What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 13th July 2023.

The 35th Galway Film Fleadh (Festival) kicked off on Tuesday 11th July and runs through until Sunday 16th July. It is Ireland’s leading film festival, is a six-day international event, and is held every July and welcomes a diversity of films from across the world. 2023 marks the 35th Galway Film Fleadh, and the central goal of the festival remains unchanged: to bring together audiences and filmmakers within an intimate environment and share a common experience. This years festival will offer eighty foreign and Irish feature films, with World Premiere screenings making up a about a quarter of these. The majority of the selected films are from debut feature film Directors and there are also over one hundred new short film. The main aim is to highlight diverse and up-and-coming voices in cinema while serving as a launching pad for fresh talent. The Galway Film Festival is very much a filmmaker’s festival and attracts Directors, Actors, Cinematographers and artists of all generations and cultural backgrounds, who present their work before their peers, with a diverse audience comprising the general cinema-going public, film buff’s, student film makers, industry professionals and invited guests.

With ten feature film Awards, three Oscar-Qualifying Short Film Awards and six Short Film Awards, the line up of feature film awards includes Best Irish Film, Best Cinematography in an Irish Film, Best Irish First Feature, World Cinema Competition, Peripheral Visions Competition, Best International Film and Best International Documentary.

The ten titles competing in the World Cinema Competition, whose films have screened and won awards at Berlinale, Busan, TIFF, SXSW, Sundance and Seattle, are as follows :-

* 'Past Lives' - Drama romance from the USA and Written and Directed by Celine Song, Irish Premiere.

* 'Here' - Drama from Belgium and Written and Directed by Bas Devos. Irish Premiere.

* 'Daughter of Rage' - Drama from Nicaragua, Mexico, Netherlands, Germany, France, Norway and Spain and Written and Directed by Laura Baumeister. Irish Premiere.

* 'Sister & Sister' - Coming of age drama from Panama and Chile and Witten and Directed by Kattia G. Zuniga. Irish Premier.

* 'One Bullet' - Documentary from the UK, Denmark, USA and Afghanistan and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Carol Dysinger. European Premiere.

* 'On the Adamant' - Documentary from France and Written and Directed by Nicolas Philibert. Irish Premiere.

* 'Mutt' - LGBTQIA+ drama from the USA and Written and Directed by Vuk Lungulov-Klotz. Irish Premiere.

* 'Slow' - LGBTQIA+ drama from Lithuania, Spain and Sweden and Written and Directed by Marija Kavtaradze. Irish Premiere.

* 'A House in Jerusalem' - Drama from Palestine, the UK, Germany, Netherlands and Qatar and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Muayad Alayan. Irish Premiere.

* 'The Forest Maker' - Documentary from Germany and Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Volker Schlondorff. Irish Premiere.

The Galway Film Festival prioritises Irish Film, and in 2023, a bumper thirty-four Irish films will screen in the Irish Cinema section with twenty World Premieres, seven Irish Premieres, two Irish films from the vault and an additional five Irish films. Themes around family, artists, farming, music, the political landscape of past and present alongside comedy, suspense and thrillers.

The Peripheral Visions Competition is for European first and second feature filmmakers with films from Slovakia, Kosovo, Germany, Greece, North Macedonia, Belgium, Portugal, Denmark, Hungary, Lithuania and Romania.

To see the titles in these two above mentioned competitive strands, plus the other sections within the 35th Galway Film Festival, you can go to the official website at : https://www.galwayfilmfleadh.com/

Turning attention back then to this weeks four latest new movies gracing a big screen Odeon close to home, we launch with the seventh instalment in this hotly anticipated spy action thriller that sees this intrepid IMF agent and his team needing to track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands. This is followed by a biographical drama offering set in 1974 when a young gallery assistant is drawn into the wild, never-ending party that is this famed Spanish surrealist artists life in New York City, and as he helps the ageing genius prepare for an important show, he discovers not everything is as it seems. Next up we turn to a modern telling of a classic 1875 opera that sees a woman on a quest to find freedom embarking upon a dramatic and life-changing journey from Mexico to Los Angeles. And closing out the week we have a Japanese anime based on a popular TV series and film franchise that sees an Inspector with the Criminal Investigation Department using weapons called Dominators, and her coworkers, who are able to read people's 'crime coefficient', or how likely they are to commit a crime in a future Japan set one hundred years from now. 

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.

'MISSION : IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING, PART ONE' (Rated M) - this eagerly awaited American action spy film is the seventh film in the 'Mission : Impossible' franchise and is a sequel to 2018's 'Mission : Impossible - Fallout'. This film is once again Directed and Co-Written and Co-Produced by Christopher McQuarrie who also helmed 'Fallout' and 2015's 'Mission : Impossible - Rogue Nation'. The first six films in the ever popular franchise grossed worldwide US$3.57B at the Box Office off the back of combined production budgets of US$828M. 'Dead Reckoning, Part Two' is slated for release on 28th June 2024 with Christopher McQuarrie again in the Director's chair with Parts One and Two being filmed back to back. This film cost US$290M to produce. 

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise who also Co-Produces here) and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet - to track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, and dark forces from Ethan's past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission – not even the lives of those he cares about most. Also starring the returning Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby and Henry Czerny with Hayley Atwell, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Mark Gatiss, Shea Whigham and Cary Elwes all joining the franchise for the first time. 

