What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 12th August 2021.

This year the 74th Locarno Film Festival runs from 4th through until 14th August. Throughout its 73-year history, the festival has occupied a unique position in the landscape of the major film festivals. Every August, for eleven days the Swiss-Italian town of Locarno, right in the heart of Europe, becomes the world capital of auteur cinema. The official website reads : 'thousands of film fans and industry professionals meet here every summer to share their thirst for new discoveries and a passion for cinema in all its diversity. In Locarno they find a quality program, rich, eclectic, surprising, and where emerging talent rubs shoulders with prestigious guests'. Further, 'with eleven sections, three competitions and twenty awards, quality and variety are key. This is the framework of a Festival that explores cinema from every perspective, to discover in the present the filmmakers and films destined to have a future'. The main competition is the Concorso internazionale which features works shown primarily as World Premier screenings, coming from all around the world and competing for the prestigious Pardo d’oro (Golden Leopard). Showcasing established auteurs alongside the pleasure of discovery, storytelling and innovation, the Concorso internazionale is an open, inclusive place, which aims to mark the new territories of cinematic art. The Opening Night film was 'Beckett' Directed by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino and starring John David Washington, Boyd Holbrook, Vicky Krieps and Alicia Vikander due to be released on Netflix on 13th August. 

This year competing for the Concorso internazionale, the following prizes are awarded : the Golden Leopard being the grand prize of the festival of the City of Locarno for Best Film. The Special Jury Prize; the Pardo for Best Direction; and the Pardo for Best Actor and Best Actress are the other awards given in this section. There are seventeen films in competition within this section, with American Screenwriter, Director and Producer, Eliza Hittman serving as Jury President this year, those being :-

* 'After Blue' from France and Written and Directed by Bertrand Mandico in his second feature film set on a distant planet terrorised by a vicious killer. 

* 'Cop Secret' from Iceland and Directed and Co-Written by Hannes Thor Halldorsson in his debut feature film about a closeted undercover policeman who falls in love with his new partner.

* 'Gerda' from Russia and Directed by Natalya Kudryashova in her second feature film and is about a troubled young woman who is visited by a strange apparition. 

* 'The Giants' from Italy and Co-Written, Directed, Produced, Edited, lensed and stars Bonifacio Angius in his third feature film which follows a group of old friends who get together in a remote country house.

* 'Heavens Above' is a multi-national production Directed, Written and Co-Produced by the Serbian film maker Srdjan Dragojevic who here presents three stories about miracles that happen to individuals living in a post-communist society relearning Christianity after fifty years of atheism. 

* 'Ju-ju Stories' from Nigeria and France and Written and Directed by CJ ‘Fiery’ Obasi, Abba T. Makama, Michael Omonua who together form Nigerian new wave cinema collective 'Surreal16'. Their film is an anthology exploring Nigerian folklore and urban legend.

* 'Luzifer' from Austria and Written and Directed by Peter Brunner here tells the story inspired by real events, of a man whose remote Alpine home is threatened by a tourist development.

* 'Medea' from Russia and Directed and Co-Produced by Alexander Zeldovich here the filmmaker transposes the titular classic Greek tragedy to contemporary Moscow, as jaded members of the city’s elite find a way to restore their youthful vigour.

* 'A New Old Play' from Hong Kong and France this feature film is Written, Directed and Edited by Qiu Jiongjiong who here explores 20th-Century China’s tumultuous history through the memories of a dying theatre clown as he prepares to enter the afterlife.

* 'The Odd-Job Men' from Spain and Directed, Co-Written and Co-Edited by Neus Ballus in her third film making offering follows three men, all non-actors playing themselves, over six days at a small plumbing and electrical company in Barcelona, as a young Moroccan apprentice must win over his experienced colleagues.

* 'Petite Solange' from France and Directed and Written by Axelle Ropert comes a story of a sensitive twelve-year-old girl who is rocked by her parent’s failing marriage.

* 'The Sacred Spirit' from Spain, France and Turkey and Written and Directed by Chema Garcia Ibarra in his feature film making debut tells the story of a ufology association whose beloved leader dies unexpectedly.

* 'Secret Name' from France and is Directed and Co-Written by Aurelia Georges in her third feature film offering about a WWI nurse who assumes the identity of a deceased wealthy woman.

* 'Soul Of A Beast' from Switzerland and Directed, Written, Co-Produced, Co-Edited and jointly lensed by Lorenz Merz, this film follows a young father who falls in love with his best friend’s girlfriend.

* 'The River' from Lebanon, France, Germany and Qatar and Directed and Written by Ghassan Salhab sees a couple reuniting after a long separation who take refuge on a mountain when war breaks out in Lebanon.

* 'Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash' from Indonesia, Singapore and Germany and Directed by Edwin tells the tale of a tough Javanese fighter struggling to deal with his sexual impotence.

* 'Zeroes And Ones' from Italy, Germany and the USA and Directed by Abel Ferrara and sees Ethan Hawke playing a soldier navigating the world after a post-apocalyptic siege.

