What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 3rd August 2017.

With the release this week of the foodies gastronomic road trip film 'The Trip to Spain' it got me to thinking about the history of food, cooking and eating in cinema over the years. And so as a result of some celluloid gourmet research, I cook up for you here my thoughts on the top feature films worth seeking out if you're looking for some food porn, culinary motivation, or cuisine inspired drama, thrills or laughs to entertain you for a night in front of your smart TV. This roll call deliberately leaves out the shopping trolley load of food related documentary films, that could easily constitute another listing in their own right.
* 'Tampopo' - 1985 : Directed by Juzo Itami; starring Tsutomu Yamasaki, Ken Watanabe, and Nobuko Miyamoto; country of origin - Japan.
* 'Babette's Feast' - 1987 : Directed by Gabriel Axel; starring Stephane Audran, Birgitte Federspiel and Bodil Kjer; country of origin - Denmark; Box Office US$5M.
* 'The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover' - 1989 : Directed by Peter Greenaway; starring Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren, Tim Roth and Ciaran Hinds; country of origin - Britain and France; Box Office US$8M (US).
* 'Delicatessen' - 1991 : Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro; starring Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Dominique Pinon and Marie-Laure Dougnac; country of origin - France; Box Office US$12M.
* 'Like Water for Chocolate' - 1992 : Directed by Alfonso Arau; starring Lumi Cavazos, Ada Carrasco, Regina Torne and Marco Leonardi; country of origin - Mexico; Box Office - US$22M.
* 'Eat Drink Man Woman' - 1994 : Directed by Ang Lee; starring Sihung Lung, Kuei-Mei Yang, Chien-lien Wu and Yu-Wen Wang; country of origin - Taiwan; Box Office - US$7M.
* 'Big Night' - 1996 : Directed by Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott; starring Minnie Driver, Ian Holm, Tony Shalhoub, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini and Liev Schreiber; country of origin - USA; Box Office US$12M.

* 'Chocolat' - 2000 : Directed by Lasse Hallstrom; starring Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Alfred Molina, Carrie-Anne Moss and Peter Stormare; country of origin - Britain and USA; Box Office - US$153M.
* 'Sideways' - 2004 : Directed by Alexander Payne; starring Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church; country of origin - USA; Box Office - US$110M.
* 'No Reservations' - 2007 : Directed by Scott Hicks; starring Catherine Zeta Jones, Aaron Eckhart and Abigail Breslin; country of origin - USA; Box Office - US$93M.
* 'Ratatouille' - 2007 : Directed by Brad Bird; starring Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm, Brad Garrett, Brian Dennehy and Peter O'Toole; country of origin - USA; Box Office - US$621M.
* 'Soul Kitchen' - 2009 : Directed by Faith Akin; starring Adam Bousdoukos, Moritz Bleibtreu and Birol Unel; country of origin - Germany.
* 'Julie & Julia' - 2009 : Directed by Nora Ephron; starring Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Stanley Tucci; country of origin - USA; Box Office - US$130M.
* 'The Trip' - 2010 : Directed by Michael Winterbottom; starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon; country of origin - Britain.
* 'The Lunchbox' - 2013 : Directed by Ritesh Batra; starring Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur and Nakul Vaid; country of origin - India; Box Office - US$16M.
* 'The Trip to Italy' - 2014 : Directed by Michael Winterbottom; starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon; country of origin - Britain.
* 'Chef' - 2014 : Directed by Jon Favreau; starring Jon Favreau, Dustin Hoffman, Sofia Vergara, Robert Downey Jnr., John Leguizamo and Scarlett Johansson; country of origin - USA; Box Office US$46M.
* 'The Hundred Foot Journey' - 2014 : Directed by Lasse Hallstrom; starring Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Charlotte Le Bon and Manish Dayal; country of origin - USA; Box Office - US$89M.
* 'Burnt' - 2015 : Directed by John Wells; starring Bradley Cooper, Omar Sy, Daniel Bruhl, Sienna Miller and Emma Thompson; country of origin - USA; Box Office - US$37M.
* 'The Trip to Spain' - 2017 : Directed by Michael Winterbottom; starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon; country of origin - Britain.
* 'The Dinner' - 2017 : Directed by Oren Overman; starring Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Steve Coogan, Rebecca Hall and Chloe Sevigny; country of origin - USA; Box Office - US$1M (recent US release only).

