What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 8th June 2023

The 70th Sydney Film Festival kicks off on Wednesday 7th June and runs through until Sunday 18th June. The competitive film festival draws international and local attention, with films being showcased in several venues across the city centre, and includes features, documentaries, short films, retrospectives, films for families and animations. Films are shown at venues across the Sydney central business district. Patrons of the festival include Gillian Armstrong, Cate Blanchett, Jane Campion, Nicole Kidman, Baz Luhrmann, George Miller, Bryan Brown, Phillip Noyce, Rachel Ward, Sam Neill and Hugo Weaving among others. Prior to 2007, the Sydney Film Festival was classified by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) as a Non-Competitive Feature Film Festival. Since 2007, the Festival announced it had received funding from the New South Wales Government to host an official international competition, which rewarded 'new directions in film'. The FIAFP has since classified the Sydney Film Festival as a Competitive Specialised Feature Film Festival.

This years Opening Night Film is 'The New Boy' from Australia and Directed by Warwick Thornton and starring Cate Blanchett with Deborah Mailman, Wayne Blair and newcomer Aswan Reid in this beguiling story of spirituality and survival set in 1940's Australia. The Closing Night Film is 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny' Co-Written and Directed by James Mangold and starring Harrison Ford returning to the role of the legendary hero archaeologist for this highly anticipated final instalment of the iconic franchise – a big, globe-trotting, rip-roaring cinematic adventure, with Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Ethann Isidore and Mads Mikkelsen.

Twelve films are selected for the Official Competition, which celebrates 'courageous, audacious and cutting-edge' cinema with an AU$60K cash prize. Sydney Film Festival also presents eight other cash awards over the course of the festival. The Official Competition recognises that rare but thrilling film that truly moves the art form forward. Innovative, provocative or controversial, they broaden our understanding of the world and say important things in original ways. Those twelve films are as follows :-

* 'Afire' - from Germany and Written and Directed by Christian Petzold and starring Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel and Enno Trebs that sees four young people trapped at a holiday house as a fire draws near in this tragicomic romp. Australian Premiere.

* 'Art College 1994' - from China and Co-Written, Directed and Edited by Liu Jian this animated film is a slacker comedy-drama about a group of art students in China in the ’90's – a time of great change for the nation. Australian Premiere.

* 'Bad Behaviour' - from New Zealand and Written, Directed and starring Alice Englert with Jennifer Connelly and Ben Whishaw in a dark comedy about spiritual retreats and a turbulent mother-daughter relationship. Australian Premiere.

* 'Cobweb' - from South Korea and Directed by Kim Jee-Woon and starring Song Kang-ho in this very funny and clever film about a movie Director obsessed with re-shooting the end of his completed film in order to make a true masterpiece. Australian Premiere.

* 'The Dark Emu Story' - from Australia and Co-Written and Directed by Allan Clarke this thought provoking, revelatory and inspiring documentary tells the story of Bruce Pascoe’s 2014 best selling book 'Dark Emu' - the publishing phenomenon that challenged Australia to rethink its history and ignited a raging debate. World Premiere.

* 'Fallen Leaves' - from Finland and Sweden and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Aki Kaurismaki this compassionate comedy has two lonely people who meet by chance and then try, in turbulent times, to find love. Australian Premiere.

* 'Joram' - from India and Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Devashish Makhija that sees a labourer in Mumbai who goes on the run with his baby daughter Joram in this edge-of-your-seat survival thriller that deftly weaves political intrigue with a stylish and propulsive cinematic sensibility. Australian Premiere.

* 'Monster' - from Japan and Directed and Edited by Kore-eda Hirokazu that is an intense, mysterious and morally complex drama told through multiple perspectives. Australian Premiere.

* 'The Mother Of All Lies' - from Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar and Produced, Directed and Edited by Asmae El Moudir here melds fact, fiction and captivating figurines to lay bare a hidden personal and national history. Australian Premiere.

* 'The New Boy' - from Australia and Written and Directed by Warwick Thornton and starring Cate Blanchett with Deborah Mailman, Wayne Blair and newcomer Aswan Reid in this beguiling story of spirituality and survival set in 1940's Australia. Australian Premier.

* 'Past Lives' - from the USA and Written and Directed by Celine Song and starring Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro as two school friends who explore a lingering, deep connection that appears to transcend time and the tyranny of distance. Australian Premier.

* 'Scrapper' - from the UK and Written and Directed by Written and Directed by Charlotte Regan and starring Harris Dickinson, Lola Campbell and Alin Uzun about a twelve-year-old girl who lives happily alone until her estranged father turns up one day unannounced. Australian Premier.

For all the other programme strands and a whole bunch of other good stuff, you can visit the official website of the 70th Sydney Film Festival at : https://www.sff.org.au/

This week then, with five new cinematic releases coming your way, we launch with an American crime thriller in which a talented but troubled Police Officer is recruited by the FBI's chief investigator to help profile and track down a disturbed individual terrorising the city. This is followed by a British drama film about an ordinary man who has passed through life, living on the side lines, until he goes to post a letter one day . . . and just keeps walking. Next up is a film with real bite that has a family stranded on a crumbling oil rig off the Mexican coast that sees them having to face off against a vengeful megalodon shark. And we close out the week with two French films - the first a romantic drama offering about a young woman living with her eight year old daughter, and with a father suffering from neurodegenerative disease, she struggles to secure a decent nursing home and amidst all this she runs into an unavailable friend with whom she embarks on an affair; followed by this comedy film that has a group of friends taking one of their own to a sunny Greek island to celebrate his 50th birthday, but due to a flight cancellation, the holiday will take place in a much rainier destination - the birthday boys' family home in Brittany.

