FERRARI : Tuesday 9th January 2024.

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'FERRARI' earlier this week, and this American biographical sports drama film is Directed by Michael Mann and is based on the 1991 biography 'Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races, the Machine' by motorsport journalist Brock Yates. Michael Mann's prior feature film making credits take in his Directorial debut in 1981 with 'Thief' which he would follow up with the likes of 'Manhunter' in 1986, 'The Last of the Mohicans' in 1992, 'Heat' in 1995, 'The Insider' in 1999, 'Ali' in 2001, 'Collateral' in 2004, 'Miami Vice' in 2006 and 'Public Enemies' in 2009. 'Ferrari' has been a passion project of Mann's since 2000 when he first began exploring making the film. Since then Christian Bale and then Hugh Jackman were attached to star as Enzo Ferrari, with Adam Driver eventually scoring the gig. 'Ferrari' was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival, where it Premiered at the end of August last year, before its wide cinema release in the US on 25th December, having so far grossed US$28M from a production budget of US$95M and garnering generally favourable reviews. 

The film opens up with pre-WWII black and white footage of cars racing around a dusty track with a young Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) crossing the finish line to take first place. We then fast forward to 1957 and now the owner of the Ferrari motor racing company and sports car manufacturer Enzo is seen waking up in bed one bright sunny morning next to his mistress Lina Lardi (Shailene Woodley). He sneaks out of bed, gets dressed and stealthily leaves the house bump starting his car down the drive so as not to wake Lina and their young son Piero (Giuseppe Festinese). 

He arrives home to Modena early in the morning where his wife Laura Ferrari (Penelope Cruz) is waiting for him, with a loaded pistol. After a heated exchange of words she shoots at him deliberately missing but putting a bullet hole in the wall at head height. Enzo then visits the family mausoleum to pay his respects to his son with Laura, Alfredo 'Dino' Ferrari, who died just one year previously in 1956 at the age of 24 from muscular dystrophy. Lina in the meantime is putting pressure on Enzo to grant their illegitimate son, the Ferrari name as his confirmation approaches.

Meanwhile, Ferrari’s manufacturing company is suffering from severe financial haemorrhaging. His accountant tells him that last year the company sold just 98 sports cars and to survive they need to sell four hundred in order to underpin Enzo's racing ambitions. Faced with no other choice, Ferrari must merge with a sister company in order to keep his business afloat. However, Laura owns half of Ferrari's shares, and ever since the company was founded in 1947 the pair have done everything on an even 50/50 basis. In order to move forward on deals, Enzo must convince Laura to sign the entirety of the company over to him. A resentful Laura demands a bank cheque for US$500K, which will bankrupt the company if she cashes it. The accountant also suggests that Ferrari should enter his racing team to the 1957 Mille Miglia - the 24th edition of the auto race held on a course totalling 992.332 miles (1,597.004 km), made up entirely of public roads around Italy, mostly on the outer parts of the country on 11th and 12th May 1957. The route was based on a round trip between Brescia and Rome, with start/finish in Brescia.

Meanwhile, during a private Ferrari test session at the Modena Autodrome, Eugenio Castellotti (Marino Franchitti) was testing a new Ferrari Grand Prix car for the 1957 season. He had been told by Enzo in person to test there and set a fast time, in order to beat an unofficial lap record that had just been set by Maserati. Castelotti hit a high kerb at a chicane and was thrown out of the car - his body was hurled 100 yards with the car repeatedly overturning before coming to rest in the members' stand. Castelotti was killed instantly. Enzo orders Laura to withdraw US$25K from the business account to give to Castelotti's widow. 

At the bank sitting with a clerk to withdraw the funds, the clerk makes the mistake of naming the villa where Lina lives. Laura confirms her suspicions by having her driver take them to the address located in the countryside outside Modena, where she confirms that Enzo has been having an affair, and has secretly been using company funds to maintain the villa. Laura confronts Enzo with the fact that she knows the truth. Enzo agrees to write the cheque and trusts her to wait until such time as a business partnership is forged. 