'DALILAND' (Rated M) - this American biographical drama film is Directed by Mary Harron whose prior feature film making credits take in her debut with 'I Shot Andy Warhol' in 1996, followed up by the likes of 'American Psycho' in 2000, 'The Notorious Bettie Page' in 2005, 'The Moth Diaries' in 2011 and 'Charlie Says' in 2018. Here, Sir Ben Kingsley portrays the titular Salvador Dali, one of the most world-renowned surrealist artists of the 20th Century and focuses on the later years of the strange and fascinating marriage between Dali and his muse and wife, Gala (Barbara Sukowa), as their seemingly unshakable bond begins to stress and fracture. Set in New York and Spain in 1974, the film is told through the eyes of James Linton (Christopher Briney), a young assistant keen to make his name in the art world, who helps the eccentric and mercurial Dali prepare for a big gallery show. Also starring Ezra Miller as the young Dali with Rupert Graves, Suki Waterhouse, Mark McKenna and Andreja Pejic. The film has garnered mixed or average reviews and has so far grossed US$460K since its World Premiere screening at TIFF in mid-September last year and its subsequent release in the US in early June. Also starring Elsa Pataky and Rossy de Palma.

'CARMEN' (Rated M) - is an Australian, French and US Co-Production that is Co-Written and Directed by Benjamin Millepied in his feature film making debut. Although the film has been described as Millepied's take on Bizet's 1875 opera of the same name, it is 'a complete re-imagining' that ignores the opera's plot and setting; all that remains are 'selected lyrics' from the opera's libretto sung in the original French by a choir as background to one scene between the two leads. This gritty modern day story follows a young and fiercely independent woman who is forced to flee her home in the Mexican desert following the brutal murder of her mother, another strong and mysterious woman. Carmen (Melissa Barrera) survives a terrifying and dangerous illegal border crossing into the US, only to be confronted by a lawless volunteer border guard who cold-bloodedly murders two other immigrants in her group. When the border guard and his patrol partner, Aidan (Paul Mescal), a Marine with PTSD, become embroiled in a deadly standoff, Carmen and Aidan are forced to evade the local authorities as they head towards Los Angeles. The film has generated mixed or average reviews and has grossed US$259K since its World Premiere showcasing at TIFF in mid-September last year and its release Stateside towards the end of April this year. 

'PSYCHO-PASS : PROVIDENCE' (Rated MA15+) - this Japanese anime Sci-Fi crime film is Directed by Naoyoshi Shiotani who helmed all twenty-six episodes of the 'Psycho-Pass' TV series between 2012 and 2014, plus 'Psycho-Pass : The Movie' in 2015, then three TV movies titled 'Psycho-Pass : Sinners of the System Case 1, 2 and 3' all in 2019, and 'Psycho-Pass 3 : First Inspector' in 2020. Here then, set in January 2118, while attending a meeting as a Chief Inspector of the Public Security Bureau, Akane Tsunemori (voiced by Kana Hanazawa and in English by Kate Oxley) received a report that an incident had occurred on a foreign vessel. Akane and Atsushi Shindo (Yuki Kaji) head of the Statistics Division of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, who was also attending the meeting, rush to the scene, but for some reason, the authority to investigate is delegated to the Action Division of the Overseas Coordination Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From the ship, Dr. Milicia Stronskaya, whom Atsushi had invited as a guest for the meeting, is found dead. This marks the beginning of a big and unexpected case. The film saw its World Premier screening in mid-May, is released here in Australia and in the US from this week and in the UK from early August. 

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-

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY : Tuesday 4th July 2023.

I saw the M Rated 'INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY' earlier this week. This long awaited and highly anticipated American action adventure film is Co-Written and Directed by James Mangold, whose previous film making credits take in his 1995 debut with 'Heavy' followed by the likes of 'Cop Land' in 1997, 'Girl, Interrupted' in 1999, 'Walk the Line' in 2005, '3:10 to Yuma' in 2007, 'The Wolverine' in 2013, 'Logan' in 2017 and 'Ford v Ferrari' in 2019. This film is the sequel to 2008's 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' and the fifth and final instalment in this five feature film franchise that began in 1981 with 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', then 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom' in 1984 and 1989's 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'. Those first four films grossed worldwide US$1.99B off the back of combined production budgets of US$279M with each of those films being Directed by Steven Spielberg, who this time around takes an Executive Producer credit. With an estimated production budget of approaching US$300M it is the most expensive film in the Indiana Jones franchise, as well as one of the most expensive films ever made. The film saw its World Premiere showcasing at the Cannes Film Festival in mid-May where it received a five minute standing ovation, and was released worldwide last week, having so far grossed US$165M and garnered mixed or average reviews.

The film opens in 1944 during the WWII Allied liberation of Europe. Nazis capture Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford in his fifth and final outing as Indy) and Oxford archeologist Basil Shaw (Toby Jones), as they attempt to retrieve the holy Lance of Longinus at Nuremberg Castle - considered to be a most important artifact for Hitler. Astrophysicist Jurgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) informs his Nazi superiors that the Lance is in fact fake, made of an alloy and probably no more than fifty years old, but instead he has found half of Archimedes' Dial, an Antikythera mechanism built by the ancient Syracusan mathematician Archimedes. An astronomical calculator, it leads users to fissures in time. 

Voller's superior scoffs at the importance of the Dial saying that no one has ever heard of it, so how can it be so important. Jones escapes onto a Nazi train filled with a cargo of looted antiquities. He frees Basil and, after fighting Voller on the roof top of the speeding train at which Voller gets knocked off when he stands upright just as the train passes a signal, obtains the Dial-half. He and Basil leap from the train as it passes over a viaduct into the river below, just before the Allies bomb it.

