What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 10th August 2023.

The 76th Locarno Film Festival this year takes place between Wednesday 2nd and Saturday 12th  August. The Locarno Film Festival was born in the aftermath of the Second World War. It offered a stage for revival, freedom of art and expression for talents from all over the world eager to tell stories in new, different ways. Since its inception, Locarno has been home to the most daring, avant-garde, irreverent and innovative forms of films – screened in their uncut, uncensored versions. Every year since 1946, we present international independent films carefully selected to inspire you, to surprise you, to make you question assumptions, to open your mind, to push you. Nestled in the mountains beside a lake, our remote Swiss-Italian town gives way to an intense eleven day celebration of cinema. The festival this year offers over 350 screenings of which 110 are World Premiere's, talks, events, conferences, concerts, art exhibitions, parties (and so much more!) - so reads the official website.

The Opening Film of the festival was 'Dammi' - from France and is Co-Written and Directed by Yann Mounir Demange and stars Riz Ahmed, the recipient of the years 'Excellence Award'. The Closing Film is 'Shayda' - from Australia and Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Noora Niasari.

The Concorso internazionale features works shown primarily as World Premieres, coming from all over the globe and competing for the prestigious Pardo d’oro. 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. This is where the best forms of contemporary cinema converge. The Pardo d'oro award offers the Grand Prize of the Festival to the best film with an award of CHF75K to be shared equally between the Director and the Producer. There are also awards for Best Direction, two prizes for Best Performance and a Special Jury Prize.

Those seventeen films in official competition for the Pardo d'oro (Golden Leopard) are :-

* 'Animal' - from Greece, Austria, Romania, Cyprus and Bulgaria and Written and Directed by Sofia Exarchou. 

* 'Essential Truths of the Lake' - from the Philippines, France, Portugal, Singapore, Italy, Switzerland and the UK and Written, Co-photographed, Directed and Edited by Lav Diaz.

* 'Home' - from Portugal and Co-Written, photographed and Directed by Leonor Teles.

* 'The Human Surge 3' - from Argentina, Portugal, Netherlands, Taiwan, Brazil, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, and Peru and Written, Co-Produced, Directed, Edited and Special and Visual Effect by Eduardo Williams.

* 'The Permanent Picture' - from Spain and France and Written and Directed by Laura Ferres.

* 'Lousy Carter' - from the USA and Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Bob Byington.

* 'Manga D'Terra' - from Switzerland and Portugal and Written, Co-Produced, Directed and Edited by Basil Da Cunha.

* 'Critical Zone' - from Iran and Germany and Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Ali Ahmadzadeh.

* 'Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World' - from Romania, Luxembourg, France and Croatia and Written, Directed and Costumes designed by Radu Jude.

* 'Obscure Night - Goodbye here, anywhere' - from France and Switzerland and Written, photographed, Directed, Edited, sound engineered and Art Directed by Sylvain George.

* 'The Invisible Fight' - from Estonia, Latvia, Greece and Finland and Written and Directed by Rainer Sarnet.

* 'Patagonia' - from Italy and Co-Written and Directed by Simone Bozzelli.

* 'Rossosperanza' - from Italy and France and Written and Directed by Annarita Zambrano.

* 'Stepne' - from Ukraine, Germany, Poland and Slovakia and Co-Written, Produced, Directed and Co-Edited by Maryna Vroda.

* 'Sweet Dreams' - from Netherlands, Sweden, Indonesia and Reunion and Written, Co-Executive Produced and Directed by Ena Sendijarevic.

* 'The Vanishing Soldier' - from Israel and Co-Written and Directed by Dani Rosenberg.

* 'Yannick' - from France and Written and Directed by Quentin Dupieux.

This years 'Excellence Award' goes to Riz Ahmed, the 'Leopard Club Award' goes to Stellan Skarsgard and the Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Renzo Rossellini. For the details on the other Special Award recipients, the other competitive sections and a whole lot more good stuff, you can go to the official website at : https://www.locarnofestival.ch/home.html

This week we have five latest cinematic releases to tease you out to your local big screen Odeon, launching with a comedy drama offering from a Director known for his quirky movie offerings that sees world-changing events spectacularly disrupt the itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention in an American desert town in the mid-1950's. This is followed by a supernatural horror film about the crew of a cargo ship stuck in the middle of the ocean who must fight for their lives against a blood thirsty and terrifying unknown creature. Next up we have a high octane biographical sports drama film about a video  gamer's skills that wins him the chance to become a professional race car driver. Then we turn to a Sci-Fi comedy about how a man's quiet life gets upended when a UFO crashes in his backyard in rural Pennsylvania; before closing out the week with a drama about a movie location scout, while touring a repossessed chateau, falls for its flirtatious representative, who recounts the story of an influential book written there.

