What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 26th October 2023.

Having only just returned from a three week holiday in England where I visited for ten days my former home town of Bath, it would be remiss of me not to cover the FilmBath Festival which is running from Friday 20th of this month until Sunday 29th, and is in its 33rd year. Back in 1990, Bath’s film world was a very different place. Back then Bath's three cinema's were launching an experiment. They would screen a huge number of films in a short space of time, right in the heart of Bath. Together with the festivals trustees, volunteers, and supporters, it has managed not simply to keep the festival going for this long, but to make it a truly outstanding regional film festival. The programme has developed over the years to become the envy of others, for the simple reasons that it only show films it believes in and distributors trust it with top-tier previews. The goal of the festival is to continue changing the face of film in Bath and challenge notions of what a great regional film festival looks like. By championing and showcasing diversity on screen and behind the camera, it is also continuing to inspire other exhibitors to programme more diverse films, both in the UK and beyond.

This year there are forty films being showcased, some of the highlights therein, are :-

* 'Poor Things' - from Ireland, the UK and the US and Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and starring Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Chrsitopher Abbott and Margaret Qualley. Brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist, a young woman runs off with a lawyer on a whirlwind adventure across the continents.

* 'Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry' - from Georgia and Directed by Elene Naveriani. A single Georgian woman finds passion with a married man in this award-winning story about desire and independence.

* 'The Bikeriders' - from the USA and Directed by Jeff Nichols and starring Tom Hardy, Austin Butler and Jodie Comer. A Midwestern motorcycle club begins as a group of outsiders who are united by good times, rumbling bikes and respect for their strong, steady leader.

* 'The Pot-au-Feu' - from France and Directed by Anh Hung Tran and starring Juliette Binoche. A mouth-watering film about a chef in a late 19th-century restaurant.

* '20,000 Species of Bees' - from Spain and Directed by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren. Told from the perspective of an eight year old who was born as a boy but is convinced that a mistake has been made and that she is really a girl.

* 'Typist Artist Pirate King' - from the UK and Directed by Carol Morley and starring Monica Dolan, Kelly Macdonald and Gina McKee. This film is about resurrecting the standing of an artist whose circumstances and gender prevented her from achieving the acclaim she deserved in her life.

* 'Neptune Frost' - from Rwanda and the USA and Directed by Anisia Uzeyman and Saul Williams. This Burundi-based film is in a genre of its own, combining music, dance, poetry, sci-fi and dreams.

* 'How To Have Sex' - from the UK and Directed by Molly Manning Walker and starring Mia McKenna-Bruce, Enva Lewis and Lara Peake. The film follows Tara, Ema and Skye during their post-exam holiday that holds the explicit objective of getting wasted and pulling – the latter felt more insistently by Tara, who hasn’t yet lost her virginity.

* 'The Other Child' - from South Korea and Directed by Jin-young Kim. A scary, unsettling but profound meditation on life, death, loss and grief.

* 'Love Life' - from Japan and Directed by Koji Fukada. Taeko and her husband live peacefully with her young son Keita until a tragic accident brings the boy's long-lost father, Park, back into her life.

* 'Rodeo' - from France and Directed by Lola Quivaron. A film about a young woman trying to be accepted by an all male world of biker outlaws.

* 'Totem' - from Mexico and Directed by Lila Aviles. A tender and sensitive story about a seven-year-old girl visiting her aunts to celebrate what may be her father's last birthday.

* 'Brother' - from Canada and Directed by Clement Virgo. Sons of Caribbean immigrants, Francis and Michael face questions of masculinity, identity and family amid the pulsing beat of Toronto's early hip-hop scene.

* 'L'immensita' - from Italy and Directed by Emanuele Crialese and starring Penelope Cruz. In 1970's Rome, preteen Andrea rejects her name and identity, ultimately deciding to convince everyone that she is a boy.

* 'You Can Live Forever' - from Canada and Directed by Mark Slutsky and Sarah Watts. When lesbian teen Jaime is sent to live in a Jehovah's Witness community, she falls hard for a devout girl, leading the two down a complicated path.
* 'Lost in The Stars' - from China and Directed by Rui Cui and Liu Xiang. A mans wife disappears while they’re on holiday. The police couldn’t care less. He wakes up in their hotel the next morning to find a woman next to him in bed. His wife? Well, she says she is, and she has the evidence to prove it. But he is convinced that it’s not his wife, and becomes increasingly agitated when she says she is.

* 'The Old Oak' - from the UK and Directed by Ken Loach. A pub landlord in a previously thriving mining community struggles to hold onto his pub while local resentment against Syrian refugees increases.

* 'Monster' - from Japan and Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. The film centres around an accusation made by a ten-year-old boy that his teacher assaulted him. The teacher denies the accusation, and the school – like all institutions in such situations – is more concerned with preserving its reputation than investigating fully.

* 'All of Us Strangers' - from the UK and Directed by Andrew Haigh and starring Paul Mescal, Claire Foy, Andrew Scott and Jaime Bell. A screenwriter meets his peculiar neighbour, and is subsequently pulled back to his childhood home where his long-dead parents, are alive and well and looking the same age as they were when they were killed.