We then fast track twenty-five years later to New York City in 1969. Jones, about to retire from his teaching job at Hunter College where he has been for the past ten years, has also been separated from his wife Marion since their son, Mutt, died in combat in the Vietnam War. Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Jones' goddaughter whom he has not seen for eighteen years, turns up one day unannounced paying him a visit. She is now also an archeologist, and is researching the Dial, but Jones warns how her late father, Basil, nearly went insane after years of trying to unlock its secrets. Basil reluctantly gave Jones the Dial to destroy it, but he never did, instead keeping it safely hidden in the archives of Hunter College. 

As Jones and Helena retrieve the Dial-half from the college's archives, Voller's henchmen attack them. Voller, now works for NASA under a new identity, and is assisted by a CIA group led by Agent Mason (Shaunette Renee Wilson). Unknown to Jones, Helena sells illegal antiquities to the highest bidder. She escapes with the Dial-half, exposing her intention to auction it on the black market in Morocco. Jones flees into a ticker-tape parade celebrating the Apollo 11 astronauts moon landing, and then an anti-Vietnam war protest, before escaping through the New York City Subway system on horseback. He seeks out his old friend Sallah (John Rhys-Davies), now a NYC cab driver. 

In Tangier, Jones prevents Helena from auctioning the Dial-half off to a bunch of would-be purchasers. Voller and his henchmen (Boyd Holbrook, Olivier Richters and Martin McDougall) arrive and steal the Dial, forcing Jones, Helena, and her teenage sidekick, Teddy Kumar (Ethann Isidore), to join forces and pursue them in an auto tuk tuk. After a frenetic chase through the side streets and alleyways of Tangier, Agent Mason apprehends Voller, who appears to have his own agenda. The US government, now reject Voller, want him neutralised, but Voller's men kill the CIA agents, including Mason, and steal their helicopter.

Jones, Helena, and Teddy trail Voller to Greece and team up with Jones's deep-sea diver friend, Renaldo (Antonio Banderas). They retrieve a 'graphikos' tablet from an ancient sunken ship in the Aegean Sea, made of wood and coated in wax with ancient inscriptions written upon the wax surface. Jones notices that the tablet is too heavy to be just wood and wax and so burns off the wax revealing a gold dial that contains cryptic directions to the Dial's other half. Voller kills Renaldo and Jones's group escape on board Voller's motorboat and head off to Archimedes's tomb in Sicily.

Inside a meandering cave system, Jones and Helena locate the tomb after negotiating several dangerous and unpleasant obstacles along the way. They uncover Archimedes skeletal remains which is clutching the second half of the Dial and Indy also observes that the skeleton is also holding a present day wrist watch, to which he remarks that timepieces hadn't been invented for another thousand years. Voller and his henchmen meanwhile are in hot pursuit and eventually catch up with Jones and capture him shooting him in the shoulder. Voller then reconnects the two halves of the Dial together and reveals his plan to travel back in time to 1939, to kill Adolf Hitler, and lead Germany to victory in World War II, having witnessed all the mistakes that Hitler made in his war efforts. Voller activates the Dial to open a time fissure and sets a flight course. Jones is held captive and bundled onto a plane, while Helena has sneaked on board by clambering through the landing gear. Meanwhile Teddy steals a light aircraft and pursues them through the opening.

When approaching the eye of the opening the plane begins to rattle, moving objects around uncontrollably. Jones observes this and comments that Voller's plan to land back in 1939 doesn't account for Continental Drift which wouldn't have been factored in when Archimedes lived, and so rather than arriving in 1939, the time fissure instead leads to the 212BC Siege of Syracuse. Roman warriors shoot projectiles at the approaching plane, believing it to be a dragon. Jones and Helena parachute out before it crashes, killing all on board, including Voller. Meanwhile, Teddy's plane lands safely with the aid of the sleeping owner who was woken up by the events unfolding. Helena observes the fissure is closing and urges they leave immediately. Archimedes arrives having seen the parachute, inspects the wreckage and finds Voller's burned and dead body and is captivated by his wristwatch. He gives Jones the Dial but is fascinated by the watch and keeps it. Jones and Helena learn that Archimedes created the Dial solely to bring users from the future to 212BC to aid the Greeks. As the fissure begins collapsing, Helena insists on getting the Hell outta Dodge. Jones, who is wounded, wants to remain behind saying his has nothing to return to, and he has studied this time period all his life. Fearing he may not survive or could change the course of history, Helena knocks him out cold with a single punch.

Jones comes round in his apartment back in 1969 with his shoulder heavily bandaged. He is greeted by Helena, Teddy, Sallah, and also Marion (Karen Allen), who has returned from the shops with bags full of groceries to restock his meagre supplies and to aid in his recovery. Helena, Teddy, Sallah and his two young children leave to go get ice cream, so that Jones and Marion can talk alone, and make up their differences. 

'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny' is entertaining enough and you're almost guaranteed a good time at the movies, but it lacks the bravura and the necessary spark that were the touchstones of its four predecessors. Director James Mangold certainly knows how to lay on the action set pieces, but here he lurches from one straight into another, and then another, followed by more of the same without too much regard for the script or exposition. Harrison Ford turns in a fine performance in the titular role, Phoebe Waller-Bridge certainly holds her own and Mads Mikkelsen as the antagonist of the piece is as menacing as he ever was albeit in an understated way. It is a fitting end to this movie franchise which has given us one of the most endearing screen characters of the last forty or so years that sees Indy and Marion reconcile and finally settle into their retirement. Amen to that!

