What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 10th June 2021.

The Cheltenham International Film Festival took place from 24th May to 5th June streaming over thirty-five films, including premieres from around the world and mostly by emerging filmmakers. The intention is to support new Directors making their mark, and to bring the best of independent cinema to audiences in and around Cheltenham, throughout the South-West of England and across the UK. First launched in 2019, in 2020 it became the first international film festival in the UK to stream its entire programme online to critical acclaim and commercial success. By going online the festival extended its reach to audiences around the country with a complementary programme of new feature films and guest celebrity interviews. The film festival operates under the auspices of Cheltenham International Film Trust. The Trust is a charity dedicated to translating artistic and creative values into social and economic benefits for the city.

The festival opened with an exclusive preview screening of the Oscar-nominated film, 'The Father', and closed with a preview of 'Brighton', based on a play by Steven Berkoff, with a cast of well-known British Actors and Directed by Stephen Cookson. In addition, there was a line up of interviews with filmmakers, plus a special 'In conversation with Stephen Frears', acclaimed BAFTA award winning and Oscar nominated Director.

The five films in competition for Best Film Emerging Director were :-

* 'ARISTOCRATS' - is a Japanese drama film Directed and Written for the screen by Yukiko Sode and concerns two young women, struggling to follow their own destinies against class-defined expectations, and who form an unlikely friendship.

* 'DISCLOSURE' - is an Australian and UK Co-Produced black comedy drama film Directed and Written for the screen by Michael Bentham and centres around two couples chatting beside a suburban pool in Melbourne, but the unease mounts as they turn to a recent incident involving their young children.

* 'I NEVER CRY' - is a Polish drama comedy Directed and Written for the screen by Piotr Domalewski and tells the story of a young Polish girl who travels to Ireland to recover the body of her father, long estranged from the family back home. This film was the CIFF Competition Winner. 

* 'UNIDENTIFIED' - is a Romanian dramatic thriller Directed and Written for the screen by Bogdan George Apetri in which a flawed but determined detective begins to seem ever more flawed.

* 'WET SEASON' - is a Singaporean drama film Directed and Written for the screen by Anthony Chen about how in Singapore, teacher Ling becomes the object of an infatuation when she takes one of her students under her wing.

The Festival Programme, included, amongst others, the following feature films :-

* 'SURGE' - is an English thriller Directed and Co-Written by Aneil Karia about a man who goes on a reckless journey of self-liberation over a 24 hour period in London, and featuring an award winning performance by Ben Whishaw.

* 'THE SWORDSMAN' - is a Korean action adventure drama offering Directed and Written by Jae-Hoon Choi and surrounds an ailing swordsman who must persevere in his bloody craft to win back his kidnapped daughter before his eyesight fails.

* 'HOW TO BE A GOOD WIFE' - is a French comedy drama film Directed and Written by Martin Provost and starring Juliette Binoche as a dutiful wife who rises up, inspired by the Spirit of May '68 and by the secret her dead husband bequeaths her.

* 'THE ATLANTIC CITY STORY' - is a US drama film Directed and Written by Henry Butash about Jane who forms an unlikely bond with a young gambler in Atlantic City, but she can’t run from her marriage forever.

* 'DINNER IN AMERICA' - is a US comedy dramatic romance film Directed and Written by Adam Rehmeier about a victimised girl and an anarchic punk with a penchant for pyromania who form an unlikely couple.

* 'INTO DAD'S WOODS' - is a French drama Directed and Co-Written by Vero Cratzborn and tells the story of how Gina, age fifteen, struggles with the mental disintegration of her beloved and eccentric nature-loving father.

* 'WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME' - is a Swiss drama film Directed and Co-Written by Rolando Colla and concerns two people with secrets and from very different backgrounds who make for an unlikely marriage, something neither was seeking.

* 'WINONA' - is a Greek dramatic comedy offering Directed and Written by Alexander Voulgaris here tells the story of four young women visiting a beach for a day of play with close friends it seems, but there's a reason they’re there.

* 'EDEN' - is a Finnish drama offering Directed and Written by Ulla Heikkila about three teenagers, one clever, one confident and one timid, who fall under the influence of a slightly older zealot at a religious summer camp.

* 'THE OUTSIDE STORY' - is a US comedy drama Directed and Written by Casimir Nozkowski with Brian Tyree Henry and Sonequa Martin-Green about a man, Charles, locked out of his apartment, sees there's more to life as he suddenly becomes dependent upon his long-ignored neighbours.