This week then there are just three new release movies coming to your local Odeon, multiplex, or independent picture house. We kick off with a throw back to the late Cold War era Berlin in this action spy thriller that has more in common with 'John Wick' than it does 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' supported by a kick-ass all action female protagonist, wide lapels and a thumping late '80's soundtrack. We then move to two likely English lads in this third course offering that sees them travelling along the Spanish coastline eating and drinking their way through the hot spot restaurants and hotels along the way as they verbally joust with each other, before moving to a RomCom that is inspired by the real life events of the lead actor and his wife in this cross-cultural, health challenged story of love, acceptance, and family.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three new releases 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 here warmly invited 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 meanwhile, enjoy your cinematic experience in the coming week.

'ATOMIC BLONDE' (Rated MA15+) - is Directed by David Leitch in his first solo Directorial outing having served as the uncredited Co-Director on 'John Wick' with Chad Stahelski and having served his time over the years as Stunt Co-ordinator and Stuntman on more action films than you can poke a stick at, and in the capacity as Second Unit Director on a good many also, and occasional Producer and Actor too. Next up for this new Director is 'Deadpool 2' currently filming and due in 2018. This film, however, is based on the 2012 graphic novel titled 'The Coldest City' by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart, stars a strong cast and a thumping '80's soundtrack and cost US$30M to make. The film has so far garnered generally positive Reviews and has taken US$26M at the Box Office since its US release at the end of July.

Set back in 1989 at the end of the Cold War and with the Berlin Wall about to be torn down, here sensual, sultry and savage when need be Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) is at the top of the spy game in MI6, and an agent who's willing to do whatever it takes to stay alive to complete her mission at hand. Ordered by her superiors she travels into the heart of Berlin to locate and retrieve a valuable document hidden in microfilm in a wristwatch, identify a notorious double agent, and expose and eradicate an espionage ring. Upon arrival, she teams up with an embedded station chief David Percival (James McAvoy), but he too is not necessarily all he seems. Also starring Sofia Boutella, John Goodman, Toby Jones and Eddie Marsan this is a kick ass thriller in the same vein as 'John Wick', matched by a killer soundtrack and strong performances from the two leads - McAvoy who chews up every scene and Theron who proves herself as a genuine A-List action star.

'THE TRIP TO SPAIN' (Rated M) - in 2010 Director Michael Winterbottom released a film about two likely English lads, one a food writer for The Observer, Steve (Steve Coogan) and his best mate Rob (Rob Brydon) to tour the English countryside and report back on their gourmet eating experiences at the country's finest eateries. That film 'The Trip', spawned a sequel in 2014 also Directed by Winterbottom called 'The Trip to Italy' and starred the two same English likely lads doing exactly the same thing all over again, only this time on a road trip through Italy from Piedmont to Capri. Now in 2017 Winterbottom once again rolls out his two likely lads Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon to travel along the Spanish coastline sampling the culinary delights of the finest hotels and restaurants whilst trading banter, anecdotes, jokes, impressions, war stories and how age shall not weary them along the way all delivered with their usual aplomb. Bon appetite!

'THE BIG SICK' (Rated M) - this is a RomCom Directed by Michael Showalter who also spends his time acting, writing and producing. This film is Co-produced by Judd Apatow, and is written by husband and wife team Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon and is loosely based on the real life romance that blossomed between Nanjiani (a Pakistani American stand up Comedian, Actor and Writer) and Gordon (an American Writer and Producer). Here Kumail playing a version of himself meets an American student named Emily (played here by Zoe Kazan) at one of his stand-up gigs. As they get to know each other and their relationship starts to take hold, Kumail begins to wonder and worry about what he thinks his traditional Muslim parents will make of her. When Emily falls sick and is left in a coma as a consequence, Kumail finds himself having to navigate through the medical crisis and bond with her deeply concerned parents Beth and Terry (Holly Hunter and Ray Romano respectively) in ways he never thought possible, whilst juggling the emotional tug of war between his family and what his heart is telling him. The film has received positive Reviews setting it above your standard sugar coated RomCom about cross-cultural love and personal heartache brought about by the couples true life experiences.

With three new releases this week to tempt you out on a cold mid-Winter evening, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephiles 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-