'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 6th July 2023.

The 34th FIDMarseille - the Marseille International Film Festival - launched on Tuesday 4th July and runs through until Sunday 9th July, in the port city of Marseille, in southern France. It offers a programme of about one hundred films consisting documentaries, fiction, short and feature films. FIDMarseille is a reference point for the independent cinema of today and tomorrow, offering a challenging selection to a wide local, national and international audience. Every year the festival attracts professionals from all across the world. The programme of films showcased is also divided into several competitive strands presenting World or International Premieres.

In the International Competition, which carries an award prize of €8K, the following titles are being screened :-

* 'An Evening Song (for Three Voices) - from the USA and Directed by Graham Swon. World Premiere.

* 'Background' - from Germany and Directed by Khaled Abdulwahed. World Premiere.

* 'Twittering Soul' - from Lithuania and Directed by Deimantas Narkevicius. World Premiere.

* 'De Facto' - from Austria and Germany and Directed by Selma Doborac. International Premiere.

* 'Losing Faith' - from Austria and Germany and Directed by Martha Mechow. World Premiere.

* 'The Diagonal Force' - from Belgium and Directed by Annik Leroy and Julie Morel. World Premiere.

* 'The Bus Station' - from Argentina and Directed by Gustavo Fontan. World Premiere.

* 'Undefined Things' - from Argentina and Directed by Maria Aparicio. World Premiere.

* 'Monisme' - from Indonesia and Qatar and Directed by Riar Rizaldi. World Premiere.

* 'The Mariner' - from Portugal and France and Directed by Yohei Yamakado. World Premiere.

* 'Of Girls' - from Japan and the Netherlands and Directed by Wendelien van Oldenborgh. World Premiere.

* 'Ricorda Ti Che E Un Film Comico' - from France and Directed by Cesar Vayssie. World Premiere.

* 'Night Work' - from Spain and Directed by Christian Bagnat and Elvira Sanchez Poxon. International Premiere.

The other competitive sections held at FIDMarseille are the French Competition which carries an award prize of €5K, the First Film Competition awarding a prize of €3K, the Flash Competition €2K and the Cine + Competition €15K. For the entries into these competitive sections, plus a whole lot more besides, you can go to the official website at : https://fidmarseille.org/en/

Turning attention back to this weeks four new movies gracing a big screen Odeon close to home, we begin with the fifth outing in this hugely successful supernatural horror franchise that is a follow on from the second film in the series that sees the father driving east to drop his oldest son off at university, but the son's college dream soon becomes a living nightmare when the subdued demons of his past suddenly return to haunt them both. This is followed by an Aussie drama offering set in the 1940's in which a somewhat rebellious nun takes in a nine year old Aboriginal orphan lad. Next up is a French drama film in which a childless woman forms a deep bond with her boyfriend's young daughter; and closing out the week we have an American comedy offering that follows four Asian-American friends as they bond and discover the truth of what it means to know and love who you are, while they travel through Asia in search of one of their birth mothers.

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 coming week.

'INSIDIOUS : THE RED DOOR' (Rated M) - this American supernatural horror film is Directed by Patrick Wilson in his Directing debut and is seen as a direct sequel to 2010's 'Insidious' and 2013's 'Insidious : Chapter 2' and is the fifth film in the 'Insidious' series which also consisted 'Insidious : Chapter 3' in 2105 and 'Insidious : The Last Key' in 2018. Based on a story once again written by Leigh Whannell (who also Co-Produces here with James Wan and Jason Blum) those first four films in the series grossed worldwide US$543M off the back of combined production budgets of just US$27M making the continuation of this saga a foregone conclusion. The film is released in the US this week too.

Set ten years following the events of 'Insidious : Chapter 2', Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) heads east to drop his son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) off at an idyllic, ivy-league University. However, Dalton’s college dream becomes a nightmare when the repressed demons of his past suddenly come back to haunt them both. To end the haunting and to put the demons to rest once and for all, Josh and Dalton must return once again to the Further (a purgatory dimension inhabited by the tortured spirits of the deceased) in order to stop the Lambert nightmare for good. Also starring Rose Byrne as Renai Lambert and Lin Shaye as Elise Rainier. 

'THE NEW BOY' (Rated M) - is an Australian drama film Written, Directed and photographed by Warwick Thornton who made his feature film Directing debut with 'Samson & Delilah' in 2009, and would follow this up with 'The Darkside' in 2013, 'We Don't Need a Map' in 2017 and 'Sweet Country' in 2017 too. This film saw its World Premier showcasing at the Cannes Film Festival in May this year, was the Opening Night film at the recent 70th Sydney Film Festival and is released this week here in Australia. Here then, set sometime in 1940's Australia, a nine-year-old Aboriginal orphan boy (Aswan Reid) is taken in at a remote monastery in the dead of night, run by a renegade nun, Sister Eileen (Cate Blanchett who also Co-Produces here with her husband Andrew Upton). Also starring Deborah Mailman and Wayne Blair. 

'OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN' (Rated M) - this French drama film is Written and Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski who feature film credits take in her debut 'Dear Prudence' in 2010 with Lea Seydoux, then 'Grand Central' in 2013 with Lea Seydoux again, 'Planetarium' in 2016 with Natalie Portman and Lily-Rose Depp and 'An Easy Girl' in 2019. Rachel (Virginie Efira) is forty years old, single and has no children. She is working as a teacher at a middle school. She has a large circle of friends and also keeps in touch with her ex-husbands. Then one day, she falls in love with Ali (Roschdy Zem) and his four-year-old daughter Leila (Callie Ferreira-Goncalves) also enters her life. Rachel takes care of the toddler, cares for and soon loves it like her own. But she must recognise that the close bond with Leila also harbours a possible risk, especially in relation to her birth mother Alice (Chiara Mastroianni). Rachel doesn't want to put up with just being an 'extra' in Leila's life. Time is also not on her side and she needs to make a decision whether she should have a child of her own at this age. The film saw its World Premier showcasing at the Venice International Film Festival in early September last year, went on release in its native France towards the end of September and only now is it released here in Australia having garnered generally positive critical reviews and grossing so far US$2.8M at the Box Office.

'JOY RIDE' (Rated MA15+) - this American comedy film is based on a story jointly conceived by Adele Lim and Co-Produced and Directed by Adele Lim in her Directorial debut. The film saw its World Premier screening at SXSW in mid-March this year, is released Stateside and here in Australia this week and has generated universal critical claim. Here then, childhood best friends Audrey (Ashley Park) and Lolo (Sherry Cola), accompanied by Audrey's former roommate Kat (Stephanie Hsu) and Lolo's cousin Deadeye (Sabrina Wu), set out on a journey across China to find Audrey's birth mother. Their epic, no-holds-barred experience becomes a journey of bonding, friendship, belonging and wild debauchery that reveals the universal truth of what it means to know and love who you are. 

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 week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

NO HARD FEELINGS : Tuesday 27th June 2023.

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'NO HARD FEELINGS' earlier this week, and this American coming of age sex comedy film is Co-Written and Directed by Gene Stupnitsky in only his second feature film Directorial offering following 2019's 'Good Boys'. This film was released here in Australia and in the US last week, has generated mixed or average reviews and has so far grossed US$30M off the back of a US$45M production budget.

The film is set in Montauk on the eastern end of the South Shore, Long Island, New York, where Maddie Barker (Jennifer Lawrence, who also Co-Produces here), is a 32 year old woman working as an Uber driver and bartender. She is facing bankruptcy after her car is repossessed and towed away by a former boyfriend Gary (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), for not paying her taxes to the IRS on the home she has lived in all her life, and which she inherited from her recently deceased mother. Standing out on the street in her dressing gown with her Italian lover stood by, she watches helpless as her car is towed away.

Without a car with which to work her job as an Uber driver she is left stranded and having to rollerblade everywhere during the usual very busy summer holiday season in Montauk. One day her friend Sarah (Natalie Morales) comes across a somewhat unusual posting on a classified advertising website. The ad calls for a mid-20 year old woman to date the son of a wealthy couple in exchange for which the payment in kind comes in the form of a Buick Regal car which is sat in the driveway of their lavish home as clean and tidy as the day it rolled off the production line. And so Maddie responds to the ad and rollerblades over to the home of wealthy couple Laird Becker (Matthew Broderick) and his wife Allison (Laura Bananti) and the brief is for Maddie to become their introverted 19-year-old son's 'girlfriend'. 

Even though they are seeking a woman in her mid-20's Maddie explains that she has the maturity and experience that younger 'girls' just can't offer, which seems to satisfy Laird and Allison. Their son, Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) has had no experiences with girls, drinking, parties or sex, and he can't drive either, and his parents hope to boost his confidence before he attends Princeton University in the autumn. Maddie agrees to become their son's 'girlfriend', to 'date his brains out', and help him to join adult life, on the condition that this remains a firm secret between the three of them and under no circumstances must Percy become aware of their ruse. 

The next day Maddie makes her move on Percy by attempting to seduce him at the animal shelter he volunteers at. She offers him a ride home, but upon arriving at her house he mistakenly thinks that she is attempting to kidnap him and sprays a can of mace in her face. Despite this, they agree to go on a date the following day. 

Maddie and Percy meet at a bar the next night and then Maddie suggests they go skinny dipping at the beach. While they are in the water, their clothes, keys and phones are stolen by a group of two young men and a young woman. Maddie fights them in the nude retrieving their possessions, but a frightened Percy demands to be taken home. Maddie tries to leave without him and he jumps on her car bonnet, naked, as they are chased by a Police patrol car which they outrun at a train crossing. Back at Maddie's house the pair attempt to have sex, but Percy develops a rash all over his back and shoulders from his anxiety, so Maddie gently nurses him with an easing ointment.

Over the following days Maddie and Percy continue to date, learning more about each other and forging a friendship. Both reveal that they never went to prom, so they imitate a prom night and go to a fancy restaurant for dinner, driven there in a stretched limo. There, Percy meets an old school acquaintance who invites him to a party later that night, while Maddie gives the girl very much the cold shoulder. After Percy and Maddie have a disagreement about their long-term plans, he goes to the party and winds up in bed with that acquaintance, while Maddie frantically searches for him. She eventually finds him after he took an ibuprofen washed down with alcohol, and so Maddie drags him out of bed and shoves his head down the toilet and her fingers down his throat inducing him to vomit. In the car back to her house Percy confesses his love for Maddie.

