the revenant - Odyssey Cinema

P R O G R A M M E
–
F e b r u ar y
2 0 1 6
THE REVENANT
February 2016 • ISSUE 14
www.odysseypictures.co.uk
01727 453088
See page 3 for box office opening hours
PUCCINI
TOSCA
ST ALBANS
CHAMBER
OPERA
Abbey Theatre, St Albans. Performed in English
TUESDAY 15th to SATURDAY 19th March 2016 at 7.30pm
SUNDAY matinee 13th March 2016 at 3.00pm
Tickets £18.50 available from the Abbey Theatre Box Office www.abbeytheatre.org.uk 01727 857861
By arrangement with Chester Music Limited trading as G Schirmer Limited on behalf of G Schirmer, Inc.
St Albans Chamber Opera ad Odessy half page ad Feb programme.indd 1
16/01/2016 16:45
BEST IN February
C I N E M A
S T
A L B A N S
CONTENTS
Films At A Glance
14-15
Obits
23
Awards 24-25
BOX OFFICE: 01727 453088
Mon to Sat
10.30am-6.30pm
8pm-9pm
Sun2pm-5.30pm
(with matinée)
6.30pm-7.30pm
Sun & Bank Holiday 3pm-5.30pm
(no matinée)
6.30pm-7.30pm
TICKETS IN PERSON
Mon to Sat
10.30am-8pm
Sunday (with matinée) 12-7.30pm
Sun & Bank Holiday
(no matinée)
3pm-7.30pm
ONLINE BOOKING
Labyrinth
Candy floss Bowie in his element, magical and ridiculous. Don’t miss
Page 16
FILMS OF THE MONTH
• General release tickets go online on
the Monday following the Saturday
General sale.
• There is a £1.50 booking fee (to
cover costs of card transactions and
the booking site).
www.odysseypictures.co.uk/listings
SEAT PRICES
‘A small and perfectly formed school’
Open Morning - Saturday 12th March 2016
Management
Team:
Anna Shepherd
Jo Littlejohn
James Wallman
Head
Technician: Gary Hawkins
Artwork: Demiurge Design
01296 668739
Director: James Hannaway
LOCKERS PARK
Preparatory School: Day & Boarding for Boys (7-13)
Pre-Preparatory School: Co-Educational (4-7)
www.lockerspark.herts.sch.uk
Full Price Concs
Upstairs
£9.00 £7.50
Upstairs Settee
£20.00 £20.00
(Single or double occupancy)
Downstairs Settee £22.00 £22.00
(Single or double occupancy)
Downstairs (Tables) £11.00 £10.00
Downstairs Premium £13.00 £13.00
(Front row /Royal Box)
Disabled £7.50 Carer £0
Matinee’s from £5 no concessions
Good Schools Guide
T: 01442 251712
The Odyssey 166 London Road,
St. Albans, Herts AL1 1PQ
www.odysseypictures.co.uk
Creed
Room
Stallone steals the ring one more
bout. Who would have thought
it…? Page 17
A heart wrenching ride,
uncomfortable but edge of your
seat. Could win all. Page 18
The Big Short
Taxi Tehran
Straight talking, funny. A swindling
thriller, perhaps to beat them all.
Don’t miss. Page 19
Banned filmmaker makes a very
dangerous film in good humour.
Unlike anything else. Page 21
FORTHCOMING
PRODUCTIONS
26 Feb – 5 Mar 2016
By Tom Stoppard
Company of Ten
22 – 30 Apr 2016
By Jez Butterworth
Company of Ten
13 – 21 May 2016
By William Shakespeare
Company of Ten
Box Office: 01727 857861 www.abbeytheatre.org.uk
Westminster Lodge, Holywell Hill, St Albans AL1 2DL
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February FILMS
6
THE ODYSSEY - February
Box Office: 01727 453088
Bridge Of Spies
Groundhog Day
In 1957, the US and Soviet Union were in the
height of the Cold War. Not a war of bloodshed and
trenches; this was a war of spies. Both sides needed
to know the nuclear capabilities of the other…
We meet Jim Donovan (Tom Hanks) a lawyer who is
recruited by the CIA to defend a Soviet spy, Rudolf
Abel (Mark Rylance) much to the dismay of his
family and disdain of his country. Just as the case
turns, and by a twist of fate, it becomes irrelevant,
but not so the verdict. Suddenly, it is international
spy exchange time. The Soviet Abel for a US spyplane pilot, Gary Powers, recently shot down over
Russia. This is the latest in a run of collaborations
between Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, beginning
with Saving Private Ryan in 1998. This Bridge does
not disappoint, with some saying it is their best
partnership yet.
“Bridge of Spies connects Cold War paranoia to
today’s terror. A bridge worth building.” (LA Weekly)
With the Coen Brothers in charge of the screenplay,
the dialogue is more true and exciting than any Bond
chase. Rylance manages to keep his eyebrows-acting
under control and Hanks is the embodiment of the
understated Everyman. Extraordinary.
We’ve got Groundhog Day on Groundhog Day…!
