What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 22nd September 2022.

The 47th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) drew to a close this past Sunday 18th September offering eleven days of international and Canadian cinema, special events featuring some of the biggest names in film, and TIFF’s Industry Conference, providing diverse and innovative perspectives on the art and business of film. 

This years TIFF Tribute Awards honour the film industry’s outstanding contributors and their achievements, recognising leading industry members, acting talent, directorial expertise, new talent, and below-the-line artists and creators. The recipients of these awards this year, presented earlier on in the festival were : the cast of 'My Policeman' — Harry Styles, Emma Corrin, Gina McKee, Linus Roache, David Dawson and Rupert Everett being named as the recipients of one of the two awards for Actors, marking the first time the award has been presented to an ensemble cast rather than an individual. Sam Mendes has been named as the recipient of the Director Award, with Brendan Fraser receiving a Tribute Award for his Performance in 'The Whale'.

The festival's main awards for films in the festival programme including the People's Choice Award, which is a long-standing tradition at TIFF and this year marks its 45th year. The awards consist of the People’s Choice Award, the People’s Choice Documentary Award, and the People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award. The winner of the 2022 People's Choice Award went to 'The Fabelmans', Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Steven Spielberg. The First Runner Up was 'Women Talking', Written for the screen and Directed by Sarah Polley; with the Second Runner Up being 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery', Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Rian Johnson.

The winner of the 2022 People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award went to 'Weird : The Al Yankovic Story' Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Eric Appel. The First Runner Up was 'Pearl', Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Ti West with the Second Runner Up being 'The Blackening' Co-Produced and Directed by Tim Story.

The winner of the 2022 People’s Choice Documentary Award went to 'Black Ice' Written and Directed by Hubert Davis. The First Runner Up was 'Maya and the Wave' Directed by Stephanie Johnes, with the Second Runner Up going to '752 is not a Number' Written, Produced and Directed by Babak Payami.

For the full line up films showcased at this years 47th annual Toronto International Film Festival, plus the recipients of all the awards presented, and a whole lot more besides, you can go to the official website at : https://www.tiff.net

To tempt you out to your local Odeon in the coming weeks to watch any one or more of this weeks five new movies, we kick off with a thriller in which two best girlfriends find themselves stranded at the top of a two thousand feet tall radio tower, with seemingly no way down. Then we turn to a trio of horrors kicking off with an isolated mountain village in 19th century Macedonia, where a young girl is kidnapped and then transformed into a witch by an ancient spirit; followed by a young woman who is forced to travel with her boyfriend, and who begins to experience premonitions associated with the urban myth of The Creeper, believing that something supernatural has been summoned - and that she is at the centre of it all; and concluding this weeks horror fest we have a bunch of teens who confront a legendary supernatural spectre that emerges from the cornfields of a small Midwestern town every autumn. And closing out the week we have a family animated film about a loveable dog with a head full of dreams about becoming a samurai, who sets off in search of his destiny.

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

'FALL' (Rated M) - is a US and UK Co-Produced survival thriller film Co-Written, Directed and Co-Produced by Scott Mann whose prior feature film making credits include his 2005 debut with 'Down Amongst the Dead Men', 'The Tournament' in 2009 with Robert Carlyle, Ving Rhames and Liam Cunningham, then 'Heist' in 2015 with Robert De Niro, Dave Bautista and Jeffrey Dean Morgan and 'Final Score' in 2018 with Dave Bautista, Pierce Brosnan and Ray Stevenson. This film was released in the US in mid-August, has so far taken US$12M off the back of a production budget of US$3M and has garnered generally positive critical acclaim. 

For best friends Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner), life is all about conquering fears and pushing limits. However, after they climb 2,000 feet to the top of a remote, abandoned radio tower, they find themselves stranded with no way down. Now, their expert climbing skills are put to the ultimate test as they desperately fight to survive the elements, a lack of supplies, and vertigo-inducing heights. Also starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Mason Gooding and Darrell Dennis.

