What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 31st October 2024.

The 38th Leeds International Film Festival takes place this year from Friday 1st November through until Sunday 17th November. Founded in 1987, this annual film festival is hosted in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, and is the largest film festival in England outside of London. LIFF features five programme sections - Official Selection, Retrospective, Cinema Versa, Fanomenon and Short Film City. LIFF is a qualifying film festival for the Academy Awards. 

'The world’s first films were made in Leeds in 1888 by Louis le Prince and today the city is a leading national centre for film culture. Leeds film culture includes fantastic new and historic cinemas, exciting film festivals throughout the year, special film events in landmark locations, four universities and colleges with dedicated film departments, a dynamic movement of societies and individuals organising their own film activities, and much more. Home to Channel 4 and Screen Yorkshire, Leeds is a major hub for film and television production and for talent development' - so reads the official website.

LIFF's Opening Film this year is 'The Ties That Bind Us' from Writer and Director Carine Tardieu, this French and Belgian drama is about what brings people together in unsettling times and the new kinds of ties that can bloom unexpectedly. UK Premiere screening. The LIFF Central Film is 'All We Imagine As Light' from India, France, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy, is Directed by Payal Kapadia and paints a portrait of the lives, loves, and longings of three women working in the Mumbai Hospital. The Closing Film presentation is 'All The Long Nights' from Japan and Directed by Sho Miyake. The film follows Misa, a young woman with debilitating PMS that manifests in volatile outbursts.When she leaves her corporate job for a gentler workplace, a company making scientific toys, she encounters the shy Takatoshi, a co-worker struggling with panic disorder. Through mutual support and small acts of kindness, the two discover a world outside themselves. UK Premiere showcasing.

Constellation is the new name for the main programme section where many of the most talked about films of the year are previewed, and UK Premieres of films are presented from exciting new filmmakers in the feature film competition. There are eight film in Competition, these being :-

* 'The Fable' - from India and the USA and Directed by Raam Reddy. UK Premiere.

* 'The Editorial Office' - from Ukraine, Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic and Directed by Roman Bondarchuk. UK Premiere.

* 'Simon of the Mountain' - from Argentina, Chile and Uruguay and Directed by Federico Luis. UK Premiere.

* 'Pierce' - from Singapore, Thailand and Poland and Directed by Nelicia Low. UK Premiere.

* 'East of Noon' - from Egypt, Netherlands and Qatar and Directed by Hala Elkoussy. UK Premiere.

* 'Betania' - from Brazil and Directed by Marcelo Botta. UK Premiere.

* 'Ivo' - from Germany and Directed Eva Trobisch. UK Premiere.

* 'Toxic' - from Lithuania and Directed by Saule Bliuvaite. UK Premiere.

The Opening and Closing films of Constellation this year are both much-anticipated comedy dramas, featuring stand-out lead performances with Kieran Culkin in Jesse Eisenberg’s 'A Real Pain' and Amy Adams in Marielle Heller’s 'Nightbitch'. There are a further thirty-two films being showcased in the Constellation section. 

For the full programme of feature films and short films being showcased, plus the summaries of the aforementioned films, you can visit the official festival website at :- https://www.leedsfilm.com/

Looking ahead to this weeks six new release movies coming to your local big screen Odeon, and we kick start with a drama offering from an acclaimed Director in which multiple generations of couples and families inhabit the same home over the course of a century. This is followed by a biographical drama film that sees tensions run high as the Producer and a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers prepare for the first ever broadcast of 'Saturday Night Live'. Next up we turn to a pair of Aussie horror offerings, the first of which sees a young mother becoming increasingly unstable when she is terrorised by a malevolent spirit she believes is trying to take her children; and then a creature feature set in the remote outback town of Axehead, where terror takes the form of Rippy, a monstrous giant zombie kangaroo. Then we have an Italian film set in postwar 1940's Rome, that follows a working mother, wife and carer breaking traditional family patterns and aspiring to a different future, after receiving a mysterious letter; before closing out the week with an action thriller that has a former DEA agent and a former undercover operative revisit their romance during a fateful weekend in Taipei, unaware of the dangerous consequences of their past.

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

'HERE' (Rated M) - this American drama film is Co-Written for the screen, Co-Produced and Directed by Robert Zemeckis, and is based on the 2014 graphic novel by Richard McGuire. Zemeckis has a long and varied career as a Writer, Producer and Director with his more notable feature film output including his 1978 debut with 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' to 'Romancing the Stone' in 1984, 'Back to the Future, Parts I, II and III' in 1985, 1989 and 1990 respectively, 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' in 1988, 'Death Becomes Her' in 1992, 'Forrest Gump' in 1994, 'Contact' in 1997, 'Cast Away' in 2000, 'The Polar Express' in 2004, 'Flight' in 2012, 'Allied' in 2016 and 'Pinocchio' in 2022. This film saw its Premiere at the American Film Institute Festival on 25th October and goes on wide release this week too in the USA.