This is Bill Murray in a time loop, in one of his bestloved roles as a grumpy, arrogant weatherman (Phil)
on a hated annual assignment in Punxsutawney.
After grudgingly giving his report on the festivities,
Phil rushes his team back to Pittsburgh, but a
blizzard shuts down all travel and the team are
forced to return for one more night.
When Phil wakes up the following morning he is
reliving yesterday, the worst day of his life: 2nd
February! To begin with he is confused but when the
phenomenon continues every morning and with no
long-term consequences to fear, he decides to take
advantage of it.
Directed and co-written by comedy favourite, Harold
Ramis who starred alongside Murray in cult classic
Ghostbusters. Andie MacDowell features as Rita, the
Producer of Phil’s weather show and ultimately the
key to his fate.
“The master of bone-dry acerbic wit, and even as his
stiff facade is worn away by the toil of endless days
(of self-discovery) he doesn’t let things descend into
the saccharine.” (Empire)
Come out of your burrows on (the real) Groundhog
Day and brave the cold for Murray’s flat faced
genius. (research Anna Shepherd)
Director: Cast: Duration: Origin: Certificate:
Company:
Steven Spielberg
Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance
141 mins
USA 2015
12A
Twentieth Century Fox
When...
Mon1 Tue 2 2.00, 7.30
2.00
Director: Cast: Duration: Origin: Certificate:
Company:
Harold Ramis
Bill Murray, Andie Macdowell
142 mins
USA 1993
PG
Park Circus Films
When...
Tue 2 7.30
www.odysseypictures.co.uk
THE ODYSSEY - February
Brooklyn
Director John Crowley and writer Nick Hornby have
empathetically adapted Colm Tóibín’s 2009 bestselling novel in this graceful masterpiece starring
the disturbing child/teen star (Atonement) now a
magical grown up: Saoirse Ronan.
We begin in 1950s Ireland, as young Eilis Lacey
(Ronan) is persuaded to up-sticks to America, leaving
behind her small town to start anew in New York. She
soon falls in love with an Italian plumber, Tony (Emory
Cohen) and Brooklyn begins to feel like home. When
Eilis is suddenly drawn back to Ireland, she pledges
to return, but finds herself torn when she gets home.
A classic love story, but don’t for a second think it
meek or mild. The acting is cool and easy, the writing
intelligent and richly literate. Period details of 1950s
New York are breathtaking. By sheer force of quality
in every respect, Brooklyn is an astonishingly good
film, the kind ‘they don’t make anymore’. How lucky
for us.
“Saoirse Ronan is one of the most intelligent and
compelling screen presences of her generation.”
(Guardian)
“Brooklyn has an old-fashioned perfection so incandescent and so winning, that it’s almost spooky.” (FT)
It might well win things, even your heart perhaps?
Don’t miss.
Director: Cast: John Crowley
Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson,
Julie Walters
Duration: 112 mins
Origin: Ireland/UK 2015
Certificate: 12A
Company: Lionsgate Films UK
When...
Wed 3 Tue 16 Mon22
2.00, 7.30
7.30
2.00
7
8
THE ODYSSEY - February
Box Office: 01727 453088
www.odysseypictures.co.uk Hunger Games:
Mockingjay, Part 2
Star Wars: The Force
Awakens
Director: J. J. Abrams
Cast: Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, John
Boyega, Andy Serkis, Max von Sydow
Duration: 135 mins
Origin: USA 2015
Certificate: 12A
Company: Walt Disney Studios
When...
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sat
4 7.30
5 7.30
13 2.00
13 7.00
Sun 14 1.30
Mon 15 2.00
Tue 16 2.00
‘In JJ we trust’ has become a well-known motto
since Abrams, together with Disney, took on the
responsibility of bringing back Star Wars from the
burnt wreckage left by George Lucas.
The Empire may have fallen, but from its ashes rises
a new threat in the form of the First Order (think
space Nazis), led by the mysterious Kylo Ren (Adam
Driver) a man obsessed with continuing Darth
Vader’s legacy. Fin, a startrooper (John Boyega)
abandons his post, hoping there’s more to life than
a white plastic suit and flees to a desert wasteland
where he meets young scavenger Rey (Daisy Ridley).
Together with a fabulously greyer Han Solo (Harrison
Ford) and Chewie they uncover a secret war that is
brewing between this sinister order, and a band of
resistance fighters, led by General (Princess) Leia
(Carrie Fisher).
This JJ Abrams’ The Force Awakens brings balance
to Lucas’s preposterous prequels. No one was
expecting to see another Star Wars film, let alone
one that reunites Luke, Han, and Leia. It is a good
time to be alive. (research Jack Whiting) The Rex’s
own Lisa Tomblin, is JJ’s chosen Head of Hair dept.
Alongside everyone’s, she is responsible for Princess
Leia’s classic, edgy new look.
Bleak and unrelenting in its tone and visuals; the
final (final) part of this consistently brilliant series
is heavy going, but utterly satisfying.
This new last film starts with a traumatised Katniss
Everdeen with her neck in a brace and barely able
to speak. To compound her misery, her beloved
Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) has been tortured and
brainwashed by President Snow (Donald Sutherland
on fine Machiavellian form) into believing she is a
monster. She is not sure that he is far wrong.
