What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 8th July 2021.

The Far East Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Udine, in north-eastern Italy. It is one of the most important events promoting Asian Cinema in Europe. It focuses mainly on the films from East Asia and was founded in 1999, this year marking its 23rd edition held from 24th June through to 2nd July. This years Opening Night film was 'Cliff Walkers' - a Chinese historical spy thriller film Directed by Zhang Yimou, with the Closing Night film being Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's cult Hong Kong action thriller offering 'Infernal Affairs', newly restored in 4K.

In total sixty-three films were screened representing eleven countries with the line up including :-

* 'The Eight Hundred' from China in Mandarin and Directed by Guan Hu. European Festival Premier. 

* 'The Con-Heartist' from Thailand, in Thai and Directed by Mez Tharatorn. European Premier.

* 'Underdog : Parts 1 & 2' - from Japan, in Japanese and Directed by Take Masaharu. European Premier.

* 'Voice of Silence' - from South Korea, in Korean, and Directed and Written by Hong Eui-jeong.

* 'Limbo' - from Hong Kong, in Cantonese and Directed by Soi Cheang.

* 'Blue' - from Japan, in Japanese and Directed and Written by Yoshida Keisuke. European Premier. 

* 'Madalena' - from Macau, in Cantonese and Directed and Written by Emily Chan. World Premier.

* 'Shock Wave 2' - from Hong Kong, in Cantonese and Directed and Co-Written by Herman Yau. International Festival Premier.

* 'The Way We Keep Dancing' - from Hong Kong, in Cantonese and Directed, Written and Co-Edited by Adam Wong. European Premier.

* 'Midnight Swan' - from Japan, in Japanese and Directed and Written by Uchida Eiji. European Premier.

* 'Seobok' - from South Korea, in Korean and Directed and Co-Written by Lee Yong Zoo.

* 'Like Father and Son' - from China, in Mandarin and Directed and Co-Written by Bai Zhiqiang. International Premier.

* 'My Missing Valentine' - from Taiwan, in Mandarin and Taiwanese and Directed and Written by Chen Yu-hsun. European Festival Premier.

* 'Money Has Four Legs' - from Myanmar, in Burmese and Directed and Co-Written by Maung Sun. 

* 'Anima' - from China, in Mandarin and Directed and Written by Cao Jinling. European Premier.

* 'Ito' - from Japan, in Japanese, and Directed and Written by Yokohama Satoko. European Premier.

* 'Assassins' - from the USA, in English, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean and Malay and Directed by Ryan White. 

* 'One Second Champion' - from Hong Kong, in English, Cantonese and Mandarin and Directed by Chiu Sin-hang. European Premier.

* 'Fan Girl' - from The Philippines, in English and Tagalog, and Directed and Written by Antoinette Jadaone.

* 'Hand Rolled Cigarette' - from Hong Kong, in Cantonese, and Directed and Co-Written by Chan King-long. European Premier.

* 'Last of the Wolves' - from Japan, in Japanese and Directed by Shiraishi Kazuya. International Premier.

* 'Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy' - from Japan, in Japanese and Directed, Written and Edited by Hamaguchi Ryusuke. 

* 'Just 1 Day' - from Hong Kong, in Cantonese, and Directed and Written by Erica Li. 

* 'Back to the Wharf' - from China, in Mandarin and Directed and Co-Written by Li Xiaofeng. European Premier.

* 'Hold Me Back' - from Japan, in Japanese and Directed and Written by Ohku Akiko.

* 'Death Knot' - from Indonesia, in Indonesian and Directed and Co-Written by Cornelio Sunny. World Premier.

* 'Gatao : The Last Stray' - from Taiwan, in Mandarin and Taiwanese, and Directed and Co-Written by Ray Jiang. International Festival Premier.

* 'Deliver Us from Evil' - from South Korea, in Korean and Directed by Hong Won Chan.

* 'Time' - from Hong Kong, in Cantonese, and Directed by Ricky Ko.

* 'The Maid' - from Thailand, in Thai, and Directed and Edited by Lee Thongkham. International Premier.

* 'Zero to Hero' - from Hong Kong, in Cantonese, and Directed by Jimmy Wan. World Premier.

* 'Sugar Street Studio' - from Hong Kong, in Cantonese, and Directed and Co-Written by Sunny Lau. World Premier.

* 'Before Next Spring' - from China, in Mandarin and Japanese and Directed and Written by Li Gen. World Premier.

* 'Tough Out' - from China, in Mandarin, and Directed and Written by Xu Hui-jing. European Premier.

* 'Endgame' - from China, in Mandarin and Directed and Co-Written by Rao Xiaozhi. European Premier.

* 'Hail, Driver' - from Malaysia, in Malay, English and Chinese and Directed and Written by Muzzamer Rahmen. European Premier.

* 'Coffin Homes' - from Hong Kong, in Cantonese and Directed, Produced, Written and Edited by Fruit Chan. World Premier.

* 'Drifting' - from Hong Kong, in Cantonese, and Directed, Written and Co-Edited by Jun Li. 

* 'You're Not Normal, Either!' - from Japan, in Japanese and Directed by Maeda Koji. European Premier.

* 'Night of the Undead' - from South Korea, in Korean and Directed and Co-Written by Shin Jung-won. European Premier.