Percy stumbles across the truth about Maddie's deal with his parents when he intercepts a phone conversation between her and them. After inviting her to dinner with his parents, he crashes her Buick into a tree trashing it royally, they attempt to have sex but this fails miserably, and then he ends their relationship. Maddie takes the damaged car, has it repaired to its former almost as new condition and uses it to pay off her debts, and then decides to sell the house to her friends, Jim (Scott MacArthur) and the heavily pregnant Sarah, because they were going to relocate themselves to Florida where house prices are markedly cheaper than in Montauk. And so selling the house to her friends for a bargain price that they can afford, Maddie decides to relocate herself to California. She reunites with Percy at a Princeton mixer where she gets more than an unwelcome reception from him. He attempts to exit the scene and so Maddie climbs on the bonnet of his car and drives at speed culminating in him driving onto a beach, through a barbecue at which Maddie's clothes catch fire, and into the ocean. Percy pulls Maddie out of the water, and afterwards they promise to remain friends.

Later, Percy is at home packing up his belongings into suitcases to go to Princeton. Bidding his farewells to his parents, Maddie is parked outside who drives Percy to Princeton, while she herself is on the way to California. She reveals that she has a new boyfriend, the rescue dog named Milo, a former Police dog addicted to cocaine who lived at the shelter Percy volunteered at, and whom Maddie met the first time she and Percy met. 

Jennifer Lawrence plays it fearless as Maddie in 'No Hard Feelings' even going the full frontal nudity for her art, and she also proves her comedic acting talents here in this for adults only coming of age romp for a seemingly mismatched couple at opposite ends of the spectrum. Andrew Barth Feldman as the all too innocent, sweet as cherry pie late teenage dweeb Percy is also on point, but Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti both have the kind of expression on their faces that make you think they signed up for something more challenging and interesting than their one dimensional characters portray here. As for the laughs, they are thin on the ground and certainly won't have you rolling around the aisles, but that said this film does have an emotional undercurrent at its core. 

'No Hard Feelings' warrants three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard out of a possible five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 29th June 2023.

The 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival runs this year from Friday 30th June through until Saturday 8th July, and is held annually in the spa city of Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic. The festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become Central and Eastern Europe's leading film event. Each year, the festival presents some two hundred films from all over the world. Many of the films are exclusively shown at the festival, while others make it into Czech or foreign distribution, onto television, or into other festivals thanks in part to their screening in Karlovy Vary. Except for films shown as part of retrospectives, all the presented works were made during the preceding year and are shown for the first time ever in the Czech Republic – many of them as World, International, or European Premieres.

There are two competitive sections as the KVIFF, these being The Crystal Globe Competition which is a non-specialised international competition of feature-length fiction and documentary films presented as World or International Premieres. The Proxima Competition offers space to the world’s new voices from across the vast cinematic spectrum. Showcasing works by upcoming filmmakers and adventurous works by renowned auteurs, it aims to complement the Crystal Globe Competition by celebrating contemporary cinema with a collection of forward-thinking and exciting discoveries. Feature-length fiction and documentary films presented as World or International Premieres are eligible.

Those films competing for the Crystal Globe are as given below :-

* 'Blaga's Lessons' - from Bulgaria and Germany and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Stephan Komandarev. This drama film has its World Premiere.

* 'Citizen Saint' - from Georgia, France and Bulgaria and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Tinatin Kajrishvili. This drama film sees its World Premiere screening.

* 'Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano' - from Germany and Lebanon and Co-Written, Directed and Co-Edited by Cyril Aris. This documentary film sees its World Premiere.

* 'Empty Nets' - from Germany and Iran and Written and Directed by Behrooz Karamizade. This drama films has its International Premiere.

* 'Fremont' - from the USA and Co-Written, Directed and Edited by Babak Jalali. This comedy film sees its International Premiere.

* 'The Girls Are Alright' - from Spain and Written, Co-Produced, Directed and starring Itsaso Arana. This comedy drama film has its World Premiere showcasing.

* 'The Hypnosis' - from Sweden, Norway and France and Co-Written and Directed by Ernst De Geer. This drama comedy film sees its World Premiere screening.

* 'Red Rooms' - from Canada and Written and Directed by Pascal Plante. This thriller film has its World Premiere.

* 'A Sensitive Person' - from the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic and Co-Written and Directed by Tomas Klein. This film sees its World Premiere showing.

* 'We Have Never Been Modern' - from the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic and Co-Produced and Directed by Matej Chlupacek. This drama film has its World Premiere.

* 'Where the Wind Blows' - from Italy and Written, Directed and Co-Edited by Marco Righi. This drama films sees its World Premiere.

Actor and Director Russell Crowe will be presented with the Crystal Globe for his outstanding artistic contribution to world cinematography at the opening of this year’s Karlovy Vary Festival, and thereafter he and his new Indoor Garden Party project will then appear at the opening concert.

For all the other details of the Proxima Competition and the other film strands playing at this years Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, you can go to the official website at : https://www.kviff.com/en/homepage

This week then there are four new movies doing the rounds at a big screen Odeon near you, kicking off with the fifth and final instalment in a much loved action adventure franchise that sees our archaeologist hero racing against time to retrieve a legendary artifact that can change the course of history. This is followed by a drama offering based on a true story of a former American intelligence specialist being handed down the longest prison sentence for the unauthorised release of government information to the media about Russian interference in the 2016 US Presidential elections via an email operation. Next up is the story of Sleeping Beauty where upon Princess Aurora sleeps for one hundred years and wakes up in the modern world; and we wrap up the week with a French film about a ten year old city lad who spends his summer in the mountains and there befriends a giant dog with a big heart who has been mistreated by his owner, and the unbreakable friendship that develops between the two. 