Together with Gale (Liam Hemsworth), and others,
Katniss ventures to the Capitol. She is supposed to
be part of the propaganda drive by the rebels as they
seek to liberate the citizens of Panem, but her real
intention is to make Snow pay in person for all the
suffering she has endured.
It’s all doom and gloom, with little in the way of
the kitsch elements that made the first two films so
endearing (no games here, just war). Still, Lawrence
is just as captivating and Philip Seymour Hoffman
too, gives a touching final screen performance. Sadly,
he died in February 2014 during the making of it.
Reminding us how long it takes to milk a two-part
final episode.
Director: Francis Lawrence
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson,
Liam Hemsworth
Duration: 137 mins
Origin: USA 2015
Certificate: 12A
Company: Lionsgate UK Ltd
When...
Sat 6
Sun 7
2.00
1.30
THE ODYSSEY - February
9
Daddy’s Home
Will Ferrell is one of those comedic actors that,
when the slapstick reaches new levels of lowbrow,
can pull through unscathed.
Ferrell is Brad, smooth jazz-loving, cookie-baking,
lunchbox-packing stalwart of the PTA. He is also
the doting stepdad of a pair of poppets who are
just beginning to accept him as part of their life.
Then their biological dad re-enters the picture.
Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) rocks up on a motorbike, a
slipstream of testosterone and reckless excitement
drifting behind him. He’s the lawless, leather-clad
opposite to Brad’s beige, homespun cosy. Naturally,
the kids fall for Dusty.
Lame title aside, Daddy’s Home is a moderately
fun time killer. The continued pairing of Ferrell and
Wahlberg is a smart move, and it flirts with the same
inane humour seen in Anchorman, but the truly
inspired skits (which are oddly, the dumbest) are
few and far between. There’s a genuine subversive
nature about Ferrell however, that love him or
hate him, elevates crude slapstick enough to raise
many unexpected chuckles, and its safe 12A rating
prevents the cruder jokes from really taking off, thus
introducing new constraint into pair’s natural smut.
(research Jack Whiting) The constraint works. Come
and see.
Directors: Sean Anders,John Morris
Cast: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg,
Linda Cardellini
Duration: 96 mins
Origin: USA 2015
Certificate: 12A
Company: Paramount Pictures UK
When...
Sat 6
7.00
10
THE ODYSSEY - February
Box Office: 01727 453088
The Danish Girl
Director: Tom Hooper
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander,
Ben Whishaw
Duration: 120 mins
Origin: UK/Germany/USA 2015
Certificate: 15
Company: Universal Pictures
When...
Sun 7
Mon 8
Tue 23
6.00
2.00, 7.30
2.00, 7.30
Eddie Redmayne is right in the thick of it with this
fictionalised biopic of the pioneering transgender
painter Lili Elbe. When we are first introduced to
young artists Einar (Redmayne) and Gerda (Alicia
Vikander) they are enjoying a happy and wholesome
marriage. Events are turned on their heads as Einar
begins to embody the persona of Lili, driving a wedge
between the marriage and pursuing a lifestyle that
would eventually see him becoming one of the first
people to undergo sex reassignment surgery. Adapted
from David Ebershoff’s 2000 novel, The Danish Girl is
full of the flair and elegance you would expect to find
in Hooper’s film. His 2010 Best Picture winner The
King’s Speech contained little else. Could it be two
years in a row for Eddie at the Oscars?
“Redmayne’s fine bone-china features are prime
movers in all of this being convincing but so is
his performance, reticent, vulnerable and acutely
observed.” (Empire)
“This is a handsomely made picture, intelligent and
sympathetic, with something of the uninsistent
manner of Jan Morris’s memoir Conundrum”
(Guardian)
“Eddie Redmayne makes another astounding
transformation in The Danish Girl, after his Oscarwinning turn as Stephen Hawking” (Times) (research
Chris Coetsee).
It seems a pointless exercise in fancy dress acting.
www.odysseypictures.co.uk
THE ODYSSEY - FEBRUARY
11
The Lady In The Van
Joy
As with The History Boys, Nicholas Hytner has
adapted a stage hit for the big screen from his time
as the artistic director of the National Theatre. The
Lady in the Van sees Maggie Smith reprise the role
she first played in the 1999 stage production of the
Alan Bennett play. She is Miss Shepherd, who lived
in a van on the driveway of Alan Bennett’s north
London home between 1974 and 1989.
If the set looks authentic, that’s because the film is
shot on location on the same Camden Town road in
Bennett’s real house.
Bennett is simultaneously irritated, kindly and
secretly delighted to have such a rich and pungent
source of material on his doorstep. Miss Shepherd’s
mysterious past, her fear of policemen and the
rumour that she was a pianist or a nun, all fascinate
him. The excellent Alex Jennings plays two versions
of Bennett the literary observer and the participant.
“I live, you write, that’s how it works,” says Bennett
to Bennett.