* 'NIGHT OF THE KINGS' - from France, Canada, the Ivory Coast and Senegal this fantasy drama film is Directed and Written by Philippe Lacote in a story of a young prison inmate named Roman, who in a bid to save his life, weaves a tall tale about the rise and fall of a notorious gang leader.

* 'SWEET THING' - from the US and Directed and Written by Alexandre Rockwell this drama film charts two young siblings who set out on the road with a friend to escape their dysfunctional family life.

* 'FATHER' - from Serbia, this drama is Directed and Written by Srdan Golubovic and centres around a determined father who treks from his village home to the Serbian capital Belgrade to protest against the removal of his kids.

* 'HIGH GROUND' - is a historical action thriller from Australia Directed by Stephen Johnson and starring Jack Thompson, Caren Pistorius, Simon Baker, Ryan Corr, Callan Mulvey and Jacob Junior Nayinggul and surrounds the sole survivor of a massacre as a child in 1919, Gutjuk is recruited twelve years later to hunt for a violent Aboriginal warrior.

* 'BRIGHTON' - is an English comedy drama Directed and Co-Written for the screen by Stephen Cookson and featuring Phil Davis, Adjoa Andoh, Lesley Sharp, Marion Bailey and Larry Lamb about two British working-class couples who return to Brighton after forty years and struggle to accept changes in both society and themselves.

For the full list of all feature films, short films, celebrity interviews and more, you can go to the official website at : https://www.cheltfilm.com/

Turning the attention then back to this coming week, we have six new release movies coming to your local Odeon to warm your bones on a cold Winter's evening. This week we have new films from almost all corners of the globe - Canada, Wales, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and the US kicking off with a true story of Canadian farmer who in 1998 took on a giant corporation after their GMOs interfere with his crops. This is followed by a story of an unlikely race horse bred by a small-town Welsh bartender, who with no experience, convinces her neighbours to chip in their meagre earnings to help raise the horse in the hopes he can compete with the racing elites. Next up is the story of three Maori cousins who each live three very different and tumultuous lives, after one of them is taken from her family and raised in an orphanage. Then we have a sea plane destroyed in a freak accident, and five people find themselves drifting on a raft at the mercy of the tide and with little hope of rescue, the helpless situation takes a horrifying turn when they are terrorised by a ravenous great white. Following this and during the infamous Argentinian Depression of 2001, the neighbours of a little town conceive a plan to recover the money they lost after learning that their bank manager and a corrupt lawyer have stolen it. And closing out the week we have an animated tale about how a young girls life is changed forever when she moves from her home in the city to a small frontier town and befriends a wild mustang.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the six latest release new movies 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.

'PERCY' aka 'PERCY vs GOLIATH' (Rated PG) - this Canadian-American-Indian biographical drama film is Directed by Clark Johnson who has 104 screen acting credits to his name and sixty-seven as Director, mostly of TV shows but also the occasional feature film including 'S.W.A.T.' in 2003, 'The Sentinel' in 2006 and 'Juanita' in 2019. The film premiered at the 2020 Quebec City Film Festival, and was released in Canada in early October 2020, and now gets its release in Australia from this week, having so far generated reasonably positive Press. 

Based on events that took place in 1998, this is the true story of a small-town farmer taking on one of the largest agricultural and food manufacturing corporations, Monsanto. Percy Schmeiser (Christopher Walken), a third-generation farmer, is sued by the corporate giant for allegedly using their patented seeds on his farm during two growing seasons. With little resources to fight the giant legal battle in which Monsanto demand US$150K in compensation plus legal costs Percy joins forces with up-and-coming attorney Jackson Weaver (Zach Braff) and environmental activist Rebecca Salcau (Christina Ricci) to fight one of the most monumental cases all the way up to the Supreme Court. Also starring Martin Donovan, Adam Beach, Luke Kirby and Roberta Maxwell.

'DREAM HORSE' (Rated PG) - is a sports comedy drama film Directed by Welshman Euros Lyn, whose previous feature film credits are 'Diwrnod Hollol Mindblowing Heddiw' in 2000 and 'The Library Suicides' in 2016, plus a bunch of TV series episodes including 'Casualty', 'Torchwood', 'Doctor Who', 'Sherlock', 'Upstairs Downstairs', 'Black Mirror', 'Broadchurch', 'Daredevil' and 'His Dark Materials'. The film saw its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival back in January 2020, and was originally scheduled to be released in the UK in mid-April 2020, and in the US in early May 2020, but these were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently released Stateside in late May and in the UK last week the film has generated mostly positive Reviews and has so far grossed US$2M. And so here we have the true story of Dream Alliance, an unlikely race horse bred by Welsh bartender Jan Vokes (Toni Collette). With very little money and no experience, Jan convinces her neighbours to chip in their earnings to help raise Dream Alliance in the hopes he can compete with the racing elites. The group's investment pays off as Dream Alliance begins to rise through the ranks with grit and determination and goes on to race in the Welsh Grand National. Also starring Damian Lewis, Owen Teale, Sian Phillips, Peter Davison and Joanna Page.

