December Movies in English at the Odeon

The Odeon Cinema offers three award winning films in December, all released on anniversaries of their original release, plus a fourth movie that will premiere worldwide.   For film aficionados who are weary of ‘feel good’ movies and wish for some gratuitous violence and unsettling scenes, Stanley Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange should satisfy their needs.  Mulholland Drive, a surrealist mystery film and David Lynch’s magnum opus, offers cult fans a weave of stories filled with danger and intrigue.  Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, from the classic JK Rowling first book, is filled with magical creativity, adventure and some intensely scary moments.

Showings of The French Dispatch have extended from November through the first week of December. And, just in time for Christmas, the brand-new House of Gucci will be screened at the Odeon starting December 18.  The finalized schedule of showings is not yet available.

All movies will be screened in the original English with Italian subtitles.

Wednesday, December 1 (6 and 9 pm):  CLOCKWORK ORANGE  

Restored and rereleased in a 4K version on the 50th anniversary of original release, this cult classic, derived from the 1962 Anthony Burgess book, remains legendary.  Directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Malcolm McDowell, the movie includes disturbing scenes of violence, gangs and other societal issues in a futuristic Britain.  The main character, Alex DeLarge (McDowell), convicted of murder, is imprisoned with a 14-year sentence.  While incarcerated, he accepts an offer to be a guinea pig for an experimental violence and crime aversion therapy, the Ludovico Technique.  The therapy turns the former Beethoven loving and violent psychopath into a peaceful human being who becomes ill in the presence of brutality.  As an adaptation of Anthony Burgess’ 1962 book of the same nameThe themes behind Burgess’s novel, long contemplated by critics and film reviewers, allude to the possibility of a totalitarian government’s ability to use psychological techniques to control its citizens.  Whether they are seeing it for the first time or avid fans of the original, this is the final version of what is considered to be one of Kubrick’s best works.

Friday, December 3 (5:45 & 9 pm), Saturday, December 4, Sunday, December 5 (4, 6:30 & 9 pm), Tuesday December 7 (5:45 pm): THE FRENCH DISPATCH

The French Dispatch is a film described by director Wes Anderson as a “love letter to journalists.” The story follows Arthur Howitzer Jr., a fictional editor for The French Dispatch newspaper in post-WW2 France, and the events after his death. The movie brings to life his final wishes, the republication of three articles. They focus on an artist in prison who develops feelings for a guard; a student protest; and the kidnapping of a police commissioner’s son, which are all dramatized over the course of the plot.  The cast includes notable stars such as Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Timothée Chalamet, Frances McDormand, Adrien Brody, Léa Seydoux, Benicio del Toro and others.

Tuesday, December 7 (9 pm):  MULHOLLAND DRIVE. 

The 53-mile road Mulholland Drive begins in the desert-like Cahuenga Pass, moves along the Santa Monica Mountains ridgeline and ends at the Pacific Ocean near Malibu.  Known for its dangerous twisting curves and breath-taking views, the road itself serves as a metaphor for a perilous and idiosyncratic film.  The reworked 4K version of David Lynch’s film, now 20 years after its original release, features the ‘City of Dreams’ as setting for a tale filled with dream sequences.  The film launched Naomi Watts into a stellar acting career and also stars Laura Herring as a woman suffering from amnesia after a car accident and Justin Theroux as a successful Hollywood director.  Lynch received the award for Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001 as well as an Academy Award Nomination.

Wednesday, December 8 (3, 6:10 and 9:20 pm), Thursday, December 9 (4:30 pm), Saturday, December 11 (5 and 9 pm) and Sunday, December 12 (4:30 and 8:30 pm): HARRY’S POTTER AND PHILOSOPHER’S STONE  (Sorcerer’s Stone in USA) 

This film, also screened on the 20th anniversary of original release, is the first in the series of eight Harry Potter movies, a feature-length adaptation of the book by JK Rowling, with a plot exceptionally close to the book, a young orphan discovers that the world of wizardry and magic bodes danger.  Raised by an unloving aunt and uncle and made to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs, 11-year-old Harry is summoned to enroll in the Hogwart’s School of Magic.  Director Chris Columbus cast three relatively unknown actors, Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, Emma Watson as Hermione and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley.  The film, fleshed out with a cast of stalwart British actors, including Richard Harris (Dumbledore), Maggie Smith (Professor Minerva McGonagall), Alan Rickman (Snape) and John Hurt (Professor Quirrell), received three Oscar nominations and eight BAFTA nominations.  Sometimes scary, sometimes endearing, the film gave birth to an entire generation of Harry Potter fans.

Wednesday, December 15 (6 pm): CALLAS FOREVER

The French actress Fanny Ardant will be a guest in the Odeon theater in collaboration with Hotel Savoy for the screening of Callas Forever (in Italian with English subtitles), Franco Zeffirelli’s final film. This drama is a homage that loosely covers the life of Maria Callas as she joins the productions to a movie based on Georges Bizet’s Carmen well past the prime of her singing capabilities. Ardant’s role in Callas Forever was her most recent work where she acted in English, which earned her the Stanislavsky Award at the 25th Moscow International Film Festival.

Premiering on Wednesday, December 15 (9 pm), and screening daily from Saturday, December 18 to Wednesday, December 29 (5 & 9 pm): HOUSE OF GUCCI.

Viewers can see the dramaticized retelling of the life, times and murder of Maurizio Gucci. The long awaited film starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver as the Gucci couple will take onlookers through the events that led up to the death of Maurizio as plotted by his wife Patrizia Reggiani across a multitude of locations throughout Italy.  (rita kungel/additional reporting by nelson matos)