What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 6th October 2022.

The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than three hundred films, documentaries and shorts from approximately fifty countries, this year runs from Wednesday 5th October through until Sunday 16th October and is now in its 66th year. 

The Opening Night Gala film presentation is 'Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical' Directed by Matthew Warchus and starring Emma Thompson, Alisha Weir, Lashana Lynch, Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough. The Closing Night Gala film is 'Glass Onion : A Knives Out Mystery' Directed by Rian Johnson and starring Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Kate Hudson, Leslie Odom Jnr., Jessica Henwick and Dave Bautista. 

The BFI London Film Festival Awards are a celebration of the most exciting, innovative new films and cinematic storytelling. Creative, beautiful and often provocative, the nominees showcase an incredible range of talent from across the world.

The Official Competition comprises eight feature films, which briefly are :-

* 'Argentina, 1985' - from Argentina and Directed by Santiago Mitre and starring Ricardo Darin. This uncompromising political drama, thrillingly recreates one of Argentina’s most legendary trials, which sought to bring the country’s military dictatorship to justice.

* 'Brother' - from Canada and Directed by Clement Virgo and is a bold and breathtaking story of brotherly love, set over three separate time periods, in Toronto’s West Indian community.

* 'Corsage' - from Austria, Germany, Luxembourg and France and Directed by Marie Kreutzer and starring Vicky Krieps. Faced with a future of strict ceremonies and royal duties, Empress Elisabeth of Austria rebels against her public image and comes up with a plan to protect her legacy.

* 'The Damned Don't Cry' - from France, Belgium and Morocco and Directed by Fyzal Boulifa. Fatima-Zahra and her teenage son Selim move from place to place, forever trying to outrun the latest scandal she's caught up in. When Selim discovers the truth about their past, Fatima-Zahra vows to make a fresh start.

* 'Enys Men' - from the UK and Directed by Mark Jenkin and starring Mary Woodvine, Edward Rowe and Flo Crowe. Set in 1973 on an uninhabited island off the Cornish coast, a wildlife volunteer's daily observations of a rare flower turn into a metaphysical journey that forces her to question what is real and what is nightmare.

* 'Godland' - from Denmark, Iceland, France and Sweden and Directed by Hlynur Palmason. In the late 19th century, a young Danish priest travels to a remote part of Iceland to build a church and photograph its people. But the deeper he goes into the unforgiving landscape, the more he strays from his purpose, his mission and morality.
* 'Nezouh' - from the UK, Syria and France and Directed by Soudade Kaadan. Even as bombs fall on Damascus, Mutaz refuses to flee to the uncertain life of a refugee. His wife, Hala, and daughter, Zeina, must make the choice whether to stay or leave.

* 'Saint Omer' - from France and Directed by Alice Diop. The film follows Rama, a novelist who attends the trial of Laurence Coly at the Saint-Omer Criminal Court to use her story to write a modern-day adaptation of the ancient myth of Medea, but things don't go as expected.

Other award strands include the First Feature Competition with The Sutherland Award recognising the most original and imaginative directorial debut. Here the eight films are '1976', 'Blue Jean', 'Jeong-sun', 'Joyland', 'Medusa Delux', 'Our Lady of the Chinese Shop', 'Robe of Gems' and 'Rodeo'. 

In the Documentary Competition, The Grierson Award recognises feature-length documentaries with integrity, originality and social or cultural significance. The eight films are 'All That Breathes', 'All the Beauty and the Bloodshed', 'Casa Susanna', 'The Future Tense', 'Kanaval : A People's History of Haiti in Six Chapters', 'Lynch/Oz', 'Name Me Lawand' and 'What About China?'

In addition there is also the Short Film Competition, the Immersive Art and XR Competition and the Audience Awards for Best Feature Film and Best Short Film. 

For the full details of all the films being showcased at the years 66th BFI London Film Festival, plus a whole lot more besides, you can go to the official website at : https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff/Online/default.asp

This week, to tease you out to your local Odeon, we have three new movies kicking off with three friends, a doctor, a nurse, and a lawyer, who become the prime suspects in a murder in the 1930's. This is followed with a 1950's housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community who begins to worry that his glamorous company could be hiding disturbing secrets. And closing out the week we have an Aussie offering about two men who meet on a plane and strike up a conversation that turns into friendship, and for one, worn down by a lifetime of crime and hard labour, this is his dream come true.

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

'AMSTERDAM' (Rated MA15+) - this mystery comedy film is Written, Directed and Co-Produced by David O. Russell whose previous feature film making credits include 'Three Kings' in 1999, 'I Heart Huckabees' in 2004, 'The Fighter' in 2010, 'Silver Linings Playbook' in 2012, 'American Hustle' in 2013 and 'Joy' in 2015. This film saw its World Premier showcasing in New York City on 18th September and is released in the US and here in Australia from this week, having cost US$55M to produce.

Set in the 1930's, the film follows three friends - Burt Berensden (Christian Bale), Valerie Voze (Margot Robbie) and Harold Woodman (John David Washington) who witness a murder, become suspects themselves, and uncover one of the most outrageous plots in American history. Also starring an ensemble cast that takes in Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Zoe Saldana, Mike Myers, Michael Shannon, Timothy Olyphant, Andrea Riseborough, Taylor Swift, Matthias Schoenaerts, Alessandro Nivola, Rami Malek, and Robert De Niro.

'DON'T WORRY DARLING' (Rated M) - is an American psychological thriller film Directed, Co-Produced and starring Olivia Wilde in only her second Directorial outing following the highly acclaimed 'Booksmart' in 2019. This film saw its World Premiere screening at the Venice International Film Festival in early September and was released in the US in late September, having generated mixed Reviews from Critics and costing in the region of US$30M to produce. Here then, Alice (Florence Pugh) and Jack Chambers (Harry Styles) are a young, happy couple in the 1950's, living in the seemingly perfect company town of Victory, California, which has been created and paid for by the mysterious company for which Jack works. Curiosity about the nature of her husband's work on the secret 'Victory Project' begins to consume Alice. Cracks then begin to form in their utopian life as her investigation into the project raises tensions within the community. Also starring Chris Pine, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll and Olivia Wilde. 

'THE STRANGER' (Rated MA15+) - this Australian crime thriller film is Written and Directed by Thomas M. Wright in only his second feature film following 2018's 'Acute Misfortune'. The film saw its World Premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in mid-May of this year before its cinema release here in Australia this week, and then streaming worldwide on Netflix from 19th October. After a friendship forms between two strangers who first meet on a plane, for Henry Teague (Sean Harris), worn down by a lifetime of physical labour and crime, this is a dream come true. His new friend Mark (Joel Edgerton) becomes his saviour and ally. However, neither is who they appear to be, each harbour secrets that threaten to ruin them, and in the background, one of the nation's largest police operations is closing in.

With three 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-