As the Mille Miglia commences in Brescia, Enzo encourages his drivers to remain ahead of the competition. During a pit-stop in Rome, Enzo’s newest addition to the team, Alfonso de Portago, (Gabriel Leone) refuses to change his tyres to stay in the lead. 

Later, while driving at top speed down a very long stretch of country road passing through the village of Guidizzolo he suffers a tyre blowout caused by a worn tyre striking the sharp edge of a cats eye in the road and loses control of the vehicle, which veers off the road, hits a telephone pole, jumps over a brook, bounces back on the road and ends up wheels down in the brook on the other side of the road killing de Portago by severing his body in half, his American co-driver/navigator and nine onlookers, five of whom were children, and injuring a further twenty.

Another of Ferrari's drivers, the veteran Piero Taruffi (Patrick Dempsey), completes the round trip to Brescia and wins the race in the Ferrari 315S, ahead of Wolfgang von Trips (Wyatt Carnell) also driving a Ferrari 315S in second place and Olivier Gendebien (Brett Smrz) and Jacques Washer in the Ferrari 250 GT LWB Scaglietti in third place, so completing a top three sweep for the Prancing Horse. Ferrari is blamed by the media for de Portago's lethal accident, and Laura cashes her cheque to enable Enzo to bribe journalists into deflecting the blame away from him and Ferrari. She signs over the full rights to the company, requesting that in return, Enzo refrain from giving Piero the Ferrari name until after she is dead. Enzo agrees, and later accompanies Piero to his half-brother's grave. In 1961 Ferrari and Enzo were cleared of any culpability in the crash at Guidizzolo. Laura died in 1978 and in 1989 Piero was nominated as vice-Chairman of Ferrari, and in 1990 he legally changed his name from Piero Lardi Ferrari to Piero Ferrari. He remains vice-Chairman of the Ferrari automotive company to this day. 

With Michael Mann's 'Ferrari' the Director here has delivered his trademark attention to detail and his top notch production values, coupled with two compelling performances from Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz, and a story covering a few months in 1957 that intertwines the emotion and turmoil of Enzo's personal life with his ambitions on the race track and the need to keep his company afloat. 'Ferrari' is, when all is said and done, a character study of a racing driver turned entrepreneur who is determined to put his sports cars on the map, build a company that will be the envy of motor enthusiasts everywhere long after he is gone, and who is able to overcome adversity in his personal and business life by always looking forward and never looking back. My one criticism of 'Ferrari' is that the film seems to look upon the 1957 Mille Miglia as the first time that Ferrari entered this race, when in fact Ferrari won its first Mille Miglia in 1948, followed by wins in '49, '50, '51', '52, '53, '56 and of course '57, which was the last year that the race was held in this format before being disbanded altogether in 1961 for driver and spectator safety reasons. 

'Ferrari' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 11th January 2024.

The 81st Golden Globe Awards were held on Sunday 7th January at The Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, California, USA and was hosted by Jo Koy, the American stand-up comedian and Actor.  The Golden Globes are presented for film and American television productions of 2023. 

Today, the Golden Globes recognise achievements in twenty-seven categories - fifteen in motion pictures and twelve in television. Those winners, grinners and also-rans in the feature film categories are as given below :-

* Best Motion Picture : Drama - awarded to 'Oppenheimer', beating out 'Anatomy of a Fall', 'Killers of the Flower Moon', 'Maestro', 'Past Lives' and 'The Zone of Interest'. 

* Best Motion Picture : Musical or Comedy - presented to 'Poor Things', beating out 'Air', 'American Fiction', 'Barbie', 'The Holdovers' and 'May December'.

* Best Motion Picture : Animated - awarded to 'The Boy and the Heron', beating out 'Elemental', 'Spider-Man : Across the Spider-Verse', 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie', 'Suzume' and 'Wish'.

* Best Motion Picture : Non-English Language - awarded to 'Anatomy os a Fall', beating out 'Fallen Leaves, 'Io capitano', 'Past Lives', 'Society of the Snow' and 'The Zone of Interest'.