'COUSINS' (Rated M) - this New Zealand drama film is Directed by Ainsley Gardiner and Briar Grace Smith with the former also Producing and the latter also Writing, based on the 1992 novel by Patricia Grace. The pair have collaborated before on 2017's feature film 'Waru'. Here then we have Mata (Tanea Heke), Missy (Rachel House) and Makareta (Briar Grace Smith). Three cousins. Three lives. Separated by circumstances, yet bound together by blood. Orphaned Mata (Anna Scotney) believes she has no extended family and lives out her lonely childhood in fear and bewilderment. Back home on the land, educated Makareta (Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne) flees an arranged marriage to study law and begin the search for her missing cousin. She leaves behind cheeky yet dutiful Missy (Hariata Moriarty) who takes on her role as guardian of the land. As the years pass, loss of the family land seems imminent and the women’s promise to bring their stolen cousin home seems more unlikely than ever, until a chance encounter changes everything. 

'GREAT WHITE' (Rated MA15+) - this Australian survival horror offering is Directed by Martin Wilson in his feature film debut. Released in Australia this week before its US release in mid-July, here we have an all too familiar shark bait story, as a seemingly blissful tourist trip to the picturesque Hell's Reef quickly turns into a nightmare when five passengers on a downed seaplane become stranded miles from shore on a life raft. In a desperate bid for survival the group try to make it to land before they either run out of supplies or are taken by a couple of menacing terrors lurking just beneath the surface. Starring Katrina Bowden, Aaron Jakubenko, Tim Kano, Kimie Tsukakoshi and Te Kohe Tuhaka. The film has so far garnered mixed or average Reviews.

'HEROIC LOSERS' (Rated M) - is an Argentinian heist film Directed and Co-Written by Sebastian Borensztein, and based on the 2016 novel 'La noche de la Usina' ('The Night of the Heroic Losers') by Eduardo Sacheri, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Released in its native Argentina in mid-August 2019, it saw its international premiere as part of the Special Presentations section at the Toronto International Film Festival, has garnered generally positive Critical reaction and has so far grossed US$7M. In 2001, as Argentina is hitting its lowest ebb in its great depression, with his glory days far behind him, retired soccer star Fermin Perlassi (Ricardo Darin) now runs a service station in a small provincial town. Hoping to pull his family and their community out of decline, he seeks to convert some abandoned grain silos into a viable storage facility. He convinces friends to invest in the cooperative, but is railroaded by a conniving bank manager and a corrupt lawyer into placing their cash into a savings account just as the banks are about to be frozen by the government, rendering their money useless and their plans thwarted. For a while things seem to go from bad to worse, until rumours spread of a secret depository containing the cooperative’s pilfered cash and much more besides. With Fermin as their Robin Hood like leader, the group conspires to infiltrate the stash of cash, but it’s going to take some serious resolve, a little inspiration, and a lot of luck to pull off this heist. Also starring Chino Darin, Luis Brandoni, Veronica Llinas, Daniel Araoz, Carlos Belloso, Marco Caponi, Rita Cortese and Andres Parra.

'SPIRIT UNTAMED' (Rated G) - this computer-animated adventure film is Produced by DreamWorks Animation and is Directed by Elaine Bogan and Co-Directed by Ennio Torresan Jr., in their feature film directorial debuts. This is the second cinema released film of the Spirit franchise, and is a spin-off of the traditionally animated 2002 film 'Spirit : Stallion of the Cimarron' and based on its Netflix animated spin-off TV series 'Spirit Riding Free'. After moving to Miradero a sleepy little frontier town, young Lucky Prescott (voiced by Isabela Merced) befriends a wild kiger mustang named Spirit, who shares her rebellious spirit. When heartless wrangler Hendricks (voiced by Walton Goggins) plans to capture Spirit and his herd, Lucky and her new friends embark on the adventure of a lifetime to rescue the horse that forever changed her life. Also starring the voice talents of Jake Gyllenhaal, Julianne Moore, Mckenna Grace and Andre Braugher, the film has so far received mixed or average Reviews and has recouped US$1M from its US$30M budget since it opened in the US last week. 

With six 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 coming week, at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-