“This is a lavish gift of a role for Ms Smith. She
makes this hardy troglodyte a tottering, staggering
force of nature, determined to owe nothing to
anybody.” (Telegraph)
David O Russell’s (Silver Linings Playbook) spin
on the rags-to-riches biopic opens with the line:
‘Inspired by stories of brave women.’ Joy is loosely
based on the life of Joy Mangano (Jennifer Lawrence)
the Long Island single mum who in the early 1990s
invented the self-wringing Miracle Mop and became a
shopping channel superstar.
Joy has a supremely dysfunctional family. Her mother
Mimi (Virginia Madsen) is bed-bound and spends her
days watching soap operas on TV. Her divorced father,
Rudy (Robert De Niro) shares the basement with her
own ex-husband Tony (Edgar Ramirez) a would-be
nightclub singer whose career has never amounted
to anything.
Joy’s moment of inspiration comes when she shreds
her hands while trying to clean up shards of broken
glass on the deck of the yacht belonging to her
father’s wealthy new girlfriend (Isabella Rossellini).
Her revolutionary cleaner-upper leads her to QVC, a
burgeoning home-shopping channel run by Bradley
Cooper’s hard-but-fair businessman. How can she sell
herself in a live television environment where powerdressing prevails? And will her mop shift 50,000 units
before all is lost?
“Joy is the best film you will ever see about the
manufacture of mops.” (Independent)
Do many (English) in the SE know what a mop is…?
Director: Nicholas Hytner
Cast: Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings
Duration: 104 mins
Origin: UK 2015
Certificate: 12A
Company: Columbia Pictures Corporation Ltd
When...
Tue 9 Wed 10 Director: David O. Russell
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper
Duration: 124 mins
Origin: USA 2015
Certificate: 12A
Company: Twentieth Century Fox
When...
2.00, 7.30
7.30
Wed10 2.00
Thu 11 7.30 Fri12 7.30
12
THE ODYSSEY - FEBRUARY
Box Office: 01727 453088
www.odysseypictures.co.uk
THE ODYSSEY - FEBRUARY
13
VALENTINE’S DAY
Roman Holiday
45 Years
Mary Poppins
Carol
Audrey Hepburn’s first starring role won her a Best
Actress Oscar in 1954, illuminating her unique
qualities from the start. Hepburn plays Ann, bored
princess (of an unnamed country) who is slowly
being driven to despair by the toll of endless
engagements.
While in the bustling city of Rome, Ann makes
her escape for 24 hours of fun. She happens to
meet American Journalist Joe Bradley (dashingly
handsome Gregory Peck). Recognising a hot news
story, Joe pretends not to recognise the princess and
offers to give her a guided tour of Rome.
“It’s a beautiful snapshot into the past, both for the
historic look of Rome and to witness the birth of the
romantic comedy.”(7MPictures)
“Timeless, exuberant classic, with Hepburn’s naïve
sense of fun and perfectly charming performance
matched equally by Peck’s louche and charismatic
worldy American.” (Empire)
Filmed entirely in Rome, the location does rather
dominate the movie. However, it turns the viewer
into a willing tourist. (the location, it’s beauty, it’s
sunshine and a time lost, is the whole reason for the
film) Come and escape to Italy for Valentines day
with real stars, Miss Hepburn and Mr Peck.
(research Anna Shepherd)
Writer-director Andrew Haigh presents a masterful
take on how a shadow from the past can plunge a
loving relationship into crisis and torment.
Adapted from short story ‘In Another Country’, we
are placed in rural Britain during the run-up to the
45th wedding anniversary of Kate and Geoff Mercer
(Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay).
As preparations for the sumptuous celebration
continue, a letter arrives from Switzerland telling of
the discovery of Geoff’s ex-girlfriend Katya, killed
during a walking accident across the Alps 50 years
earlier. Her body has now been discovered, perfectly
preserved in ice. As Kate finds it increasingly
difficult to deal with Geoff’s emotional struggles, the
foundations of their relationship begin to strain.
Delicate and thoughtful, this particularly moving
film further enhances Haigh’s reputation as one of
British cinemas brightest talents, drawing out superb
performances from his veteran leads which is now
in BAFTA contention with the best of the rest. “It’s a
film of small moments and tiny gestures that leaves
a very, very big impression.” (Time Out)
“A moving and absorbing drama featuring two actors
offering a lifetime’s wisdom and technique in their
performances.” (Guardian) (research Chris Coetsee)
Tiring but well played by two veterans together for
the first time.
Long resistant to film adaptations of her Mary
Poppins books (See ‘Saving Mr Banks’!).
P.L. Travers finally succumbed to the entreaties of
Walt Disney, and the result is often considered the
finest of Disney’s personally supervised films.
When Mr. Banks advertises for a new nanny, his
children alternately compose their own ad, asking
for someone with a little kindness and imagination.
Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews in her screen debut)
answers the children’s ad by arriving at the Banks
home from the skies, parachuting in by her umbrella.
The exploits of novelist P. L. Travers’ nanny
sparkle thanks to the Sherman brothers’ songs
(from the sweet Feed the Birds to the rollicking
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious)
Poppins’ arrival from the sky to shape up the lives of
the Banks family is still magical, and the animation
(so hated by P.L. Travers) is too.