* Cinematic and Box Office Achievement - presented to 'Barbie', beating out 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3', 'John Wick: Chapter 4', 'Mission : Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One', 'Oppenheimer', 'Spider-Man : Across the Spider-Verse', 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' and 'Taylor Swift : The Eras Tour'.

* Best Performance in a Motion Picture - Drama : Actor - presented to Cillian Murphy for 'Oppenheimer', beating out Bradley Cooper for 'Maestro', Leonardo DiCaprio for 'Killers of the Flower Moon', Colman Domingo for 'Rustin', Barry Keoghan for 'Saltburn' and Andrew Scott for 'All of Us Strangers'.

* Best Performance in a Motion Picture - Drama : Actress - awarded to Lily Gladstone for 'Killers of the Flower Moon', beating out Annette Bening for 'Nyad', Sandra Huller for 'Anatomy of a Fall', Greta Lee for 'Past Lives', Carey Mulligan for 'Maestro' and Cailee Spaeny for 'Priscilla'. 

* Best Performance in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy : Actor - awarded to Paul Giamatti for 'The Holdovers', beating out Nicolas Cage for 'Dream Scenario', Timothee Chalamet for 'Wonka', Matt Damon for 'Air', Joaquin Phoenix for 'Beau Is Afraid' and Jeffrey Wright for 'American Fiction'.

* Best Performance in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy : Actress - presented to Emma Stone for 'Poor Things', beating out Fantasia Barrino for 'The Color Purple', Jennifer Lawrence for 'No Hard Feelings', Natalie Portman for 'May December', Alma Poysti for 'Fallen Leaves' and Margot Robbie for 'Barbie'. 

* Best Supporting Performance in a Motion Picture : Actor - presented to Robert Downey Jnr. for 'Oppenheimer', beating out Willem Dafoe for 'Poor Things', Robert De Niro for 'Killers of the Flower Moon', Ryan Gosling for 'Barbie', Charles Melton for 'May December' and Mark Ruffalo for 'Poor Things'.

* Best Supporting Performance in a Motion Picture : Actress - awarded to Da'Vine Joy Randolph for 'The Holdovers', beating out Emily Blunt for 'Oppenheimer', Danielle Brooks for 'The Color Purple', Jodie Foster for 'Nyad', Julianne Moore for 'May December' and Rosamund Pike for 'Saltburn'. 

* Best Director - presented to Christopher Nolan for 'Oppenheimer', beating out Bradley Cooper for 'Maestro', Greta Gerwig for 'Barbie', Yorgos Lanthimos for 'Poor Things', Martin Scorsese for 'Killers of the Flower Moon' and Celine Song for 'Past Lives'. 

* Best Screenplay - presented to Justine Triet and Arthur Harari for 'Anatomy of a Fall', beating out 'Barbie', 'Poor Things', 'Oppenheimer', 'Killers of the Flower Moon' and 'Past Lives'. 

* Best Original Score - awarded to Ludwig Goransson for 'Oppenheimer', beating out 'Poor Things', 'The Boy and the Heron', 'The Zone of Interest', 'Spider-Man : Across the Spider-Verse' and 'Killers of the Flower Moon'. 

* Best Original Song - presented to  'What Was I Made For?' from 'Barbie' by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell.

For all the details of this years Golden Globe's ceremony including the TV awards, you can go to the official website at : https://goldenglobes.com/