'YOU WON'T BE ALONE' (Rated MA15+) - this Australian, UK and Serbian Co-Produced horror film is Written and Directed by Goran Stolevski in his feature film making debut, which together with 'Of an Age' is also released later this year. The film saw its World Premier screening at the Sundance Film Festival back in late January and was released in the US in early April, having taken so far just US$275K and garnering generally positive Reviews. Here, a naive peasant girl in 19th century Macedonia is taken from a sheltered life of solitude, turned into a shapeshifter by a witch, then abandoned. As the mute girl explores a world above ground for the first time, she learns about humanity, loss and love - but the witch is jealously watching, and her anger may tear the girl's world apart once more. Starring Noomi Rapace, Anamaria Marinca, Alice Englert, Carlotto Cotta and Felix Maritaud. 

'JEEPERS CREEPERS : REBORN' (Rated MA15+) - is an American horror film Directed by Timo Vuorensola whose prior film making efforts take in 'Iron Sky' in 2012 and its follow up 'Iron Sky : The Coming Race' in 2019, with 'The Ark : An Iron Sky Story' and '97 Minutes' both currently in post-production awaiting a future release date. This is the fourth film and a reboot in the 'Jeepers Creepers' film series intended to serve as the first in a planned trilogy set apart from the original trilogy which grossed worldwide a combined US$127M off the back of total production budgets of US$33M. Here then, the Horror Hound festival is being held for the first time in Louisiana. Among the attendees are Chase (Imran Adams) and his girlfriend Laine (Sydney Craven), who begins to experience unexplained premonitions and disturbing visions associated with the town's past, and the Creeper (Jarreau Benjamin). The film is released Stateside this week too.

'DARK HARVEST' (Rated CTC) - this American fantasy horror film is Directed by David Slade whose previous feature film making outings include 'Hard Candy' in 2005, '30 Days of Night' in 2007, 'The Twilight Saga : Eclipse' in 2010 and 'Black Mirror : Bandersnatch' in 2018. It is based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Norman Partridge. Every Autumn in a small Midwestern town, a supernatural spectre named 'Sawtooth Jack' (Dustin Ceithamer) arises from the cornfields and approaches the town's church, where violent gangs of young boys hungrily await their chance to confront the legendary nightmare in an annual harvest rite of life and death. Richie Shepard (Casey Likes) lives in the shadow of his big brother Jim (Britain Dalton) who won last year's 'October Prize' to get his ticket out of town. To prove himself and join his brother, Richie pairs up with restless dreamer Kelly Haines (E'myri Crutchfield), who will do whatever it takes to escape the dead-end town. The film was originally scheduled for release in the US on 24th September 2021, but was pulled from the schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was rescheduled to be released on 9th September 2022, but was once again pulled from the release schedule.

'PAWS OF FURY : THE LEGEND OF HANK' (Rated PG) - is a computer animated martial arts comedy film that is Directed by Rob Minkoff, Mark Koetsier and Chris Bailey in the latter two's directing debut, while Rob Minkoff has previously Co-Directed 1994's 'The Lion King' and helmed in his own right 'Stuart Little' and 'Stuart Little 2' in 1999 and 2002 respectively, 'The Haunted Mansion' in 2003, 'The Forbidden Kingdom' in 2008, 'Flypaper' in 2011 and 'Mr. Peabody & Sherman' in 2014. A down-on-his-luck hound Hank (voiced by Michael Cera) finds himself in a town full of cats who need a hero to defend them from the ruthless villain Ika Chu (voiced by Ricky Gervais) and his evil plot to wipe their village out of existence. With help from a reluctant teacher Jimbo (Samuel L. Jackson) to train him, our underdog must assume the role of town samurai and team up with the villagers to save the day. The only problem being that cats hate dogs. Also starring the voice talents of Mel Brooks, George Takei, Michelle Yeoh, Djimon Hounsou and Gabriel Iglesias. The film was scheduled to be released in 2017, but was delayed several times, mainly due to distributor changes and the COVID-19 pandemic, eventually getting its US release in mid-July this year and here in Australia from this week having garnered mixed Reviews and only recouping, so far, US$24M from its US$45M production budget. 

With five 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 week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-