What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 13th September 2018.

As reported two weeks ago now, the 43rd annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) runs from 6th through to 16th September 2018. This year there are twenty films in the 'Gala Presentations' that include the opening and closing nights films 'The Outlaw King' by David Mackenzie and 'Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy' by Justin Kelly respectively.

In addition also screening in this section are 'Everybody Knows' with Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz as Written and Directed by Asghar Farhadi; 'First Man' with Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy and Directed by Damien Chazelle; 'Green Book' with Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali and Directed by Peter Farrelly; 'The Public' with Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater as Directed by Emilio Estevez; 'A Star Is Born' with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga and Directed by in his debut by Bradley Cooper; 'Widows' with Viola Davis and Michelle Rodriguez and Directed by Steve McQueen; 'Life Itself' with Oscar Isaac and Olivia Wilde as Written and Directed by Dan Fogelman and 'A Private War' starring Rosamund Pike and Tom Hollander and Directed by Matthew Heineman.

There are also 59 'Special Presentation' feature films that include '22 July' by Paul Greengrass; 'Boy Erased' as Written, Co-Produced, Directed and Starring Joel Edgerton; 'The Death and Life of John F. Donovan' Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Xavier Dolan; 'The Front Runner' by Jason Reitman; 'Greta' by Neil Jordan; 'Hold the Dark' by Jeremy Saulnier; 'Hotel Mumbai' by Anthony Maras; 'If Beale Street Could Talk' Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Barry Jenkins; 'Kursk' by Thomas Vinterberg; 'Mid90s' Written and Directed by Jonah Hill in his Directorial debut; 'The Old Man & the Gun' Written and Directed by David Lowery; 'Roma' as Written, Co-Produced, Co-Edited, Co-Photographed and Directed by Alfonso Cuaron; 'The Sisters Brothers' by Jacques Audlard; 'Skin' Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Guy Nattiv; 'Teen Spirit' Written and Directed by Max Minghella in his Directing debut; 'White Boy Rick' by Yann Demange and 'Wildlife' Co-Written and Directed by Paul Dano in his first Directing outing.

There are also 28 feature length Documentaries screening; 48 in the 'Contemporary World Cinema' category; 47 in the 'Discovery' section; eleven in the 'Masters' category; ten in 'Midnight Madness' including 'Halloween' and 'The Predator'; twelve in 'Platform'; twenty in 'Short Cuts', six in 'Wavelengths' and five in the 'Primetime' section. If you want to know more, and for a full list of films being screened over the duration and a whole lot more, go to the website at : https://www.tiff.net//tiff/

And so to this this weeks slew of seven new release films coming to your local Odeon, kicking off with the latest reboot in a manhunting alien franchise that sees this genetically modified pesky no good alien type up to all sorts of mischief and misdeeds down small-town USA way with nothing but a rag tag bunch of yokels standing in the way of the end of the world as we know it. We turn next to a comedy thriller about a missing person and her best friend who begins the search to uncover the truth surrounding her mysterious disappearance. This is followed up by a coming of age drama set 25 years ago now when a group of teens are sent away by their parents to a special place to say nay to gay and have those same sex feelings eradicated from their minds and bodies once and for all. We then turn to a drama surrounding the disappearance of a teenage girl and her fathers search for clues as to her possible whereabouts and the perpetrator of the crime via her online presence. Next up is a British thriller set on the Channel Islands when a young girl falls for a mysterious young lad, only for him to become the prime suspect in a series of murders spanning recent years - does she do a runner, or stand her ground and support her new love through it? We then have the second pairing, albeit fifteen years apart, of a cult classic partnership that was the subject of a recent film based on the making of their so bad it's good film, that this time around sees two unlikely characters take a road trip of discovery, and danger. We then wrap up with a CGI live action retelling of a boy and his cute hunny eating teddy bear friend who fall out of touch when the young boy grows up, gets married and moves to the Big Smoke only to be reunited years later at a time in the mans life when he needs to be reawakened.

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

'THE PREDATOR' (Rated MA15+) - it's been 31 years since the cult classic alien man hunting character 'Predator' emerged onto our cinema screens with the titular action hero of that era Arnold Schwarzenegger going head to head and toe to toe with the said Predator in some undisclosed Central American jungle territory. With a crack team of hardened military rescue types who get picked off most gruesomely and violently one by one, it's Arnie who is the last man standing to face off against the menacing alien and save the day. That film was Directed by John McTiernan for US$18M and it took at the Box Office US$99M. On the strength of 'Predator' three sequels have so far materialised including this one. In between time there was 1990's 'Predator 2' Directed by Stephen Hopkins and then 2010's 'Predators' as Directed by Nimrod Antal and now 'The Predator' Directed by Shane Black. A crossover with the Alien franchise produced the 'Alien vs. Predator' films, which to date have seen 'Alien vs. Predator' released in 2004 and 'Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem' released in 2007.

Shane Black who Co-Starred in the original film back in 1987, and who Directs here and also Co-Wrote the Screenplay has stated that the film would be a sequel set in the present day, following on from the events of the first two films, but set before the events of the 'Predators'. He has also indicated that he looked for plot details from the previous Predator movies that he could retrospectively link back to with the new film, and that if this instalment performs well, it could be the first in a planned trilogy. And so, from the nether regions of space down to the small-town streets of suburban USA, the hunt comes home - once more. The universe's most lethal hunters are stronger, smarter and more deadly and cunning than ever before, having genetically upgraded themselves with DNA from other alien species. When a boy accidentally triggers their return to Earth, only a ragtag disparate bunch of ex-soldiers and a pissed-off science teacher and biologist can prevent the end of the world as we know it. Starring Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan-Michael Key, Thomas Jane, Jake Busey, Alfie Allen and Olivia Munn. The film is released in the US this week too.