“Julie Andrews’ first appearance on the screen is
a triumph. She performs as easily as she sings,
displaying a fresh type of beauty nicely adaptable to
the new colour cameras.” (Variety 1964..!) (research
Anna Shepherd)
A timeless piece of family cinema made ever more
memorable by Dick Van Dyke’s butchery of cockney.
Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara star in this
exquisite, melancholic period piece. Directed by
Todd Haynes, an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s
1952 novel The Price of Salt, Carol charts a secret
lesbian love affair in Fifties New York.
Carol (Blanchett) is a glittering, glamorous housewife.
She meets a Manhattan department store assistant
Therese (Mara) in the lead up to Christmas 1952.
What begins magnetically builds into a bittersweet
forbidden love, tainted by the turmoil of its
taboo. Their relationship is amplified within the
quintessential 1950s framing, juxtaposing the two
women’s wildly transgressive love affair with deep
poignancy. Then there are the details. The impeccable
costume and production design are richly meticulous,
and the grainy 16mm film cinematography makes
for delicious viewing: think moody, jewel-toned cafe
scenes à la Edward Hopper.
Carol is a beautiful, potent triumph. Unquestionably
the new benchmark for period pieces to come.
“It’s jazz and poetry are just wonderful… More than
hugely accomplished cinema, it’s an exquisite work of
American art” (Telegraph)
“Blanchett manages to give a 1950s housewife the
pathos and grandeur of a tragic heroine”
(Independent)
“An exquisite brush of a coral-polished fingernail, a
pulse of expensive scent and if looks could… thrill.”
(Times) Oscar Cate again…?
Director: William Wyler
Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck
Duration: 118 mins
Origin: USA 1953
Certificate: U
Company: Park Circus Films
When...
When...
Sun 14
Director: Andrew Haigh
Cast: Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtenay
Duration: 95 mins
Origin: UK 2015
Certificate: 15
Company: Artificial Eye
6.00
Mon 15 7.30
Director: Robert Stevenson
Cast: Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke
Duration: 139 mins
Origin: USA 1964
Certificate: U
Company: Walt Disney Int’l
When...
Wed17
2.00
Director: Todd Haynes
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara
Duration: 119 mins
Origin: UK/USA/France 2015
Certificate: 15
Company:Studiocanal
When...
Wed17
7.30
14
THE REX - February
www.therexberkhamsted.com
01442
877759
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The Lady In The Van
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Bridge Of Spies
Bridge Of Spies
Joy
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Joy
The Lady In The Van
The Danish Girl
Le Mepris
The Lady In The Van
The Danish Girl
The Danish Girl
The Danish Girl
Grandma
Bridge Of Spies
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Daddy’s Home
When Harry Met Sally
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Assassin
Snoopy & Charlie Brown
Bridge Of Spies
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Brooklyn
Inside Out
Steve Jobs
The Revenant
Iron Giant – Signature Edition
The Revenant
The Revenant
Brooklyn
The Sea Inside
Room
Grandma
Room
The Revenant
Creed
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Creed
The Big Short
The Big Short
Mon
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THE ODYSSEY - February
COMING SOON
ODYSSEY
F e b r u ar y
FILMS:
Date
www.odysseypictures.co.uk BACK BY DEMAND
The Big Short
The Revenant
Joy
Brooklyn
Time
2.00
7.30
2.00, 7.30
2.00, 7.30
2.00, 7.30
7.30
2.00
7.00
6.00
2.00
7.30
2.00
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2.00, 7.30
2.00
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2.00
7.30
2.00
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2.00
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6.00
2.00
7.30
2.00, 7.30
2.00
7.30
2.00, 7.30
7.30
2.00
7.00
6.00
2.00, 7.30
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C I N E M FILMS:
A
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February
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BRIDGE OF SPIES
BRIDGE OF SPIES
GROUNDHOG DAY BROOKLYN
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS HUNGER GAMES
DADDY’S HOME
HUNGER GAMES
THE DANISH GIRL THE DANISH GIRL LADY IN THE VAN
JOY
LADY IN THE VAN
JOY JOY
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS ROMAN HOLIDAY STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS 45 YEARS
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS BROOKLYN
MARY POPPINS
CAROL IN THE HEART OF THE SEA
LABYRINTH CREED THE PEANUTS MOVIE CREED
ROOM BROOKLYN ROOM THE DANISH GIRL
THE BIG SHORT
THE BIG SHORT THE REVENANT THE IRON GIANT – SIGNATURE EDITION
THE REVENANT THE REVENANT THE BIG SHORT TAXI TEHRAN
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THE ODYSSEY - FEBRUARY
Box Office: 01727 453088
www.odysseypictures.co.uk
In The Heart Of The Sea
Labyrinth
Creed
Director Ron Howard is at the helm of this
gargantuan high sea affair. In the Heart of the Sea
tells the true story of whaling ship Essex that became
stranded at sea for 90 days, a story that originally
inspired Herman Melville to conjure his 1851
masterpiece Moby Dick.