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.

'ASTEROID CITY' (Rated M) - this American comedy drama film is Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Wes Anderson, whose previous film making credits include his debut in 1996 with 'Bottle Rocket' and then 'Rushmore' in 1998, 'The Royal Tenenbaums' 2001, 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou' in 2004, 'Moonrise Kingdom' in 2012, 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' in 2014, 'Isle of Dogs' in 2018, and 'The French Dispatch' in 2021. This film saw its World Premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in late May this year, where it competed for the Palme d'Or. It began a limited theatrical release in the US in mid-June before its much wider release a week later. It has so far grossed over US$47M worldwide off the back of a US$25M production budget and has received generally positive reviews.

The film follows Conrad Earp (Edward Norton), a legendary playwright on his world famous fictional play about a grieving father who travels with his tech-obsessed family to small rural Asteroid City to compete in a junior stargazing event, only to have his world view disrupted forever. Also starring an ensemble cast that takes in Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie, Jeff Goldblum, Hope Davis, Rita Wilson and Bob Balaban. The film serves as Anderson's homage to popular memory and mythology surrounding extraterrestrials and UFO's as reported in the Southwestern desert nearby to the atomic test sites during the post WWII period of the late 1940's and 50's in America.

'THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER' (Rated MA15+) - aka 'Dracula : Voyage of the Demeter' is an American supernatural horror film that languished in development hell for almost twenty years going through numerous Directors and lead Actors before eventually in 2019 Andre Ovredal was chosen to Direct. His previous feature film making credits take in 'Trollhunter' in 2011, 'The Autopsy of Jane Doe' in 2016, 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark' and 'Mortal' in 2020. This film is an adaptation of 'The Captain's Log', a chapter from the 1897 Bram Stoker novel 'Dracula'. Here, strange and horrifying events befall the doomed crew of the merchant ship 'Demeter' as they attempt to survive the ocean voyage from Transylvania to London, stalked each night by a merciless presence onboard - a legendary vampire known as Dracula. When the Demeter finally arrives off the shores of England, it is a charred, derelict wreck, with no trace of the crew. Starring Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham, David Dastmalchian and Javier Botet as Dracula. It is released in the US this week too.

'GRAN TURISMO' (Rated M) - this American biographical sports film is Directed by Neill Blomkamp whose prior feature film credits take in his debut with the acclaimed 'District 9' in 2009, then 'Elysium' in 2013, 'Chappie' in 2015 and 'Demonic' in 2021. This film it is based on the PlayStation Studios video game series of the same name, and inspired by the true story of Jann Mardenborough, a teenage Gran Turismo player aspiring to be a race car driver. Here then Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe), a Gran Turismo player whose gaming skills won him a series of Nissan-sponsored video game competitions in 2011 in which he became the third and youngest winner of the GT Academy competition, beating 90,000 entrants, to become an actual professional race car driver. Also starring Orlando Bloom, David Harbour, Djimon Hounsou, Gerri Halliwell, Thomas Kretschmann and Darren Barnet. Originally slated for a wide cinema release this week, this has been reduced to a limited release due to the SAG-AFTRA strike before its release proper from the 25th of this month. 

'JULES' (Rated CTC) - is an American Science Fiction comedy film Directed by Marc Turtletaub whose previous movie making credits take in his debut in 2013 with 'Gods Behaving Badly' and 'Puzzle' in 2018. although he has also accumulated thirty-four Producer credits, three as Writer and two as an Actor. Here then, Milton Robinson (Ben Kingsley) leads a quiet unassuming life of routine in a small western Pennsylvania town, but finds his day upended when a UFO and its extra-terrestrial passenger crash land in his backyard. Before long, Milton develops a close relationship with the extra-terrestrial he calls 'Jules'. Things start to get complicated when two neighbours Sandy and Joyce (Harriet Sansom Harris and Jane Curtin respectively) discover Jules and the government quickly closes in. The film is released Stateside this week also.

'AROUND THE SUN' (Rated M) - this 2019 drama film was released in the UK in early August 2020 and only now does it get a release in Australia. Directed by Oliver Krimpas in his feature film making debut, here the story tells of a movie location scout Bernard (Gethin Anthony) who, while touring a repossessed and in a state of disrepair chateau in northern France, falls for its owners flirtatious representative Maggie (Cara Theobold), who recounts the story of an influential popular science book written and set there. But is their connection for real, or just a projection of the book's 17th Century characters? The film has garnered generally favourable reviews. 

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-