What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 7th July 2022.

The 26th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN), held in the city of Bucheon, the second most densely populated city in South Korea after Seoul, takes place between the 7th and 17th July. This festival is a non-competitive international film festival with a competitive section. With 'Stay Strange' as its motto, BIFAN strives to be a film festival that caters for the non-mainstream, while discovering and giving courage to talents that are pushed to the margins. This year BIFAN will feature 268 films from forty-nine countries and comprise eighty World Premier screenings, twenty International Premiers, seventy-nine Asian Premiers and fifty-one Korean Premiers. The festival will open with the screening of folk horror tale 'Men' by Alex Garland and close with film noir thriller 'The New Normal' from Korea and Directed by Jeong Beom-sik.

In competition for the Bucheon Choice Awards that offer a new outlook on the world, a unique style, and experimentation and progress in terms of genre conventions. Three feature film awards and two short film awards are voted on by a jury consisting of international film professionals. Audience Awards for both the features and shorts categories are determined by audience vote. In the feature film category, awards are presented for Best of Bucheon with a cash prize of the equivalent of US$15,500, Best Directors Choice offering US$3,850 and the Jury's Choice also offering US$3,850.

The ten films in competition are :-

* 'Alien Artist' - from Japan and Directed by Hoya Seiyo. Supernatural coming of age crime noir. International Premier.

* 'Huesera' - from Mexico and Peru and Directed by Michelle Garza Cervera. Supernatural thriller. Asian Premier.

* 'La Pieta' - from Spain and Directed by Eduardo Casanova. Asian Premier.

* 'Sissy' - from Australia and Directed by Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes. Horror drama comedy. Asian Premier.

* 'SLR' - from Thailand and Directed by Lertsiri Boonmee and Vutichai Wongnophadol. Supernatural horror. International Premier.

* 'Social Distancing' - from Hong Kong and China and Directed by Gilitte Leung. Horror thriller. World Premier.

* 'Speak No Evil' - from Denmark and The Netherlands and Directed by Christian Tafdrup. Thriller. Asian Premier.

* 'Vesper' - from Lithuania, France and Belgium and Directed by Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper. Supernatural Sci-Fi. Asian Premier.

* 'The Womb' - from Indonesia and Directed by Fajar Nugros. Horror. World Premier.

* ' You Won't Be Alone' - from Australia and Directed by Goran Stolevski. Supernatural horror. Asian Premier.

In the Korean Fantastic Competition section which was established to support and encourage Korean genre films, four feature film awards are chosen by the Korean competition jury. Those ten films are : 'Body Parts', 'Cabriolet', 'Chiaksan Mountain', 'The Fifth Thoracic Vertebra', 'A Good Boy', 'Mind Universe', 'Next Door', 'Thunderbird', 'Tiger's Trigger' and 'The Woman in the White Car'. 

For the full programme of events, screenings, and all the sections of this years 26th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, you can visit the official website at : http://www.bifan.kr/eng/

This week, turning attention back on to the four new release movies coming to an Odeon near you, we kick off with the 29th film in the MCU and the fourth film featuring the Asgardian God of Thunder who this time, with the help of some trusted friends, must thwart Gorr the God Butcher who intends to make the Gods extinct. Next up we have a wealthy family on vacation in Mexico until a distant emergency cuts their trip short, and when one relative disrupts the family's tight-knit order, simmering tensions rise to the surface. This is followed by a French comedy about a young convicted man who is sentenced to community services, and must now work in a retirement home, where he learns a thing or two about life from the residents there. And closing out the week we have a drama film that sees a Finnish student and an rough Russian miner slowly forge a hesitant connection when they are thrown together in a cramped train compartment on a journey across Russia.

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

'THOR : LOVE AND THUNDER' (Rated M) - is an American Superhero offering that is Written and Directed by Taiki Waititi who returns to the chair following his success with helming 2017's 'Thor : Ragnarok' to which this is a direct sequel. This is the 29th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is part of the MCU Phase Four. Filming took place in Sydney, Australia at a production cost of in the region of US$250M and has generated largely favourable Reviews.

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is on a journey unlike anything he's ever faced - a quest for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the Gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who, much to Thor's surprise has come to inexplicably wield his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher's vengeance and stop him before it's too late. Also starring Jaimie Alexander, Russell Crowe, with Chris Pratt, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper reprising their roles from the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' franchise, and Sean Gunn, Jeff Goldblum, Matt Damon, Sam Neill, Luke Hemsworth, Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone.

'SUNDOWN' (Rated MA15+) - this Mexican, French and Swedish Co-Produced drama film is Written, Co-Produced, Directed and Co-Edited by Michel Franco whose previous film making offerings include 'After Lucia' in 2012 that won the Un Certain Regard Award at Cannes, 'Chronic' in 2015 with Tim Roth and 'New Order' in 2020 with Diego Boneta. Here then, the wealthy London man Neil Bennett (Tim Roth) is vacationing with his sister Alice (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her two children at a resort in Acapulco, Mexico until she receives a phone call. There's been a death in the family, and everyone must return home. However, at the airport, Neil pretends to have left his passport as the hotel, which delays his return, while Alice and her children return to London, leaving the seemingly uncaring and apathetic Neil to his own devices. The film has garnered generally favourable reviews, and has so far grossed US$336K since its release in the US at the end of January having seen its World Premier as the Venice Film Festival back in September last year. 

'THE VILLA' (Rated M) - is a French and Swiss Co-Produced comedy Directed by Thomas Gilou whose previous Directorial efforts include his 1986 feature film debut with 'Black Mic Mac' then 'Rai' in 1995, 'Would I Lie To You' in 1997 and its two sequels in 2001 and 2012, with 'Victor' in 2009 and four episodes of 'Marseille' in 2016. Having been raised in an orphanage, Milann Rousseau (Kev Adams) does precious little with his life. Hosted by his lawyer and childhood friend, the latter constantly pushes him to move. After causing property damage that nearly killed an old woman in a supermarket, Milann is sentenced to two months of community service. Hired as a handler in a retirement home, it is a real nightmare for Milann who does not support the elderly. Despite his clumsiness and his lack of motivation, Milann in time becomes attached to the residents, where he forges a close rapport in particular with Lino Vartan (Gerard Depardieu), a former boxer, who will teach him to defend himself and take his life in hand.

'COMPARTMENT NO. 6' (Rated MA15+) - this internationally Co-Produced drama film is Co-Written and Directed by the Finnish Juho Kuosmanen in just his third feature film following 2010's 'The Painting Sellers' and 2016's 'The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki'. The film is based on the 2011 novel of same name by Rosa Liksom. Here then, traveling by train from Moscow to Murmansk in the far north western part of Russia to study the Kanozero Petroglyphs, (a set of about 1300 rock drawings dating back to the 2nd and 3rd millennium BC), a Finnish student Laura (Seidi Haaria) forms an unlikely friendship with a gruff Russian miner, Lyokha (Yuri Borisov) as they are forced to share the long ride and a tiny sleeping car. This unexpected encounter leads the occupants of Compartment No. 6 to face major truths about human connection. The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival in July of that year, where it shared the Grand Prix with Asghar Farhadi's film 'A Hero', has garnered generally favourable Reviews and has taken US$3.2M at the Box Office so far.

With four new release movie offerings 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 at your local Odeon in the coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-