'Here' is an original film about multiple families and a special place they inhabit. The story travels through generations, capturing the most relatable of human experiences, with Richard Young (Tom Hanks) and his wife Margaret (Robin Wright) starring in a tale of love, loss, laughter and life, all of which happen in a single spot of land spanning from the past and well into the future. Also with Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly and Michelle Dockery. 

'SATURDAY NIGHT' (Rated MA15+) - is an American biographical comedy drama film Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Jason Reitman whose previous feature film making credits include his debut in 2005 with 'Thank You for Smoking', then 'Juno' in 2007, 'Up in the Air' in 2009, 'Labour Day' in 2013, 'Tully' in 2018, 'The Front Runner' in 2018 also, and 'Ghostbusters : Afterlife' in 2021. Here then, at 11:30pm on 11th October 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television, and culture, forever. Based on the true story of what happened behind the scenes in the ninety minutes leading up to the first broadcast of 'Saturday Night Live'. Full of humour, chaos, and the magic of a revolution that almost wasn't, we count down the minutes in real time until we hear those famous words delivered by Chevvy Chase (Cory Michael Smith) 'Live from New York. It's Saturday Night!' The film stars Gabriel LaBelle as Producer Lorne Michaels, with amongst an ensemble cast that includes Dylan O'Brien as Dan Aykroyd, Nicholas Braun as Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson, Willem Dafoe as David Tebet, J.K. Simmons as Milton Berle, Matt Wood as Jim Belushi and Tracy Letts as Herb Sargent. The film had its World Premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in late August, and went on general release in the US on 11th October on the 49th anniversary of the show's premiere. It has received positive reviews from critics and has grossed US$7M from a production budget of about US$28M.

'THE MOOGAI' (Rated M) - this Australian horror film is Written and Directed by Jon Bell and is based on his own 2020 fifteen minute short film of the same name, which won the Midnight Shorts Grand Jury Award at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival, as well as Best Director at the 2021 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. Here, A young Aboriginal couple bring home their second baby. What should be a joyous time takes a sinister turn, as the baby's mother starts seeing a malevolent spirit she is convinced is trying to take her baby. The film includes Indigenous Australian themes related to the Stolen Generations (a government policy of forced removal of Aboriginal children from their parents) and The Dreaming. Moogai is the Bundjalung word for 'ghost'. The film saw its World Premiere in the Midnights section of this years Sundance Film Festival toward the end of January, and had its Australian Premiere at the Sydney Film Festival in June of this year. 

'THE RED' (Rated MA15+) - is an Australian horror comedy film Co-Written and Directed by Ryan Coonan in his feature film making debut, and develops the story taken from his own short film 'Waterborne'. Set in a remote Queensland community of Axehaed, terror takes the form of Rippy, a giant red Zombie Kangaroo. As the undead-roo leaves a trail of carnage in its wake, the only hope lies in local young sheriff Maddy (Tess Haubrich) who is trying to live up to her dead father's legacy finds herself tested when locals start being found ripped to shreds, forcing her to face her past as she works with her eccentric uncle in a battle for survival and a desperate mission to defeat the beast. Also starring Michael Biehn and Aaron Pedersen.

'THERE'S STILL TOMORROW' (Rated M) - this Italian period comedy drama film is Co-Written, Directed and stars Paola Cortellesi in her Directorial debut. Set in May of 1946 in Rome, Italy with Allied troops still roaming the streets in Jeeps, Delia (Paola Cortellesi) plays exclusively the roles of wife and mother to her three children while her husband, Ivano (Valerio Mastandrea), is the head of the family. Between domestic engagements she nurses her sullen father-in-law Ottorino (Giorgio Colangeli) and does occasional sewing for various city stores, as well as laundry for the wealthy. One day, Delia receives a mysterious letter, and the woman is able to imagine a better future for herself. The film cost US$5.5M to produce, has so far grossed US$50M, has collected twenty award wins and a further eighteen nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit, and has garnered positive critical acclaim. The film was shot in black-and-white in the neorealist style of the 1940's and '50's.

'WEEKEND IN TAIPEI' (Rated MA15+) - is a French and Taiwan action film Co-Written by George Huang who made his Directorial debut with 'Swimming with Sharks' in 1994, and who has largely Written or Produced since then, up until this film, which is also Co-Written and Co-Produced by Luc Besson. John Lawlor (Luke Evans), a committed American Drug Enforcement Administration agent, fell in love with Joey (Gwei Lun-mei), a Taipei-based transporter, but was forced to separate due to the disruption of criminal and corruption activities. Fifteen years later, the pair is reunited when Lawlor is on a mission in Taipei. The film was released in its native France and Taiwan in early September, is released this week in Australia and in the US on 8th November. 

With six 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-