Owen Chase (Hemsworth) along with Capt Pollard
(Benjamin Walker) and his modest crew are attacked
mid-voyage by a huge seemingly enraged sperm
whale, splitting the ship in two and leaving the
survivors shipwrecked more than 1000 miles from
land. His shrewd filmmaking, Howard successfully
produces a blend of drama and horror, showing us
the grisly images that are bound to make today’s
audience recoil yet managing to convey the
excitement of a job so dangerous. A true example of a
film made-for-big-cinema.
“Howard puts heart, soul and every computerised
whale trick in the book into crafting a seafaring
adventure to rock your boat.” (Rolling Stone)
“It’s a harrowing tale that still packs an entertaining
wallop.” (Observer)
“Hemsworth’s botched New England accent and
all, this is movie star material.” (Guardian) (research
Chis Coetsee) ‘Rock your boat’ ‘wallop’ and ‘botched’
(estate agents to Seamen everywhere) Blubber them
all. It is fabulous. Don’t miss.
Fully embracing that decade – or helplessly stuck
in it, depending who you ask – Labyrinth is a
concoction of gothic fantasy, and David Bowie in
big hair and tight leggings.
A young Jennifer Connelly, playing Sarah, wishes
that the goblins would come and take her annoying
baby brother away, and they duly oblige. Thus, a
quick natter with Jareth (Bowie) and she must get to
the castle in the middle of the labyrinth of the title.
Oh, for the days when model-based effects were
more prevalent – the labyrinth itself still looks just
brilliant.
Coming to this now for the first time you may
question the sanity of the cast and crew as well
as your own, but to many Labyrinth fans this is
more than simply a fond memory. This is often/
sometimes bolstered by screenings where the
audience is encouraged to dress up (but please, you
don’t have to – in fact Don’t!) Muppets creator Jim
Henson has crafted a cult classic here. He uses his
film as a chance to produce the most accomplished
puppetry work of his illustrious career, even if it
makes Labyrinth more a technical masterpiece than
a narrative one. (research Jack Whiting - fan) Back at
the Odyssey by special request.
Ryan Coogler’s riveting drama lands every punch
in what is a much needed shake-up of the Rocky
franchise.
Adonis ‘Donny’ Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) the
illegitimate son of Apollo Creed, walks away from his
office job to pursue a career in professional boxing.
Saddled with a murky past and deep longing to know
the father he never met, he travels to Philadelphia for
answers and to track down ring icon Rocky Balboa.
Life for Rocky himself has come full circle. Now a
widower and in declining health, he can only look
back on all that he has won and lost in a career
spanning four decades.
Like the 69-year-old Stallone hoisting his frame
gingerly into play, Creed takes a while to move.
But by the end it is genuinely moving.
“Creed” is a dandy piece of entertainment, soothingly
old-fashioned and bracingly up-to-date.” (Times)
“After taking a while to limber up, Ryan Coogler’s
continuation of the Rocky saga packs a real emotional
punch” (Telegraph)
“A career of action dreck has often obscured the fact
that Stallone can act, and here he gives perhaps his
best performance.” (Empire) It boxes clever.
Come and see.
Director: Jim Henson
Cast: David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly,
Toby Froud
Duration: 98 mins
Origin: UK/USA 1986
Certificate: U
Company: Warner Bros
Director: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone,
Tessa Thompson
Duration: 133 mins
Origin: USA 2015
Certificate: 12A
Company: Warner Brothers Ents
Director: Ron Howard
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy
Duration: 122 mins
Origin: USA 2015
Certificate: 12A
Company: Warner Brothers Ents
When...
When...
Thu 18 2.00
Thu 18 When...
7.30
Fri19
Sat 20
7.30
7.00
THE ODYSSEY - FEBRUARY
17
Snoopy & Charlie Brown:
The Peanuts Movie
Charles M. Schulz’s comic strips spring to life once
more in this utterly charming outing for Charlie
Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and the gang.
Commemorating the 65th anniversary of the comic
strip, this is the first time in 35 years on the big
screen. More a string of sub-plots rather than one
over-arching story, this has the feel of a greatest hits
album, something of a love letter, capturing all the
classic moments that have helped shaped Schulz’s
beloved ‘Peanuts’.
And for all the CGI gloss, The Peanuts Movie remains
completely true to its original values providing a
perfect blend of humour and tenderness certain to
strike a chord with young and old hippies.
“A meticulously faithful and clearly loving tribute to
America’s favourite blockhead” (Times)
“From the opening, familiar Vince Guaraldi piano
chords it’s clear that director Steve Martino is taking
a “don’t fix what ain’t broke” approach with all this.”
(Guardian)
“The Peanuts Movie is deeply rooted in the look and
tone of Schulz’s soulful comic strip.” (TIME)
(research Chris Coetsee) It’s back to late 60’s tank tops
bad beards and the worst hair for those who loved
Charlie Brown. Even better now bald. Bring the street.
Director: Voices: Duration: Origin: Certificate:
Company:
Steve Martino
Noah Schnapp, Bill Melendez
93 mins
USA 2015
U
Twentieth Century Fox
When...
