloris Jordan, Michael's mother with Jason Bateman, Marlon Wayans, Chris Messina and Chris Tucker.

'DUNGEONS & DRAGONS : HONOUR AMONG THIEVES' (Rated M) - is an American fantasy heist action comedy film Directed and Co-Written by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, based on the tabletop role-playing game 'Dungeons & Dragons'. This film is not connected to the original trilogy of films that launched with the feature film 'Dungeons & Dragons' in 2000, then the made for TV 'Dungeons & Dragons : Wrath of the Dragon God' in 2005 and the direct to video third film 'Dungeons & Dragons 3 : The Book of Vile Darkness' in 2012. Here then, a charming thief Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine) and a band of unlikely adventurers (Michelle Rodriguez, Rege-Jean Page, Justice Smith and Sophie Lillis) embark on an epic quest to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people (Hugh Grant, Daisy Head and Jason Wong). The film was originally set to be released on 23rd July 2021 but due to scheduling conflicts, the COVID-19 pandemic, and various other studio delays a release date of last week in the US and this week in Australia was finally set upon, having seen its World Premier screening at SXSW earlier in March. It has garnered generally positive critical reviews, and cost US$151M to produce. 

'THE POPE'S EXORCIST' (Rated MA15+) - this American supernatural horror film is Directed by Julius Avery whose previous feature film credits are 'Son of a Gun' in 2014, 'Overlord' in 2018 and 'Samaritan' in 2022. This film is based on the Italian Catholic Priest and Exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth of the Diocese of Rome and who lived from 1925 until 2016, and who claimed to have performed thousands of exorcisms throughout his life, as recounted in his memoirs 'An Exorcist Tells His Story' and 'An Exorcist : More Stories'. Chief Exorcist of the Vatican Gabriele Amorth (Russell Crowe), investigates a young boy's terrifying possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden. Also starring Daniel Zovatto, Alex Essoe and Franco Nero, and is released in the US next week on 14th April. 

'ALLELUJAH' (Rated M) - this British drama film is Directed by Richard Eyre who made his feature film Directorial debut back in 1983 with 'The Ploughman's Lunch' which he would then follow up over the successive years with the likes of 'Iris' in 2001, 'Stage Beauty' in 2004, 'Notes on a Scandal' in 2006, 'The Other Man' in 2008 and 'The Children Act' in 2017. This film is based on the Alan Bennett play of the same name and saw its World Premier screening at TIFF in mid-September last year, before its release in the UK in mid-March, having garnered mixed reviews. Here then, when the geriatric ward in a small Yorkshire hospital is threatened with closure, the hospital decides to fight back by galvanising the local community, and so they invite a news crew to film their preparations for a concert in honour of the hospital's most distinguished nurse. What could possibly go wrong? Starring Jennifer Saunders, Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi, Russell Tovey, David Bradley and Bally Gill. 

'EO' (Rated MA15+) - is a Polish drama road movie Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Jerzy Skolimowski that won the Jury Prize at the May 2022 Cannes Film Festival, was nominated for the Best International Feature Film at the recent Academy Awards and all up has scored another twenty award wins and a further fifty-three nominations from around the awards and festival circuit. The film follows a a grey donkey with melancholic eyes, named Eo who performs in a circus but when that circus suddenly closes down unexpectedly he is cast aside. On his journeys he encounters good and bad people, experiences joy and pain, endures the wheel of fortune as it randomly turns his luck into disaster and his despair into unexpected bliss, but not even for a moment does he lose his innocence, as we explore a vision of modern Europe through his eyes. The film has garnered universal critical acclaim and has so far taken US$2.3M in Box Office receipts.

'THE RED SHOES : NEXT STEP' (Rated PG) - this Australian family drama film is Directed by Jesse Ahern and Joanne Samuel with the former in his Directing debut and the latter helming on her second feature film following 2020's 'The Legend of the Five'. Here then, we follow high schooler and talented dancer Sam Cavanaugh (Juliet Doherty), who is about to dance the lead in ‘The Red Shoes’ ballet when her older sister Annie (Daniele Clements), a brilliant dancer, is struck by a car while on Facetime with her. Guilt-ridden, Sam quits the academy, returns to high school, runs wild with new friend Eve Leary (Lauren Esposito), and lands herself in community service, which requires her to clean studios at the academy, providing a constant reminder of the tragedy. When Gracie (Primrose Kern), ‘The Red Shoes’ principal, is injured, Sam is pressed by her ballet teacher Ms. Harlow (Carolyn Bock) to take over the role and dance with Ben (Joel Burke), an old friend, long-time crush, and renowned dancer.

'THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE' (Rated G) - is a computer animated fantasy film not to be confused with the critical and commercial failure of the 1993 live action fantasy adventure film 'Super Mario Bros.' that starred Bob Hoskins, Dennis Hopper and John Leguizamo. This film is Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic and is based on Nintendo's 'Mario' video game franchise. With help from Princess Peach (voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy), the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario, an Italian Brooklyn based plumber (Chris Pratt) travels through the Mushroom Kingdom with the princess and an anthropomorphic mushroom named Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) to find Mario's brother, Luigi (Charlie Day), and to save the world from a ruthless fire-breathing Koopa named Bowser (Jack Black). Also starring Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong. The film is released Stateside this week too, and in Japan on 28th April. 

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 coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 22nd November 2018.

The 'American Film Institute Festival' (AFI Fest) ran this year from November 8th though until 15th and is, according to the official website, an 'annual celebration of international cinema from modern masters and emerging filmmakers. It takes place each Autumn in Hollywood, California, USA, and features nightly red-carpet galas, special screenings, conversations and tributes. AFI Fest remains the first and only festival of its stature that is free to the public, offering the best of current cinema in Hollywood. AFI Fest 2018 is its 32nd edition. Los Angeles' longest running international film festival remains a showcase for the best festival films of the year, and an opportunity for artists to come together with audiences in the heart of the movie capital of the world'.

Films being showcased this year fall into several categories, a sample of which is given below:-
Galas
* 'On the Basis of Sex' was the opening night film. Directed by Mimi Leder and stars Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, Kathy Bates, Sam Waterston, Jack Reynor and Cailee Spaeny.
* 'The Ballad of Buster Scruggs', Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, starring Tim Blake Nelson, Liam Neeson, James Franco, Tom Waits, Brendan Gleeson and Zoe Kazan.
* 'Bird Box', Directed by Susanne Bier and starring Sandra Bullock, Jacki Weaver, Trevante Rhodes, Tom Hollander and John Malkovich.
* 'Green Book', Directed by Peter Farrelly and starring Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali.
* 'Widows' Directed by Steve McQueen and starring Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Jackie Weaver, Colin Farrell, Liam Neeson, Robert Duvall, Daniel Kaluuya and Jon Bernthal and as Previewed below for release this week in Australia.
* 'Destroyer' Directed by Karyn Kusama and starring Nicole Kidman, Toby Kebbell, Sebastian Stan and Bradley Whitford.
* 'Mary Queen of Scots' was the closing night film. Directed by Josie Rourke and starring Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, David Tennant and Guy Pearce.

Special Screenings
* 'Amazing Grace', Directed by Sydney Pollock and starring Aretha Franklin.
* 'Everybody Knows', Directed by Asghar Farhadi and starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem.
* 'The Favourite', Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult and Joe Alwyn.
* 'I Am The Night' Directed by Patty Jenkins and starring Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen and India Eisley.
* 'Roma' Directed by Alfonso Cuaron and starring Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira.
* 'Stan & Ollie' Directed by Jon S. Baird and starring John C. Reilly and Steve Coogan.
* 'Under the Silver Lake', Directed by David Robert Mitchell and starring Andrew Garfield, Riley Keough, Topher Grace and Grace Van Patten.
* 'Vox Lux' Directed by Brady Corbet and starring Natalie Portman, Jude Law and Jennifer Ehle.

Midnight
* 'Cam' Directed by Daniel Goldhaber and starring Madeline Brewer.
* 'In Fabric' Directed by Peter Strickland and starring Gwendoline Christie,
* 'Knife+Heart' Directed by Yann Gonzalez and starring Vanessa Paradis.
* 'Piercing' Directed by Nicolas Pesce and starring Mia Wasikowska and Christoper Abbott.

The other categories are World Cinema featuring 28 films, New Auteurs with eighteen films, American Independents with eleven films showcased, Cinema's Legacy with another six and Short Films featuring forty-seven shorts. You can gain more insights from this festival of film at the official website at : https://www.afi.com/afifest/

For this week we have four new release movies coming to your local Odeon. We launch with an updated film version of a British television series of the mid-'80's that sees four recently bereaved wives of four career criminals carry on the legacy that their dead husbands left behind. We then turn to yet another version of that Lincoln Green wearing hero of Sherwood Forest who takes from the rich and gives to the poor in this action fantasy adventure the like of which you have quite probably never seen our titular long bow wielding hero in before. Next up is a court room drama about a British High Court Judge who must decide the fate of a teenage lad who desperately needs life saving surgery which flies in the face of his family's religious beliefs, and, we then wrap up with a timely Christmas oriented offering with a new slant on a classic tale.

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

'WIDOWS' (Rated MA15+) - this American heist drama film is based on the 1983 and 1985 British television series of the same name that was written by Lynda La Plante, and which ran for two series each of six episodes. Now in 2018 that earlier inspiration has been given a makeover some thirty years later and this time is written for the screen by Gillian Flynn, the author of the acclaimed novel and later film 'Gone Girl'. Directed by Steve McQueen whose previous Directorial credits include 'Hunger', 'Shame' and '12 Years a Slave', here he has amassed an ensemble cast for a Production Budget of US$40M and what has so far received widespread Critical praise. The film saw its Premier screening at TIFF back in September, was released in the UK last week, the US and Australia this week, and has so far grossed US$21M.

