What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 15th July 2021.

The 74th annual 'Cannes Film Festival' is currently in full swing from 6th to 17th July after having been originally scheduled from 11th to 22nd May. American Director, and Screenwriter Spike Lee was invited to be the head of the jury for the festival for a second time, after the COVID-19 pandemic in France shelved plans to have him lead the jury for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival. That jury also features other big screen notaries including Mati Diop, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Melanie Laurent, Kleber Mendonca Filho, Tahar Rahim and Song Kang-ho. French Director Leos Carax's long-awaited musical film 'Annette' was the opening film of the festival, with the closing night's feature, in the out of competition category, being French Director Nicolas Bedos' spy comedy offering 'OSS 117 : From Africa with Love'. 

This year there are twenty-four feature films in Official Competition at Cannes for the prestigious Palme d'Or award. Included in this line up are :-

* 'Annette' is the opening film of the festival and is from France, Germany and Belgium and is Directed and Co-Written by Leos Carax in his feature filmmaking debut and is based on a story by Ron and Russell Mael (of famed rock and pop music band 'Sparks'). The film stars Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard. 

* 'Benedetta' - a 17th century biographical drama film Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Paul Verhoeven and is from the Netherlands and France and is based on the 1986 non-fiction book 'Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy' by Judith C. Brown. Starring Virginie Efira, Lambert Wilson and Charlotte Rampling.

* 'Bergman Island'- Directed and Written by Mia Hansen-Love this French, Mexican, Brazilian and German co-produced drama film stars Mia Wasikowska, Tim Roth and Vicky Krieps.

* 'Drive My Car' - from Japan and Co-Written and Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi and based on the short story of the same name by Haruki Murakami from his 2014 short story collection 'Men Without Women'. Starring Hidetoshi Nishijima, Masaka Okada and Reika Kirishima. 

* 'Everything Went Fine' - from France and Written for the screen and Directed by Francois Ozon based on the novel 'Everything Went Well' by Emmanuele Bernheim, and starring Sophie Marceau, Andre Dussollier and Charlotte Rampling. 

* 'Flag Day' - having received a four minute standing ovation at its World Premier screening at Cannes this year, this American drama film is Directed and stars Sean Penn and is based on the book 'Flim-Flam Man: The True Story Of My Father’s Counterfeit Life' by Jennifer Vogel. Aside from Sean Penn, this film also stars his real life daughter Dylan Penn, his real life son Hopper Penn and Josh Brolin, Katheryn Winnick, Eddie Marsan and James Russo. 

* 'France' - from France, Italy, Germany and Belgium this drama film is Written and Directed by Bruno Dumont and stars Lea Seydoux.

* 'The French Dispatch' - from the US and Directed, Written for the screen based on a story he Co-Wrote and Co-Produced by Wes Anderson, this comedy drama offering features an ensemble cast consisting of Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Lea Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothee Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, Bill Murray and Owen Wilson with support from the likes of Anderson's recurring collaborators, including Liev Schreiber, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan, Jason Schwartzman, and Anjelica Huston. The film saw its World Premier showcasing earlier this week and is set for an international release in late October this year following sixteen months of delays due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

* 'Memoria' - is an international drama Co-Production Written and Directed by the Thai independent film maker Apichatpong Weerasethakul and stars Tilda Swinton, Jeanne Balibar, Daniel Gimenez Cacho and Juan Pablo Urrego.

* 'Nitram' - this Australian drama thriller film is Directed and Written by Justin Kurzel and focuses on the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, Australia and stars Caleb Landry Jones, Judy Davis, Essie Davis and Anthony LaPaglia.

* 'Red Rocket' - from the United States and Directed, Co-Written and Co-Produced by Sean Baker, this comedy drama offering stars Simon Rex, Bree Elrod and Suzanna Son. 

* 'The Story of My Wife' - from Hungary, Germany, France and Italy and Directed and Written by Ildiko Enyedi, based on the 1942 novel of the same name by Milan Fust. Starring Lea Seydoux.

* 'Three Floors' - from Italy and France and Directed, Co-Written and Co-Produced by Nanni Moretti, this drama film is based on the 2017 novel 'Shalosh Qomot' by Israeli writer Eshkol Nevo, and stars Margherita Buy, Riccardo Scamarcio, Alba Rohrwacher, Adriano Giannini, Elena Lietti, Alessandro Sperduti, Denise Tantucci and Nanni Moretti.