Sat 20 2.00
18
THE ODYSSEY - FEBRUARY
Box Office: 01727 453088
Room
Director: Lenny Abrahamson
Cast: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean
Bridgers
Duration: 118 mins
Origin: Ireland/Canada 2015
Certificate: 15
Company:Studiocanal
When...
Sun 21
Mon22
1.30, 6.00
7.30
The room in Emma Donoghue’s Room, a worldwide
publishing (and book club) smash, shortlisted
for the Booker Prize in 2010, is a garden shed,
locked from the outside, in which a brutalised
young mother and her five-year-old son are kept
permanently imprisoned.
The story is told from the perspective of Jack, a
five-year-old boy who knows nothing outside the
small room he and his mother have lived in for his
whole life. Jacob Tremblay is a startling revelation
in this role, a long-haired boy completely oblivious
to the everyday struggle his mother goes through
to find the will to live. In the lead role, Brie Larson
registers as numb to the pain she’s been forced to
endure since being kidnapped and held captive by a
menacing man only known as Old Nick.
For exercise, Jack tumbles back and forth between
two walls. For sanity, Joy tells her son that “room”
is all that separates them from the infinity of outer
space, and for survival she’ll eventually begin to
teach him the truth.
“Too grim and heartbreaking for some
viewers, Room is nevertheless an extraordinary film
so powerful and unforgettable that it must be seen.”
(research Jane Clucas) Oscars on their way.
www.odysseypictures.co.uk THE ODYSSEY - FEBRUARY
19
The Big Short
Both Margin Call and Wolf of Wall Street showed
just how the financial crash of 2008 could make
for gripping drama and/or a riotous comedy. The
Big Short shoots for both, and the results are mostly
successful.
Based on the non-fiction book of the same name,
director Adam McKay lets his all-star cast have a little
fun. The Big Short tells the story of the financial crisis
from the perspective of financiers who grasped the
implications of the toxic, parasitic waltz of Wall Street
and property lenders before anyone else.
The film alternates between an energetic, comic
documentary style and realist re-enactments from the
book. Explanatory interludes are intended to enable
viewers to make sense of all the financial arcana.
McKay, whose tomfoolery with regular Will Ferrell in
the Anchorman films, makes him an interesting choice
to tackle grounded material. There are nods and
winks to the camera as characters break the fourth
wall. The effect is jarring at first a la David Brent, but
the devise starts to work here as an absorbing, easily
digestible method of condensing all the madness.
(research Jack Whiting) Investment players will get a
smug kick out of it. Bring one of your own, to kick.
Director: Adam McKay.
Cast: Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell
Duration: 130 mins
Origin: USA 2015
Certificate: 15
Company:Paramount
When...
Wed 24 Thu 25
Mon29
2.00, 7.30
7.30
2.00
20
THE ODYSSEY - February
Box Office: 01727 453088
www.odysseypictures.co.uk
The Iron Giant Signature Edition
The Revenant
Director: Cast: Duration: Origin: Certificate:
Company:
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy
156 mins
USA 2015
15
Twentieth Century Fox
When...
Fri26
Sat 27
Sun 28
7.00
7.00
1.30, 6.00
Alejandro Iñárritu’s inspiring tale of revenge and
human survival is a stone cold classic in the making.
Leading a fur-trapping expedition through the
swallowing wilderness of 1823 Midwest America,
tracker Hugh Glass (a superb DiCaprio) and his
band of hunters are suddenly attacked by a Native
American tribe.
When his former confidant John Fitzgerald (Hardy)
then leaves him for dead following a brutal bear
attack, Glass must call upon his inner strength and
harness his survival skills to forge a way back home
across 200 miles of icy wasteland and track down the
man who betrayed and abandoned him.
Already the undeniable victor at the Golden Globes,
The Revenant looks sure to sweep the Oscars this
year, nominated in 12 categories, perhaps deservedly
so. Unflinching filmmaking at its most raw.
“It is a mad, visionary and quite often preposterous
survival tale, very bloody, very violent and full of
murky religious symbolism. It is also often astounding
in its flights of macabre lyricism.” (Independent)
“Frontier epic takes cine-suffering to new levels of
agony and, most importantly, veracity.” (Times)
“DiCaprio’s raw performance helps elevate what
could have been just another man-versus-nature
drama” (Empire) (research Chris Coetsee) I wouldn’t
have minded a little cardboard studio ice and a
warm bath.
It is directed by the noted animator/director/writer
Brad Bird. You can blame him for The Simpsons.
Based on Ted Hughes 1968 novel The Iron Man, this
feature-length animated adventure tells of a giant
metal machine that falls to earth, frightening the
residents of a small town in Maine in 1958, until
it befriends a 9-year old boy named Hogarth and
ultimately unselfishly saves people from their own
fears and prejudices. Featured among the voices
are Jennifer Aniston as Annie Hughes, Hogarth’s
mother; Harry Connick Jr. as Dean McCoppen, one
of the town’s residents who befriends Hogarth and
the giant; and newcomer Eli Marienthal as young
Hogarth. Also on hand is Christopher McDonald
voicing the role of Kent Mansley, a government
agent determined to destroy the giant. This film
features 2D and CGI animated characters.