Turning the attention then back to this weeks four new movies coming to a big screen Odeon near you, we kick off with an American comedy drama film that sees a a cranky history teacher at a remote prep school who is forced to remain on campus over the holidays with a troubled student who has no place to go. This is followed by a man’s personal journey of vengeance which takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organisation. Next up we turn to an American musical comedy offering that sees a high school newcomer who becomes a hit with the Plastics, an A-list girl clique at her new school when she makes the mistake of falling for the ex-boyfriend of the alpha Plastic. And closing out the week we have an animated comedy film about an American family who moves into Canterville Chase, a stately countryside mansion that has been haunted by the ghost of Sir Simon De Canterville for 300 years.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the four 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 HOLDOVERS' (Rated M) - is an American Christmas comedy-drama film Directed by Alexander Payne, whose previous feature film making credits take in the likes of ‘Election’ in 1999, ‘About Schmidt’ in 2002, ‘Sideways’ in 2004, ‘The Descendants’ in 2011 and ‘Downsizing’ in 2017. This film saw its World Premiere screening at the Telluride Film Festival at the end of August last year and was released in the US on 27th October. It received positive reviews and has grossed US$21M. It was named one of the top ten films of 2023 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute, and has received so far 53 award wins and another 130 nominations including three nominations at this years Golden Globe Awards.

Set in 1970, the film follows a bad-tempered history teacher Paul Dunham (Paul Giamatti) at a remote New England boarding school who is forced to chaperone a handful of students with nowhere to go during the Christmas break. He soon forms an unlikely bond with a brainy but damaged troublemaker, Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and with the school's head cook Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), a woman who just lost a son in the Vietnam War. 

'THE BEEKEEPER' (Rated MA15+) - this American action thriller film is Co-Produced and Directed by David Ayer, whose prior feature film making credits take in the likes of his Directing debut in 2005 with 'Harsh Times' then 'Street Kings' in 2008, 'End of Watch' in 2012, 'Fury' in 2014, 'Suicide Squad' in 2016 and 'Bright' in 2017. Here, Mr. Clay (Jason Statham, who also Co-Produces here) is a former operative of a clandestine organisation called 'Beekeepers'. After his friend and neighbour dies by suicide after falling for a phishing scam, Mr. Clay sets out to exact revenge against the company responsible. Also starring Minnie Driver, Jeremy Irons and Josh Hutcherson. The film is released Stateside this week too. 

'MEAN GIRLS' (Rated PG) - is a musical comedy film Directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. in their feature film Directorial debut, from a Screenplay written by Tina Fey, and based on the Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on Mark Waters's 2004 comedy film, both written by Tina Fey. Here new student Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) is welcomed into the top of the social food chain by the elite group of popular girls called 'The Plastics', ruled by the conniving queen bee Regina George (Renee Rapp) and her minions Gretchen Wieners (Bebe Wood) and Karen Shetty (Avantika Vandanapu). However, when Cady makes the major misstep of falling for Regina's ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney), she finds herself then prey and in Regina's crosshairs. As Cady sets to take down the group's apex predator with the help of her outcast friends Janis 'Imi'ike (Auli'i Cravalho) and Damian Hubbard (Jaquel Spivey), she must learn how to stay true to herself while navigating the most cutthroat jungle of all - high school. Also starring Tina Fey (who also Co-Produces) and Tim Meadows who reprise their roles from the original film, and Jon Hamm. This film is released in the US this week too. 

'THE CANTERVILLE GHOST' (Rated PG) - this animated comedy film is Directed by Kim Burdon and Robert Chandler in their feature film Directorial debuts. The film tells the story of a modern American family that moves to their recently purchased country home, Canterville Chase in England, only to find it is haunted by a ghost. Effectively, Sir Simon de Canterville (Stephen Fry) has been haunting the grounds of Canterville Chase successfully for over 300 years, but he meets his match when he tries to scare out the new arrivals. Also starring the voice talents of Hugh Laurie, Imelda Staunton, Freddie Highmore and Toby Jones. 

With four 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-

ONE LIFE : Tuesday 2nd January 2024.

I saw the PG Rated 'ONE LIFE' earlier this week, and this British biographical drama film is Directed by James Hawes in his feature film debut, although he has been Directing both single and multiple episodes of TV series for a number of years taking in the likes of 'Doctor Who', 'Merlin', 'Penny Dreadful', 'Black Mirror', 'The Alienist', 'Snowpiercer' and 'Slow Horses' most recently. This film is based on the book 'If It’s Not Impossible…The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton' by Barbara Winton, and it had its World Premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9th September last year, was released in the UK on 1st January, and has garnered generally favourable critical reviews.