American Screenwriter, Director, Producer and Actor John Landis will be awarded the Leopard of Honour Award for lifetime achievement on 13th August. For the other competitions - 'Filmmakers of the Present', 'Leopards of Tomorrow', 'First Feature' and the 'National Competition', and the winners in each category, you can visit the official website at : https://www.locarnofestival.ch/

With Greater Sydney, where I live, still in COVID lockdown for another two weeks ending (at this stage) on Friday 27th August, this 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 kick off this weeks latest new releases with a film about an oil working father who travels from Oklahoma to France to help his estranged daughter, who has been in prison for four years for a murder she claims she didn't commit. We then have a Sci-Fi action comedy offering about a bank teller who realises he is a background character in an open world video game called Free City that will soon go offline. This is followed up by an action thriller set after a remote diamond mine collapses in far northern Canada, with ‘big-rig’ ice road driver having to lead an impossible rescue mission over a frozen sea to save the trapped miners. And closing out the week we turn to a French comedy about a young man who decides to make his dream of becoming Miss France come true.

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. 

'STILLWATER' (Rated M) - is an American crime drama film Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Tom McCarthy whose feature film making debut came in 2003 with 'The Station Agent' which he followed up with 'The Visitor', 'Win Win', 'The Cobbler' and the multi-award winning 'Spotlight' in 2015. All up McCarthy has eight Directorial credits to his name, eleven as Writer, seven as Producer and forty-two as Actor, having collected seventy-seven award wins along the way and another ninety-nine nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit. This film saw its World Premier screening at this years Cannes Film Festival in early July where it received an eight minute standing ovation having previously been scheduled for release in early November last year only to be scuppered by the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was released Stateside two weeks ago now, has so far taken US$10.5M at the Box Office from a production budget of US$20M, is released this week in Australia and has garnered generally positive Critical acclaim.

An oil worker from Stillwater, Oklahoma Bill Baker (Matt Damon) travels from his home State to Marseille, France to visit his estranged daughter Allison (Abigail Breslin) who was imprisoned four years ago for a murder she claims she did not commit. Allison seizes on a new tip that could acquit her and presses Bill to engage her legal team headed up by defence lawyer Leparq (Ann Le Ny). But Bill eager to prove his worth and regain his daughters trust, takes matters into his own hands. Confronted by language barriers, cultural differences, and a complicated legal system until he meets a local Virginie (Camille Cottin), and mother to eight-year-old Maya (Lilou Siauvaud) who offers to lend assistance in return for a favour he helped her out with. Together, this unlikely friendship begin a journey of discovery, truth, love and liberation. Also starring Deanna Dunagan and William Nadylam.

'FREE GUY' (Rated M) - this American Sci-Fi action comedy film is Directed by the Canadian film maker, Producer and Actor Shawn Levy whose previous Directorial outings take in the likes of 'Big Fat Liar' in 2002, 'Cheaper by the Dozen' in 2003, 'The Pink Panther' in 2006, the three 'Night at the Museum' films in 2006, 2009 and 2014, 'Real Steel' in 2011 and 'This Is Where I Leave You' in 2014. He has also Directed two episodes in each of the three seasons of Netflix's 'Stranger Things'. This film was initially scheduled to be released in early July 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then moved to mid-December 2020, and then a month out from that date it was removed from its upcoming release schedule until further notice, before being moved to 21st May this year with a final release date settled on for this week in the US and Australia. And so here, in the open world video game 'Free City', Guy (Ryan Reynolds) is a non-player character working as a bank teller. Thanks to a program developed by programmers Millie (Jodie Comer) and Keys (Joe Keery) inserted into Free City by the publisher Antoine (Taika Waititi), Guy becomes self-aware of his world being a video game, and takes steps to make himself the hero, creating a race against time to save the game before the developers can shut it down. Also starring Lil Rel Howery, with cameo appearances by Hugh Jackman, John Krasinski, Tina Fey and Dwayne Johnson. 

'THE ICE ROAD' (Rated M) - is an American action thriller Written and Directed by Jonathan Hensleigh whose previous film making credits take in his big screen debut with 'The Punisher' in 2004, then 'Welcome to the Jungle' in 2007 and 'Kill the Irishman' in 2011. This is his first film since his 2011 offering. The film was released by Netflix in the US and on Amazon Prime Video in the UK in late June, goes on a cinema release from this week in Australia and the film has received mixed critical Reviews having taken US$1.2M at the Box Office so far. After a remote diamond mine collapses in the far northern regions of Manitoba, Canada, an ice driver Mike McGann (Liam Neeson) leads an implausible rescue mission over a frozen sea to save the lives of twenty-six trapped miners despite thawing waters and a threat they never saw coming. Also starring Laurence Fishburne, Marcus Thomas, Holt McCallany, Martin Sensmeier, Benjamin Walker and Amber Midthunder.

'MISS' (Rated M) - is a French comedy film Co-Written and Directed by Ruben Alves, that was first released in its native France at the Alpe d'Huez International Comedy Film Festival in mid-January 2020 before its delayed national release there in late October 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It now gets a limited run here in Australia. Here then, ever since childhood Alex (Alexandre Wetter) had wanted to enter the annual Miss France beauty pageant, despite being a boy. However, adolescence was not kind and Alex suffered huge blows to his self-esteem. When an unexpected encounter allows Alex to once more pursue his dreams, he does everything he can to transcend the traditional binary gender definitions that threaten to hold him back. Also starring Isabelle Nanty, Pascale Arbillot and Thibault di Montalembert. Ruben Alves had previously Written, Directed and starred in the 2013 feature 'The Gilded Cage'.

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-