It’s a good story, and apart from its Americanisation,
is pretty loyal to Hughes’ original. This ‘Signature
Edition’ has extra frames and of course a signature…
Come and see.
Director: Brad Bird
Voices: Vin Diesel, Eli Marienthal, Jennifer
Aniston, Harry Connick Jnr
Duration: 86 mins
Origin: USA 2015
Certificate: PG
Company: Warner Bros
When...
Sat 27
THE ODYSSEY - FEBRUARY
Taxi Tehran
Winning the best prize at Berlin in January,
director Jafar Panahi’s latest defiance won Berlin’s
Golden Bear, but not for running rings around its
government’s censors.
Crafted from a series of apparently unrelated
encounters Taxi Tehran chronicles a barrage of ‘fares’
with their comings and goings, all the while under the
watchful eye of Panahi’s dashboard-based double
camera setup. His remotely controlled cameras
secretly revolve between the action both inside and
outside the cab.
From the flourishing market of pirated Blockbuster
films to the sensitive issues of capital punishment,
these ‘topics of conversation’ all over the Capital are
brilliantly interwoven with a multitude of intelligent
references to modern cinema.
Certainly it is rare that a director, officially prohibited,
is capable of producing such a good humoured and
humane piece of topical cinema.
“This spry, sharp and relentlessly clever middle finger
to censorship is Panahi’s boldest act of defiance to
date.” (Time Out)
“It tells you more about modern Iran, I think, than
you’ll discover on the news.” (Guardian)
“This is a delightful surprise, and though it is even
more minimalistic than his last two illegal exports, it
is also fun.” (Screen International)
Well done Berlin. It is fabulous. Come and see.
Director: Jafar Panahi
Cast: Jafar Panahi
Duration: 82 mins
Origin: Iran 2015
Certificate: PG
Company: New Wave
When...
2.00
21
Mon29
7.30
www.odysseypictures.co.uk
OBITS
23
Starmen...
N
ot a good start to the year, any year, and
looking like bad news for 69 year olds. Now
hoping their soixante-neuf status doesn’t
move from flaccid to dead before the year is out.
First out, Lemmy made it to 70 by two days and
Glenn Frey, a mere junior at 67.
They all disappeared within 20 days of each other,
politely waiting not to clutter the same day.
But it is the two 69ers: David Bowie and Alan
Rickman who take this page.
There is little more to be said about David Jones
from Brixton who changed his name to the
evermore disputed pronunciation of ‘Bowie’ and in
doing so, changed the face and sound of popular
music and street-style and high/low brow fashion
for ever.
Alan Rickman was hand picked in a rare stroke-of-
accidental casting masquerading as casting-genius
to play arch villain Hans Gruber in the first vest
Die Hard (1988). Then in 1991 to archer villain as
the Sheriff of Nottingham, effortlessly upstaging
Costner’s Robin Hood Prince of a loathsome Bryan
Adams’ wedding song.
One beautifully spat line from a bad tempered
Sheriff Rickman (roughly remembered): “You’ll do,
get washed… and bring your sister.”
In the same year came the warm blanket of
Truly Madly Deeply. We will show this when the
corporate turkeys stop arguing who owns it.
The thing about Rickman and Bowie, like John
and George, they should never have died before
us. They have, so now we carry a memory like our
kids’ shells from the shore, forever safe in every
bathroom we move in to.
DAVID BOWIE
1947 – 2016
“… and the stars look very different today.”
24
RANTS AND PANTS www.odysseypictures.co.uk
www.odysseypictures.co.uk
ODYSSEY choices
Awards 2016...
Best Screenplay:
Aaron Sorkin for Steve Jobs
Coen Brothers & Matt Charman
for Bridge of Spies
Best Actor:
Michael Fassbender for Steve Jobs
Tom Hanks (understated and not
wrestling Mark Rylance for the
screen) for Bridge of Spies
Everybody doing retakes of brutal
ODYSSEY CHOICES
RANTS AND PANTS
scenes and trying to perform in
bitter, unforgiving, icy, wet tundra.
For The Revenant
Best Film:
Steve Jobs
Bridge of Spies
Best Foreign Language:
Wild Tales (raucous)
Theeb (serious)
Best Twist:
The Gift
Ex Machina
Rex Eleven Year Favourites:
Everything is Illuminated
Bombón: El Perro
The Band’s Visit
A Very Long Engagement
The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
Tell No One
The Secret in Their Eyes
Untouchable
Calvary
Of Time and the City
Wild Tales
sOME REX FAVOURITES (11 years)
Wild Tales
Bridge Of Spies
Mr Holmes
Ex Machina
25
The Gift
Everything Is Illuminated
Calvary
Tell No One
Bombón: El Perro
The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
The Band’s Visit
The Secret In Their Eyes
Of Time And The City
A Very Long Engagement
Steve Jobs
SELECTED NOMINEES...
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Roman Holiday
Sun 14th February 6pm