What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 29th July 2021.

The 20th annual Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) is currently running from 23rd July through until 1st August and is the biggest international film festival in Romania and is held in the fourth largest Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca in the historic province of Transilvania. The festival's main goal is the promotion of cinematic art by presenting some of the most innovative and spectacular films of the moment that feature both originality and independence of expression, that reflect unusual cinematic language forms or focus on current trends in youth culture. Dedicated to first and second time Directors, the Official Competition focuses on discovering new voices. In 2011, TIFF was accredited by the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations), which places it among the forty most important festivals in the world.

The Opening Gala feature film was 'The People Upstairs' from Spain and Directed by Cesc Gay and concerns two couples, one living upstairs from the other, who explore the complexities of modern relationships over dinner one evening. The Closing Night feature film is the Italian drama 'The Best Years' Directed by Gabriele Muccino and tells the story from the 1980's to almost the present day, told through the life of four friends, during forty years of loves, aspirations, success and failures.

This year there are ten films in Official Competition with awards being presented for Best Film, Best Director, Special Jury Prize, Best Performance with the jury also being able to award two Special Mentions. There is also an Audience Award within this category. Only national Romanian premiers are considered in the Official Competition. Those ten films are :-

* 'Apples' from Greece and Directed by Christos Nikou. This drama film is set amidst a worldwide pandemic that causes sudden amnesia, and here a middle-aged man finds himself enrolled in a recovery programme designed to help unclaimed patients build new identities. 

* 'That Was Life' from Spain and Directed by David Martin de los Santos this drama debut feature centres around two Spanish women from different generations who forge an unlikely friendship while sharing a hospital room in Belgium. 

* 'Marygoround' from Poland and Directed and Co-Written by Daria Woszek here we see a lonely, small-town, grocery store worker, living an uneventful boring life. On the eve of her 50th birthday however, her senses and imagination suddenly come alive.

* 'Pebbles' from India and Directed and Written by P. S. Vinothraj. Two arid hamlets separated by a distance of 13kms sees an alcoholic wife beater embark on a journey, on foot, from one to the other, dragging his young son along to fetch back his wife whom he had chased away.

* 'Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time' from Hungary and is Written and Directed by Lili Horvath. Here a neurosurgeon returns to Budapest from here comfortable home in America to reunite with the love of her life - a man who says they have never met. 

* 'The Flood Won't Come' is Written and Directed by Marat Sargsyan, and in this Lithuanian drama film a famous Colonel, who served in different countries for many years, finds himself in a strange situation when civil war breaks out in his native country. 

* 'The Last Bath' from Portugal and Co-Written and Directed by David Bonneville, this drama offering sees a nun who is called upon to adopt her fifteen year-old nephew, and as a consequence religion, family and love become intertwined. 

* 'The Pink Cloud' from Brazil and Written and Directed by Iuli Gerbase in her feature film making debut, this is a Sci-Fi drama film set following a toxic and mysterious pink cloud that appears in the skies above, and when a woman finds herself stuck in a flat with a man she just met, the events that unfold change her life in a way she never expected. 

* 'The Whaler Boy' is Written, Directed and Edited by Philipp Yuryev in his feature film debut, this Russian film sees a young Russian whale hunter embark on a perilous journey to America to locate a beautiful girl he met on webcam site. 

* 'What Do We See When We Look At The Sky?' from Georgia and Written, Directed and Edited by Alexandre Koberidze, this film sees a chance encounter on a street corner between a young woman and a man who fall in love at first sight, but an evil spell is cast on them. Will they ever meet again?

The other sections of TIFF comprise 'Romanian Days' - the competitive section for Romanian shorts and features films produced in 2020 and 2021. National premieres have priority in this section. Four awards are presented here - the FIPRESCI Award (International Federation of Film Critics), and for Best Feature Film, Best Short Film and Best Debut. 'Supernova' is the non-competitive showcase of the most significant features of the year, including titles awarded in major international festivals, works by renowned auteurs, national box-office leaders, and audience hits. 'Full Moon' showcases fantasy, thriller, and horror genre features. 'No Limit' is also a non-competitive section dedicated to features that are provocative, controversial, experimental, transgressive, and innovating in both form and content; and 'What's Up, Doc?' is a non-competitive section for Documentaries over sixty minutes run time released after the 1st May 2020.