The film opens up in the suburbs of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England in 1987 with an ageing Nicholas Winton (Anthony Hopkins) pulling up to his house in h car and walking into his home with two handfuls of charity collection boxes, which he empties on the kitchen bench and begins sorting and counting the coin donations. He is interrupted by his wife Grete (Lena Olin) who chastises him for the amount of storage boxes, files and paraphernalia he has stacked up in the lounge room and his home office. She once again reminds him that after fifty years it is time he has a clean out and a de-clutter, especially considering that his pregnant daughter is expected home for Christmas and that they'll need the room. In his office, she pulls on a drawer of his desk to reveal a leather briefcase with the initials T.C. in faded gold lettering, saying that it is about time too that he did something about that, to which he promptly closes the drawer.

We then flashback to 1938 and a young Nicholas Winton (Johnny Flynn) is working as a stockbroker in London, but is wracked by a sense of duty to lend whatever support and aid he can to the groups of largely Jewish children in the recently Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia, just before the beginning of WWII. He visits Prague for a week, having been allowed time off work to do so, to see first hand the extent of the task he has vowed to undertake. There he meets Trevor Chadwick (Alex Sharp), Martin Blake (Ziggy Heath) and Doreen Warriner (Romola Garai) of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia. Shocked by the what he witnessed in Prague in the makeshift camps housing countless displaced men, women and children, he telegrams his office to say he needs more time. 

Winton then calls his mother Babi Winton (Helena Bonham Carter) in London to enlist her assistance in lobbying the House of Commons to approve the entry of child refugees. Eventually, the House agrees upon the provision that younger than 17 years of age are permitted entry, provided they had a place to stay, a warranty of £50 was deposited per person for their eventual return to their own country, plus a handful of other conditions, and that all the necessary accompanying paperwork was in order. 

Back in 1987 and Grete is off on a short break to Europe, leaving Nicholas at home to begin the arduous task of clearing and de-cluttering their lounge room and study, which he does successfully, by burning many of the storage boxes in his back garden, much to Grete's very pleasant surprise when she arrives back home. On his desk rests the leather briefcase which it is revealed contains a scrapbook containing photographs and lists of the children, including their parents' names and the names and addresses of the families that took them in. Nicholas has lunch with Martin Blake (Jonathan Pryce) who says that the scrapbook is testimony to his determination in bringing back so many children and that he has a connection with Robert Maxwell who would be very interested in sighting it. And so Nicholas receives a call from Elisabeth Maxwell (Marthe Keller), a Holocaust researcher and wife of media magnate Robert Maxwell, and is stunned to learn that Winton was involved in the rescue and relocation of 669 children from Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia in 1938/39. 

Back in early 1939 Winton is in London with Babi waiting track side for the arrival of trainloads of children over the course of several months with eight trains successfully making the journey across to London, and being successfully relocated with foster parents. However, the ninth train bringing 250 children across was scheduled to leave Prague on 1st September 1939, but was unable to depart, with Hitler's invasion of Poland on the same day the Second World War had begun. What became of those 250 children remains unknown but in all likelihood they perished in the Nazi concentration camps. 

Thanks to Robert Maxwell, the wider world found out about his work in February 1988 during an episode of the BBC television programme 'That's Life!' when he was invited as a member of the audience. At one point, Winton's scrapbook was shown and his achievements were explained. The host of the programme, Esther Rantzen (Samantha Spiro), introduced Winton to children he had helped to rescue live on air. 

In a follow-up programme of 'That's Life!' a week later at which Winton was again in the audience with his wife by his side this time, Rantzen asked whether anybody in the audience was among the children who owed their lives to Winton, and if so, to stand. At which, the entire audience rose to its feet surrounding Winton and applauded, with those closest embracing him. 