The story here surrounds a Police shootout that leaves four thieves dead during an explosive armed robbery attempt in Chicago. Those men were Harry Rawlins (Liam Neeson), Carlos Perelli (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), Florek Gunner (Jon Bernthal) and Bash O'Reilly (Garret Dillahunt). Their widows Veronica Rawlins (Viola Davis), Linda Perelli (Michelle Rodriguez), Alice Gunner (Elizabeth Debicki) and Belle O'Reilly (Cynthia Erivo) have nothing in common except a debt left behind by their now dead husbands criminal activities. Hoping to forge a future on their own terms, Veronica joins forces with the other three women to pull off a heist that her husband was planning, to clear their debt and retire happy and content on the monies left over. Also starring Colin Farrell, Jackie Weaver, Daniel Kaluuya, Robert Duvall and Lukas Haas.

'ROBIN HOOD' (Rated M) - there have been many iterations of the legend of Robin Hood at both the cinema and on the television over the last century or more with more recent outings including 2010's 'Robin Hood' Directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe, 1993's 'Robin Hood : Men in Tights' Directed by Mel Brooks and starring Cary Elwes, 1991's 'Robin Hood : Prince of Thieves' Directed by Kevin Reynolds and starring Kevin Costner, also in 1991 'Robin Hood' Directed by John Irvin and starring Patrick Bergin and 1976's 'Robin and Marian'  Directed by Richard Lester and starring Sean Connery. Now in 2018 we have a reimagining of that fabled folk hero of the English twelfth century in this action adventure offering tinged with just a hint of fantasy, and Directed by Otto Bathurst who has worked mostly in British television thus far Directing episodes of 'Black Mirror', 'Peaky Blinders', 'Teachers' and 'Hustle' amongst others over the years. Here we find Robin of Loxley (Taron Egerton) a war-hardened Crusader and his Moorish commander known affectionately as Little John (Jamie Foxx) mount an audacious revolt against the corrupt English crown with thrills, spills, action, adventure, mayhem, of course a touch of romance and stylised close quarter combat along the way. Also starring Tim Minchin as Friar Tuck, Jamie Dornan as Will Scarlet, Paul Anderson as Guy of Gisborne, Eve Hewson as Maid Marian and Ben Mendelsohn as the Sheriff of Nottingham. The film has received less that favourable Press to date.

'THE CHILDREN ACT' (Rated M) - this English drama film is Directed by British film, television, theatre and opera Director Richard Eyre and is written for the screen by Ian McEwan based on his own 2014 novel of the same name. The film saw its World Premier screening at TIFF way back in  September 2017, went on general release in the UK in late August, in the United States in mid-September and now gets a go in Australia this week. The film has garnered generally positive Reviews and has so far grossed US$12M. Here, working through a marital crisis with her husband Jack (Stanley Tucci), a High Court Judge Fiona Maye (Emma Thompson) must determine if she should order a life-saving blood transfusion for a seventeen year old lad Adam Henry (Fionn Whitehead) with leukaemia, despite his parents Kevin and Naomi Henry (Ben Chaplin and Eileen Walsh respectively) refusal to accept medical treatment on the grounds that they are devout Jehovah's Witnesses, and any such treatment goes against their biblical beliefs.

'THE NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS' (Rated PG) - this American fantasy adventure film is Directed by Lasse Hallstrom and Joe Johnston and is a reworking of E. T. A. Hoffmann's short story 'The Nutcracker and the Mouse King' and Marius Petipa's 'The Nutcracker'. The story here tells of young Clara Stahlbaum (Mackenzie Foy) who is given an egg shaped box as a Christmas present from her father Mr. Stahlbaum (Matthew Macfadyen). But Clara needs a magical, one-of-a-kind key to unlock a box that contains a priceless gift. A golden thread leads her to the coveted key, but it soon disappears into a strange and mysterious parallel world. In that world, she meets a soldier named Captain Phillip Hoffman (Jayden Fowora-Knight), a group of mice and the royalty who preside over three realms. Clara and Phillip must now venture into a fourth realm to retrieve the key and restore harmony and peace to the unstable land. Also starring Helen Mirren as Mother Ginger, Keira Knightley at the Sugar Plum Fairy and the ruler over the Land of Sweets; Richard E. Grant as Shiver, the ruler over the Land of Snowflakes; Eugenio Derbez as Hawthorne, the ruler over the Land of Flowers and Morgan Freeman. The film cost in the region of US$120M to make, was released in the US earlier this month, has so far taken US$118M and has generated largely unfavourable press to date.

With four 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-