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.

'TO CATCH A KILLER' (Rated MA15+) - this American crime thriller film is Co-Written, Co-Produced, Directed and Edited by the Argentinian Damian Szifron in his English language Directorial debut, and following his successful 'Wild Tales' film of 2014 being the most successful film in the history of Argentina. This film was released in the US in late April this year, has so far grossed US$2.1M and has generated mixed reviews from critics.

Eleanor (Shailene Woodley) is a young talented but troubled officer of the Baltimore Police Department wrestling with the demons of her past when she is recruited by Lammark (Ben Mendelsohn), the FBI's chief investigator, to help profile and track down a sniper who is committing a series of seemingly-unrelated mass shootings. As the police and FBI launch a nationwide manhunt, they are thwarted at every turn by the killer's unprecedented behaviour. Given her tortured psyche, Eleanor may be the only person who can understand the mind of their assailant and bring him to justice. Also starring Jovan Adepo and Ralph Ineson. 

'THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY' (Rated M) - is a British drama film Directed by Hettie Macdonald in only her second feature film outing following 'Beautiful Thing' in 1996, although she has Directed many multiple episodes of TV series and stage productions in the meantime. This film is based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Rachel Joyce. Retired pensioner Harold Fry (Jim Broadbent) lives in the South Devon town of Kingsbridge, England with his wife Maureen (Penelope Wilton), whose marriage to him has become despondent and quiet. One day, Harold receives a letter from his old friend, Queenie Hennessy (Linda Bassett), who is dying from cancer and is living in a hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed, in Northumberland on the English and Scottish border. Harold then decides to walk the length of England to reach Berwick-upon-Tweed without the use of transport or support from Maureen. Along the way, he encounters a variety of people who show interest in his hiking achievement. Harold also reflects on how his only son David (Earl Cave), an unemployed former Cambridge University graduate, struggled with depression along with a serious drug and alcohol addiction, all of which led him to taking his own life in a garden shed. The film was released in the UK at the end of April, and has generated mostly positive critical acclaim.

'THE BLACK DEMON' (Rated M) - filmed in the Dominican Republic and Directed by Adrian Grunberg whose previous two Directorial outings were 'Get the Gringo' in 2012 and 'Rambo : Last Blood' in 2019. Here Josh Lucas plays Paul Sturges who decides to combine work and play by taking the family on a vacation to Bahia Negra, Mexico, while also taking the opportunity to check out his oil rig off the coast of Mexico. However, upon his arrival he sees that the local town has changed markedly since his last visit, to the point of having almost become a ghost town. Despite local warnings about the fabled 'black demon', Paul takes his family with him out to the oil platform, which he quickly observes is in an eerie state of disrepair. There he learns from the surviving workers that the facility has awakened a megalodon shark that swims around the platform, killing anyone who tries to leave it. Paul must then find a way to save his family from the prehistoric shark as the rig slowly sinks. The film was released in the US towards the end of April having cost US$50M to produce and has generated largely negative press. Also starring Fernanda Urrejola, Venus Ariel and Carlos Solorzano.

'ONE FINE MORNING' (Rated MA15+) - is a French German Co-Produced romantic drama film Written and Directed by Mia Hansen-Love whose feature film debut came with 'All Is Forgiven' in 2007 and which she would follow up with the likes of 'Father of My Children' in 2009, 'Things to Come' in 2016, 'Maya' in 2018 and 'Bergman Island' most recently in 2021. The story surrounds a young single mother Sandra Kienzier (Lea Seydoux) raising her eight-year-old daughter Linn (Camille Leban Martins) while struggling to take care of her father George (Pascal Greggory), who's been diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease. While trying to secure a decent nursing home, she runs into a married friend Clement (Melvil Poupaud) and they begin an affair. The film saw its World Premiere screening at the May 2022 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Europa Cinemas Label Award for Best European Film, was released in France in early October, in Germany in early December and this week is released in Australia having so far grossed US$1.4M at the Box Office and garnered universal critical acclaim. 

'HAPPY 50' (Rated M) - this French comedy (aka 'Plancha' or 'Griddle') film is Written and Directed by Eric Lavaine whose prior feature film making credits take in his 2006 debut with 'Poltergay', then 'Incognito' in 2009, 'Barbecue' in 2014, 'Back to Mom's' in 2016, 'You Choose' in 2017 and 'No Filter' in 2019. Set eight years after their previous adventure in 'Barbeque' the group of friends reunites to celebrate Yves' (Guillaume de Tonquedec) 50th birthday. They all meet at the airport, hiding Yves' eyes to surprise him, before taking off for Greece and the holiday island of Paros for two weeks of happiness, sun and celebrations. Unfortunately for them, their flight is canceled at the last moment. Not to miss out on the celebrations Yves invites the gang to his ancestral mansion on the Brittany coast in Kerzelek. While lots of activities are planned, the rainy weather thwarts these holidays. Locked in the beautiful granite stones of the estate, nerves are quickly frayed, letting secrets and stormy revelations emerge. Also starring Lambert Wilson, Franck Dubosc, Jerome Commandeur, Sophie Duez, Caroline Anglade and Alice Llenas. 

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-