For all the news, views and low-downs from this years 20th Transilvania International Film Festival, you can go to the official website at : https://www.tiff.ro/en

 

With Greater Sydney, where I live, still in COVID lockdown for a further four weeks now ending (at this stage) on Friday 27th August, 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, we open with an action adventure based on a Disney theme park ride where a small riverboat takes a group of travellers through a jungle filled with dangerous animals and reptiles and a supernatural element. Next up, after being recruited by a group of unconventional thieves, a renowned criminal finds himself caught up in an elaborate gold heist that promises to have far-reaching implications on his life and the lives of countless others. This is followed by a darkly-comedic thriller about a lone toll-booth operator on a remote roadway in Wales, with a past that is quickly catching up with him. And we conclude this weeks latest releases with an audio visual documentary that shows the viewer stunning images of forgotten places and buildings we constructed around the world and then left to slowly fall into decay and for nature to reclaim. 

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

'JUNGLE CRUISE' (Rated M) - is an American fantasy adventure film based on the Walt Disney theme park attraction of the same name and is Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra whose prior directorial credits take in the likes of his debut feature 'House of Wax' in 2005, and then 'Orphan', 'The Shallows' and four Liam Neeson actioners 'Unknown', 'Non-Stop', 'Run All Night' and 'The Commuter'. This film has been in gestation since 2004 with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen being attached to the project early on. Initially,  slated for a mid-October 2019 release before being moved to an end of July 2020 release date, and was then further delayed to its current date this week in both Australia and the US due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with its World Premier screening at the Disneyland Resort in California on 24th July. The film reportedly cost US$200M+ to produce. 

Set during the early 20th century, Frank Wolff (Dwayne Johnson) a riverboat Captain takes a British scientist, Dr. Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) and her younger brother, MacGregor Houghton (Jack Whitehall) on a mission into the Amazon jungle to find the Tree of Life, which is believed to possess healing powers that could be of great benefit to modern medicine. All the while, the trio must fight against dangerous wild animals, a hot and deadly environment, and a competing German expedition led by Prince Joachim (Jesse Plemmons), and a deadly mercenary hired to guide a rival mission, Aguirre (Edgar Ramirez) that are both  determined to find the tree first. Also starring Paul Giamatti.

'THE MISFITS' (Rated M) - this American heist comedy film is Directed by Renny Harlin whose previous big screen film making credits include 'Die Hard 2', 'Cliffhanger', 'Cutthroat Island', 'The Long Kiss Goodnight', 'Deep Blue Sea', 'Driven' and '12 Rounds' amongst less notable others. This film saw its World Premier screening in South Korea in early June this year, was released Stateside in mid-June, costs in the region of US$15M to produce, has so far grossed US$390K and has generated mostly unfavourable Reviews. Here then, set in the Middle East, master criminal architect Richard Pace (Pierce Brosnan) finds himself caught up in a major gold heist with implications that go far beyond what he could have ever possibly imagined. Also starring Tim Roth and Hermione Corfield. 

'THE TOLL' (Rated MA15+) - this comedy mystery drama thriller from the UK is Directed by the Welshman Ryan Andrew Hooper in his feature film making debut. Brendan (Michael Smiley) works solo shifts in the quietest toll booth in Wales located quite literally in the middle of nowhere, while hiding from a former criminal history where nobody would ever look. When he finally gets rumbled, word of his whereabouts gets out and his enemies head west for revenge. Meanwhile, local traffic cop Catrin's (Annes Elwy) investigation into a simple robbery finds her heading for the booth at precisely the wrong time. Also starring Paul Kaye, Iwan Rheon, Gary Beadle and Julian Glover.  

'HOMO SAPIENS' (Rated G) - this Austrian audio visual cinematic experience was first released in 2016 bringing together the work of a contemporary film maker, Austrian Director, Writer, Cinematographer and Co-Producer here Nikolaus Geyrhalter and Austrian Australian experimental composer Heinz Riegler. With not a single human being seen for the duration of this ninety-four minute film, it is based on long static shots of abandoned buildings and deserted landscapes that have been long forgotten, neglected and fallen into decay by their builders and architects, the people who used to work in them and who used to live there - be they towns, churches, shopping malls, movie theatres, hospitals, prisons or amusement parks which are now overrun by steadily creeping foliage and animal activity of every kind. The film has garnered critical acclaim and from this week gets a limited release in Australia. 

With four 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-