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.

'INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY' (Rated M) - this long awaited and highly anticipated American action adventure film is Co-Written and Directed by James Mangold, whose previous film making credits take in his 1995 debut with 'Heavy' followed by the likes of 'Cop Land' in 1997, 'Girl, Interrupted' in 1997, 'Walk the Line' in 2005, '3:10 to Yuma' in 2007, 'The Wolverine' in 2013, 'Logan' in 2017 and 'Ford v Ferrari' in 2019. This film is the sequel to 2008's 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' and the fifth and final instalment in this five feature film franchise that began in 1981 with 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', then 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom' in 1984 and 1989's 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'. Those first four films grossed worldwide US$1.99B off the back of combined production budgets of US$279M with each of those films being Directed by Steven Spielberg, who this time around takes an Executive Producer credit. With an estimated production budget of nearly US$300M it is the most expensive film in the Indiana Jones franchise, as well as one of the most expensive films ever made. The film saw its World Premiere showcasing at the Cannes Film Festival in mid-May where it received a five minute standing ovation, and is released worldwide this week. 

In 1944, American archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford in his fifth and final outing as Indy) helps colleague Basil Shaw (Toby Jones) against Jurgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), a Nazi, from obtaining a mysterious dial known as the Antikythera. Twenty-five years later in 1969, Jones is uneasy over the fact that the United States government has recruited former Nazis to help beat the Soviet Union in the competition to make it to space. He is about to be forced into retirement from his teaching position because of his opposition to the practice. Surprisingly, his goddaughter, Basil's daughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), accompanies him on his journey for the Dial. Meanwhile, Voller, now a NASA member and ex-Nazi involved with the Apollo Moon-landing programme, wishes to make the world into a better place as he sees fit. Also starring Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, Boyd Holbrook, Thomas Kretschmann and Karen Allen. 

'REALITY' (Rated M) - this American drama film is Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Tina Satter is her Directorial debut, and is based on the stage play 'Is This a Room' also by Tina Satter. On 9th May 2017, Reality Winner (Sydney Sweeney) watches Fox News coverage on the firing of James Comey by President Donald Trump on the TV at her office. 25 days later, on 3rd June Winner returns to her Georgia home from grocery shopping where she is confronted by FBI agents Taylor (Marchant Davis) and Garrick (Josh Hamilton), who explain they have a warrant to search her house and her belongings. As a team of agents arrive and begin searching the house, Winner engages in casual conversation with the agents, all of which is picked up by a recording device, and as the cryptic conversation begins Reality's life quickly begins to unravel. The film saw its World Premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in mid-February this year, was released in the US at the end of May, has so far grossed just US$173K but has garnered universal critical acclaim. 

'MATTHEW BOURNE'S SLEEPING BEAUTY' (Rated PG) - Directed by Ross MacGibbon and Matthew Bourne, the British choreographer whose work includes ballet, contemporary dance, dance theatre and musical theatre, here marks the tenth anniversary of his gothic romance, with a brand-new filmed recording of 'Sleeping Beauty'. The production was filmed live at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, in January 2023. Here, Bourne sets the first part of the story in 1890, the year in which Tchaikovsky completed his version of Charles Perrault's classic fairy tale, with Beauty pricking herself on the poisoned rose in 1911 and awakening one hundred years later very much in the modern world.

'BELLE & SEBASTIAN : THE NEXT GENERATION' (Rated PG) - this French family action adventure drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Pierre Core whose previous feature film making credits are his 2017 debut with 'Sahara', and 2020's 'The Fantastic Journey of Margot & Marguerite'. Ten year old Sebastien (Robinson Mensah Rouanet) reluctantly spends his summer holiday in the Pyrenees mountains with his grandmother and aunt. Helping them with the sheep is hardly an exciting prospect for a city boy like him - but that is without considering his encounter with Belle, a huge dog mistreated by her owner. Ready to do anything to fight injustice and to protect his new-found friend, Sebastien will spend the craziest summer of his life. Also starring Alice David, Caroline Anglade and Michele Laroque the film was released in its native France in mid-October last year, and has so far grossed US$5.7M. This film is an up to date follow on from the original trilogy of films that saw 'Belle & Sebastian' released in 2013, 'Belle & Sebastian : The Adventure Continues' in 2015 and 2017's 'Belle & Sebastian : Friends for Life' that each saw Felix Bossuet in the title role of Sebastian.

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-

YOU HURT MY FEELINGS : Tuesday 20th June 2023.

I saw the MA15+ Rated American comedy drama film 'YOU HURT MY FEELINGS' this week at my local independent movie theatre. This film is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Nicole Holofcener whose prior feature film making credits include her debut in 1996 with 'Walking and Talking', then 'Lovely & Amazing' in 2001, 'Friends with Money' in 2006, 'Enough Said' in 2013 and 'The Land of Steady Habits' in 2018. The film has garnered universal critical acclaim and has so far grossed US$4.7M since its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival at the end of January and its US release in late May. 

Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus who also Co-Produces here) is a writer having penned a reasonably successful memoir five years ago about the verbal abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of her father, often calling her 'stupid' and 'shit for brains'. As a result, now an adult, she suffers with a lack of confidence, although she is happily married to rather unsuccessful therapist Don (Tobias Menzies) and they have a 23 year old son Elliott (Owen Teague) who is an aspiring writer himself and has embarked on his first stage play script although he is a long way off completing it, and in the meantime works as a manager in a marijuana store. Beth also teaches a writing class part time and we see her interacting and encouraging her small handful of would be writers. 

At a restaurant to mark their wedding anniversary Don hands Beth a small gift wrapped box which contains a pair of gold earrings in the shape of a leaf as a present, and Beth reciprocates with a box for Don, containing a blue V-neck cashmere sweater. They both gush over their presents. We then meet Sarah (Michaela Watkins) Beth's younger sister who is an interior designer and her husband Mark (Arian Moayed) a struggling Actor. Once a week Beth and Sarah hold a clothing charity store at their local church for the needy and homeless allowing all comers to take one item per day for free. In the meantime Beth has just finished the final draft of her first work of fiction writing, and she is in discussion with her publicist about getting her first novel onto the shelves, but her publicist (who served her well for the publication of her memoir) says it needs more work. Don encourages Beth to seek out another publicist who will see her work for the masterstroke it is!

One day Don and Mark are out for a walk in the park which leads them to a department store where they are seen talking in front of a sock stand. At the same time Sarah and Beth are out in the city and they decide to go into the same store and sneak up behind their husbands and surprise them. 

However, the wives are stopped dead in their tracks when Beth overhears Don saying to Mark that he hates her latest book, but he doesn't have the courage to tell her how lousy it is, so he just keeps on encouraging her. Beth is mortified by this overheard admission from her husband and Sarah doesn't know what to say or which way to turn, so they both leave the shop leaving their unsuspecting husbands to continue chatting. 

Beth immediately feels betrayed and cheated by her husband who has blatantly lied to her about this and who knows what else. So after going to a bar and drowning her sorrows she comes home and spends the next few nights sleeping on the couch much to Don's dismay. Mark's birthday is coming up in a couple of days and Beth and Don have been invited over for dinner. Mark in the meantime is over the moon because he has been offered a film role, but the day before his birthday he calls Sarah in floods of tears and tells her to come home immediately. When she gets there, Mark is distraught saying that the Director fired him on the first day, and in front of the whole cast and crew and how is now done with acting. 

During the birthday dinner, tensions still remain high between Beth and Don, which then overspills into the conversation with Beth coming clean over what she heard that day in the store. Don is surprised by the accusation refuting the claims made by his wife and saying that she took it out of context and that is just his opinion and how much he loves her anyway. Beth storms out of the house and Don follows, pleading with her on the street but she will have none of it. 

Later on Elliott comes around to the house and says that his girlfriend ditched him. He's devastated and Beth and Don try to console him. The conversation then turns to Elliott's childhood and how Beth very actively pushed her son into an advanced swimming class as school even though Elliott was not a strong swimmer, resulting in his swim coach banning him from his class saying he needs to join the beginners class. Then on another occasion Elliott handed in an essay which he had worked so hard on but for which he scored a 'C' grade. Beth lobbied his teacher and had his score improved to a 'B' grade even though Elliott knew his essay was 'C' grade material anyway. Don meanwhile sits beside Beth on the couch listening intently to all these little white lies and when Elliott leaves the room, he berates Beth for doing exactly the same things to Elliott as she is now accusing him off. Beth responds saying that her actions then were different, because Elliott was just a child!

Afterwards the conversation turns to their anniversary presents. Beth says she never really liked the leaf earrings he gave her, and goes to their bedroom and returns with a jewellery rack with a dozen or so pairs of leaf earrings neatly arranged all dangling off it. She says she liked the very first pair he bought her, but after that not so much. Don then responds about the V-neck sweaters that she bought him for the past three years saying that men don't wear V-neck sweaters because unlike women they have no cleavage to show off, so he'll never wear them. Following this, they appear to make up and reconcile their differences.

We then fast forward a year and Beth and Don are in a restaurant celebrating their wedding anniversary with Elliott. Don hands over a small gift wrapped box to Beth which she duly opens to reveal a pair of gold leaf earrings. Beth hands over a box to Don in which is contained a V-neck sweater. Both share a laugh about their gifts which Elliott clearly doesn't get, to which his parents respond with 'it's an in-joke'. Upon leaving the restaurant, Elliott hands his parents each a copy of his completed first draft of his stage play, which Beth says I know it's gonna be great. Later that night, the pair both sit up in bed, turn on their lights and begin reading Elliott's script. 

The moral of 'You Hurt My Feelings' is that if you tell lies, no matter how small, or how insignificant or how white they may first seem, you're gonna get found out eventually and ultimately suffer the consequences as a result. I found this film more like an elongated episode of 'Seinfeld' but played less for the laughs and more for the dramatic effect. Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays the angst ridden emotional cornerstone of the film with her trademark magnetism that she puts into all her roles, and the supporting cast all play their roles convincingly. The film is certainly relatable on many levels, but the comedy is very light on. That said, this is a small film made for a more mature audience whose taste in filmed entertainment rises above the Superhero fare, the shoot 'em up features and the Cops & Robbers offerings that we have become so accustomed to seeing on our big screens with ever increasing regularity - and there's nothing wrong in that! See it if you will on the big screen but you can easily catch it when it arrives on your TV screens, and save yourself the price of cinema entry. 

'You Hurt My Feelings' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-