In a closing scene Nicholas and Grete are seen entertaining a family of a now adult rescued child and her family including several grandchildren at their home as they all make their way down to his swimming pool. In the closing credits actual footage of those now adult refugees is seen, together with Winton who in the 1983 Birthday Honours, was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), and in the 2003 New Year Honours, he was knighted for services to humanity, in recognition of his work on the Czech Kindertransport. He died in 2015 at the age of 106.

With 'One Life' here first time feature film Director James Hawes has delivered us a film that will resonate with WWII historians and those being introduced to the story of Nicholas Winton for the first time. This story of how a small group of people made such an impactful difference to the lives of 669 children, and how Winton only gained recognition for his efforts some fifty years after the fact is a story that needed to be told, and in weaving the timelines between 1938/39 and 1987/88 Director Hawes has eeked out a thought provoking and emotional biographical drama, paired with strong performances from Hopkins, Bonham Carter and Flynn that is unlikely to leave barely a dry eye in the house by the time the end credits roll.

'One Life' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

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

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

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

The 2024 Award Recipients are as follows :-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.

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

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

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

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

With three new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Monday 1st January 2024.

As another year draws to a close it's a time to reflect on the cinematic year that was, and the hope for generally better times ahead in 2024, as the world is gripped by two wars raging in Ukraine and Israel, cinema audiences have voted with their feet given the ever increasing cost of living rises, the competition from streaming services, and the fatigue that has seemingly set into the Superhero genre, but saved to a degree by the 'Barbieheimer' effect  This year I have Reviewed forty-seven movies and Previewed 264 feature films and documentaries. All that remains for me to say is the very best to you for a very Happy New Year that is safe, healthy and prosperous, and wherever you are in the world, get out and watch a movie at your local multiplex or local independent movie theatre and support all those working tirelessly in front and behind the camera. Thanks for your ongoing support over the past twelve months and I look forward to bringing you more of the same content in the year ahead.

This week then we have just two new cinematic offerings coming to a big screen Odeon near you, with the first being a sports comedy drama film that tells the story of how, with the 2014 World Cup qualifiers approaching, down-on-his-luck coach Thomas Rongen tries to turn the American Samoa soccer team into winners. And this is followed up by dark comedy fantasy film about a mild mannered family man who finds his life turned upside down when millions of strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it either of the two latest release new films kick starting the new year 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.

'NEXT GOAL WINS' (Rated M) - is an American sports comedy-drama film Directed by Taika Waititi, who also Co-Writes, Co-Produces and has a cameo role in the film. It is based on the 2014 documentary of the same name by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison. Taika Waititi's previous feature film credits take in the likes of his 2007 debut with 'Eagle vs. Shark', then 'Boy' in 2010, 'Hunt for the Wilderpeople' in 2016, 'Thor : Ragnarok' in 2017, 'JoJo Rabbit' in 2019 and 'Thor : Love and Thunder' in 2022. This film saw its World Premiere showcasing at the Toronto International Film Festival in mid-September 2023 and was released Stateside in mid-November, has so far recovered approaching US$8M from its production cost of US$14M and has generated mixed or average critical reviews.

Here then, Dutch American football coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender) faces the option of being fired or accepting an almost impossible task - to convert the American Samoa national team, considered one of the weakest football teams in the world, into an elite squad and to have them qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Also starring Oscar Kightley, Rachel House, Will Arnett, Elisabeth Moss, Luke Hemsworth and Kaitlyn Dever.

'DREAM SCENARIO' (Rated MA15+) - is an American black comedy fantasy film Written and Directed by the Norwegian Kristoffer Borgli in only his second feature film outing following 2022's 'Sick of Myself'. This film is Produced by Ari Aster, Lars Knudsen, Nicolas Cage, and a couple of others. It saw its World Premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September last year and went on wide release from the end of November having so far grossed US$7M at the Box Office and garnering generally positive reviews. Here a hapless family man, Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) finds his life turned upside down when millions of strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams. However, when his nighttime appearances take a nightmarish turn, he's forced to navigate the consequences of his newfound stardom. Also starring Julianne Nicholson and Michael Cera.

With just two 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-