The popular jury of audience members named Japan as this year's winner, awarding the Golden Mulberry to Uchida Eiji's 'Midnight Swan' and the Silver Mulberry to Maeda Koji's 'You're Not Normal, Either!' The Crystal Mulberry was won by Taiwan, with Chen Yu-hsun's 'My Missing Valentine' taking third place on the podium. Black Dragon pass holders also chose 'My Missing Valentine' as their top film while the Purple Mulberry went to Soi Cheang's Hong Kong thriller 'Limbo'. The three international jurors of the 'first feature' section awarded the White Mulberry to 'Hand Rolled Cigarette', the first film by Chan Kin-Long together with a special mention for Chinese 'Anima' by Cao Jinling.

For the complete low-down on this years 23rd Far East Film Festival, you can go to the official website at : https://www/fareastfilm/com/eng/

As I write this Greater Sydney, where I live, remains in COVID lockdown for three weeks now ending (at this stage) on Friday 16th July, which means all of our cinema's are closed until this date, which further means that the release of the movies as given below, slated for release this week, will be delayed somewhat across certain parts of Australia at least. That said, these movies will either have been released or are set for an imminent release somewhere in the world, and as Odeon Online has an international readership, I thought it best to carry on regardless. And so, this coming week, there are only three latest release new films coming to an Odeon close to you. And we kick off with a much delayed yet much hyped 24th film in the MCU that sees our heroine confront the darker parts of her former life when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. This is followed by a superstar of the NBA and his young son who get trapped in digital space by a rogue AI, and to get home safely, he must team up with all your favourites from the Looney Tunes gang for a high-stakes basketball game against the AI's digitised champions of the court. And closing out the week we have an Irish offering about two school friends who decide to start a pretend straight relationship in an effort to fit in.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three 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.

'BLACK WIDOW' (Rated M) - is the long awaited superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. This is the 24th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the first film in Phase Four of the MCU. Its release was delayed three times from an original May 2020 date due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 'Black Widow' saw its World Premier screenings on June 29, 2021 at various red carpet fan events in London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, and New York City and is released in the US and in Australia from this week, having garnered generally favourable Critical acclaim off the back of a US$200M production budget. This film is Directed by the Australian multiple award winning and nominated writer and film maker Cate Shortland whose three prior feature film credits are 'Somersault' in 2004 with Abbie Cornish and Sam Worthington, 'Lore' in 2012 with Saskia Rosendahl and 'Berlin Syndrome' in 2017 with Teresa Palmer.

At birth the Black Widow, aka Natasha Romanoff, (Scarlett Johansson) is given to the KGB, which grooms her to become its ultimate operative. Following the events of 2016's 'Captain America : Civil War' Natasha Romanoff finds herself on the run when the USSR breaks up and the government attempts to silence her once and for all. As the action moves to present day New York where she has become a freelance operative, she is forced to confront a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Romanoff must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger. Also starring Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova/Black Widow, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, Rachel Weisz, Olga Kurylenko with Robert Downey Jnr. making an appearance as Tony Stark/Iron Man.

'SPACE JAM : A NEW LEGACY' (Rated PG) - this American live-action animated sports comedy film is Directed by Malcolm D. Lee whose previous film making credits include 'Soul Men' with Samuel L. Jackson in 2008, 'Scary Movie 5' in 2013, 'Barber Shop : The Next Cut' in 2016 with Ice Cube, and 'Night School' in 2018 with Kevin Hart. This film is a standalone sequel to 1996's 'Space Jam' which grossed US$250M off the back of a US$80M production budget. This is the first cinema released film to feature the Looney Tunes characters since 2003's 'Looney Tunes : Back in Action', and like the previous hybrid films, it will be a combination of live-action, traditional hand-drawn animation, and 3D CGI effects. Here then, LA Lakers basketball superstar LeBron James and his young son, Dom (Cedric Joe), get trapped in digital space by a rogue AI - Al-G Rhythm (Don Cheadle). To get home safely, LeBron teams up with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the rest of the Looney Tunes gang (consisting of the likes of Porky Pig and Tweety, Speedy Gonzales, Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Elmer Fudd, and Yosemite Sam) for a high-stakes basketball game against the AI's digitised champions of the court - the Goon Squad, a powered up team of virtual avatars of professional basketball players. With a budget of US$150M the film is set for release Stateside from 16th July and also stars Sonequa Martin-Green as Kamiyah James and Zendaya as the voice of Lola Bunny. 

'DATING AMBER' (Rated MA15+) - is an Irish comedy drama offering Directed and Written by David Freyne in his ninth directing outing yet only his second feature film following 2017's 'The Cured' with Elliot Page. Distraught over persistent homophobic abuse, outsiders Eddie (Fionn O'Shea) and Amber (Lola Petticrew) decide to hide their sexuality from the rural Irish town in which they live by pretending to be a heterosexual couple. Amber wants to escape a life overshadowed by the suicide of her father to lead a lesbian punk life-style in a more liberal environment. Eddie is not so confident of his sexuality and intends to follow his insensitive and often absent father into the Irish Army. The film was originally released on Amazon Prime Video UK in early June last year before a cinema release in Ireland in early July, and a digital release in the US and on-demand from mid-November. Now its gets a limited showing in Australia and has garnered largely positive Reviews along the way. Also starring Sharon Horgan, Barry Ward and Simone Kirby. 

With just three 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-