* 'The Worst Person in the World' - this Norwegian, Swedish and French Co-Produced drama film is Directed and Co-Written by Joachim Trier and stars Anders Danielsen Lie. 

The awards ceremony for the Palme d'Or will take place on Saturday 17th July, and the winners and grinners will be recorded here, at Odeon Online, together with those in the Un Certain Regard (for those films in Official Selection) and Camera d'Or (for first time debut film Directors) categories. The Honorary Palme d'Or will be awarded to American Actress and Director Jodie Foster, and Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio. 

For more on the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, you can visit the official website at : https://www.festival-cannes.com

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 audience, I thought it best to carry on regardless. And so this weeks three new release films kick off with a dangerous assassin who reunites with her estranged mother and her lethal associates to protect an eight year old girl, and take down a ruthless crime syndicate and its army of henchmen. Next up we have a supernatural drama of a man who interviews five unborn souls to determine which one can be given life on Earth. And we close out with the week with a documentary film exploring the life and legend of the Manchester United Football Club manager Alex Ferguson.

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.

'GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE' (Rated MA15+) - this action thriller offering is Directed and Co-Written by the Israeli film maker and screenwriter Navot Papushado in only his third full length feature film outing following 2010's 'Rabies', 2013's 'Big Bad Wolves' and his segment 'F is for Falling' in the anthology horror comedy film 'ABCs of Death 2'. The film will be released in the US, Canada and the Nordic nations on Netflix on 14th July, with a cinema release elsewhere kicking off with Australia from this week. 

During her turbulent life as a professional assassin, Scarlet (Lena Headey) was cruelly forced to abandon her daughter Sam and go on the run. Years later, despite the estrangement, Sam (Karen Gillan) has also grown up into a cold-blooded hitwoman. After a high-stakes mission spins out of control, putting an innocent eight-year-old girl, Emily (Chloe Coleman) in the middle of a gang war she has unleashed, Sam has no choice but to go rogue. This ultimately leads her back to her mother and her former hitwomen sidekicks known as the Sisterhood. Ultimately, that merry band of ass-kicking, gun-totting, knife wielding assassins, comprising Scarlet, Anna May (Angela Bassett), Florence (Michelle Yeoh), and Mathilde (Carla Gugino) all join forces with Sam in an avenging war against those who took everything from them. Also starring Paul Giamatti and Ralph Ineson. 

'NINE DAYS' (Rated M) - is a supernatural drama film Directed and Written by Edson Oda in his feature film making debut after a string of short films which kicked off his career in 2009. The film saw its World Premier screening at the Sundance Film Festival back in January 2020, is released here in Australia from this week and goes on a wider release from the end of this month, having garnered generally favourable critical acclaim along the way, as well as three award wins and another ten nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit. And so here, a reclusive man, Will (Winston Duke) lives in an isolated house in the middle of a dessert. His purpose is to conduct a series of interviews, lasting up to nine days, with human souls for a chance to be born. If they are not selected, Will gives them a parting memory before their existence is erased. His only company is Kyo (Benedict Wong), a soul who did not disappear, and has since assisted in Will's interviews. Over the course of the nine days the majority of candidates are dismissed for a variety of reasons, ultimately disappearing forever, however, in the end it all boils down to two, and only one will be chosen to be born. Also starring Zazie Beetz, Bill Skarsgard and Tony Hale. 

'SIR ALEX FERGUSON : NEVER GIVE IN' (Rated M) - this documentary film about the former Scotland, Aberdeen and Manchester United football manager Sir Alex Ferguson is Directed by Sir Alex's own son Jason Ferguson, and recounts Ferguson's life from his early experiences in Govan (now part of Glasgow), through his playing career as a striker at the Glasgow Rangers Football Club amongst others, to his long and successful managerial career, using archive footage and interviews with Ferguson that began in 2016, and includes Ferguson's recovery from his 2018 brain haemorrhage. Gordon Strachan appears as a talking head, along with eleven other interviewees in total - Sir Alex, five family members (his wife Cathy Ferguson and their sons, Jason, Mark and Darren along with his brother, Martin Ferguson), two doctors, and Ryan Giggs, Eric Cantona and Archie Knox. The film saw its Premier screening at this years Glasgow Film Festival, went on release in the UK and Ireland at the end of May, and now gets a limited showing in Australia. 

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-