For the details also of the Documentary films being screened and the IMDB Script to Screen Award and the IMDB New Filmmaker Award, plus a whole lot more good stuff, you can visit the official website at : https://filmbath.org.uk/

This week then to tease you out to you local Odeon, we have five new movie offerings, kicking off with the a neo-noir action thriller about a titular assassin who gets embroiled in an international manhunt after a hit goes wrong. Then we turn to a supernatural horror centring around a troubled security guard who begins working at the abandoned Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, and while spending his first night on the job, he soon realises the late shift won't be so easy to make it through. Following on we have an Aussie Sci-Fi thriller about a disgraced journo who becomes a podcaster who discovers a strange artefact that leads her to believe in an alien conspiracy. Next up we have an Aussie doco about Nick Cave and his first band, The Birthday Party, who offer up an unfiltered, intimate, and immersive exploration of their post-punk success onto the global stage; before closing out the week with an Aussie animated fantasy adventure film about a young girl, whose world is shrouded in darkness, must overcome her fears and travel to a mysterious city of light, save her father from a dangerous scientist and prevent the destruction of her planet.

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.

'THE KILLER' (Rated MA15+) - is an American neo-noir action thriller film Directed by David Fincher, the man who brought us the likes of 'Alien 3' his debut feature in 1992 which he would follow up with 'Se7en' in 1995, 'Fight Club' in 1999, 'Zodiac' in 2007, 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' in 2008, 'The Social Network' in 2010, 'Gone Girl' in 2014 and 'Mank' in 2020, as well as helming multiple episodes of TV series 'House of Cards' and 'Mindhunter' in between, amongst others. This film is based on the French graphic novel series of the same name written by Alexis 'Matz' Nolent and illustrated by Luc Jacamon. The series was published in thirteen albums between 1998 and 2014 and was translated into English with each album being turned into two comic books. The film Premiered at this years Venice International Film Festival in early September, is scheduled for a limited cinema release this week before streaming on 10th November on Netflix. It has garnered generally favourable critical reviews.

Solitary, cold, methodical and unencumbered by scruples or regrets, a killer (Michael Fassbender) waits in the shadows, watching for his next target. Yet, the longer he waits, the more he thinks he's losing his mind, if not his cool. And so, after a fateful near miss, this assassin battles his employers, and himself, on an international manhunt he insists isn't personal. Also starring Tilda Swinton, Charles Parnell, Arliss Howard, Sala Baker and Sophie Charlotte. 

'FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S' (Rated M) - this American supernatural horror film is Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Emma Tammi in only her second feature film outing following 'The Wind' in 2018 and with 'Dollhouse' currently in pre-production set for a release date sometime in 2024. This film is based on the video game franchise of the same name created by Scott Cawthon who also Co-Wrote the screenplay and Co-Produces with Jason Blum. Here then, Mike Schmidt (Josh Hutcherson), a troubled security guard, accepts a night-time job at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, a once-successful but now abandoned family entertainment centre, where he discovers its four animatronic mascots, Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy, move and kill anyone that is still there after midnight. Also starring Elizabeth Lail, Matthew Lillard and Mary Stuart Masterson, the film cost US$25M to produce and depending on the success of this film a second and third film is on the cards following the events of the second and third video games.

'MONOLITH' (Rated M) - is an Australian Science Fiction thriller film Directed by Matt Vesely in his feature film debut after helming a number of short films since 2009 with his first 'A Load of Buckshot'. A headstrong yet disgraced journalist turns to podcasting in an attempt to salvage her career, whose investigative podcast uncovers a strange artefact that she believes points to an alien conspiracy, and the lies at the heart of her own story. Starring Lily Sullivan as the only on screen Actor in the film with the voices of Erik Thomson, Damon Herriman, Terence Crawford and Kate Box, the film saw its Australian Premiere screening at last years Adelaide Film Festival at the end of October 2022 before its official World Premiere showcasing at SXSW in mid-March this year. The film has generated positive critical acclaim.

'MUTINY IN HEAVEN : THE BIRTHDAY PARTY' (Rated MA15+) - this Australian documentary film is Directed by Ian White who made his first feature film with 2015's 'Before the Fall'. This film is the first fully authorised account of the history of 'The Birthday Party', one of underground music's most notorious and influential bands who were active in the post-punk era between 1977 and 1983. Narrated exclusively by the original band members, this film delves deep into a band's psyche, chronicling how Nick Cave and his school friends startled audiences with their confrontational performances, primal screams, outlaw gothic horror, and anarchic lifestyle. Featuring never-before-seen personal footage from band members Nick Cave, Phil Calvert, Mick Harvey, Rowland S. Howard and Tracy Pew, dynamic animation sequences, and jaw-dropping concert clips, the film provides a sweaty, electrifying front-row seat to one of the most legendary live acts in rock history.

'SCARYGIRL' (Rated PG) - is an Australian animated fantasy adventure film that is Directed by Ricard Cusso and Tania Vincent. Here, free spirited and cheerful Arkie (voiced by Jillian Nguyen) lives with her adoptive octopus father, Blister (Rob Collins), on a flourishing, colourful peninsula. Together they help regenerate plant life using their magical tentacles, with the help of friendly mechanical bees powered by the rays of the sun. That’s until space bandits invade and kidnap Blister – so that an evil scientist, Dr Maybee (Sam Neill), can use his powers to sap the planet’s life force and discover the key to immortality. Can Arkie rescue Blister in time to save her home from devastation? Also starring the voice talents of Tim Minchin, Dylan Alcott and Deborah Mailman. 

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-