South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organised jointly that take place annually in mid-March in Austin, Texas, USA. It began in 1987 and has continued to grow in both scope and size every year. The SXSW Film Conference spans five days of conference panels and sessions, and welcomes filmmakers of all levels. The SXSW Film Festival runs for nine days, simultaneously with the SXSW Film Conference, and celebrates raw innovation and emerging talent both behind and in front of the camera. Festival categories include Special Events, Headliners, Narrative Spotlight, Documentary Spotlight, Narrative Competition, Documentary Competition, Visions, Midnighters, 24 Beats Per Second, SXGlobal, Episodic, Festival Favourites, and Short Film Programmes. Scheduled to take place between 13th and 22nd March, this years 34th SXSW was cancelled for the first time in its history on 6th March by the City of Austin because of the 2019/20 international coronavirus outbreak. SXSW organisers said that they were 'devastated' by the cancellation, writing that ''The show must go on' is in our DNA'. They also wrote, 'We are exploring options to reschedule the event and are working to provide a virtual SXSW online experience as soon as possible for 2020 participants'.A sad but true fact, that in reality makes a lot of sense given the potential size of the audience over the duration of the Festival was likely to top 70,000. One day, they'll make a film about this, no wait, they have that done that already with the likes of 'Outbreak' and 'Safe' both in 1995, and 'Contagion' in 2011 to name but a few.
For more on SXSW, you can visit the official website at : https://www.sxsw.com
Turning attention then back to the latest four new filmic releases coming to an Odeon near you in the week ahead, we launch with a hotly anticipated sequel to a 2018 film in which silence rules the world, and to break it risks death by alien predatory creatures, as the remaining members of one family embark on a perilous journey out into the world from the relative safety of their farmstead. This is then followed up by a historical retelling of the battle fought between two men to bring electric power to the masses as the 19th Century draws to a close. We next have an already highly acclaimed documentary about an area of Los Angeles which contains one of the largest populations of homeless folk in the US, and how one man seeks to unite a group of former felons with a common purpose and give them hope where otherwise there may have been none. And we wrap up the week with a live action CG animated sequel about a bunch of bunny rabbits who venture out into the big wide world and get up to all kinds of mischief before being reunited with their surrogate family and learning a thing or two about themselves.
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 coming week.
'A QUIET PLACE : PART II' (Rated M) - this is the eagerly anticipated American horror sequel to 2018's hugely popular and commercially successful 'A Quite Place' which was Directed Co-Written and starred John Krasinski, and went on to gross US$341M off the back off a US$17M production budget. Nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and two AACTA's amongst its total haul of 33 award wins and a further 110 nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit, Paramount Pictures announced just a matter of weeks following the release of the first film that a sequel was planned. Krasinski said he considered it 'as a one-off' but that with the sequel planned, he started considering the larger fictional universe to explore possibilities. Come August of that year and Krasinski was writing the script and in February 2019, he was hired to Direct. He also Co-Produces. By late September production had wrapped, and now in mid-March the film gets its wide release . . . . or so was originally planned. But on Thursday 12th March John Krasinski announced 'One of the things I’m most proud of is that people have said our movie is one you have to see all together. Well due to the ever-changing circumstances of what’s going on in the world around us, now is clearly not the right time to do that. As insanely excited as we are for all of you to see this movie .. I’m gonna wait to release the film till we CAN all see it together!' Paramount Pictures also stated 'We believe in and support the theatrical experience, and we look forward to bringing this film to audiences this year once we have a better understanding of the impact of this pandemic on the global theatrical marketplace.' Watch this space for updates once a new release date is locked in.
'THE CURRENT WAR' (Rated M) - is an American historical drama film Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon in only his third film making outing after 2014's 'The Town That Dreaded Sundown' and 2015's 'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl' although he has acted as Second Unit Director on a number of well known films over the years including 'Lucky Numbers', '21 Grams', 'Babel', 'State of Play', 'Julie & Julia' and 'Argo'. This film saw its World Premier showing at TIFF back in September 2017 and was originally slated for release by The Weinstein Company in December 2017, and then rescheduled for late November 2017. It was pulled from release following the sexual abuse allegations that arose against Harvey Weinstein, the then co-head of the company, and the rest regarding Mr. Weinstein is, a they say, history. After the Weinstein Company was declared bankrupt, and its assets purchased by Lantern Entertainment, a revised date for release was announced. It was released in late July 2019 in the UK and in late October 2019 in the US, has so far grossed US$12M from its US$30M production budget and has garnered mixed or average Reviews. And so here Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) two of the greatest inventors of the industrial age, engage in a battle of technology and ideas that will determine whose electrical system will power the new century. Backed by J.P. Morgan (Matthew Macfadyen), Edison dazzles the world by illuminating Manhattan. But Westinghouse, aided by Nikola Tesla (Nicholas Hoult), sees fatal flaws in Edison's Direct Current design. Westinghouse and Tesla bet everything on the risky and dangerous Alternating Current. Also starring Tom Holland, Katherine Waterston and Tuppence Middleton.
'SKID ROW MARATHON' (Rated CTC) - initially released in mid-2017 in the US on the film festival circuit, this inspiring, feel good and heart warming Documentary film is Written and Directed by Mark Hayes. The main figure in this Documentary is Judge Craig Mitchell, who early on in life had designs on becoming a priest, but decided against that and taught at a high school in South Central Los Angeles for seventeen years before deciding to go to law school. He became a Los Angeles Prosecutor in 1994, and then a Judge in 2005. He has issued many jail sentences from the bench, some of them for quite lengthy periods of time. Judge Mitchell's life changed however, when a prisoner recently released whom he had previously sentenced invited him to visit the Midnight Mission in Skid Row in Downtown LA. Mitchell, who has a lifelong passion for running, came up with the idea of starting the Midnight Mission Runners Club. The doc, shot over several years, profiles several individuals whose lives were changed as a result of their participation, and there attendance at several international marathons. This film offers plenty of opportunity for these running club members to tell their stories, and for Judge Mitchell to describe his motivations, which is all the more surprising given that he suffers from a serious spinal condition that led his doctors to advise him never to run again. The film has won 25 awards (every one it was nominated for), went on release in the UK in May 2018, and only now gets a very limited release in Australia.
'PETER RABBIT 2 : THE RUNAWAY' (Rated G) - this computer animated and live action comedy sequel to 2018's successful 'Peter Rabbit' which grossed US$351M off the back of a US$50M budget investment, is once again Directed, Co-Produced, and Co-Written for the screen by Will Gluck, and is based on the beloved characters created by Beatrix Potter at the turn of the twentieth century. Here live action characters Bea (Rose Byrne), Thomas (Domhnall Gleeson) and Percy McGregor (David Oyelowo) and the rabbits have created a makeshift family, but despite his best efforts, Peter Rabbit (voiced by James Cordon) can’t seem to shake off his mischievous reputation. Adventuring beyond the garden, Peter discovers a world where his mischief is appreciated, but when his family risks everything searching for him, Peter must figure out what kind of bunny he really wants to be. Also starring the voice talents of Margot Robbie as Flopsy, Elizabeth Debicki as Mopsy, Colin Moody as Benjamin, Lennie James, Sia, Sam Neill, Ewen Leslie and Damon Herriman. The film is released in the US on 3rd April. Like 'A Quiet Place : Part II' above, the release of 'Peter Rabbit 2 : The Runaway' has now been pushed back due to the global impact of the Coronavirus, to an August 7th US release. Again, watch this space for future updates.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-