'A SIMPLE FAVOUR' (Rated M) - this American mystery comedy thriller is Directed and Co-Produced by Paul Feig whose previous feature film Director credits include 2016's 'Ghostbusters', 2015's 'Spy', 2013's 'The Heat' and 2011's 'Bridesmaid's' as well as numerous episodes of television series including 'The Office', 'Arrested Development', 'Weeds' and 'Nurse Jackie'. Here, he adapts for the big screen the 2017 novel of the same name by Darcey Bell, telling the story of three small town USA characters - a stay at home Mum vlogger Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) and her wealthy and somewhat mysterious best friend Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) and her husband Sean Nelson (Henry Golding). When Emily goes missing Stephanie springs into action in an attempt to solve her best friends disappearance, but uncovers a web of intrigue, betrayals, a corpse, and the elusive question of who can be trusted. The film is released Stateside too this week.

'THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST' (Rated M) - this drama film is Directed and Co-Written for the screen by Iranian-American Desiree Akhavan in only her second feature film outing. Based on the 2012 book of the same name by Emily M. Danforth the film Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back in January this year, went on release in the US in early August and the UK last week, has received generally positive Reviews and has so far grossed just US$774K. The story here is set in 1993 and sees teenage girl Cameron Post (Chloe Grace Moretz) caught in the backseat of a car with the Prom Queen. She is sent away to a treatment centre in a remote area called 'God's Promise'. While she is being subjected to questionable gay conversion therapies, she bonds with some fellow residents of similar age as they pretend to comply with the process of conversion and transition down the straight and narrow path, while waiting to be released. Also starring John Gallagher Jnr., Jennifer Ehle, Sasha Lane and Forrest Goodluck, the film has received generally positive press and took out the Grand Jury Prize for US Drama at this years Sundance Film Festival.

'SEARCHING' (Rated M) - this tech heavy thriller is Directed and Co-Written by Aneesh Chaganty, Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back in January this year, was released in the US in mid-August and has so far been warmly Reviewed by Critics and has taken US$33M. Filmed entirely from the perspective of computer screens and smartphones, the film follows David Kim's (John Cho) search for his sixteen year old daughter Margot Kim (Michelle La) who has mysteriously gone missing. A local investigation is opened and Detective Rosemary Vick (Debra Messing) is assigned to the case. But 36 or so hours on and without a single lead, David decides to search the one place no one has looked yet, where all secrets are kept today: his daughter's laptop and smartphone. This hyper-modern thriller unfolds through the technology devices we use every day to communicate - Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, SnapChat, FaceTime you name it, David must trace his daughter's digital footprints before she potentially disappears forever.

'BEAST' (Rated M) - here we have a British psychological thriller Written and Directed by Michael Pearce in his feature film debut. The film Premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival a year ago now, was released in the UK back in April and has had much Critical acclaim bestowed up on it thus far. The story here unfolds in a small island community when a troubled young woman Moll (Jesse Buckley) falls for a mysterious and secretive outsider Pascal (Johnnie Flynn) who shows her how to escape her oppressive family and her controlling mother Hilary (Geraldine James). When he comes under suspicion for a series of unsolved brutal murders in the small community over the last four years, she defends him at all costs.

'BEST F(R)IENDS' (Rated M) - this American black comedy stars Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero (those of the cult classic it's so bad it's good 2003 film 'The Room', and the subjects of the more recent 'The Disaster Artist') and is Directed by Justin MacGregor. Written and Co-Produced by Greg Sestero, this film sees the pairs first collaboration since 'The Room' and was first released around the festival circuit back in September 2017 and went on a wider release from March this year. Inspired by a road trip that Wiseau and Sestero allegedly made after filming of 'The Room' wrapped in April 2003, this film is released in two volumes, with a total running time of just over two hundred minutes. The film has garnered generally mixed Reviews and tells the story set in Los Angeles of a drifter Jon Kortina (Greg Sestero) who is taken in by an eccentric mortician Harvey Lewis (Tommy Wiseau). Pretty quickly the pair hit it off and hatch an underground enterprise. Greed causes their efforts to unwind, however, and the drifter does a bolt and heads across the Southwest where he encounters wild and crazy characters and learns valuable lessons about friendship and loyalty.

'CHRISTOPHER ROBIN' (Rated G) - this live action/CGI fantasy comedy drama offering is based on Disney's 'Winnie the Pooh' collection of stories and that lovable iconic A.A. Milne character 'Winnie-the-Pooh'. Directed by Marc Forster whose previous Directorial credits take in 'Monster's Ball', 'Finding Neverland', 'Stranger than Fiction', 'The Kite Runner', 'Quantum of Solace', 'Machine Gun Preacher' and 'World War Z' the film was released in the US in early August, has grossed so far US$144M from its US$75M budget outlay and has garnered generally positive press. And so the story here tells of an older Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) who is now a responsible family man living in London and working harder than his family would wish for. One day he receives a surprise visit from his old childhood pal, Winnie-the-Pooh (voiced by Jim Cummings). With Christopher's help, Pooh embarks on a journey to find his friends Tigger (also voiced by Jim Cummings), Eeyore (Brad Garrett), Owl (Toby Jones), Piglet (Nick Mohammed), Rabbit (Peter Capaldi), Kanga (Sophie Okonedo) and Roo (Sarah Sheen). Once reunited, the lovable bear and the gang travel to the big city to help Christopher rediscover the joy of life. Also starring Hayley Attwell as Evelyn Robin, Christopher's wife.

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

-Steve, at Odeon Online-